Farewell Orange Bowl

It was a sad weekend for the University of Miami Hurricane fans, past and present, bidding farewell to the Orange Bowl. Saying goodbye to the home of much tradition and memories was hard on the fans, but the loss of 0-48 to no. 23 Virginia added extreme insult to injury.

There was a lot of history made in the Orange Bowl and regardless of the past few years, The University of Miami has the most successful football program of the past quarter century in the NCAA. A couple of statistics the 'canes are proud of include winning 58 straight home games, which is an NCAA record and winning 5 national titles, 3 of which were played in their very own, Orange Bowl. Since 1983, no school has won more national championships, won a higher percentage of its' games, or produced more first round NFL draft picks. With having a total of 285 players advance to the NFL which is in the top ten of NFL producing schools, and this year they have the most players currently playing in the League. In the 2007 Superbowl, the first two touchdowns were made by Devin Hester and Reggie Wayne, both of which graduated from the University of Miami. In addition, two Hurricanes have won the prestigious Heisman Trophy: quarterback Vinny Testaverde in 1986 and quarterback Gino Torretta in 1992.

The Miami Hurricanes have had much to celebrate in the beloved Orange Bowl, and I'm sure that's why the stadium was filled on the night of November the 10th. All gathered to watch another game make Miami and Orange Bowl history. With 2:26 left, Virginia's Chris Cook had a 44-yard fumble which put this final game in the Orange Bowl to be the worst shut out in Hurricane history, topping the 44-0 loss to Notre Dame in 1973. It was Miami's first home shutout since 1974 against Auburn, and the Hurricanes' worst loss since losing 66-13 at Syracuse in 1998. The last time Miami lost this badly at home was in 1944, when Texas A&M beat the Hurricanes 70-14.

Some say leaving the Orange Bowl on this note is going to make the move a little bit easier, but scanning the crowds that night, there were numerous signs expressing their upset with the decision to move to Dolphin Stadium. Besides leaving the tradition and location in the City, there are going to be some perks to moving to the home of the Miami Dolphins. The new stadium has two Jumbotrons and a higher capacity, although its highly unlikely they'll be needing that extra space. It has more concessions, is safer, and is much more modern, but it seems to lack one big thing: character.

That is what the Orange Bowl is known and loved for. The Orange Bowl is like the Fenway Park of college football. It's the tradition and history that has made it to be the historical monument it is today. The community surrounding the stadium will not be the same without Hurricane games. The houses surrounding the stadium were receiving and average of $1000 income from the games just for charging persons for parking. To think that not only would the City of Miami refuse to renovate the Orange Bowl, causing the 'Canes to relocate, but they've decided to demolish the infamous sports stadium we've all grown to love.

What's going to happen to the Miami Hurricanes now, we ask ourselves? The physical destination is known, but how can the program ever be the same again?
After their recent downward spiral way out of the rankings, we wonder if they'll ever make a comeback after the big move. After going through so much as a team, it's so hard to envision the Hurricane football program without the Orange Bowl. We can all only hope that this move to a bigger and 'better' place will only mean bigger and better things for the Hurricanes in the near future.

UM Soccer the best team on campus

What would you say if I told you that there was a team on campus that had beat 2 top-10 opponents and one of those opponents was the defending National Champion? This same team also features a freshman on a record setting pace and a senior that set a UM career record last week. Would you be interested in checking them out. Well apparently not to many would because that team is the University of Miami women's soccer team. A large percentage of the student population probably doesn't even know that we have a soccer team here much less that they are having a very successful season.

In my opinion this is all a great shame. I have been to every home soccer game this year but one and it seems like I am one of a very select few from the student body. It's free for students to get in so I'm having a hard time understanding why. Some might say that women's soccer is to slow or boring but to those people I say come and check out just one match. You won't see slow boring soccer you will see fast paced physical soccer that is great to watch and very exciting.

Earlier this year UM defeated the defending national champions the North Carolina Tarheels 1-0 in a very good game and they just last Thursday they beat the then 4th ranked Boston College Eagles 1-0 in a physical closely contested game. The Canes are currently tied for 2nd in the ACC with FSU, who they play Sunday in Tallahasee. A win there could propel them into first place if league leader North Carolina either ties or loses to Boston College on Thursday.

