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"The Tugboat"
Usually WizzardOfAZ posts articles from the Glendale Star. I figured I would beat him to it!
http://www.glendalestar.com/display/inn_news/news01.txt
Cardinals break ground on stadium
By REBECCA I. ALLEN
Before the first shovel went into the ground to signify the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Arizona Cardinals stadium, football fans broke out the bubbly and slapped ribeye steaks on the grill for the first tailgate party of 2003, three years before the team's first kick-off in its new home.
The Earick family, avid tailgaters of Arizona football games for the last decade, outfitted themselves from head to toe in Cardinal colors and logos. Signs on their tent and truck declare them "Cardinals tailgate headquarters." Even their propane grill is bright Cardinal red.
The tailgate party arrived at 6 a.m. Saturday to stake a prime spot outside the small field, where Pop Warner football players played a scrimmage coached by Cardinals players before the ground-breaking ceremony for the $355 million stadium. Mass excavation of the site will begin in June.
Glendale resident Tim Ferrendelli, a season-ticket holder since 1992, lives two miles from the site, now a dusty field at Loop 101 and Bethany Home Road, just south of the Coyotes Arena set to open in December.
"I never thought it would happen," Ferren-delli said of the City landing a second sports venue. "I hoped."
Mayor Elaine Scruggs, clad in red and white, spoke to the crowd of more than 1,000 people about unity between the organizations and people, including Glendale resident Jerry Moyes and the City of Mesa, that worked together to bring the stadium to Glendale.
"They said it couldn't be done and once again they were wrong," Scruggs said, then pointed north to the arena construction. "They said that couldn't be done either."
City Councilmembers, also sporting Cardinals logos and colors, attended the hour-long ceremony where yellow-jacketed Fiesta Bowl volunteers mingled with fans, TSA board members and Pop Warner players seeking autographs from Cardinal players and cheerleaders.
Thirteen-year-old Garrett Adrian proudly displayed a hat decorated with 14 autographs.
"I got two cheerleaders," Adrian's brother, Mitchell, 11, said as he displayed an autograph sheet.
The boys attended the event with their parents, Don and Lucinda, and their 7-year-old sister, Suzanne. The El Mirage family usually attends at least one game a year and has tickets for this fall's game against Green Bay.
"We'll be able to go to a lot more games now," Don Adrian said of the new site, just five minutes from his house.
They will need more tickets because Lucinda is expecting a baby girl in July.
Cecelia Scegil of Scottsdale timed her first trip to the site, 32 minutes, about the same amount of time it takes the 12-year season-ticket holder to drive to Tempe.
"I was a little doubtful about the location," Scegil said. "But now, I'm not, this is wonderful."
Cardinals President Bill Bidwill thanked the voters of Maricopa County who passed Proposition 302 in 2000. Prop 302 established the Tourism and Sports Authority (TSA), which will own and operate the 63,000-seat facility that can expand to 73,000 seats for large events such as the Super Bowl.
"Today is the realization of a dream," said Bidwill, whose family became associated with the team in 1930. "In all these years, we've never had our own home."
The Cardinals franchise was established in 1898 and has always shared a stadium with other sports teams.
Michael Bidwill, vice president and general counsel, used a football analogy of a rough game with penalties and flags on plays to represent the last two years of obstacles the team faced to get to the day's event.
"We played offense, we played defense, we moved the ball," Bidwill said. "We called several time outs, but we didn't give up."
The first Tempe location was scrapped over concerns about air traffic from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Other proposed sites were ditched when met with resident opposition. A prolonged lawsuit by West Valley developer John F. Long stalled the project's funding until it was dismissed by the Arizona Supreme Court in December, clearing the way for the TSA to proceed with construction.
TSA President and CEO Ted Ferris said it will not be just the Cardinals, the Fiesta Bowl, NFL Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four that will use the facility, but also international soccer, motor cross, monster truck rallies, rodeo, equestrian events, consumer and trade shows. All will take place without harming the natural grass field, which will spend more than 90 percent of the time outside the stadium. The roll-out field is the first of its kind in North America, and only three others like it exist in the world. The field, on a 12-million-pound tray that will be 234 feet wide by 400 feet long and 10 inches deep, will be rolled indoors on tracks for field events. The process will take about 45 minutes.
"Like a big cookie sheet," Ferris said.
When the season starts in Glendale in 2006, follow the smell of steaks and the glint of a disco ball to the Earick's tailgate party in parking lot B.
"We'll be there," Surprise resident Tim Earick said.
