glf@ihuxn.UUCP (Greg Fyksen ) (05/09/85)
Two questions that have bothered me for some time: 1. Why can't the proper lighting be installed so that natural grass can be used in domed statiums? Perhaps with the inflatable domes a roof material that passes enough light of the proper wavelength could be used to support growth of natural grass. (Where's DuPont when you need them? Perhaps they manufacture the A-Turf!). 2. When artificial turf is used, why can't the entire infield be cut out? I know the edges can cause bad bounces, but with a little creative thinking couldn't the turf-dirt transition be made smoother? Do these questions make sense to anyone but me? Greg Fyksen AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, Il ihuxn!glf
david@fisher.UUCP (David Rubin) (05/14/85)
> 1. Why can't the proper lighting be installed so that natural > grass can be used in domed statiums? Perhaps with the inflatable > domes a roof material that passes enough light of the proper wavelength > could be used to support growth of natural grass. (Where's DuPont > when you need them? Perhaps they manufacture the A-Turf!). When the Astrodome was first constructed, it passed enough light to the field so that grass could grow. However, the glare from the roof during day games was too great for the outfielders to handle, so the quarter of the roof behind home plate was painted to provide a better background (a "fielder's eye" of sorts); then the grass died and the turf was put in. So it seems that a domed stadium could have grass only if all games were played at night. > 2. When artificial turf is used, why can't the entire infield > be cut out? I know the edges can cause bad bounces, but > with a little creative thinking couldn't the turf-dirt transition > be made smoother? Believe it or not, probably for reasons of tradition (oh, the irony!). Fans EXPECT the infield to be a shade of green. Besides which, on real fields it is generally the dirt where bad bounces take place. By making an all-dirt infield, you may merely be trading one source of odd hops for another. David Rubin {allegra|astrovax|princeton}!fisher!david