Old Stadiums You Still Love

[wonderbread]

If you've been to one HOK/Populous ballpark, you've been to them all.

you couldn't be more wrong, all the stadiums they have built have tons of differences and features that makes each stadium unique.

Nope. I'm right. They're pretty much the same. You bought the marketing.

Its not marketing, its fact. They are all different for you to say they are the same is asinine.

[SFGiants58]

For me, it's Texas Stadium. This is where real Cowboys football was played. Champions played here. Not the floundering 8-8's of the current Cowboys team. This was the one stadium I wished to see a Cowboys game, but alas, I was too young and too many miles away before Jerry moved the team to his palace.

I don't know how it was in person, but it was horrible for TV. The lighting sucked because it was sort of a dome, so you had bizarre shadows over half the field where the cutout was, and the rest was lit with dull artificial light like in the Kingdome or Metrodome. The field looked bad just because it was turf, but for some reason it didn't look as close to natrual as the newer field turf fields look - it almost looked like the Vet's old "NexTurf" surface. I totally get nostalgia for places you grew up with (hence my username), but from an outsider's perspective,that place was pure trash.

I always remember it being in the opening credits of Dallas.

Needs more Reunion Arena.

Speaking of old-style arenas, how has nobody mentioned the Portland Memorial Coliseum and its glass walls yet?

It'd be nice if a modern arena did the panorama view thing, but that's probably an impossibility given size requirements.

[PhantomDreamer]

If you've been to one HOK/Populous ballpark, you've been to them all.

you couldn't be more wrong, all the stadiums they have built have tons of differences and features that makes each stadium unique.

Nope. I'm right. They're pretty much the same. You bought the marketing.

Its not marketing, its fact. They are all different for you to say they are the same is asinine.

They're the same. You have fallen for their marketing.

[dfwabel]

For me, it's Texas Stadium. This is where real Cowboys football was played. Champions played here. Not the floundering 8-8's of the current Cowboys team. This was the one stadium I wished to see a Cowboys game, but alas, I was too young and too many miles away before Jerry moved the team to his palace.

I don't know how it was in person, but it was horrible for TV. The lighting sucked because it was sort of a dome, so you had bizarre shadows over half the field where the cutout was, and the rest was lit with dull artificial light like in the Kingdome or Metrodome. The field looked bad just because it was turf, but for some reason it didn't look as close to natrual as the newer field turf fields look - it almost looked like the Vet's old "NexTurf" surface. I totally get nostalgia for places you grew up with (hence my username), but from an outsider's perspective,that place was pure trash.

I always remember it being in the opening credits of Dallas.

Needs more Reunion Arena.

Speaking of old-style arenas, how has nobody mentioned the Portland Memorial Coliseum and its glass walls yet?

It'd be nice if a modern arena did the panorama view thing, but that's probably an impossibility given size requirements.

The new Warriors SF arena was attempting to do that when it was to be built on Pier 32, but since the location has moved, the design has yet to be seen publicly.

Run-down, err Reunion Arena was even worst than Joe Louis Arena. Reunion was built years after Texas Stadium was built and gave city executives and architects the idea that suites in an indoor facility was not just necessary, but profitable even before they tried to get a NBA team. The underpinnings of Reunion were as nice as they could be, but even in 2001, it was cramped like a party inside 7-11. Parking was poor too. It was controlled by the Hyatt next door.

[Cosmic]

Some of the historic hockey facilities closed just before or barely after I had gotten into hockey, so unfortunately I have no idea was hockey atmosphere's were like at the Aud, Boston Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens, among others, and I never had a chance to watch the original 'Peggers, Whalers, or Nordiques, either.

The Aud had good atmosphere and sightlines inside the arena bowl, but everything outside of that was pretty dumpy; it was its time to go. I remember going up to the upper decks on these concrete ramps like you would drive your car on to get to the next floor of a parking garage. The building was almost 60 years old by the time the Sabres moved, so it served its purpose for a good long time. It was a good friend, but I don't miss it.

[Sport]

If you've been to one HOK/Populous ballpark, you've been to them all.

you couldn't be more wrong, all the stadiums they have built have tons of differences and features that makes each stadium unique.

Nope. I'm right. They're pretty much the same. You bought the marketing.

Its not marketing, its fact. They are all different for you to say they are the same is asinine.

They're the same. You have fallen for their marketing.

I've been to several HOK designed ballparks and there are more differences between them than there were between the concrete donut stadiums of the dual-purpose era. That's not marketing that's experiencing it with my own eyes.

[Yac12]

If you've been to one HOK/Populous ballpark, you've been to them all.

you couldn't be more wrong, all the stadiums they have built have tons of differences and features that makes each stadium unique.

Nope. I'm right. They're pretty much the same. You bought the marketing.

Its not marketing, its fact. They are all different for you to say they are the same is asinine.

They're the same. You have fallen for their marketing.

I've been to several HOK designed ballparks and there are more differences between them than there were between the concrete donut stadiums of the dual-purpose era. That's not marketing that's experiencing it with my own eyes.

And now we will hear from Phantom, "You bought into the marketing." I'm glad he is branching out from his one trick pony of Pullovers.

[dbadefense1990]

The Forum in Inglewood:

It's the coziest, most intimate arena I've ever been inside of. I was born too late to witness both the "Showtime" era of the Lakers and the height of the Gretzky-Kings, but I caught the tail end of events in the 1990s before all Forum operators moved to Staples Center. The most recent event I've been apart of the Forum was a 2009 Lakers preseason game, and by that time, its age had caught up to its frame. Tiles were falling apart, the seats were ripped and flimsy, the exterior paint was chipping away, and the sound systems were spotty at best.

