In successive weekends, I made a couple of sports visits that are about as opposite end of the spectrum as you can get. Let’s start with Elmira where I made a quick stop last Friday evening on my way to Rochester for a family event. The purpose was to revisit Dunn Field and an Elmira Pioneers game. My youngest daughter was with me and we first went downtown for a bite to eat at Vincenzo’s. That was fine and all, but walking the city for just a few minutes (Wisner Park) was not enjoyable. Meth heads and other questionable characters wandering around cut that stroll real short. The drive to Dunn Field 5 minutes away is a really neat one as you’ll pass plenty of houses while driving down Luce Street. At the end of the residential area, it opens to a grass field and then eventually the stadium. It is a unique setting, especially when you see people walking or riding a bike from their house to the game. I was last here 21 years ago for an Independent League game and now the Pioneers are part of the Summer-Collegiate PGCBL. It’s a wacky world, these summer ball leagues as you can run into teams/stadiums that are very professional like or you find a team with organizational skills that wouldn’t pass the high school level. I’d say Elmira was closer to the latter despite playing in a 4,000-seat stadium.
Let’s start with when I checked their website and Twitter account for what was upcoming at the game. This is the link I see, which is on their website. That’s right, they promote a parody account essentially ripping the team and stadium. Probably should fix that, especially since their “official” account has all of 27 followers (vs 2181 from the other). Next is parking, which is a free-for-all on the grassy area in front of the stadium. Everyone seemed to know where to make a row, but that was an interesting arrival and I had fears of getting blocked in. Then we get inside and whoo-whee…..I see: 2×4’s replacing chairs across a good chunk of the grandstand. Video no longer working on the scoreboard, so they slapped a Pioneers banner over it. Part of the outfield wall is busted. A field that is beyond atrocious. The playing surface was so bad that it impacted the game as there were bad hops all over the place. There were 7 errors in this game and even worse, this 9-inning game took 4 hours and 17 minutes to play! That is insanity and thank goodness we left early because I didn’t want my 6-year old getting to bed too late (we still had a 2-hour drive after the game to the Grandparents in Rochester). There’s even video evidence of this monstrosity with high comedy in that the scorebug completely blocks the view of left field. Dunn Field may be a historical ballpark, but the Elmira Pioneers are an adventure for sure.
The next weekend, we were back Upstate and a quick trip to Toronto was planned for the National Bank Open, an ATP 1000-level Masters Series event. That’s just one step below the Majors. Unfortunately, Sinner and Alcaraz weren’t there, but many other big names were. Due to time constraints, it would be an “up-n-back” visit as my brother and I left right after a family birthday party. The border crossing wasn’t a problem as it only took 15 minutes, it was the QEW on the Canadian side that caused a huge headache. It was closed because of an accident and traffic was horrendous. A 1+ hour delay turned this into a 4 hour drive and would’ve been worse if I didn’t do some additional re-routing. We at least got there with enough time before the evening session started, so I could do some touring of the complex. Located in North York, about 40 minutes from downtown Toronto, parking can be found in the large TTC (subway) lot north of York University. It is a loooong walk to the event and once there, the grounds are clustered with food stands, tables, swag stations, games and even a stage for music. This is a swanky event and given what I saw walking around, I was surprised more corporate suites weren’t taken in the stadium. The show court is Sobeys Stadium and it holds over 10,000. The lower-level featured angled sections with great sightlines as I like that set-up. Up top are six standalone sections that look like complete afterthought add-ons. We sat up here and the temporary-ish set up had a good view of the court, it just felt chintzy.
The first match was Holger Rune vs Alexei Popyrin. I was hoping to see an American or Canadian and while I wasn’t too in love with this one, the match was decent and had it’s own storylines. Rune came in seeded 8th and Popyrin surprisingly won the event last year. He had an astounding 11 break points and converted none of them in the 1st set as Holger took it 6-4. That made Popyrin’s comeback even more impressive as he won the final two sets and the crowd got more into it as the match went on. It took about 2 hours and we decided to head back to Rochester and not stick around for the nightcap (good thing as Cerundolo retired halfway through against Zverev). We got back at 1 AM with no delays on the return trip and if I plan a non-overnight stay for a sports trip in Ontario again, remind me not to.
The updated Dunn Field detailed review has been posted, along with the Sobeys Stadium. Also, check out the review for the Lindner Family Tennis Center as the Cincinnati Open follows Toronto.
Stadium and Arena Visits 