Eric McErlain expands on a suggestion by Instapundit for what to do with the World Trade Center site. Instapundit had jokingly suggested a baseball stadium; McErlain seriously suggests a football stadium.
I like this idea. The Jets have never really had a home of their own – they used to play in Shea Stadium, now it’s Giants Stadium. It’s time they stepped out of the shadows and formed their own identity in their own stadium.
When I say “formed their own identity”, I mean this: Who’s the first person you think of when you think of the New York Jets? If it’s not Joe Namath, you’re either a true fan or really confused. Namath last played for the Jets in 1976. They’ve had a few good players since then, and they have an exciting young team now, but as long as they play in the Meadowlands, they’ll be the Giants’ kid brother.
(There’ll be another benefit to a Jets stadium in Manhattan: my dad will have to stop referring to the Buffalo Bills as “New York’s football team”. I don’t think that’ll help overcome any financing issues, but I figured I’d throw it out there anyway. You never know.)
Finally, it goes without saying that the Yankees need to stay in Yankee Stadium. Anything else is a sacrelige. If you want to argue otherwise, I’ll be sticking my fingers in my ears and singing “Row Row Row Your Boat” at the top of my voice. Some things just can’t be discussed maturely.
Does a football stadium need the whole site? If we can loosen the stricture that the footprints of the twin towers are not to be touched, and if a real community can get built alongside the stadium (i.e. not just parking lot), then maybe I could go along with it. But I have no attachment to football, and I firmly believe that baseball is New York’s summer sport and basketball its winter sport. You’re entirely right about Yankee Stadium being the one and eternal House that Ruth Built, even if they did the equivalent of replacing the shaft and part of the head of the hatchet George Washington cut the cherry tree with in the ’70s.