Complete Transcript Of Friday's Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
Feb 22, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 22, 2008
Tulane Director of Athletics Rick Dickson
We're here! Good evening everyone. I am so pleased and proud to officially welcome everyone here to Greer Field in Turchin Stadium.
This is truly a homecoming celebration for all of us. When you think back to 2005, the last time we were all together in this stadium little did we know that some 30 months would go by before we could come together again so it's truly a night to celebrate. We've got so many people to thank and they are going to be recognized, but things like this just don't happen and first I want to say on behalf of all of us that none of this could have happened if not first for our president Scott Cowen and our board of trustees.
Even after what we endured at the foresight to recognize how important this was to the spirit of our community. It's not about a baseball stadium it's a symbol of something much greater than what we persevered through than what we strived to achieve. This is a beckon of hope for all of us and that's what tonight is about. Tonight I am so tickled. In 20 years of doing this, stadiums are built and dedicated all over the country, but none with the importance and symbolism of this one tonight. So to all of you who hung with us and helped us preserver I can only say thank you.
Some six years ago coming back from Omaha on a charter flight, Rick Jones and I started some discussions that talked about you know how do we stay here. How do we stay at this level? And one of the things we recognized that need to happen was to improve upon the stadium that we have. Of course as two little boys growing up playing baseball we had all sorts of ideas. But for everything that awe could have envisioned, this surpasses it all and we couldn't be happier about that. But again it happens because of the foresight of a president and board of trustees and a group like the ones to my right who stepped up and financially happen and the stadium builders group that you see to the right we'll be indebted to forever. Let's all join in thanking them.
(Cheers and applause)
Now the fun begins. Every coach gets to make up his lineup and I don't get to do this often. I am starting off with my clean up hitter and the whole reason that I came here to New Orleans and to Tulane some seven and a half years ago recruited to you from my cleanup hitter. Join me in welcoming our president, Scott Cowen.
Tulane University President Scott Cowen
(Cheers and applause)
Today is a great day Tulane baseball, Tulane University and the city of New Orleans. We are alive and we are well and we are world class. I remember very distinctly, two and a half years ago, standing on this very sight in three feet of water. Little did I ever imagine, two and a half years later, I would be standing in front of this stadium itself.
This is truly a miracle and as Rick said, it's a beckon of hope for our university and for New Orleans. It shows that we have not only recovered but we have renewed ourselves and are committed to being world class in everything we do. The thing that I also love about this stadium is that our team deserves it.
When you think about intercollegiate athletics and you think about sports and you say what is the model program and the model team, it is Tulane baseball and has been for years.
You are talking about young men who compete in the classroom everyday at the highest levels and compete on the field everyday and have coaches making sure that they are truly student athletes. And I hope every one of you are as proud as I am of the Tulane baseball team, Coach Jones and his entire staff. They are an example of what intercollegiate sports is about in America.
You don't build a stadium like this without having an all-star team working on this project and I would be remised tonight if I didn't point out some of the all stars on that team. First is Paul Flower of Carl E. Woodward Construction, please raise your hand; I know you're here. He built a great stadium and I'll tell you that right after the storm when they were able to get back and start working on it, they were there night and day. Everything we asked Paul to do he did and even more. Thank you so much on behalf of all of us.
When you walk in there you are going to see a magnificent grandstand and bleachers and that was actually built offsite and brought here and the company that did that was the Dant Clayton Company. Are they represented here tonight? Well, when you're sitting there today remember that that's who helped you get there.
Next is Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects who had the vision of what this facility should be and Ken Zito who helped us to stay on course and make sure their vision became a reality. We have Joey Sizeler here some place. Where are you?
When you go out there you are going to see a great surface and that was done by the FieldTurf Company. They brought us this surface and Coach Jones told me last night that this is one of the best surfaces he's ever seen and they brought it in by helicopter and dropped it off on the main field. This stuff is incredible. So is FieldTurf Company represented here tonight? Well wherever you may be, laying another field somewhere, thank you.
On campus we have a group called Capital Projects and this is the group that works with Coach Jones and Rick Dickson to make sure the facility...and we have Rick, another Rick, Rick Jones head of capital projects who oversaw this, Rick.
(Applause)
We have another Jones, Yvette Jones...we make it simple with all the Jones'. Yvette is our chief operating officer and senior vice president for external affairs who was my representative all through this process. Please recognize Yvette.
And then of course there's Rick Dickson our AD. There could be no better AD than Rick Dickson. Rick represents all the values that I respect in athletics and he instilled those values and principles in everybody who is here. There is not a day that I don't go by and say that if we have a model program for intercollegiate activities, it's because we have a model AD who speaks and talks everyday the true value of athletics. So Rick thank you very much, not only for this day but for everything you do.
Of course there are dozens and dozens of donors in the audience and for you I bow down.
Because without you nothing happens at the institutions. So for every single donor here or for anyone who aspires to be a donor thank you very much. It is your generosity that makes this possible. To all the donors...
