Do we need natural grass in Apogee?

[Dannymacfan]

I saw this list as the only schools still using artificial turf:

Michigan, New Mexico State, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Marshall, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Texas State, Arkansas State, UTSA, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois and Buffalo play every game on artificial turf.

Other than Michican, that is not a list I am proud to be a part of.  I am thinking that grass is safer than artificial but I am not an expert by any means.

 

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

I think for watering reasons alone - we should use turf. 

[KingDL1]

Interesting list - I like real grass, and mudd. If it is safer I am all in.

[Mike Jackson]

6 minutes ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

I think for watering reasons alone - we should use turf. 

And even beyond that the extreme heat would still make having the field in first class playing condition for early season games very difficult. (Could they even have a scrimmage event in the stadium in August?)  If we are holding on to Seth because of the budget I definitely don’t want them investing in a field change until our second year in AAC.  I also think is sacrilegious to have artificial turf in the Big House.

[keith]

1 hour ago, Dannymacfan said:

I saw this list as the only schools still using artificial turf:

Michigan, New Mexico State, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Marshall, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Texas State, Arkansas State, UTSA, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois and Buffalo play every game on artificial turf.

Other than Michican, that is not a list I am proud to be a part of.  I am thinking that grass is safer than artificial but I am not an expert by any means.

 

All this means is that for the 6 away games we play, all of them are on turf this year.  It only takes one away game on grass and we would not be on that list.  I'm sure there are a lot of teams that play one or two games on grass so they are not on this list even though they have turf on their home field.

 

Edit:  Didn't we put in some sort of cool turf technology that keeps the playing surface cooler than traditional turf fields?

Edited August 9, 2022 by keith

[Mike Jackson]

47 minutes ago, Dannymacfan said:

I saw this list as the only schools still using artificial turf:

Michigan, New Mexico State, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Marshall, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Texas State, Arkansas State, UTSA, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois and Buffalo play every game on artificial turf.

Other than Michican, that is not a list I am proud to be a part of.  I am thinking that grass is safer than artificial but I am not an expert by any means.

 

Where are you getting this information?  I think almost 1/3 of FBS stadiums use some kind of surface that is Artificial.   I just picked a few big brand PAC 12 school minus USC & UCLA and all them listed on Wikipedia except Arizona State played on some kind of artificial turf.  Historical Washington and Oregon don't have a shortage of rain fall and they use articial surfaces at their stadiums.  The Longhorns play on an articial surface and so does Baylor.  The only two conferences (I think) have 80% or more natural grass stadiums are the Big 10 and SEC.  Most of the others have 1/3 to more than 50% on some kind of artificial surface.

[Green Crazy]

1 hour ago, Dannymacfan said:

I saw this list as the only schools still using artificial turf:

Michigan, New Mexico State, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Marshall, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Texas State, Arkansas State, UTSA, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois and Buffalo play every game on artificial turf.

Other than Michican, that is not a list I am proud to be a part of.  I am thinking that grass is safer than artificial but I am not an expert by any means.

 

Ummm, I think that list is way wrong. Using Wikipedia, I checked just UT, Baylor, A&M and Tech and only Kyle Field shows to have real grass.

I think the list is saying every game played by those teams will be played on a artificial surface and non on a grass field.

Edited August 9, 2022 by Green Crazy

[greenjoe]

I thought Texas had natural grass.  I know they had artificial turf earlier, but that they switched back to grass.  A&M had artificial turf when it first came out and some group of fans whined that a school with “Agricultural” in their name should use real grass.

[Green Crazy]

5 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I thought Texas had natural grass.  I know they had artificial turf earlier, but that they switched back to grass.  A&M had artificial turf when it first came out and some group of fans whined that a school with “Agricultural” in their name should use real grass.

Nope. They just installed new field turf July of 2021.

