Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Farewell to Candlestick


This Sunday my wife and I went to a 49ers game at Candlestick Park! The Niners won and are doing great, but this is the last year that the famous old ballpark will be used. After over a half century of memories the park will be demolished at the end of this football season.

The park has gotten pretty old and in some ways is a shadow of its former self, but we still had a great time at the game. I have many fond memories growing up when I used to watch the SF Giants baseball games there before they moved to their new ballpark at China Basin. The Niners will have their brand new stadium ready for them in Santa Clara by next year. In the meantime, we’ll always have the memories of a stadium that gave us half a dozen Super Bowl teams and a few World Series contenders as well.  

What are some old landmarks where you live? Places where you have memories that are unique to your home locale? What familiar sights of your childhood have since passed into history? 


16 comments:

  1. I've lived all over, so no real home locale.
    It is a shame they can't do more to maintain those old parks. Especially the names. The new stadium will have some really lame corporate name...

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    1. Yeah, the corp money pays for it, but the name stinks:) Originally they were going to redo Candlestick instead, but that deal kept falling through.

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  2. Our old farmhouse and barn are now gone, with no clue that they ever were there. It had to happen, but that does not ease the loss.

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    1. Farmhouses and barns are cool...maybe you could build new ones, but with an old style? :)

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  3. I hardly recognize Denver anymore. I drove down the main street leading to the neighborhood I lived in when I was in high school recently, and I didn't even realize it until someone told me where we were, it looked that different. Nothing so constant as change.

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    1. Reminds me of that Beatles song "In My Life."

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  4. I grew up in Pittsburgh and was sad when Three Rivers Stadium was demolished. Same thing in Denver with Mile High Stadium. Sigh-- easy to get nostalgic.

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    1. Yeah, I remember some of that...how do the new stadiums compare?

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  5. The Chargers have been whining about wanting their own stadium for years now. If they win a few more games, why not?

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    1. Yeah, if you bring in money (via wins and fans) why not get a better park? :)

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  6. For me, it was a local independent toy store that essentially got squeezed out by the highrises in the neighborhood. I haven't lived in the town where I grew up for many years but I still miss that old store.

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  7. That old stadium was new once! I'm sure you'll get used to the new one in no time.

    Where I come from in Brighton (south-east England) we have the West Pier that was once a proud old structure, but it has long since closed and in that time it burnt down, leaving just an iron husk sticking out of the sea. Quite an interesting sight, but sad at the same time.

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    1. Ruins...at once romantic and saddening all at the same time.

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  8. Most of the landmarks near my house remain, thankfully they haven't been demolished. But plenty of small bungalows have given way to high rise apartments.

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    1. Bungalows are cool....my house is kind of a bungalow:)

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