Wiedmer: Finley's new turf gets smooth response

Brian Lee, left, and Ethan Peplow, with Mid-America Sports Construction, remove the infill from the turf at Finley Stadium on March 9, 2015. The infill, which is made from tires, will be recycled.
Brian Lee, left, and Ethan Peplow, with Mid-America Sports Construction, remove the infill from the turf at Finley Stadium on March 9, 2015. The infill, which is made from tires, will be recycled.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior linebacker Nakevion Leslie slowly pushed his feet up and down on the bright green plastic grass of Finley Stadium, turf never before stepped on by the Mocs until Wednesday afternoon.

"This is noticeably softer," he said when asked to compare the old field to this brand-new, high-tech AstroTurf. "The old field felt pretty hard. And it was lumpy. You worried about twisting an ankle. You could get a bone bruise easily. But this is softer and smoother. I can't wait to play a game on it."

That chance will come Saturday at 2 p.m., when the two-time defending Southern Conference champion Mocs will stage their annual spring game at Finley. Everyone should quickly notice the improvement, even if our April showers have nothing to do with its spring green color.

But before Moc Maniacs enjoy yet another step forward in the methodical yet magical improvement of their long-suffering football program, a refresher course concerning both the old and new artificial playing surfaces at Finley is in order.

Lumpy. Pretty hard. Imagine covering the broken-down sofa you found on the side of the road with Saddleback leather and you have some idea of what Finley Stadium's playing surface became over at least the final half of its 10 years of service.

The artificial turf itself was great, as good as any in existence at the time it was installed, especially given the previous struggles the stadium had attempting to grow a premium natural grass field. But the plastic grass's foundation, its underpinnings, was done on the cheap, hence the lumps and hard surface. Hence, also, the need to start from scratch, a new sub-floor as crucial as the soft, lush plastic grass atop it.

"It cost $600,000," said Paul Smith, Finley's executive director. "It's state-of-the-art right now. The playing surface will probably have to be replaced again in 10 years or so. But what's underneath, the subsurface, should last for a long, long time."

An added benefit -- besides the fact that the company's manufacturing headquarters is right down the road in Calhoun, Ga. -- is Smith's claim that "(the turf's) G-Max rating makes it much safer regarding concussions."

The new playing surface will benefit not only UTC football, given that the field is already sporting bright yellow lines for soccer.

"We've leveled out the surface past the sidelines," Smith said. "In the past, you might have to run uphill on a (soccer) corner kick. That won't happen now."

There's also no more natural grass once you leave the playing surface. Every inch of Finley's floor is covered in millions of blades of AstroTurf's 3D Xtreme turf.

And when the time comes to paint "Chattanooga" in the end zones or the "Power C" at midfield, the stadium now also owns a $38,000 paint machine manufactured by John Deere.

"I think it's probably the closest you can come to natural grass," Leslie said. "I remember when we played at Tennessee last fall and they have a natural grass field. It was definitely softer and mushier than our field."

It is certainly softer than the original AstroTurf that covered the floor of the Astrodome in Houston nearly 50 years ago. Its individual blades are more than twice as long as the original turf's three-quarter-inch blades, and the foundation is much softer and thicker.

"(AstroTurf president) Bryan Peeples has been down here every weekend during the installation," Smith said of the Ringgold resident. "They're going to use this field as their showcase."

Young Leslie certainly would support that plan.

"I kind of want to fall down," he said with a grin, "just to see what it feels like."

Standing nearby, UTC coach Russ Huesman scanned his eyes across his newest recruiting toy and said, "It looks great. It smells good."

If the Mocs play as well on the new stuff as they did on its hard, lumpy predecessor, AstroTurf 3D Xtreme just might earn a reputation for possessing the sweet smell of success.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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