It was decided this morning that the University of Miami is abandoning the Orange Bowl and is headed north to Dolphin Stadium as early as 2008. I don’t think I could be any more sick over the news.
Obviously, I get it. Money won out as did the lack of trust issues with the city of Miami. We all know this issue should’ve been rectified a decade ago. It wasn’t and that’s why Miami admin and the board of trustees bailed out today.
If you’re looking for the lone gunman here, there truly isn’t one. You can partially blame the city for draggings its collective feet for over a decade. You can blame the admin for selling out over $1.5M per year when there had to be other options regarding fundraising. Pretty pathetic that a relatively small amount of cash (for an athletic department) was chosen over decades of tradition, but hardly a surprise.
I could go on here, but it’d pale in comparison to Greg Cote’s comments regarding this tragic situation. Make sure to check out his article in today’s Miami Herald.
The city pledged a $206 million OB renovation to keep the Canes, but, characteristic of its method of operation, the full commitment is lacking. Less than half of that total ($88 million, barely enough to cover structural improvements that are not an option) is firmly accounted for.
The rest of it relies on tax credits and revenue bonds, the usual sleight of hand.
In that respect you can hardly blame UM for favoring a new stadium that has been renovated rather than trusting OB improvements that should have been done years ago instead of existing now only as desperate, last-minute promises.
To be fair, share the blame. Put the majority in the city’s lap, but do not absolve UM entirely. Wouldn’t an option have been to give the city more time to guarantee the balance of the money while the structural renovation was taking place? Isn’t 70 years of tradition worthy of a bit more patience and even a bit of financial sacrifice?
Cote refers to the Orange Bowl as “one of the most unique, tradition-rich home stadiums in all of American sports” and calls Dolphin Stadium “a soulless building in the middle of an expanse of asphalt, a place where the Canes will be the third tenant after the Dolphins and Marlins.”
What more is there to say after that?
Check out Cote’s article – http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/209424.html – I’ll blog more about this over time. Right now I’m just pissed off. The Canes belong at the OB and there’s no price tag you can put on that.