Reason no. 431 why baseball is better than other sports:

[Oeditpus Rex]

Nobody ever talks about their favorite football stadium or hockey rink.

In baseball, the yard is part of the charm, and indeed a factor in the game.



:popcorn:

[SoxFan]

1. One exception to the rule

New England.

Any true Patriot fan kisses the ground Bob Kraft walks upon for building Gillette Stadium. Gillette is a fantastic facility, but more importantly, its completion meant the demise of the hideous Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaffer Stadium. It looked like a shoddy high school stadium that overdosed on HGH. About 90% of the seats were aluminum benches, the bathrooms consisted of 40 foot long troughs that may or may not have had running water, and the weird shape created a nasty wind tunnel.

Gillette is still in Foxboro (aka the middle of nowhere), but it's a dream compared to its predecesor
!

[Omphaloskepsis]

2. Reason no. 432 why baseball is better than other sports:

It is so fucking boring you can spend 30 minutes talking about baseball on the Internet while nothing happens during a game.

[EFerrari]

26. BORING? BORING? Baseball isn't boring, you just have to know

how to look. :)

[u4ic]

28. You mean nonchalant, even uninterested?

with your right hand scratching your crotch, and the left trying to deflect your spitballs?

There can't be much of a fashion statement considering the uniforms, either...

:eyes:










:P

[EFerrari]

29. I love me some baseball, crotches, spitting and all.

You can always see where the ball is and even if I don't know an error from a booboo, it's a perfect game for summer.

[Joe Fields]

3. If you were talking about sand lot, semi-pro, or even triple A ball,

I might tend to agree with you. The sport itself can't be beat. What ruins it completely for me are the fucking professionals.

[Rhythm]

4. Unless you're in Pittsburgh...

Where you are probably MORE likely to hear folks talk fondly of "The Igloo" as they are about the good old days at "Three Rivers Stadium"...

PNC Park is still 'new', but from what i hear it's pretty nice. May have to try to make it up there before the end of the season.

:hi:

[taterguy]

5. Cameron Indoor Stadium is a cathedral

The Boston Garden used to be one

[wildhorses]

6. i miss it~

[LeftyMom]

7. I talk about my least favorite football staduim every fall.

The Stick is the ugliest piece of municipal design in America. It looks like a particularly unattractive ashtray. And it's cold and windy.

As an aside, ARCO is also a pit. Sure, it's nominally a basketball stadium and you didn't ask about those, but I'm on a roll here. With some paint, bathroom upgrades and a minor remodel it would be serviceable for some time to come, but Sacramento's kinda outgrowing it. And someplace that could host not-entirely-horrible-sounding concerts would be nice. Because no, driving to frikkin Marysville is not an option (who the hell decided to build Sacramento's concert venue an hour away? If I'm gonna drive that far, it'll be to get on BART and so see the same thing in Oakland or San Francisco, instead of out in The Town That Meth Built where I can spend four hours trying to get home on two lane roads with 20,000 other cars.)

Hockey-wise, the Tank is really nice. I liked going to games at the Cow Palace when the Sharks were playing there, since it's so darn small there really aren't any bad seats, but the steep angle at the Tank means even if you're in the very last row you can still feel like you're about to faceplant on the ice if you lean forward. The only problem with it is that I always feel a great sense of relief when I find my car unmolested after a game, considering the neighborhood and the need for on-street parking.

I've gone to exhibition games at ARCO and it'd make a decent hockey stadium. Still needs a coat of paint though, the Maloofs are playing up it's shabbiness in the hope somebody will take pity on their millionaire playboy selves and buy them newer digs on the public dime. Pfft.

[fishwax]

8. I hear people talk about their favorite football stadiums

hockey rinks not so much (but that might be because I'm not a huge hockey fan). Talk of favorite basketball arenas isn't unusual, either (at least at the college level--not so much in the NBA).

But the individual field isn't a factor in the sense that the dimensions don't change anywhere but in baseball, that's true. While back I heard some talking head--I think it was on Around the Horn, but I could be wrong--suggest they should impose standard dimensions on major league baseball. What a horrible idea that would be (were it even possible).

[KitchenWitch]

9. What is your favorite ballpark?

Mine is Wrigley Field.

[Wapsie B]

11. Dear God No!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:cry:

It's NOT THE HOMERDOME?????????????

