Sidelines
THE lovely Jen wanted to know why BYU would be making noises about refusing to play UH in football at Hawaii in 2004. Rough game brings
out turf concernsSounding extremely smart, I told her it was all very simple. It was because BYU had a lot players hurt in this season's game, and the Cougars were saying that the field was too dangerous, that Aloha Stadium's artificial surface was the cause of all those injuries.
Naturally, June Jones is concerned. BYU is threatening to stay away. So are NFL players who play in the Pro Bowl. And the Stadium Authority is doing a study. And the Legislature even discussed a bill yesterday that would look into alternate stadium surfaces. So you see, we're all very smart.
But Jen said, "Couldn't it just be that it was the last game of the season and it was a really rough game?"
(Sound of me smacking myself in the forehead.)
Yes. Of course. It was a rough game. It was a really rough game. The UH defensive unit got into a fight with the BYU cheerleaders. Now that's a rough game.
And this 72-45 smackdown was the last game of the year, a time when everyone is a little banged up, and most are worse off than that. This was December, the end of nearly five straight months of football. And BYU was coming off another extremely rough game the week before, one that was so violent their star player was knocked out of the game and lost for the rest of the season.
(This was in Mississippi, on grass, remember, not at Aloha Stadium, on the evil turf.)
So there might be other explanations.
Still, this is not to say that grass isn't better than artificial turf in many situations over the long run. Or that Aloha Stadium did or didn't cause those injuries. Or that you can't get just as injured on grass. Or that FieldTurf is or isn't the wave of the future.
We don't know any of that for sure. Any "studies" conducted on the effects of artificial turf are much like those conducted on the tobacco industry. You can find someone or some statistic somewhere to prove or disprove anything you want, either way.
What we do know is this:
>> That field is nearly brand new, and though I am not George Toma, it seems to be in good shape. If it is dangerous today, it was dangerous the day it was put in. And who is going to explain that?
>> Three times in a little over a decade Aloha Stadium has turned into a fervent revival in which 50,000 ti leaf shaking faithful joined in a raucous yet holy rendition of that old spiritual:
We're not gonna take it!
No! We're not gonna take it!
We're not gonna take it!
Annymooooooore!
If I were BYU I wouldn't come back either. I don't care what surface they're playing on, you could not pay me enough to go back to that snake pit. Can you blame them?
>> June Jones said he wanted UH to take control of the stadium and that went nowhere. Now, suddenly, he's turned to the turf.
He doesn't mind BYU's complaints one bit because at least this could help him get SOMETHING that he wants.
Why replace a brand new turf with another brand new turf? Because it would be a public victory and a show of force for a coach who has enjoyed surprisingly few of those since that 72-45 smash.
Oh, yeah, and it would cut down on injuries.
>> The NFL and NFL Players Association should not be dictating to Aloha Stadium on the use of AstroTurf. This always seems to be a concern with NFL players and their union, and they voice this concern to the NFL. The NFL then tells the players that they WILL play on the turf, and they'll like it. The players then say, "OK."
And they play the regular season, the playoffs, sometimes even the Super Bowl on it. Year after year after year.
NOW they're going to make it an issue?
No, no. The NFL forfeited the moral high ground on this question when it decided AstroTurf was perfectly safe for any stadium in the league that wanted it. The players lost their right to complain when they caved in.
>> And finally, this: Critics of AstroTurf compare it to concrete with padding over it.
Yeah.
That's exactly what it is.
I'm glad I don't have to play on it. You can get hurt on that stuff! But that's not the issue. This is still a new turf, and while it may not be the best solution, it is certainly more than acceptable under every football safety standard from the pros on down. There are many reasons to change the surface, but none is apparently pressing enough to take immediate action.
Or at least that's what the Legislature seemed to say. SB3014 SD1 was held in committee yesterday, which means that this probably isn't going anywhere. At least not this session.
After all, they all watched that BYU game. That was a really rough game.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com