0 0 0" 0"0 " I 8B The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 A home plate away from home sat before my television on Election Day and tried to hold my emotions in check as I wit- nessed one of the most symbolic moments of American history. In my head, I thought of the first image that came to my mind when I heard the word "America." It wasn't the Statue of Liberty or the American flag. It was an upper-deck view of Yankee Stadium from behind home plate during the playing of Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America." I could feel the crowd roaring on this windy night in the Bronx. This was America to me. Watching the last game to be played in Yankee Stadium on tele- vision, my eyes really started to tear up after it finally hit me what a special place the "House that Ruth Built" really was and the impres- sion that 16 years going to games there had left on me. I attended my first game wear- ing a Michigan T-shirt at age four, on May 15, 1992 against the Oak- land Athletics. I sat in the upper deck, just to the right of home plate with my father, and my friend Jas- per, who also was with his father. The pitchers that night were both familiar names in my family. My father graduated from Michi- gan and chose the game because former Wolverine Scott Kamien- iecki was starting for the Yankees. His opponent was Bob Welch, who attended Eastern Michigan while my father was in Ann Arbor. My father says he knew Welch through a mutual friend and often drankwithhim.He also claimsthat he barely recognized Welch on the scoreboard that night because his eyes weren't bloodshot. Inciden- tally, Welch had authored a book in 1991 chronicling his fight against alcoholism. The two pitchers threw strong games, and my father probably hummed "Hail to the Victors" as we walked to the car after Kamie- niecki grinded out a 3-2 victory. My only vivid memory of the game was watching a middle-aged man throw paper airplanes around empty seating sections and being mesmerized at how well they flew. The action on the field was slow and I neverthoughtbaseball would click for me. I only returned once between then and July 22, 1999, when I had finally had my sports-fan awaken- ing. As I settled into my seat with my fellow day campers, a bit of deja vu came to me. I was in those same seats. It was almost surreal -- the forgotten memory of my real first game returned. At 11 years old, I witnessed the first play I can fully recall as the Yankees' Bernie Wil- liams crushed a first-inning homer that made the crowd roar. The loudest I ever heard the stadium get was June 10, 2002 in a grudge match from the previous World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before a packed house in a scoreless game against the unhittable Randy Johnson, Yankees rookie Marcus Thames stepped in to face baseball's top pitcher for his first career at-bat. On just the second pitch he saw, Thames swung and connected for a two-run homer to left - fans got so loud that it shook the stadium for minutes on end. Yankee Stadium was more than just a place where great plays were picked three seats in my tradition- made and records were broken. al spot: tier reserve nine, behind The place was made up of per- home plate. That year, Alex Rodri- sonal memories, the kind of anec- guez, Kevin Brown and Javier dotes that are never as good in the Vazquez were the team's new addi- retelling because the listener could tions. The Yankees were stacked, never feel that rush of excitement and our tickets cost just $12 each you get when you recall them. per game. On Sept. 17, 2000, the infamous That fall, I went to a few playoff Jose Canseco dropped two fly balls games, one of which remains the in a 15-4 loss. On the highway after most memorable (and despised) of my life: Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS against Boston. Up 3-2 in the series, my Yankees How Yankee faced a nearly one-legged Curt Schilling, whose tendons were Stadium became stuck together by medical pins. y lof Each time he had to make a play, my symDo O it took him minutes to return to .aroim the mound. Many fans yelled for pairlolism the Yankees to bunt to no avail. Schilling's heroic performance that led to the Game 6 win and the eventual series victory for the Red the game, Canseco was in the car Sox will go down in history as "The next to my family's as we sat in Bloody Sock Game". traffic. I asked my mother if I could Even as our ticket prices rose to toss Canseco my baseball to sign, $27 per game in 2008, my parents but she told me not to. She said he kept the seats. Ican safely say their would drop the ball. decision to purchase those tickets I only left one game early. For Cal was the best investment they could Ripken Jr.'s last game in the Bronx have ever made for me as a kid on Sept. 30, 2001, the music from growing up in New York. I really "The Natural" played each time can't think of many other things, he came to bat. Ripken went hit- besides death, that have ever made less with four strikeouts in seven me cry - Yankee Stadium has been at-bats. With the score tied in the the source of most of those tears. 