When's the grass going in at Seahawks Stadium?

I haven't seen any movement towards the temporary installation. It's still a couple weeks, so there's some time, but wouldn't they like to get it in asap to make sure it's not a loose, unsettled mess like Portland was for the Costa Rica match?

(Note: I'd prefer they play on the current FieldTurf surface. We could see once and for all whether it really does cut the mustard. From what the Sounders and Whitecaps said after playing on it I wouldn't have any reservations at all.)

Kevin

Answer: Probably a few weeks before the ManU-Celtic match.

I haven't heard anything (outside of this board) about grass being brought in, so I'm assuming that this one will be on FieldTurf. I guess your dream is going to come true.

ummm


he wasn't talking about the stupid man-ure "match"


he was referring to the u.s.-japan friendly



we do have soccer of our own in this country, you know

the players do not share your sentiment

I've been following the Seattle weather on weather.com:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/local/USWA0395?lswe=seattle&lswa=WeatherLocalTravel&whatprefs=

Nothing but rain, rain, and more rain. :-(

My guess is that if they havent put down any real grass yet, they might just a well play on the FieldTurf™, what an absolute soggy, muddy mess unsettled temporary grass would be.

Re: Re: When's the grass going in at Seahawks Stadium?

I'd like a source that cites a majority of players would prefer a disgusting, unplayable mudbowl to FieldTurf.

Kevin

Geez, 3" of pure mud with standing water over the entire pitch would be preferable to FieldTurf according to some here, as long as it's REAL grass underneath a flowing river they'd be happy.

I for one want all the "it can't be good because it ain't real" radicals to actually see a match on the surface. BTW, Lokomotiv seems to do just fine in UEFA Cup matches on it.

Kevin

ManU-Celtic is the only stadium event currently planned for the natural stuff, and it's 4 months after the Japan match, so my response was a slightly clever way of answering his question. Obviously it was too clever for some people.

Delta Blues, if that last reply is directed to me, we've been over this before and I don't care to rehash it. My beef has always been related to the promises from the stadium referendum. Paul Allen can have his FieldTurf field when he repays the the public cost of the stadium, but $300 million can buy more than a high level of grass maintenance. If the US can stage a friendly on a 70x110yd FieldTurf pitch in Seahawks Stadium, it definitely could've been done in the Kingdome for a lot cheaper. I doubt the lack of cupholders and 24" seats would've been a dealbreaker.

Re: Re: When's the grass going in at Seahawks Stadium?

Hi Jim,

I was at the game, on the field after the game, and spoke to many of the players for both teams specifically about the surface. Unanimously, they liked it.

jmeissen0, you may want to re-read the first two posts, I think you got a little confused. Nutmeg, in order to lessen the confusion, I'm guessing you're referring to the Sounders-Whitecaps game last July...

I thought when the temporary grass goes in, whenever that may be, it would be in the form of trays. But that article in the P.I. today said they're just going to lay the sod out.

re: the players


read any article about mls matches being played on fake stuff and make note of what the writers say about the players' feelings about it... they don't want it... and they won't come on record to bash it because of the negative vibes associated with doing so

they are making the best of a bad situation and you are missing the writing on the wall





re: the surface... been my understanding that the upcoming u.s. game was going to be played on grass layed over the field... but apparently not

I thought so too. I guess it will be the turf for Japan though. Let's see what happens and what fallout there is.

Kevin

I think the players are disliking different types of turf. If I remember correctly, the Seahawks were going to put in natural grass, but the players, after playing 2 seasons at the University of Washington, where they have the turf, demanded that it be the artifical sutff. Its suppose to be eaiser on the knees and shows little of the wear and tear associated with grass.

Big difference between football players and soccer players feelings on field turf. Especially football players that had been playing on the Kingdom's astroturf laid on cement then move to Husky Stadium's new field turf.

There is no argument that field turf is better than astroturf, but it still does have a ways to go in order to really compete with grass. The only thing that Field Turf seems to have over grass is the superior drainage, which only really matters if it rains enough to have standing water on a grass field. Otherwise I think grass is just as good as field turf in the rain. Both surfaces make the players' footing susceptible, but the ball skips more on a artificial surface such as Field Turf than grass. Plus, mud is fun and makes the players look tougher (anyone remember the NFC Title game a few years ago when the 49ers hosted the Cowboys and it rained so much and the field was so sloppy that you could tell the people that didn't play because they're uniforms were still clean?)

are you sh!tting me? The national team is going to be playing a match on fake grass??

freaking amazing...no wonder the worl views the US as a joke...how bush league

Who are the worl? Are they like the Borg? As for being a joke, you're the punchline spanky.

