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OK if you didn't know, I was gone for 2 weeks on a road trip up to the northeast. I was in PA, NJ, and NY (for a day).
On the way back, we were gonna go through Pittsburgh, Indy, and of course St. Louis so I decided to stop and stare at each stadium, starting with MetLife in New Jersey. Keep in mind, I didn't go in the stadiums, just outside. I rarely get a chance to go even to NFL cities, let alone their stadiums so I just took this opportunity. Plus, we had time to kill.
Metlife Stadium: Holy shit, this place is huge. This stadium is just before NYC (you can see the skyline from the parking lot). It's next to the Izod Center and Giants Training Facility. The stadium itself looks like a spaceship...just layers of metal and steel. Very high tech looking. Not much else to say.
Heinz Field: Sitting right on the banks of the Ohio River, the home of the Steelers was a lot more aesthetically pleasing than I anticipated. The way it's designed it there's a park right b/w the stadium and the river, where you can jog/bike/walk/have a picnic on a lawn, etc. Lots of greenery and shrubbery. Plus it overlooks downtown Pittsburgh. It's a very beautiful sports complex, as PNC Park (Pirates baseball) is walking distance from Heinz. In fact, there was a Pirates game going on when I went.
Lucas Oil: If MetLife was huge, Lucas Oil is gigantic. The stadium is easily accessible from I-70. Literally, you just exit and the stadium is right in front of you. Lucas Oil is in the middle of an industrial area, so not that much greenery, just surrounding the stadium proximity, just some trees . This was the only stadium that had an attached Pro Shop that was open year-round. I even went in it (wearing my James Laurinaitis shirt..ha). Lots of selection of gear.
And last but not least....
Edward Jones Dome: Man, compared to those other 3 the Dome is a dump. It looked run down and sweating. The good news is like Lucas Oil, it was easily accessible from I-70 and all the major interstates (70, 64, 44, 55) are right there as well. No greenery, except for a little mini park across the ticket office. The key thing I need to say here is I didn't feel safe when out of my car. There were shady people all over. Now, on game days I'm sure it's not like that. But if I were to leave the confines of the Ed on Sunday...IDK. Pro Shop is only open 8 times a year on game days. That was also disappointing (thus, I went to 3 different malls to find Rams gear and found a Tavon Austin jersey half off...score!). Anywho...my overall impression of the Ed was not very good. But I do still have plans to attend a game this season.
If the Rams do get a new stadium, they need to do something like the Colts have. A huge stadium near an industrial park, with the Mississippi running near it. Make it a complex...have a lawn with lots of greenery on one side. Plus a year round Pro Shop (maybe shorter hours during the summer, but currently as is on game days only is just too disappointing).
The could also take a book from the Steelers, and have it in a location where you can see downtown STL from across the Mississippi. Although I wouldn't know WHERE that could actually be, just throwing that out as an idea.
So that concludes my stadium tour of the northeast. Oh and I'm back.
On the way back, we were gonna go through Pittsburgh, Indy, and of course St. Louis so I decided to stop and stare at each stadium, starting with MetLife in New Jersey. Keep in mind, I didn't go in the stadiums, just outside. I rarely get a chance to go even to NFL cities, let alone their stadiums so I just took this opportunity. Plus, we had time to kill.
Metlife Stadium: Holy shit, this place is huge. This stadium is just before NYC (you can see the skyline from the parking lot). It's next to the Izod Center and Giants Training Facility. The stadium itself looks like a spaceship...just layers of metal and steel. Very high tech looking. Not much else to say.
Heinz Field: Sitting right on the banks of the Ohio River, the home of the Steelers was a lot more aesthetically pleasing than I anticipated. The way it's designed it there's a park right b/w the stadium and the river, where you can jog/bike/walk/have a picnic on a lawn, etc. Lots of greenery and shrubbery. Plus it overlooks downtown Pittsburgh. It's a very beautiful sports complex, as PNC Park (Pirates baseball) is walking distance from Heinz. In fact, there was a Pirates game going on when I went.
Lucas Oil: If MetLife was huge, Lucas Oil is gigantic. The stadium is easily accessible from I-70. Literally, you just exit and the stadium is right in front of you. Lucas Oil is in the middle of an industrial area, so not that much greenery, just surrounding the stadium proximity, just some trees . This was the only stadium that had an attached Pro Shop that was open year-round. I even went in it (wearing my James Laurinaitis shirt..ha). Lots of selection of gear.
And last but not least....
Edward Jones Dome: Man, compared to those other 3 the Dome is a dump. It looked run down and sweating. The good news is like Lucas Oil, it was easily accessible from I-70 and all the major interstates (70, 64, 44, 55) are right there as well. No greenery, except for a little mini park across the ticket office. The key thing I need to say here is I didn't feel safe when out of my car. There were shady people all over. Now, on game days I'm sure it's not like that. But if I were to leave the confines of the Ed on Sunday...IDK. Pro Shop is only open 8 times a year on game days. That was also disappointing (thus, I went to 3 different malls to find Rams gear and found a Tavon Austin jersey half off...score!). Anywho...my overall impression of the Ed was not very good. But I do still have plans to attend a game this season.
If the Rams do get a new stadium, they need to do something like the Colts have. A huge stadium near an industrial park, with the Mississippi running near it. Make it a complex...have a lawn with lots of greenery on one side. Plus a year round Pro Shop (maybe shorter hours during the summer, but currently as is on game days only is just too disappointing).
The could also take a book from the Steelers, and have it in a location where you can see downtown STL from across the Mississippi. Although I wouldn't know WHERE that could actually be, just throwing that out as an idea.
So that concludes my stadium tour of the northeast. Oh and I'm back.