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Got some Canes over here, whoosh, whoosh...This space is for
hard core Canes fans. If you hate the
Gators, despise the Noles, want to slay the Buckeyes, can't stand Notre Dame and love everything Canes, this space is for you. It's great, to be, a Miami
Hurricane! Canespace is the only
site run for the fans by the fans and brings you the fans perspective on everything from the players, coaches, competiton,
championship chases and team history. Canespace has launched our own blog to provide a more interactive and responsive
news outlet to meet the needs of Canes fans everywhere. The blog can be found at this link: http://canespace.typepad.com/canespace/ Here's what some are saying about the blog: "I know some of you have already come on here and posted for another blog, canespace.com. I checked it out.
You should too. It's a blog for the fan, by the fan. And some of these fans know plenty about the Canes. They've got all sorts
of insight." Manny Navarro, Miami Herald
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To the University Community:
We have an extraordinary history and tradition at the Orange Bowl: The players running through the
smoke tunnel. “Touchdown Tommy” and his cannon. The Ring of Honor. An incredible
winning streak of 58 consecutive home wins. And three of our five national championships were won on that field. I love the
Orange Bowl—we all do!
As many of you are aware, the University has been working closely with the City of Miami to assess the feasibility of making much-needed renovations to the Orange Bowl. It has long been our goal to have a first-class football stadium.
The City of Miami has been a wonderful partner with us at the Orange Bowl for many years, and they understand how hard we have wrestled with a very difficult decision. Mayor Manny Diaz has been heroic
in his efforts to meet our future needs. After much thought, analysis, and discussions with
many, many of our trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and fans, we have concluded that we must move our football games
to a better facility. The more than $200 million in renovations that the city has proposed would only provide basic and
mostly infrastructural upgrades. A part of those funds are not in hand and may or may not be determined until after the proposed
construction would be well underway. Overall, the renovations clearly would not address the long-term needs of our athletes
and our fans.
The Orange Bowl chapter of our history—in which we can all take great pride—will never close, and we
are confident that the legacy of Miami Hurricanes football will live on and thrive as we move
to a new location. After an assessment of all options available to us, we have decided reluctantly and painfully to move to
Dolphin Stadium for the 2008 season.
Dolphin Stadium is one of the premier football stadiums in the country. At our new home, our student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete in a first-class facility that plays host to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, the FedEx Orange Bowl, BCS National Championship Game, and that has been the site of recent and upcoming Super Bowls.
Our fans will experience outstanding amenities including one of the world’s largest plasma TV displays, high-definition video boards, club seating and suites, chairbacks on every stadium seat, approximately 14,000 parking spaces, and a large variety of concessions and restaurants.
The end zones will be redone so that our shared home will reflect both Miami teams’ pride. The Dolphins are actively pursuing a corporate sponsor so that by 2010 the stadium will have a neutral name.
I want to assure all members of our University community—students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees,
donors, friends—and the tens of thousands of fans who regularly cheer us on, that we looked
exhaustively into every aspect of the choices in front of us, and that your needs figured prominently in our final decision.
The quality of your experience at our games is of the utmost importance to us.
As always, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us at an e-mail address we have established for your comments: umfootball@miami.edu. If you have any further questions, please go to the Official Athletic Department Web site at hurricanesports.com or call 1-800-GO-CANES.
Thank you, and Go ’Canes!
Sincerely,
Donna E. Shalala