Faux Grass

[NewsCopy]

UL - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns® wil have already defeated one powerful opponent – Mother Nature – by the time they play their first home game on Sept. 20.

Installation of artificial turf this summer will take away her ability to affect Cajun Field’s playing surface.

Scott Farmer, UL's senior associate athletic director, said switching from natural grass to artificial grass will ensure that the gridiron remains in optimum shape and always looks its best. “This field will become a showcase for our university, for our Athletic Department,” he said.

Farmer ranks the artificial turf as the second most important athletic facility improvement at UL Lafayette in recent years. The first, he said, was construction of the huge Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility, which opened in Fall 2007. It enables all Ragin’ Cajun teams to stay dry and safe when they must practice during inclement weather.

“There’s no doubt that the No. 1 strength in the Athletic Department today is the indoor practice facility because no one else in the Sun Belt Conference has that. It sets us apart,” Farmer said.

He offered several ways artificial turf at Cajun Field will benefit the University of Louisiana.

It’s cheaper

Maintaining a natural surface requires equipment, supplies and labor. For instance, crews use gasoline-powered lawnmowers and string trimmers. Water, weed killers and fertilizer are needed to keep grass healthy. Paint is used for stripes and logos on the field. The new field will cost about $700,000. It is expected to have a 10-year life, with minimal maintenance costs. “When you add up all the costs associated with a natural grass playing field, it’s more economical to put in artificial turf,” Farmer said.

The rest of the story

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2008

[ZresearchA]

Faux-naïf is more like it. Do they really think they can save money with this? After eleven years you sink $1.4 mil in plastic blades and sand balls and pretend you don't have to hire maintenance to keep the field raked and floated. I refuse to believe that putting the $700G in a money market earning a measly three percent wouldn’t give a full time maintenance guy the head start on saving the Swamp’s beloved grass. It's not like you can let the maintenance crew go, he still has to cut the end zone hills. This sounds like a weapon of mass distraction ploy.

[ulforlife]

who cares if they're only saving 10,000 dollars a year. the field never was well kept and was often slightly muddy. this is a matter of having a field that is pleasing to the eye and easier on injuries. that is just what the turf will provide

[CrazyCajun]

also you can play high school games there and it wont tear up the field. letting some high schools play may help draw interest from local athletes and fans. for instance have northside and stm play there, you can have acadiana and lafayette high play their games there. i think the turf is great either way b/c it is what everyone is going to. its about time we actually keep up with other schools on something.

[Cajun Express]

i think the turf is great either way b/c it is what everyone is going to. its about time we actually keep up with other schools on something. _

It is what everybody with a low limit budget is going for. I doubt you will ever see it at USC, LSU, Ga, FL. You might get it in some big programs of the midwest like OSU, Michigan, and ND for example because the grass dies so early. The only good thing about it is that it may keep Ricky from setting up those 2:00 P M games, the stuff is just too hot for a day game in September. The stuff is also great for indoor facilities.

[CajunRage]

Faux-naïf is more like it. Do they really think they can save money with this? After eleven years you sink $1.4 mil in plastic blades and sand balls and pretend you don't have to hire maintenance to keep the field raked and floated. I refuse to believe that putting the $700G in a money market earning a measly three percent wouldn’t give a full time maintenance guy the head start on saving the Swamp’s beloved gr_____ It's not like you can let the maintenance crew go, he still has to cut the end zone hills. This sounds like a weapon of mass distraction ploy.

Really....? It has little to do with lower maintenance costs. You can play the high school jamborees now, possibly regular season and playoff games. You have the band competitions. Not to mention, it won't be a mud pit after a light shower during a game or practice. As long as we break even or better on maintenance, the additional uses this brings in enough income to back it. Look at the big picture.

[Just1More]

I wasn't "high on fake grass" (no pun intended) at the start. It's kind of hard to call it a swamp now... but in reality... I never much saw it as swamp... it got muddy sometimes... but a wet muddy field is not a swamp.

The benefits of having a nice looking field year round, despite the weather or how much traffic it gets, is a huge benefit. High schoolers and other event groups could make use of it, and that adds to marketing of UL sports in the community.

I have no means of disputing the maintenance cost reduction. There may be underlying future maintenance associated with the field, other than grass maintenance, that this new system eliminates.

I'm holding final (personal) judgement until I see it in action. I hope the players like it.

[Cajun90]

It is what everybody with a low limit budget is going for. I doubt you will ever see it at USC, LSU, Ga, FL. You might get it in some big programs of the midwest like OSU, Michigan, and ND for example because the grass dies so early. The only good thing about it is that it may keep Ricky from setting up those 2:00 P M games, the stuff is just too hot for a day game in September. The stuff is also great for indoor facilities.

