Photo TR: Scott's Ongoing Sports Venue Thread

[pacoasterrider]

^hah, I almost cried when the Vet was torn down in Philly. So many memories. Every time i went to a baseball game there i complained about how crappy it was, or how i had second row seats on the first base side and still managed to be 200ft from the pitcher. Citizens bank park is so nice and i love watching games there, but it just isn't the same. The Vet wasn't a horrible place to watch Football tho, so I can't rant about that too much.

[RIP Psyclone]

Since we're now talking baseball (I guess), I'd say both the Dodgers and the Angels need new stadiums. Although Anaheim Stadium wants you to believe it's "new," it's really nothing more than a lady pushing 50 with a cheap facelift. It looks new(-ish) from the outside, but when you walk around the concourses there is no hiding the fact you're in an almost 50 year old structure.

[Jew]

^Angels? Yes. Dodgers? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

 

For the past 2 seasons, the Lakers have adopted a "lights out" lighting design. On opening night on Halloween 2006, they gave out free "Lights Out" t-shirts (I was there). Basically, the court is lit up brightly, and the rest of the arena is much darker. I like it, because it evokes the feelings of older arenas, and things like boxing matches back in the day. I think Madison Square Garden does something similar. Wes could probably attest to this relatively new development.

 

That's how the lights were at The Forum (which I loved for the sole fact that if you sat in the lower bowl, the only bathrooms/concessions were in the arena tunnel...so you got to meet players going in/out of the locker room without any hassles), which is what it is a tribute to.

[AllenA07]

Seeing Patrick Roy before the trade and Andy Moog in net just brought a huge smile to my face. Two of the best goalies of the 1990's and yet only one of them is remembered for being that great.

[Coaster Palooza]

This is a great TR Scott! It is great when you can win a contest that is this special. I am so happy you were able to keep these pictures for that long. I know you're disappointed with some of them, but there is nothing that will take away this day, and night.

 

Nice job!

[ParkTrips]

^Angels? Yes. Dodgers? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Fan bias aside, what makes Dodger Stadium so great? I mean don't get me wrong, I liked the park and had a really good time at the game I went to, but I didn't consider it to be an irreplaceable relic of a ballpark by any means. I did like that it was a little more baseball-oriented than most of the new ballparks that are more like FECs but nothing really stood out..

 

Maybe if the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and still playing at Ebbits, then it would hold the "irreplaceable" tag

[mcjaco]

^ Totally agree. My one trip there was nothing special. It was nice, but I wasn't sitting in awe of the place. And Dodger Dogs? Don't get me started. Those are the most overated pieces of horse meat ever.

[Jew]

Besides fan bias, I enjoy Dodger Stadium because it's a stadium built before lame gimmicks were the norm for every new stadium. I don't really think any other stadiums besides Wrigley and Fenway can say that. It was designed for baseball and has stayed pretty true to that. How many stadiums left still have organ players?

[RIP Psyclone]

I guess one of the negatives is being confined to your seating level's concourse. If your seat is on the top deck and you feel like going down to the field level concourse for Canter's, good luck!

[CoastersNSich]

Besides fan bias, I enjoy Dodger Stadium because it's a stadium built before lame gimmicks were the norm for every new stadium. I don't really think any other stadiums besides Wrigley and Fenway can say that. It was designed for baseball and has stayed pretty true to that. How many stadiums left still have organ players?

 

Many do, but still too few:

The Reds have an organist, but he only plays Sundays and Opening Day. (Hopefuly I can see Bob Castellini and have him get a full-timer)

The Cardinals kept Ernie Hays when they moved to new Busch, and Jeremy Boyer is in his wings.

Other teams, not certain on all of them, but I've heard:

Cubs

White Sox (though I've heard Nancy Faust has reduced her role)

Angels

Dodgers (Nancy Bea!)

Yankees

Braves

Twins?

 

It just bothers me that many teams love to plug tradition and retro stuff but without appropriate music.

 

On a side note, Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series, in Omaha, NE, still has their 89-year-old organist... Fresno State beat Georgia last night to win the 2008 series.

[Robbie]

I am not a Boston, or LA fan, but I am one who LOVES sports history, and this has to be one of my all time favorite TRs. Pure Awesome.

[BeemerBoy]

Rupp Arena - University of Kentucky - 2007

 

 

This past weekend presented a really cool opportunity for Shannon and I. The background goes like this. Most of my wife's family was originally from Kentucky. One uncle even attended UK. For obvious reasons they've all grown up living and bleeding Kentucky Wildcat blue and white. I on the other hand, if you haven't already heard, am from South Florida and love the Canes.

 

I bet you're putting two and two together by this point, huh? If not, well, here it is in a nutshell. When we found out that The "U" was scheduled at Rupp arena this season, it was a no-brainer to try and grab tickets. Despite being lifelong fans, Shannon, along with many of her cousins, had never been to Rupp Arena to see the Cats play (picture getting even clearer?).

