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Unfriendly Confines

While writing my last post, I got to thinking about the times and places where I hate to go for sporting events.  There are just some places that I absolutely despise going to, and others that I never even want to attempt going to due to second and third hand reports - and here's the list:

  • Miller Park (when the Cubs are in town): Cubs fans, in my opinion, are just about the most annoying, inconsiderate, and collectively stupid sports fans out there.  And yes, I felt this way before the Brewers moved to the National League and the Cubs became rivals.  I have to admit, they are the most diehard fans in exsistence (going on 100 years of futility, as we speak), but that doesn't absolve them of their flaws.  They are obnoxious, and don't even really understand the rules of the game.  Even the fans that travel two hours to come up from Chicago for a game seem to be completely clueless at times.  Couple this with the fact that they act like they are driving in downtown Chicago both on the Milwaukee roads and in Miller Park itself (yes, they act that way when they are walking as well), you get a horrible game day experience overall.
  • Wrigley Field: For the history of it, Wrigley Field is great.  I love the stadium itself, but when compared to modern ballparks, and even other old ballparks, it can't compare at all.  At least most other older ballparks have done quite a bit to improve the experience for the fans, but the Cubs have done next to nothing.  And again, you've got the Cubs fans - so it just makes it that much worse.
  • The Metrodome: Nothing wrong with the fans of either team playing there.  Well, actually, I despise Vikings fans almost as much as Cubs fans, for many of the same reasons, but I haven't been to a Vikings game at the Metrodome, so I can't judge that.  The problem here is the stadium itself.  Absolutely horrible stadium in all regards.  As soon as you walk in, your ears pop due to the fact that you're essentially walking into a giant pressurized balloon.  Then, when watching the Twins play, you've got to deal with losing fly balls in the white ceiling.  I've also heard that even the players have the same problems at times - one of the many reasons that the Twins want out of that godawful building as soon as possible.
  • Lincoln Financial Field: This time, it has absolutely nothing to do with the stadium.  It's all about the fans here.  Eagles fans are the most angry fans out there.  They can rarely find anything good to say about their team even when the Eagles are winning.  Since I don't really like the Eagles, why would I (or anyone) want to go anywhere near a building with 70,000 angry people all huddled too closely together and often quite cold?  That's a big bundle of negative energy that I just want to avoid.
  • Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park when the Yankees and Red Sox are playing each other: Do I really need to even bother talking about this one?  Unless you are a fan of one of these two teams, I don't think you even want to watch either team play, unless you get to watch the other team beat them.  The problem here is that one of the two teams has to win.  And the bad blood between the two teams' fans is in full force at these games.  The greatest rivalry in sports?  I would argue that it's the worst because of what it does to the sport as a whole, both for what the arms race between these two teams does to every other team in the league, as well as how ugly it makes sports fans appear to those that don't watch sports.
  • Any International Soccer Match in Europe or South America: Okay, I haven't ever been to an international soccer match, but there was a time where six months couldn't go by without seeing a report on ESPN of a brawl during a soccer match.  A brawl, mind you, not among the players, but among the fans.  Now of course, I know that this is not a regular occurrence, but why would you want to go to a sporting event where there was a fairly significant chance of something like this happening?  If it wasn't something to be concerned about, where would the joke statement "Yeah, I went to a brawl and a soccer game broke out" come from?

I'm sure that there are plenty of others out there as well, but these are the big ones for me.  Anyone agree or disagree?  What are your least favorite venues for sporting events?


Posted Sun, Apr 13 2008 11:31 PM by Charles Boyung
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Comments

Anonymous wrote Unfriendly Confines
on Mon, Apr 14 2008 12:07 AM

While writing my last post , I got to thinking about the times and places where I hate to go for sporting