Word: grassed
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...ligaments pop because the surface doesn't "give" once a foot is planted. Skin shreds from its abrasiveness; heads hurt from its hardness. Clark Gaines, regional representative of the National Football League's Players Association, says artificial turf causes up to three times as many noncontact injuries as grass. "These injuries simply don't happen on a natural surface," he says. "Players have their own terminology for it. They are called turf injuries...
Players also charge that even without injuries, the pounding their bodies take on turf shortens their careers. Recently, baseball player Barry Larkin of the Cincinnati Reds demanded a trade to a grass-field team to try to extend his career. According to Gaines, many free agents have refused to sign with teams whose home field is carpeted. The Green Bay Packers requested that a preseason game against the New Orleans Saints be played on grass, so the Superdome was covered with a temporary grass pitch...
That market is under pressure as player opposition, new technology and the rise of single-purpose stadiums have swung team owners to grass. Virtually every new non-domed stadium under construction will have a grass surface. The Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots, as well as a number of baseball teams, switched back to grass several years ago. But even Gaines acknowledges that grass isn't the answer everywhere, particularly in northern climes and on municipal fields that get tons...
...technology may have a solution. An upstart company called FieldTurf, in alliance with sports monolith Nike, has developed a surface that more closely resembles the texture and response of grass. It is made of synthetic blades and is held up by an artificial dirt composed of silica and rubber that can be made of recycled running shoes. The University of Nebraska recently installed the surface after a year in which 40 football players sustained injuries on AstroTurf. "It is the closest thing to natural grass I've seen," says John Ingram, the Cornhuskers' director of athletic facilities. "This year...
AstroTurf recently introduced a similar product, provoking a nasty battle and a patent-infringement suit. A new turf war is on, but grass may be the ultimate winner...