Friday, August 24, 2007
Rutgers planning football stadium explansion
Just one year into the golden years of Rutgers football, the school is investigating an addition of 12,000 seats and luxury boxes to Rutgers Stadium, according to a story by Newsday. The current stadium holds 42,000, and games are sold out for the upcoming year as fans of the New Jersey school have discovered college football. It is surprising that the school is being so aggressive with their stadium size, considering that they had trouble filling the stadium just a couple of years ago.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Hurricanes moving away from Orange Bowl
The big news this week regarding college football stadiums is the move of the Miami Hurricanes from the Orange Bowl to Dolphins Stadium starting in the 2008 season. (see story from ESPN.com) This move has been rumored for quite some time, with the University of Miami seeking better accommodations for its football team. The Orange Bowl is certainly showing its age, lacking the luxury suites and club seats present in many current college stadiums. A plan by the City of Miami to invest $206 million in the facility was met with skepticism by administrators at Miami since the money was not yet obtained. The move will mean that the Hurricanes will play in the professional stadium near the border of Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, trip of approximately 21 miles from the Coral Gables campus. Miami will take advantage of a new stadium undergoing renovations, a stark contrast to the run-down appearance of the Orange Bowl.
While I completely understand the reasoning of the Hurricanes, the college football fan in me looks upon this move with some sadness. Yes, the Orange Bowl is falling apart; yes, it is located in a less-than-stellar section of Miami; yes, the parking situation for games is abysmal...but this stadium is truly one of the cathedrals of college football. It will be interesting to see what kind of home-field advantage the Canes will have at the Dolphins Stadium. I am also curious as to whether they will be playing games in September on a dirt infield as the Dolphins do until the Marlins are kicked out. (On a side note, I notice that RFK stadium covers up the dirt infield with sod for DC United soccer games...why can't Miami and Oakland do the same for football games?) I am not one to cling to nostalgia and I generally see moves into new stadiums as providing better experiences for the fan, the thought of the Hurricanes playing their home games in Dolphin Stadium seems a bit too clean-cut and sterile for a college atmosphere.
While I completely understand the reasoning of the Hurricanes, the college football fan in me looks upon this move with some sadness. Yes, the Orange Bowl is falling apart; yes, it is located in a less-than-stellar section of Miami; yes, the parking situation for games is abysmal...but this stadium is truly one of the cathedrals of college football. It will be interesting to see what kind of home-field advantage the Canes will have at the Dolphins Stadium. I am also curious as to whether they will be playing games in September on a dirt infield as the Dolphins do until the Marlins are kicked out. (On a side note, I notice that RFK stadium covers up the dirt infield with sod for DC United soccer games...why can't Miami and Oakland do the same for football games?) I am not one to cling to nostalgia and I generally see moves into new stadiums as providing better experiences for the fan, the thought of the Hurricanes playing their home games in Dolphin Stadium seems a bit too clean-cut and sterile for a college atmosphere.
