NFL: Grass or Turf

[muwarrior69]

Rodgers wants all grass fields in the league to "reduce non-contact injuries". I don't think that will happen. Tough to grow grass in a stadium with a roof that is non-retractable. Metlife stadium would be mud by mid season playing 17 games there.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/packers-aaron-rodgers-makes-case-move-away-from-turf-fields-time-all-grass

Did not want to hijack the Packer or NFL thread.

[JWags85]

Sure Aaron, go ahead and play all your games on the beautiful natural grass of Soldier Field

[MUeng]

Which one is more environmentally friendly?

[dgies9156]

Sure Aaron, go ahead and play all your games on the beautiful natural grass of Soldier Field

You hit that one right on the head. Soldier Field after November 1 is like playing on concrete. They've had problems with the grass there since the artificial turf was torn out in the 1980s. I have to believe a good, cushioned artificial surface is preferable to playing on frozen dirt in Green Bay in December.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers can put his botany experience to work and develop a frost/freeze resistant grass. Until then, leave it to the experts.

[jesmu84]

European soccer has figured out grass in wet/winter.

But do NFL teams want to pay for it?

[RJax55]

Sure Aaron, go ahead and play all your games on the beautiful natural grass of Soldier Field

The turf at Soldier Field is junk. Guys slip and fall on it all the time. The Bears' most reliable defender is the turf. That said, I can't recall an instance when a player blamed that surface for a non-contact injury.

[RJax55]

European soccer has figured out grass in wet/winter.

But do NFL teams want to pay for it?

No

[JWags85]

European soccer has figured out grass in wet/winter.

But do NFL teams want to pay for it?

By and large the Euro leagues arent playing in weather like Buffalo/GB/Chicago/NYC in December/January.  It gets cold but its much milder and not as snowy.

And the countries who do get that sort of weather (Nordics and Russia) take a winter break or play in the summer.

[The Sultan]

Rodgers wants all grass fields in the league to "reduce non-contact injuries". I don't think that will happen. Tough to grow grass in a stadium with a roof that is non-retractable. Metlife stadium would be mud by mid season playing 17 games there.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/packers-aaron-rodgers-makes-case-move-away-from-turf-fields-time-all-grass

Did not want to hijack the Packer or NFL thread.

Rodgers wants all grass, but the issue isn't all turf fields. Slit-film fields are the ones the NFLPA is targeting. Apparently this type of turf is used by the Giants, Jets, Vikings, Saints, Bengals, Lions and Colts. The other turf fields are made up of a monofilament turf that isn't as dangerous.

European soccer has figured out grass in wet/winter.

Well....

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/11/15/pete-carroll-field-in-munich-was-a-nightmare/

The Packers use the type of field that they use in Euro soccer, and they have had similar problems with slippage. I just think the type of movement you make with football is much harder on the field than in soccer.

[jficke13]

You hit that one right on the head. Soldier Field after November 1 is like playing on concrete. They've had problems with the grass there since the artificial turf was torn out in the 1980s. I have to believe a good, cushioned artificial surface is preferable to playing on frozen dirt in Green Bay in December.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers can put his botany experience to work and develop a frost/freeze resistant grass. Until then, leave it to the experts.

90% sure that after the Ice Bowl the Packers installed a heating system beneath the field to prevent the turf from freezing. Most of the northern city grass surfaces don't have Soldier Field's reputation for being awful. Somewhere along the line the Bears/City of Chicago made a concious decision to have a disaster surface. There's no other explanation for it being as bad as it is year in and year out for decades. NE/PIT/BUF/PHI/GB off the top of my head have (or at least had) natural surfaces for the past several decades and they're not perfect come Jan, but they're fine.

[The Sultan]

90% sure that after the Ice Bowl the Packers installed a heating system beneath the field to prevent the turf from freezing. Most of the northern city grass surfaces don't have Soldier Field's reputation for being awful. Somewhere along the line the Bears/City of Chicago made a concious decision to have a disaster surface. There's no other explanation for it being as bad as it is year in and year out for decades. NE/PIT/BUF/PHI/GB off the top of my head have (or at least had) natural surfaces for the past several decades and they're not perfect come Jan, but they're fine.

The Packers actually installed it prior to the Ice Bowl, but it was so cold that day that once the cover came off the field, the condensation froze and the heating system couldn't keep up. That's why it was so slippery.

They have a much better system now. Once again dgies ranting is more hyperbole than fact. I can't think of the last time a December or January game at Lambeau was played on "frozen dirt." The Packers keep the grass green the turf as unfrozen as possible until the season ends.

For instance, this game was played on January 2 and the temp at kickoff was 11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt4gfdihZWQ

This was in late January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt6NsqMbByo&t=16s

Once the season is over, they turn off the heat and the grass goes dormant.

[tower912]

Which one would be easier to remove 3-6 feet of snow from?  That is what you want in Buffalo this weekend.

[dgies9156]

Once again dgies ranting .....

Really?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

[quote author=dgies9156 link=topic=63746.msg1480436#msg1480436 date=1668630146

Maybe Aaron Rodgers can put his botany experience to work and develop a frost/freeze resistant grass. Until then, leave it to the experts.
[/quote]

This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff.

[tower912]

Thank you for the appropriate Caddyshack reference.   

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Thank you for the appropriate Caddyshack reference.   

You're welcome.

An piss off to whomever it was that ran an analysis of my summer posting.  Unlike 82, who's never funny, I understand timing.

[Lennys Tap]

You're welcome.

An piss off to whomever it was that ran an analysis of my summer posting.  Unlike 82, who's never funny, I understand timing.

Ask me what I do for a living.

OK, what do you for a living?

I'm a comedian. Now ask me what the most difficult part of my job is.

OK, what the most difficult part of your....?

(Interrupting). Timing!

[MU82]

After buying an MLS expansion franchise, Panthers owner David Tepper had what was a beautiful grass field torn up and laid down artificial turf to save money.

Tepper's only one of the 50 richest humans on the planet, so good for him.

There was just an article in the Charlotte Observer this week with several players complaining how bad their bodies feel the couple days after a turf game vs the couple days after a natural-field game.

[Hards Alumni]

You hit that one right on the head. Soldier Field after November 1 is like playing on concrete. They've had problems with the grass there since the artificial turf was torn out in the 1980s. I have to believe a good, cushioned artificial surface is preferable to playing on frozen dirt in Green Bay in December.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers can put his botany experience to work and develop a frost/freeze resistant grass. Until then, leave it to the experts.

Green Bay has coils under the field so that it doesn't turn into concrete like the dump down South.