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NRG Stadium's Hazardous Turf

Marshall said:
The survey is only good when comparing artificial turf. I'd like to see how NRG field ranks among all surfaces including both natural and artificial turfs and see where it ranks.
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That's at the end for some of the older surveys before they split to grass/artificial. Among all playing fields Houston ranked:

2002 - 7th
2004 - 4th
 
Houston will host its third Super Bowl in February 2017 when Super Bowl LI is played at NRG Stadium.

However, the stadium itself requires some significant upgrades over the next two years before the AFC and NFC Champions line up for kickoff.

According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the upgrades required for NRG Stadium could cost upwards of $50 million. The money would go toward installing Wi-Fi in the stadium and upgraded the club and suite areas of the building.

The improvements to the stadium were promised as a part of Houston’s Super Bowl bid.

“There are investments that need to be made to have that special Super Bowl experience – those commitments that were made within the bid when Houston was awarded the Super Bowl,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s senior vice president of events.

The majority – if not all – of the money for those upgrades are expected to come from Harris County.

“Some of those (expenses) may be the responsibility of the county, and some may not be,” said Edgar Colon, chairman of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. “We’re analyzing all that and going through the contracts and the documents and having conversations with our major tenants to resolve all of these contractual obligations. I’m sure all are going to be resolved in time.”
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Link

Since WiFi has been mentioned.
 
I watched the crews at AT&T Stadium swap the Cowboys field for a different surface preparing for the College Football Champiosnhip in January, looked like a fairly straight forward process.

I thought installation and removal was a difficult process, but the Cowboys have equipment and storage space that makes it fairly routine.
 
Big Lou said:
I watched the crews at AT&T Stadium swap the Cowboys field for a different surface preparing for the College Football Champiosnhip in January, looked like a fairly straight forward process.

I thought installation and removal was a difficult process, but the Cowboys have equipment and storage space that makes it fairly routine.
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The Texans do that too. But as has been discussed above, there is a huge difference between the full time NFL fields whether than be grass or FieldTurf and the temporary ones they put in for HS/college games.
 
Apparently this has been decided. I never saw anything about it and I stumbled onto this:

http://torotimes.com/2015/06/28/field-turf-texans-most-important-offseason-acquisition/

and this:

http://houseofhouston.com/2015/02/08/report-new-turf-installed-nrg-stadium/

I believe Patrick Starr was credited with it here:

http://www.scout.com/nfl/texans/story/1511063-report-nrg-stadium-to-change-to-field-turf?s=116

I am disappointed just because I like the idea of playing football on grass. I think it looks better, it allows the players uniforms to get dirty (as if they are playing football) and I lean toward the side of reports that field turf and other forms of artificial turf cause more wear and tear on the athlete's joints.

Having said that, I understand the concerns with the tray system and am please that the players will have a uniform surface in 2015. Maybe they will return to the blue endzone's of 2002...
 
From May 4th in the NRG Stadium's Hazardous Turf thread...


Playoffs said:
Chat today...

Question:
are the Texans switching to field turf?
via·about 3 hours ago

Drew Dougherty:
No​
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Pat has since been told his source was wrong, although he's more in wait and see mode.

I think "The Great Sports Morpheus" is a little late to the party...

Perhaps he took the blue pill...?
smiley-cool21.gif
 
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Hopefully this is true, and if so, its too bad that it took an injury to our #1 pick, a decent punter, and Cap'n Meco to get it done.
 
frethack said:
Hopefully this is true, and if so, its too bad that it took an injury to our #1 pick, a decent punter, and Cap'n Meco to get it done.
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Too bad people keep saying this when only one of them blames the field.

I'll believe they are doing away with the grass at NRG when I see the announcement for the new parking lot created out of all the grass practice fields/spare fields growing areas.
 
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Can't believe this is still rumbling on, apparently without definitive confirmation.

For me, this isn't a grass vs artificial turf issue - it's a shitty grass issue. Figure out a way to create a decent grass setup in there - then everyone is happy. The majority of athletes prefer a grass field and the majority of fans prefer a grass field.
 
mattieuk said:
it's a shitty grass issue.
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It isn't even that. NRG hasn't ranked in the bottom half of grass NFL fields in player polls.

