This news shouldn't surprise anyone. The one guarantee is we were never going to be content in a pathetic patched stadium for the next 20 years. That's why I have participated in virtually every related thread on this site and others, despite the predictable tunnel vision apologetic crowd, the ones who are actually amazed at altered colored seats and sand cleaned cement. The university actually sent an email to that gullible type a few months ago during the renewal period, touting the new Sun Life as the loudest venue in the country.
Miami probably had no choice but to relocate in 2007, given the condition of the Orange Bowl and the refusal of local politicos to do anything about it. Our ignorance during that decision process was to rationalize Sun Life's location as a potential positive. Paul Dee was actually charting alumni and season ticket holder location, trying to pretend that a centralized location was ideal. What a moron. I sent him a related letter at the time. The further removed from campus, the more you lose. Big picture logic trumps fixation on trivial sub plots.
Dee probably brainwashed Shalala at the time. She has seen steadily seen the light, and at this outgoing stage no longer feels compelled to toe the straight public relations party line, i.e. lies.
As I posted many months ago, David Beckham has visionary qualities and would never stoop to the overmatched idea of patching a bland 28 year old multi purpose monstrosity in an irrelevant area. None of the patchwork is ideal, or a true 1-1 return on the dollar. It's merely whatever fits onto the old clod design. Steve Ross is a dullard. He's sticking this community with a laughable venue that only looks good in comparison to its former self. It's a weak NFL site. For a college program it's like trying to lose. I have to laugh at posters here who think we have it as good now as we did in the '80s, when we enjoyed the greatest home field edge in the country. And I predicted as soon as we moved to Sun Life that our recruiting results would suffer down the stretch, once kids actually realized what choices they had. At USC I watched recruits on those visits, being walked across campus on game day and then across the street to the Coliseum, with pageantry everywhere. What do we show them, Cane Walk? Hilarious. I'm sure USC isn't among the best examples of contrast, merely the one I'm most familiar with.
The hurdles may be considerable. I don't claim to know much about that, nor Ross' reaction to breaking the lease. It was a certainty that the University of Miami still had enough sharp people in high places to understand an escape was necessary, and pursue any available path. We should be thrilled about that. Contrast to the Dolphins, with so many mediocrities in high positions they are content to extend a quarterback at high dollar despite below average yards per attempt at every stage.