Best/Worst Stadiums you've visited (stories appreciated)

I like vintage ballparks and hate Sparty.

Worst for me was Philadelphia Veterans Stadium.  I went to a baseball game there, saw Curt Schilling pitch, and mostly marveled at how awful the stadium was.  I'm not from Philly, so I thought the rumours of how sterile and run-down the stadium were hyperbole.  Nope, they were understated.  56K seats for baseball, and few if any seemed like they'd be good.

Bad venue!  BAD Venue!!

Best would be a tie.  Yost was a fantastic venue when i was in school (b/f the recent renovation).  Felt like I was on top of the ice, and the best energy I've felt at sporting events.  Also, Ned Skeldon Stadium - home to the Toledo Mud Hens until 2001 - was just fantastic.  You felt like you were going back in time, and there were no sideshows to speak of.  Just great baseball, with players on the fringe of making it to The Show.  Best baseball experience I've had.

Spartan Stadium. I had wet paper towels thrown at me in the bathroom. I can only hope they were wet because of water and not urine. I was also asked by a spartan fan which Michigan campus I was a student at.... I'm not a Michigan student or alum. I was then told that my opinions and comments don't count because I wasn't a student/ alum. The infamous Walmart Wolverine blast.

Best: Camp Randall, Wrigley Field, and Petco Park

Other than Michigan, Wisconsin has been my favorite college gameday experience so far.  I have been there twice, once drunk and once sober, and enjoyed myself both times.  Petco Park is on this list simply because it is a nice stadium in a city with nice weather.  I went to a Padres game two days after breaking my elbow on vacation (trying to jump over a tennis net and failed miserably) and still managed to have a great time.  Went to Wrigley with my dad when I was younger and watched Sammy Sosa hit two HR's.

Worst: The Metrodome and The Oakland A's Stadium 

Had Vikings season tickets with my dad and that place is just a dump.  Also, there was always  just the wrong combination of farm boys and rich kids at the games that led to alot of fights in our section.  It was fun at first, but not when you are interupted every game.

The Oakland A's stadium sucked when I went.  The place was empty, I got awful sunburn and the stadium was far from nice.

Welsh-Ryan Arena (Northwestern) might be the most jaw-dropping embarassment of an arena in D1 athletics.  Bar none.

I know a few high schools with better facilities....

Wrigley field blows. However it was great watching the tigers destroy them there last year.

Worst: Crisler pre renovation

Best: Crisler after renovation

Tropicana Field and the Rogers Centre are two of the worst baseball stadiums. They both are nothing but plastic. Also, walking around the concourse at "The Trop" made me feel like I was in a comic book.

University of Washington Husky Stadium. Opinion is probably skewed by time, but when they were a powerhouse it an unbelievably cool atmosphere on gameday.  Beautiful campus, strong, strong tailgate effort (I mean where else could you sample fresh sushi, salmon and shellfish, in the company of countless gorgeous Amerasian women, with giant volcanos looming in the distance?). 

My experience there was a life changer.  I always represented Michigan, and NEVER had an impolite comment. It was usually  something like "great school, my dad went there", or "my second favorite school anywhere".

In addition to dozens of other great games, I saw U Dub absolutely TRUCK Ohio State - and it was one of the best days of my life. 

Just driving up to the stadium you can tell it is a nightmare. You can't miss the misshapen thing when you are coming from Tampa into St. Pete. I always tell my friends who havent visited it is like watching a baseball game in a Sam's Club. If you sit on the first or third base line you have to shift your body towards home plate and if you don't your neck will hurt for a week. I was at a game were a player hit a pop fly and it hit a steel beam and fell back into play.

Personally, I like Turner Field in Atlanta. Michigan Stadium and seeing the Va.Tech vs Michigan Sugar Bowl in the dome was cool as well.



Worst so far: Vanderbilt Stadium is a bit of an embarrassment for a SEC stadium. Purdue isn't great either, but at least 25,000 Michigan fans make the trip.

I'm not going to give into my bias and say the Big House, even though I should. Outside of Michigan, best stadium experience is either been Wrigley or AT&T Park in San Fran (watching a game on the Bay is awesome). Both are just amazing ballparks. Only pro football stadiums I've been to are Raymond James (shitty acoustics and even shittier video boards) and MetLife (cool but nothing special to me). Busch Stadium in St. Louis is pretty great, too, with downtown and the Arch in the backdrop.



Worst experiences? As far as football goes, Ryan Field at Northwestern. Not that Northwestern fans are assholes, but its just a terrible place to watch a college football game. Its a glorified high school field at best, and I don't really feel like I'm getting the full college football experience. Basketball without question is Value City Arena (OSU). Sat in the student section this year during the Michigan game with all my gear on. I won't do that again. I think the only time I wasn't getting heckled was during the national anthem.

I went to see Dontrelle Willis pitch while I was stationed in Florida. He pitched 8 and 1/3 innings of shutout ball with an 8 run lead. Then the bullpen came in and lost the game 9 to 8. The venue sucked, it was empty, and the fans were terrible.

Baseball Best: AT&T Park is an awesome modern park. It also helped that Matt Cain threw a perfect no hitter last time I was there.

Baseball Worst: Metrodome, what were they thinking with right field. I was a teenager and could tell the place sucked.

 Yost for hockey.  and i hate to say it, but munn always had good ice too, even if the fans weren't very receptive to our team....

Second favorite hockey stadium to play or see a game: the olympia.    after that maybe NMU's berry events center.  we lived there when it was brand new and i loved playing on it and it was a very decent college arena for a school like NMU.   played at Lakeland up there too, in front of a sold out house.  dump of an arena but the atmosphere was excellent.

for football my favorite place to play was in san diego at 'the murph' (jack murphy stadium which turned into qualcomm).  nice facilities/locker rooms, field access, grass in decent to excellent shape when we played.   when we played  new york i hated giants stadium but i do have to say that they had the nicest piece of turf i ever played on - this predates the ground tire turf they use nowadays.  worst place to play is the LA coliseum.  the field is okay, but south central LA is a giant, dangerous, feces hole.   heavily armed we were, and with good reason.  

Best:

• PNC Park- the most ideal setting for a baseball game to be played,  gorgeous sightlines, beautiful backdrop of the Alleghaeny, plus it has Primanti Bros as a vendor.
   
• Kauffman Stadium- The renovation of Kauffman has done wonders for the park, I was there last year to watch the Tigers get swept all 3 games by the likes of Guthrie, Chen, and Mendoza, but it's certainly a great place to spend a few hours with friends. Who doesn't like fountains anyhow?
   
• Camden Yards- The first of the new breed of stadiums in baseball and it stands out (or stands in if you prefer launching pads.) The walk to the ballpark is certainly something to behold as it sits right next to the B&O Warehouse.
   

Worst: 

• Fenway Park- Now before people jump all over me on this I want to say this is more against the way the field is set up rather than the stadium and the location. I dislike the Green Monster and the Pesky Pole with a monumental passion. These dimensions scream more of a chapter in "Alice in Wonderland" rather than actual dimensions of a baseball stadium, seriously 302 down the right field line and then rounding out like a carousel as you get farther from the pole? And of course the monster turns doubles into singles and if you hit the scoreboard in one of the nooks and crannies you can even leg out a triple of off an easy fly ball in any other park. It's kitschy and stupid.
   
• Beaver Stadium - Happy Valley sucks, prepare to get verbally assaulted like you've never been before.