The playing surface is part of the game, don't think that Walter Camp had a sterile environment in mind when he invented the game of football. Don't like the direction the sport is going in.

 

Amen!

Deep Deep WKY spared as Harv spun East enough to only drop small amount of rain. Here at Mayfield we have a Bermuda field with a perfect crown. One of the finest fields anywhere. If we wanted a turf field we would have it and it's been discussed but the powers don't want turf and I agree I think the game was meant to be played on grass with the elements and I hope we never go turf. I recall some folks, Beechwood comes to mind, not likening the grass and in particular the fields crown seemed to make them feel at least in their head like it bothered them but I feel grass is how it was meant to be played though our usual team speed allows us to play on either just fine

We have turf and after the game I walked from the press box crossed the field to the field house and we had puddles everywhere. Alot of rain and it ain't draining fast. I can only imagine the natural fields are a mess.

 

Ryle's field was a disaster last night... at least for Boone.

 

The playing surface is part of the game, don't think that Walter Camp had a sterile environment in mind when he invented the game of football. Don't like the direction the sport is going in.

 

God invented football and He intended it to be played on grass.

 

For those of you who are worried about the burden on the school system for the cost of grass seed, let me just say that you can buy a LOT of grass seed for the cost of what it takes to install a turf field and grass is more environmentally friendly and less of a burden on the tax payer.

Ryle's field was a disaster last night... at least for Boone.

 

 

 

God invented football and He intended it to be played on grass.

 

For those of you who are worried about the burden on the school system for the cost of grass seed, let me just say that you can buy a LOT of grass seed for the cost of what it takes to install a turf field and grass is more environmentally friendly and less of a burden on the tax payer.

 

It's not completely free or even cheap to maintain a grass field. Fertilizer, mowing equiment (+maintenance and fuel), irrigation systems and water, Field Paint for marking (which is expensive AND not environmentally friendly), and labor all add up, and add up quickly. Not to mention the fields typically have to support at least 2 football teams (varsity and JV and/or Freshman not to mention youth leagues), and up to 6 soccer teams, not to mention practices. While it may not be a complete wash with costs vs grass, turf has on a whole, been great for high school sports, providing safer, and more consistent playing surfaces, especially in areas with shorter grass growing seasons. And don't forget these turf fields provide a place for baseball and softball teams to practice when their fields are unplayable in the early spring.

 

I'll never understand the fascination with wanting to see football played in horrible weather on fields that are barely playable. It makes for an awful game to play and watch. Players tiptoeing through mud is not fun to watch. Are the elements part of football? Sure. But I don't think the inventors of football waited around for a rain or snow storm to play the first game.

Nor did they alter their schedule due to weather

It's not completely free or even cheap to maintain a grass field. Fertilizer, mowing equiment (+maintenance and fuel), irrigation systems and water, Field Paint for marking (which is expensive AND not environmentally friendly), and labor all add up, and add up quickly. Not to mention the fields typically have to support at least 2 football teams (varsity and JV and/or Freshman not to mention youth leagues), and up to 6 soccer teams, not to mention practices. While it may not be a complete wash with costs vs grass, turf has on a whole, been great for high school sports, providing safer, and more consistent playing surfaces, especially in areas with shorter grass growing seasons. And don't forget these turf fields provide a place for baseball and softball teams to practice when their fields are unplayable in the early spring.

 

I'll never understand the fascination with wanting to see football played in horrible weather on fields that are barely playable. It makes for an awful game to play and watch. Players tiptoeing through mud is not fun to watch. Are the elements part of football? Sure. But I don't think the inventors of football waited around for a rain or snow storm to play the first game.

 

Not every football field supports all those teams. CH has another field for freshman games and has seperate soccer field. No youth leagues are played there. You might be surprised at the amount of volunteers at other programs. Before we all judge other programs we should probably investigate what they may have or do with their facilities and how they take care of them. Other than that, let's just all enjoy the sacrifices these young men make for our enjoyment on Friday nights!

Not every football field supports all those teams. CH has another field for freshman games and has seperate soccer field. No youth leagues are played there. You might be surprised at the amount of volunteers at other programs. Before we all judge other programs we should probably investigate what they may have or do with their facilities and how they take care of them. Other than that, let's just all enjoy the sacrifices these young men make for our enjoyment on Friday nights!

