Word: turf
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Harvard field hockey team looks to keep its perfect record on its home turf alive this afternoon as it takes on Quinnipiac at Jordan Field...
More than a few players would like to slam Savoca to the carpet just to make a point. Nearly everyone who plays on artificial turf--think sandpaper laid over concrete--hates it. Players say 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...
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...
Artificial turf now covers the field in about half of all football stadiums at the professional and major college level, as well as more than 1,500 high school and small college fields. AstroTurf controls the bulk of the market, a $50 million-a-year business...
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...