New Turf on Cajun Field

[BrockMeaux]

My only objection to natural grass is that our people haven't always made it look nice for every home game.

Exactly. If the field would look like a bowl game was about to be played on it for every event at the field, I'd be great with keeping the real grass. But aesthetically, the turf is much easier to maintain. If you were at the Showcase of Marching Bands this past November, you saw how terrible the field looked. The yard lines, hashes, center field logo, and endzone designs were barely visible, along with a few dying patches, all in front of 20,000 potential students and parents. They may not have noticed that it looked bad, but you always notice when a field looks NICE, and a turf could go a long way towards improving our university in that department.

[NOCajun]

_ I agree with you 100%. Football was made to play on real grass. Field turf should only be considered in domes & teams playing up north where the field consistantly interferes with the outcome of the game.

Should we install turn on the baseball field also? Hell no! _

HUGE difference. Natural grass on a baseball field doesn't get torn up anywhere near as much as on a football field. I don't remember the last time the Swamp didn't actually LOOK LIKE A SWAMP. CAJUN FIELD has had one of the worst looking playing surfaces I've seen anywhere for a long time and it's about time the University did something about it!!!

[CajunDreDog]

I heard we are getting field turf on cajun field. They will start taking up the old field in january. The endzones will be red.

Turf or not....I have been saying for SEVERAL years that our endzones should be RED!!!

Nice red endzone, with Louisiana in white, and Lafayette in red of course.

[USLJim]

_ I heard we are getting field turf on cajun field. They will start taking up the old field in january. The endzones will be red. _

First, let me say that I am for Progress but I don't think we need a new turf for football before Baseball gets their new surfacing done. I mean, Coach Robe has been waiting for this for over 2 years. Why can't we reward our winning programs with much needed repairs before venturing into something this expensive. My questions is, How will this effect Coach Robe getting his new turf, drainage and sprinkling system.

Geaux Cajuns

[CrazyCajun]

What the hell is wrong with people. People complain that we dont do anything for the program, then people complain when something positive happens for the program. Your not stuck with the way turf looks, they can change the design just like you do on grass. there is a chemical that removes the paint. the indoor practice facility had crap painted all over it and its no longer there. it does not matter if we like grass of turf, it matters if the players like it and it seems they all do. We are going to use it to take andvantage of our speed. I thought by bringing this up it would be a positive thing to talk about but i guess i was wrong. We dont spend money on football, then when we do its not how we want it spent. come on people think about where this thread ended up going.

[AstroCajun]

the indoor practice facility had crap painted all over it and its no longer there.

It most certainly did.

[Hardcore]

I'm with CC on this one! After watching the last home game and seeing the condition of the field after just one quarter....it's a no-brainer!

[rhineaux]

_ What the hell is wrong with people. People complain that we dont do anything for the program, then people complain when something positive happens for the program. Your not stuck with the way turf looks, they can change the design just like you do on grass. there is a chemical that removes the paint. the indoor practice facility had crap painted all over it and its no longer there. it does not matter if we like grass of turf, it matters if the players like it and it seems they all do. We are going to use it to take andvantage of our speed. I thought by bringing this up it would be a positive thing to talk about but i guess i was wrong. We dont spend money on football, then when we do its not how we want it spent. come on people think about where this thread ended up going. _

Come on Crazy...I don't think that people are truly upset about this, but this is a discussion forum, and that is what is happening. Everyone has different opinions and concerns, and often times, stating them in this forum allows for others to rebuke their claims and changes opinion for the better.

I will say that my beef, and beef is probably too strong a word, is not that we are spending money to help the program, but was the worry that we WOULD spend it WRONG. There's been plenty of evidence of things happening in the ath dept that are, often times, done half-asssed. I certainly think that football is a grass game, and that's probably just the traditionalist in me coming out. but like i said before, I can see the benefits of the turf, and I hope that they invest in a quality product that will not only look great, but will hold up over time, and not end up costing us more in maintenance and such, than just improving the grass would. If this is a project that's been in the works for a while, then I would worry about that. If its something that's just come about by our new regime, then I think that it will probably work out for the better. Just making a statement, not complaining.

I do, however, see Jim's point about the baseball team. We certainly need help in recruiting to football, and this could help. However, if it is at the expense of helping our baseball team potentially crossing the next level, then it may not be the best decision. Hopefully soon, we can have both, and all sports will get what they need so we won't have to have these discussions anymore.

[CrazyCajun]

_ Come on Crazy...I don't think that people are truly upset about this, but this is a discussion forum, and that is what is happening. Everyone has different opinions and concerns, and often times, stating them in this forum allows for others to rebuke their claims and changes opinion for the better.

I will say that my beef, and beef is probably too strong a word, is not that we are spending money to help the program, but was the worry that we WOULD spend it WRONG. There's been plenty of evidence of things happening in the ath dept that are, often times, done half-asssed. I certainly think that football is a grass game, and that's probably just the traditionalist in me coming out. but like i said before, I can see the benefits of the turf, and I hope that they invest in a quality product that will not only look great, but will hold up over time, and not end up costing us more in maintenance and such, than just improving the grass would. If this is a project that's been in the works for a while, then I would worry about that. If its something that's just come about by our new regime, then I think that it will probably work out for the better. Just making a statement, not complaining.

I do, however, see Jim's point about the baseball team. We certainly need help in recruiting to football, and this could help. However, if it is at the expense of helping our baseball team potentially crossing the next level, then it may not be the best decision. Hopefully soon, we can have both, and all sports will get what they need so we won't have to have these discussions anymore. _

i wasnt trying to point out anyone in particular, but it just seems like we are never happy. and if you noticed in my last post i said "WE" b/c i am guilty of it also at times. i promise you the football team did not take robes money for his field. We all know tony is pretty much self supportive and we have plenty of baseball donors that will get them what they need. Not to mention if we get football where it should be, then none of our sport programs will need to worry about money. First game of the year when monroe played tulsa on tv did you see how good their field looked. thats the first thing i noticed and i'm not a recruit. now i was with you forever on the whole football should be played on grass b/c thats the way we were brought up but if you have never been in the indoor facility you need to check it out. i promise that surface is way better than that crappy grass surface we play on every saturday. i don't know if you were at the game when souther miss and ark st. played in the lafayette bowl but thats what a grass field should look like. they planted rye grass before the teams played b/c our surface looked so terrible. And my rant earlier was really only b/c for once i would just like to hear people say something positive about what we are trying to do instead of always finding the negative. We have a new AD, a new asst. AD, and a new Pres, now we need to change into a new mindset. If we always think we are doing the wrong thing then it will never be the right thing and people will always see this university as ass backwards.

[CajunKahouna]

_ What the hell is wrong with people. People complain that we dont do anything for the program, then people complain when something positive happens for the program. Your not stuck with the way turf looks, they can change the design just like you do on grass. there is a chemical that removes the paint. the indoor practice facility had crap painted all over it and its no longer there. it does not matter if we like grass of turf, it matters if the players like it and it seems they all do. We are going to use it to take andvantage of our speed. I thought by bringing this up it would be a positive thing to talk about but i guess i was wrong. We dont spend money on football, then when we do its not how we want it spent. come on people think about where this thread ended up going. _

You can please all the people some of the time,..........blah, blah, blah, BS