The Durham Bulls' wind-fall

Monday's high winds throughout the Triangle wreaked havoc on trees, power lines, and even caused some traffic accidents. Nothing quite so visually striking, however, as the damage caused to the famous "Hit Bull Win Steak" sign up on the left field wall, whose head was sheared partially off the body.

Have no fear, say the Bulls. The so-called "Famous Bull" will be put back together, the D-Bulls assure us.

I say: Don't bother.

Don't get me wrong. I love the team and I love going to Bulls games; in fact, I had a great time taking a contingent of colleagues from San Francisco, Boston and Chicago out to the DBAP just last week, braving 50-degree weather to cheer the Bulls and boo the Pawtucket, R.I. ("Is that near Woonsocket?") Red Sox. One told me she doesn't have nearly as much fun at a Cubs game as she did on a cold Bull City night at the ballpark.

For me, though, my favorite part is walking along the concourse, reading the long history of the Bulls. Of their days playing in the old El Toro Park, of their various affiliations with major league teams, of their struggles in the 70s and resurrection in the 80s. The Bulls go a long way back in Durham and our city should be proud to have them here.

So I'm bemused that folks get awestruck over the 'Snorting Bull' sign -- a feature that dates way, way back in history to, oh, the late 1980s, when it was invented by Thom Mount's crew for the movie Bull Durham. Heck, that bull sits undisturbed along the concourse in the DBAP, being at a mere seven years of age unable to weather (no pun intended) installation in the new park upon its move from the DAP. No, we're talking about a twelve year old, new piece of fake history.

It's the same thing that bothers me a bit about the plan to re-create a concourse/arcade in the Durham Athletic Park when it's renovated using the 2005 bond funds. That arcade was never a part of DAP history until the movie, but now is included as part of the park's renewal in part to hearken back to the celluloid glory of the field.

We live in a wonderful city that is literally brimming with history at every turn -- well, at least that which has not been bulldozed in one our occasional civic fits of bulldozer envy. The Bulls are part of that history, and not simply because Kevin Costner Slept Here. And we don't necessarily need invented artifacts to make us proud of our city, or our ball team.

Of course, there's a certain irony embedded in my own logic here. Would the Bulls have moved to a terrific new stadium, or to the Triple-A International League, or even have maintained their financial health without the movie exposure? No way to be sure.

But do we need to always come back to the touchstone of Bull Durham in the new ballpark, or in renovating our old one? Or can we let the faux-bull rest in windswept peace and focus on what's great about the Bulls, and about Durham, today?

I vote for the latter.

Comments

[Blazer Manpurse, BFA]

Gimme the man-made river, imported train car, and jazz muzak of the AmTobacco "Historic" district any day. That fake bull makes the area seem too much like a theme park.

[Bull City Rising]

One could of course make the argument (and you may be doing so here) that the same Disneyfication pervades the ATC campus as well. To my mind, those are a bit less troubling -- at least in terms of the music and the "Old Bull River" (what a bizarro name) because at least they serve the purpose as landscape features of drawing people out of doors and creating connections throughout the district.

You can argue that these connections are focused inwardly rather than to the surrounding blocks, and this is correct, though there is the constraint of existing architecture (I'd like to see a bit more creativity with the new phase.)

But the fake bull strikes me as OK to hold to a higher standard than AT, simply because it's designed to look 'aged and authentic' in a way that the more polished fixtures at ATC don't. Between its weathered look and the movie role that the sign has, it gives a false impression of its actual character (people can tell that ATC is an overlay of new on historic structures, but that's not clear from the Snorting Bull.)

BTW, love your blog -- it's good for a chuckle (and for a pause to think.) The Bull City Bloggers Cabal gathers the first week of May under the dark of night to plot a master strategy to launch a stealth assault on Rougemont and force them to merge into the City corporate limits so developers can pave their farms. (Shh! Don't tell anyone.) You're welcome to co-conspire; email me for details.

[Andrew]

But the fake bull strikes me as OK to hold to a higher standard than AT, simply because it's designed to look 'aged and authentic' in a way that the more polished fixtures at ATC don't.

^^^

On a tour through the ATC before it fully opened, I was told that the concrete channel in which the "river" is located was stressed in order to make it appear older and more natural than its creamy white color suggested. Apparently, this was done by the same team that created the Jurassic Park water ride at Disney. (Or something; i don't know anything about it.)

Anyway, I'm not too upset by any of this faux-old. If it gets people in the door, THEN you can talk to them about the true history of town. Plus, this faux-old business isn't new at all: when Buck Duke built a "chapel" for Trinity College, he commissioned the use of stone for the outdoor steps that would wear away quickly. That's why those foot-stepped grooved stones (age: 80 years) look like the ones at Oxford (age: several hundred years).

--ASE.

[JDC]

I don't mind the Bull so much. It's one feature of the park that's exclusively Durham. The "Blue Monster" (like Fenway's Green Monster) and Diamondview I (an homage to the warehouse that sits above right field at Camden Yards) are even less authentic.

[mike]

I think the Bull is cool, while we shouldn't bulldoze old buildings for parking lots just b/c something is new doesn't make it not nice.

[Joe]

We've got a name now? I like it. I guess I should set up a mailing list: I'm good at that. ;)