Joey's Ongoing Sporting Event PTR Thread

^^We didn't miss any of the credits at SFoT. Still had plenty of time to get them all thanks to Robb and Elissa's excellent planning.

LOL Nice..and I missed the Boomerang and the kiddie credit. They gave us plenty of time, I just wanted to spend it at the park! Besides, Titan gave a GREAT view of the stadium!

^^We didn't miss any of the credits at SFoT. Still had plenty of time to get them all thanks to Robb and Elissa's excellent planning.

 

LOL Nice..and I missed the Boomerang and the kiddie credit. They gave us plenty of time, I just wanted to spend it at the park! Besides, Titan gave a GREAT view of the stadium!

Flashbacks been down for awhile, surprised Joey got the credit that day

Bringing this thread back from the dead to finally finish the Texas portion with Rangers Ballpark.

One word sums up the stadium: bland. Which isn't bad, since it is bland because they obviously chose functionality over trying to be the next "OMG wow" stadium. It has good sightlines, and it is a lot smaller than it looks on TV. Coming from Dodger Stadium, I appreciated the nice wide open main concourse, but I also wish there was more stuff in the concourse to eat/drink/waste time. The stadium just feels like it is there.

That's dedication.

Andruw Jones whiffing. That never happens. Bastard.

On the bright side, we did have great seats

I don't want to live in a world where those are the only beers available

One complaint: the food options were awful. This was the most exciting one. There was your typical ballpark food and absolutely nothing else. No famous signature item or anything.

The signature feature of the stadium. That's the teams offices and a bunch of suites.

The club level concourse that wasn't really a club level because it was open to everybody. It was the only place you could buy hard liquor though!

It's actually a very bland stadium, but it does have one of those outfield pavilion section with activities for kids.

It's also located just down the street from SFoT. They must have done that just for me and Dan.

Here's the exterior. A pretty bland take on the "classic" ballpark design every new stadium in the last 15 years has followed. Meh. At least it's an upgrade over the cookie cutter stadiums...

Rangers Ballpark: Yes those parks have become the new cookie-cutter I think that one is especially horrid with that eyesore in CF, they really need a new video board as well.

Cowboys Stadium: I like the idea that it's all supported by two arches, but that's about it, it seems like the average fan will be a mile high in the upper deck. A million luxury suite levels, no thanks, but it sure is better than the old dump and Jerry finally made his dream come true i guess....

Rose Bowl: My LA football dream! Renovated like Lambaugh with the suites on top, just a small simple bowl! Imagine being out there in January for a playoff game that would be sweet! Instead we will get this atrocity like Soldier Field with a skyscraper of suites on one side and the have-nots on the other Oh well it probably would be a nightmare trying to leave Pasadena after a game.

I've had the pleasure of seeing my Dodgers at Petco, AT&T and Angel Stadium. At&t takes the cake, but i regret not walking around the field level concourse at Petco most parks let you do that even with a ticket for the Upper deck. Our stadiums definitely need new HD Screens!

Just a tip, maybe we can get some bigger pictures? 24'' monitor here

Loge Box MVP! I would never pay insane prices for dugout or field level tickets esp. when IMO you get a better perspective by being elevated. Go Doyers!

I would do larger photos if the upload feature didn't specifically say photos should be 800x600 and a maximum of 150k.

Being elevated is great, but trust me...the experience of getting to see a 95mph fastball up close, hear the players talking, and being that close to the action is also a great perspective. I would highly recommend saving your money and splurging once on Dugout club seats.

Though I would also prefer first row seats in the upper deck, I have to agree that there is still something really awesome about low seats between the dugouts

I thought that the Rangers ballpark was ok, it didn't feel as special as Dodger stadium, however I thought it was a nice enough ballpark. I was surprised at just how small it was compared to how it looks on TV. The best part about the stadium? When I went I spent roughly $10 on two tickets. With parking I think I took that up to $20-25. Two tickets to a ballgame (though I'll admit my seats were less then special) for about the same price as going to the movies is a good deal in my opinion. I was playing with the idea of heading out to the Dallas area (about a 6 hour drive for me) when the Dodgers were playing out there back in June, just never really worked out.

Nice updates, Joey.

The one great thing about Cowboys Stadium is that video board. Now their fans get to watch 'em suck in an ever bigger way.

As for the Rangers ballpark, that picture from your seat was awesome. I gotta say that view really won me over on this place. The outside may look bland, and I've never really paid too much attention to this park, but seeing that view made me REALLY like the look of this place now.

The thing I like the most is the way it appears huge, but sorta compact too. The food and beer choices may have been weak, but this park still just jumped up a few notches in my book.....and I'm still shocked by that.

I don't really see much of anything on the new Cowboy stadium as being compact to be honest. Last time I saw it was back in May of this year, so maybe some of the landscaping has helped make it seem a little bit more compact.

^ Allen, if you were referring to my post, I was actually still speaking of the Rangers place when mentioning the "compact" feeling. If not, my apologies.

There is certainly nothing compact about that monstrosity Jones built.

^Sorry about that, I read that wrong and confused myself. I was just having such a hard time trying to imagine the new Cowboy Stadium as being compact.

As for the Rangers stadium, it really is fairly small. However like I said I like the ballpark, I thought it was a nice place to see a game. The little league fields around the stadium are also a very nice touch.

