Info On NFL2K4

[Agent_Bond34 0]

McGahee is playable! Sega installed the new turf that Buffalo just put into The Ralph! I MUST HAVE THIS GAME

When was this new turf installed?

 

Also, one other question, why did NFL 2K3 drop it's price to $9.99 so fast?

[Guest Flyboy]

Also, one other question, why did NFL 2K3 drop it's price to $9.99 so fast?

My guess would be that Madden was whooping that ass in the sells.

[Guest Eagan469]

McGahee is playable!  Sega installed the new turf that Buffalo just put into The Ralph!  I MUST HAVE THIS GAME 

When was this new turf installed?

They installed AstroPlay at Ralph Wilson Stadium about 2 weeks ago (the only NFL team to have it):

 

INSIDE THE NFL

Bills accused of not playing the field in picking new turf

 

 

6/1/2003 

 

By MARK GAUGHAN

 

It will be interesting to see what kind of reviews the Buffalo Bills' new turf gets when NFL teams hit the ground in Ralph Wilson Stadium this fall.

The Bills swam against the NFL stream by picking AstroPlay over FieldTurf as their new surface, and there are charges that Erie County taxpayers paid more than they needed to in the bargain.

 

FieldTurf will be used on game day in four NFL cities this season - East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants Stadium), Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit. Twelve NFL teams have installed FieldTurf on their practice facilities. The Bills are the only NFL team that has AstroPlay in their stadium or practice site.

 

Both products are the new generation of artificial turf, with longer blades of artificial grass and ground-up rubber "fill" between the blades. Everyone in the football business agrees the new style of turf is superior to the traditional artificial carpet - AstroTurf.

 

AstroPlay and FieldTurf are kind of like the Pepsi and Coke of the artificial turf business. But FieldTurf isn't taking its only NFL marketplace defeat lying down, so to speak.

 

FieldTurf's president, John Gilman, says the Bills overpaid for AstroPlay, at the expense of county taxpayers, and never seriously considered his product.

 

"They have not returned a call from us in three years," he said.

 

Erie County reports it is paying $500,000 for the new turf, which works out to about $6 a square foot. Gilman says AstroPlay hasn't sold a turf field in the last two years at anywhere near $6 a square foot. He says the going rate for AstroPlay with a shock-absorbing pad like the Bills have underneath is in the $4.30-a-square-foot range. He provided several faxes of bids on high school fields in New England to back up his charge. One field even went for $3.50 a square foot. So in comparison with those bids, the Bills may have overpaid by at least $120,000 for the job.

 

"This deal stinks to high heaven," said Gilman, whose firm is based in Montreal.

 

"It's sour grapes," said Bills President Tom Donahoe. "He doesn't know what the price was. Those numbers are not accurate. . . . Both companies did presentations in our office. We thoroughly researched it. We visited more than 10 sites with either surface. We went with a better product. It's none of his business."

 

The Bills' lease with the state and county clearly stipulates that the team has the right to approve the manufacturer and the type of surface at the stadium. The Bills do not have to put the project out to bid, as would happen with most county projects.

 

AstroPlay is made by the same company that makes AstroTurf, and the Bills have been dealing with the firm on "sole source" contracts since the stadium was built. Gilman says his salesmen haven't met with the Bills in four years.

 

Under the terms of the lease, the county pays the Bills $2.2 million a year, with an adjustment for the Consumer Price Index, for stadium maintenance. This year, it works out to about $2.3 million. The Bills spend the money on anything from turf to suite improvements to leaks in the roofs. Every year, the Bills and the county meet to agree upon the to-do list. The $2.2 million is hardly an exorbitant amount to maintain an NFL stadium, says Maria Lehman, county commissioner of public works.

 

"Two million dollars is only 2 percent a year in capital maintenance," she said.

 

Lehman says county engineers reviewed the Bills' deal with AstroPlay and determined it was reasonable.

 

"I always have someone who says we coulda, shoulda, woulda," she said of Gilman's overpaying charges.

 

One complicating factor in the cost of the project is the fact that the maker of AstroPlay agreed to install the turf with no payment due for a year and no interest due. The county doesn't have to pay until March. The county already had allocated a lot of its maintenance budget for this year.

 

Gilman also says the Bills' cozy relationship with AstroPlay resulted in the team overpaying for the AstroTurf that was installed in the spring of 2000. The county paid about $11 a square foot (or about $900,000). Gilman says the going rate for AstroTurf at the time was more like $7 a square foot.

 

The Bills say they did extensive research on all the new brands of turf. They were especially impressed with tests they say showed AstroPlay distributes the shock of an impact on the ground more effectively than other artificial turf products. They maintain they wanted the safest product available. Plus they love the service they have received from the AstroTurf producers over the years.

 

The Bills have AstroPlay installed on about 40 yards of their practice field. However, they almost never used it last year, instead working out on the natural grass part of the field. The Bills players didn't rave about the AstroPlay.

 

The AstroPlay in the stadium will have a different pad underneath than the practice field. The Chicago Bears played on AstroPlay at the University of Illinois last year, and Chicago reporters say there was grumbling about it by more than a few Bears players. But AstroPlay officials say that field was installed more than 30 months ago, and the Bills' field is better.

