Oh, that's just great. Nothing like fixing the field the day before the match. What is this? The freaking third world? Sorry, gang but that is utterly pathetic. Gotta love it: another Yank schlep-up.
The stadium that awaits the wrecking ball, you mean? Do they paint over bare spots at Highbury? How do they deal with bumps?
Re: Benefits MLS Sorry, but bringing up those playing surfaces as comparisons is kinda like saying, after the 2000 presidential election debacle, that a lot of third world coutries don't even bother with elections at all but just install a new militay dictator. The US in 2003 should be able to play national team games on adequare pitches (and it should be able to run a presidential election in which we know who really won, too). The playing surface in Naperville (or Southlake, for that matter) is an abomination. Spartan Stadium is fine, but way too small. The idea isn't to play this meaningless "friendly" on a pitch that approximates, size-wise, the pitches that a few of the US players routinely play on. The idea is to prepare this team for WC qualifying next year. A smallish, hard, bumpy surface isn't going to do that. Also, some of us are p.o.'ed, as well, because Reliant could become the home to an MLS team. And I, for one, am not convinced that it's the top-flight soccer facility that it's been billed as, especially if the tray system pitch is even smaller than the temp field we'll see tonight; if the tray field is uneven (like was the one at Giants Stadium); and if the soccer field ends up being even smaller once the NFL pre-season starts in August (not to mention that the seating capacity at Reliant is 3 times bigger than it needs to be for MLS).
Do they paint over bare spots at Highbury? How do they deal with bumps? They don't schedule rodeos at Highbury.
What is different from Texans games is the portable field for tonight's game. Rather than use the pallet-based portable grass system designed for football games, the Texans elected to build a temporary soccer pitch using about 8 inches of dirt and clay topped by 2 inches of thick-cut Tifway 419 Bermuda sod. The result, unfortunately, drew less than glowing reviews from some players during practice Wednesday. "It's bad. It's very rigid. It's a hard surface," said Mexico defender Hector Altamirano. U.S. Soccer officials also had concerns about the field, which they said probably would lend itself to more of an aerial game instead of a physical match in which players are closely marked and hard sliding tackles are common. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/1901081
The field dimensions aren't the biggest concern here, I think a bigger concern is the fact that is has only been out for a week (or less). That is hardly enough time for a field to weave together. There will end up with gaps in the sod and an uneven lay between the rolls most likely. But thats not why I am posting. The article says that $30,000 was spent on goals and other soccer related accessories. WHat goals and accessories add up to $30,000?
Cancha, en malas condiciones http://www.esto.com.mx/030508/fut_inter/5fut_inter.asp CONDICIONES El "Reliant Stadium" es asombroso, su construcción nos ha dejado con la boca abierta. Su capacidad es para más de 65 mil espectadores, y como es sabido, su techo se cierra automáticamente, pero en cuanto a las condiciones de la cancha, la verdad son muy malas. Inclusive, los propios seleccionados así lo manifestaron, luego de su entrenamiento. En este estadio juega el equipo de futbol americano Texan´s de Houston. Y para muestra basta un botón, pero en cuanto usted pisa el césped se sienten surcos, que pueden provocar graves lesiones, y aunque esta situación incomoda a los seleccionados del Tricolor, como que se hicieron de la vista chiquita y mejor trataron de trabajar, con el firme propósito de querer ganarle a los estadounidenses. Más de una hora y media trabajó La Volpe con sus seleccionados, a quienes les ha pedido calma, que no se presionen, por todo lo que rodea a este duelo. Que más bien traten de concentrarse y evitar escuchar más comentarios. Otro aspecto que podemos mencionar es el fuerte calor que se siente por acá. El clima oscila entre los 36 y 39 grados y es húmedo, situación que provocó que los seleccionados terminaran completamente sudados, con sus uniformes de arreos completamente mojados, sobre todo sus camisetas.
Missing the Point The USSF correctly figures that 50K Mexican fans are going to rush the field, win, lose or draw, and finish off Cobi Jones, so they wanted a temporary pitch rather than having to replace the real one. Good job, USSF, as always.
Chowder, unfortunately you live in the US where soccer isn't a primary concern when building stadiums. All the designers did was look at the FIFA rule book and land exactly in the the middle. Probably saved them 10 or 20 million and made the sight lines for Texan games that much better. I do agree there really is no excuse for the condition of the field and only laying it a week in advance is pretty short sighted.
Well, if you look here and see your name next to any of the posts that would be the bulk of it.. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=48041
And the field did suck and was pretty bad. Aparently the Drivel was right and you had to eat crow there, buddy.
http://www.stadiumguide.com/ Arsenal's home pitch - 110x71 Real Madrid's home pitch - 107 x 72 San Siro (the Milans) - 105 x 68 Anfield (Liverpool) - 110 x 75 Bayern Munich - 105 x 68 What in the hell are you complaining about? Come back to reality. There may be many reasons why Reliant Stadium is not a good home for an MLS team. The size of the field is NOT one of them.
I don't thinks so 'buddy'...I wasn't denying whether or not the field was in bad shape...the drivel I refered to was: 'why doesn't soccer ever get respect' "if it was a football game they would have built a new stadium for this game' 'nobody loves us' 'they treat the National team badly' 'why isn't the field WIDE enough...how can we be considered world class' basically, they all say the same thing, which is... 'I'm a whiny pu$$y who comes to message boards because I feel neglected'...... That would be the gist of the drivel....now, if the comments were limited to, its a shame the field is in poor shape because of the rodeo, I wish they would have thought out the timing better.....that would have been a different story. Instead some people feel this was a direct attack on the Mens program....and quite frankly its annoying. Teams play on poor fields all the time...teams adjust and move on.....you should try it too.
I was about to post the same thing. I can't believe people are so oblivious to European football and at the same time so "knowing" that 70 yards width and 110 length is not acceptable. What dimensions do these clowns think fields are suppose to be?
Sorry, gang, but yiz are, as usual, wrong. Very often the Euro clubs report metric measurements that get misinterpreted. Do you really think that Bernabeu or Nou Camp or Olympicstadion are 68 yards wide or whatever? They're not. Arsenal is a bit skinny but it... a) was built before the Titanic sunk b) was never the permanent home of the English national team or a World Cup venue, and.. c) faces the wrecking ball. Reliant Stadium is too narrow for WC matches, which disappoints given that it was recently constructed and supposedly built with the "international game" in mind, and the field last night was terrible. Too say otherwise is as silly as to suggest that John Paul II isn't a Roman Catholic or that bears don't deficate in the forest.
No really...we can grow grass here in Houston Gentlemen, The field was crap, sorry from us down here in Texas. We normaly have top flight greens. The Texans are a very classy group that just dropped the ball. Still, Klein can't blame the pitch for a off target header.
San Siro is 114*74 in yards Which means the San Siro is not as wide as any of the USA World Cup 94 fields according to: http://www.lacancha.com/trends.htm Fifa minimum standards for a World Cup match are officially 110 yards long by 70 yards wide so Reliant *is* within World Cup standards for width and length, but who knows if Reliant is within WC standards for height.
OK, I'll say it: you're full of crap. You mean to tell me that Foxboro, Giants, Silverdome and the Cotton Bowl were wider than San Siro? Sorry, pal. But yiz are wrong.
Please explain how I am full of crap by responding to the substance of my post. Just randomly spouting off doesn't get anybody anywhere. BTW I didn't write that article.