Reebok, Nike Visit The Vet, But Turf Issues Remain

The Eagles held yesterday an "unscheduled, closed practice" on the NeXturf surface at Veterans Stadium, but Nike and Reebok reps attended the practice, during which players were allowed to change shoes for both dry and wet conditions, according to Marcus Hayes of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. Attending practice were Eagles President Joe Banner; Bob Allison, Exec VP of NeXturf manufacturer Southwest Recreational Industries (SRI); Phillies Dir of Stadium Operations Mike DiMuzio, who oversaw the field conversion; and city Managing Dir Joe Martz. Eagles coach Andy Reid said that the turf the team tried yesterday "was imperfect, but playable." Banner: "We certainly hope that the proposed solutions will be successful. We are not, however, ready to declare the problem solved" (DAILY NEWS, 8/21). ESPN's Chris Mortensen: "NeXturf has never been used on a football stadium and a lot of the players complained that there weren't adequate shoes. ... It is a serious problem because they still didn't find anything they like. They may wear rubber baseball cleats and the St. Louis Rams are looking into doing the same thing" (ESPN, 8/20).

IS ASPHALT THE ANSWER? In Philadelphia, Mark McDonald writes when converted for football, a two-inch layer of asphalt will replace the dirt in the cutouts used for the bases and pitcher's mound in the Phillies field configuration at Veterans Stadium. The asphalt, which is the same foundation as the rest of the field, "would sit just below the Vet's new" NeXturf. City Controller Jonathan Saidel, on the blacktop solution: "It's too costly and it couldn't have been the answer that was foreseeable when the administration engaged in a sole-source bid" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/21). The asphalt will be used to "try to solve drainage problems" (USA TODAY, 8/21).

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