20.
This classic baseball park is in the shadows of downtown of its host city. It was built when its team moved across the country in 1962. Its max capacity is a respectable 56,000...but its parking lot only allows for 16,000 cars. That's a bit of a problem since the venue is in the center of a "car culture" where carpooling is encouraged, but isn't the norm. The stadium was built in Chavez Ravine just outside of the city near the freeway following a 1957 helicopter ride. The team owner Walter O'Malley asked the county supervisor if he could use that land...the supervisor responded, "No problem." Who'd have thought LA could have such easily obtainable real estate? If you make the trip to Dodger Stadium, make sure you try a Dodger Dog. At $3.50, this footlong frankfurter is a real bargain for LA LA land.
19.Next up is a place near and dear to the BS staff hearts as we all visited there a few years ago. Also a West coast venue, this stadium is one of the largest in the land. I'll admit, I got goosebumps as I got to the end of the tunnel and watched Tim Stratton playing catch with other Boiler faithful in the end zone seats. The setting of this venue is fantastic as it's nestled in the hills of a wealthy SoCal neighborhood. That said, there's not much around the place except parking, which there is plenty of. My Dad visited this Grand Daddy of a venue the last time Purdue played there...too bad the wait was a mere 34 years. If it wasn't for the concourses and ridiculously narrow tunnels, the Rose Bowl definitely would have ranked higher simply because of its unique relationship to the Big Ten Champ.
18.The next venue really surprised me that it ended up in the rankings. But, it was another special Purdue game that I attended when I was a Freshman back in 1994. The setting of this arena is quite nice on the banks of a river. The concourses are pretty wide and the sightlines are good, but the seats are pretty steep a la Conseco Fieldhouse. The record crowd in this arena is an eye-popping 25,000...pretty large for a uni-purpose collegiate basketball facility. I got to witness Glenn Robinson's last game for Purdue at Thompson Bowling Arena on the University of Tennessee's campus...that surely didn't hurt its ranking. That said, it was a pretty good place to watch a game despite the fact that my ticket was in the nosebleed section. TBA is simply awful looking on the outside, but awfully nice on the inside, where it counts.
17.The next venue was the host of Tim's favorite NBA team. Unlike most NBA arenas, this place was not in the city of its team. Many said that hurt attendance. That said, in '93 & '94, the average attendance of a game in the Coliseum was 18,000. She was built in expectation of urban sprawl in the county just South of Cleveland near major interstates. She hosted an NBA All-Star game in 1981 and is probably most-remembered for hosting Jordan's shot over Ehlo in Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 NBA playoffs. The Cleveland Barons also played there for three seasons. The Coliseum at Richfield, while large, only had one concourse which made it feel much tighter than it actually was...this is probably why its life as an NBA arena was a mere 20 years when it was replaced by Gund Arena in 1995.
16.This stadium hosts a favorite team of mine as they A) seem to own Notre Dame & B) are located near one of my former places of residence. It was first built on the lower campus of the small Northeastern-based Jesuit college in 1957. Initially, the stadium had a track around the football field, but in 1994, it underwent major renovations that increased capacity to nearly 45,000. It's a very utilitarian-feeling venue in that it's a touch cold, but the sightlines are very good and the concourses are wide enough for BC crowds. Boston College's Alumni Stadium checks in at 16 simply because while it's not a particularly large venue, it's definitely one that is a good place to take in a college football game.
(This is a part of the BS Best Sports Venue Series...Check back for venues 15 through 11)
11 comments:
I vote we place Dodger Stadium as a replacement for Yankee Stadium on the Big Three of Major League parks. I have never been there, but I want to go.
BTW, I'm a member of Torri's posse. That's how I got hte interview.
The Coliseum at Richfield was pretty cool. I got to go a bunch when I was a kid and see the likes of Larry Nance, Hot Rod Williams, Mark Price, Danny Ferry, and of course Ehlo. It was in the middle of nowhere. It sat empty for years after Gund/Quicken Loans was built. I think the biggest reason they built the new arena was to revitalize downtown Cleveland, which was pretty crappy at the time (insert joke here).
Nate, maybe you sat next to a young Tim and rooted for Daugherty and Co in unison. It looks like they didn't implode the Coliseum as there are a bunch of pictures on the interwebnet of it being knocked down the old-fashioned way.
Travis, congrats on being in an entourage. A little advice- you might want to hook your lasso to a guy with better health and/or a better understanding of the law next time. Perhaps Keyon Brown? Seems like a guy who might go places...You could be one of his hangers-on and one day just do nothing but live in his mansion when he's making NFL dough!
Good suggestion on the addition of Dodger Stadium...But, there are an awful lot of great parks in MLB.
Dodger Stadium: Home of the absolute worst stadium hot dog I've ever had. The Dodger Dog was a huge let down. I don't know what they're smoking out there, but those dogs are horrible.
They need to visit their friends in Oakland to see what a real dog is all about. The Coliseum Dog, king of the hot dogs.
Sadly, their dog wasn't good enough to get them on this illustrious list...I thought you told me the Dodger Dog was awful, but so many on the interwebnet disagree with you...What's J's opinion?
I personally thought the Rose Bowl was a dump. That said, the electricity and vibe in that place was great. Maybe it was because it was a major bowl game. I never got that at any of the other bowl games I've been to. But physically, I thought the place needed a face-lift.
B-Dowd,
Couldn't disagree with you more on TB Arena at UT. Horrible, drab gray on the outside, horrible, drab gray concrete mixed with ugly Volunteer Orange on the inside.
As for seeing Glenn's last game there, that was not a highlight for me like it was for you. I remember being surrounded by Duke A-holes, and the Boilers getting jobbed on the foul calls. Maybe that's why I hate that place so much.
Tim had one dog at Dodger Stad and has decreed them the worst in baseball. Might be what the statheads call "a small sample size."
But at least he's consistent...he loved the oakland dog and hated LA's since that trip 6 yrs ago. I thought SF's was the best, for the record. Nothing like a juicy weiner in san fran...uh, wait, I mean...oh never mind.
All true, bdi, Purdue was jobbed and it was a painful game, but it was one that I am glad I attended...and the arena, while the walls were drab gray, I still think it was a pretty good place to watch the game.
What would you know, you were high the whole weekend anyway.
which busch stadium missed the cut? new or old?
Old...New hasn't been visited by our crew.
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