I won't write to much about their accolades here but I write quite a bit about the team in my own blog. I want to talk a little now about why I think the student support is so lacking for the team. I think a lot of this is due to a lack of information. Besides the athletic website the only place you can find out if their is a soccer game is on the back of the Hurricane and that page gets overlooked a lot of times. Most of this falls on the marketing department in the athletic department. They seem to show a complete lack of interest in bringing people to soccer games. In my opinion this should not be the case. In order to create a strong athletic department every team needs to be strong and not just football like the marketing department seems to think.

If you would like to check this team out yourself you only have one more chance this year. That is on October 27th at 7:00 PM. This is senior night and these girls deserve a good showing of support from the students. They play at Cobb Stadium which is right next to the baseball field on San Amaro Dr. I would also be interested in hearing other people's opinions on why there is such a bad show of student support at soccer games. Alright I'm done now.

The Move to Dolphin Stadium: RIP OB

As everyone in the Miami area and many sport fans around the world know, the Orange Bowl is one of the most historical stadiums in the country. It was built in 1935, and when you walk into the stadium for Hurricane game days you might think there have not been many improvements since then. It has survived countless hurricanes and there is a special place the Orange Bowl has in every University of Miami fans’ heart. The Hurricanes won 58 straight home games. “The U” has won three of their five national championships there. Is the move to Dolphin Stadium as big of a deal as we are making it out to be? Aren’t we as spectators of a top Division I program better off being able to watch a game in a stadium suited for today and not thirty years ago? A lot of people say yes, but some of those people and others are sad to say goodbye to the Orange Bowl on November 10, 2007.

I have gone through a similar experience during my childhood. I am from Philadelphia, and when I was growing up Veterans Stadium was the stadium the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles played in. This was the only stadium these teams had played in during my lifetime. There was a ton of history behind this stadium as well. It was one of the most feared houses in all of professional because the fans were so brutal. It was also well known for the horrific playing surface. Teams would fear playing on the turf because there were patches that assisted in plenty of broken ankles and knees. “The Vet” was a piece of crap, but it was ours. The Philadelphia fans were proud of Veterans Stadium. We were excited to get two new stadiums, one for football and one for baseball, but a little piece inside every Philadelphia sports fan hurt a little. This is similar to how I feel saying goodbye to the Orange Bowl.

I, for one thing, am a little upset to say goodbye. I have said since my freshman year how big of a dump the Orange Bowl is. It sucks to stand on these uncomfortable bleachers for three hours. It sucks having no room to walk and to not have a state-of-the-art scoreboard. I also can not imagine being handicapped and having to navigate around the Orange Bowl. It says it has handicapped seating for 282 people, but anyone who has been to the Orange Bowl will find that hard to believe. It also sucks that there is no parking there, and the process to get to the Orange Bowl is that: a process. You have to take the metrorail to Culmer Station, and then pick up a bus from there. It would take 20 minutes to drive to the Orange Bowl, but it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there by public transportation. There is absolutely no parking unless you want to pull into someone’s driveway for $50. Dolphin Stadium, on the other hand, is one of the newer stadiums in the country, and is making a ton of renovations. These renovations are expected to be done in 2009 and will make Dolphin Stadium one of the premier stadiums in the country. Currently, Dolphin Stadium has one of the largest areas for parking in the country. This would make tailgating and parking much more convenient than the Orange Bowl. It also had a huge plasma high-def scoreboard. With the renovations coming in 2009 this will be THE PLACE to watch games.

So you are probably wondering: why are you upset to say goodbye? A question I have is: what is Miami football known for? One might say running out on to the Orange Bowl Field with the smoke from the helmet. Another might say a tradition of excellence for over 25 years. The Orange Bowl is where the history of Miami football lives. All memories we have has been at the O-Bowl. Besides the campus in Coral Gables, I would consider the Orange Bowl our second home. Our players and recruits live to run out of the helmet tunnel. The students and spectators live to see the players run out of the helmet tunnel. This is where the bad boys of Jimmy Johnson’s era pummeled every opponent. The orange seats, the “U” at midfield, and the sign that reads “the City of Miami Welcomes You to the Orange Bowl” all bring a smile to your face. It feels like we are leaving the house we grew up, and have our childhood memories in, for one that is bigger and better. It might be an upgrade, but it is still not that house that made us who we are today.

November 10, 2007 will be a mixed emotion event for all University of Miami fans and players. We are saying goodbye to our home for the last 72 years, and moving to a bigger more beautiful home. I am glad to say I had the opportunity to spend three seasons in the Orange Bowl, and will be the first graduating class in Dolphin Stadium. Orange Bowl- you have given us millions of memories. We will miss you. Rest in Peace.