I decided to move the weekly poll to Tuesday in an effort to spread things out during the week. I can do this because this is my awesome blog and everything I touch turns to gold and makes the world a better place.
So before the game on Saturday, I thought I’d get warmed up by watching the last time Pitt came to Annapolis, back in 1987. The 10-6 Pitt win wasn’t the most exciting contest, but it still gave me a lot to think about. The first thing that occurred to me was how sad it was to watch that game knowing that its two stars, Alton Grizzard and Ironhead Heyward, are no longer with us. The second, less serious thought was how nostalgic I felt for grass at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Don’t get me wrong; lacrosse alone makes FieldTurf the right surface for Navy. Not having to see slopfests on rainy April afternoons is a big plus. But for football, there’s just something about actual grass. On the other hand, the FieldTurf looks pretty sharp, too. So there’s the conundrum.
If you had your pick, which would you choose?
- FieldTurf with the checkerboard endzones.
- FieldTurf with the old N-A-V-Y endzones.
- Grass with the checkerboard.
- Grass with N-A-V-Y.
The Birddog 
I was for grass until that 05 AF game that was saved by the field turf that had just been installed. Made CG look like a genius.
Looks like checkerboards came with CG. I saw a photo of the Houston Stadium after CG had led that upgrade, and low and behold, it had checkerboard endzones.
I vote for variety. Would be good to see N A V Y back in the end zones again, with field turf.
I’ve always loved grass, especially in late Oct/November when it starts to turn a little brown…it’s just football.
On a related note, can anyone say for sure if Navy had the checkerboard endzone before Tennessee? I seem to recall seeing a photo of some old school Navy home game with it. Tennessee says their first checkerboard was in 1964. Just curious.
That’s old Thompson Stadium in 1942.
Mike – Thanks, I knew I wasn’t crazy scouring through Nimitz Library’s archived photo collection!
Can you imagine what it’d be like if we built NMCMS on that site? That would’ve been incredible.
Where exactly was Thompson Stadium? It looks as though it may have been where Halsey is now located.
It would be great to have a stadium in the Yard, but I’m one of those guys who actually enjoyed the march-over.
Grass with Navy and 50 Yard line with charging goat logo for a change.
Thompson Stadium was located where Rip Miller is now.
N* >>>>>>>> goat at midfield
Phat — I, too, watched a tape of the ’87 Pitt at Navy game on Saturday morning. (From the old channel 50 in DC.) And it occured to me about Grizzard and Hayward.
I really miss the smell and look of the natural grass at Navy games. Not that my seats were ever good enough to be that close, haha, but during warmups…
Can you imagine the parking disaster if the stadium was on the Yard!
I really like the checkerboards, but I wouldn’t mind seeing N-A-V-Y … if it was in semaphore flags.
Thompson Stadium was actually where Lejeune Hall is now. Right across the street from Halsey. Farragut Field (and Rip Miller) are landfills that came later than that pic. The field (and a track) were still there my Plebe year in 78-79.
Now that you mention it, I think I read that picture was taken from Dahlgren.
I love the N* in the center and the checkerboard pattern in the end zone. I like having a field that does not have names in the end zone. And I will always have a soft spot for grass. I played on grass fields and there is something about it that always feels right.
I like the N* at the 50 and the checkerboard end zones. Something just classy, timeless, and understated about it that I think fits USNA.
I love the checkerboard with either surface.