4 Put a Lid on It

Sports have always been ruled by the weather. Rain, sleet, snow, and cold called the plays. Baseball fans often sat in the rain without cover, waiting for the sun to come out and the game to begin. Football lovers sometimes took days to warm up after sitting through a freezing cold Sunday game. For both sports fans and players, the domed stadium was like something out of a dream. A huge plastic bubble kept out rain and snow. There was heat to keep things comfortable year round.

Domed stadiums have clearly changed the course of sports. Still, they did have their problems at first. Most of these problems were discovered and solved at the Houston Astrodome. This was the world's first stadium with a lid. For the fans, it was great. But there were some problems for the players. Baseball outfielders had the most difficult time. They had to learn to catch in a field with a roof. At first this was almost as difficult as playing in the dark. The panes of the roof were light colored, to let sunlight in. Sunlight was needed to keep the grass on the field alive. But the light roof blended too well with the white baseball. Fly balls seemed to drop out of nowhere. Even skilled fielders were making errors. Finally, the decision was made to paint the panes of the roof dark. The problem was solved. What about the grass? Well, the real grass was dug up and replaced with artificial turf.

4 给它盖个顶

体育运动一直受天气支配。雨、冻雨、雪和寒冷决定了比赛的走向。棒球球迷经常在没有遮蔽的雨中坐着，等待太阳出来，比赛开始。橄榄球爱好者有时在熬过一个寒冷的周日比赛后，需要好几天才能暖和过来。对于体育迷和运动员来说，有穹顶的体育场就像梦想中的事物。一个巨大的塑料泡泡可以阻挡雨雪。这里有暖气，全年都能保持舒适。

穹顶体育场显然改变了体育运动的发展轨迹。不过，它们一开始确实存在一些问题。这些问题大多是在休斯顿天文穹顶体育场被发现并解决的。这是世界上第一个有顶的体育场。对球迷来说，这很棒。但对运动员来说，存在一些问题。棒球外野手的日子最不好过。他们必须学会在有屋顶的场地上接球。起初，这几乎和在黑暗中比赛一样困难。屋顶的窗格是浅色的，以便让阳光照进来。阳光是维持球场上的草存活所必需的。但浅色的屋顶与白色的棒球融合得太好了。飞球似乎凭空落下。即使是技术熟练的外野手也会出错。最终，人们决定将屋顶的窗格漆成深色。问题解决了。那草呢？嗯，真草被挖掉，换成了人造草皮。