Ohio State is currently installing artifical turf on their playing field. Florida already has artifical turf on their practice fields. Obviously they spend more time on those than the real stuff.

A number of studies have concluded that the artificial turf does not contribute to more injuries, or to the severity of injuries. It also contains less bacteria.

No doubt the stuff gets hot and I think that is the biggest problems. It has been proven that wetting the field prior to use can drop the temperature considerably but it still is much hotter than natural turf at the surface. One study that I read noted that three feet above the playing surface there was no differecne in temperature for pretty much all the different types of artificial turf. All in all I think the temperature issue can be dealt with.

[cajunfan96]

_ _

“There’s no doubt that the No. 1 strength in the Athletic Department today is the indoor practice facility because no one else in the Sun Belt Conference has that. It sets us apart,” Farmer said.


I pray that we do not let this facility deteriorate and fail to make necessarey upgrades, because the rest of the conferece will catch up.(AKA: FLA Atlantic)

[Boomer]

Over the years recruiting--well long ago --I would take some kids to see the swamp on a cold dark rainey day and it wasn't too impressive--Now the "look" will always be there---I think just that adds to a good decision!!!!

[Pirogue]

_ Faux-naïf is more like it. Do they really think they can save money with this? After eleven years you sink $1.4 mil in plastic blades and sand balls and pretend you don't have to hire maintenance to keep the field raked and floated. I refuse to believe that putting the $700G in a money market earning a measly three percent wouldn’t give a full time maintenance guy the head start on saving the Swamp’s beloved gr_____ It's not like you can let the maintenance crew go, he still has to cut the end zone hills. This sounds like a weapon of mass distraction ploy. _

tHE MAINTENANCE CREW NEEDED TO GO ANYWAY...

THERE WAS SERIOUS FAILURE TO KEEP UP THE FIELD FOR DECADES...
tHE GRASS WAS AWFUL, AND I KNOW GRASS

[Zeebart21]

tHE MAINTENANCE CREW NEEDED TO GO ANYWAY...

THERE WAS SERIOUS FAILURE TO KEEP UP THE FIELD FOR DECADES...
tHE GRASS WAS AWFUL, AND I KNOW GRASS

When Mike Hesse was in chge. the field was excellent. Thats been 15-20 years, though.

Z

[LifeTimeCajun]

I just think that we could have better spent 700K rather than putting it on a the turf. You can employee two men to be full time workers that can maintain that field...to do maintenace only. We are talking about less than three acres to take care of. And for that kind of money you can buy a heck of alot of chemicals to take care of it as well. Of course I am not talking about all the painting and endzone designs ...just speaking of turf maintenace. We are in south lousiana. There is no reason you cant get grass to grow with the rescources that a university should have.

[CajunAmos]

I just think that we could have better spent 700K rather than putting it on a the turf. You can employee two men to be full time workers that can maintain that field...to do maintenace only. We are talking about less than three acres to take care of. And for that kind of money you can buy a heck of alot of chemicals to take care of it as well. Of course I am not talking about all the painting and endzone designs ...just speaking of turf maintenace. We are in south lousiana. There is no reason you cant get grass to grow with the rescources that a university should have.

I'm thinking that the maintenance personnel is the same that handles these services for the whole university, and they don't have the staffing to dedicate time to just one field. I don't think baseball would be having an assistance coach spend time maintaining a field rather than scouting or coaching if there was another avenue to handle this maintenance. Also, during off seasons, no one maintains the fields at all. I think it was stated in an earlier post, but just having the fields in great condition year round for recruiting purposes is a great thing as well.

[Just1More]

I saw a local sports personality talking to some HS coaches and he said that there are over 50 artificial football fields in Louisiana now, mostly at high schools. I find it hard to believe that the cost is justified thru reduced maintenance costs alone. For HS programs, I think it's easier to get boosters to pay for a new turf field than it is to get them to rally around paying for the upkeep on the old gr_____ That is probably one of the biggest reasons that "maintenance economics" plays a part in this. Otherwise, I find it hard to believe that maintenance cost reductions justify the capital outlay.

Regardless, there are benefits to faux grass beyond maintenance cost reductions. I think it will be an improvement from many angles. It does impress HS recruits. For one, the speedster types want to play on turf. They know that they clock out faster on turf. I think it's a wash, but they don't... and that's what counts.

I like the fact that we will be practicing on artificial grass and playing on it. That does add both a real and perceived (mental) benefit to our team. I also like that we can provide the stadium to a multitude of events, marketing our program at the very least, and not have to worry about significant damage/repair to our field.

"The Faux Swamp"... I think that new name will be indisputably unique.