There are...

Submitted by UM Fan from Sydney on

 

...days until Glen Steele is reminded again why he chose to play for Michigan. Speaking of being reminded, seeing that picture reminds me how much I don't miss having a grass field.

LSAClassOf2000

June 14th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^

Anyone who has lived in southeastern Michigan for any length of time can tell you from personal experience how hard it can be to get grass to take root when you live inside a natural watershed area, or anywhere like Ann Arbor that tends to have a high water table. That's more or less the entire metro region actually.

Switching back to that surface was a mistake really for that reason alone, even given the concerns about artificial turf being pretty brutal to play on physically. The FieldTurf always seemed a better option for maintenance reasons, at least given where the stadium is.

Rabbit21

June 14th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^

The field turf that's used now seems okay, but I still have no idea how anyone thought playing on the old astroturf was a good idea

I mean I remember the ground getting pretty hard late in the fall once it got cold and everything started to freeze, but there was still at least some give.

PopeLando

June 14th, 2016 at 9:50 AM ^

This is another number where there haven't been any good recent contributors. Csonte York was the most recent to wear the number, before he got all punchy. Mike Kwiatkowski wore it proud for his entire career. Anyone remember Doug Dutch? He wore it too. Talk about pulling one from the archives.

gwkrlghl

June 14th, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^

The other 5 topics at the board right now:

  • Top DT Marvin Wilson leaves Michigan off Top Ten list
  • Phil Steele's List of Returning OL Starts: Michigan #8
  • OT: Dhani Jones - Cohosts New Competition Show On NBC
  • OT: Facepalm Guy congratulates Stanley Cup Champion Wolverines
  • NBA Finals Game 5 Open Thread

So basically all fluff and OT. What are you gonna do in the offseason? Have more Game of Thrones threads?

UM Fan from Sydney

June 14th, 2016 at 12:07 PM ^

That is wrong. The "which means there are only <insert number> of Saturdays left" was added this year and even then, not everyone mentions the Saturday numbers in their "there are..." threads. Someone started the tradition years ago and it caught on with most people (obviously not you). It also gets people excited for the season. If you really think about it, eighty-one days is not that far away. Most people on this blog like football more than any sport, so these threads are, as I mentioned, just meant to get people excited.

LKLIII

June 14th, 2016 at 11:02 AM ^

I think a much more tolerable  countdown is counting down to the start of fall camp.  I haven't found anywhere that says exactly when the players will report, but that's gotta be something more tolerable--like 50 days or something.

LKLIII

June 14th, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^

Look, it's great filler if it spurs conversations about past/current players with that jersey number.  But it's just so damned depressing.  I'd rather just either distract myself for another month or so or at least focus on a closer goal, like fall camp.  At least in fall camp we start to see teaser videos, overanalyzie an updated roster, irrationally overreact to small clips of practice drills, etc.

Goggles Paisano

June 14th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^

I believe football and baseball should both be played outdoors on grass. It is aesthetically more appealing to me and there is just something about getting grass stains and mud on your uniform as the game progresses. It kind of lets you know how hard the teams are playing.

 

Prince Lover

June 14th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^

The woman in charge of the grass was always in a very frustrated state of mind. Poor maintenance of the field was not from lack of effort, that's for sure. My boss at the golf course said they used sand under the grass to enhance drainage, but that meant the grass wouldn't stand up to the rigors of football.

UM Fan from Sydney

June 14th, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^

Obviously to each their own, but I simply cannot understand why anyone thinks a grass football field is better than field turf. The field turf is visually beautiful. As much as I hate OSU, their grass field looked like shit, too, and now their field turn is gorgeous. I just wish Michigan's field would have blue end zones instead because that is so great looking.

I dumped the Dope

June 14th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^

that we had to acquire the turf strain from that Ag College in the middle of the state,

That said, the grass was fine at the start but got shabby at the end of the season when it really counted.  Big chunks of loose stuff that had to be painted back into place.