Field turf
- Thread starter jte123
- Start date
Why do you hate Field Turf? It holds up and drains well and offers a safe soft playing surface. Really it is plastic grass blades with rubber pellets fill between the blades up to the length they decide they want the blades sticking up. The new fill is brawn instead of black which has cut way down on the field getting hot issue.
Lots of improvements over the years, when it first came out I officiated games on it and after the game your legs were tired, something I had never felt before, after a game it felt like you had done two or three games. Pretty hard surface also.
But it sure was nice in some ways, you never had to have a measurement unless it was within an inch or two of being a first down or not, at least on a college field.
Entirely different technology today, then I think all you had was a thin piece of nylon stretched over sand with tinsel like threads with no body standing up to give the appearance of grass-----from a distance.
But it sure was nice in some ways, you never had to have a measurement unless it was within an inch or two of being a first down or not, at least on a college field.
Entirely different technology today, then I think all you had was a thin piece of nylon stretched over sand with tinsel like threads with no body standing up to give the appearance of grass-----from a distance.
You are right about how its advanced over the years Jauk. In the beginning it wasn't much more than the carpet you had on your old boat with a couple of inches of hard foam backing laid over a concrete slab. It looked ok from a distance but up close it just didn't have it. Now with the length of the pyle it looks almost like grass when you stand on it, the filler makes it much softer. A couple of companies in Dalton make nothing but turf and install. 7 HS in the immediate area and 2 of them have turf fields and another has a turf practice field.
Really amazing how far the carpet business has come since its beginning. Most carpet you buy today comes from 2 liter plastic coke bottles. I don't know how they can turn that plastic into a soft fiber to make carpet but truckloads of them arrive in Dalton everyday. Economy has really hurt this area, highest unemployment rate in the nation because 90% of the jobs are related to the carpet industry. I know that has nothing to do with football, but just some general information about the country, lol.
Really amazing how far the carpet business has come since its beginning. Most carpet you buy today comes from 2 liter plastic coke bottles. I don't know how they can turn that plastic into a soft fiber to make carpet but truckloads of them arrive in Dalton everyday. Economy has really hurt this area, highest unemployment rate in the nation because 90% of the jobs are related to the carpet industry. I know that has nothing to do with football, but just some general information about the country, lol.
We have Fielf Turf installed on our youth baseball field last spring at Veterans Park. It was the best decision we as a league have made in many years. It looks phenomenal and blends very well with natural grass. You can see on Google maps how it isn't the old bright green. It played great as well. On top of our regular season we held about 10 tournaments including two state and one regional tournaments. Never heard a single complaint from any coach, player or parent. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised when it's installed at how much more t looks like grass now. I am all for it.
Grid, carpet industry is a bad term to use now. All the carpet mills have expanded and are doing all the flooring from carpet, hardwood, laminante, ceramic and marble tile. So instead of carpet industry its now called flooring industry. It sure changed a lot in the last 30-40 years. Use to be hundreds of small carpet places, but they have all been bought up by 3 big ones, and only 2 of those are doing ok now. Still a few small sample places left, plus chemical and transportation companies.
I'm old school and have always preferred the real stuff but I have resigned myself to it so let's make it the best looking field out there. I think the biggest driver was Stoops wanting to practice more at CWS and not being able to. If my memory is correct, I hink this will also mean they won't have to have a sports turf field at the new practice facility. They will just use the stadium. This should keep them from having to take up even more parking.
I'm old school as well, I love a natural turf. The sports turf will allow the team to practice on the same field in which they play and that has it's benefits. As the season progresses the wear and tear on the field becomes obvious. The sports turf will remain in great shape throughout the season, so I understand the advantages.
The only connection is a single doctor that has treated 2 soccer players for cancer. She has no idea why they got cancer so it must have been the crumb rubber in the field. No study or medical evidence supports this. It's just a single doctor stating her beliefs. In other words there are no connections between field turf and cancer. Until there are real studies making a link this giant leap in unsubstantiated logic.
There us zero ecidence that this is the case. I have installed 4 artificial turf fields as part of my job (2 are Astroturf - not what you think of when you think Astroturf, and the other 2 are Shaw Sportex). That story came out and you've heard nothing since. If doe somne reason they feel crum rubber is an issue, they will make a different product to use as infill.
I actually installed an infill turf system in my back yard. I have a big dog, so used a product called Zeofill and a mixture of Silica Sand as the infill....it's awesome!
Asbestos was considered a safe product for thousands of years also.
Are you OK grinding up a used tire and letting your child ingests and inhale the crumb rubber?
NBC News had a segment on use of crumb rubber in playgrounds and such.
Are you OK grinding up a used tire and letting your child ingests and inhale the crumb rubber?
NBC News had a segment on use of crumb rubber in playgrounds and such.
Ran around on the Dallas Cowboy field this summer and the Bengals field this fall. I like the field turf. I wish I had a chance to play on it when I was younger. Hopefully there will be more High School games including the state championship games played in Lexington now.
