The turf debate

[Catsfan69]

4 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Charlotte isn't really the north.  According to that article I found KC, Baltimore, Washington, and Tennessee all have Bermuda grass fields.  Surprising to me.

I'm talking Greenbay  Chicago Pittsburgh Boston Seattle etc.

Charlotte should have Bermuda plain and simple.

UNC had that season they rolled out a new field every week and had no issues. Why can't Tepper use that?

[Tbe]

I don’t get it. If the difference between real grass and fake is how much ‘give’ each has, why can’t fake be engineered with more padding and flex?

Seems like an easy thing to do.

[PNW_PantherMan]

6 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

I wouldn’t use Bermuda as a homeowner in the north. Golf course, sports fields, etc places with the resources the maintain it and work on it is ok. A place like a professional football field with millions of dollars to keep an eye on it and engineer a system to help with it is a good example. 
 

but if you some dad living in Cleveland or Minnesota, you probably an idiot to use Bermuda or southern grass for your house. 

I live in the northeast now and KBG and Perennial Rye seem to be the best picks here.  Tall fescue can work but I haven't many fescue yards.

[4Corners]

17 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

I live in the northeast now and KBG and Perennial Rye seem to be the best picks here.  Tall fescue can work but I haven't many fescue yards.

KBG is good and what I would do in NE. I did Rye here once to fill an unsightly bare spot and it was great for about a month. Some of my buddies cut their tall fescue with rye when overseedimg 

[SmokinwithWilly]

31 minutes ago, Tbe said:

I don’t get it. If the difference between real grass and fake is how much ‘give’ each has, why can’t fake be engineered with more padding and flex?

Seems like an easy thing to do.

There's only so much flex you can engineer into a product and have it withstand safety standards and durability for transport and installation. It also has to be stapled/staked into place to keep it locked down and prevent the product sliding. Weight alone won't do it. Grass roots tear in small areas or stretch like a mesh,  but the product as a whole still retains it's rigidity, unless it's a sopping wet monsoon. Then the roots actually lose their hold in the soil. With proper drainage and vacuum systems underneath, water can be sucked out from underneath the field to keep it relatively dry. 

[Brooklyn 3.0]

Never going to happen.

[Jackie Lee]

Wembley has grass and has tons of concerts and makes it work. They have a removable floor that gets pieced together on top of the grass. All about money. 

[rippadonn]

2 hours ago, WUnderhill said:

I think it’s more about the concerts and other events at BOA, which is ridiculous because BOA is first and foremost a football stadium.

Unfortunately, we have an owner who’d rather put a feather in his cap and sit at a podium and brag about how he single handedly “brought music to Charlotte” because we were all such uncultured savages before who had never been to a concert.

Spectrum Center says hello Dave.

[rippadonn]

Instead of putting his billions to work making the grass field at BofA the best in the NFL he lays down cheap carpet.

[Snake]

They both have their pros and cons. Grass can be just as dangerous if quality people are not in charge. There's new technology out there and it's not like playing in SEA in decades past where the "turf" was just carpet hiding cement. There are a whole bunch of contact injuries caused by grass too where the foot gets caught in the dirt and hyper extends the knee and ankle. I think the NFL should really invest in companies trying to improve turf and good things will happen. 

[rippadonn]

Earth and grass please. My old water bottles need not be causing turf toe.

[PghPanther]

The challenge is the amount of natural soil/dirt that is under the grass to act as a cushion..............in nature there is an average of 30 inches of soil below the surface with 8 to 10 inches being top soil.

On a grass football field inside stadiums these days there is 16 inches total with 6 inches being top soil.

It offers far more cushion than any artificial surface but fall well short of the cushion that grass grows naturally on. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by PghPanther

[Shotgun]

2 hours ago, 4Corners said:

What kind of grass would be used? Bermuda?

[thefuzz]

There are few stadiums that are a better location than BOA for natural grass.

 

So of course idiot from PA changes it.