Day two of Stadiumpalooza!
The Rangers game last night was fine, if a bit slow.
Globe Life Park is horrible: probably the second or third worst fan experience park I've been to, after US Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Both are concrete monoliths, though at least Globe Life Park is (deceptively) attractive from the outside. Both are steep and huge - even with a front row seat in the cheap seats, I literally couldn't follow the action - I had to watch the fielders move to figure out where the ball had been hit. The railing and cables obstructed the view, the seats were small and uncomfortable, the concessions suck, and it's in Arlington, a soulless, charmless suburb convenient to nothing.
Since I could barely see the game, I walked the entire stadium, including the long, hard, tall, cold concrete ramps that are angled rather than circular, but otherwise very reminiscent of US Cellular Field. According to Wikipedia, the upper deck is one of the highest in baseball. They also note that it's one of the so-called "retro" parks; if so, it's the worst example of one I've been in.
With the good retro parks, and even some old-school parks, the main level concourse has great, close views to the field. Not so in Arlington: only the outfield concourse, conveniently located in the next zip code, looks onto the field. And they allow smoking throughout the outer edges of the concourse, so it smells like a nasty bar, even outside.
Oh, and, I'm sitting at DFW, one of my least favorite airports on the planet. Getting through the security checkpoint, with exactly four people in front of me, took a full ten minutes. Sure, not that long on balance, but c'mon: there were only four people in front of me. (And the slowness was all TSA, not the passengers.) At least the people are pleasant.
But enough complaining: I'm on an eleven day tour of ballparks in nine different cities: life is GREAT!
No comments:
Post a Comment