[Guest Flyboy]

Bumping an old thread with new information.

 

ESPN NFL Football is looking SWANK.

 

Spank me. (must have Quicktime to view)

[Agent_Bond34 0]

McGahee is playable!  Sega installed the new turf that Buffalo just put into The Ralph!  I MUST HAVE THIS GAME 

When was this new turf installed?

They installed AstroPlay at Ralph Wilson Stadium about 2 weeks ago (the only NFL team to have it):

 

INSIDE THE NFL

Bills accused of not playing the field in picking new turf

 

 

6/1/2003 

 

By MARK GAUGHAN

 

It will be interesting to see what kind of reviews the Buffalo Bills' new turf gets when NFL teams hit the ground in Ralph Wilson Stadium this fall.

The Bills swam against the NFL stream by picking AstroPlay over FieldTurf as their new surface, and there are charges that Erie County taxpayers paid more than they needed to in the bargain.

 

FieldTurf will be used on game day in four NFL cities this season - East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants Stadium), Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit. Twelve NFL teams have installed FieldTurf on their practice facilities. The Bills are the only NFL team that has AstroPlay in their stadium or practice site.

 

Both products are the new generation of artificial turf, with longer blades of artificial grass and ground-up rubber "fill" between the blades. Everyone in the football business agrees the new style of turf is superior to the traditional artificial carpet - AstroTurf.

 

AstroPlay and FieldTurf are kind of like the Pepsi and Coke of the artificial turf business. But FieldTurf isn't taking its only NFL marketplace defeat lying down, so to speak.

 

FieldTurf's president, John Gilman, says the Bills overpaid for AstroPlay, at the expense of county taxpayers, and never seriously considered his product.

 

"They have not returned a call from us in three years," he said.

 

Erie County reports it is paying $500,000 for the new turf, which works out to about $6 a square foot. Gilman says AstroPlay hasn't sold a turf field in the last two years at anywhere near $6 a square foot. He says the going rate for AstroPlay with a shock-absorbing pad like the Bills have underneath is in the $4.30-a-square-foot range. He provided several faxes of bids on high school fields in New England to back up his charge. One field even went for $3.50 a square foot. So in comparison with those bids, the Bills may have overpaid by at least $120,000 for the job.

 

"This deal stinks to high heaven," said Gilman, whose firm is based in Montreal.

 

"It's sour grapes," said Bills President Tom Donahoe. "He doesn't know what the price was. Those numbers are not accurate. . . . Both companies did presentations in our office. We thoroughly researched it. We visited more than 10 sites with either surface. We went with a better product. It's none of his business."

 

The Bills' lease with the state and county clearly stipulates that the team has the right to approve the manufacturer and the type of surface at the stadium. The Bills do not have to put the project out to bid, as would happen with most county projects.

 

AstroPlay is made by the same company that makes AstroTurf, and the Bills have been dealing with the firm on "sole source" contracts since the stadium was built. Gilman says his salesmen haven't met with the Bills in four years.

 

Under the terms of the lease, the county pays the Bills $2.2 million a year, with an adjustment for the Consumer Price Index, for stadium maintenance. This year, it works out to about $2.3 million. The Bills spend the money on anything from turf to suite improvements to leaks in the roofs. Every year, the Bills and the county meet to agree upon the to-do list. The $2.2 million is hardly an exorbitant amount to maintain an NFL stadium, says Maria Lehman, county commissioner of public works.

 

"Two million dollars is only 2 percent a year in capital maintenance," she said.

 

Lehman says county engineers reviewed the Bills' deal with AstroPlay and determined it was reasonable.

 

"I always have someone who says we coulda, shoulda, woulda," she said of Gilman's overpaying charges.

 

One complicating factor in the cost of the project is the fact that the maker of AstroPlay agreed to install the turf with no payment due for a year and no interest due. The county doesn't have to pay until March. The county already had allocated a lot of its maintenance budget for this year.

 

Gilman also says the Bills' cozy relationship with AstroPlay resulted in the team overpaying for the AstroTurf that was installed in the spring of 2000. The county paid about $11 a square foot (or about $900,000). Gilman says the going rate for AstroTurf at the time was more like $7 a square foot.

 

The Bills say they did extensive research on all the new brands of turf. They were especially impressed with tests they say showed AstroPlay distributes the shock of an impact on the ground more effectively than other artificial turf products. They maintain they wanted the safest product available. Plus they love the service they have received from the AstroTurf producers over the years.

 

The Bills have AstroPlay installed on about 40 yards of their practice field. However, they almost never used it last year, instead working out on the natural grass part of the field. The Bills players didn't rave about the AstroPlay.

 

The AstroPlay in the stadium will have a different pad underneath than the practice field. The Chicago Bears played on AstroPlay at the University of Illinois last year, and Chicago reporters say there was grumbling about it by more than a few Bears players. But AstroPlay officials say that field was installed more than 30 months ago, and the Bills' field is better.

At least they aren't playing on AstroTurf anymore.

 

Sounds like they're trying to do away with AstroTurf completely, which I think should've happened ages ago.