[Mike Jackson]

5 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I thought Texas had natural grass.  I know they had artificial turf earlier, but that they switched back to grass.  A&M had artificial turf when it first came out and some group of fans whined that a school with “Agricultural” in their name should use real grass.

They got rid of that atrocious "carpet turf" that didn't even vaguely resemble natural grass over 20 years ago.  I think they switch to natural grass for a while then switch to FieldTurf which from a distance looks like real grass is light years better than "carpet turf"

[DentonLurker]

1 hour ago, keith said:

All this mean is that for the 6 away games we play, all of them are on turf this year.

This. There are way more teams than that list that play their home games on some kind of artificual turf.

I have no idea how accurate or new this list is, but according to this stadium list the count is:

- 79 Some kind of artificial turf

- 51 Grass

Edited August 9, 2022 by DentonLurker

[El Paso Eagle]

3 hours ago, DentonLurker said:

This. There are way more teams than that list that play their home games on some kind of artificual turf.

I have no idea how accurate or new this list is, but according to this stadium list the count is:

- 79 Some kind of artificial turf

- 51 Grass

The fact UCONN and Temple show in the American might make it a little out of date

[El Paso Eagle]

Not sure if this is more up to date

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_stadiums

 

[Udomann]

I feel like, with climate change being an obvious issue this year in the southwest/south, real grass would be seen as socially and materially irresponsible. I have no idea at all the amount of material needed to create turf, but year round grass maintenance has to be pretty substantial with a ton of regions in drought conditions.

Then again, turf could use a ton of liquid dinosaur burn off and be even worse...

[DeepGreen]

I'm for real turf, grass stains on uniforms, dirt, mud, and water puddles.

 

[Marty]

6 hours ago, keith said:

 

Edit:  Didn't we put in some sort of cool turf technology that keeps the playing surface cooler than traditional turf fields?

I think you’re right. Seems like I remember them using cork pellets instead of the little rubber pellets as a base when the new turf was installed. Cork doesn’t absorb the heat like the rubber does.

[Marty]

28 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

I'm for real turf, grass stains on uniforms, dirt, mud, and water puddles.

 

Funny you mentioned that:

 

[NT80]

On 8/9/2022 at 1:27 PM, Dannymacfan said:

I saw this list as the only schools still using artificial turf:

Michigan, New Mexico State, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, Marshall, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Texas State, Arkansas State, UTSA, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois and Buffalo play every game on artificial turf.

Other than Michican, that is not a list I am proud to be a part of.  I am thinking that grass is safer than artificial but I am not an expert by any means.

 

NO way that list is correct.  Smut has artificial turf just to keep their midget horse from eating it!

I do think being the Mean Green we should do something more eye-catching with our turf...

Edited August 11, 2022 by NT80

[PlummMeanGreen]

I went to one of those small Texas high schools (in Danbury, TX) where the Senior Class actually had a Senior Trip.  Ours was at a dude ranch just outside Austin.  During some free time several of us guys drove into Austin & toured the UT campus.  Walking over to what is now DKR Memorial Stadium in May of 1969 the UT Athletic Dept. was having their grass taken up to install their first ever artificial turf.  It very well may have been Astro-Turf by Monsanto. The Horns won the NC in 1969. I watch the Longhorn Network documentary of that 1969 season & it brings back great memories of my 18’th year.  

[UNTexas]

If turf is good enough for the Cowboys and a lot of the NFL, it’s just fine imo. It’s not like it’s the 90s turf at Fouts that was similar to concrete. 

[southsideguy]

The old days they put asphalt down and roll the turf over it,  It was hard as a rock and would rip your skin off.  I prefer grass but with the drought turf it is.

[El Paso Eagle]

On 8/9/2022 at 7:50 PM, NT80 said:

NO way that list is correct.  Smut has artificial turf just to keep their midget horse from eating it!

I do think being the Mean Green would should do something more eye-catching with our turf...

What would be very interesting is if we used every shade of green the mean green have used over the years. The field would probably give people motion sickness