15th inning, the game was called Thinking back on the stadium's due to rain. I had pneumonia and history, there were so many events had missed a few days of school the that made it such a hallowed place: week before, so my mom made me Lou Gehrig's famous "Luckiest leave in the fourteenth inning. Man Alive" speech, the dying Babe By 2004, after years of picking Ruth using a bat as a cane months random games to attend, my par- before he died to wave goodbye, ents decided it was finally time to Bobby Murcer's tribute to Thur- buy a ticket package. Naturally, I man Munson, George Bush show- ing a thumbs-up tothe world before firing a perfect strike in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Paul O'Neill sendoff from fans in 2001. When I think of America's game, I think of those nights in the Bronx. Twenty-six World Champion- ships and 17 retired numbers don't hurt its image, either. Oh yeah, and the visits from the Pope, the Super Bowls, including the Colts ' vs. Giants in 1958, the championship boxing matches - the list goes on and on. And after Sept.11, although allbaseball stadiumsspentthe next year playing "God Bless America" during the seventh inning, Yankee Stadium stood alone in continuing the tradition until its closing day. By Aug. 15,2008, my lastgame at the stadium, I was able to navigate the ballpark without even looking at seat or row numbers. I knew the names of many other fans in my section, along with those of a num- ber of vendors and even a few secu- rity guards. Yankee Stadium felt fike dome to me. At the end of the game, I turned to my parents and thanked them for the experience. I'm immensely sad to see it brought down. As the stadium's planned "gradual demolition" continues throughout 2009, we're saying goodbye to so many memo- ries and so much history. Driv- ing through the South Bronx will never be the same. The good news is that I'm just 21 and the new Yan- kee Stadium looks gorgeous. But for now, so long Babe, Lou, Joe D and Mick. Hope to see you some day across 161st Street. Roger Sauerhaft is a Daily Sports writer. Students push to get new Business School building LEED certified From page 5B "It definitely costs you money - there's no doubt about it - but you really don't know how much," Mer- cer said. The dean acknowledged that cost concerns inhibited their flex-* ibility to take extra environmental steps. However, several of the Erb students said that scrapping the expensive architectural firm, New York-based Kohn Pederson Fox, that doesn't specialize in educational or green building would have allowed for considerably more wiggle room in the budget. Swett said that instead of hiring a "starchitect" - slang for a high- profile and high-cost architectural firm - he would have focused more on using local, recycled materials for the building. The Ross building's environmen- tal plan could have gone further, according to Erb Institute Prof. Andy Hoffman, by including an energy-saving geothermal heating and cooling system and solar pan- els. Third year Erb Institute student Jackie Pitera, who helped research eco-conscious carpet options for the building, said that while she liked how the environmental aspects merged well with the aesthetic design of the building, she wished the administration had taken more steps to make the building a nation- al example. "If they're going to go through the efforts of making a green build- ing, it would have been nice if they had taken it a bit further so it could have been a demonstration piece or learning tool," shesaid. But Swett said that given the ini- tial resistance, he was pleased with how the building turned out. "Do I think we made a lot of progress? Yeah," he said. "And is it a good building for the university? Definitely." Swett and others are quick to point out that lobbying efforts have also resulted in plans for the C.S. Mott Children's and Women's Hos- pital to achieve LEED certification, and possibly the Law School expan- sion as well. Administrators haven't announced any plans for North Quad, the residential hall set to open in 2010, to achieve ,certification. According to a November Universi- ty budget request, the complex aims to exceed code-minimum energy requirements by about 40 percent and will have maximum insulation. "If the business school building going LEED Silver sets a minimum bar for future (University of Michi- gan) buildings, then that's a great accomplishment," Swett said.