Eagles' loss marks end of era at Vet

As the Philadelphia Eagles' hopes for the Super Bowl crumbled last weekend, so will their stadium following the Philadelphia Phillies' 2003 campaign. It could have been the perfect ending for one of the most storied football stadiums in history, but instead the Philadelphia Eagles' season ended in the NFC championship game, providing a bitter finale to more than 30 seasons of football at Veterans Stadium. Sunday's championship game was the final football game to be played at the Vet. In the three decades of football played at the 62,418-seat stadium, the Eagles compiled a 139-108-2 record, in addition to a 7-4 playoff record. Home to two Philadelphia teams -- the Eagles and the Phillies -- Veterans Stadium opened in 1971 as a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose facility, revolutionizing the stadiums of the day. Throughout the career of the Vet, the city of Philadelphia has spent millions of dollars to ensure that the stadium remains adequate for its purposes. The most notable of the changes was in 2001 when the AstroTurf playing field was changed to a synthetic material called NeXturf. Besides being ranked among the worst playing surfaces, the Vet was witness to several major turf-related injuries. The most notable was when Chicago Bears wide receiver Wendell Davis blew out both of his knees as he fell to the turf on a wide open run. "I don't think you'll miss the turf, but you'll miss the memories," said Fran Dunphy, Penn's men's basketball coach and Eagles fan. Eagles fans in the Vet were known for their intensity. They were infamous for being the loudest, most rowdy group of football fanatics in the country. The notorious "700 level" of the stadium was home to the most boisterous of the bunch. "Things always sizzled in the 700 level," College sophomore Ryan McGee recalled. Both opponents and fans have said they despised the trip to the South Philly stadium because of that reputation. "I hate Eagles fans. They threw beer, peanuts and tried to push me around," College freshman and Giants fan C.J. Pavia said. "But they weren't so tough at Giants' Stadium." The Vet was home to many memorable moments in football history, including two NFC championship games and Wilbert Montgomery's 42-yard touchdown run in 1981 against the Dallas Cowboys, which propelled the Eagles to their first and only Super Bowl. In addition to the Eagles' success in the stadium, sports fans say they will also miss being able to watch some of their favorite events at the Vet. "I'm going to miss the Army-Navy game the most," McGee said. College senior Steve Friedman joked that one of his favorite memories was "watching the fans fight. It was better than watching the game." The Eagles will move into their new stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, starting next season.

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