Do you remember the Mastercard Priceless ad where they go to different ballparks? It was baseball parks. It used material from a real story and had controversy over the rights to that usage. It is one that came to my mind today.
I've been to Fenway (of course) and to a game in St Louis (in the 80's at the old Busch Stadium) and maybe one other. It is not so much seeing the different ball parks or ball teams. I have no interest in seeing all the parks but I wouldn't mind seeing more of the historic ones. I missed out on getting to the original Yankee Stadium and to Shea Stadium but there is still Wrigley Field and these days you can probably count Dodger Stadium as one of the few other old fashion ones.
On the other hand I appear to be collecting memories of historic basketball arenas. Last night I went to historic William Neal Reynolds Coliseum to cheer the UNC Tar Heels in a road win over the NC State Wolfpack. Not only is it fun to see the buildings but it is also fun to see the differences in fans and cheering traditions. The NCSU band is good. They played some great music and whoever was on drums last night is great! There were a lot of kids there including whole school groups. The box score showed just over 6000 in attendance and the coliseum holds 9500 so it was a good crowd. There was a lot of blue in that crowd. We ended up sitting high up behind the UNC bench which turned out the be near the Carolina Fever student group and the season ticket holder bus trip folks.
Other venues I have seen (historic and otherwise)
Carmichael Auditorium (UNC)
Dean E Smith Center (UNC)
Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke)
Reynolds Coliseum (NC State)
Boston Garden (2006 NCAA Women's Final Four)
Wells Fargo Arena (Arizona state hosts 2005 NCAA Tempe Regional)
I have also been to the RBC Center (home of the NC State men's basketball) but only to see a couple of Hurricanes games.
A quick search of the experts on the internet suggests that my "must see" list should include Kansas, Penn, and Minnesota. Being more of a women's hoops fan, I have to add Tennessee, Connecticut, and Stanford.
-SML
2 comments:
What, nothing historic at Tufts?
The Tufts women's basketball team plays in Cousens Gymnasium.
From the site:
'Tufts plays its home games in historic Cousens Gymnasium. With its arched roof and bench seating, Cousens is one of New England's oldest and most charming sites for basketball. During the summer 2005 it was featured in the NCAA News as a "One of a Kind" facility.'
I have been there - but it was to take a math exam, not to see a game.
I would like to see a game there. The Tufts Women have been doing quiet well lately. Last year they made to the NCAA Division III Elite 8 game - the best ever in school history - and returned all but 2 players for this year.
Post a Comment