Goodbye To The Murph...

[chargeroo]

Sad news - they demolished the Murph. I watched them build that place - we lived on a hill overlooking the stadium and I watched them dig that deep hole and saw it go up, little by little. I never would have expected to see them tear it down someday. I took my seven year old son down there a few teams to see it up close. The Chargers had a kind of mini-bus that you could ride down from the ElCortez Hotel, down Texas Street and into the construction area. George Gross (an OL) drove us down there and my son thought he was the best guy ever. Many great memories at the Murph

[jubei]

sad indeed. now the bolts play in the forsaken lalaland. I remember the night they came back from the pitt game that propelled them to the SB. it was drizzling hard out but the place was PACKED! I'd never hi-fived so many strangers in my life. and then Jr came out and the whole place erupted!

[21&500]

I loved that stadium
even nose bleeds were enjoyable
saw many great players there, a fraction of what Roo has seen but great nevertheless

I saw this live...

https://www.chargers.com/video/the-first-rivers-to-floyd-touchdown-125971

fell in love

[Fleet]

My baseball coach in the early 80s was Lee Hope. His dad was Frank Hope. Architect of the Murph.

[jamrock]

I feel like I grew up at the Murph. I liked to walk around the tailgate and then enter the stadium and walk around the plaza level by the field while the players were warming up. I never missed a home game except the one where speedy Duncan took a pick back 100+ yards against the Chiefs. My dad took his partner to that game instead of me and I never let him forget it. Many wonderful memories and some great games in that stadium. Some great wins and Several broken hearted losses as well.

[Formula 21]

Rolling Stones at the Murph. Classic.

[Boltjolt]

Chargers, Padres, All Star game in the 70's, concerts...Can't recall my last time there but I'm sure it was a Padres game.

The real sad thing is since they are building only a 35, 000 seat Stadium for the Aztecs, that tells you there will never be another NFL team in San Diego.

The city will not build another one unless a new owner pays for it. Best they can get is a XFL team.... If that survives when it comes back.

[Boltnut]

I drove by The Murph today. It still stands, but everywhere around it has been dug up and graded. SDSU will build a new 35,000 stadium right next to it. It will open up in 2022. Can't wait to see an Aztecs game there!

Here is a link to plans for the Mission Valley site:

https://missionvalley.sdsu.edu/

I went to 100+ events there... Padres, Chargers, Aztecs... lots of concerts: The Stones, The Who, Heart, 1983 Sky Show (Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Eddie Money)... Our football team took team pictures on the field...

[Boltjolt]

I drove by The Murph today. It still stands, but everywhere around it has been dug up and graded. SDSU will build a new 35,000 stadium right next to it. It will open up in 2022. Can't wait to see an Aztecs game there!

Here is a link to plans for the Mission Valley site:

https://missionvalley.sdsu.edu/

There goes the Holliday bowl and the other one that was there. 35000 is too small but I get it. The Aztecs don't draw a big crowd.

[Boltnut]

There goes the Holliday bowl and the other one that was there. 35000 is too small but I get it. The Aztecs don't draw a big crowd.

I went to the Holiday Bowl in 1988 and saw Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State) rush for 222 yards and 5 TD's.

BTW... the new stadium can be expanded to 55,000 seats.

[Velo]

I don't know why they couldn't renovate The Murph, like they renovated Lambeau and made it one of the nicest venues in the pro sports. The architects who designed The Murph had plans all drawn up for a renovation. But Dean never seriously considered it. That is why I tend to think he just wanted to move to LA. The ballot measure and Downtown stadium proposal was for show, IMO.

[Bolt-O]

I don't know why they couldn't renovate The Murph, like they renovated Lambeau and made it one of the nicest venues in the pro sports. The architects who designed The Murph had plans all drawn up for a renovation. But Dean never seriously considered it. That is why I tend to think he just wanted to move to LA. The ballot measure and Downtown stadium proposal was for show, IMO.

They did a cost-benefit analysis on a renovation, and found that a new stadium would have cost about the same. Yes, they did consider it, per Jim Steeg, who was once the COO. The problem was just like an older car, you could only defer maintenance so much...and the city was way behind on that. Concrete does deteriorate, massive chunks could fall on people. Remember, that stadium was built as multi-purpose, so the sidelines were farther back than the endzone,

Just remember... we don't discuss the politics of the move on this site, so lets drop that. I'll miss that place, not just for football, but also for baseball. But I do look forward to the new "Aztec Warrior" stadium