The possibility we mentioned earlier has become a reality: the Hurricanes are leaving their home of 70 years for the greener pastures of Dolphin Stadium. Was this a good decision? Well, the Miami Herald says no:

It would be a sad day and a sad decision no matter how much the announcement might be couched as progress or dressed in smiles.

It would be sad because a little money would have sacked a lot of tradition on this administration’s priority list.

It would be sad because university president Donna Shalala and her trustees would have succumbed to the easy, safe decision endorsed by accountants rather than daring to allow emotion into the equation.

The Hurricanes leaving the OB would be sad, most of all, because it didn’t have to happen like this. Didn’t have to end like this.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on the other hand, says yes.

It’s a no-brainer. The Hurricanes have to go.

Of course it’s always about the money. Miami doesn’t have a lot of it, relative to the richest programs in the ACC, and needs all the help it can get. But it’s also about moving the program forward. Miami, to its credit, has overcome a bad stadium, poor facilities and other obstacles because it won national championships and great athletes wanted to play there.

But moving to the ACC has changed the entire dynamic of the Miami athletics program. Miami is now competing with programs that are pumping millions into their facilities on a regular basis. The stadiums and other support structures for football have become so elegant that it is hard for Miami, even with its tradition of winning, to overcome.

It’s a dangerous thing to lean too long on tradition, thinking it will carry you forever. Just ask Alabama.

In short, the Orange Bowl is not befitting an upper echelon ACC football program, which is what Miami was brought on board to be by the league.

We do wonder, however, if Dolphin Stadium will lend itself to the close-knit, family atmosphere that Randy Shannon is trying to build at The U.