Maybe we can go back to the old grass for the summer turf for the playoffs format we had back in the day. Atleast the grass was a good grass for the part that it was up. Unlike crappy grass year round.
I don't buy it. First, I'd find it surprising that the NJSEA still has the old Astroturf lying around somewhere. If they did, they'd have laid it back down in November when Jets players were losing entire limbs to the dirt field. All the indicators are that it only takes about two weeks to get FieldTurf in. Second, if true then Metro will be the only soccer team to play in Giants Stadium this year, thus denying the NJSEA a couple million dollars' worth of necessary revenue from MUFC / Juventus.
Man U v Juve will bring in more than enough $$$ to pay for the temporary installation of a grass field for that match. This match will be played on grass no matter what happens - both clubs have demanded it as part of their agreement. I think the best we can hope for is that Metro gets to play a game or two on it before they rip it out.
with respect to the man u tour, they'll prob keep what's there (the current grass) til its over, then install the astroturf. and they will not be using the old astroturf...just a new carpet...
#Even w/ AstoTurf, the NJSEA should not draw football ines on the pitch until late August. When the Cosmos played back in the 1980s they played on turf w/ no football lines. If the NJSEA installs astroturf with lines, the Metros should protest legally and even consider breaking their contract and play games at Mitchell Field or Rutgers.
Putting aside our legitimate aestetic sensibilities for a moment, does anyone think that the playing surface will be a dealbreaker for MUFC? If the NJSEA really does put down a carpet with permanent grid lines, it will be interesting to see whether the football folks or the accountants rule to roost at Old Trafford. IMO, it's no contest if the surface is one approved by FIFA, e.g. Field Turf, even if it has the Giants logo painted on every square inch. This is especially true for what is in essence a preseason friendly/goodwill/marketing tour. Did you ever see some of the grounds where English clubs play preseason friendlies in Ireland every summer? My money is on the accountants and I think that they would play a preseason friendly at the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue if the promoters ponied up the lion's share of a Giants Stadium type gate (78000 x $35.00 a head). Kevin
my understanding is that its painted on permanently...i don't know if its done before or after the carpet is laid...but i don't know how hard it is to roll up the football carpet and put down the soccer one.... they do it in the endzones for giants and jets.... maybe they can negotiate a 2 for 1 deal with the turf people.... the thought of astroturf really p1sses me off... i'd be more accepting of fieldturf...but for gods sake...get an extra soccer carpet....i think i remember reading that it costs around 75K for the whole thing.... not much considering they spend that to rent the stadium for 1 game.... the only solution is to get the phuck out of giants stadium and hopefully st. phil will pony up the money nj won't and build the stadium....
If it's FieldTurf, no issue. MUFC's practice fields are FieldTurf. But what stinky said was Astroturf, which to me would be a deal killer. Maybe MUFC would still send a "team", but I doubt that either team would play anyone on their regular starting 11 on early-generation plastic. And if people pay what is likely to be $75-80 apiece to see Beckham and Scholes and Ruud but don't get any of them, all of the involved parties (NJSEA, ChampionsWorld, MU) would be done for as far as future New York events are concerned.
Where did this astroturf rumor come from. My understanding from speaking to people at MLS in the course of my job is that it will be FieldTurf. Where did the rumor come from?
so we have the silver lining..... but, honestly, i did hear astroturf, not fieldturf.....i hope to god i'm wrong...
somebody metro.....something about fieldturf not being rugged enough for both football teams, metros, concerts, etc.... i just heard it through a friend of a friend......and then i got a pit in my stomach..... do the people at mls have any insight on the football lines being permanent?
So where has the Astroturf been for the past 3-4 years? In All-State Storage along Route 17 in Moonachie?
No way its AstroTurf. 1. No one buys the stuff anymore. 2. The last rug at Giants Stadium was damaged by some sort of Fungus that grew under the Metros tray system. So it no longer is around. If its turf it will be one of the new breeds. Which one I don't know.
Not that it matters, but I don't think this is true. They pulled up the tray system and then had to clean the rug because of the stains. They played pointy-ball for another season on the rug and then removed it.
actually, i believe that turf was ruined and they had to replace it with a new one...the cost of which was substantially paid for by metro.... so it was fairly new when it was replaced with grass
There is more. Just do a google search. Also remember the Jets bringing that up when the Grass field this year came to a head, and talk of the Metros and how they would want grass came up.
Growing plastic grass in GS There should be plenty of nutrients for growth, compliments of Jimmy Hoffa, and any other co-habitating colleagues...
The crappy year round grass existed because the NJSEA abused it and wouldn't maintain it properly. The NJSEA is an organization of useless bureaucrats governed by itinerant paid political hacks of whatever political party is in power (please don't deny this Obie, it's the truth and the odium casts its pall over both major parties -- and you know it). At this point, I'd settle for the early season sod before the dreadful gridiron plastic is revealed. Unfortunately, I suspect that since the Metro have absolutely no credibility, no clout, no other option to play anywhere but where the Governor of the State of NJ tells them to play, they will play on Giants/Jets plastic from day one and told to love it.
And Zoffinger didn't harvest it as penicillin? Damn, a lost business oportunity there. Hell, instead of being content to put the Metro out of business, he could have taken on Merck!
NJSEA full of party hacks? Be still my heart! The NJSEA leadership may be inept -- it hasn't run at a profit in many years -- but it's not like the groundskeeper jobs are patronage, Bill. I don't think the NJSEA are deliberately trying to screw Metro here as much as it's trying to maintain what is possibly the most frequently-abused playing surface on the planet. 18-20 soccer games plus 20 NFL games (was about 26 during the XFL year, which was an especially bad winter/spring for rain) plus 2-3 college football games plus 3-6 concerts plus God knows whatever else. All of those things take a major toll on the surface. It needs either a year without any play so that grass can really take root, or some hybrid surface. I still have a hard time believing that they're going to pull out the Astroturf out of storage for this year.
If the Metros ever break and go to my alma matter Rutgers, I'll buy a season ticket. RU is still a haul for me, but it's a perfect stadium for MLS. the problem is that the NJSEA has an arrangement with RU. Zoffinger's daughter also went to Rutgers when I was there, so it would probably never happen.