I have never been comfortable in a ballpark seat, but I have indeed heard that Fenway is worse. I left Coors and Qualcomm off. Coors goes before Arlington (how do I forget my #2?) and Qualcomm in the bundle that I don't care about. I had a lot of fun there (for other reasons), and it was sort of impressive inasmuch as it was huge (I'd previously never been to an NFL stadium). I've also been by but not in Safeco, Minute Maid, Dodger, Busch, and Kauffman. All are nice, with Minute Maid being my favorite and the last 3 being the best of the totally symmetrical parks. Simple but well maintained and nice.
I'd like to invite ESPN to suck my fat crank. Busch Stadium 19th? On the criteria of concessions? Signature foods? Here's what makes Busch at least a top-five stadium: 1) Our signature food is beer, you idiot. Read the name. 2) We have tons of concession stands, and they don't sell foods that have foreign names or need chopsticks or require a gourmet dictionary to understand. We eat hot dogs, pretzels and nachos. If that ain't enough for you, go watch figure skating, Nancy. 3) We don't have fake-assed walls or sloping outfields to make the park interesting. We have Jim Edmonds and Albert Pujols to do that. That stupid hill in Houston? A freaking disgrace. It's a baseball field, not a goddamned sculpture. 4) There's a train that runs to a station across the street. It costs $1.25 each way. From Illinois. There's parking within two blocks for $4. There are FOUR major interstates that intersect within a mile. This is hard to get to HOW? 5) The Bowling Hall of Fame is right across the street. That's not part of the stadium, I know ... but it's pretty damn funny, and you can bowl on the same lane Richard Nixon did. 6) There is no more knowledgable fandom than in St. Louis. Remember, this is the place where opposing players get standing ovations for good defensive plays. It's also where players consistently head to actually enjoy baseball, as opposed to feeling like they work in a salt mine. 7) New York sucks. Yes, I'm a homer, but having a fancy scoreboard or really nifty luxury boxes doesn't mean shit to most of us. We care about the game, and in the things that count good hot dogs, a well-kept field and being able to discuss the merits of a possible suicide squeeze with the lady in the row behind you no one beats Busch, baby.
The seats are fine - we're too fat. Sorry, no. I might be a little over my playing weight nowadays, but I'm 6'3" and if I'm not in an aisle seat in the Fens, then both of my legs are asleep by the third. Boston cheers for plays by the other team too. Or we used to. Then sports became very hip around here and all the fans got priced out of anything but the worst seats. And now our fans are on the sucky side. Which is how you get "Yankees Suck" chants during non-NY games.
yerfatma, I recently moved to Atlanta from Boston. I was on a shuttle going to watch the Braves vs. Astros and a young kid a few seats down had on a "Yankees Suck" t shirt. Why he was wearing this to a National League game is beyond me. An older couple asked where he got it because they liked it, and in his southern drawl stated he picked it up on a trip to Boston. Probably the first time I have ever been ashamed of where I am from. And if I remember correctly, I think jerseygirl said that chant even reared it's ugly head at a Pearl Jam concert recently. What the F? And just a sidenote, I flew into Boston today for a long weekend and I can feel the energy in the air. Why the hell did I move to Atlanta? Best record in baseball, and all anyone is talking about is Vick's fibula and SEC football.
>Which is how you get "Yankees Suck" chants during non-NY games Same thing happens at some weekend SF Giants games when parts of the crowd chant "Beat LA" even though the team's playing the Rockies or Florida.
