If there's going to be a best, there has to be a worst as well.
My two counterparts have visited quite a few baseball parks through the years in their many travels. But, Tim didn't have to go very far to find one of his least favorite- The Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Granted, by the time Tim witnessed contests there, she was an old girl...but her charm was outweighed by her crappiness. The Mistake by the Lake saw her last Indians game in 1993, and was built a mere 62 years prior to that. Both the Browns and Indians called her home...and she was even depicted in a movie by County Stadium in Milwaukee.
The Muni saw one World Championship and three additional American League Champs, but is probably remembered more for the Curse of Rocky Colovito and the 30+ year slump that ended the stadium's time above the Erie. The structure was put out of its misery in November of 1996. It wasn't a great place to watch games, but at least a lot of people could be uncomfortable there- She initially seated 78,000, but in her later days, she only sat just over 74,400...not that you'd need that many seats.
J Money's least favorite venue out of the 40 he's visited is my hometown's first professional football stadium, the Hoosier Dome. This venue, born in the middle 80's during the lousiest of all lousy eras for stadium design was later re-named the RCA Dome. This multi-purpose facility became a lynchpin for the city's convention traffic and also served as a Final Four venue multiple times for both NCAA men's and women's basketball. The best moment of the stadium's run, many say, was the Colts victory over Pats on the way to the Super Bowl in 2007...I'd argue Purdue's surprise win over Notre Dame back in '84 (which I attended) was her most glorious moment. Her capacity was right around 60,000 for a football game and right around 50,000 for basketball. While J thought the sightlines were lousy for the Dome, I found it to be completely bland- neither bad nor good...Which is why so many stadiums from this era have already gone the way of parachute pants and glacier glasses.
The worst venue I've ever visited, far and away, would have to be the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. My hate affair with this place began when I first took my seats and realized I couldn't see the other sideline while sitting in my chair. My feelings only grew as I went to the men's room and took a leak on a black rock wall that they called the toilet. I was lucky enough to visit the stadium in the year that the Bears played there...so I saw her at her best; and she still smelled like the manure from UI's school of agriculture (which fittingly filled my nostrils for the entire contest. Her cost was a mere $1.7 million to be built back in 1923. Sadly, she still hosts Ron Zooks Illini each week and 71,000 can come to witness UI play there...too bad only about 50,000 will be able to see all of the action on the field. She is currently under renovation. Thank goodness.
(This is the intro to the Boiled Sports Best Sports Venue Series)