It's some kind of fan created unicorn.

the majority of fans prefer a grass field.
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I don't know about that anymore. Read through this thread. Lots of fans want a field that is "pretty" when being viewed on their 60" flatscreen.
 
infantrycak said:
It's some kind of fan created unicorn.
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Who knew Bill Belichick was a fan?

“It’s terrible. It’s just inconsistent. It’s all the little trays of grass and some of them are soft and some of them are firm and they don’t all fit well together, those seams… Some of it feels like a sponge, some of it feels real firm and hard like the Miami surface. One step you’re on one, the other step you’re on another. I really think it’s one of the worst fields I’ve seen.”
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To be fair, we don't really know how many fields he's seen. And that's not to say I necessarily agree with him, but I'm also not hanging my hat on a player poll and calling it a fan created unicorn. Anytime you get a coach that's been around as long as he has and walked upon as many fields as he has commenting like that, it's going to generate some chatter. I don't think prior to BB running his trap many fans thought much of field safety since the game in the Dome got canceled back when.
 
eriadoc said:
Who knew Bill Belichick was a fan?

To be fair, we don't really know how many fields he's seen. And that's not to say I necessarily agree with him, but I'm also not hanging my hat on a player poll and calling it a fan created unicorn. Anytime you get a coach that's been around as long as he has and walked upon as many fields as he has commenting like that, it's going to generate some chatter. I don't think prior to BB running his trap many fans thought much of field safety since the game in the Dome got canceled back when.
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While I otherwise would appreciate your point and Bill Belichick's clearly experienced opinion, the context matters. Belichick was under fire for having his starters in the game. He dodged criticism of himself for even having Welker on the field by spouting off about the field. So a tip of the hat to BB for his brilliant diversion. Or who knows, maybe OB suggested it since he was de facto OC, de jure QB coach that day.

Remember how odd that game was? Hoyer went in to finish the 2nd (lots of time, not kneel down scenario). And then they trotted Brady back out in the 3rd. Mario iirc planted Brady two series in a row, the last leading to an INT and they finally pulled him from the game. Wonder what role OB played in the QB dance that day?

amazing80 said:
That was a decade ago. What are the player opinions now?
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As I said in the post quoted, those are old because that's when they quit ranking all fields. Now they rank grass and artificial separately. They do them every 2 years. You can look them up.
 
Troy Chapman said:
Haven't see anyone confirm that field turf is coming, wonder where this guy is getting it from.
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He's Morpheous, he doesn't need to quote sources.

If they were changing the field enough people would know about it by this time that it would leak, imo. And with the Hartmann lawsuit settled, why would the Texans try to hide it?
 
Playoffs said:
He's Morpheous, he doesn't need to quote sources.

If they were changing the field enough people would know about it by this time that it would leak, imo. And with the Hartmann lawsuit settled, why would the Texans try to hide it?
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In a corollary, with no big number reported/leaked, Hartman didn't get much.
 
infantrycak said:
In a corollary, with no big number reported/leaked, Hartman didn't get much.
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Confidentiality agreement?

You know this how? Are you representing the McNair's/HBCB/HLS&R. Or are you friends with who is representing them? Or are you just pulling crap out of your a**?
 
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/04...mann-wish-i-could-have-deposed-mcnair-obrien/

Yes, it's confidential, no liability admitted.
Egdorf also made a rather clueless comment about the field being "safe" for the superbowl, when that field will bear zero resemblance to the regular field.

One point that stuck out was that (in Hartmann's case) the field hadn't been replaced after getting use the night before. Apples / Oranges in comparison to many / most cases @ NRG where the field is "fresh".
 
steelbtexan said:
Confidentiality agreement?

You know this how? Are you representing the McNair's/HBCB/HLS&R. Or are you friends with who is representing them? Or are you just pulling crap out of your a**?
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"Confidentiality agreement?" Never heard the old saying about secrets?

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. - Benjamin Franklin

22 years of experience (and yeah I know the players, but haven't talked to them about the settlement). Or just pulling crap out of my ass. I don't care which you believe. Sorry if it doesn't fit your narrative.
 
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infantrycak said:
While I otherwise would appreciate your point and Bill Belichick's clearly experienced opinion, the context matters. Belichick was under fire for having his starters in the game. He dodged criticism of himself for even having Welker on the field by spouting off about the field. So a tip of the hat to BB for his brilliant diversion.
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My point was not to use BB's opinion to bolster a claim that the field is somehow subpar. He clearly had an agenda for that quote. But calling this whole thing "fan created" is wrong, IMO.
 
infantrycak said:
"Confidentiality agreement?" Never heard the old saying about secrets?