Kevin

And you've seen how many matches played on a FIFA approved FieldTurf surface to make this assumption? Nickerson Field? (Breakers) Seahawks Stadium? (Sounders) Luzhniki Stadium? (Lokomotiv) Which one? The only public comments after the only match played at Seahawks Stadium so far had nothing but positive comments from Sounder and Whitecap players. Certainly nothing which would lead to an opinion like you presented. I have seen players gripe about natural grass (a.k.a. the "god of surfaces.") like Giants Stadium and others even when it wasn't wet. I guess it doesn't have to have standing water to be inferior to FieldTurf does it?

Kevin

That's big of you...pointing out a typo. Was it fun?

Seriously "Kevin" (getting a signature only costs $30 you cheap .... ) what is your major malfunction?

Did your daddy invent Field Turf? Why are you such a proponent of it? Hell I know, let's rip out all the grass in all stadiums and just replace it with this crap.

I played Div 1 soccer in college, making the Final Four in my senior year. I think I can give a pretty good account of playing on fake grass.

It's crap. It is nothing like grass. The bounce of the ball, the roll of the ball, the pain of falling/sliding on the stuff...

FIFA approved...big damn deal...99.9999 out of 100 players GUARANTEED would prefer grass. And even if there is a malestorm during and before the match vs Japan...I think I can much say with certaintly a field which will have been unused for a few months and covered with a tarp during the rain, well not be a mud bath.

Out of curiousity...have the other 2000+ of your posts been as intelligent as the ones as this thread?

Isn't the Seattle field a retractable roof field? I know Safeco Field is, but I don't know about the football stadium. I think grass is the best to watch and to play on, but in 20 years or so, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between grass and the fake stuff.

Yes.

I've never even come close to proposing anything of the sort.

As for FieldTurf:

1.)The bounce has been tested to be the same as a dry grass pitch.

2.)The roll has been tested to be the same as grass.

3.)You do not receive skin burns by sliding on FieldTurf, even dry FieldTurf. This was a quality NFL players raved about. I guess you haven't read much about, or after your comments even played on FieldTurf.

You do realize that grass goes dormant in Seattle during Winter right? Your certainty applies to RFK too then right? Just like the MLS All-Star game? Or Foxboro during the Ireland match? Have you seen the matches cancelled in the EPL this season because of destroyed pitches? You're unreasonable criticism of a surface I doubt you've ever seen, let alone played on is dubious.

I've never stated that FieldTurf should replace all grass fields. But in stadiums that are multi-use it's many times the correct choice.

LOL! I guess that's up to the beholder.

Kevin

Nope! The roof covers 70% of the stands. Dont trust me though. Check for yourself at http://www.seahawksstadium.com

Cheers....

I think actually playing on the stuff gives me better judgment than watching a game on it. As much as you may think that Field Turf is the greatest thing since sliced bread, it still is not as good as a decent grass field, which Giant's Stadium has not been in the last few years (really since the XFL played there that one ill-fated spring).

It is unfair to to compare one of the worst grass surfaces on earth in Giant's Stadium to Field Turf, but I do agree that Field Turf is the right move for Giant's Stadium because of all the activity it has. Field Turf should have never been put in at Seahawk's Stadium. It's in because Holmgren wanted it and convinced Allen to put it in.

As far as the playability, the ball still bounces higher, rolls faster, and skips more than on a normal grass field. And yes, people do receive burns from sliding, but I have also received burns from grass fields, so that's not really a big deal to me.

Is Field Turf good? Yes. Is it as good as a well-maintened grass surface? No. Should there be grass for the US vs. Japan game? Yes.

Which field do you play on? Is it FieldTurf, or another product? BTW, I also believe a single-use field, which has enough sunlight and recovery time to be well maintained is certainly preferrable to any artificial surface. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of those in the USA. Most of our stadiums are multi-use, and most which can host FIFA approved soccer also host football. That's why I'm high on FieldTurf. During the MLS season I think Seahawks Stadium could be a grass field, but with the Autumn rain and NFL football the field would be horrible at that time IMO. Let's see how the Japan match turns out and see what the players really think. Maybe they'll hate it, but I doubt it.

Kevin

Jim,

I don't need 3rd hand information, and I know for a fact the players had nothing to lose by telling me they hated the turf. They didn't. They liked it.

That may be hard for purists to understand, but I've played on official FieldTurf, I've spoken with pro players who have played on FieldTurf, and the consensus feeling I have heard is that aside from top of the line grass fields, it is among the best surfaces out there.

Jeff Bradley has a different view, as do the anonymous players he's spoken with. Fine. But I'd take FieldTurf any day of the week over the Giants stadium grass of last year. Personal preferences.