And Maryland's New Football Field Is ... Green.

And plain green, at that.

After weeks of speculation, mock-ups, and rumors, Maryland officially announced their new turf playing surface at Byrd Field, and the accompanying design to go along with it. I use the word "design" lightly - after being teased with Terraprint-covered pewter fields, the end result is, frankly, rather plain.

Not that that's a bad thing, necessarily. I wasn't in favor of the crazy field, most because I didn't see any way it could actually look good. Instead we get a pretty standard-issue football field, and a pretty attractive one at that. The flag end zones are standard (and still awesome), while the Maryland logo in Terrafont predictably graces the 50-yard-line. The only notable design feature is the alternating light/dark color bands, similar to Oregon. This isn't going to help the people who say that Maryland is just copying the Ducks in everything that they do, but that aside I've always thought that's a really cool little touch that doesn't look crazy. So I'm in favor.

(Oh, and it looks like the yard-line numbers will be Terrafont as well. That's meh.)

That's not all of the story, though; apparently, the field will somehow help lower the temperature of the field up to 15 degrees, resulting in a safer and, er, cooler playing surface. I suppose that's a nice bonus, though it does sound a bit like marketer-speak to me.

Truth be told, I'm just excited to get the FieldTurf in. It's long overdue, but after last year when Byrd turned to muck in the rain it was obvious that something had to be done. The end result is a more durable, more attractive playing surface that will hold up better throughout the year (and be useable for lacrosse, as well), and it doesn't look like a joke. There's enough crazy elsewhere in the program to survive a respectable-looking field.

It'll officially be unveiled in August, well before the start of the football season. Mark your calendars (very generally, I guess).