[givemethemic]

best monment and it will be relived again this year... Goodman rushing for 4 TD's

[PAmedic]

Hey I like that name. I think it is time we start naming stuff after guys on this board.

PAmedic Colliseum

here's the slogan: "come on out and PACK the PAC"

ok, maybe not

[TIMSCAR20]

Hopefully the guys that played on the field and made history can grab a piece of the turf. I was upset to know that the old multipurpose center floor was ripped out without me getting a chance to get a piece of that floor. I could have framed the part of the floor where I took off on my ESPN moment.

[SuperJon]

That was bad.

[LUconn]

Williams Stadium is Blue and gray. Oddly enough, so it the Vine's. This needs to change immediately. Well, at least the stadium does. It needs to be brick and tan just like the ops center and just like the new erricson campus is. Right now the ops center doesn't look like it's part of the stadium. I guess it's not but I think it'd look way better if it did.

[bigsmooth]

agreed LUConn. if they want to keep the jeffersonian thing going, paint the rest of the stadium to match the ops center.

[BJWilliams]

Hopefully the guys that played on the field and made history can grab a piece of the turf. I was upset to know that the old multipurpose center floor was ripped out without me getting a chance to get a piece of that floor. I could have framed the part of the floor where I took off on my ESPN moment.

Well if somebody wants to sneak down there and get some of the old turf to send to Eugene Goodman they best do it like today because I saw the pics from yesterday and they have almost completely torn out the astroturf.

[Libertine]

Most of the facility's interior hasn't changed much since the last pics. They're 'mudding' the drywall and installing AC ductwork (yeah, real sexy stuff). I did get a couple shots of some other progress, though.

Installing the Jeffersonian facade on the front:




Installing the rehab pools in the training room. The far pool actually has a treadmill built into the bottom of it.


What the turf area currently looks like from the multi-purpose room.

[Libertine]

Well if somebody wants to sneak down there and get some of the old turf to send to Eugene Goodman they best do it like today because I saw the pics from yesterday and they have almost completely torn out the astroturf.

The original installers of the astroturf did a really good job. So much so, in fact, that they had to pretty much destroy the turf to get it out. The pieces that haven't been carted away yet are no longer even recognizable as being part of the field.

[Sly Fox]

Gracias para los retratos.

[LUconn]

Treadmill in the pool. That's a big part of how Carson Palmer rehabbed his knee. We no longer fear ACL injuries! We're invincible!

[PAmedic]

Add a stereo and a wet bar and I'll place my order right now.

[A.G.]

LUconn, the reason we don't have to fear ACL injuries has nothing to do with an underwater treadmill, it has EVERY THING to do with ripping out the old turf and going with the new stuff!

[Sly Fox]

LUconn, the reason we don't have to fear ACL injuries has nothing to do with an underwater treadmill, it has EVERY THING to do with ripping out the old turf and going with the new stuff!

Here comes Libertine.

[A.G.]

Bring him on. There is too much research to support how bad the old style turf is on the body.

[TRBCer]

This is exciting to see! It looks nothing like the layout I had originally planned. I was the head athletic trainer with the team in 2004 and at the time there was no basement in the plans. We were cramped in our initial layout, but the finished product is going to be MUCH better than the original plans we had made simply because of the extra "unplanned" floor. Those Hydroworx pools were first made popular nationally with the TO foot injury. I'm starting to wish I had stuck around to see this thing through to completion, especially now that things seem to be headed in a decidely different direction!

[Sly Fox]

Well you can certainly stick around here. Go ahead and register. You've posted enough on here to know what you are getting into.

And I'm glad to hear these plans exceed the original. Too often on campus we have seen the opposite.

