Purity of playing fields

[Guest The Czech Republic]

With a lot of the new stadia springing forth, the old standby of natural grass is evidently being phased out for grass-synthetic hybrids, Astroturf, or other derivatives of the stuff. Then again, there was a period of time in which many parks and fields ripped out the carpet, like Kauffman Stadium and Soldier Field, and just let the grass grow. In fact, the Houston Astros, who are to blame for all of this, are playing on grass.

 

Personally, I think that all football and baseball teams should be playing on old-fashioned natural grass. It takes away from the sport to be playing on these artificial surfaces, especially in baseball. I love the Expos, but those bright white baselines leading to those little dirt circles on that stark green Astroturf just looks disconcerting. Likewise, there's something weird about watching a Twins game. In football it's not AS bad, but I think that the game would have more integrity if the game was played on grass, outdoors. In fact, the cities where you'd expect protection from the elements during the fall and winter, like Boston and Green Bay, are playing on grass outdoors, while the Saints and Rams are in moderate weather but choose to play in a climate-controlled dome. So in closing, leave the Astroturf and the roof to the arena football teams.

[Guest redbaron51]

Isn't turf a leading cause for most of the knee injuries?

[Guest treble charged]

I don't mind that FieldTurf or NexTurf stuff as long as it doesn't look fake. A few CFL stadiums have it now, and maybe it's just because I know that it's fake, but I can sort of tell, it's too dark, or something and that gives it away.

 

As for the ol' fashioned AstroTurf, I don't mind it if it's in an indoor stadium, but if you're outside and can grow the real stuff, just go ahead and do it. The one thing it does do, though, is give the team a home-field advantage (especially in baseball), as they know how to play grounders and hops better on the fake stuff.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I really don't see alot of the new stadiums using astroturf anymore. It's either that Nexturf stuff, or natural grass depending what kind of stadium it is.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

I'm a grass man, although that "New" turf seems to be just as good.

 

I can't stand that astroturf, though. When I was a kid I played in some soccer tourney that was on artificial turf. I was running around before the game, slipped and fell.

 

Damn did it hurt!

 

And grown 300-lb men tackle each other on this stuff?...

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

I used to be more of a traditionalist, but I've grown more tolerant of the fake stuff. My only beef against it now is that, as someone already mentioned, it does make certain leg injuries more likely (at least in football: How many guys have had their cleats "lock" into the turf and give their leg nowhere to go but get broken, or twisted, etc. Grass supposedly allows some give as the cleat digs/slides through the mud underneath the grass).

 

Other than that, I can tolerate turf, but I'd rather only see it under domes (with domes being built where bad weather is enough of an issue that a dome would prevent a large number of rainouts). Outdoor turf just plain sucks [props to Busch Stadium and the rest of the open-air turf parks that have torn that shit out in the past few years]. And given that we have the technology to have grass fields under domes [safeco and The Bob]

 

One of the upsides to the "Manufactured Nostalgia" movement in sports these days, where new stadiums are deliberately designed to be quirky and resemble the "character" old ballparks, is that they're all going with the grass. When was the last new turf park in baseball? I think Tropicana Field's the only one in the last 10 years or so... [check it out: Turner, Coors, Safeco, Comerica, The Jake, The Bob, Pac Bell, PNC, The Ballpark Formerly Known as Enron, all grass.]

 

Interesting footnote: Candlestick Park went turf for a while, but switched back to grass to accomodate a "big" free agent signing for the hapless 49ers of the late 1970's: an aging running back named O.J. Simpson. Who turned out to be pretty much past it by that point. And for the longest time, there used to be a little residual strip of the stuff beyond the north end zone near the seats. One less turf football field, thanks to the Juice. Almost makes up for the whole double murder thing, right? [kidding]

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

As someone who has played baseball on both grass and turf, I can say that grass is much better in just about every possible way.