The debut of red turf at Eastern Washington University on Saturday figures to be similar - bizarre, mesmerizing and surreal all wrapped together. It will be hard for me or anybody to take the eyes off it, but there will be no stopping the texting, tweeting and emailing about it. The national spotlight that Eastern Washington sought after it installed red SprinTurf this summer at newly named Roos Field will reach its height when Big Sky Conference kingpin Montana rolls into Cheney for an incredible early season showdown. Considering the sixth-ranked Grizzlies have won at least a share of 12 straight conference titles, and reached the FCS championship in each of the past two seasons, the 18th-ranked Eagles would turn the race upside down with a victory in the conference opener for both teams. By going red, Eastern Washington hopes to get the boost that Boise State has enjoyed with its one-of-a-kind blue turf. The former Big Sky member Broncos went 63-2 at home in the 2000s - the highest home winning percentage in the nation during the decade. Opponents are especially distracted when Boise State players wear all-blue uniforms on the blue turf. Eastern Washington will wear all-red uniforms on Saturday. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/misc/haley/index.htm
Why not, right? That most artificial turf fields are green is a vestige of a previous era... and fields have long been jazzed up in the end zones with designs and brighter colors. I think the novelty will wear off after a while (especially when a school like Tennessee goes with THEIR school colors as the field color... hehe) but in the mean time they get a bump in recognition that they wouldn't otherwise. Ed O.
