(November 1, 2005) — A few weeks ago, I arrived at the Glendale Sports Complex for the first time in over a year. The soccer fields had been closed for reasons unknown to me, but I was looking forward to the game. As I walked onto the field, I noticed that the grass was quite literally shiny. Reasonably so, I was puzzled until the truth came to light. The field had been converted into artificial turf. Artificial turf is exactly what it seems to be: fake grass—incredibly hard, fake grass. It is a cheaper and more efficient material for playing fields in the long run. Easier to maintain, the faux-grass ends up paying for itself when you deduct the cost of daily watering, mowing and the occasional need to touch up the paint job on the sidelines. Monsanto Industries first developed the concept of artificial turf in the late 1950’s and patented it in 1967. Now, the market for artificial grass has spread to other companies as well. The city of Glendale added artificial turf to the Glendale Sports Complex this year in an effort to reduce costs and injuries. Prior to the turf, the Complex had to be closed every year for two months to allow the grass to recuperate. Yet as soon as the Complex opened once more, the grass would be worn away in a matter of weeks. According to city officials, maintaining the grass cost anywhere from $60,000 to $80,000 a year, and the Complex would guzzle 3-4 million gallons over that time. However, I hardly find it an improvement over real grass, especially since I had the delightful privilege of falling and sliding across it, achieving some spectacular “grass burns” and scrapes in the process. Cases of “turf toe,” a condition where athletes end up inflaming the joints in their big toes on the unyielding ground, can also be rather painful and have been cropping up as well, according to David Price, head athletic trainer for the New York Jets, who mentioned the topic during a CNN interview. Medical studies also show that the unyielding quality of artificial turf is harder and wears the knees more. The city admits that the rubber cushioning between the grass will cause the fields to heat up in summer, causing a 10-15°F temperature difference between the grass and the sidelines. What has happened to this country that the exciting technological aspect of plastic grass is more important than the safety and well being of athletes? Is plastic grass really that much more chic? The promise of a cost-effective field has seemed to drown out the complaints of the scraped, bloodied and bruised players who come home after a long game on the field. True, the turf may be installed with the best intentions, but intentions do not heal scraped knees. If we were meant to have plastic playing fields, then plastic grass would be growing out of the ground, not being installed in it.