May 23, 2013

The Grass Is Always Greener…

January 22, 2009 by

We noticed a little tidbit this weekend that caught our eye.  Apparently Coach Bobby Petrino would prefer to play on turf as opposed to real grass.  Tom Murphy’s article Saturday indicated that Petrino has asked AD Jeff Long to make the move to the fake stuff.

“I think it would be a great advantage to our program to be able to move in that direction,” Petrino said.  “With two games in Little Rock and another in Dallas each year on synthetic surfaces, we need to be able to practice and prepare on similar fields.  I think it would help us competitively and maximize our options when it comes to running our practices.”

Now, we have rarely disagreed with Coach or new AD Long so far.  The change they have brought to our football and athletic departments has been welcome, thoughtful and long overdue for the most part.  But we couldn’t disagree more with this pending switch to turf.

When one thinks of programs that have switched…in some cases switched back…to artificial turf, the first thing that comes to mind is, “well the school must be far enough to the north that growing grass in late fall/early winter is a challenge or impossible.”  These would be places like Madison, Ann Arbor, Boulder, Lincoln, Columbus, etc.

If the school is not from the north, and could grow grass well into the late fall, why would they opt for the fake stuff?  In most cases, the school is too cheap or doesn’t have the funds to maintain a natural surface.  It indicates low budget, lower-tier type programs.  Examples include Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Troy, Louisiana Tech, SMU, Rice, etc.

The University of Arkansas has one of the finest Turf Management degree programs in the south.  We have a climate that is suitable.  We’ve got the resources.  What gives?

Now we know what Coach Petrino sees in the turf.  An offense akin to the old Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams and their “Greatest Show on Turf” come to mind.  Petrino is recruiting fast, quick receivers who seem even faster on the synthetic surfaces.  The “fast-break style” offenses thrive on the stuff.  Getting to practice inside the stadium more would be a plus.

But if you want to be a “big boy” and play “big boy football” in the SEC you need to act like it in all respects.  That includes facilities and what kind of surface you play on.  Anything less looks “Bush League”.

Filed Under: Arkansas Razorbacks, Football, SEC
  • ReasonRules

    So Dallas’s new stadium is low-tier. HMMMMMMMMMMM

  • OwassoHog

    Definitely…. they still couldn’t fix that roof!

  • http://www.razorbloggers.net/ TipsterHog

    Jerry would rather spend money on skybox amenities instead of playing surfaces. Unlike Arizona, he didn’t want to fork over the $$$ to have real grass instead of “garbage bag turf.”

    Another example of how the Cardinals are currently a better run franchise than the former “America’s Team.”

  • BlindHog

    Once again, I don’t disagree. I’m just going to side with Bobby.

    Grass is cool. Grass is classy.

    Turf is a fast surface and Bobby can avoid prying eyes and use the stadium as much as he chooses. The money he saves can go into recruiting or wherever he feels is best. When they change their minds they can spend another couple of million to put it back the way it was.

    When we are on top I will worry about the niceties.

    BRING BACK THE RED PANTS!!!!!

  • BlindHog

    Nope, Home and away!

    We should have at least 4 combinations if not more. Where are our black uniforms? We need to be the classier version of Oregon. That is what they can spend all of that fertilizer and grass seed money on, more uniforms.

  • RazorBlack

    Unless something changed very recently, I thought the team already has two artificial surfaces to practice on. One of the outdoor fields is Astroplay and the indoor facility is Astroplay. I would hate to see them replace the turf in Razorback stadium they just spent millions on to install it with artificial turf again.

    A Hog’s natural environment is to root around in mud and dirt.

    And Football should be played on grass… with grass stained uniforms in good weather and mud all over everybody when it rains.

    Never mind the years of research which drove almost all fields back to natural turf to reduce the incidence of serious knee injuries (re: Madre Hill – SEC championship game). And yes, the new Astroplay is much more “realistic” and forgiving in that regard – but it still ain’t dirt!

    I hope this is not a serious consideration for an expenditure. Long and Petrino can’t control what others use for a stadium turf, and are able to practice for it on the artificial fields they already have.

    My vote, which counts for nothing:
    Razorback field should always be natural grass.

  • OwassoHog

    BRING BACK THE RED PANTS!!!!!… but only with white jerseys!

  • Defense Wins Champio

    Leave the natural grass alone. I suppose AD Long wants us to pony up for his artificial turf. Bad idea because the expense is not a one time expenditure since it seems to wear out quickly…unless the new artificial turf lasts better than the old stuff.

    Uniforms: Although it does not really matter to me, I would vote to keep the traditional uniform. Long-term marketing of the team makes more sense in the current uniform than bringing our another uniform that will likely also be changed again.

    Also, cut out the expense to the taxpayers of keeping up War Memorial Stadium. Level the WWII stadium and put the $5,000,000 into a nice WWII Memorial on the grounds and let UAMS have the rest of the land that they desperately need. Mr. Stevens apparently for political purposes weighed in on the LR vs. Fayetteville stadium issue several years ago but he needs to keep out of the question unless he wants to poney up some some of his billions instead of asking us taxpayers to keep on pouring money into a very bad stadium. Yes, in the past I have enjoyed games played in the stadium but it is time to move on and save money.

  • Pingback: Shooting Stars | RazorBloggers Network