Field Turf or Natural Grass at Heinz Field?
To be honest, I was a bit upset with the broadcasters during Pittsburgh's Monday night game against the Miami Dolphins. Granted, there wasn't a lot of spectacular football to talk about, but it's a football game and all the commentators could talk about was the terrible condition of the playing surface at Heinz Field. Well, when they were spouting statistics about how long it had been since a Monday Night NFL football game ended without a score.
Even after the Steelers finally won the game 3-0, putting to rest the comments about scoreless Monday Night games, the field discussions continued. I look forward to reading the ESPN commentary every week, but after this week when they called Heinz Field a "natural disaster," I'm feeling a bit anti-ESPN. Again, this is football season and I want to read about football. Even in this week's Power Rankings, they had nothing to say about the Steelers. Just the field.
"Shame on the Steelers organization for allowing their MNF game to be played on such poor field conditions. It wasn't fair to the players, or the fans who invested time and money to watch the game. Either get it right or start using the artificial stuff."
Mike Celzic of MSNBC agreed:
"There is no excuse — none — for the conditions the Pittsburgh Steelers provided for their game Monday Night against the Miami Dolphins. It was a travesty of football and an insult to the NFL, the players, the fans, and anyone who turned on a television in the hopes of enjoying Monday Night Football."
While some people blame the weather, and others the NFL officials for scheduling a Monday night game in Pittsburgh the same weekend as the South Florida-Pitt game and four high school regional championship games, there are obviously a lot of people calling for field turf to be installed at Heinz Field, but I'm with Coach Tomlin:
"It's football, man. It's an outdoor game that's played as you move into December. Everybody loved playing dirty football when you were a kid. What else is new? Guys had a great time. It created some adversity, we overcame it, and we found a way to win the game."
Football is meant to be played on a natural, muddy field, not in a covered, climate-controlled bubble on pristine turf. The field conditions are the same for both teams. And the Rooneys and the majority of the Steelers players seem to prefer it. I could go on, but Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review said it much better than I ever could in his commentary, "Quit cryin' about Heinz Field."
What do you think the Steelers and Rooneys should do about the playing surface at Heinz Field? Click on comments below to share your thoughts.
Comments
More rain tonight, but the field held up well. Kudos to the grounds crew. And kudos to the Rooney family for sticking with the grass.
retractable dome w/real grass
I agree with you. Football is meant to be played on grass. Players and fans have been calling for it in recent years. As for the scheduling, at least the High School games should be played at night, during the week, after a Steelers game, not a couple of days prior. At least if the HS game was on a Monday night, it would give the field a few days to recover.
I agree with everyone who says it should be played on natural grass. It’s December, you’re going to have frozen turf, freezing rain, and snow. How you deal with that is what makes you a great football team or a lousy one.
i disaggree. there are proven facts that turf is more durable and better to play on than natural grass. although i aggree that football should be played on muddy grass, turf would be a better decision also because it reduces injuries.