[TRBCer]

Official word I heard was the basement was a result of the horrible fill job that had been done at that end of the stadium. It was near landfill quality, full of whole tree trunks, etc. After if became obvious how much good fill dirt would be required to replace what was hauled out and the hole in the ground was so enormous, the powers that be realized it would be cheaper and easier to just add a floor. The initial plans I saw called for a two stage building, but due to the unforeseen excavation expenses, it was all rolled into one project right out of the gate. Say what you will about Karcher, his NFL and I-A experience sure helped shape the football operations center; which in my opinion needs a new name. A building called the "FOC" at LU just doesn't seem appropriate to me

by the way...I registered...

[Libertine]

TRBCer is right about the landfill issue. There was everything from trees to old refrigerators in there.

I'm here, AG, and my guns are loaded. I can understand how people feel about astroturf and injuries. Turf is much more painful to play on than grass and it really does feel like you're injuring yourself just walking around on it. That said, the "evidence" that turf is responsible for more ligament and tendon injuries is strictly anecdotal (ie., word of mouth). The only serious research w/ actual hard data was a 30-year study completed by the University of Houston in 2002. It reported that astroturf vs. grass is more likely to harbor bacteria and, with long-term exposure, is more likely to cause spinal and joint inflammation. However, as far as ligaments and tendons, there was no statistical difference between those injuries occurring on a grass or turf playing surface. The study went on to address the perceived idea of a higher rate of injury on astroturf as being likely due to a number of coinciding factors including 1. the improvement of the orthopedic field to assess and diagnose injuries, 2. more activity taking place on astroturf fields and 3. the greater overall size of the athlete.

I know people want to pin injuries on the playing surface being the problem -- and I'm not a fan of it myself -- but the facts don't back it up. Any medical trainer will tell you that injuries are far more likely to be caused by poor conditioning and dehydration than by the playing surface.

[Stevev]

How about the new "field turf" vs the old "astroturf" issue. Is field turf that much better than the old stuff. How does field turf compare with natural grass as far as preventing injuries. I don't believe field turf has been around long enough to determine the long term effects on players knees and joints.

[Libertine]

How about the new "field turf" vs the old "astroturf" issue. Is field turf that much better than the old stuff. How does field turf compare with natural grass as far as preventing injuries. I don't believe field turf has been around long enough to determine the long term effects on players knees and joints.

You're right, it hasn't. However, in theory, FieldTurf is supposed to be safer than both grass and astroturf because it does not grab the cleat like grass does and does not allow full contact between the shoe and the surface like astroturf. You actually have less mathematical traction on FieldTurf which -- again, in theory -- takes some of the pressure off of the ligaments. It also is far less likely than astroturf to cause skin abrasions and less likely than both turf and grass to harbor bacteria. Right now, until someone can prove otherwise, it's the best thing out there to play on. I've heard a story (I don't know if it's true or not) that at Randall Cunningham's home, he replaced his entire yard with FieldTurf.

[A.G.]

Great insight, Libertine. You appear to be a man truely in the know.

[Chris Lang]

Libertine makes good points here. The bacteria issue with astroturf is a big one ... that stuff harbors nasty stuff like staph just because of the amount of skin and blood that come off due to rug burns during the course of a game.

I know when Montana went from natural to FieldTurf the players up there said there was no comparison, that FT is 100 times better than real grass because of the traction issues. Also, you save money on maintenence because you're not having to keep a real grass field in shape for a long period of time. The football team is eventually getting a new practice field down by the ops center and the old Hancock practice field will be turned into a soccer practice field. That way, the soccer field remains in game shape.

[Stevev]

Hard to imagine that field turf is better than the real grass. I figure that "you can't beat the real thing" saying doesn't apply here. I guess if pro teams, other major programs, and other 1AA's are converting to this new stuff then it can't be all that bad. Thanks for the input Libertine. Seem like you know what you are talking about.

[madmat]

Just a side note: last season, multiple cases of staff infections amongst players. Forearm staff infection on one player, which after removed/dealt with, left an m&m size crater in his arm, 1/4 inch deep. Shoulder staff infection in another, causing much pain. Highly contagious stuff, and potentially very dangerous, I believe. Here's hoping that the field turf, rectifies that issue.