Durzblog

I have been to two new stadiums since the summer began and wanted to add them to the Guide




The Home Depot Center:
Carson, CA (attended Red Bulls v Galalxy)

The trip was my first to a US "soccer specific stadium" and I was highly impressed with the venue. The size was perfect and the structure left you feeling that the designers really knew what they were doing. The 27,000 seat stadium is home to both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA and is about 45 minutes south of LA. I sat on a terrace outside of the American Express Club and was able to mosey about and grab a few beers very easily. I will be back for two games this fall and am really looking forward to it. The other few MLS games I have been to have been in NFL stadiums and I must say that the trend in building soccer stadiums is going to be great for the sport. Next year the Red Bulls will open a beauty in Harrison, NJ and can say good bye to the cavernous Giants Stadium...















New Yankee Stadium
Bronx, NY (attended Boston v New York)
I was of the mind that there was absolutely no reason to move out of the old ballpark, but since Bloomberg decided to bend over for the Yanks and pay for it, oh what the hell. The walk into the stadium is really cool -- with all of the history and tributes -- very well done. The Stadium is massive, and while impressive, its not the coziest place in the world..you won't confuse this play with Fenway. The scoreboards and all of the bells and whistles are very impressive and the concourse and concessions are very fan friendly..though I might urge you to watch your intake. I had a double burger from Johnny Rockets in the 7th inning on Friday night and spent the rest of the weekend on the pot..

looking forward to getting over the Citi Field and ND Stadium in the next couple of months. Be good

-BD

As the college hoops season gets underway I figured I would have a look at the best venues to watch a game in the Big East Conference. In total there are 19 (I have only been to about 10 of them and will rely on a combination of reputation, television, common sense and hearsay for the rest). There are some great arenas in this league, even my lowest rated are pretty good:


19) Carnesecca Arena (SJU), 6,008 -- this joint is high school quality. Not much to say about it actually other than I have been to much nicer gyms for MAAC, America East and NEC games. Improvements are coming this season and the renderings do look good..the product on the floor these days is not helping...






18) Allstate Arena (DEP), 18,500 -- In general the structure of the building is not great (same will be said of the civic centers in Providence and Hartford), but in addition to its age, the place is just to damn dark, in the middle of nowhere and averages 8,000 empties per tilt...



17) USF Sun Dome (USF), 11, 324 -- This building suffers from its tenant -- there is nothing really wrong with the place. In fact, its a good size and the crowd is very near the court. However, if this is an exercise in where to watch your team on the road, USF will remain at the bottom of the list for most...



16) Prudential Center (SHU), 18,000 -- The Rock, as it is known, is a very nice building and the trains in and out are pretty easy. The Pirates are generally not very good and if this puppy is on a Tuesday night the place is dead (season average was 6,600 and even with half the building curtained off, it feels empty). A big upgrade from the IZOD anyway you cut it.
15) The Pavilion (VIL), 6,500 -- The student section at the ski lodge is pretty cool and the crowd can get loud, but it should be, the place is tiny...if my man (buckeye over at vusports.com) got his way and got the place expanded to 14,000 it would sky rocket up the list. But for now, I'll take my Nova games at the Wach...




14) Fifth Third Arena (CINC), 13,176 -- This arena has been open since 1989 and the Bearcats have only lost 27 contests in the building. The arena will fill for big games and the crowds appear quite lively. The Cats are typically difficult hosts. All in all a very decent prospect for a trip...



13) Dunkin' Donuts Center (PROV), 12,993 -- Great place to watch a game...good town as well. Though its an old building -- the renovations have helped a bit. The Friar fans are worth the trip alone, the venom spewed at Calhoun is unmatched, it is like a derby match in British soccer. If the Friars are good they tend to have very strong turnouts for most games...


12) XL Center (UCONN), 16,294 -- Ahh memories, this place is as outdated at Providence and the Allstate and most Uconn fans would prefer the games in Storrs, but when this place gets going -- it is one of the tougher places for a visitor to try and steal a win in the league. A bad crowd is 15,000...



11) Verizon Center (GTOWN), 20,600 -- Its big and the Hoyas draw well. Like the Wachovia it is not a band box that is impossible to win at for an opponent, but a nice place to watch a game. Its nice and clean, food is decent, beer is moderate -- not much else to say.



