By Mark Purdy

Will anyone bother to shed tears? I mean, when the big ugly hulk comes down? If so, a guarantee: The teardrop fluid will be sterile. Just like the stadium. Riverfront - sorry, no corporate substitutes allowed - was never a romantic structure.

It was the Barry Bonds of ballparks. You admired the awesome production. You were in awe of the headline-making feats. But because of the attitude, there was never any true love.

This was true from Day1. As a baseball town, Cincinnati appreciated the clean, efficient stage for the Reds' championship teams. But for the first 20 years of Riverfront's life, people kept saying: "It's no Crosley Field." The next 10 years, that became: "It's no Camden Yards." But give the place this much: The stadium did bring downtown Cincinnati alive, at least until downtown Cincinnati's life moved across the river to Kentucky.

I grew up two hours north of Riverfront. I saw games there as a fan before the Enquirer paid me to roam those peculiar-smelling tunnels beneath the seats - where, after spring high water, you occasionally could spot rats the size of Marge Schott's monthly cigarette bills. Yet oddly, as a returning out-of-town journalist, that smell always provoked good memories.

The manager's office was my favorite space. There, as a nervous 21-year-old pup reporter, I was chewed out by Sparky Anderson for hesitantly asking about his suspect bullpen. Sparky chided: "Just because you're young, don't be afraid to ask a question like that." In that office, John McNamara patiently explained baseball's subtle twitches, Russ Nixon fought the good fight, Vern Rapp was earnestly clueless, and Pete Rose's phone rang. We know now who was on the other end.

So. If they are selling chairs from the manager's office, or chairs from the press box as memorabilia, put me down for one. Otherwise, no watery eyes. My wish is that new park will be loved as much as Riverfront was respected. Cincinnati really deserves that.

Mark Purdy worked in the Enquirer sports department in 1975-76, was sports columnist from 1978-84 and was Metro columnist from 1994-95. He is now a sports columnist at the San Jose Mercury News.