2008 Woodie Awards
Rockets get new turf
Zach Davis
Issue date: 7/28/08 Section: Sports
The Rockets' football players will no longer have to worry about the sloppy conditions of their field in the rain, thanks to a nearly $1 million project to replace the surface of the Glass Bowl for the 2008 season.
The new surface, FieldTurf, is currently used by 21 out of 32 teams in the National Football League and over 50 teams in college football. The Glass Bowl's previous surface, NeXturf, which was installed for roughly the same cost of this year's FieldTurf, had been used for seven years. Assistant Athletic Director Paul Helgren said it was time for a change.
"NeXturf is a surface that really never caught on," Helgren said. "It was a good surface for us. It was a big improvement over AstroTurf. We got seven good years out of it, but we feel the time had come to look for another surface and we feel FieldTurf is going to be a great, great surface for us, and I think the players are really going to enjoy it."
One of the biggest differences between FieldTurf and NeXturf is the footing the new surface will provide, Helgren said.
"On humid nights or nights where there's a little bit of rain, you kind of notice guys slipping around on that NeXturf," said Helgren. "You won't see that with FieldTurf, it's probably a more forgiving surface. Sometimes our guys used to laugh and say 'home-field advantage' because the other team doesn't realize they're going to slip. We know we're going to slip."
Helgren also mentioned the Rockets' interest in changing to FieldTurf grew from previous experiences playing on the surface.
"We played on a lot of FieldTurf," said Helgren. "Our players and coaches had plenty of opportunities to compare, and we started to feel strongly about it last year, even going into last year, that we really, really need to get the state-of-the-art, we really need to get the best field we can get in here. I think there's a sense that FieldTurf is miles and miles better than the artificial surfaces that came before."
The new surface, FieldTurf, is currently used by 21 out of 32 teams in the National Football League and over 50 teams in college football. The Glass Bowl's previous surface, NeXturf, which was installed for roughly the same cost of this year's FieldTurf, had been used for seven years. Assistant Athletic Director Paul Helgren said it was time for a change.
"NeXturf is a surface that really never caught on," Helgren said. "It was a good surface for us. It was a big improvement over AstroTurf. We got seven good years out of it, but we feel the time had come to look for another surface and we feel FieldTurf is going to be a great, great surface for us, and I think the players are really going to enjoy it."
One of the biggest differences between FieldTurf and NeXturf is the footing the new surface will provide, Helgren said.
"On humid nights or nights where there's a little bit of rain, you kind of notice guys slipping around on that NeXturf," said Helgren. "You won't see that with FieldTurf, it's probably a more forgiving surface. Sometimes our guys used to laugh and say 'home-field advantage' because the other team doesn't realize they're going to slip. We know we're going to slip."
Helgren also mentioned the Rockets' interest in changing to FieldTurf grew from previous experiences playing on the surface.
"We played on a lot of FieldTurf," said Helgren. "Our players and coaches had plenty of opportunities to compare, and we started to feel strongly about it last year, even going into last year, that we really, really need to get the state-of-the-art, we really need to get the best field we can get in here. I think there's a sense that FieldTurf is miles and miles better than the artificial surfaces that came before."
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