News: MLS and RBNY Provide FREE Bus and Tickets for Traveling DCU Fans

You do know that turf heating systems are to prevent fields from freezing and not to melt snow? It was even said last night that the ground was nice and soft under the snow....

 

Yeah, it's designed to help the root system of the turf. Not the same kind of system as is used in northern latitudes in Europe to melt snow quickly. I think the word choice above was poor-- of course it melts snow-- but do we all want to sit around for days and wait for it to happen.

 

Totally reasonable to be pissed off, but not totally reasonable thoughts on the situation.

 

Come on, this isn't that hard. Heating the soil under the top layer of ground (to protect the grass root system) isn't the same as getting the surface warm enough to melt snow in a reasonable timeframe. Its absolutely feasible that an arena might have a system to do the first and not the second.

I don't know if that's the case at RBA, but don't make it sound like its physically impossible.

 

It was used to help melt snow a year ago, according to the NY Times Soccer blog.

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/looks-like-salzburg/

 

Snow that had fallen the day before.

 

From DCist, a local news website:

 

Snow is snow. Yes, it was falling hard last night, but if the system had been turned you'd think at least SOME of it would have melted and been drained away.

 

And 1 Red Bull fan...

 

Backe said there is no heating system at all. None. The RBNY media guide states there is a "state-of-the-art air, heating and drainage system." Either Backe or the media guide is wrong.

 

That must've been taken by one of the players after the game was canceled. Good stuff.

 

Do we know that "some" of it didn't?

Those heating systems keep the soil at the root level at around the mid-50's, and it's colder on top at the grass level because the grass effectively insulates the soil somewhat, so it can melt snow that's settled on top, but if snow is falling fast enough the system can't prevent accumulation.

 

I don't know. But Backe's claims that there is no heating system is at odds with what is in the Red Bull media and what was reported on the NY Times web site last November after the Halloween blizzard.

 

Agreed. Backe has sounded like a bit of a wiener in all this, if you ask me.

 

http://deadspin.com/5958952/?utm_ca...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

There's no such thing as bad press, right?

 

He said the pitch is not heated. He didnt say RBA did not have a heating system.

 

Its says nowhere in that article that the heating system was used to melt snow.

 

So if Geiger and Olsen were prepared to play and Backe wasn't, isn't that a forfeit?

Glad Garber was there to put his finger on the scale ... again.

 

Probably was not turned on. Heating systems are not mean to mealt snow.

 

This. Not all heating systems can be left on during the game.