Millions Of Dollars Controlled Environment Essay - 1,493 words

As salaries in sport continue to rise to unimaginable levels, athletes may no longer be seen as just people, but more as expensive liabilities. The health of these athletes become more and more important as it is not only their health which is on the line, but also millions of dollars. Injuries do occur in sports, especially contact sports, but astroturf increases these odds of injury. It will be shown that astroturf causes increased wear on the body and an increased number of severe injuries. Because of this, safer alternatives should be used in the stadiums.


Astroturf is an unsafe surface to play on and should not be used by athletes. The wear on a players body after a game is incredible, so new innovations are always being created to lessen the impact of the sport on the athletes body; better shoes, more protective pads. These things allow the athlete to compete at the same level, but at the end of the game be in better condition to play in the next one. If this is the case, then owners of teams should consider getting rid of their artificial turf. Astroturf increases wear and tear on the body and causes more minor injuries than grass.


This wearing down of the body would lead to quicker fatigue and decreased performance. Ever since astroturf was introduced, people have been complaining about its effects and these complaints are heard even louder in this era. "Athletes blame artificial turf for tendinitis, shin splints, and broken bones. " (Schrier, 1987) Warren Sapp of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is one of many football players who suffers from the effects of the astroturf. He says, It feels like you " ve been running on bricks for two miles, your knees are real sore and usually you come out with nine or 10 scrapes and you don't even know it until you get into the shower and it's burning like hell. " (Wharton, 1999) Sapp's pain comes from the fact that running on astroturf is only a little better than running on asphalt. Astroturf is made of nylon fibers which are five-eighths of an inch long stitched into a tightly woven mat. It is then laid over a five-eighths-inch-thick foam pad for cushioning and glued to an asphalt base. (Schrier, 1987) So all that separates the athlete from asphalt is less than two inches of rubber. The other problem which Sapp mentions is "turf burn." Since nylon resists tearing it also means that superficial wounds are more likely to occur.


Though these wounds are not detrimental to the immediate health of the athlete they are painful and do affect the performance and possibly the longevity of the athlete's career. Steve Young of the San Francisco 49 er's says, It's not easy playing on your back patio. If you wonder what playing on artificial turf is like, go out there and fall down a couple of times. Then do what we do - run and scrape across. " (Unknown, 1998) These ill feelings toward artificial turf are felt throughout the NFL. Another player described it as, "sandpaper laid over concrete. A poll done in 1994 revealed that ninety-six percent of more than nine-hundred players said artificial turf leaves them feeling sorer than after playing on grass.


Ninety-four percent believe turf is more likely to contribute to an injury and half the players identified a previous injury they believed to be caused by astroturf. And many of these injuries are serious injuries; there have been many season ending and career ending injuries on turf. These more serious injuries though are the primary reason why artificial turf should not be used in stadiums. A Cornell University study showed that, ... foot and knee injuries occur on synthetic turf about 50 percent more than on grass. And when injuries do occur, they often are more serious and difficult to heal than those that occur on This was the case for three premier players in the NFL this season as Vinny Testaverde, Wayne Chrebet and Jamal Anderson were all severely injured because of Astroturf.


The players were severely injured in a situation where there was no contact with other players. In Chrebet's case two trainers said they had no doubt in their minds that he broke his foot because of the surface and nothing more. (Kirwan, 1999) In the former two cases what occurred was "foot lock." The friction bet ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: cornell university, controlled environment, turf, millions of dollars, injuries

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