:cry:

[KitchenWitch]

17. My all time favorite ballpark is no longer in existence.

I miss the old Met Stadium!

:cry:

[Robeson]

10. Only a baseball fan could have came up with this nutty post....

...are you sure your name isn't George Will?...:P

[Mutley]

12. What about futbol?

:P

People talk about their favorite stadiums for that, just not in this country. :D

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. I've never heard any

:shrug:



Wait, I take that back. I have heard a few people longing for Kezar Stadium, the bowl in Golden Gate Park where the 49ers used to play. But if I had to go to Candlestink to watch a game, I'd long for a freakin' landfill.








Some people check their PMs, too. :P

[Mutley]

14. Well, this one time, I think...

Okay, I'll admit it. I just wanted to be contrary. :P






I Have been checking my PMs. When did you send it? :P

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. Hah! People go on *forever* about (real) football stadiums

Just look at the amount the BBC alone managed to write about the opening of the new Wembley Stadium in London this year: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&q=+site:news.bbc.co.uk+wembley+stadium+new+old+2007

And if you want a sport where the ground really is a factor in the game, try cricket. As well as the somewhat differing sizes and shapes of the boundaries, the ball bounces between bowler and batsman, so that the quality of the surface, how it changes during a five day match, or in different weather, and if there's a slope (along the length of the pitch or sideways) can make a significant difference.

[MrSlayer]

15. Untrue. There are many favorite football stadiums.

Of course we talk more about how shitty the bad ones are like Dallas and Giants stadium more than the splendors of The Linc. All the new baseball parks are bandboxes, nice though they may be.

[Joe Fields]

16. Arrowhead is an awesome place to watch a game.

[MrSlayer]

20. Yeah I was there two years ago.

Outstanding stadium, even considering how old it is. Great fans too.

[Joe Fields]

22. I won't be an ass and say they're the best, but they rank right up there.

I always have a great time there, especially with the tailgating, which is just the coolest.

[MrSlayer]

23. I concur.

They're some of the best I've been among.

[Oeditpus Rex]

21. Ah, but that's not what I said, is it?

I said people don't talk about it. Other than in a forum about football, have you ever seen a thread about favorite stadia or a post in a thread proclaiming, "Gee, I love the Cotton Bowl"?

Perhaps I should've said people don't talk about other stadia with the same whimsy and romance they hold for the old ball yard.

[MrSlayer]

27. I don't know.

Talk to a few Montreal Canadian or Chicago Blackhawk fans.

[petronius]

18. But on the other hand, whenever I have a really delicious meal

I don't spend time talking about the interior of the restaurant. When I see a truly interesting movie, I don't care about the decor of the theater. When I get an amazing gift, I quickly forget about the wrapping paper. When I have great sex, the amenities of the fleabag hourly-rate motel are of no importance.

So, perhaps excessive emphasis on the venue is indicative of something lacking elsewhere in the experience?

(And I'll take a handful of that :popcorn:, thank you very much...)

[carpetbagger]

19. Agreed, in part.

Football stadiums look just as good if you're close enough to the field, and a baseball field looks pretty useless in the rain and snow. Soldier Field, etc., looks much better in bad weather.

[Zomby Woof]

24. Definitely a factor

What I love is how no two outfields are exactly the same. While there is always 90 feet between the bases, some parks have a rightfield that is 360 feet, another one might be 370. Centerfield 400 in one, 395 in another, and so on... No other sport could allow that kind of non-standardization of dimensions. :-)

(Ah! Finally got one from the Mets today)

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Yeah, and the Madres are fixin' to get dumped

7-4 Phillies, end of seven.

Oooo, one of the Madres radio guys said somethin' really great a few minutes ago: "Never let the score get in the way of a good time at the yard."

:thumbsup:

[cobalt1999]

30. Not true for college football

The Swamp, the Horseshoe, the Big House, Death Valley, etc. are all as famous as any baseball park.

[Arkham House]

31. I remember in the 60s/70s, when the cookie-cutter parks were being built...

...the multi-purpose monstrosities...there were a few farts who wanted to standardize all the baseball fields...thank God that never went anywhere...

[madinmaryland]

32. Reason Number 443..

The number of pitchers who have servered up home runs to an AMERICAN HERO..

[bigwillq]

33. I agree Rex.

Which is why I am sad they are building a new Yankee stadium. :cry: :(