With the rennovations to PGE Park looming on the horizon, many fans have begun to wonder if the 2011 Portland Timbers will be playing on natural grass or will they be forced to continue on the artificial turf? The new MLS field will mark the first-ever soccer specific stadium built for a professional team in Portland's history, quite a significant moment for local soccer enthusiasts. Natural grass is best and it's natural for the best soccer fans in the world to want the best for their team. I think many of us are familiar with the cliched pros & cons in the grass/turf debate, but up in Toronto there's been some interesting developments to their stadium that we in Portland could possibly learn from.
In 2010 the Toronto FC will play their first ever Major League Soccer match on a grass pitch at the new-look BMO Field. The ownership group in Toronto has decided to tear out the "top of the line" artificial turf or "FieldTurf" at the end of this MLS season. After just three years, Toronto has decided fake grass was just not suitable for soccer and will replace the FieldTurf with plain, old, natural grass.
The reasons Toronto made the change are important to look at. First, attracting top talent was becoming a challenge for them. The best players, who have the ability to play long carers in football, don't want to put themselves in situations that could threaten the stability or health of their careers. It's been a long-time criticism of FieldTurf that the artificial surface is less forgiving and rougher on the body. The statistics and studies backing up player claims is hazy at best, but the stats don't matter if there is a player perception that fake turf is worse than grass. Professional sports is a business, that's THE bottom-line. Don't believe me - take a look at Beckham and the LA Galaxy.
Being on the same playing field as everyone else was another motivation for Toronto's change of heart. The Summer of 2009 saw many of the world's top clubs visit North America in well attended exhibition matches against MLS squads. The visiting clubs requested the games be played on natural grass and at great expense, many stadiums took out the turf and replaced it with real grass. So, why wait? The revenue generated from these international games was a great financial gain to the clubs and the owners of the stadiums. Attracting top clubs, international friendlies, and World Cup Qualifiers will be a much easier task for Portland if we're running around on the same surface preferred by the rest of the world.
So far, the Timbers have been pretty tight-lipped over the rennovation plans, as their probably still finalizing many of the details themselves. We are in the process of researching and discussing the rennovation with the Portand Timber's organization. We'll see what information they can provide soon, but here at DroppingTimber, we want to make sure that they know that anything besides grass in the new PGE Park is simply unnacceptable. What do you think? If you agree then....
A Call to Action!
Grab your pitchforks and lets storm the castle!
*** Join the campaign now and bring grass to PGE Park. ***
We're not trying to create a stir, more like a good-natured ribbing. But I just think having a grass field is important on a number of levels and would love to see Portland have a one the most exciting, unique, and beautiful football experiences in the world. Just imagine....
ReplyDeleteIf we are really Soccer City USA, we have to have grass.
ReplyDeleteThis week will mark the the time that we got all the grass we could handle.
ReplyDeleteOf course natural turf is the best, and won't look like a wet paper grocery bag on television like our current surface does. Also, Oregon is the grass seed capital of the US, am I right? (no, not that type of grass...well ALSO that type of grass.) Seems like a no-brainer to have the real stuff when the Timbers start play in MLS in 2011.
ReplyDeleteHere are the reasons I don't think it will happen, sadly:
1. Sharing the field - with PSU and high school football, and extra events like concerts. It'll get churned to hell.
2. $$$ - it's expensive to maintain, esp. considering the amount of wear and tear it'll get from #1, and considering #3:
3. Sunlight deficiency - due to the sunken bowl of PGE Park, plus the roofs over the stands (which will include an east stand roof with the MLS renovation), the playing surface receives very little sunlight.
You can get grass turf that has very low light requirements.
ReplyDeleteI have grass in parts of my back yard that stays lush and green year round and is in full shade.
Good points Total Nerd.
ReplyDeleteThe Home depot center shares its field with high school football, lacrosse and rugby teams. They also host the X games and have motocorss, and rally cars taking over the stadium for several days each summer. Add concerts to this mix and the field takes a beating, but always seems to look good on game day. I think we could schedule events so that the field gets some breathing room between PSU and the timbers. PSU's season only overlaps with the Timbers starting in late August/ early September.
There is no logical reason not to have grass in the stadium. Turf sucks on all levels.
ReplyDelete