stadium Page 9 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Madman Theory Of The Montreal/Tampa Bay Rays
Any self-respecting student of insane Machiavellian gambits should be familiar with the Madman Theory, Richard Nixon’s self-invented strategy for winning the war in Vietnam. The theory, as recounted by Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman after he got out of jail for his role in Watergate, went like t...
Rays Suggest Playing Half Their Home Games In Montreal: Seriously, What The Hell?
Given all of the problems with the Rays—and there are many—dire situations call for nontraditional thinking. Like hanging out with your friends and smoking a ton of weed and wondering aloud Dude. What if a team could play in two cities? That is probably not how this proposed solution to the Rays’ at...
The Ballpark Is The Great American Public Space
Is a ballpark a place to watch baseball, a theme park, a microcosm of its city, or something else entirely? It’s an open question that stretches back to the late 19th century, when enclosed ballparks, flanked by cheaply constructed wooden bleachers, began the gradual evolution of ballpark constructi...
Pay-To-Play Is The Stadium Grift That Keeps On Giving
Sometime in the next few days, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb—aka the guy who took Mike Pence’s job when Pence ascended to the Old Executive Office Building—is expected to sign a bill extending the Indiana Pacers’ lease in Indianapolis through 2044. In exchange for agreeing to have his team play where it...
Who's Keeping The NHL Out Of Quebec City?
Go to a New York Islanders game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and you will be treated to a relatively quiet evening. One whole end of the arena sits empty because it overhangs one of the nets, making it impossible to see the action from that vantage point. The rest of the arena isn’t lac...
How Much Longer Will Baseball Stadiums Be For Baseball Fans?
MLB’s attendance, you might have heard, was down last year, around four percent by season’s end. The league’s front office, represented by anthropomorphized wet blanket Rob Manfred, has operated under the assumption that pace of play is the issue, arguing that “putting the best entertainment product...
The 7 Laws Of Vaportecture, Stadium Art's Fever Dream
For sports team owners seeking new stadiums or arenas—which is to say, for sports team owners—there are certain tools of the trade at their disposal for convincing fans and politicians to support (and pay for) a new building. They have economic impact studies, ideally compiled by friendly consultant...
Tottenham's Long Stadium Nightmare Is (Almost) Over
At long last, Tottenham Hotspur have a home. After years-long saga to get their new stadium ready for actual soccer, Spurs’ new grounds will be ready in time for an April 3 Premier League match-up against Crystal Palace, according to a statement put out by the club on Sunday:...
Where Do The Islanders Belong?
The New York Islanders have had one of the odder trajectories of any pro sports franchise. Winners of four straight Stanley Cups within 11 years of arriving on Long Island as the NHL’s protection against WHA incursion into the New York area, the Isles never approached those heights again, winning on...
Not Even A Baseball Strike Could Stop Cleveland From Hosting The All-Star Game. Sort Of.
When Cleveland was awarded the 1981 MLB All-Star Game, it was a city in dire need of a boost....
Dan Snyder's Sleazy Stadium Scheme Is Crumbling Around Him
Dan Snyder’s underhanded scheme to plop a new home for his constitutionally corrupt and dysfunctional football team somewhere in the DC metropolitan area is suddenly in the deepest of shit. The DC power-move went to shit, and now the proposed site in Maryland, the acquisition of which would’ve requi...
What’s The Matter With Tampa Bay?
It’s not like everyone hadn’t been thinking it, but it took Tommy Pham to mention the elephant in the room. The outfielder, who one year earlier had celebrated his 6-WAR season in his first year as a starter at age 29 by publicly tearing down Cardinals management for not calling him up sooner, was s...
Raiders Stiff-Armed By San Francisco In Mark Davis's Desperate Search For A Temporary Home
The saga of Mark Davis looking for a temporary home for his relocating Raiders took another stupid turn this week, after the team reportedly arrived at a plan to play their home games in nearby San Francisco. Turns out that plan, like so many of this idiot organization’s endeavors, was a big dumb n...
Dodgers Fan Killed By Foul Ball To The Head Suffered During August Game
A 79-year-old grandmother was struck in the head by a foul ball at an August 25 game at Dodger Stadium, and died days later from “acute intracranial hemorrhage,” reports ESPN’s Outside the Lines. The victim, Linda Goldbloom, was sitting above the protective netting extending from behind home plate d...
Cashless Stadiums Are The Next Frontier In Fan Exploitation
The Tampa Bay Rays announced today that they would become the first major American sports team to stop accepting cash at their stadium, forcing fans to either pay via credit card or something called a “Rays card.” This shift is roughly coterminous with their recent decision to eliminate 5,000 of the...
Well, The Phoenix Suns Arena Financing Vote Got Weirder Than You Can Possibly Imagine
By a vote of 6-2, the Phoenix City Council approved public funding for renovations to the Suns’ arena and a lease that will keep them in town through 2037. The negotiations over the arena deal were short, shady, and resulted in the Suns getting one of the cushiest deals in recent times. And, because...
They Blew Up The Bradley Center
The Bradley Center, home to the Milwaukee Bucks for 30 years, as well as Marquette hoops and the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, was partially imploded Sunday morning, as workers detonated charges to bring down the roof. It wasn’t a full demolition, as the arena is too close to nearby buildings (including...
Royals Employees Were The Ones Playing Mario Kart On The Kauffman Stadium Jumbotron
The Kansas City Chiefs host the Indianapolis Colts in this weekend’s playoff matchup, so Kansas City’s KCTV5 sent a helicopter out to get aerial shots of the city’s football stadium before the game. What the cameras ended up seeing was much better than shots of a 50-year-old stadium could have ever ...
The Biggest Backer Of A New D.C. Stadium For Dan Snyder Appears To Be In Some Serious Shit
A massive majority of D.C. residents want to give Dan Snyder nothing, save their middle finger. But a few of the most powerful folks around town have been conspiring for some time behind closed doors to refute the will of the people and give the Skins owner choice public lands for a new stadium. A k...
Cubs Owners Discussed Moving Team Out Of Chicago During Beef With Mayor
In the nine years since Monopoly-man-come-to-life Joe Ricketts and his cartoonishly wealthy progeny purchased the Chicago Cubs from the Tribune Company, the Ricketts dynasty—publicly represented by 55-year-old investment banker and public transit enthusiast Tom—have found themselves in repeated disa...