10) Wachovia Center (LOU), 21,600 -- The Cats don't play here a ton, but when they do, a big boy is in town and the place gets jammed. Nova is likely tougher to play on campus, but this is a good experience. The ticket has grown a bit tougher to get -- the out of towners are now usually up in the nosebleeds. A far cry from court side during the Lappas era...



9) Madison Square Garden (SJU), 19,522 -- Blasphemous I know, this place is one of the best places to watch a sporting event anywhere. Rangers, the Big East Tournament...the vibe of the arena is top notch, that is why watching a Johnnies game at the present moment, in the World' Most Famous Arena, is depressing. St John's get back in the top 25 though and this is top 2/3 in the league...
8) the RAC (RU), 8,000 -- If Rutgers was ever any good this place would be one of the toughest places to play in the country...They aren't and it's not, however its still a neat place to go to a game, and hit a grease truck while there. The students are loud and the stands are steep, nobody seems that far from the court...The Scarlet Knights seem to really get up for their home games...

7) Joyce Center (ND), 11,418 -- There is a history in this building, I can feel David Rivers running through the lane and those older than me can still picture ND shocking the famed UCLA Bruins. Its quaint and nondescript, but it is still a great venue. The Irish fans don't always come out, but when they do, its a tough place to play...


6) WVU Coliseum (WVU), 14,000 -- The Gym is large feeling and can get quite loud, part of the plan when they built the arena with a concrete ceiling. When the fans aren't yelling the N-word, they are very supportive and the Mountaineers are a tough match at home. Not many buildings have a statue of Jerry West to greet its visitors...


5) Bradley Center (MARQ), 18,717 -- One of the oldest "new"arenas around...Its a NBA gym that is a bit dated. All that being said, the Marquette fans make the experience a positive one. They are rabid fans and not in the northeast -- i'm going to dump a beer on your head and slap your wife -- kind of way. These are nice people who like their team and get really into the action. Overall a good experience...






4) Petersen Events Center (PITT), 12,508 -- They did their homework when building the Pete. The student section (Oakland Zoo) is right on top of the court and you can feel them. At the same time it is the only gym in the league to have court side suites for the Panther bigwigs. Its a great size and the atmosphere will not disappoint...




3) Gampel Pavilion (UCONN), 10,167 -- My personal favorite for obvious reasons. This building symbolizes Jim Calhoun and the program that he has built. Its loud and bright and you can feel the crowd wishing every ball through the hoop, it is truly the home of Connecticut basketball. The kids too lazy to get to Hartford for the Fairfield type games are always on fire and are usually rewarded with a W...


2) Freedom Hall (VILL), 18,865 -- Not may teams have a home that has hosted six final fours, Louisville does. The crowd not only loves the Cards but they know their hoops. The support is always strong, Ville is always in the top 5 in attendance nationally.




1) Carrier Dome, (CUSE) 33,000 -- With the exception of Cameron, this is the best place in the country to watch a college hoops game for my money. Syracuse treats Big Monday like an NFL Sunday and fill the place to the extreme (either one or two every year in NCAA home attendance). The faithful are tough on their Orange when things are going poorly, but are in jubilant hysteria when Cuse is on a roll. This place is Big East basketball

Decided to start a new section of stadium guides...this first post will be long as it will encompass all of the places I have gone (college or pro, that I can remember) in my first 30 or so years of going to games and some thoughts about the events I witnessed there....I will update and feature places going forward that I visit. Away we go...

College Basketball
the Fieldhouse: the first place I saw my beloved Huskies play on campus...the place was not all that impressive, but the proximity to the court was pretty cool and these weren't exactly the best Husky teams.lasting memories for sure. run down and small (seating approx 4,500) the Huskies built the...
Harry A Gampel Pavilion: and began play their in the 1989-90 "Dream Season"...Gampel opened with a bang as I watched for the concourse of the Civic Center during a Whaler game, the Huskies takeout a tough St John's squad -- led by some nasty play by Chris Smith, as Mike Gorman would say as the half ended..."Oh, and they like their new building..." Indeed they have. I am partial however to the...
XL Center: it may have been watching those Cuse and Gtown wins on Henefeld triples or watching that team destroy Cal as I sat by myself -- with my dad upstairs in a box with clients -- that season did it for me. Since, they have won nearly every time they have taken the floor there, the walk over from the parking garage under the Gold Building and the run back after words bring back amazing memories. For my money I will take at game in Hartford, though I am sure to be in a huge minority. But when that place does get rocking, its good times
MSG: If the Johnies are good, its a great venue. If not, its not even really worth going. The place is too big for a crowd of 7,200 and frankly deserves better than that. Overall though, including the Big East Tournament and my beloved Blueshirts -- truly my favorite place to be in NYC -- with the possible exception of having parm fritters at Chesca
Izod Center: the building stinks, but if the Hall is game -- the atmosphere can be pretty intense -- not lately. Good venue for an NCAA game though
BankNorth Garden: A very nice building, the Hall of fame Classic in 07 was a great time. I hate Boston sports teams, but a game in the city is generally fun -- as long as its not in Chestnut Hill
Wachovia Center: nice enough building, though in the middle of nowhere, was fun back in the day when the Husky fans would go down in mass and fill the place. Villanova's recent play has made it a tougher ticket for the out of towners. Not that hard though
Carrier Dome: the best place, outside the Garden, to watch a Big East game, 30,000 Orange fans is pretty impressive. They hate Husky Blue up there, but in a non threatening way
Providence Civic Center: Haven't been since the re-do. It was like the Civic Center, only smaller. PC fans are a hoot, 70 percent alcoholics I'd say and they loathe Calhoun something awful
New Haven Coliseum: Not a great venue by any stretch, but not the worst either, also the only place I will list that I actually played something in (Middlesex Mights hockey, circa 83')
Harbor Yards: Have seen some MAAC basketball action here and with the way the lounge areas are set up all over the place, it is actually a perfect place to go if you are going to see a few games. Walking over to that train station is a nightmare however
Conte Forum: Nice building, dead quiet most of the time..perfect size for college basketball and for Eagle hockey
McCann Center: The gym in Po-town with the off wood walls was a site of many good tilts when resided up there, the "toughest place to play in the MAAC"
Detrick Gymnasium: Site of many a high school final for me and some decent Central Hoops, can't really think of that place without remembering the show Sean Tabb put on in the 1994 Class S final. They need a new gym at some point soon..


College Football
Rentschler Field: home of Huskies, where the state is slowly learning the intricacies of college football. Its a perfect size for the program currently, its a bit grey overall. But the games tend to be exciting and the atmosphere at night is very good
Michigan Stadium: Went for a Michigan v Penn State game about 8 years ago with my pops. Massive place and the fight song is wicked cool. Tailgating did not seem to be a priority, but the Stadium was very impressive
Yale Bowl: Its old and big and generally speaking a pretty cool place to go, hopefully recent upgrades have not taken away any of the charm. "the game" is fun
Fisher Field: Home to the Lafayette Leopards, don't remember diddly about the place...but the Lehigh/Lafayette game is a must
Villanova Stadium: Always had a good time here and when the Cats are playing well the stands can get pretty full, my 6 or so visits always involved Brian Westbrook. Pretty lucky in that regard

Baseball
Fenway: first place I ever saw a game a double dip vs the Twins, John Butcher took the hill for the Twins in the first game. Have been back about 10 times, its always impressive, sometime a bit hazy
Yankee Stadium: Didn't make it to the Bronx until I was 22 years old and was there with some friends to see the Boomer pitch, the place is like no other. had the privilege of seeing some World Series games there and the buzz of the Stadium is incredible
Veterans Stadium: What can you say? It was the Vet. That plexi glass on the outfield walls and the turf, it was just perfect Philadelphia. People smoking cigs in the concourse in 2001, unreal
Citizen's Bank: Great place and great food. Like any Philly venue it is in the middle of nowhere, but its a great place to spend an afternoon and have a Cheese Steak
Shea Stadium: The Big Shea was a big dump, but on a nice day in the summer and the Mets in a chase it was always a great place to watch a game...and as opposed to what John Rocker might think, the 7 train is a great way to get to a game
Wrigley: This place is a gem with the ivy walls and old school scoreboards, was there once and sat a row behind Bill Murray, the sing songs..all good stuff. The Cubs suck though, even when they are good like this year, they still suck
Pac Bell: A great place to watch a game, the back bay in RF and the overall vibe of the place is great. Saw Bonds hit one out (and not run the entire game) and the garlic fries are out of this world
Coors: Good place to watch a game for sure, the views are killer and the Beers are relatively cheep. Plus the balls fly out of the yard, making it very entertaining

on the farm...
Beehive, the old Britsox stadium in New Britsky. Likely saw about 20 games there. All of which seemed to have Tony Beal in center for the home team. Some greats I saw as youth included...Sam Horn, Cory Snyder, Oil Can Boyd, Bam Bam Muelens and Jackie Gutierrez. Fond memories of sneaking into the press/scout area behind home plate with my dad and watching the guys radar the pitchers, listening to the pop of a heater (that was likely never going to be good enough for the show) was pretty neat. Not a beauty of a stadium, but definitely a good time
Yale Field, only been once and it was for a high school title game, but the place is really cool. Old school as it gets, but a really neat set up
Dutchess Stadium, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades, actually quite nice for the beautiful residents of Dutchess...his an interesting note, they broke ground on the stadium in March and was ready in June of that year, 1994. The Boss perfromed there as part of K'rock's Kfest and the park offers a lovely view of a state pen.

Soccer
Stadion der Freundschaft: my introduction to European Soccer, the Stadium of Friendship (as it translates) in Cottbus, a small city in Eastern Germany. I likely saw about 7 games there over a 3 year span. It is intimate (could fit about 16k)...if not very flashy, but for me it was a great place to go. The flashing noise of the out of town score, the team mysteriously coming out to "Hey-hey goodbye" and the spread of beer, brats and pretzels in the club lounge for pregame, halftime and postgame couldn't have been more right up my alley! You were always very close to the action and very close to someone having a cigarette and saying something crude in German...
Tynecastle Stadium, speaking of crude language! Oh My. Home to the Hearts of Edinburgh, Scotland. Stadium was ok..the walk through the streets to get there was really cool -- it was like we were going to war...and it was pretty sweet that we could walk up 5 minutes before the start and get 3rd row -- apparently that is not considered choice, too close i guess. Hearts and Motherwell played a relatively meaningless game (in front of 13,000 in a 17,500 seater), neither had any chance at the UEFA spot..the tension in the Stadium was massive however and the officials and players were called names throughout that had my dad, wife and myself in tears from laughter. Hearing grown men screaming the C-word with their Scottish accents, it was absurd. I could see the atmosphere for a Celtic, Rangers and Hibs games to be quite good. Next time we will have to go to a game in Glasgow though.
Allianz Arena, the home to 1860 Munich and some other team, Bayern Munich or something like that. When you hit about two miles away and begin to see the stadium it is an impressive site, its looks like a big cloud. The outer lighting of the stadium, changes depending on if the Lions, Bayern or if the German National team are playing. The parking is under the stadium and we took an elevator right up to the club section. Where I in typical fashion made a mess of the buffet and a few beers and then went out to our seats. The place is enormous, no detail was left out, the place is literally immaculate. A model for other arenas to emulate. Should be back in the Spring to see a game.
Gillette Stadium, saw USA v Holland in the build-up to Korea 02. Less than 40,000 in the brand new Stadium, the place is pretty cool even if it is the home to the Patriots. On this day the Dutch looked like the team who should be going to the WC, but little did we know the Americans were ready to shock Portugal and get to the quarters. Got to see Edgar Davids and Roy Makaay in the Orange jerseys and actually met both my (future) brother-in-laws in the tunnel after words for the first time.
RFK, this place is great...was great. Saw a couple men's national team games there. DC supports the game very well. The place is a crap box, but sometimes that is the best way to see a match.
Veltins-Arena, USA v Czech -- the opener of the 2006 WC for the US. Beautiful Stadium -- home to top German club, Schalke. Sits over 60,000 for Bundesliga games. Under FIFA regulations there were 52,000 when I was there. Koller headed one home early and this puppy was over in the 36th, Rosický's first of two. Not a great experience for the USA, but an awesome stadium and my first ever WC game.
Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern's home base. A stadium that had been remodeled for a the World Cup...but was not stripped of any charm. The steepest stadium I have ever been in, and made the upper deck at Yankee Stadium look flat but it keeps all 50,000 fans close to the action...the walk up to the top of the hill where the stadium sits was pretty cool, actually it kind of sucked -- but I still like the communal walk to a game. The best effort of the tournament from the USA as they drew with the Italians -- who were two weeks away from winning the whole thing. Hearing Springstein's "Born in the USA" before the game was one of the highlights of the hole trip..Seeing Pirlo, Toni and Toti was not so bad either.
Frankenstadion, Home to FC Nuremberg a 47,000 seater that has ambiance issues created by the track surrounding the pitch. Also that minor issue of it being the former stopping grounds of "Hitler's Youth" -- but its history I guess. All in all its an easy place to get around with large concourse areas and a very fan friendly set-up. The game I was at, was a tough one to watch. We were pumped for a minute after Duece Dempsey's goal, but the PK left a sour taste in the mouth. pretty cool to see Essien play in person though.
Morrone Stadium, home to Uconn Soccer. Annually voted as one of the best venues to watch a soccer game in the country. Been going there for about 25 years now, used to be a Sunday afternoon driving up listening to "NFL Now" on WFAN and watching Uconn battle Seton Hall, Hartwick, Philly Textiles and the like and more recently some great games with St John's, Rutgers and South Florida. Always a great time. Now they are mostly at night, but the tournament games tend to be during the day and its a great time to relive some of the old day with usually 5,000 or so -- not a bad turnout ever up there, the 25 year record of 9, 200 proudly stands ...and the hot chocolate is dynamite
Willowbrook Stadium, current home to New Britain High football and formerly some Uconn soccer back in the day. Saw some great games there under the lights..one time next to Vin Jajuga's dad who was listening to WHUS's John Tuite call the game on his walkman.


