Can we put natural grass in the new stadium?

[Guest]

Unlike Zona hauling their field out of the stadium...whenever they want to shield it from other events. There's no way to do that with our building! So is this field hurting other teams players as well....?

[Guest]

I misread the title as could we put natural gas in the stadium and my first thought was sure, just sell more chili at the concession stands.

[Guest]

@Tom Moore said:
The field did not cause his injury.  Teddy's knee got hurt in a non contact drill.  It was not turf.  He literally was standing still and tossing a ball

the turf is not causing the issue.  The unnatural size of players is putting too much stress in joints and ligaments.  Meanwhile, Teddy's was a freak accident.  Eric Sugarman said his injury could have happened to any of us in our showers.  Scary

Then the league needs to put a cap on size. . Only people who are 6 feet and under 200 pounds should play in the N.F.L.

[Guest]

@JimmyinSD said:

@NodakViking said:
I think the issue would be drainage and the associated humidity of the moisture necessary to keep it alive-I think the light issue is easy enough to overcome.


So if Teddy's injury was truly him just standing there tossing the ball it would explain how he has made a pretty quick and set back free(knock on wood) recovery.  I would think the potential for other more extensive damage would be lessened because the force being applied wasn't unusually extreme.

Drainage and humidity would be pretty simplegit actually.  A subsurface collection system like the one in target field and some commercial air exchangers,  problem solved.

I think the problem is the fields is below grade and they would have to pipe the excess to pumps to pump it up and out and none of that infrastructure is in place.  I brought it up when they released the design and was disappointed when it wasn't at least planned for.  I'm sure it would have added to the huge budget but how perfect would it be to walk in there in January(if they ever paly in January again) and have the smell of fresh cut grass and the warm sunshine shining in(if the sun ever comes out there).  Hell they could probably just sell tickets to experience that on the off days.

[Guest]

@NodakViking said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@NodakViking said:
I think the issue would be drainage and the associated humidity of the moisture necessary to keep it alive-I think the light issue is easy enough to overcome.


So if Teddy's injury was truly him just standing there tossing the ball it would explain how he has made a pretty quick and set back free(knock on wood) recovery.  I would think the potential for other more extensive damage would be lessened because the force being applied wasn't unusually extreme.

Drainage and humidity would be pretty simplegit actually.  A subsurface collection system like the one in target field and some commercial air exchangers,  problem solved.

I think the problem is the fields is below grade and they would have to pipe the excess to pumps to pump it up and out and none of that infrastructure is in place.  I brought it up when they released the design and was disappointed when it wasn't at least planned for.  I'm sure it would have added to the huge budget but how perfect would it be to walk in there in January(if they ever paly in January again) and have the smell of fresh cut grass and the warm sunshine shining in(if the sun ever comes out there).  Hell they could probably just sell tickets to experience that on the off days.

considering they would control the amount of moisture that was put on the field to begin with ( no open roof so no excessive water ) any drainage would be very minimal so the pumping requirements are really a non issue.  (literally think household sump pump)  I still think the lack of sunshine would be the biggest issue, yes you could likely get huge greenhouse lights and make it grow,  but the lack of fresh air, wind, and sun would likely leave a very moldy field condition IMO.   but water and humidity in the air shouldnt be a problem for modern construction.

maybe if they legalize pot in minny they can turn it into a multipurpose facility.... football field and grow house!

[Guest]

The Packers play on natural grass and led the league in injuries like 5 seasons ago...  I don't think the artificial turf had anything to do with Dalvin's knee injury.

Not trying to be a jerk, but this seems like fan conspiracy theory type stuff...  It seems much more plausible that it's a result from over training and/or players having too much muscle for their bodies to handle in a physical sport.

[Guest]

@Wetlander said:
The Packers play on natural grass and led the league in injuries like 5 seasons ago...  I don't think the artificial turf had anything to do with Dalvin's knee injury.

Not trying to be a jerk, but this seems like fan conspiracy theory type stuff...  It seems much more plausible that it's a result from over training and/or players having too much muscle for their bodies to handle in a physical sport.

but they play several games a year on shit turf and 1 at soldier with is usually a garbage dump for a playing surface.  I dont think its a stretch to say that playing surfaces can lead to more/less injuries and it used be quoted quite often about how much safer and better for joints running on real grass was vs the synthetic surfaces.  ( synthetics have improved, but I dont think they are as good as real grass yet)

[Guest]

Well I can tell you from walking on that field several times that my terrible knees would love walking on that stuff a hell of a lot more than walking on a natural field.

[Guest]

It’s a little disingenuous to suggest that Bridgewaters knee
went down while merely standing there. 
He was in the middle of dropping back when he went down.  Not exactly a huge athletic burden, but not the
same as standing stationary in the shower.


I do agree that athletes body compositions are trending
towards gaining muscle faster than the ligaments and tendons can strengthen to
handle the extra load, but I don’t think that excuses the turf as a
factor.  This is something that should be
able to be shown by statistics and studies. 
There appears to be conflicting study results, one on the NFL which
shows increased risk of knee and ankle injuries on turn, and others showing no
difference but in high school and colleges. 
I also think people are thinking about turf wrong.  I don’t think that because Mike’s knees feel cushy
exerting forces in a vertical direction, we can assume that players who are exerting
lateral and rotational forces on their ankles and knees while cutting and planting
their legs in the turf are experiencing the same level of cushiness.  Most football and soccer players prefer grass
and mention that their cleats stick more in the field turf and slip more in
grass, which lowers the forces on the joints. 
Similarly, I don’t think it’s accurate to assume that when grass fields turn
to crap, that they increase injuries.  I
think it’s the opposite that happens.  I
think players slip and fall down a more, but that’s not what’s causing these
catastrophic non-contact injuries.  I’d
be curious to see what happens if they could would replace a portion of the
rubber pellets with something that’s a little less grippy.  Could they better simulate real grass if half
the pellets were plastic beads rather than just rubber?


Similarly, the studies need to do a better job of
differentiating contact and non-contact injuries.  I don’t think contact injuries are really
applicable to what we’re talking about.  Contact
injuries in my mind are likely caused primarily by the contact and less by the
turf.  Whereas non-contact injuries are
purely an interaction between the players and the turf.


One thing I think about that most people don’t seem to
mention is pre-existing injuries.  If I
was an NFL GM, I would be very liberal with getting these guys X-Rays and MRIs
to try and detect partial tears or any other structural damage.  Maybe the teams are, but I don’t hear too much
about guys getting these tests unless something catastrophic happens.  I think Tom’s point that the overly developed
musculature being the driving factor in these injuries is only exacerbated when
the ligament is weakened from a previous injury.  That probably isn’t an issue with Cook, but
it could be with Bridgewater.

[Guest]

Right medaille, it's the additional friction provided by the artificial turf that can be so dangerous.  If the player's shoe doesn't give out and slide, then all of that additional lateral force is being transferred to the athletes' ankles, knees, etc.  If the force is great enough and the shoe doesn't slip, the weakest ligaments are usually the next to give.