Stadium Discussion
- Thread starter Gene
- Start date
We've also discussed this option too. It's more convenient just to use an existing island. There are a few available. Welcome to Etihad Stadium on Etihad Island with travel on Etihad Ferries.
The best thing about Old Yankee Stadium was the upper deck seats. Even baseball players that played against the Yankees in the old and new stadium said that the upper deck was intimidating as opposed to the new stadium's upper deck.
Totally agree with this. The upper deck at post-renovation Yankee Stadium was so steep that I hated going up there.
Also, to me "old Yankee Stadium" is the pre-renovation one. That one had steel beams in the seats that held up the upper decks. Your seat could be literally behind a pole and have no view at all.
That's not as crazy as it sounds. Almost all of lower Manhattan wasn't there when Europeans first came over in the 1600s.
Here's some photos of the "original" Yankee Stadium.
Poles in the way:
All the poles:
Poles in the way:
All the poles:
Now some (maybe, most?) will disagree, but to me that is a beautiful baseball stadium. There's nothing like tradition (particularly for that sport). My favorite (existing) baseball stadium is Wrigley. It just feels like you're going back in time to when baseball was the national pastime when you are there.
I loved the old stadium. I'm old enough to have attended games for about 5 seasons before the renovation began. I won't pretend the poles were a positive good but their negative effect is overstated. Once the engineering capabilities advanced that they weren't needed we all smugly pretend it was ridiculous to have ever had them. Now of course it made sense to get rid of them once we could but I never understood why the facade couldn't be restored to the roof. I like the modern retro park movement begun with Camden Yards. My biggest beef with the new, new YS is it has none of those elements. It has all the individuality of those mid-70s parks like Riverfront in Cincy or Three Rivers in Pittsburgh.
Here's where those photos are from:
http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2011/06/08/the-original-yankee-stadium/
Lots more great photos, and a whole article too. Worth a few minutes.
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fenway is my favorite old baseball stadium....but i could be biased 
I agree and also like the character of these traditional ballparks. Fenway is my favorite stadium (except for Citi Field - and before that Shea - but this includes my Mets bias).
I'm one for our new home to get built in a traditional sense as well. Nothing big, nothing bulky, no space wasted to accommodate the extra bells and whistles (wait, on second thought, figure out how to cram in a Shake Shack). Take a page out of some of the stadia in London, such as Craven Cottage for example, where some are plopped in the middle of residential areas (great character in the area). They're unassuming and perfectly sized in terms of location and capacity. Have the seats directly next to a 110 x 74 yd pitch. I'd love to have packed, loud, "friendly hostile" 28k stadium sellouts each and every week vs a 38k stadium which may get full on occasion.
But whatever it ends up being, I'm sure it'll end up being my favorite stadium (no hometown bias of course!).
I'm one for our new home to get built in a traditional sense as well. Nothing big, nothing bulky, no space wasted to accommodate the extra bells and whistles (wait, on second thought, figure out how to cram in a Shake Shack). Take a page out of some of the stadia in London, such as Craven Cottage for example, where some are plopped in the middle of residential areas (great character in the area). They're unassuming and perfectly sized in terms of location and capacity. Have the seats directly next to a 110 x 74 yd pitch. I'd love to have packed, loud, "friendly hostile" 28k stadium sellouts each and every week vs a 38k stadium which may get full on occasion.
But whatever it ends up being, I'm sure it'll end up being my favorite stadium (no hometown bias of course!).
Thanks for that link. I think the author and I are almost exactly the same age and had remarkably similar experiences and memories. I especially love that he noted at the end that when the original stadium was renovated they sold the seat at local department stores like Alexanders and Korvettes. I did manage to convince my Dad to get me a seat. I remember we got it at Korvettes (a long defunct local department store) and that you could not just pay cash but also had to buy two cartons (not packs, cartons) of cigarettes, plus, like the article said I think $7.50. Neither my Mom nor Dad smoked, so my Dad asked a coworker what he smoked, bought two cartons of that and gave them to the guy. I still have the seat, although we made the mistake of repainting it. I've no idea what it it worth.
Thanks. I'm pretty sure that's the renovated original stadium seat, made of plastic and in use from 1976-2008. That it does not specifically specify pre-1973 is telling. The originals look like this, where they are on sale for $1599 to $1999, although I wonder how many they sell at that price. Also the fact that mine is repainted has reduced the value; that's the factor I really cannot account for.
Antiques Roadshow. Unfortunately they're done filming for this year, alas, but maybe we can get your seat on the show next year.
These stadia you mention were built first -- the neighborhoods were build around them. It's not possible to do that in this day and age.
Also, although these places have charm and history, they are actually shitty places to watch sports. Shitty viewing angles, cramped seats, cramped concourses, cramped bathrooms and limited concessions.
You can't even get through the turnstiles without turning sideways at Craven Cottage if you're more than a size 32 waist!
John Oliver's main segment last night was about televangelists...football is a religion, so I'm pretty sure NYCFC can get some tax-free land for their megachurch.