A couple of years ago, the MSG-Chase group bought the rights to the arena, with the intent on renovating the arena back to world-class status. And boy, did they ever capitalize on that promise. A more intimate atmosphere, velvet seats, better sound system and fresh "Sunset-red" paint. But it's bittersweet since the arena can only house concerts and related events from now on. There will be no more sporting events at the Forum from here-on-out because of the configurations to make the venue a music-exclusive hub.

[infrared41]

They didn't sell the seats in straight away center field?

There were times when they would sell seats in the lighter blue sections for baseball, but as someone already pointed out, the dark section in the middle is the batter's eye. And as someone else pointed out, even without those outfield seats, the place could still hold 70,000+ for baseball so the Indians really didn't need to open those seats. It held about 75,000 for football. The biggest baseball crowd I was ever a part of there was 54,960* on July 3, 1977. The Indians played the Royals and it was fireworks night.

*Gotta love Baseball-Reference.com

[MadmanLA]

The Forum in Inglewood:

It's the coziest, most intimate arena I've ever been inside of. I was born too late to witness both the "Showtime" era of the Lakers and the height of the Gretzky-Kings, but I caught the tail end of events in the 1990s before all Forum operators moved to Staples Center. The most recent event I've been apart of the Forum was a 2009 Lakers preseason game, and by that time, its age had caught up to its frame. Tiles were falling apart, the seats were ripped and flimsy, the exterior paint was chipping away, and the sound systems were spotty at best.

A couple of years ago, the MSG-Chase group bought the rights to the arena, with the intent on renovating the arena back to world-class status. And boy, did they ever capitalize on that promise. A more intimate atmosphere, velvet seats, better sound system and fresh "Sunset-red" paint. But it's bittersweet since the arena can only house concerts and related events from now on. There will be no more sporting events at the Forum from here-on-out because of the configurations to make the venue a music-exclusive hub.

Even before I moved to the neighborhood where the Forum is located years ago (and since moved back to the city), I went to several Laker games there as a teenager in the mid-90s (Van Exel-Jones-Ceballos Lake Show era) A family friend would always complementary tickets to Laker games (plus other Forum events), and we would go to a game probably once a month. Of course, once the Lakers got Shaq, and ticket prices skyrocketed, the comp tickets pretty much stopped not long after--the last Laker game I attended was the final playoff game there in '99, when the Spurs beat them in the West Semifinals. The last time I went inside the Forum was for a church service in 2003 (back when one of the local Inglewood churches ran the building)--even back then, the place was starting to look neglected and dated. They still had the old championship and retired number banners of the Kings and Lakers still hanging up on the walls, and the colors were starting to fade. The seats were cramped, but unlike Staples, the Forum had really great sightlines.

Going across town, the L.A. Sports Arena (above) too is still standing, although since USC basketball since left for their own arena up the street (Galen Center), and the Clippers moving further up the street at Staples years before, I still wondering why this eyesore is still standing--hell, I pass by it almost everyday going to and from work. They done some renovations to the building years ago, including changing the color of the roof exterior (which makes look even more dated than does now--see here), and refurbishing the concourse. USC now has operational control of the Sports Arena and Coliseum, but at least the Coliseum still serves some purpose. The last time I went there was also in '99, the Clippers' final home game (versus Seattle, a close loss in front of a rare, near-sellout crowd). Probably two things the Sports Arena had an advantage to the Forum--sightlines/seating, and a slightly-wider concourse area. Hell, the Clippers even had their own low-rent version of the Forum Club, which was located in the bowels of the arena, next to the Clipper locker room on the east side of the Arena. One thing that always somewhat-bothered me was the floor-level seating area was detacted from the rest of arena seating--you had to go through an underground entrance just to the floor-level courtside seating. It would have been better if it had the same seating configuration as even Nassau Coliseum.

[TrueYankee26]

I still miss old Yankee Stadium. I love the New Yankee Stadium but it seems the NYS is almost never sold out, lots of empty seats.

[PhantomDreamer]

Question to any person that attended an event at the old Chicago Stadium, former home of the Bulls and Blackhawks. Did the arena's two balconies have their own restrooms and concession areas? and if they did, where were they located? How were the balconies accessed? Stairs in the corners of the building?

Chicago Stadium in 1994.

[PhantomDreamer]

Owner's Box Build Your Own Yankee Stadium 1:1600 scale model. Not another generic mallpark.

[mcj882000]

New York's Polo Grounds. A stadium so ill-suited for baseball that it became endearing because of it.

[PhantomDreamer]

Old Comiskey (1)

[PhantomDreamer]

Old Comiskey (2)

[PhantomDreamer]

Old Comiskey (3)

[illwauk]

The UWM Arena (nee MECCA Arena) is kind of a dive these days, but it's one of the few old NBA barns that's still standing and is still a damn good place to catch a basketball game. When it gets packed, it gets LOUD and creates a home court advantage that the Bradley Center has never been able to replace.

[PhantomDreamer]

Where are the Bulls and Blackhawks fans over the age of 30?

[uuh70]

in the previous configuration catagory...Dodger Stadium from 15-20 years ago with the red clay warning track and yellow,orange,blue,red seats since I grew up with it looking like that

vs

Demolished: