With a highly anticipated kickoff ceremony the construction of the the Florida Marlins (soon to be Miami Marlins) ballpark began at 10:00 AM on July 18th during a bright Saturday morning. There has been plenty of controversy surrounding the stadium, it's funding and how effective it will be in drawing fans to the games. On Saturday morning, all that was put aside for a moment of civic unity that echoed the statement "we are all Marlins fans" (whether we agree with stadium or not).The crowds were in the thousands and optimism was sky high for a moment that symbolized the beginning of a solid foundation for baseball in Miami. In attendance were some county officials (which signed off on the stadium) as well as Commissioner Bud Selig. With all this positive reinforcement behind their backs, the Florida Marlins must now use and approach that stretched beyond "if you build it they will come."
As one writer suggests, the Marlins' management should now shift their focus towards building trust before anything else is built and showing gratitude towards the citizens of Miami and Miami-Dade County. After all, tax dollars are tax dollars whether they are tourism-based or income and sales-based.
Baseball fans in South Florida will have to make a concerted effort in trying to attend games and support the team in a more active manner, but the pressure is on the team to deliver a product on the field that is worthy of the loyalty and trust they seek. The fans did their part in keeping baseball at home, now it's time that the Marlins make that stay a pleasant one.
Cheers to a new beginning for the Florida Marlins and South Florida sports fans. There will always be skeptics and pessimists against the team and its potential, but less than two decades of existence and two championship trophies secured anything is possible with the Florida Marlins. Let's bring another trophy home to show the community that it was worth building a new home for baseball.
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Update: A source that reported from the site claims that the actual groundbreaking ceremony was "drowned out in boos" after friends and families of politicians and dignitaries were given temporary up-close access, blocking the view of many fans watching patiently. Although we are all about "keeping the fan faith alive" here at Miami Sports Generation, we do not condone that kind of gesture. After all, the fans were part of the taxpaying core and deserve better treatment than that. Now we can only hope that his minor incident is overshadowed by some positive sequence of events that will make the process more enjoyable.
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