This is the key point. The quality and practicality of the product has changed a lot because of commercial innovations. UK has always used natural turf because it was superior to the artificial product. Now the artificial alternatives have improved a lot. I think it will be fine.
That article is a prime example of NBC's crap journalism. The throw a bomb shell headline out there implying that your kids are in danger and then the article itself shows no evidence that they are. Again this article is being pushed by the same individual that all the others are being pushed by and they have no evidence that field turf is toxic. They also ignore studies by environmental groups, congress and even the field turf manufactures which all state that the carcinogen levels are lower than it is in natural grass.
Keep in mind that all of this started because 1 soccer coach had 2 goalies come down with cancer and the coach tried to make a connection to the field turf. This connection has never been supported by the scientific study or the medical industry. There are tens of thousands of soccer, football and baseball games played on field turf and there is no measure increase in cancer rates linked to those fields. Some parks and playgrounds are also field turf that young kids play on and no cases of cancer have been reported.
I could be wrong but I don't think putting field turf in the stadium will change the number of fields included in the construction of the practice facility. Stoops has always planned on putting field turf in CWS with the renovations and those were approved before the practice facility was to my knowledge. We'll most likely still have indoor and outdoor turf fields and an outdoor grass field. That's how I understood it anyways I could be wrong
I much prefer grass fields, just looks better to see a pristine grass field over a generic field turf surface.
However, it looks to make more sense to have the field turf at commonwealth.
However, it looks to make more sense to have the field turf at commonwealth.
You might be right but I thought I heard they were going to have two grass practice fields as part of the new facility plus the indoor plus the new turf at CWS. I know they are only planning on two fields so maybe one will be grass and one turf?
Alabama = grass
Arkansas = turf
Auburn = grass
Florida = grass
Georgia = grass
Kentucky = next game will be turf
LSU = grass
Mississippi State = grass
Missouri = turf
Ole Miss = turf
South Carolina = grass
Tennessee = grass
Texas A&M = grass
Vanderbit = turf
So it will be 9-5 next year, grass over turf. To this point, only Auburn, Georgia, UK, LSU and maybe MSU have never had turf. That, of course, will change next year.
Arkansas = turf
Auburn = grass
Florida = grass
Georgia = grass
Kentucky = next game will be turf
LSU = grass
Mississippi State = grass
Missouri = turf
Ole Miss = turf
South Carolina = grass
Tennessee = grass
Texas A&M = grass
Vanderbit = turf
So it will be 9-5 next year, grass over turf. To this point, only Auburn, Georgia, UK, LSU and maybe MSU have never had turf. That, of course, will change next year.
From EPA Study Nov 2009
6.9.5 Lessons Learned with Regard to the Sampling and Analysis of Tire Crumb Materials
Again, there are no validated sample collection and analytical procedures for
characterizing tire crumb materials for assessing potential environmental concentrations or
potential exposures by various routes and pathways at synthetic turf fields and playgrounds.
The EPA doesn't know if tire crumb is safe or not. Not enough data has been gathered such as affects high temperature on the field or fields that are older than four years. Considering the EPA has found tires to contain arsenic,benzene, lead, mercury and a host of other compounds that the Consumer Product Safety Commission bans from children toys.
I always enjoyed the natural grass in Commonwealth Stadium, and I wish we wouldn't change to field turf. Hopefully the turf will work good for us.
who calls em soft drinks? ive always called them cokes whether they be pepsi, cocacola, drpepper or others!
also OP i played on a field turf field in college and i hated it, also played at PJCS my senior year and it sucked as well. hell on the ankles and knees. made your cleats extremely hot, the smell was gagging!
Why was it hard on your ankles and knees? It is my understanding that field turf was as soft as natural grass. Is that not the case? I've never played on field turf by the way. My playing days were over before it was being used. I have played on astro turf and it did suck. I always heard that field turf was a major improvement over astro turf.
it is hard and not very cushioned, the black rubber granuals dont give way much. one solid hit to the knee on the turf and yyou were hurting. it was like playing on a basketball court with a little more cushion. even the one at PJCS sucked and they spent alot on theirs.
i played @ PJCS in 06 and i played on it in college from 07-08
If this is the case, they did not properly maintain the field and did not add infill to keep the proper depth. There is no way that 1 3/4 inches of crushed rubber does not provide a soft surface. I have dealt with many of these fields over the years and if maintained properly, they are amazing on the legs and knees.
i am not sure of the propper maintainance but i know they added the rubber granuals several times. it just never gave, felt like concrete! also if there was too much rain it would just settle on the field!
I live in Oregon where it rains all the time. As I mentioned earlier, we have 4 turf fields that I oversee. We get nothing but rave reviews for them. It has to be maintenance or the product. Not sure of which one they used, but there are about a hald=g dozen out there. Strange that it would be so hard.
Latest posts
-
No one talking about the UHC CEO murder?
- Latest: Caveman Catfan
-
-
