Let me start by saying, while I suppose it’s justifiable from the perspective of Shalala and the University, as they will be making more money, playing in a nicer, more modern stadium, and perhaps even helping recruiting, the impact of leaving the OB is tough to quantify in numbers.
For one, Gabe mentioned how the OB is special, almost because of its grit. It was miserable for players and fans because it was old, hostile, and fundamentally “Miami”.
Also, for so long football Saturday (and don’t forget Sunday) was known for the marriage between this part of Little Havana and the OB. The tradition we all speak of is certainly not confined to the smoke-filled tunnel entrance or the wide-right mystique. It’s also just as much the tastes, sounds and smells of the neighborhood that made it special.
Unlike going to some far-flung suburban stadium in “could-be-anywhere-ville”, when fans and opposing teams came to the Orange Bowl they were entering the heart and soul of inner-city Miami. There was no mistaking where you were - Latin styled sidewalk BBQ, Spanish signage and street names, block after block of pre-game parties - you were in Miami. It was this authentic local neighborhood character that inspired so much tradition, which will now be lost.
Now, the Canes are being outsourced to the banal suburbs, where everything that made playing at the OB so unique, so quintessentially Miami, will now be relegated to traffic jams, $20 parking fees, and sipping beers in a giant sea of asphalt. If it wasn’t for signs, you could cut and paste the Dolphins Stadium area and be just about anywhere where there’s expressways, uber parking lots, and cookie-cutter stadiums.
Alas, talk about an identity crisis. The University of Miami Hurricanes, based in Coral Gables, whom play football in Miami Gardens. Is this not emblematic of Miami’s hyper-fragmentation?
Can we call them the Miami-Dade Hurricanes, now?
I was traveling in Spain when I heard the news and here is the letter I sent the university. It might not be the best written piece but it’s probably the most accurate representation of how I feel.
I have been a season ticket holder since I was 4 years old and at the
close of the season I will never again buy a single ticket to a
University of Miami athletic event. I will never purchase another
piece of University of Miami merchandise. I was a proud alumni of the
university, but unfortunately the current administration seems to have
absolutely no respect for the tradition and community behind the
school. While the current administration has had success in raising
money for the school, the price for this newfound wealth has been its
soul. This obviously doesn’t bother the administration for, since day
one, they have made absolutely no effort to learn what really makes up
this most special of institutions. For Shalala this is merely another
career stepping stone, but the day she inevitably jumps to whatever
institution offers her more money she will have left a legacy that
includes my inability to do for my son what my father did for me -
make me a Cane in the place where the Canes made history; a history
that, regrettably, is exchangeable for some extra black ink on a
balance sheet.
This was a money play, pure and simple. The team has been able to win
more championships in the modern era of college football with the so-
called subpar facilities that needed the increased revenue that the
move provides.
I hope the new locker rooms and luxury skyboxes are worth the heart
and soul of this program. Those of us who went to Little Havana and
supported this team through victory and probation, those of us that
spent what little we had to fill the west endzone, and those of us
that grew up with the pride of knowing that nobody could come into our
house and walk away unscathed have been forsaken for the privledged
few that can afford luxury suites.
Today isn’t the day I gave up on the Canes, but it is the first and
last time the Canes give up on me.
Well written.