The maintenace issue is why we have the grass basepaths at my sons high school(less dirt to dry after a rain). We used to use a rye grass in the infeild so it would be green pretty much year round, but now the entire field is bermuda and we haven't had the problem with wear and tear like we did with the rye. The bermuda doesn't stay green all the time but in the spring and summer you can't get a better looking field.