The 25 to 20 yrd endzones I was very young kid so I really cant comment on that.
The slashed endzone corners with stadiums that had a track were the norm as i started getting older.
I was also excited about the US expansion into the cfl as it was around the time I was graduating from college.
Thats until I found out that the stadiums field dimentions varied greatly. And the import rules wouldnt apply to US teams so quickly i didnt like it.
Growing up
An living in the greater philadelphia area i was able to shoot down I95 and catcth Baltimore stallions games. With orioles moving to Camden yards. Baltimore took the effort to remove outfield bleacher seats so the stadium could accomodate official CFL dimensions.
So thats why I have no time for MLSE not adjusting BMO in this day in age to accomadate 20 yard endzones.
& I certainly cant stand Rogers for NOT accomodating the Argos after they bought skydome from the city for a bag of magic beans.
My pleasure.
all soccer lines should be removable. I agree it does look amateur and very minor league. All stadium turf should not have any permanent lines stitched into the turf. They should follow the lead from THF and TD Stadium, BC Place. Lines should be painted on the field for the appropriate event.
Great point, and thanks for starting the thread. The showcase event on the CFL calendar should NOT be played on a field that has soccer lines on it. Thats just ridiculous. They should be removed for the (gridiron) football game and if that is not possible, then no Grey Cup hosting privileges.
Last years skating rink debacle shows how the league totally dropped the ball when it came to game day presentation and allowing soccer lines on the field of play (or choosing to host your crown jewel event there), is silly, and “bush league”.
Its a shame that the best stadium in the league (Mosaic Stadium) has permanent lines stitched into the field. To me this is the showcase stadium for the CFL and unfortunate that they decided on permanant lines on the field. Hopefully the league mandates this going forward and enforces no permanent lines be made on any new turf.
Thats surprising. Why does it have to be stitched in? Thats silly. If you have a soccer match, just paint the lines in. When done, remove. Its just that simple. The technology exists. There’s no good reason not to do it. And in Regina of all places? Absolutely bizarre.
While I totally agree with the general consensus in this thread I can’t help but chuckle to myself…
I remember distinctly some in this thread lambasting TFC / soccer fans for pointing this very thing out. They were vocal enough to get the lines removed during the games - BMO ground’s crew have been great. I would like to see CFL fans do the same. No reason for the field to be marked up with permanent multi-sport lines - It’s cheap and ugly.
Cost saving…
Thats stupid.
The cost of relining the field is not out of this world expensive.
You just dropped a quarter BILLION on a new stadium, but the money spent on removing and repainting lines on a field is just too much? Seriously? We’re not talking about a highschool or local parksboard where budgets are tight, we’re talking about a pro football team that brings in $40 million+ in revenues and plays again, in a quarter BILLION dollar stadium.
So again, extremely stupid if true.
Precisely! I couldn’t agree more.
A lot has to do with the type of surface and the solvents used to remove the paint. For example - BMO field experimented with the timeline and several variants of paints/ solvent solutions before settling on a process that worked on grass without killing it or damaging the grass/ surface. It’s not cheap to do so for every game. It’s an added expense to operations. I’m sure the same is for artificial turf. you can’t just take a pressure washer to it and cross your fingers. That could damage the field in an expensive way. Any additional cost to operations must be run past the board… Thus… stitched in lines to ward off any undue wear and tear to the turf and the underlying structure.
If I remember correctly, Mosaic uses the same turf as CenturyLink - Fieldturf Revolution 360… Sand and rubber infill base. So it is possible to remove and cover lines. They manage to remove the NFL lines for Sounders games and the MLS Cup… There were some visible shadows but it was better than seeing the lines from three sports.
See: Place, B.C.
As I already mentioned, the technology exists. Its not a “hope for the best” scenario-at all. The technology is used in pretty much every major facility in North America that has artificial turf in it. They have specialized, proven equipment for these applications. Also, its not expensive when you take a look at the total facility maintenance budget.
“Undue wear and tear” is laughable, as the turf’s underlay will go long, LONG before the turf gets worn out by erasing soccer lines off of it.;D
Perhaps they should restrict where and how long the players can stand on it, in order to preserve it longer. ;D
BMO is a grass/turf blend. That gets tricky. Mosaic is not, and is straightforward.
The TFC supporters thought that it was a certainty that they’d play games with noticeable football markings and that the Argos would ruin their field. They were blind to the countless examples of seamless ground-shares around the world and were wrong on both accounts.
I was definitely a critic of the TFC resistance to sharing BMO field. That said, I think a clean field presentation is a bare minimum to ask for a professional league with aspirations to grow and be respected. I don’t think its hypocritical to have chastised TFC fans and advocate for a clean field in the CFL.
We aren’t here saying that each public CFL stadium should be CFL-only and never shared. That was the degree of stupidity coming from some in the TFC camp.
True - A small but extremely vocal segment of TFC fans… Some even doubted the hybrid turf solution… They are a small minded bunch of Euro purists who didn’t even look to ground share in their own European leagues for viable examples. They are pretty quiet now.
Totally agree - you just have to convince the owners of Mosaic to get with the program.
Agreed.
The decision to go with permanent multi-sport markings in Regina is really short sighted when you consider that Mosaic is not unlike Tim Hortons Field with community programming in addition to pro spectator sports.
Would you have the curling rings for a hockey game…
Its been done before.
Yea. I find that one bizzare as well. The new Mosaic has that type of modern turf. They dont have a soccer team that plays there on a regular basis.
With all the teams with all the new stadiums & new Turf Mosaic would be the last one you would think would have it stitched in.
Yes, you would think. And so would I. But clearly they did not.
:-\
Hmmmm. Maybe if we offered them a watermelon…
