[absturgill]

Lynchburg, VA - There's a good chance the Liberty Flames football team will be playing on some new field turf at Williams Stadium this coming season. New Director of Athletics Jeff Barber says the current turf at the stadium has been in for a long time and now needs to be replaced.

www.wset.com/news/stories/0206/306824.html

Video as well

[Stevev]

I there a chance that we could go to real grass. Or is the cost to set the stadium up for that too much. Is the field turf talked about that much better than astroturf. It is nice to hear about the change though.

[Hold My Own]

I dont think we'll ever see that happen, not with the amount of teams that play on it, it would take a few full time grounds keepers also...

[Rocketfan]

I saw a lot of research and did some on my own in the past and the stuff is used more than i thought. It had a lot of positive results from what i understand.

[Hold My Own]

I think saying that there is a safe field turf is an oxymoron, but there is safer turf out there then what we're using now, longer blades of grass with little rubber balls in it, to help your feet not get planted in the turf and blow a knee or both knees at the same time (anyone see that on ESPN bloopers or something, it was sick)

[Rocketfan]

What we have not is slowly becoming about as good as "the Vet" in Philly, anything would be an upgrade........or at least i hope it would be an upgrade.

[TallyW]

Yeah... the current field is painted concrete.

[bigsmooth]

fieldturf is the way to go. if you have ever been on that type of field, it has bits of rubber in the base, and it is pretty soft and good on the knees. i hope we get that ol concrete rug out of williams stadium!

[oldcoach]

I really do not believe that grass is possible. With the location of the field (in a small valley), after it rains heavy water sits there for a good while. Atleast it use to sit there. I remember coming down to the field house for practice and water would be 2 inches deep in a couple of spots.

Is the current turf still that old sand based turf?

Although grass would be great, too much money spent on an incredible drainage system and a full time grounds crew is not wisest way of spending.

Field turf seems to be better, but I've never played on the stuff. Players do seem to like it.

[PAmedic]

1. the Vet was sooo far beyond awful words cannot describe it.

2. haven't heard a bad thing about field turf.

3. The Linc (Lincoln Financial Field- Philly) is great, and if memory serves correct that's field turf as well.

[SuperJon]

App St and Western Carolina both have field turf. A lot of high schools in Western NC are starting to move to field turf.

[bigsmooth]

the balsam turf was ripped up and the standard astroturf is there now. i know of some high schools in roanoke that are going to put in fieldturf b/c of so much use. it certainly seems the way to go nationally.

[Sly Fox]

Natural grass is not really cost effective or practical for our circumstances. And frankly it gets to be a mess late int he season with all of the games we have in our stadium (LCA & HS Playoffs).

There are two alternatives:

1. FieldTurf - The most popular brand of the new era of artificial surface

2. AstroPlay - Very similar to FieldTurf by the same company that produced AstroTurf

Either one would be a nice upgrade for our situation and help us to avoid all of the injuries that come with our current predicament. Honestly I believe or hard surface has made it tough to get teams to want to come play at our crib. We have a very poor repuation in I-AA circles for the surface.

[Hold My Own]

yeh, grass is just out of the question

yes, this is the sand based turf, I'll never forget the HUGE mountains of sand when they were putting it in...Yeah I dont think its out of the question if Fieldturf is better than grass but at least it's better than what we have

[BJWilliams]

Im sure the band wouldn't mind field turf either

[fsn32]

yeh, grass is just out of the question

yes, this is the sand based turf, I'll never forget the HUGE mountains of sand when they were putting it in...Yeah I dont think its out of the question if Fieldturf is better than grass but at least it's better than what we have

They replaced the sand based turf while Coach Sam was still here. The turf in there now is less than 10 years old. I hate turf but it isn't in awful shape to be honest. Like I said, it is less than 10 years old and it is supposed to have a 20 year lifespan. Field Turf would be a great upgrade either way though.

I am pretty sure Philly has grass now but Baltimore has Field Turf and you really have to pay close attention to tell the difference between it and grass on TV.

"The U" can back me up on this... Field Turf is so realistic that some of the Miami players were caught trying to smoke it.

[SuperJon]

I say we get red turf. That'd be awesome.

[RagingTireFire]

I can tell you that there is zero and I mean absolutely zero chance of LU going to natural grass. With all the new and planned construction, Randy Johnson and the grounds crew are stretched nearly beyond capacity already. Maintenance of a grass field on top of that would be just unreal. I'll admit that grass is nice to look at and play on but if it's not kept up, it's awful. Those of you who went to the LU games in Chattanooga ('04) and Connecticut ('05) know what I'm talking about.
I highly recommend the new FieldTurf or SprintTurf (the name varies on which company you buy it from). It looks a lot more like grass and it's easier on the joints to play on as opposed to true Astroturf. In fact, after the '04 National Championship game field debacle, Chattanooga replaced their grass with the FieldTurf. Liberty played on Western Carolina's FieldTurf in '01 and got absolutely smoked but the question from the players after that was 'when are we getting it?'
Also, from a safety perspective, there is no difference between incidence of injuries on turf as opposed to grass. I know it's a commonly held perception that astroturf causes more tendon and ligament injuries but, statistically, the numbers are actually the same. Over time, astroturf is harder on backs and joints because, let's face it, you're running around on a layer of concrete, but I've been closely involved with the LU program for a number of years and I've seen a number of player injuries. The only one that I can say was directly the result of the player's footing was Roc Haith getting his entire foot rotated around 180 degrees during spring ball in 2002. He went for a tackle and his spikes got caught in our practice field grass.

[Rocketfan]

Post a link to those stats because in the NFL i have NEVER heard that those stats are equal. If you are going to make a blanket statement like that please back it up. I played flag football on that field( LU's) and saw a guy completly tear his ACL. No way i am buying that grass/turf statement without a few facts to see.

[PAmedic]

this is interesting.

Where Are They Now: LB Frank LeMaster

LeMaster, who spent nine seasons playing on the Veterans Stadium turf for the Eagles, is now working with turf... as the vice president of sales for FieldTurf.

"I cover the Mid-Atlantic region, and then I also travel around the country working with pro installations and college installations," said LeMaster, who lives in Phoenixville, PA, and has three sons: Justin, 25; Brennan, 23; and Alexander, 10. "The thing that's really fun about it is that I really believe in FieldTurf and the product that we make.

"I played on the worst turf in America, the Astroturf there at Veterans Stadium. The old Astroturf, I think, quadrupled injury rates. The new turf that we've invented right now is 35 percent safer than natural grass. I think it's the best thing that has happened to sports surfaces in the last 50 years as far as performance and safety. It's just a phenomenal product. I mean, it could be a driving rain and you'd still get your footing. It's just a great turf. It doesn't deaden your legs like the old Astroturf used to.

"So, first of all, I believe in it. Second of all, what's fun about it is I kind of get to keep my hand in sports. I get to talk with coaches and athletic directors and players all over the country, so I get to keep my head in the game. And not only on these fields do people play football on them, but they play soccer and lacrosse, field hockey. They play all kinds of sports."

[PAmedic]

FYI: fun facts about "the Linc"

1. it DOES have a grass field
2. it has a jail (4 cells) : love this town!
3. first event hosted was a soccer match between Manchester United and FC Barcelona (8/3/03).

[Rocketfan]

Stuff like that is exactly what i have been reading for years.....

[A.G.]

I got your back, RagingTireFire:
http://www.midwestfieldturf.com/reduce_injuries.asp

http://www.athleticturf.net/athletictur ... ?id=130784

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/DET/5131312

[Rocketfan]

You got nothing. Here is what your data says:

While the data set is still relatively small, it shows some differences between the injury rates on grass and Fieldturf™ that are of rather large statistical significance. - quote from the first link.

Assuming the data has been properly collected and recorded, it provides a reasonable early indication that total injury rates and knee injury rates on Fieldturf™ are significantly lower than on grass surfaces. - That supports my point, what side are you on?

Your second link is from 2004 and we all know advances have been made every year, as with everything else this stuff is going to evolve.

quote from the second link - For example, the researchers found there was a greater incidence of surface to skin injuries and muscle strains and spasm on FieldTurf. - wow now cuts and pulled muscles are injuries that and there % are based on....geez. Pulled muscles could be the cause of a lot more than turf, and i won't even get into little cuts.

I won't even go to the third link cause those two examples were horrid.

[A.G.]

Thank you, Stat Boy!