Thursday, June 07, 2007

Just knock the damn thing down already

The news came today that Tiger Stadium will be mo more by September 2008. Unfortunately, that gives the city 15 months to screw it up. Somehow, I believe it will be.

My first thought was the same as Bilfer's...

"I’ll still believe it when I see it."

Exactly. Not until I actually see the wrecking balls in place, the explosive charges go off, and they start picking through the wreckage, will I believe that the Corner will finally meet it's put off for much too long end.

Just put the place out of it's misery.

I loved Tiger Stadium as much as the rest of you, but enough is enough. In the final years years of Tiger Stadium, it was a decrepit, rusted out, hulking shell of a stadium.

Come on people, it's time to let go of the past. Your memories blind you to the hard, cold facts about Tiger Stadium.

If you had 1 of the 10,000 or so seats with a clear shot of the field, there wasn't a better view in all of baseball. But to go along with those 10,000 great seats, there were at least 20.000 with some sort of obstructed view. And if you actually got stuck with a seat whose ticket was actually marked and sold as "Obstructed view," you literally had a steel girder in your lap.

Tiger Stadium was already well out of date in 1960. Hitler's bomb shelter had more amenities. The Berlin Wall had more charisma than the outside facade of Tiger Stadium. The Roman vomitoriums had wider and cleaner concourses. To use either the bathrooms or the concessions, there was a 3 inning long line. Had to visit both? You missed most of the game.

In spite of all those hassles, I loved going to Tiger Stadium. But you know what? I love going to Comerica Park even more.

Those of you who still want to save Tiger Stadium? Please. That ship sailed 2 decades ago. Tiger Stadium is not going to be saved, nor should it. The state, the city, and especially the stuck in the past fans, all need to move on.

We have a world class, state-of-the-art, stadium in Comerica Park. The 2006 season showed us all how wonderful a place it really can be. There has been no need for time to stand still around Tiger Stadium for the past 7 years. The fact that the rusted out eye sore is still standing should be an embarrassment to all of us in Southeastern Michigan.

I'd be thrilled to be the one to push the plunger, hit the button, turn the key, whatever you need to do to set off the dynamite charges. I'm in favor of anything that will pull the plug on Tiger Stadium's life support.

But, just as Bilfer said, "I'll still believe it when I see it."

I'll give you 2-1 odds that Tiger Stadium still standing when the 9/08 deadline comes and goes.

That's one bet I'll be more than happy to lose.

1 comment:

  1. Al, this little vacation you are on is killin me! hope to have you back soon!!! great work..

    ReplyDelete