Monday, January 28, 2008

The Stadium That Care Forgot

As many of you know, the last game ever played in the Orange Bowl happened just the other day-- flag football between former Dolphins and former 'Canes. Here's an essay written by Scott Holtz memorializing the Orange Bowl. It was penned shortly before the last college game played in the stadium and is reprinted with permission.

The Stadium That Care Forgot
By Scott Holtz
Scott dot Holtz at gmail dot com

I find myself sitting in Natural Resources Law (much more boring that
it sounds, if you can believe it), and instead of the usual course of
Cricklers, Chess, and College Football blog checking, I want to talk
about the black cloud that hangs over me this week- the death of the
Orange Bowl.

The Critics
1. No one will miss that old dump.
2. Why do you even care about that toilet?
3. Miami sucks anyway.
- a representative sample

Yeah, all of you who have said one of the above (or a variation) to me
are right. The Orange Bowl is a dingy, old stadium. It's full of
obstructed views. There's a mysterious yellow liquid that comes down
from the upper deck onto the people directly below the vents in the
overhang (everyone prays it's beer). I just wish that you all could
look at it and see what I see.

I could easily explain the Orange Bowl's cemented place as a football
shrine. (As if ubersentimental ESPN won't do enough of that on
Saturday.) Here's a very inexhaustive overview:
NFL- Super Bowl III (Jets over Colts), The Longest Game Ever Played,
Miami gives Chicago it's only loss of 1985- on Monday Night
Football-preserving the 1972 Dolphins' record, home of the 1972
Dolphins, hosted 5 Super Bowls, Finkle is Einhorn-Einhorn is Finkle,
the debut of Dan Marino.

NCAA- Record 58 game home winning streak, Miami won three of 5
National Championships in Orange Bowl, home of the Orange Bowl-the
second oldest bowl-from 1937-1995 and again in 1999, Wide Right II and
Wide Left that decided trips to the National Championship for Miami
and FSU, the Gator Flop, 1989 #2 Miami ends #1 Notre Dame's 18 game
winning streak and a bid for a repeat National Championship winning
before the largest crowd in OB history and converting on 3rd and 43
from inside the 5 yard line, Miami Florida State's first National
Championship, Tom Osborne's first National Championship.

But when I shed a tear as a walk out of the Old Lady for the last
time, those great moments will likely be far from my mind. The Orange
Bowl is where I saw my first football game when I was four years old.
It's where I spent practically every fall Saturday until I was
thirteen. Only there would they put the Family Section in one half of
the endzone and the rowdiest, drunken fans of the cheap seats in the
other half of the same endzone. I was a six-year old kid when I was
taught how to turn the "Tomahawk Chop" into the Italian gesture for
"Fuck You" and to call them "Semenholes." I was eight before I figured
out what that meant. Sometimes when I cross the street I flash back to
my dad grabbing my hand screaming, "Let's Go!" and yanking me across
the street to the stadium as cars bore down on us. I'll miss the
80-year old ladies who can't speak English beyond calling out,
"Shiski! Shiski!" The first Gator player I can remember recognizing?
#9 Shane Matthews. Know why? The mural on the wall of the Orange Bowl
Bar that faces the stadium. First memory at a sporting event? Nov. 25,
1989- Miami 27 Notre Dame 10 in front of a then record 81,000 plus. At
night. The stadium was so packed that we were two to a seat on the
bleachers in the West Endzone. There won't be General Admission at
Dolphins Stadium, so next year some little kid won't get the same
experience I did of being put up on Dad's shoulders while he and Mom
raced up the ramp to get good seats. Dolphins Stadium won't thunder
the same way the Orange Bowl does when everyone stamps on the floor
during a big play or when Sebastian beckons a the stadium to make as
much noise as possible before a C-A-N-E-S, CANES! I had my first beer
at a game in the Orange Bowl. I shook Warren Sapp's hand when my
friend and I snuck onto the field before a game-they almost kicked our
parents out.

So, excuse me if I wax nostalgic this week for a grand old stadium
that like so many other things and people was let down by the City of
Miami. I'm not just saying goodbye to a building, I'm saying goodbye
to a big part of my childhood. And a big part of my love of the Canes.

Oh, and if you just don't get the bond someone can have for a stadium
that houses so many memories, or for the profound effect that sports
can have on a person's life, then I pity you.

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