BBVA Compass Stadium

 After a 2 month road trip, the Dynamo played their first home game at the new BBVA Compass Stadium. Just near the Astros' ballpark, the new downtown stadium seats 22k. Populous designed this stadium, and it cost them 95 million dollars. This is just another soccer specific stadium in the MLS, and the increasing size is worth noting. Off the top of my head, I think only New England, DC, and Seattle play in stadiums not built for soccer usage.

It also looks really cool from the outside!

New Scoreboard for the Bolts

The Lightning signed off on a new arena scoreboard at the Forum. In addition to the 42 million dollar renovations last summer, the Lightning will introduce a Jerry-World esque scoreboard for 5 million dollars. The length of the board will run along the ice, and the ends will have their own.

The system, developed by renowned industry-leader, Daktronics, will feature the largest high definition center-hung video displays in any U.S. or Canadian arena. The 28 foot high/50 foot long board will include a state-of-the-art control room, and allow for a true high definition signal with 1,296 lines of resolution.

The only other arena I know that has this is the Tulsa basketball arena, so this might be the future of scoreboards!

Read more here

Stadium prints

Some very cool prints with MLB parks and the roads surrounding. You can see them here, just sign up. They were on sale, when normally they're 40 dollars.

Unrealized Ballpark Concepts

I found a website with an extensive gallery of failed ballpark proposals. It's REALLY cool to see what could've happened, but didn't. In the 60s, Boston was planning a domed stadium. Could you imagine? But I recommend looking at all of these.

http://www.stadiumpage.com/concepts/index.html

Astrodome Down

The "Eighth Wonder of the World" is looking pretty bad these days. The first domed stadium in the world has been without a team since 1999, and it's really been on the decline. Built in 1965, it was the first stadium in the world with a roof. With no natural sunlight, the invention of astroturf also came along. This was really the first big money stadium, a Cowboy Stadium of it's day. The scoreboard cost a million dollars, and 35 million overall. The thing is, to tear it down would cost almost 100 million dollars. So the city of Houston would rather keep the eyesore open. 

All of Houston's teams have new buildings. The dome hosted the Astros and Oilers from 1965 until both teams moved in their own way. The Astros, Texans, and Rockets opened new digs in 2000, 2002, and 2003 respectively. The Houston Cougars and Dynamo played at the Cougars' Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. But the Dynamo built their new BBVA Stadium for this year, and the Cougars plan on razing Robertson Stadium, and build a new stadium in it's place.

The last time the Astrodome was really used was for Hurricane Katrina victims. But it looks like a tornado went through the dome. Here are some more sad pictures of the old dome.

http://www.chron.com/news/gallery/Astrodome-tour-41244/photo-2774936.php.

Goodbye Amway Arena

The home of the Orlando Magic from 1989 to 2010 was imploded on Sunday. They began to take down the inside last fall, and then detonated the rest of it at 7:30 in the morning Sunday. The Magic moved into the new Amway Center which might be the best arena in the US, and it hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.

But this is what you all wanted to see, the implosion video!

One guy actually got hit by debris and was injured! But there is no more eyesore arena next to the really cool one.

Stadium Report Card: Charlotte Sports Park

It's been far too long since we've had one of these.

Team: Charlotte StoneCrabs(Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training)
Location: Port Charlotte
League: Florida State League(Grapefruit League
Built: 1987(Renovated 2009)
Capacity: 7,000
My event: Spring Training Game, vs Boston Red Sox

1. Outdoor Design

I thought it was pretty bland. Along the stands, it just had an overhang with the cement look. But to be honest, it looked pretty good. I didn't know till just now that they renovated the park, and not rebuilt. Worth noting. 6/10

2. Indoor Design

The inside was pretty nice. It was simple in the stands, then a nice press box building behind the plate. The outfield had a deck running the entire length of the outfield, and there were berms in the left field corner. They had a party deck thing overlooking right field, too. 8/10

3. Prices
Pretty average, I thought. Spring training tickets were 22 dollars, but that was sitting in the actual stands. The food prices were cheaper than at the Trop, so that was nice. 7/10

4. Food
I had my favorite meal the Rays do, the chicken finger basket. They had kettle corn, pizza by the slice, tropical smoothies, and root beer floats. 8/10

5. Staff
I didn't have any problems with them! The guys behind the counter at concessions were helpful, and the lady who i bought my StoneCrabs cap from was nice 7/10

6. Cleanliness
Really clean! It was a new park, and they wanted it to look nice. 8/10

7. Parking
The only parking lot was packed when we got there. My sister, and I walked a mile down the road to get there. There was so much traffic, and only one exit to a main road. 4/10

8. Atmosphere
Sure, it was very Pro-RedSox, but what are you gonna do? They sold out the park, and it was a good atmosphere 8/10

9. Playing Surface

 

The field crew kept the infield really really nice. I did notice that the pattern from the infield didn't go to the outfield, and it didn't really even have a pattern. 7/10

10. Scoreboard

 

The scoreboard wasn't anything special. It was basically the same as the one in Dunedin. The only actual video board was one that showed player stats in right center. 4/10

67, which sounds about right. It surprised me to be honest. I didn't know what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. Sure it could be improved upon, but it was a great place to watch a game.