Lindenwood University makes no apologies for striped football turf panned by sports columnist

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Lindenwood University has found a way to make its first season with a college football team unique: The football field at the campus in Belleville, Ill., has alternating maroon and grey stripes that are drawing some ridicule.

The Lynx’s new field is part of a $2.3 million stadium renovation. It makes the NAIA program one of the few programs with turf that isn’t green.

A Yahoo! Sports columnist this week panned the colours, likening them to a flattened-out barber pole and calling them “an abomination to the game.”

The campus’ vice-president, Jerry Bladdick, says he finds the criticism amusing and calls the new field “our way of coming into our own.”