 

Well, this past Saturday we headed up early, survived a quick snowstorm in the Tennessee mountains, and arrived in time. For those not familiar with college basketball, the Kentucky Wildcats and Rupp Arena are basically comparable to the New York Yankees or the Boston Celtics. Only UCLA has won more championships (11) than Kentucky (7). However, Cats fans are quick to remind you that UK is still the overall winningest team in college basketball history.

 

As for my thoughts on Rupp Arena, overall I wasn't that impressed. From the outside, it's a big brown box. Seriously, it's an arena/conference center that seems stuck in the 70's. Sure, they've spruced it up a bit over the last few years, but for a place with as much basketball history and tradition, I was somehow expecting slightly more. As for the fans, they are usually some of the most loyal in all of sports, yet they didn't impress me much by the amount of them that left early with their team still within reach of a huge comeback victory.

 

Anyway, despite their team losing, Shannon and her cousin still had a great time visiting Rupp for the first time.

 

On to the pics. Enjoy!

To all my big a$$ fans out there, hope you enjoyed!

We can't seem to figure out how to play football lately, so at least this was satisfying.

There, that's better.

Jack McClinton personally thanked me for being in attendance. He then promised to give me a shout out when he's drafted into the NBA. At least I think that's what I heard. It was still kind of loud in there.

Perhaps this photo would have been better placed earlier in the report, seeing as we're about to leave?

Okay, you're Kentucky. You're the winningest college basketball program in history. You're second only to UCLA in National Championships.....and you're celebrating FINISHING SECOND????

 

LAME.

Hey, wait a minute.

Evidently Kentucky's mascot is quite a playa.

Another look from court side.

I was impressed with the fact that Rupp didn't mind if people hung around at courtside following the game. Pictured is the group of Miami players' families. Eventually I just wandered in and got a great photo opportunity....which you'll see in a minute or so.

Woohoo!

 

Note: If you see this sort of thing popping up around stadiums and arenas, you'll know where it started.

Game over, man.

The other two Ks were out of the frame.

Because of that, the students decided to savagely beat their own mascot. Either that, or Ashley Judd showed up topless in the frat boy section.

 

Again, taking care of my non-sports fans....Ashley Judd is a UK basketball fanatic, and frequent visitor to home games. She even skipped the Oscars one year because UK was playing a big game that day.

They were not smiling after we shot lights out in the first half from beyond the arc. Sorry, for the non-sports fans, that means Miami hit almost every 3 point shot they took in the first half of play.

Game time, and they're smiling at this point.

I was told that the roof was not structurally strong enough to support the weight of a modern jumbotron scoreboard thingy. Therefor, Rupp has four big video screens...one in each corner.

And this is just another random shot before the tip off.

Almost game time. This would be a picture of layup drills.

...I met a fellow Cane with ties to the football coaching staff. He was wearing two National Championship rings. This one is the 2001 ring. The other is from the 1983 title over Nebraska. It's not pictured because I handed it to Shannon and she took off running with it. Shortly after, I jacked this guy and took the 2001 ring too. Maybe.

Time to follow the herd of blue into the show. But not before......

Speaks for itself. Sorry, slither. I can't hide my true feelings. Check your pm's though. I finally have something for ya!

An hour and a half 'til game time, and they don't sell beer inside? What to do? Well, you retreat to the car to pound a few (or five) then.

One of the first rims used at Rupp Arena. Just like the sign states.

I think this was originally the Kentucky Korner Kafeteria, but that didn't go over well for some reason, and they dropped the last word and made it a sports store. I could be mistaken though.

It proved to be a great place to get the necessary face decals applied.

Here's a look at the adjoining Lexington Center that houses a small "mall" of sorts.

Paige and Shannon were though.

Yeah, not impressed.

Yay, we made it. There's your first look at the industrial-looking exterior of Rupp. Blah.

Hey, looks like the Big Mike Road Show was still busy causing distractions.....or maybe it was the awful driving conditions? This was one of a handful of overturned vehicles along the way.

10mph for 40 minutes through mountainous terrain = NOT FUN.

Yay, we're here in Klantucky!

[piers]

Is the blonde girl really Sabrina the Teenage Witch?

[Swimace]

Nice report dude! This makes me want basketball season to be in full swing, but some of us need to wait until after the final BCS game to move on from football!

 

Kentucky has an ugly looking basketball arena, I would have thought it would be more impressive considering their history.

[bigstevet07]

Awesome report Beemerboy! I am a huge college basketball fan. I totally agree with you about seeing Rupp Arena. When I saw the pic, all I thought was that's it? All the freaking tradition and pagentry of UK basketball and that's what you came up with?

 

As for Miami, I think they are a dangerous team this year. I'm a Duke fan, and McClinton and Co. scare me in the ACC. I'm surprised he didn't get suspended after he slapped that guy last week for no reason. Good luck this season, except for when the Blue Devils play them.

[mcjaco]

Back in the day, I had a friend that attended UK. I drove all the way down from Charleston, IL (Eastern IL Univ), one weekend to visit her and her cute little roommate. I too got slowed down by a horrendous snow storm.