Reach Rebecca Allen at [email protected], or [email protected].
http://www.glendalestar.com/display/inn_news/news01.txt
Cardinals break ground on stadium
By REBECCA I. ALLEN
Before the first shovel went into the ground to signify the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Arizona Cardinals stadium, football fans broke out the bubbly and slapped ribeye steaks on the grill for the first tailgate party of 2003, three years before the team's first kick-off in its new home.
The Earick family, avid tailgaters of Arizona football games for the last decade, outfitted themselves from head to toe in Cardinal colors and logos. Signs on their tent and truck declare them "Cardinals tailgate headquarters." Even their propane grill is bright Cardinal red.
The tailgate party arrived at 6 a.m. Saturday to stake a prime spot outside the small field, where Pop Warner football players played a scrimmage coached by Cardinals players before the ground-breaking ceremony for the $355 million stadium. Mass excavation of the site will begin in June.
Glendale resident Tim Ferrendelli, a season-ticket holder since 1992, lives two miles from the site, now a dusty field at Loop 101 and Bethany Home Road, just south of the Coyotes Arena set to open in December.
"I never thought it would happen," Ferren-delli said of the City landing a second sports venue. "I hoped."
Mayor Elaine Scruggs, clad in red and white, spoke to the crowd of more than 1,000 people about unity between the organizations and people, including Glendale resident Jerry Moyes and the City of Mesa, that worked together to bring the stadium to Glendale.
"They said it couldn't be done and once again they were wrong," Scruggs said, then pointed north to the arena construction. "They said that couldn't be done either."
City Councilmembers, also sporting Cardinals logos and colors, attended the hour-long ceremony where yellow-jacketed Fiesta Bowl volunteers mingled with fans, TSA board members and Pop Warner players seeking autographs from Cardinal players and cheerleaders.
Thirteen-year-old Garrett Adrian proudly displayed a hat decorated with 14 autographs.
"I got two cheerleaders," Adrian's brother, Mitchell, 11, said as he displayed an autograph sheet.
The boys attended the event with their parents, Don and Lucinda, and their 7-year-old sister, Suzanne. The El Mirage family usually attends at least one game a year and has tickets for this fall's game against Green Bay.
"We'll be able to go to a lot more games now," Don Adrian said of the new site, just five minutes from his house.
They will need more tickets because Lucinda is expecting a baby girl in July.
Cecelia Scegil of Scottsdale timed her first trip to the site, 32 minutes, about the same amount of time it takes the 12-year season-ticket holder to drive to Tempe.
"I was a little doubtful about the location," Scegil said. "But now, I'm not, this is wonderful."
Cardinals President Bill Bidwill thanked the voters of Maricopa County who passed Proposition 302 in 2000. Prop 302 established the Tourism and Sports Authority (TSA), which will own and operate the 63,000-seat facility that can expand to 73,000 seats for large events such as the Super Bowl.
"Today is the realization of a dream," said Bidwill, whose family became associated with the team in 1930. "In all these years, we've never had our own home."
The Cardinals franchise was established in 1898 and has always shared a stadium with other sports teams.
Michael Bidwill, vice president and general counsel, used a football analogy of a rough game with penalties and flags on plays to represent the last two years of obstacles the team faced to get to the day's event.
"We played offense, we played defense, we moved the ball," Bidwill said. "We called several time outs, but we didn't give up."
The first Tempe location was scrapped over concerns about air traffic from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Other proposed sites were ditched when met with resident opposition. A prolonged lawsuit by West Valley developer John F. Long stalled the project's funding until it was dismissed by the Arizona Supreme Court in December, clearing the way for the TSA to proceed with construction.
TSA President and CEO Ted Ferris said it will not be just the Cardinals, the Fiesta Bowl, NFL Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four that will use the facility, but also international soccer, motor cross, monster truck rallies, rodeo, equestrian events, consumer and trade shows. All will take place without harming the natural grass field, which will spend more than 90 percent of the time outside the stadium. The roll-out field is the first of its kind in North America, and only three others like it exist in the world. The field, on a 12-million-pound tray that will be 234 feet wide by 400 feet long and 10 inches deep, will be rolled indoors on tracks for field events. The process will take about 45 minutes.
"Like a big cookie sheet," Ferris said.
When the season starts in Glendale in 2006, follow the smell of steaks and the glint of a disco ball to the Earick's tailgate party in parking lot B.
"We'll be there," Surprise resident Tim Earick said.
Reach Rebecca Allen at [email protected], or [email protected].
