Posted on 08/23/2007 12:35:04 PM PDT by GOP_Raider
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - The Orange Bowl hosted a dozen games that decided college football's national championship, five Super Bowls and a speech by John F. Kennedy.
Miami football called it home for seven decades — but after this year, no more.
The Hurricanes will play at Dolphin Stadium starting in 2008, leaving the historic but decaying Orange Bowl in what university president Donna Shalala called "a painful and sad decision." University trustees voted to make the move Tuesday, despite the offer of $206 million by city officials to renovate one of Miami's best-known landmarks.
With the Hurricanes set to depart, the Orange Bowl will no longer have a primary tenant — putting the building's future in serious doubt. Some believe demolition may be an option, and the site has also been mentioned as a possible home for the Florida Marlins, who want a baseball-only facility.
"If they don't have a use for it, I'm sure they'll do something else with it," Miami athletic director Paul Dee said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
Too many thugs are around the Orange Bowl (when they aren’t playing football for the University of Miami) and the place is dangerous as everything. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the Hurricanes are leaving, and I’m surprised it has taken this long for them to do it.
The place is a dump and really out of date. It is close enough to campus that kids can get there so moving an hour North should have an impact on the attendence. This is not good for the Dolphins though since the field will be torn up on Saturday night then played on again the next day.
I saw an FSU/UM game there about 12 years ago, Warwick Dunn took the pitch, cut left, then right, then went down the field for TD of over 60 yards.....
place was mighty quiet after that.
True, the facility itself is a dump, but the configuration of it is such that it’s a cool place to watch a game as you’re closer to the field than you are at most stadiums.
And don’t get me started on the parking.
The Cotton Bowl game is moving out of the Cotton bowl. SMU moved out a long time ago. Even the pro soccer team moved out. A former mayor (Kirk) torpedoed plans for renovation a few years back. About all that’s left are a couple of games during the state fair. And that’s only because the city gave in to blackmail.
Isn’t the new Texas Stadium going to host everything there anyway—the Cowboys, Texas/OU, Super Bowls, the Cotton Bowl, and so on?
I think Texas/OU (and the Prairie View/Grambling) matchup are staying for the short term, after the city sweetened the pot. Jones managed to torpedo a plan to bring in a Texas Tech game. Everything else has been switched to the new Jones stadium in Arlington.
Dolphins Stadium is going be even emptier than the Orange Bowl for Canes games.
Of course until UF plays them again down there, and most of the fans are Gators.
In the Canes section that is, I'm sure there were as many FSU fans there as Miami fans.
No, the reason it's still in the Cotton Bowl is that the City tripled the subsidy, and Jones isn't interested in paying out, he's interested in taking in.
There are rumors that the State Fair could be moving as well. The only thing Big D has done is pushed DART to open a track and station in Fair Park. Otherwise Empress Miller had killed any other attempt at creating an environment for redevelopment in that crap hole that is Fair Park. Will be interesting to see what the new mayor will do. I don’t know much about him.
The WORST stadium I have ever been to in the western hemisphere. VERY comfortable, sitting on the plastic planks with hard concrete.
One of the museums is moving up to the Arts district (Natural History). And it would make a lot of sense to move the aquarium down to the zoo. But I can’t see the fair moving unless some developer has his eye on the property. But let’s face it - if you want land in the area for development, there is plenty available.
They have done a pretty good job of starting to clean up between the fair and downtown. It is even reasonably safe to make the drive during daylight hours.
I drive through there at least 4-5 times a month when I need to go to BaylorDallas. It’s not bad on the North side, but the South side is still pretty bad. The rumored move is it moving to Arlington somewhere around the Palace of Jerry.
The amount of FSU fans at that game was rather small compared to the UM fans.
Make me a part of the FRList for the 2007-08 season please. Thanks. :-)
They should simply tear the old field down and build a new one on the site for University of Miami, just like the Rentcheler Field for UConn in CT. The trip would be an hour from what I have read on another posting. Just a thought.
At least from the UConn Storrs campus to East Hartford to the Rent, as it is called, is about 30 minutes for the trip. Any CT Huskies FR fans who can post and correct me if I am wrong, that is okay.
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