 

We wandered around campus one of the days, and I thought the exact same thing about Rupp Arena. What a dump. I literally thought it was a maintenance building.

[BeemerBoy]

Is the blonde girl really Sabrina the Teenage Witch?

Yes. She left the talking cat at home though.

 

 

Thanks for the comments thus far, guys. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed by Rupp.

 

Steve, I just looked into tickets for the Miami game at Cameron Indoor....cheapest I found was about $350 each - OUCH! The Canes are definitely one of those teams that could sneak up and bite you, but they're also pretty one dimensional. Without a strong inside presence, I don't give them a great chance of anything unless they're hitting from the outside.

[bigstevet07]

Is the blonde girl really Sabrina the Teenage Witch?

Yes. She left the talking cat at home though.

 

 

Thanks for the comments thus far, guys. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed by Rupp.

 

Steve, I just looked into tickets for the Miami game at Cameron Indoor....cheapest I found was about $350 each - OUCH! The Canes are definitely one of those teams that could sneak up and bite you, but they're also pretty one dimensional. Without a strong inside presence, I don't give them a great chance of anything unless they're hitting from the outside.

 

Well that should make the games pretty evenly matched then. I've nicknamed our so-called big presence in the middle "The Big Goof." Zoubek is just too clumsy around the rim. Hopefully Miami didn't watch the Michigan game and play a 1-3-1 all game. Duke had no clue how to attack it. How the heck do you expect to win when you launch 33 3's?

 

My wife looked into a non conference game at Cameron for Christmas once, and those were about 200 a pop. I love Cameron, but its so small that tickets get driven way up. Maybe I should spend the 30,000 or so a year so I can be a student and get in free.

[BeemerBoy]

I love Cameron, but its so small that tickets get driven way up. Maybe I should spend the 30,000 or so a year so I can be a student and get in free.

 

LOL. Yeah, but even at 30k, don't some of them still have to camp out for tickets?

 

It's not often you'll find me in a conversation about Duke, you know? Duke is the worst four-letter word imaginable in our household. Heck, even before the UM-UK game I told my wife all bets were off. It was a house divided that day, and all smack talk was highly encouraged. I thought of it too late, but I had a last minute plan to buy an old Laettner jersey on eBay, wear it under my Canes stuff, and break it out if we had lost.

[Coaster Palooza]

That was a terrific TR Scott! It is always great to see you and Shannon having fun.

 

I thought you might be able to take a shot at the basket when you said you had something to show later on.

[bigstevet07]

LOL. Yeah, but even at 30k, don't some of them still have to camp out for tickets?

 

It's not often you'll find me in a conversation about Duke, you know? Duke is the worst four-letter word imaginable in our household. Heck, even before the UM-UK game I told my wife all bets were off. It was a house divided that day, and all smack talk was highly encouraged. I thought of it too late, but I had a last minute plan to buy an old Laettner jersey on eBay, wear it under my Canes stuff, and break it out if we had lost.

 

That would have been great. I understand the Duke hatred, I get it all the time. You either love them or hate them. It is kind of strange though, I never thought I would be talking Canes basketball about 4-5 years ago. They are really turning the program around.

[BeemerBoy]

^^ Thanks, Rick! Yeah, taking a shot would've been nice.

 

^ Yeah, Duke is definitely love-hate. I tend to fall in the "great dislike" category. If coach K didn't seem so whiny, and Duke players weren't coached to flop all the time, I'd give them more credit. Still, it's tough to argue with their consistency at top the rankings.

 

As for Canes basketball, I wouldn't say we're turning it around. It's more like finally trying to build something. I guess Florida's success sparked a desire down south. A new arena with state-of-the-art training facilities, etc, definitely helps with recruiting. I'm not holding my breath on becoming a powerhouse anytime soon, but crazier things have happened...like Kentucky falling off the map.

[mcjaco]

^ Yeah, Duke is definitely love-hate. I tend to fall in the "great dislike" category. If coach K didn't seem so whiny, and Duke players weren't coached to flop all the time, I'd give them more credit. Still, it's tough to argue with their consistency at top the rankings.

 

I'm Duke fan. I went to school with Chris Collins (one of my most ridiculous HS stories involved him, me, gym class, and badminton), so I just kept following his career there, and became a fan. Now my alma mater sent them John Scheyer, so I keep watching.

[Scaparri]

This TR was all sorts of awesome. I'm glad Shannon hasn't swayed you to the dark side completely.

 

Yay, we made it. There's your first look at the industrial-looking exterior of Rupp. Blah.

 

...Yeah, not impressed.

 

I'm glad I'm not alone on this. For being so obsessed with basketball, you'd think they would have put a little more money into building an attractive arena. Oh wait, they use it all on their recruits...

 

 

Dude, never mind the whole B&M hyper disagreement. I'm telling you, we're blood.

[FeelTheFORCE]

McClinton is the man. Pretty cool you met him. My team is #3 Pitt.