Veterans
Stadium implodes; Santa Claus cheers
March 22, 2004 11:05 AM ET
On Sunday, the city of Philadelphia imploded Veterans Stadium,
home to the
Eagles, Phillies, and scores of cats and rats. "I've
been doing this 27
years, and that's the most incredible implosion I've seen,"
Steve Pettigrew,
vice president of operations for Demolition Dynamics, told
the Philadelphia
Daily News. Mourners passed by the site throughout the day,
shedding tears
and sharing memories. On the other side of the emotional spectrum,
Santa
Claus openly guffawed as the stadium crumbled, and his belly
was shaking
like a bowl full of jelly. Kris Kringle was joined in laughter
by Braves'
outfielder J.D. Drew, former Cowboys' receiver Michael Irvin,
and Matthew
Scott, the first person in the United States to receive a
hand transplant.
All four chucklers were subsequently jeered and attacked by
the Eagles'
notorious "Nest of Death"
fans that occupied Section 700.
Our View
Aching knees and ankles around the country felt a phantom
pain on Sunday
when the Vet crumbled to the ground. The notoriously bad surface
claimed a
number of careers throughout the years, but the field was
also infamous for
its' fans. Santa Claus once circled the field helplessly as
the crowd booed
and pelted him with snowballs. Drew was greeted with D batteries
in 1999,
and later that year, Irvin was jeered as he lay on the ground
with a
career-ending neck injury. Scott tossed out the first pitch
with his
transplanted hand in 1999, and when the toss came up short,
the fans booed.
Ah...memories!
