Since it's talk about Ole Miss day...

DAWG61

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Feb 26, 2008
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or just seems that way. I have a question. Why does Ole Miss have a fake AstroTurf surface? Seriously. I've always wondered this. Does the grass not grow in Oxford? The grove is so beautiful but why do they not play on natural grass? Not trying to be a dick I just really want to know the honest real answer to this question.
 

DAWG61

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Feb 26, 2008
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or just seems that way. I have a question. Why does Ole Miss have a fake AstroTurf surface? Seriously. I've always wondered this. Does the grass not grow in Oxford? The grove is so beautiful but why do they not play on natural grass? Not trying to be a dick I just really want to know the honest real answer to this question.
 

drt7891

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Dec 6, 2010
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does not allow for enough sunlight in the south endzone to properly grow grass. They used to have the same kind of turf Scott Field has (bought from us, ironically), and after they expanded their stadium, they had too many issues with keeping it healthy. I don't know if that is completely true or not.
 

mjh94

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Mar 3, 2008
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everybody with an upper-deck in the south end zone wouldn't be able to grow grass, would it not?
 

Married to a Dog

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Feb 25, 2008
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is situated. During a large portion of the year (when the sun rises more SE and sets more SW), the sun rises and sets behind our South Endzone expansion thus only allowing a few hours of sunlight in that endzone. If our endzone was just situated 20-30 yards more to the East, it would add a significantly more sunlight to the field.

However, there is bound to be hybrid of grass these days that would thrive in those conditions. I hate our turf.
 

drt7891

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Dec 6, 2010
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an issue. <div>
</div><div>Ole Miss' expansion has an awning that completely blocks sunlight, so it would make some sense. Most endzone expansions don't.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>
 

patdog

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May 28, 2007
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Married to a Dog said:
During a large portion of the year (when the sun rises more SE and sets more SW), the sun rises and sets behind our South Endzone expansion thus only allowing a few hours of sunlight in that endzone. If our endzone was just situated 20-30 yards more to the East, it would add a significantly more sunlight to the field.
Wouldn't this be the case for every stadium with an enclosed south end zone? If your end zone were 20-30 yards to the East, wouldn't that mean the entire stadium would have to be 20-30 yards to the East and the field would get the same amount of sunlight?
 

dawgbydesign

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Oct 25, 2009
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Because anyone associated with UM is too elite to cut their own grass, and when they asked MSU to cut it for them, Dan said no.
 

GhostOfJackie

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Apr 20, 2009
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and because the grass does not grow in Oxford. It's a mixture of the two. You hit it spot on
 

Married to a Dog

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Feb 25, 2008
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The sun in the fall and through the winter is perfectly blocked by the overhang. I guess instead of yards, I should have said degrees. If you turn it 20-30 degrees the early sun would hit that endzone, or for that matter, if you turned it to the west the late sun would hit that endzone. As it is, it blocks the sun from that endzone a large majority of the day.

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused or am still causing. It may be as info says below just an excuse, but I have heard it said first hand by our administration.
 

jzahner1

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Oct 29, 2009
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Not sure about the sun angle argument, the azimuth of the sun could be low for Nov games causing the grass to not grow, but how does TN have natural grass that stays alive? Just seems like one of those things that could attract prospects about 5-8 years ago. Now with the tragic injuries to Players due to the turf not reacting like grass, we should market this as a negative to skill players. Also it looks like crap on tv.
 

MSUturfguy

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Nov 1, 2011
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could be a combination of a few things. Sure, the awning on the south side of the field has something to do with it. Just like when we installed Dawgzillatron and the worry was that our south endzone would die off, it just about did. But we put in a new variety of bermuda that has better shade tolerance. You could also look at the fact that some coaches think that fake turf is better to play on than actual grass (i.e. Bobby Petrino).
 

Todd4State

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Mar 3, 2008
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is when we played them in 1996 when they had grass and it rained, it was a mud pit.

I remember marching the halftime show and you could hear everyone's squishing footsteps everytime you took a step over the band playing.
 

drt7891

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Dec 6, 2010
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I've never played on turf, but I've been on it during the summer and it's like standing in the middle of a freshly paved parking lot. Players coming back from practice literally have first and second degree burns on their arms from where it burned them. I personally hate the stuff. I know it's easier to take care of, but nothing beats real grass.
 
Jul 10, 2011
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The last season we had grass, that area of the field was basically green dirt.

I think we should go back to grass. There have been some brutal leg injuries in Vaught-Hemingway that I don't think would have happened with real grass (2008 Egg Bowl, Samford player in 2008 or2009, Kentrell last year). With turf you see a lot of guys screw their knees/ankles up seemingly out of nowhere.