NFL
Giants Stadium: Lets start by saying the NFL is like no other production, grown men in those zebra pants howling like animals for 3 hours. The stadium is a fantastic place to watch a game and the tailgating is where its at....Have all seen some great international soccer matches and saw Beckham play there. The place has a buzz to it. Not so much for a normal Red Bulls game though..
(OLD)Foxboro Stadium: Went when i was a youngster, it was cold and the aluminum seating didn't help, the 5 hours it took to get out of the parking lot didn't help dad's overall impression of the joint. However we did see Flutie lead an improbable comeback and saw the Pats place kicker miss an extra point low and wide...easily the worst kick either of us have or will ever see
Ralph Wilson: The Stadium is very 1984....some pluses are that bathrooms are readily available and you can get a Labatt the size of your arm for like 8 bucks...that and every time the Bills score, you get to scream the Buffalo rendition of "Shout"..Let's go Buffalooooooo

NHL and NBA
XL, MSG, Izod, BankNorth I have mentioned before...They are much the same for hockey/NBA as they are for college hoop. Except Boston is a bit more rabid for a good Bruins team and the recent Celts. I have not mentioned in this genre....
Prudential Center: really nice building. good food and brew choices, also can go whenever you want because despite 4 cups in 10 years the Devs have no fans.
HSBC Arena: Sabes fans no how to watch hockey..Plus there are always a bunch of Canadian hosers in the stands to give it that authentic hockey feel. Nice building, pretty big. Lindy Ruff is also a God
Pepsi Center: A seemingly huge building was there to see Tim Duncan for the only time in my life. Crowd was a bit bland, but the place was nice and the bars around in downtown Denver were fun.
Centre Bell: Home to the Canadians in Montreal is a must stop if you are in Quebec, the crowd is awesome and the Molson is strong. You can feel the passion, its always Hockey Night in Canada...

Tennis
US Tennis Center: is great, though I prefer the outside courts unless you have very good seats at Ashe. I saw Henman from the nosebleeds last year, I think it was Henman! The crowds are great and the brew is not that unreasonable.
Connecticut Tennis Center: on the campus of Yale -- is way too big. However the food courts are nice and the action is generally good. James Blake fans are annoying though, i'm sorry -- nothing against James. but its true. Have seen some greats there though. Goran, Kevelnikov, Becker, Agassi, Sampras and Lendl to name a few

Randos...the new rink at Quinnipiac is very nice as is the basketball gym, Ingalls in New Haven is a classic, visited Panathinaiko Stadium (birthplace of the Olympics) last year -- interesting place, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is actually a great place to watch boxing and the Mohegan Sun Arena (home to the Calhoun Classic) is a very nice and a good sized venue...

Immediate plans are to go to Notre Dame Stadium next fall and check out my new neighborhood arena the Nassau Coliseum this winter, wonder which will be more impressive?

I'm sure that I have missed some, but that's what I recall for now. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggested venues that I have to go to.

Cheers