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. - Benjamin Franklin

22 years of experience (and yeah I know the players, but haven't talked to them about the settlement). Or just pulling crap out of my ass. I don't care which you believe. Sorry if it doesn't fit your narrative.
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No narrative here.

Just asking questions
 
eriadoc said:
My point was not to use BB's opinion to bolster a claim that the field is somehow subpar. He clearly had an agenda for that quote. But calling this whole thing "fan created" is wrong, IMO.
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OK, I over-stated. But there is a lemming like fan set who knee jerk blames the field for every new injury nowadays.
 
For the record, Belichick's been accused multiple times of slowing down his own home field when playing speedy dome-based teams. Before the Colt's game in 2005 he/his staff left the field un-tarped during heavy rain to hopefully slow that team down:

Colin Cowherd just talking about Patriots

FOXBORO, Mass. -- It rained heavily Wednesday, but the Gillette Stadium field was not covered. It was not covered Tuesday. It was not covered Monday.

Yes, the Patriots do own a tarp, and they have not reported it stolen. Perhaps Patriots coach Bill Belichick chose not to have the grounds crew put the tarp down.

The speedy Colts would love to play Sunday's AFC semifinal game on a dry, fast field, anything akin to the artificial surface in their dome home. Belichick would prefer they play in something approximating a rice paddy.

Short of turning on the sprinklers at 3 a.m., Belichick may be guilty of nothing but benign neglect. Of course, he'd never admit to that.

"My job is not to pull weeds, or rake the field," Belichick said. "I have a lot of other things to do."

Belichick was stone-faced when field conditions were raised. Midway through the 2003 season, the middle was so bad that Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour compared the footing to a beach.

Seems the field is going to be messy for game......
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*the link for the article was broken, so I pulled this from a message board.

It does hurt his offical comments on another team's field condition.
 
steelbtexan said:
Yep fans like Swag/Welker/Hartmann etc....
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Fans like you.

Swag not Clowney mouthed off and video clearly shows Clowney was in the middle of a tray and not due to the field. I love that a player many thought was a mouthy dumbass suddenly becomes the voice of god on this issue. Welker has never blamed the field.

Hartmann's a given. But what part of "nowadays" do you not understand?
 
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I finally had a moment of clarity on the subject and decided that the biggest thing I have against the turf at Reliant is that it's ugly and doesn't seem to hold up well over the course of the season. I've gone from wanting an artificial surface (to address my "artificial concerns") to wanting the Texans to do a better job of assembling the trays if possible and to continue to look into every option possible to make this system better which I hope they are doing.
 
Hervoyel said:
I finally had a moment of clarity on the subject and decided that the biggest thing I have against the turf at Reliant is that it's ugly and doesn't seem to hold up well over the course of the season. I've gone from wanting an artificial surface (to address my "artificial concerns") to wanting the Texans to do a better job of assembling the trays if possible and to continue to look into every option possible to make this system better which I hope they are doing.
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Like we discussed many pages back, they need to quit having non-football events during football season and just grow a dang grass field in the stadium for 6 months during football season. The technology exists to do it (they could grow grass in the Astrodome now), but they have to put football operations ahead of making money in every possible way during the season. Breaking up the field during the season is what is most likely causing seam problems.
 
steelbtexan said:
Confidentiality agreement?

You know this how? Are you representing the McNair's/HBCB/HLS&R. Or are you friends with who is representing them? Or are you just pulling crap out of your a**?
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I suspect it's an educated guess which is not quite the same as as an uneducated one. But I also suspect little knowledge beyond that. It also conforms to what I would suspect from my experience with corporate agreements. While not privy to the actual agreements, it does add something to the mix if properly labeled as speculation.
 
Double Barrel said:
Like we discussed many pages back, they need to quit having non-football events during football season and just grow a dang grass field in the stadium for 6 months during football season. The technology exists to do it (they could grow grass in the Astrodome now), but they have to put football operations ahead of making money in every possible way during the season. Breaking up the field during the season is what is most likely causing seam problems.
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In my perfect sports world, the Astrodome would be reconfigured back to it's original design as a multi-use sports arena for all non Texan events during the season and as a supplement to NRG out of season.

