The whole sordid story came out in today's Herald-Zeitung. Imagine my horror this morning when I opened the paper to have that scald my eyes! Apparently, somebody somewhere thought this would be a good idea. Ultimately, we have to curse Boise State for that damn blue field up in Idaho for giving people ideas, but this takes things to a whole other level of abomination. Apparently nobody thought that the garish train wreck that is Eastern Washington's red turf was actually a garish train wreck. Indeed, they seem to ascribe some sort of mystical qualities to the crimson rug, since Eastern Washington hasn't suffered a home loss since it was installed two seasons back. Here's a theory: Maybe opponents are too busy retching or laughing to play. My money's on both.
I spent the 90s working as a sports reporter, and I covered countless high school football games--sometimes several a week. Never once did I hear anyone say "You know, Texas high school football is pretty good, but what it really needs to go big-time are football fields in eye-watering, day-glo colors!" Of course, back then pretty much every high school played on natural grass--Groesbeck was pretty much the only ISD with turf, and they were viewed with a healthy dose of suspicion. Canyon has taken that idea of turf to a painful extreme. I can't imagine anyone willingly staring at a field that looks like a bad Photoshop job for more than a few minutes without getting a headache, much less two-plus hours. I know the Comal ISD Athletic Director, Jim Rodrigue. I covered him for years back when he was the head football coach in Belton. I'd have thought he had more sense than this. Apparently not.
You know what the greatest tragedy is? That rug's got an 8-year lifetime, and my eldest daughter starts attending high school there in two years. Time to invest in polarized shades...
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