As would seem appropriate for a place often compared to a giant concrete ashtray, Veterans Stadium has seen its share of butts.

These butts, though, don’t come from the entrails of a Marlboro. Nor do they pertain to the rear ends that occupy — or don’t occupy, in Temple football’s case — the 66,592-seated, seven-tiered bowl.

Rather, the butts with which Veterans Stadium has become most familiar relate almost entirely to the venue’s position as an always-amusing punch line. With every passing rat sighting or elevator malfunction, the Vet becomes the butt of another Philadelphia joke.

That won’t be the case much longer. Temple, which currently shares Veterans Stadium with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, will abandon the facility after the season. When Syracuse visits the Owls this weekend, it will mark SU’s last visit to a place that — ignoring the nicknames of its current tenants — is only months away from being thrown to the birds.

“I think it was a great place back when it was originally built. But since then, it’s gotten older, and now it’s very outdated,” said Temple facilities manager Lee Roberts, who runs events at the Vet for the Owls. “I’d say that the Vet has served its time in the era of stadiums, and now it’s just too old.”

Since opening in 1971, Veterans Stadium hasn’t aged gracefully.

Even in the mid 1980s, when the Vet’s two-sport, multi-purpose design remained en vogue, the first cracks began to show. Mike Kern, who covers Temple football for the Philadelphia Daily News, recalls the first player gripes coming from former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt.

“One of his complaints,” Kern said, “had to do with the smell of rat urine in the tunnels.”

As the stadium turned 20, problems turned from rats to ratty playing surfaces. For all the targets at Veterans Stadium — among them, St. Louis Cardinal J.D. Drew, who was pelted by fans with batteries while standing in the outfield during a 1999 baseball game — nothing takes more criticism than Veterans’ turf.

The stadium carpet is so unforgiving that, during a 1993 Eagles game, Chicago Bears receiver Wendell Davis tore the patella tendons in both of his knees on the same play.

“The greatest topic of discussion was always the turf,” Roberts said. “People said it felt like they were playing on concrete — and they were. Obviously, that concrete is under a layer of turf, but it wasn’t too far under.”

Residents of the Vet worked to remedy the problem last year, when the traditional AstroTurf was replaced with NeXturf, a synthetic replication of grass. Results, though, are mixed.

Last summer, the NFL decided to cancel the first football game on the new surface, an Eagles’ exhibition contest, when a combination of rainfall and steamy temperatures caused three-inch-high bubbles to form around seams in the turf.

Still, Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni said, “I’m looking forward to not having to play on that other surface that had home plate (covered) with a piece of plywood. When you went over it, it was like you were running over the top of a trap door.”

Since beginning with a complication, NeXturf’s been well-received among Temple players. Regardless of the turf, coaches stress that players can reduce the likelihood of knee or ankle injuries by wrapping ankles more loosely to allow for some give.

Of course, as long as Veterans Stadium stands, complaints seem almost immune to demolition.

“You can still kind of feel it how hard it is underneath (the turf),” Temple’s senior running back Tanardo Sharps said. “During the game, you aren’t really paying attention, but the next day after all those hard falls, you feel sore. Trust me.”

The Owls are asking for their own dose of trust, particularly from fans who remain curious about where Temple will play after this season. Currently, the Owls split their games between two off-campus stadiums — Veterans and the slightly smaller Franklin Field, at the University of Pennsylvania.

Next year, Temple Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw said, the football team would like to move to state-of-the-art Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles’ future home. It’s likely the Owls would play all home games at Franklin if a deal with the Eagles fell through.

“We haven’t completed negotiations yet,” Bradshaw said, “so it’s still to be determined.”

Should Temple move into Lincoln Financial — a facility similar in size to the archaic Vet, but differing with up-to-date amenities and seats twice as close to the playing field — the Owls will suddenly boast the finest home in the Big East.

That’ll mean no more jokes about the courtroom that’s housed in the Veterans Stadium bowels for fans (primarily those in the upper deck) who get arrested. No more jokes about the stadium that once saw its disgusted ticket-holders pummel a Santa Claus mascot with boos and snowballs. No more jokes about a place that, year after year, NFL players vote as the league’s worst venue.

Temple, which joined the Big East in 1991 but has yet to finish a season with more than four wins, is banking that a stadium switch will help the team escape its pervasive football woes.

“This (new stadium) will really give us an advantage,” Owls tight end coach and recruiting coordinator Rocky Hager said. “You have to keep up with the Joneses. If your place is 31 years old and Johnny’s down the street was built 3 years ago, any potential recruit will probably choose to play for Johnny down the street.”

Said Roberts: “What we have right now is really not a fan-friendly venue.”

That became most apparent in 1998 when a railing collapsed during an Army-Navy game at the Vet and injured nine fans. Witnesses said the railings in that area were held together by duct tape.

Veterans Stadium still has some time before it’s condemned, though. Even those who criticize the place appreciate its spot in history. A small room in the stadium’s basement features autographs from many of the great baseball and football players to grace the Vet — a list which includes former Phillie Steve Carlton and former Eagle Reggie White.

“It’s up to the individual what to think about Veterans Stadium,” said Bradshaw, the Temple AD, who remembers attending games there in the 1981 World Series with his father. “In terms of aesthetics, obviously it’s not the most beautiful park. But it’s a very convenient facility.”

Said Hager, the Temple assistant: “There have been so many great players to come through Veterans Stadium — from Michael Vick to Donovan McNabb. Now we haven’t fared too well against (other teams), but it’s still been fun to watch.”

Despite the memories, Philadelphia fans are anticipating the Vet’s destruction — the facility will likely be demolished after the Phillies end their 2003 season — to be equally enjoyable. Both the Phillies and the Eagles will move to separate stadiums. Depending on negotiations, so too might Temple.

Best of all, as the giant ashtray falls to the ground, a generation of butts will finally be extinguished.

Published on October 9, 2002 at 12:00 pm