Artificial Turf

In random Softbank Hawk news, the Yahoo! Dome is getting a new artificial turf. It sounds like the old turf was getting pretty old and was taking a toll on the players' feet. So, instead of doing extensive ground work and risking 'foot' injury the Softbank Hawk officials went ahead and decided to to put new turf in. According to the release, the turf will play the ball just like real grass and will even help with shock absorption when the foot hits it resulting in the player's footing being more secure. Hopefully that will equal less sprained ankles. The turf will be packed with little pieces of rubber for more cushion. I guess they figured their fans would be so into the new turf they even posted the little diagram above on the site. Or, they figured some random person could use it in their blog as colorful image to enhance a post about Artificial turf. Either one works!


This stuff sounds exactly like the stuff at my High School. They put it in the summer before my Sophomore year and sold the whole thing idea it would reduce injuries. Now, you will have to ask a football coach or player if it really did help with injuries but, from a marching band member's point of view, that stuff was horrible. Luckily, the Yahoo! Dome is indoors because being on that turf in direct sunlight raised the temperature at least ten degrees. I remember Friday afternoon practices before the football game were the worst; especially in August. I would rather have practiced on our usual black pavement than that stuff any day of the week. As for the little rubber pieces...haha! I hope all of the Softbank players are willing to track the rubber beads everywhere they go. After practices on the field I can remember how we would dump our shoes out on the white tile floor in the dressing room to see just how much we had collected. Today, I can lift the soles of my performance shoes and still dump out some of those little rubber pieces and I haven't been on that field, in those shoes in over a year!

That's enough ranting about artificial turf. The idea of this post sounded a lot more fun before I started; now it just sounds like I am bored. The sad part is there may be some truth to that...

-Holly

P.S. My Hawks didn't fair to well against Kerrville Tivy on Saturday. They lost, ending their longest playoff birth at the Regional Championship game. Not too bad for a fifth year team!! Instead of signing off with my usual baseball quote, I am going to quote the last line from my High School's School Song in honor of the football team's great success in playoffs! Go Hawks!!

"Hendrickson, we proclaim devotion to you!"
-Cynthia Bradley
-Writer of the School Song and the best teacher I ever had in High School