Out of the ones I've been to, here are my faves: Baseball - Fenway Park & Wrigley Field. Old-school charm. I liked 'em better than Yankee Stadium. Football - Darrell Royal Memorial Stadium, Reliant Park, Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl is a great place to watch a football game. Basketball - Forum (in Inglewood). I really liked watching basketball there.
Baseball: MLB- PNC Park in Pittsburgh (new stadium), Wrigley Field and Fenway Park (old school stadiums). http://www.auburntigers.com/emplibrary/plainsman_park3.jpg College baseball- Plainsman Park, Auburn, AL Football- Bryant-Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL or Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL Pro football- I love Reliant for sure. The Georgia Dome is nice as well. Basketball- Cameron Indoor Stadium (pro), Chicago Stadium (NBA), Boston Garden (NBA). Madison Square Garden, NYC
When I went to the Rose Bowl, I felt like I was sitting a mile away from the field. Baseball: I'd have to go with Fenway. I used to be able to walk there from my apartment. Other stadiums have shuttles to pick you up from the parking lot.
In terms of baseball stadiums, I enjoyed the atmosphere at Busch Stadium, Shea, and Fenway. Minute Maid just seems too cute-sie for me. It seems like it's a big toy or something. I don't feel outside (even with the roof open), and it's just comes across as trying too hard to be unique and retro. Shea Stadium was possibly my favorite. The fans there are die-hards, the setting has history (1986 classic game 6), and it kind of has a gritty, grungy feel to it. To me baseball should have an element of this, instead of the pristine, carpeted air conditioned environs at the club level of Minute Maid.
I'm mostly a baseball guy, and the sport has the most interesting parks anyway since the field itself is variable. The only football stadiums I've been to are Texas Stadium and the Superdome, so there's not much to choose from anyway. 1. Coors Field - Denver 2. PNC Park - Pittsburgh 3. Ballpark in Arlington 4. Minute Maid - Houston
I wish you could still bring food into baseball stadiums. When I was a kid, we would always stop off at Antone's, bring it into the Dome, and eat dinner while watching batting practice. To my knowledge, the only stadiums you can do this at now are Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. At Fenway, you can buy a huge bag of fresh roasted peanuts for $3 outside the stadium and bring it in with you.
Security made me give up my quiznos last Friday at Yankee stadium! Don't know if it's a new policy or because it was Yankee-Red Sox. But that's never happened before. Figures one of TJ favs would be that triple A ball club's stadium in Queens! That thing is an eye sore and someone should put a match to it!
When I was at the Stadium for a Yankees/Red Sox game in 2000, I sat in the bleachers. Sitting behind me were 5 really drunk and really loud dudes from Seton Hall. During the 3rd inning, they asked me if I wanted a hoagie. I said "sure". Then they whipped out this big igloo icechest full of like 30 hoagies. I said thanks, and then asked them why they brought so many sandwiches into the game. One guy said "well we figured we'd be doing some drinking". LOL!
some of the experiences you report are so similar to mine growing up here, it's scary. i did the exact same thing with Antone's . it was me and my dad's place to stop before astros and oilers games. by the way...let me say that the Summitt was just an amazing place to watch a basketball game. very different in it's design. i brought friends there from out of town and people always remarked how nice it was and how great the view was from even the cheapest seats...that plus the convenience of parking in an attached covered garage were really great features. great memories there. hard for me to compare new ballparks with old ones...like apples and oranges in many ways. charm vs. new amenities. i'm going to Wrigley in mid-May!! woo hoo!!! my first visit there...and you best believe i'll be wearing my freaking vintage 'stros cap!
Yep, pretty freaky! The one on OST. Them was the days. Be sure an have a cold one at the Cubby Bear for me!
Teh best stadium anywhere (based upon me and ESPN rankings) is Nationwide Arena in Columbus Ohio, home of the Blue Jackets. Gorgeous arena, great experience (they have tons of things going on inthe concourses) and honestly not a bad seat in the house. Throw in the fact that the area is a party area around the arena (bars, restaraunts, outdoor concert arena) and it is fantastic. Only problem is a poor hockey team
Sorry, but being a Michigan man I can't bring myself to acknowledging anything from Columbus is good.
Oh thats alright, I just thought it was neat, i have only been to three baseball stadiums, cinergy field, great american ballpark, turner field, and at the time i went to turner field i had only been to cinergy, and i though turner was 10x better than cinergy, it didnt hurt that my grandparents were friends with the head usher, so we got to sit right behind the braves dugout. My mom got to be the fan of the game, even though we were reds fans and the braves were playing them that night.
Basketball- The Summit (back before they played loud music over the loudspeakers) Of course most of the time it was empty, so you could hear everything. There was not a bad seat in that place. Baseball- Yankee Stadium. I was numb for an hour the first time I walked into Yankee Stadium and saw that beautiful field. All that history went running through my mind, Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Ford. On the other hand, I have never been to Wrigley or Fenway so I could possibly change my mind. Football- Astrodome during the Luv Ya Blue era. No stadium in the country was as loud as the Dome during this time period. I witnessed the steel beams under the Dome creaking and moving during an Oiler Pep Rally!!! Talk about a frightening experience! If the Derrick Dolls hadn't been there I probably would have screamed
Reminds me of a game a couple years ago (happened to be against the Reds) where I sat mezzanine level, first row behind the plate. First it was a boring game; second it was drizzling, then raining moderately, and worst of all was there was a 4 year old kid playing money bars with the stair rail in front of us. Turner is the Mecca for annoying little kids; don't go there for a baseball game unless you plan to stay in the Bud patio the entire night. Anyway, I had asked the parent to please keep her kid out of the way and she turned around and said, "This is a baseball game, okay?" rather rudely. As if I've never been to a baseball game in my life before? Give me a break; apparently this idiot doesn't know much about baseball viewing etiquette. There should be a written rule covering public events such as movies and sporting events (even airplanes) saying no child shall be allowed unless they're actually INTERESTED.
Being from Sydney I was tempted to say the Olympic Stadium.... But if you ask me the best stadium is Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
codell -- the minute maid park of those models is sitting on my desk. of course, it says Enron Field on it!
Same here. I bought mine when it was still Enron Field. You know .....one day, they will be collector items. Danbury Mint took the Enron Field one off their page for a long time, but as of last week, are selling the Minute Maid Park version. I also have the Astrodome, which apparently they no longer offer.
