BYU vows not to play here until stadium turf changed

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Brigham Young University has vowed not to play any more football games in Hawai'i until the artificial turf is changed at Aloha Stadium.

BYU and Hawai'i are scheduled to meet in Honolulu in 2004. But that game and future ones being discussed are in jeopardy because of what BYU coach Gary Crowton described as the dangerous conditions of the turf.

George Curtis, BYU's head athletic trainer, said the Cougars suffered 18 turf-related injuries during the Cougars' 72-45 loss to the Warriors in December.

"Take nothing away from the Warriors, because they played a great game and they have a great program," Crowton said. "But we had so many injuries that our president said we won't go back there until they put in a new turf."

Aloha Stadium manager Eddie Hayashi said the Stadium Authority has hired consultants to study the concerns, and the results will be available within two months. "We'll look at (the results) and determine what we'll be doing," Hayashi said.

Curtis said the base of the playing field is hard, yet the turf's strong grip makes players vulnerable to ankle and knee injuries when they try to cut quickly.

"That turf is like taking a throw rug out of your kitchen and putting it in the parking lot," Curtis said. "We don't have trouble with most turf, but that's not good turf."

Curtis said running back Reno Mahe suffered three injuries to his knee and one to his hip from falls onto the turf. Cornerback Jernaro Gilford suffered a broken bone in his knee and fullback Ned Stearns sustained a broken hand. Backup quarterback Charlie Peterson suffered a broken collarbone.

"Jernaro is still struggling," Curtis said. "We got him through the bowl game, but he wasn't right, and he's still not right. Mahe isn't 100 percent, either."

The National Football League, which stages its Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, also has asked for a change in the turf that was installed in 1999.

"If I were a Pro Bowl player, I wouldn't want to jeopardize my career based on one game," Curtis said. "You work all year, then a kid falls down and gets hurt. It's not like he jumped off a building, although the result seems to be the same."

Hayashi said George Toma, the NFL's field specialist, determined that "our field was in good condition. I go on the turf all of the time. It's in really good shape. Our turf is much softer than many fields on the Mainland."

But UH coach June Jones, who favors installing FieldTurf — an artificial surface featuring a rubber base and grasslike blades — said BYU's concerns should be taken seriously.

"I don't know if it will impact other teams, but obviously it impacted BYU, which, to me, is our natural rivalry," Jones said. "For them to have that stance or to say what they said means something. Hopefully, the people at the stadium will listen now instead of listening to other people. That's what we need to get done to make the stadium better and make it safer for all of the kids."

With commitments to other events, it is unlikely a new turf could be installed in time for the start of the 2002 football season.