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Forum Member
 
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I believe someone posted earlier that WESTERN was going to have some type of turf soon. Is this just talk, or something real? Unlikely it can be in by this fall. Perhaps just something on the wish list?
Is it really needed?
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Forum Guru
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I think I may have started that! I do know that after the Naperville scrimmage, the coaching staff and AD were very impressed with the turf there and the conversations I had with them definitely indicated that turf would be in the not toooooo distant future. One of the biggest proponents of turf is the soccer coach who would use it to hold practice whenever he could. I wonder if any of the money in the "Campaign" is pointed in that direction?
jc
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I'm certainly not against some type of turf. I just don't know if the expense warrants it right now. It goes wihout saying the decision should be made with whats best for the football team-whether soccer has a place to pactice is a very minor part of the decision.
I know one of the greatest WESTERN football coaches-Don Patterson- indicated at one time he would rather have a turf practice facility, and keep the stadium in grass.
Obviously, a turf stadium could have multiple uses. That might help raise some money for it, if they should decide to go that way.
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Also, if the soccer coach is so gung ho on the turf idea, we would assume that program would be willing to raise a good portion of the monies too. 
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Thinking about the current field. Is anyone else tired of seeing that same old WIU in each endzone? (I couldn't attend a game this year, I assume it has not changed in one year) That design must be 20+ years , with no change.
I suppose the logo at the 50 needs to be there- I would suggest to make it larger.
I would like to see WESTERN in one endzone, and NECKS in the other.
If turf is put in- logo at the 50- huge size. MVFC logo at each 20 or 25 yardline. In each end zone the Tenneessee squares- in purple and gold.
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I am personally against turf on the main fields (soccer or football). I belive the practice area should have a large turf area put in. It could be used 10 months out of the year. It would be set up in a way that displayed every sports field completely (roughly the size of 2 football fields). It would allow baseball and softball to use the turf for practice as well. Every sport could have a different color stripping. 
Natural grass allows cutting to be made that suits each teams speed giving a competitive advantage to WIU. Also, Hanson Field was considered one of the best natural surefaces in the Mid West when WIU had better practice fields and was using Hanson Field less. This would again be the case and it would be a nice sellig point for a throw back player that loves grit. Currently I see the rest of the football facility being the real issue. Something must be done for every sport not just football. Small minded thinking like this has us far behind the times. Grass is great when you don't trample it all the time due to horrible practice fields (which is sad because they used to be amazing for the Rams).
Go Leathernecks....... 
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Hail Leathernecks,
You stated, "Hanson Field was considered one of the best natural surefaces in the Mid West" which I've also seen in some of our press release stuff. But doesn't that really translate to "one of the only" natural surface collegiate football fields in the midwest (and likely beyond).
Notre Dame has trying to make the claim about their tradition of having a grass field, but as a sports writer noted is discussing reasons they should abandon that tradition, "Obviously, the biggest problem is the amount of slipping and sliding that pervades every Notre Dame home game, and in many cases, every single play." The author also goes on to say "surprisingly, there are not many teams still left playing on natural grass, especially in the colder regions of the United States." In fact, "out of last year’s final AP Top 25, a respectable 13 programs played on new artificial surfaces ... Texas, Boise State, Ohio State, Iowa, Cincinnati, Oregon, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Utah, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Central Michigan and West Virginia."
Here's the link to the entire May 19, 2010 article.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/392860-notre-dame-stadiums-natural-grass-playing-surface-the-debate-ends-here
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Supreme Being
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I agree about the endzones. It is time for a change!
Let's put "WESTERN" in one endzone. And then either "Leathernecks" or "Necks" in the other.
It's time for a change.
That sweep "Western Illinois" at midfield needs to be changes as well. Let's drop the "Illinois" from that and just go with "WESTERN" along with Rocky.
Let's Go WESTERN!!
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I agree that the field should be turf but IMO its a higher priority for all sports to recieve much needed attention in regards to practice facility upgrades. It would still do a great deal to help football. To me the issue is not if we should turf Hanson but when. I can live with Hanson being natural for a few more years with all sports benefiting from the creation of an outdoor practice area.
If the football field becomes turf how does that help everyone? Baseball, softball, football, soccer (m,w), etc. 1 vs. 5. It is time football took a look at finishing their original project before they begin another. I want some progress on the stadium otherwise we won't have anything to recruit with versus our competition. If the world were a perfect place the fields would just all be turfed but that would be a huge expensive project (although it would PLANT us on the map in the Summit).
Go Leathernecks.......
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