Practice Field Concerns

[TeamBuzz]

I know O'Leary had some concerns with some of the new buildings going up across from the practice fields. Are these concerns legit and is anything being/going to be done to ensure some kind of "security" over who sees practices?

Less than 4 weeks to go!! Woohoo!

 

[FHstinger]

I can't understand why O'Leary had artificial turf put on west side of Rose Bowl practice field last year. One is asking for turf-toe and ACL knee injuries with that stuff.

 

[beeware]

Originally posted by FHstinger:
I can't understand why O'Leary had artificial turf put on west side of Rose Bowl practice field last year. One is asking for turf-toe and ACL knee injuries with that stuff.

<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">The 'next' turf (or whatever they call it) that was put on part of the practice field is nothing like the old artificial turf. It is state of the art; and worked beautifully in the 2001 spring game when it rained.

 

[law_bee]

a couple of reasons why you NEED articifial turf practice field

1. if it rains (believe it or not if you have lots of rain you cannot practice on the field but you can always practice on the turf)
2. you play teams on their fields and they may have turf (Nebraska, Syracuse, BC? what about UConn?)

regarding the security issue

what they use to say about Dodd is that he play ya w/ his team beat ya on saturday then play ya with your team and beat you on sunday OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

IMO when a coach starts talking security it is not a good sign and definitely not a sign of confidence. Dont these people get game film? HELLO? What are you going to institute whole new offenses every game.

I think security is WAY OVERRATED. IMO

 

[Techster1]

I think a larger concern with our pracitice facility is the relatively small space we have there now. I know in the past part of the track facility and even the baseball field were used, but those days are gone.

It would be nice if we had another pretty good size field nearby to use, but there's no room left around there.

Has anyone ever heard any coaches say we need more space?

 

[EiT]

That artificial surface on the practice field is nice. I remember after the Spring Game two years ago I had a chance to toss the football to one of Greg Gathers cousins or nephews or something out there. The surface felt great.

I like the fact that we have the real stuff at BDS but I can see the benefits of the artificial on part of your practice field.

Anyone ever play Ultimate Frisbee at BDS before they got rid of the astroturf? It was really cool to be on the field in that kind of environment but that stuff was crazy hard.

 

[beeware]

Originally posted by law_bee:
IMO when a coach starts talking security it is not a good sign and definitely not a sign of confidence. Dont these people get game film? HELLO? What are you going to institute whole new offenses every game.

I think security is WAY OVERRATED. IMO

<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">It is not unreasonable for coaches to have private practices for a variety of reasons. Especially a team like TECH that has been coached by terrific offensive minds like Friedgen and O'Brien...they very well can and do put in new offensive wrinkles on a weekly basis, if needed. No one wants their practices filmed by the opposition from some high rise building.

 

[coldbeer]

Actually, we have a FieldTurf surface on one of the fields at Rose Bowl. FieldTurf is a "state of the art" surface. The list of college and NFL teams going to this surface for their stadium and practice facilities is amazing: BYU, Nebraska, Michigan, Washington, Washington State, Utah, Tulsa, Kansas State, Maryland, Oregon, Oregon State plus 10 more NFL teams.

I've been to Michigan's Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor and ran on their FieldTurf one afternoon. It is simply an amazing surface and you can't even begin to remotely compare it the artificial surfaces of the past. (You can run your fingers through the stuff.) It's hard to describe till you walk or run on the stuff. You don't even realize its fake till you look down at the stuff. In talking with some of the varsity coaches and athletes at Michigan, most of them prefer the FieldTurf over all other surfaces including natural grass.

Visit the FieldTurf web site for more info...

 

[bugboy]

I'll always be a "natural" grass kind of guy. I don't mind the practice facilities being artificial, but I want the stadium to remain natural.

 

[coldbeer]

Originally posted by bugboy:
I'll always be a "natural" grass kind of guy. I don't mind the practice facilities being artificial, but I want the stadium to remain natural.

<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana, Sans-Serif">Normally I would agree with you, but in a campus as small as Georgia Tech's, I don't think BDS should be reserved for the football team's exclusive use 6 times a season. If they would have considered an alternate playing surface, other student groups and sports clubs might have been able to use BDS on a limited basis.

 

[EiT]

coldbeer - I agree with you on that point. It would be nice if BDS could be used a little bit more than for just 6 football games in the fall.

 

[TeamBuzz]

I love how I didn't even ask about the turf and thats what the post has become about. Good insight anyways. Thanks!