Last but not least, Mr. Philip Greer himself of Greer field at Turchin stadium. Phil by the way joined our board nine years ago and he has been a superb trustee and friend of our university for nine years. For many of those years he chaired our endowment committee and the investment committee of our board and he is someone who is very responsible for the fact that almost a year ahead of schedule this university got an endowment of over 1 billion dollars.
One of the few schools in America that has such an endowment and the only school in the state that's anywhere close to that endowment. And in recognition of Phil's fine work he became chair of the board two years ago and it has been my privilege to serve as president under his chairmanship. If that wasn't enough he and his wife Nancy have been incredibly generous to this university and today you've witnessed that generosity. Please welcome Mr. Philip Greer.
Tulane University Chairman of the Board and Major Donor Phil Greer
Usually I have to follow Scott and its tough. I just have a few things that I want to say from my heart. First of all I don't know of a bigger honor for me personally to be able to chair the board of Tulane. Especially with what we've been through and where we are, I just can't believe under the leadership of Scott Cowen that we've come to the place that we've come. After Katrina, Scott and I talked about what we really needed to get done and it was really within weeks of Katrina and the one thing that we needed was certainly to finish our student center and we had that well in hand, it was under 6 feet of water at that time but it was well in hand. But we really needed this stadium so I decided that this is the thing I wanted to do. I am a baseball fan and I am a fan of all Tulane sports and of all sports but this is much more than a baseball stadium and we intend to use it for more than a baseball stadium in due course. This is really a symbol of our recovery.
Based on the visits I've made, this is as good if not better than any college baseball arena. I've been to a number of them along the west coast and this one is spectacular. This team deserves it. This coach deserves it. This team of coaches deserves it. I had the greatest pleasure last night of having dinner with this team and if I was excited about Greer field before that dinner I was more excited after that dinner. What a terrific bunch of guys and coaches. This is a fabulous program. It's already great. It's going to be greater. I hope this field will help with recruitment. I hope it will help with season tickets sales. I hope it will help with the spirit of the university and I am thrilled.
I've gotten to know Rick Jones really well. He's a terrific guy and he is intense, he is dedicated, this is his 15th year here at Tulane and he's just a couple handfuls away from having more victories than any coach in Tulane history. He's most important a fantastic mentor and role model for the kids and that's what athletics here is all about.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be named on this stadium. I wouldn't have bet on that years ago and I'm so glad to do it. I've got to tell you that there are many donors involved and many important ones. I always challenge the donors that if they can match my gift they can name the stadium.
We worked very hard on that, many tried but none did it. And I'm telling you here today that I'm glad no one did it. My family is so glad to be the named donors here. So it's with the greatest respect and the greatest esteem and some love I suppose that I introduce you to our coach Rick Jones.
Tulane Head Baseball Coach Rick Jones
(Cheers and applause)
Thank you Phil.
Ya'll are going to be yelling at me in a few minutes for not bunting, but that's ok. I'm trying not to get emotional about this game. Rick just told me tonight that I need to step up here so this is going to come from the heart.
There have been so many wonderful moments at Tulane. Conference championships, regional and super regional championships, world series appearances and coaching and the great young men who are representing us so well on the field, in the classroom and in the community. But today is undoubtedly the greatest day of my baseball life.
Greer Field and Turchin Stadium is a dream come true for Tulane baseball and Tulane athletics and all of you. It took us longer than expected, but look at this wonderful facility. Is there any doubt that it was worth the wait?
I want to acknowledge a few people and I want to start with President Scott Cowen. Without his leadership this facility would never ever have come to volition. Yvette Jones and her staff drove this thing home every single day. The university's administration never wavered in support of this project. And my athletics director, which I am very blessed because if you think about the years that Rick has been here with me and what we've accomplished with his support and leadership and guidance and friendship. He pushed so hard to make this a reality and we shared the vision. We are so excited. To our fans who supported us from New Orleans to Lubbock, Texas, to Airline Hwy and in ballparks all across America, thank you.
I want to say a special thank you to the players of 2006 and 2007 who never played an inning in this facility but persevered through some unprecedented times and made this possible. I want to thank those guys and say that I'll always be indebted to them.
This facility was not built because of the men on the field right now. It was built for them by the men who went before them. I have been truly blessed to coach some of the greatest guys in the world and because of their efforts in facility that were good but were nothing close to this. I want to thank all the other players who played for all the other coaches, Coach Brockoff, Coach Retif, Coach Abadie and all the other great coaches who came before me and made this a great facility and a great program that I wanted to be a part of.
Lastly I have to say that many of you watched this facility go up in person over the last 18 months, but my mom sitting in a little country town in North Carolina. She watched like many of you from out of town on that web cam everyday and when that web cam came down so that we could put that video board up I got some grief from my momma. All I can say is `momma today you get to see in person.'
I think we've waited long enough for the grand opening of Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
(Cheers and applause)
-end-
Special thanks to Alicia Duplessis of the Tulane University Office of Publications for transcribing the ceremony.
