I think this has occurred to me before but haven’t mentioned it here. Just noticing again while watching Jimmy’s video clips from the Houston hoops game that the BWA floor is painted with the “Arkansas” and “Razorbacks” at either end in the font that Nike gave us. But the end zone graphics in RRS are still block letters. Wonder when that will change, or why it hasn’t. Personally, I would like the end zones painted red with white letters, pretty much like the baselines at BWA.
We could copy Boise and red the field, or better yet, Anthracite. I know that excites everyone. J/K
I’ve wondered why some teams do change graphics on the field and others keep “tradition.”
The fonts and color of the field will change when that turf runs its course. I would guess that will be within the next few years, possibly by the time the stadium is completely renovated. The SEC is a mostly natural grass league, so I wonder if Arkansas may go back to natural grass when that time comes.
I think most of the SEC is natural grass now… would love to RRS back in grass.
I suspect we’ll get what Bret Bielema wants, just as we went to turf because that’s what Bobby Petrino wanted. Iowa had grass when BB was an assistant there, then K-State, Wisky and now us have all had turf. I don’t know that playing surface would make a whole lot of difference with his preferred style of play.
As for field graphics, those have changed over the years. We had nothing painted in the end zone for a very long time, then went to a very plain font in the end zone on green grass, added the Hog painted at the 50 later and went to block letters with this current turf in RRS. I just think having block letters on green grass in the endzones looks kinda incomplete.
While it is true that most SEC schools now have grass, it is also true that most SEC schools are located well to the south of Fayetteville. It is much easier to maintain a grass field in the late fall in a warmer climate. It is also true that Tennessee, the northernmost SEC school now using grass, has had major problems with their field and may well go to turf in the near future. The other schools with turf: Kentucky, Mizzou, Vandy and Ole Miss. All of those, plus us, are among the northernmost schools in the league.
There is an interesting look at the MMQB site this week on what Green Bay has to do to maintain its field in such arctic weather. <LINK_TEXT text=“http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/12/08/pack … ndskeepers”>http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/12/08/packers-lambeau-field-frozen-tundra-groundskeepers</LINK_TEXT>
Green Bay actually uses a surface called Desso Grassmaster, which is a natural turf field with artificial fibers injected into the ground that kind of ties things together and encourages a deeper root system for the grass. The Broncos also use Grassmaster, as do many English soccer teams which are obliged to keep a grass field going all winter well to the north of anything in the lower 48 states. Grassmaster would certainly be an option for us when it is time to replace the field.
Ole Miss changed to grass field this year.
I prefer grass, but I understand the practicality of artificial turf.
They may not play enough on it to matter, but Inhave started to read/here that there are many who believe that the artificial turf pellets are dangerous and in sports (lacrosse. field hockey/soccer etc.) where the athletes play lots of games on it there is a concern that there may be unusually high incidents of Cancer.
It may be that plays a factor nationally with these turfs as well.
This story has also hit within the past week or so, leading many to wonder if the turf companies have oversold the value and longevity of the fields: http://fieldturf.nj.com/
It should be noted that Arkansas used a company called Sportexe and not the one questioned in the article.
I was disappointed when Arkansas went away from the grass field during the Petrino years. There is no question that Arkansas is one of the slower teams in the SEC as far as team speed. I believe that going back to a grass field would help a little in that regard as far as negating some of the difference. Yes, I know that the best way to deal with the speed issue is to recruit faster players. But every little bit helps and I have heard many coaches over the years say that grass fields help to negate the speed difference between teams.
OK, hadn’t noticed that Ole Miss went to grass. It’s also the southernmost of the schools that previously had turf.
Matt, Sportexe no longer exists. Same company, but they now go by Shaw Sports Turf. I think Shaw bought Sportexe. Not sure if Shaw/Sportexe uses/used the same kind of filler.
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.shawsportsturf.com/shaw-spor … nges-name/”>http://www.shawsportsturf.com/shaw-sportexe-changes-name/</LINK_TEXT>
Seems like we have one natural grass practice field, but of course that’s to prepare for natural grass opponents. Or is it?
Basically. It’s also cooler in the heat of the summer; when temps on the turf start hitting 130 in August, every little bit helps.