AffectionateDan
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- Joined
- Jan 3, 2002
- Messages
- 8,114
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Things like this tug at my heart strings, and I'm not even an avid sports enthusiast, much less a Philadelphia resident. I'm sure that it's for the best, the facilities being out of date and all that crap, but it still feels like we lose something of our past when these old landmarks are destroyed to make way for the new. Especially when the latest sports complexes are being named after the companies that sponsor them... that just takes some of the joy out of it, for me at least. Those sellouts in San Francisco may call it "3-Com Park" now, but I'll never know it as anything other than Candlestick Park. And I'll never call Laguna Seca anything else, either, sure as shit not friggin' "Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca". These places are more than just buildings where sports events are played. They're bits of our culture, our history, and it just bugs me to see the old giants torn down, ya know? There's an emotional investment in these places that's forever lost. Just my $.02. 
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Veterans Stadium was reduced to a pile of rubble in just more than a minute on Sunday.
About 3,000 pounds of explosives took down the old concrete home of the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, section by section in a clockwise direction as loud booms rang out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you just witnessed history," team announcer Dan Baker told the cheering crowd of several hundred people.
Former Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski, a member of the 1980 World Series team, and the Phillie Phanatic pushed the ceremonial red plunger as the explosions began.
The Vet, home to the Phillies and the Eagles for more than 30 years, imploded on schedule at 7 a.m. ET.
A large area around the sports complex in South Philadelphia was closed off, and airspace above the stadium was restricted to a 1,500-foot elevation for a quarter-mile radius during the implosion.
Once the dust settles, workers will begin breaking down the concrete pieces, which will amount to 70,000 cubic yards of material. Contractors will be recycling debris on the site until July, and the spot will eventually serve as a 5,500-space parking lot.
The Phillies plan to paint an outline of the Vet's playing field across the new parking lot, and place granite markers at the former home plate, pitching mound and base locations.
New baseball-only and football-only stadiums have been built nearby to replace the Vet. The Eagles began playing in their new home, Lincoln Financial Field, last year. The Phillies played their last game at the Vet in September; their season opener in Citizens Bank Park is April 12.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Veterans Stadium was reduced to a pile of rubble in just more than a minute on Sunday.
About 3,000 pounds of explosives took down the old concrete home of the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles, section by section in a clockwise direction as loud booms rang out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you just witnessed history," team announcer Dan Baker told the cheering crowd of several hundred people.
Former Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski, a member of the 1980 World Series team, and the Phillie Phanatic pushed the ceremonial red plunger as the explosions began.
The Vet, home to the Phillies and the Eagles for more than 30 years, imploded on schedule at 7 a.m. ET.
A large area around the sports complex in South Philadelphia was closed off, and airspace above the stadium was restricted to a 1,500-foot elevation for a quarter-mile radius during the implosion.
Once the dust settles, workers will begin breaking down the concrete pieces, which will amount to 70,000 cubic yards of material. Contractors will be recycling debris on the site until July, and the spot will eventually serve as a 5,500-space parking lot.
The Phillies plan to paint an outline of the Vet's playing field across the new parking lot, and place granite markers at the former home plate, pitching mound and base locations.
New baseball-only and football-only stadiums have been built nearby to replace the Vet. The Eagles began playing in their new home, Lincoln Financial Field, last year. The Phillies played their last game at the Vet in September; their season opener in Citizens Bank Park is April 12.
