Grass fields and mud! With all the synthetic surfaces all you see is rubber pebbles on the players jerseys. I'm sure it's cheaper to maintain these fields and teams probably save on laundy costs, but I miss the mud and grass stains. One the first games I ever saw was a playoff game in the early 1980s, rain at Landsdowne in Ottawa and lots of mud!
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMic6BqztKE&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMic6Bqz ... re=related[/url] (not this game but you see a bit of mud!)not me
What's rain?
hot snow
No wonder, BC was the first to go to the fake grass!!! :roll:
Thats because of the climate in Vancouver. It rains so much there that even the pavement turns to mud.
I think a number of stadiums in the usa, and maybe other countries, do so before BC Place. :roll:
My first game in high school was on a field that sat at the bottom of a hill. Torrential downpour in the morning and it was a mud bowl. I was a linebacker and loved it. I agree with the OP, I see why they go with fake grass but I miss real turf.
I’m shocked BC was the first. You know how much they have always bragged about having the best grass.
Oh wait…
Talkin CFL :cowboy:
I dunno, after that Grey Cup in Edmonton a few years ago where the field was a skating rink and the game was more about who had the correct footwear then who could play football I'm pretty glad they use FieldTurf everywhere.
You can get that with field turf. It’s less likely but you can get bad conditions (wet, icy, snow, water) on field turf.
For one thing that I do recall (I think) is that Old Empire Stadium was sinking. Poor drainage too perhaps compared to other grass fields as too the water/mud at or near centre field? Then again, most of the play is between the hash marks. And to add the grass and/or mud stains on jerseys were kinda cool.
You can, but you can’t get the grass turning into mud. It’s a much more resilient surface.
…it had grass but old empire finished it’s life with astroturf over something hard (asphalt? concrete?)…I know because I played HS football there in the early 80s and still have the rug burn on my elbows to show for it…
…I get the OPs sentiment though, football is a game that scoffs at the elements and conducting a game on a muddy field was a part of the game at one point…lost in time, like tears in rain…
Agreed and a part of the sport I love. It’s not the only outdoor sport to play despite the weather but like those sports the game is played regardless. I’ve seen games played in torrential rain, high winds that made punting almost impossible, blizzards, icy fields and bad field conditions come with that.
I understand the turn to artificial turf, but I do miss the muddy chewed up field both as a fan and former (high school) player.
Thanks for the insight RedandWhite and dcmoses; I should have expanded further on the sinking part of Old Empire, I (think) if I recall correctly that the stands were perhaps sinking? I could be wrong also.
Not B.C. Place. He’s talking about Empire Stadium. It was the first stadium in the country to lay down articifial turf (1970), followed by Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton.
They’ve made so many advancements with maintaining real grass surfaces, just look at Premiership soccer games now played in the English winter vs 20-30 years ago when the pitches were slop. Even places like Pittsburgh (NFL) seem to have a great grass surface.
I wouldn’t mind if BC Place turns to a real grass surface at some point. They’ll have the ideal conditions in which to grow it. Nothing like the smell of real grass when you arrive at the ballpark!
Honestly mud makes for pretty boring games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7DTNEa2E7w
:thdn: :thup: :thup: :thup: