http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/14543/is-new-meadowlands-turf-an-injury-issue Virtually in concert, the New York Jets praised the FieldTurf in the new Meadowlands stadium after Wednesday's public practice. A day earlier, New York Giants receiver Domenik Hixon suffered a season-ending knee injury when he crumpled to the ground untouched on a punt return. The Giants seem less certain than the Jets about the artificial surface's culpability. "I was right there when it happened and I saw it right away," Giants safety Antrel Rolle told ESPNNewYork.com reporter Ohm Youngmisuk on Thursday. "And I was, like, 'Damn, it don't look good.' He didn't make a cut or anything. It just got caught in the turf." Said receiver Steve Smith of the turf: "I thought it was real slippery. We were all slipping and stuff. Hopefully it settles in when more people do stuff on it." Giants general manager Jerry Reese said the FieldTurf wasn't to blame. FieldTurf spokesman Chip Namias also refuted Rolle's opinion. "With all due and sincere respect to Antrel Rolle, who is a wonderful player, he is simply not medically trained or qualified to make such a statement," Namias said. "The people who run NFL teams are ultra conscientious, and there's a very good reason why 21 of the 32 member clubs use FieldTurf." Rolle also complained about the surface being hot on the bottoms of his feet and claimed several of his teammates had a similar experience. Slippage was another concern. Giants coach Tom Coughlin stopped short at blaming the turf, but suggested it was an issue. "You can speculate on whatever you want," Coughlin said. "Fact of the matter is it was an injury that occurred when he was not hit. He was running up the field and we are just going to leave it at that." The Jets acted plenty confident in the surface Wednesday. Quarterback Mark Sanchez, recovering from offseason knee surgery, participated fully in the workout. "The turf is great," Sanchez said of the turf. "I didn’t have any slippage. [Antonio] Cromartie did, but he’s so athletic that he’s like when a dog falls, they get up so quick, you almost don’t see it." Jets punter Steve Weatherford and outside linebacker Calvin Pace raved about the turf. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson told me "It's a fast track. Guys are going to really enjoy playing on it." Cornerback Darrelle Revis noted it could stand to be broken in more. "It's new turf," Jets inside linebacker Bart Scott said. "It takes a while for this stuff to harden up and mat down. There's going to be loose rubber until you run over it a couple times. ... But you just have to make the adjustment. Early on you may have to go with shorter spikes, and then as it hardens up you can go with longer spikes. "But I think it's still top-notch. It's soft. It's level. There's no divots. There's no seams. You just have to break it in." Anyone concerned about this?
it happens to at least 5 guys every year in TC/minicamps. if it starts to become a frequent occurence, then we should worry, as of now Hixon just got stuck with being unlucky
Tomorrow's Florio Headlines: - Sanchez calls Cromartie "a dog" - Sanchez: Cromartie needs to stop dogging it. - Sanchez: Cromartie's fall has been quick
Smurf Issues Papa Smurf is the village leader of the gang, and is easy to recognize with his white beard and red clothes. Papa Smurf is no less than 542 years old - and no more either. He is extremely wise and always willing to help any fellow smurf who needs it. He's also a pretty good alchemist. Brainy Smurf is constantly by Papa Smurf's side, and is a moralizer who believes everything Papa Smurf says is sacred. He is the only Smurf to take everything seriously. He sometimes seems to make more trouble than good. He always seems to be around whenever a problem needed solving and is usually somehow able to use his smarts to escape from Gargamel's many traps. Jokey Smurf spends all his time concocting pranks and has an endless stream of jokes. Sometimes, he gets on everyone's nerves. He is a particularly generous smurf though. He is so generous in fact that he gave packages to all the other Smurfs. However, the joke is that the packages often exploded (although a lot of them blow up in his face). The others eventually caught on to his jokes though. Baker Smurf makes the most delicious desserts for the Smurfs. You can't miss him with his tall white hat and apron. And his house is always the source of the delicious smell of hot bread, muffins, pies and sweets. Needles to say, he is a "cordon bleu". He gets mighty upset if anybody steals food or eats out of turn. He is very picky about his selections, which always makes for a wonderful baker and chef. Greedy Smurf's motto is: "One should live to smurf, and not smurf to live". Eat, eat, eat. Everything is tasty: sarsaparilla, soup, cheese, fruit. But what he really prefers are the goodies he often steals from Baker Smurf. Baby Smurf was brought into Smurf Village by a stork on a blue, moonlit night. (No baby-making here). He is really playful and sometimes annoys the other Smurfs who don't understand that he is only a child having fun. No-one knows where he came from, but everyone immediately adopted him - even though he breaks the routine of their lives. Poet Smurf spends his days scribbling prose, quatrains and essays. He daydreams so much he doesn't realize the danger he gets himself into. His latest tale is called: "Smurfy Dumpty sat on a smurf". Painter Smurf lives only for his craft. Canvas, brushes and colour are the joys of his life. He paints portraits and landscapes dressed in an apron with an oversized bow tie. Smurfette is his favourite model. Lazy Smurf only thinks of sleeping. When he painfully wakes in the morning, he waits for the evening to go back to sleep. He loves his pillow. He isn't idle, but any little job tires him. Lazy's laziness doesn't bother the other Smurfs except Brainy who's always after him, admonishing him each time he dozes off. The Schlips are what the Smurfs turn into after the Smurfs carry the spaceship into the crater of an inactive volcano, where they drink a secret beverage of Papa Smurf. Their skin turns orange, long black hair grows on their heads and they wear furry loincloths. After this peculiar adventure they all turn back into Smurfs. The Smurf Apprentice is the Smurf who wanted to make magic just like Papa Smurf. He tried a magic recipe taken from one of Gargamel's book of spells. He drinks the beverage and turns into a big nosed monster with green skin covered in scales and a long fat tail. As he can't find an antidote, Apprentice sneaks into Gargamel's place, where with the help of the other Smurfs, he returns to normal. Clockwork Smurf was invented and built by Handy to help him out with domestic work. He is useful to everyone and makes delicious sarsaparilla soup for the whole village. From time to time he leaves the Smurfs but comes back regularly to say hello to his friends and takes this opportunity to have his mechanical insides overhauled. Smurfette is the only adult female smurf. She was created by Gargamel as a purple Smurf with dark hair in order to lure the other Smurfs, but her innate smurfiness shined through and she became accepted into the smurfy society. She is also intelligent, using her "girliness" to her advantage. Vanity Smurf loves to look good, and usually for Smurfette. He always has a pink flower on his hat because it makes him feel good and adds to his natural charm. Vanity simply adores himself. He thinks he is the smurfiest Smurf in the village and love talking fashion with Smurfette. He is there to help any fellow smurf when needed, but he always makes sure to look his best while doing it. Grouchy Smurf is never in a good mood. No matter what anyone says, Grouchy is against it. He grumbles and mumbles and always thinks negative. If he ever feels even the slightest bit cheerful, he would never admit it. He is quick to find faults with all the other Smurfs, expressing doubt about the Smurfs plans to escape Gargamel and company. But underneath it all, he's a softy and loves Sassette and Baby. But he'd hate it if people knew. Handy Smurf is the village handyman. He has become an expert in building houses out of mushrooms - the only one in the world. He will also build furniture and any other items the Smurfs may need out of the goodness of his heart. He is also a creator. The pencil behind his ear is always being used to sketch things like a robot, a choo-choo train or a machine to smurf rain. Harmony Smurf has the soul of a great musician, but not the talent. He plays in the philharmonic smurfestra. But the only sounds that come from his cornet are Kwaaak and Pweeet. He is always playing his horn announcing important Smurf issues. But, he really cannot play his horn very well and has lots of problems trying to get his fellow Smurfs to listen to his performances. Smurfs who want to nap need a stock of earplugs. Astro Smurf is the Smurf from space. Does he wear that helmet all over the village? I would guess anytime that he wants to differentiate himself from the rest. I have a feeling he was introduced to the series during the big "space excitement" campaign from the 80s. Enamoured Smurf is in love with Smurfette ever since her arrival. He dreams about her, carves her name in trees and pulls the petals off daisies, reciting "She loves me, she loves me not...". When she loves him not, he cries all night. Farmer Smurf is the opposite of Poet; he is a Smurf of the earth. He's never satisfied. When he needs a little rain to help his salads grow, the sun shines, and vice versa. His speech is rough but he's the best at sorting out fertilizers and growing the tastiest vegetables and fruits in the world. Hefty Smurf can be distinguished by a heart-shaped tattoo on his arm. Hefty is the strongest Smurf in the village. He exercises, he is a sportsman and has even organised the Olympic Smurfs. One can always depend on him if there is any hard work to be done. He is kind of a lout but everyone loves him. King Smurf appears while Papa Smurf is away on a trip. The Smurfs decided to appoint themselves a new leader. One of them is elected and immediately puts on a crown, an ermine coat, takes a scepter and calls himself: "King Smurf". He acts like a dictator. The Smurfs rise up against him and take to the bush, it's a civil war. Fortunately, Papa Smurf returns to the village and everything returns to normal. Flying Smurf has but one dream: to rise up in the air and fly like a bird. He tries all possible means to fulfill his dream. He sticks feathers to his back, builds fabric wings, tries a kite, a magic broomstick, springs on his feet, the wings of a windmill and even a rocket. After having tried soap bubbles and a hot air balloon, he drinks a special potion that makes him lighter than air. But bewildered that he cannot come down anymore he has to eat bricks to touch the ground again. Grandpa Smurf is the oldest of all Smurfs, and comes back to village after a five hundred-year leave. He has not taken Papa's leading role but his energy and enthusiasm are impressive. Besides wearing a bright yellow cap and pants, Grandpa always wears pince-nez glasses. He's an avid storyteller and loves to show off some of the souvenirs he has collected during his travels. Then, there are the Smurflings. After they got caught in Father Time's clock, these three Smurfs became the only ones who are not 100 years old. They are actually getting younger! Their names are Slouchy, Nat and Snappy. Slouchy is not lazy. He just doesn't care for anything. If he is asked to do anything, he will. But slowly. He plays mellow sax in the Smurfling band. Slouchy will never have a nervous breakdown. Nat loves nature, and more than anything else he is crazy about animals. Of all his furry and feathered friends, he prefers the caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. Barefoot and wearing a straw hat, Nat is a genuine ecolosmurf. Snappy lives up to his name by being a ball of energy. He goes absolutely berserk when he doesn't get his way. He is so impatient and bad-tempered that only Papa Smurf can calm him down. Sassette Smurf is the second girl in Smurf Village. (Yes, there were two!). She was created by the Smurflings to keep Smurfette company. She has red pigtails and pink overalls. She is a bit of a tomboy and younger than Smurfette, but I'm sure kept Smurfette company. Girls have to stick together in a village filled with over a hundred other boys. Puppy was a gift from Homnibus to Papa Smurf. But even a dog this small is big by Smurf standards, which can be a problem. As only Baby Smurf managed to open the locket around his neck, he became the dog's master. Puppy often protects his friends from Gargamel and Azrael's attacks.
Then, of course, there are the bad guys, and these guys were BAD! Gargamel just couldn't get enough of the Smurfs. He was always out to capture them for one reason or another. Maybe he needed them for a magic spell or food, or maybe he had nothing better to do that day. For whatever reason, every episode he attempted to capture them in different "ingenious" ways, but was (luckily) never successful. He's not the smartest villain of the bunch because other bad guys could easily influence him with threats. Actually, he was too much of a coward to pick on anyone his own size. Azrael is one of those rare cats who seems to think that mice are blue, or maybe that's what Gargamel wants her to think. Whatever the reason, during every episode she was chasing those lovable Smurfs. She knew that Gargamel didn't really know what he was doing, but begrudgingly went along with his plans. She certainly wasn't fond of the Smurfs though.
true. I'm happy now we dont play the first real game in the stadium. let them giants, and panthers break that sucker in even more before we get on it.
Except for the first preseason game, lol Thankfully they'll have limited action at that point. I won't even say what I'm thinking but could you imagine??
I'm certainly no expert on this, but I've played on field turf plenty of times and I remember when the stuff first came out. I was talking to the people who put it in and they mentioned something about the turf taking a little while to break in. I think he actually said the turf has to "expand" and it takes anywhere from 3-6 months depending on use to fully settle in. This was several years ago so some of this information might be outdated, but I wouldn't be too concerned about the turf yet. This is probably why they put the turf down in the new stadium well before they finished building it.
I would like that too, but remember that mess 6 or so years ago in the Meadowlands where the grass got so messed up and they had to replace it like every week? I remember that the grass was raised up an inch outside the hashmarks and outside the 30 yard lines. It was a mess.
