Augusta Spartans turf being installed

[AugustaGreenjackets]

The field arrived this morning. I stopped by the arena on my way to work this morning and decided to inspect the field installation. Looks like it will be ready for kickoff tonight!!! Here are links to the pics I took during my "inspection" this morning........

#1 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-019s.jpg)

#2 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-020s.jpg)

#3 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-021s.jpg)

#4 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-022s.jpg)

#5 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-023s.jpg)

#6 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-026s.jpg)

#7 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-027s.jpg)

#8 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-028s.jpg)

[ChampionOfSteel]

#5 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-023s.jpg)

#6 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-026s.jpg)

#8 (http://www.geocities.com/augustalynxhockey/Mvc-028s.jpg)

The last few pictures look like ice (not the bare concrete by itself with hockey markings) is immediately beneath the carpet?! No rubberized material separates the superficial carpet and a solid mass of frozen ice?!

No wonder the Houston Oilers left for Tennessee to get away from rock-hard Astrodome turf!

[AugustaGreenjackets]

The last few pictures look like ice (not the bare concrete by itself with hockey markings) is immediately beneath the carpet?! No rubberized material separates the superficial carpet and a solid mass of frozen ice?

That is the Augusta Lynx (ECHL) ice surface you see in the pictures I took. I actually walked onto the turf that was already laid out (as you can see in the shots), and it had a little bit of softness to it. The side of the rug that actually touches the ice surface is a type of rubber that is slightly softer than your average car tire and believe it or not, will actually put less wear and tear on the ice than a hockey player's skates. It's a top-notch surface recycled from the Arena Football League. Was looking for a faint "AF2" mark at center field, but could only cipher out the old style AFL logo. I couldn't make out what former team used the surface when I inspected the end zone that you saw in the pictures, but the way that the lettering was shaped, it appeared to have once belonged to the Grand Rapids Rampage of the AFL. I'll get a better look at the game tonight. I have been a regular at AFL & AF2 games since 1987, and starting around the 1991 AFL season, they have had some terrific turf. The defunct Augusta Stallions' turf was the best I ever stepped foot on. The Green Bay Blizzard was a close second. I won't arrive until around halftime or so due to work commitments in downtown Augusta. I'm only a mile from the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

[AugustaGreenjackets]

When I got to tonights' game, I was able to see the end zone more clearly and I could see that the turf used to belong to the Orlando Predators of the AFL. It was used by the Preds the season after their first Arena Bowl win because I could barely see the "World Champions" mark on the left side of the end zone. The name "Predators" is almost completely wiped out. But being the Arena/Indoor football fan I am, I could easily decipher it. Awesome game!!! Crowd was a noisy 2,000+. I'll make pics available when I can.

[preeths]

Thank you for the reports. Great to get first hand information and some pics.

[AugustaGreenjackets]

Thank you for the reports. Great to get first hand information and some pics.

That's exactly what I want our messageboard users to hear. The straight truth and pictures to boot. Now everyone can see exactly how it's done. It was almost immediately following last night's game, the work crew began disassembling the field. The semi that made the trip down from Raleigh was waiting in the back parking lot facing the Augusta Post-Office before the game and was backed up to the service entrance as I was heading out to my rust bucket and was already being loaded up. Had to get the hockey rink back together due to a Sunday afternoon game for the Augusta Lynx.

[Sykotyk]

I know old MISL/NPSL teams would lay the turf down to the ice. The turf has the padding in it, it's not like a seperate layer that needs to be laid down. As for the ice issue, probably too expensive/time-consuming to lay down the dividing boards. Easier to just keep the ice cold and lay the turf over it instead. As long as the ice stays frozen, there shouldn't be any issue.

Sykotyk

[Rocky]

I heard that 1 turf was being shipped between 3 sites in the AIFL. I take it this is no longer the case?

[Sykotyk]

I believe Asheville and another city didn't have their turf delivered in time for opening games, so they had to borrow turf from other teams (I believe from Raleigh).

Sykotyk

[banannaman]

Isnt that the turf also used in Syracuse? http://www.news10now.com/content/story_links/?SecID=345&ArID=61341 looks the same to me, black endzones, red white and blue stripe on the 25.