Marlins Groundbreaking Drowned Out in Boos
Fans treated to backsides of friends and families of politicians and dignitaries
By CARLOS MILLER
Updated 8:56 PM CDT, Sun, Aug 2, 2009
After almost three hours of sitting in the sweltering sun, the estimated 5,000 fans that attended the Florida Marlins groundbreaking ceremony Saturday were treated to a wall of posteriors during the actual groundbreaking.
It is only fitting considering how much input the people of this county had in the stadium process.
“Hey, get those people out of there!” one fan yelled.
“Move!” yelled another.
And within seconds, thousands of fans were booing at the hordes of friends and family members of politicians and dignitaries who had surrounded the actual groundbreaking – photographing the historic event up close for their personal memories - and preventing anybody else from actually witnessing it.
After realizing their blunder, a few men in suits whisked everybody away and allowed the politicians and dignitaries to re-enact the groundbreaking for the peasants in the stands as well as the reporters on the media stage.
But by then, nobody was cheering.
This is the thanks Miami residents get after being forced to pay for the new stadium without having a chance to vote on it.
Prior to the groundbreaking, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez talked about the sacred grounds the stadium was being built on, crediting the Miami Dolphins for its undefeated 1972 season and the Miami Hurricanes for its five national championships.
"As far as I’m concerned, this is sacred grounds in athletics,” he said. “Now it’s the Miami Marlins turf.”
The Miami Marlins. Yes, that should go well for the Broward and Palm Beach County fans who currently attend the games at Landshark Stadium. But whatever. They’re not paying for this stadium.
“And most of all, I’m ready to put thousands of people in Miami-Dade County to work,” he said. “People are ready to work. We saw it last week when six thousand applications were handed out in a matter of hours.
“That speaks for itself.”
Yes, but not as much as the 1,700 county employees who were laid-off last week.
First Published: Jul 18, 2009 2:33 PM CDT on NBC Miami
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