Thread: Viking P Kluwe calls the Field Unplayable!

Why don't these prima donnas shut the f*ck up and play ball? How many generations did teams play football in frigid temperatures where the field's surface was rock hard with ice? GET OVER IT! If the old timers could do it, so can these fellows.

An 'unplayable' field at TCF Bank Stadium

December, 19, 2010 Dec 19
2:58
PM ET


By Kevin Seifert


Hannah Foslien/Getty ImagesPlayers have expressed concern about the condition of the field at TCF Bank Stadium where the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears will play Monday night.
From the start, it has been difficult to accept official claims that the field at TCF Bank Stadium would be properly thawed and maintained for Monday night's game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.

University of Minnesota officials had outlined a vague plan to make it playable, suggesting they would use a chemical to melt a sheet of ice and then heaters and tarps to keep it warm. NFL and Vikings officials had expressed confidence that the field would be playable, but in reality we wouldn't know if the plan worked until some relatively independent observers got a look at it.

That happened Sunday, when the Vikings held a brief walk-though practice at the stadium the Vikings chose to replace the damaged Metrodome for this game. The practice was closed to the media. But shortly afterward, Vikings punter Chris Kluwe issued a series of tweets that made clear he thought the field fell far short of expectations and implied it would be dangerous if in the same condition Monday night.

Kluwe tweeted that the field is "unplayable" and added:

"The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion.

"I find it interesting that the NFL can claim an emphasis on player safety, and then tell us the field is fine. It's beyond hypocritical

"I can only hope, however unlikely, that no one gets catastrophically injured at the trainwreck that's about to take place tomorrow night."

Kluwe typically takes a sarcastic tone on Twitter, but on Sunday wrote: "To everyone -- that was a totally serious post on the field conditions. It is like walking on concrete. They took the tarp off at the same time they'll take it off before the game. The problem isn't heating it, it's retaining that heat."

Kluwe later tweeted he had been asked to stop speaking publicly about the issue, but his reaction will provide a stern test for school, team and league officials. Kluwe has been outspoken about the issue all week, but I don't see an upside for him in exaggerating the conditions for rhetorical purposes.

On their website, the Vikings posted a quote from interim coach Leslie Frazier, who said: "It really seems to me that there are going to be safe conditions. It’s not something that our players have to be concerned about. We can just go out and play football, so it should be good for both teams."

Of course, Frazier is hoping to be named the team’s permanent head coach and isn’t likely to speak out on this issue.

And to be fair, the field could be further thawed if warmed for the next 30 or so hours. But if Kluwe's theory is right, it will re-freeze shortly after the tarp is removed for pregame warm-ups. Weather forecasts calling for 3-6 inches of snow Monday afternoon and evening in the Twin Cities surely won't help matters, either.

To my knowledge, the only other Vikings player who has tweeted about the field is tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. On his Twitter page, Shiancoe was generally complimentary about the state of the field but added: "Only thing.. there are random patches of hard and slippery field." He posted a picture of one of those areas here.

The shotgun plan to play at TCF Bank Stadium, rather than moving to a neutral location, was both ambitious and risky. If all goes well, Monday night's game will be a nostalgic tour through the Black and Blue division of yesteryear. But if the field is frozen and even borderline unsafe, it will be an embarrassing pock for both the team and the NFL -- especially considering how prominent the playing field issue has been all week.

I'm not sure what could be done at this point. The timing of the stadium readiness plan left the Vikings past the point of no return when they took the field Sunday afternoon. No matter what condition it would be in, they wouldn't be in position to shift venues and still play the game Monday night.

As always, stay tuned.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nf...ory?id=5938923

Snow expected before MNF kickoff

MINNEAPOLIS -- For all the talk about the hard playing surface at TCF Bank Stadium, the biggest issue Monday night when the Minnesota Vikings host the Chicago Bears may be the slickness of the field.
The Minneapolis area is expected to get four to six inches of snow from daytime through the end of the game, according to Accuweather.com. All that precipitation on an artificial surface could lead to severe footing problems, which is one reason the Bears moved Saturday's practice to Northwestern University, so they could become better acclimated to playing outside on turf.
The game-time temperature is expected to be 19 degrees with a wind chill of minus-1. Snow began falling at approximately 10 a.m. CT.

All NFL fields have heating coils underneath to combat icy conditions, but because snow tore a hole in the Metrodome roof, the game was moved to TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota. The school's field does not have heating coils beneath it.
So precipitation falling during the day combined with freezing temperatures could make for dangerous conditions.
Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was the latest player to question the playing surface on Sunday.
"The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion," he tweeted. "I find it interesting that the NFL can claim an emphasis on player safety, and then tell us the field is fine. It's beyond hypocritical. ... I can only hope, however unlikely, that no one gets catastrophically injured at the trainwreck that's about to take place tomorrow night."
The Bears played the Baltimore Ravens last season in a cold weather game on artificial turf and were blown out 31-7.