I had the opportunity to talk with turf installer, and they install artificial surfaces all over the globe, and are considered to be one of the tops in the field. He told me that the problems with sand based surfaces is the sand and rubber bits are mixed together, but when they are sprayed around the field the sand comes out first and the rubber bits come out last. Thereby creating sections of the turf that are getting 100% sand, and no rubber - and thereby getting hard as a street. Most of the newer products aren't using sand anymore because of that problem. Well there you go.
The old Brazil-nut dynamic or some variation thereof. How about this? A transparent plastic covering that would cover and insulate a grass surface, providing an always attractive green color combined with an astonishingly true bounce? Do you think I could make money?
Re: Re: Why artificial surfaces go bad? He didn't mention anything about the heat causing it to go bad, only the sand. It wasn't a concern for me, because up in New England the heat isn't as much a factor, plus we'll be playing mostly night games.
Maybe they could put cooling coils beneath the surface to keep the field cool. Or we could have a Zamoboni get out there just before the game and at halftime and spray a thin layer of ice on the field. Fake grass sucks. No on ever dreams of playing on fake grass. "The crisp cool air, the roar of the crowd, wearing the blazing red jersey, the smell of...burnt tires." It just doesn't fit.
Reading England uses a turf consisting of 98% grass and 2% plastic. Seems to work very well and has all the good properties of artificial turf (?) and grass. Astrograss? I don't know what it is, but it sounds like something to investigate.