Montana State's turf looks better

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Colin O'Keefe

Don't give me all the nonsense on "The Ashtray", "Kitty Litter" and "The Streak." Try to look at this alone. Montana State's new field looks better than the new turf the University of Montana is putting down.


Photo courtesy of eGriz user FTGRIZ.


Photo courtesy of Bobcat Nation user TIrwin24.

The Washington-Grizzly turf does not look bad nor is it completely installed. I understand that. But it won't look as good as the turf in Bozeman. Please hold off on everything else, I know the rest of that stadium is mediocre and so is the team most years but on this topic alone, they have UM beat.

Montana State chose to go with FieldTurf, the industry leader for these artificial grass surfaces. FieldTurf is used by 22 NFL teams and countless Division I colleges.

The University of Montana went with Sprinturf. Washington-Grizzly stadium is the highest profile job they've done.

I do not know all the advantages and disadvantages of each. I do know one: Sprinturf is uglier.

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Washington-Grizzly Stadium will have new turf for '08 season

Posted on July 16, 2008 by Colin O'Keefe
Just like MSU, the University of Montana will be getting brand new turf installed in its stadium for the 2008 football season. The Missoulian is reporting that the new Sprinturf will be installed by September 1st.
[...] the Montana Board of Regents approved $320,000 to fund replacing the turf on July 9.

Another $150,000 will supplied by the manufacturer.

Unofficially, the turf will be a lot like the one in place now - which could be removed as soon as next week. One wrinkle would be the end zones, which will be maroon with “Montana” and “Grizzlies” in white lettering.

The current field was installed in 2001, and was guaranteed to last eight seasons. This fall would mark the eighth season, and the surface has been showing some wear. The chance to upgrade the petroleum-based surface now could mean UM will avoid prohibitive costs down the road.
New turf + new sounds system + 2,000 more seats > new turf.
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Washington-Grizzly Stadium: it's not in the game

Posted on June 5, 2007 by Colin O'Keefe
It remains highly unlikely that the Montana Grizzlies, or any FBS team for that matter, will make an appearance in the next-gen version of EA Sport's NCAA Football 08 but some do still hold out hope. After all, the Griz do appear in the 06 and 07 versions for Xbox (not 360). The only downer was that you had to play in some big empty stadium instead of the crowded Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Well, for anyone hoping that the Griz would not only be in the 360 version, but also play in a fully rendered Wash-Griz, I'm sorry.

TeamXbox.com has screenshots from every stadium in the Xbox 360 version of the game and Washington Grizzly is not one of them. I really didn't think the stadium had any chance of making it in the game -- the team as a whole probably doesn't either -- but it sucks to know for sure. How sweet would this be in a video game?

After the jump are some of the small-ish stadiums that did make it into the game. None of them are from the FBS.





This gives you a feel for what the facilities look like at the lower rungs of the FBS. It also makes you appreciate having Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
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