Red Bulls Topping Off Ceremony

I am having another bout of allergies (man, getting old sucks), so my brother in blog Chris C went down to Red Bull Arena to take in the sights and sounds of the Topping Off Ceremony.

And what is a “Topping Off Ceremony?”

Wikipedia, do your work:

In building construction, topping out, or topping off, is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building’s structure. A topping out ceremony is usually held to commemorate the event.

So with that said, I will leave the rest of this posting to Chris. Treat him well (he is a good friend after all!) Enjoy!

BY CHRIS C.

New Jerseys finest dignitaries were in attendance for the topping off ceremony of Red Bull Arena. From the soccer world, to the political ring, the faces were easily recognizable to any Jerseyite; from Claudio Reyna to Senator Frank Lautenberg. Even “The Don” Donald Garber was there to lend his support (and feel his pockets getting fatter).

They topped off the final piece of the project with a tree, which I was told is the symbolic way of saying “Stage 1, done!” The afternoon started with Steve Cangelosi MCing (as he does in most RB events). He was followed by a bunch of politicians waxing poetic about what a great achievement this was (at which point I was busy checking e-mails on my blackberry).

Once that part of the event was over, they raised the final piece in place, which was either on the South or North end of the stadium (DAVE: It was hung by the future scoreboard, per RBR). Afterwards, I was able to say hi to Juan Carlos Osorio, and I also saw former Metro great Tab Ramos chilling with some RB crew.

Overall, it was an exciting time. And being able to see a stadium after a couple of years fandom (sorry guys, I became a fan after Dave did), it is pretty damn cool to see how Red Bull has come into the ownership of this team and worked so quickly to accomplish what Metro Media and AEG never could.

PS: Shep Messing still looks like he can be in goal, batting balls! Great guy.

img credit: Garden State Supporters

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