 

I wasn't judging any program and I'm not sure where you got the idea that I was Only making the statement that taking care of a grass field isn't cheap, and that turf has the advantage of being able to support multiple sports and teams beyond just the varsity football team.

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Edited September 2, 20179 yr by t horns

Anyone know how long turf fields last before needing replaced? I have no idea about this. Just a thought that came to me.

 

Regarding the cost of turf verses maintaining grass, turf requires a huge upfront outlay of cash. Grass requires small outlays of cash over a long period of time. It is much more easily afforded by the school.

 

As a tax payer, I'd rather my money be used for things related to the education of students. That is not saying that sports are unimportant. What I am saying is that when dollars are scarce and priorities must be set, I want funds allocated to educational things and if you are going to have state of the art something, I'd rather it be for technology not turf.

 

Playing football on grass is not a hardship.

Anyone know how long turf fields last before needing replaced? I have no idea about this. Just a thought that came to me.

The number used frequently is 10 years. But, depending on usage and care, there are schools that have got closer to 15 years out of theirs.

 

And, replacement is far more cheaper then the initial placement of turf.

Based on my experiences, grass can be maintained relatively inexpensively if it is bermuda and you are south of the Ohio River. The farther south you move, the cheaper it is to maintain.

 

Rye/fescue is tough to keep a uniform surface and more expensive.

The number used frequently is 10 years. But, depending on usage and care, there are schools that have got closer to 15 years out of theirs.

 

And, replacement is far more cheaper then the initial placement of turf.

 

LexCath got I think 15 out of theirs before replacing it.

Based on my experiences, grass can be maintained relatively inexpensively if it is bermuda and you are south of the Ohio River. The farther south you move, the cheaper it is to maintain.

 

Rye/fescue is tough to keep a uniform surface and more expensive.

 

My thoughts as well, bermuda is hard to destroy.

My thoughts as well, bermuda is hard to destroy.

 

Mike Murphy, our baseball coach at Mason, very good friend, use to work in landscaping. Even in Maysville, Ky, on the Ohio River, he said they could dig down a foot to try to dig out bermuda but could not kill it. It has spread to our baseball field at Mercer and drives them nuts. We were able to bring back our old bermuda practice field at Mercer after 10 years of little to no maintenance. Just killing the crap brought back 80 % of the field.

 

It is labor intensive, but we have done field repair often using sprigs and sod from around the edge of the game or practice field. Didn't cost a dime other than spending a day working on it.

 

If it were not for bermuda and being south of the Ohio River, I would be more for synthetic turf. Farther north, it is tougher to have an answer outside of synthetic turf.

Mike Murphy, our baseball coach at Mason, very good friend, use to work in landscaping. Even in Maysville, Ky, on the Ohio River, he said they could dig down a foot to try to dig out bermuda but could not kill it. It has spread to our baseball field at Mercer and drives them nuts. We were able to bring back our old bermuda practice field at Mercer after 10 years of little to no maintenance. Just killing the crap brought back 80 % of the field.

 

It is labor intensive, but we have done field repair often using sprigs and sod from around the edge of the game or practice field. Didn't cost a dime other than spending a day working on it.

 

If it were not for bermuda and being south of the Ohio River, I would be more for synthetic turf. Farther north, it is tougher to have an answer outside of synthetic turf.

 

I work in landscaping as well and your 100% correct about bermuda, it's a creeping grass and is nearly impossible to kill. About the only way to do it is heavy doses of weed killer to kill the root system, then dig it out.

 

I live in Ashland and back in the early 1900's the neighborhood I live in used to be a golf course. There used to be a and bunker behind my house where a detached garage is. There is an area of bermuda on a hillside leading to where the bunker is even though the lawns had been sodded with a bluegrass/rye/fescue mix years ago. That patch of bermuda still fought it's way through the sod and eventually overtook it. I've thought about trying to kill it out and seed it with a bluegrass mixture, but kinda like the fact that it reminds me of the sand bunker that used to be there.

I know this is crazy, but some of my most enjoyable long runs as an old man were in the rain and without a doubt some of my most fun times on the football field were in the rain and mud. Call me a mudder; but, with a smile, please.