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Monday, February 17, 2003

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

A natural surface is the traditional favorite, but the artificial grass is always greener.

That's the turf war the Steelers are trying to win.

	Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala loses his footing on the Heinz Field turf in the Steelers' victory against the Browns in September. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

The team hopes to decide soon what to do with the playing surface at Heinz Field. The grass field has been resodded several times since the stadium opened for the 2001 season, but it has often been a sandy mess. Players have had trouble with large divots and shaky footing.

"I would rather play on grass like everybody else," Steelers President Dan Rooney said last week, "but I don't want to play on a sandy beach, nor do I want to play on a hard surface when the grass is gone."

Maintenance is made difficult because the Steelers share Heinz Field with Pitt, and the WPIAL and City League championships are played there. Rooney would like to have even more events, thus, the dilemma.

What's there now is bluegrass grown in a mix of sand and peat moss for good drainage. Underneath is tubing used to keep the grass warm during the later months of the football season.

Rooney said the Steelers and stadium workers are convinced they got a bad batch of sod when they redid the middle of the field in midseason. When workers replaced that grass late in the season, they used a little less sand and a little more peat, and it held up fairly well.

Rooney said the Steelers will decide among three options for the 2003 season:

*They can give natural grass another try. Because they are happy with the middle of the field since the late-season resodding, the Steelers would replace just the area from the hash marks out with the higher-peat, lower-sand concoction. They probably would install a heat exchanger so that the underlying tubing that keeps the grass warm during the later parts of the season also could keep the roots cool during the hot months.

*They can switch to FieldTurf, the same type of artificial surface that covers the team's indoor practice field on the South Side. FieldTurf uses synthetic fibers in a base of ground rubber and more closely mimics grass than the older rug-style artificial surfaces.

*They can go to a hybrid, such as a SportGrass system. Grass is grown among synthetic fibers that are sewn into a base.

Rooney would like to see the surface that will be used for 2003 in place or at least in the works by April, especially if it is going to remain grass so the roots can have several months to knit. That means Pitt's annual spring scrimmage might have to be played elsewhere.

The heating tubes aren't used in the off-season, so the grass at Heinz Field is snow-covered and frozen. As soon as it thaws, deep plugs will be taken and analyzed to look for any problems -- or solutions. Plugs also will be taken from the outdoor practice fields on the South Side for comparison.

"Over on the South Side, the grass is tremendous," Rooney said.

The same system is used on both sites, but without the heating tubes on the South Side.

There is strong evidence that grass is the overwhelming choice for NFL fields.

The results of a survey conducted by the league among its players and released a month ago show that an average of 88.8 percent of players on each team prefer grass, compared with 3 percent who prefer an artificial surface and 8.1 percent who have no preference.

A whopping 95.7 percent feel playing on an artificial surface is more likely to contribute to injury, 97.8 percent said it causes more soreness and fatigue, and 89.5 percent believe it will shorten their career.

Heinz Field was ranked 18th best and ninth worst among 30 home fields.

It's not just modern-day players who prefer the real stuff.

Workers lay new sod at Heinz Field in November. (Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette)

"Thank goodness I never had the pleasure of playing on artificial turf. That was just starting to come in at the end of my career," barked Paul Hornung, a Heisman Trophy winner at Notre Dame and Hall of Fame halfback during the Green Bay Packers 1960s glory years.

"Just walking around on it and listening to the players, I know I would have hated it."

Former Miami Dolphins player Garo Yepremian, one of the first soccer-style kickers, played on both types of surface in the 1970s. He remembers mud bowls and hard dirt surfaces being a problem.

"Even with all the problems they're having now, I don't think it's as bad as it was for us," he said.

The difficulty is in maintaining a strong lawn that conforms to everyone's idea of a good, lush playing surface.

George Hamilton, assistant professor of turf grass science at Penn State, is a sports fan who prefers grass fields. He said despite advances in agronomy, wear and tear is still a major problem -- especially after late October, when the air is colder and the days are shorter. Pittsburgh's lack of sunshine doesn't help, either.

"Just walking on something creates wear -- look at any staircase or hallway," Hamilton said. "Then you add cleats and tonnage, and do it at a time of year when the grass isn't actively growing.

"I think the answer lies within the amount of activity and the type of activity that they plan for that field."

Which would be a minimum of eight pro, six college and five high school games, many of them past that late October cutoff.

That makes an artificial or hybrid surface seem more logical. But it's not what the players want.

"Certainly, good grass is the ideal surface because the pounding that you get on turf is very difficult long term," said kicker Matt Bahr, who spent time with the Steelers during his 16-year NFL career and dealt with all sorts of surfaces and problems.

"You don't always get good grass, so the bottom line is you have to adjust and just play on it. I kind of chuckle at the players who talk about the grass at Heinz Field. You know, get over it."