But this seems to not be viable economically. It's a shame.

But I would love to duplicate the Superbowl process of installing a natural grass field every year rather than the tray system. It's already a proven success though I wonder if that turf would hold up under a ten game pounding. Sometimes the quick growth process for a single event is only good for a game or two before breaking down.
 
Marshall said:
In my perfect sports world, the Astrodome would be reconfigured back to it's original design as a multi-use sports arena for all non Texan events during the season and as a supplement to NRG out of season.

But this seems to not be viable economically. It's a shame.

But I would love to duplicate the Superbowl process of installing a natural grass field every year rather than the tray system. It's already a proven success though I wonder if that turf would hold up under a ten game pounding. Sometimes the quick growth process for a single event is only good for a game or two before breaking down.
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Yeah, it is a shame about the Astrodome. Herv told me awhile back about the original engineering plans he got to check out for the 'dome, and he said that place was built to literally last centuries. Redundancies abound and they really over built it since it was the first one.

And agree on the semi-perm field at NRG. I think they could maintain it over a season, especially considering it would not be used every weekend in a season. They would have some peak usage with college games, but without the seams to worry about, they could most likely implement methods to repair any parts that become concerns.
 
Turned to espn2, and it's Mexico vs Honduras from NRG stadium. And it's the tray system in place. Looks about how it always looks at the start of the season. You can clearly see the seams, but based on how the soccer ball rolls on the field, it's not bumpy or inconsistent along the seams. Obviously it's just based on watching it for 15 min or so on TV. Halftime now, so if you want to check it out, 2nd half is coming up.
 
paycheck71 said:
Turned to espn2, and it's Mexico vs Honduras from NRG stadium. And it's the tray system in place. Looks about how it always looks at the start of the season. You can clearly see the seams, but based on how the soccer ball rolls on the field, it's not bumpy or inconsistent along the seams. Obviously it's just based on watching it for 15 min or so on TV. Halftime now, so if you want to check it out, 2nd half is coming up.
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Personally, I think it looks like crap and can't help but focus my eyes on this Minecraft turf build. So much worse looking than the painted football field. I wouldn't say it looks like the ball is rolling smooth since the close ups certainly don't look that hot, but it is hard to tell so you could be right. It was pretty funny when the announcers were commenting on the "painted green" field and one of the announcers remarked how he got the impression the other "didn't like the field".

Sad they can't convert to the full grass system...Even two large trays with a seam down the middle would be better than this. I'm ready for a goal here btw.
 
TexanPulse said:
Personally, I think it looks like crap and can't help but focus my eyes on this Minecraft turf build. So much worse looking than the painted football field. I wouldn't say it looks like the ball is rolling smooth since the close ups certainly don't look that hot, but it is hard to tell so you could be right. It was pretty funny when the announcers were commenting on the "painted green" field and one of the announcers remarked how he got the impression the other "didn't like the field".

Sad they can't convert to the full grass system...Even two large trays with a seam down the middle would be better than this. I'm ready for a goal here btw.
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Yeah, I'm going to scale my original comment back a bit after watching the 2nd half. Field doesn't look good plus it's painted, so in reality it probably looks even worse. That in itself is obviously not a problem. The ball maybe doesn't roll perfectly smooth, but I don't think it's awful or anything.

Honduras knocked Mexico's best player out of this game with a broken collar bone on a kind of a dirty play, just ahead of Gold Cup. So, the NRG field haters can add this injury to their list.
 
Marcus said:
I haven't seen anything official about this.
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If I'm reading the thread right, all the reports go back to a story based on bad information and tie in to old articles while excluding more recent information from those who actually make those decisions. Now, not trusting prepared statements seems wise in this day of misdirect and spin; but, to totally discount their existence seems like insufficient research.
 
Did y'all see the turf in the Cowboys' game? There was a huge seam running the width of the field at about the three yard line, then again at about the 12. They were huge & I was surprised no one tripped over them.
 
thunderkyss said:
Did y'all see the turf in the Cowboys' game? There was a huge seam running the width of the field at about the three yard line, then again at about the 12. They were huge & I was surprised no one tripped over them.
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Arizona's one piece field looked really bad as well.
 
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