It was a successful year here at Stadium and Arena Visits as I added 15 new venues to the docket! The List stands at 254 stadiums that I’ve seen a game at out of 1362 qualifying venues. In addition, I went to a game at 3 venues not on The List and re-visited 6 different stadiums that I have been to before. A lot of great experiences and memories were made at a variety of facilities in the sporting world…let’s recap how it went:
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FAVORITE NEW VENUE VISIT: Ford Field…..The home of the Detroit Lions often has a dark appearance on TV and while I vaguely knew of the stadium set-up, being live gave me a much better appreciation of it. Having all the suites on one side of the stadium means a closer upper-deck for the rest. I love that and even though there was a gentle outward push of each row, this is still an intimate stadium and one that has touches like you are in a local auto manufacturing warehouse. The downtown location is good as Detroit is better than you think. What really made this place special was the incredibly loud atmosphere. We had a blast here.
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WORST STADIUM EXPERIENCE: UPMC Events Center…..Robert Morris University has a gorgeous building from the outside. That continues inside with a really nice opening vestibule and then a gym that is vibrant in color. My issues were with the staff: First, the security lady told me no backpacks despite a sign in front of her that said bags 12x12x12 were permitted, it just needed to be searched. Then, it was on to my camera and even though there was no detachable lens, she decides to pull out her ‘guide’, looking for a way to tell me not to bring it in. Once I told her I had a Media Credential, her mood immediately turned, since I was no longer “just a fan”. Later on, I then faced a disparaging quiz from a staff member because I was taking pictures in the lobby. You won’t see me cheering for Bobby Mo anytime soon.
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MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT: “Dad, are you sure you want to sit here?“…..During our summer vacation in Michigan, we spent a few days in Detroit, where my Dad joined us. Most of that was so that he could see the Henry Ford Museum, but he also came with me on a visit to Keyworth Stadium and Detroit City FC. Lines were long for the food trucks, so I waited while he grabbed a seat (most of the stadium is General Admission). Dad isn’t a huge soccer fan and doesn’t know about Supporter Groups. So, he plopped himself right in the middle of the Northern Guard Supporters. When I warned him what was to come, he said it’s fine. By the second minute into the game, we are off into a corner seat. His brief error thrilled me as it was awesome being with one of the most vocal soccer groups in this country.
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FAVORITE CITY: Burlington, VT…..Lake Champlain, then downtown, then mountains. This is certainly an outdoorsy area and Burlington makes for a great hub. The highlight is definitely Church Street, the long pedestrian-only street that has fantastic restaurants and shops, to go along with occasional quirky people watching. And of course there is a Ben & Jerry’s here as well.
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BEST RESTAURANT: Tony Packo’s…..Toledo and Tony Packo’s are synonymous with one another. It’s more than just a hot dog place even though that and their meat sauce is what they are known for. It is a true restaurant and their fried pickles and paprika dumplings were equally as good. Also check out all the signed hot dog buns on the walls. It’s an impressive mixture of guests.
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BEST IN-STADIUM FOOD: Bear’s BBQ (Dunkin’ Park)…..Hartford isn’t exactly what you think of when you hear Barbeque. However, you can find a good place no matter where in the U.S. you are and Bear’s BBQ qualifies. I ate at their downtown restaurant before the game and was thrilled for fans of the Yard Goats that they have a pretty legit stand at Dunkin’ Park as well. The Brisket Sandwich is the way to go, but not far behind are “Moink Balls”, which are bacon-wrapped meatballs.
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BEST GAME: Boston University vs Cornell (2 – 1)…..It really wasn’t a good year for the quality of games as only a handful were competitive and hardly any of those really came down to the end. This one was high stakes as it was in the NCAA Hockey Tournament as I attended this Regional Final in Manchester, NH. The winner got to go to the Frozen Four and Boston had a 2-0 lead in the third period. Cornell scored with 28 seconds left and they had enough time at the very end for a final flurry, but BU hung on for the win and the celebration.
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CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS: Johns Hopkins Football, Lafayette Football…..Homewood Field is more known in the lacrosse world, where Hopkins is a D1 power. However, they also have something brewing on the gridiron as the Blue Jays completed an undefeated season in 2023. They won yet another Centennial Conference crown and in the NCAA Tournament, they made it to the Round of 16, losing on a last-second field goal. In another 7-team league, Lafayette won the Patriot League. I made a re-visit to Fisher Stadium in September and saw them defeat Columbia.
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MOST UNDERATED FANS: West Virginia Basketball….Football may be bigger, but basketball has quite the following as well. With no professional teams in the state, many flock to WVU Coliseum in the wintertime and this is a program with history as well. This non-conference game against Auburn featured a nearly full house and even more impressive are some other early-season contests that normally don’t draw elsewhere. The tradition is great and a win is followed by that oh so special singing of Country Roads and that gave me goosebumps.
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COLOR AND CHARACTER: The Colisee….This wasn’t an official visit because after I made the 6-hour trip to Lewiston, Maine, I counted seats and came up with 2,633. That’s well short of qualifying to make The List and also well short of the advertised 3,675 that is stated in multiple places. I enjoyed the night of hockey anyway and my time around L/A (Lewiston-Auburn). It broke my heart when I heard about the tragedy last month. This is a unique area and the team nickname of Nordiques is not just a copycat of the former NHL team in Quebec. Many French-Canadians immigrated to Lewiston and the hockey name fits. The building shows that paint and carpeting can go a long way as this small barn just felt right as the home of the Maine Nordiques.
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THE WEATHER: 13 good days, 2 ok days and 1 bad day…..It was such a lean winter across the country that I had no concern when travelling to Denver, Pittsburgh and Morgantown. No snow and blue skies in the heart of winter certainly is rare for those areas and that was my luck. In fact, the whole year was really good when it came to weather and travel. When it did snow (Manchester, NH), it was for a couple hours and it never was even a threat to cover the roadways in late March before turning to rain. The soccer match for Detroit City FC came on a toasty 87 degree evening, but it wasn’t humid and it cooled off when the sun went down. The only bad weather day came at a Detroit Tigers game. Our entire Michigan vacation was dry, except for this day when we had a steady drizzle at 65 degrees. At least the rain never got heavy enough to postpone the game.
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BEST SIDE TRIP: Saugatuck Dune Rides….About a half an hour from the Grand Rapids / Comstock Park area of Michigan is Saugatuck. These dune rides were made way better because of our driver. We had Nate and his jokes made both kids and adults laugh, not an easy thing to achieve both. The ride and scenery combined with him leading was awesome and something I would highly recommend for an hour adventure in Western Michigan.
Stadium and Arena Visits 