So after having season tickets since the Galen Center opened, I figured I would finally do a photo TR of the place and revive this thread. For those of you who didn't realize USC had a basketball team, they finally got an on-campus arena to call their own in 2006. Prior to that they played in the AWFUL L.A. Memorial Sports Arena, which I am still waiting to be turned into a parking lot. My dad and I refused to get season tickets prior to the Galen Center opening because of how much we hated that place.

Anyways...onward to the photos.

Galen Exterior.

Right next door to Galen is "The Lab"...best place for a pre-game snack and beer!

The arena level concourse.

The concourse features replicas of all of USC's NCAA titles (The real ones are on display @ Heritage Hall)...

A timeline of USC's national titles...

...And all the times USC athletes have been featured on the cover of SI.

Going up to the seating level, you are greeted with this...

Peeve: the seating level concourses look so boring and unfinished...which they would match it to the arena concourse!

Arena Interior.

View from those windows at the end of the arena. Too bad it has to be covered up for TV broadcasts.

The view from the top of our section. We're in row 6. There's not a bad seat in the house.

The suite level hallway. Suites have only been completed on one side of the arena. I have to find my pictures of the suite interior and unfinished suites on the other side.

Bringing this thread back from the dead to showcase more of Staples Center...

Today's feature: the slightly remodeled suites

New TV and fancy VoIP phone thing that controls the TV.

View from the suite.

New for the 2010-2011 seasons: the worlds largest arena scoreboard. They also finally added an LED ribbon across one of the suite levels. WINNING!

Suite chair.

The worlds most expensive buffalo chicken. Delicious, but expensive.

See, told you it was expensive. (pay no attention to even more ridiculous price for bad beer)

The other half of the suite...exciting, no?

Staples Center is also home to a branch of the douchebag hotspot Hyde Lounge. They sell tickets to the game or charge a cover to guests already in the building.

The place stays open till 2AM, has tables for bottle service, a dance floor, and charge $15/drink like a normal club would. They took 8 event suites and converted them into Hyde.

^I was at that game.

Hasn't the LED ribbon around Suite Level C been at Staple Center from day one? I could have sworn it was there last year and years prior. They still need to wrap Suite Level B and 300 level in LED ribbon.

Nice to see this thread revived! I would have called security and had you ejected for spending that much on Coors Light though.

^^Oops. My bad. Read the press release wrong. Looks like the ribbon was added in 2008.

More Staples Center VIP Level...

The first thing you see when you enter the southwest VIP entrance is a mural of the greatest NBA player ever.

This is what the concourse looks like on the VIP level. A concession stand and a bar. It's not very exciting.

Also on the VIP Level is the San Manuel Club. It's the obligatory club restaurant all arenas feature. It's fairly large.

The San Manuel Club also has the obligatory $40 buffet. At least it's good quality!

...And the obligatory bar.

Right above the San Manuel Club (on the B-suite level) is the American Express Platinum Lounge. It's basically just another bar, except you have to have an American Express Platinum card to get in. Entry is limited to 175 people and it always fills up for Laker games.

Awesome stuff! Glad to see the updates. Can't wait to see more! One of these days I will have to join you. Maybe since we're so short they will only charge us one ticket!

This thread has a very good chance of coming back from the dead after this weekend! As part of my weekend trip to CGA for Coasting for Kids, I will be making side trips to a Giants game (*shudders*) and a SaberCats game!

Glad to see this thread back from the dead, I always enjoyed your stadium reports!

^ Same. You might actually inspire me to resurrect my own thread.

Don;t hate, San Fran has a nicer park than LA

^Agreed. However, if they ever renovate all the levels at Dodger stadium to match what they've done to the Field/Dugout clubs...it would be a lot closer.

A teaser of what is to come...

Hmm...who is that guy on the chain gang running to get to the end zone?

Who are those people looking bored behind home plate???

Best ball park in all of baseball is ATT PARK, its breathtaking, the views you get of the bay. the environment. Its Amazing.

Without further ado...The Shark Tank!

To be honest, the building itself is far from impressive. I feel the same way about as I do the Pond: arenas built in the mid-90's feel very outdated amenities wise, but still provide a nice atmosphere (can definitely tell the building is built to be rocking for hockey). Kind of crazy to think that a building that is only 20 years old is considered outdated, but that's the world we live in now for sports venues.

On the bright side, Arena Football is still incredibly fun to watch. Even if the production is WAY over the top. Thanks to Rick for being an awesome host for the weekend!

Welcome to the San Jose Convention Center...err, I mean the Shark Tank/HP Pavilion

The entrance to club level is right off the concourse. It's not really a club level, it's just the lower half of the lower bowl. Very mid-90's design.

The Councourse

I did like this use of the space: the double deck concession areas.

I also liked this use of space: Round Table+Gordon Biersch!!!

They at least kept the scoreboard up to modern standards.

The seats are still very much stuck in the 90's. Can't imagine that faux fabric material is fun to clean.

The view from the top: the best part of arena's built in the 90s. Not really a bad seat!

Oh, hey, look at that! There's a team that calls the Shark Tank home that has won some championships!

Around the walls on the concourse is the San Jose sports hall of fame. Clearly someone knew what Brian Boitano would do if he wasn't included.