Guyism » stadiums

Stadiums at night: 25 beautiful cathedrals of sport

Douglas Charles — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:00:28 +0000

Since we crank out so many stories each week some really good ones get lost in the cracks. And since so many new people visit Guyism every day (thank you), we thought we’d start taking some time on the weekends to share some classics that many of our newer readers may have missed.

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There’s something about a sports stadium. We’re nostalgic for the old ones (Wrigley Field, Fenway Park). We get excited at the prospect of a new one (Meadowlands Stadium, Yankee Stadium). We even try to replicate old stadiums with new ones (Camden Yards, Busch Stadium). Stadiums when done right can be both practical as well as aesthetic beauties and stadiums really look their best when whoever is in charge of them puts care into how they are illuminated at night. The people in charge of these 25 stadiums know exactly what they are doing.

Allianz Arena

The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern München and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005/06 season. (Note: This is the only stadium I have seen that changes colors at night. Click here to see what I mean. Truly spectacular.)

American Airlines Arena

The American Airlines Arena is a sports and entertainment arena located in Downtown Miami, Florida. It is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. The arena is known for its unusual scoreboard, which changes colors depending on the atmosphere.

Amsterdam Arena

Amsterdam Arena is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The stadium is the home of the association football club AFC Ajax. Every year the dance event Sensation is held in the stadium. The stadium was also the home of the American football team Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe.

ANZ Stadium

Stadium Australia, currently known as ANZ Stadium due to naming rights, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush Bay. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to simply as the “Olympic Stadium”, was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built. The National Rugby League is the most regular tenant of the stadium, while Rugby Union internationals, soccer internationals and Australian Football are all played there as well.

AT&T Park

AT&T Park is home to the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. The park also hosts the Emerald Bowl, a college football bowl game, every year. The park was home to the XFL’s San Francisco Demons in 2001, was the home of the East-West Shrine Game (until 2006) and was recently the home stadium of the California Redwoods of the United Football League.

Beijing National Stadium

Beijing National Stadium, also known as the National Stadium, or the Bird’s Nest, is a stadium in Beijing, China. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The stadium has not found significant use since the Olympics, yet despite the lack of significant events, the stadium draws 20,000 to 30,000 people a day, as recently it has been converted to a snow theme park.

Cape Town Stadium

The Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa is a newly built stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the planning stage it was known as the Green Point Stadium, which was the name of the previous stadium on the site. It will host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final during the World Cup.

Cowboys Stadium

Cowboys Stadium is a domed stadium with a retractable roof in Arlington, Texas. It serves as the home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys. The stadium is the largest domed stadium in the world, has the world’s largest column-free interior and the largest high definition video screen. This stadium will host Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

Donbass Arena

Donbass Arena is a natural grass stadium in Donetsk, Ukraine. It will host FC Shakhtar Donetsk matches as well as some matches in Euro 2012. It meets the requirements for an UEFA Elite 5-star Stadium rating.

Heinz Field

Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams. Attendance for the 65,050 seat stadium has sold out for every Steelers home game, a streak which dates back to 1972.

HSH Nordbank Arena

HSH Nordbank Arena is the municipal stadium of Hamburg, Germany. It is the home ground of the Hamburger SV football team and was one of the 12 stadiums used in the 2006 Football World Cup. Many locals still refer to the stadium by its former name, AOL Arena. Starting July 1, 2010 it will be called the “Imtech Arena”.

Kingston Communications Stadium

The Kingston Communications Stadium, often shortened to KC Stadium or just the KC, is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull (Hull), England. The stadium accommodates fans of its two tenants, association football club Hull City A.F.C. and rugby league football club Hull FC.

Lanxess Arena

The Lanxess Arena is an indoor arena in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is primarily used by Kölner Haie (ice hockey), by VfL Gummersbach (team handball). World Wrestling Entertainment is a regular at the Lanxess Arena and the Ultimate Fighting Championships held UFC 99 at the arena, the first time the UFC visited Germany.

Ljudski vrt stadium

The Ljudski vrt stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. The stadium is the home ground of football club NK Maribor. Beside being the home ground of NK Maribor, the stadium also was the main venue for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifications.

The O2 Arena

The O2 arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, United Kingdom. The O2 Arena has been crowned the World’s Busiest Arena, hosting everything from the upcoming the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as well as boxing, basketball, gymnastics, ice hockey, tennis, the UFC, and WWE, yet it has no permanent sporting tenants.

PNC Park

PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (nearby the aforementioned Heinz Field). It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city’s Major League Baseball franchise. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country.

Poljud Stadium

Poljud is a football stadium in the Croatian city of Split. It is the home of HNK Hajduk Split, one of the top football teams in the country. The stadium was built as major sports centre for the 1979 Mediterranean Games.

San Siro

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as simply San Siro because of its location, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It is the home of AC Milan and Football Club Internazionale Milano (Inter). It has also been used for the 2001, 1970 and 1965 UEFA Champions League finals.

Stade Auguste Delaune II

Stade Auguste-Delaune II is a multi-use stadium in Reims, France. The stadium opened in 2008 and is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of Stade Reims.

Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium is a multiple-use stadium in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium is the home of the National Football League’s Houston Texans, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the Texas Bowl. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004 and WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009.

Rogers Centre

Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, the site of the annual International Bowl American college football bowl game, and the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills’ second playing venue.

Staples Center

Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The arena serves as the home of two NBA franchises, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Louisiana Superdome

The Louisiana Superdome – often informally known as the Superdome – is a sports and exhibition facility located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Superdome is home to the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and the NCAA’s Tulane University football team. It has been chosen to host Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013. In 2005, the Superdome came to international attention when it housed thousands of people seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina.

Thomond Park

Thomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants.

Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium (or simply Wembley) is a football stadium located in Wembley, northwest London, which opened in 2007 on the site of the old Wembley stadium. The 90,000 capacity venue is second largest stadium in Europe, and serves as England’s national stadium. In 2012 it will also host the football finals of the London Olympics. The stadium is also an annual regular season venue for the National Football League’s International Series, the first such venue outside North America.

(Bios for each stadium courtesy Wikipedia)

Interlude: Elevated

Douglas Charles — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:30:00 +0000

NFL: Eagles elevate Vick to 53-man roster, cut Baskett
NFL: League investigates Mangini’s role in Favre report
NFL: Sod ripped up at Soldier Field before home opener
NBA: Talks could settle lawsuits against Heat’s Wade
NBA: Heat basketball staff take pay cuts to avoid layoffs
NBA: With labor talks stalled, NBA referees to meet
TRACK: Bolt says long jump “five years away”
BOXING: Freddie Roach denies steroid use by Manny Pacquiao
MLB: Yankees to cut ticket prices in 2010

on 205th recommends…

Top 10 overexposed stadium audio moments

Douglas Charles — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:30:00 +0000

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool.com

One of the ways in which modern life has made us soft is that we have so much more control of what we watch and listen to. When I was growing up, in a time before cable and digital music, there was a certain amount of endurance involved in the radio or television. If you didn’t like a show or song, you were much more likely to just grit your teeth and get through it.

But not now. We skip past anything that doesn’t appeal…except, of course, when we can’t, because there’s no control available to us. Instead, we bitch and whine about how much we can’t stand these songs or commercials. But hey — it makes for a good list, right?

10) The “Jump” intro by Van Halen. Memo to NBA stadium personnel: it is not a federal law that you have to play this before every jump ball. Honestly, House of Pain’s “Jump Around” will work. You can even use Kris Kross, or the Pointer Sisters, or even, I don’t know, let the damn play happen without musical accoutrement. We won’t deport you or nothing.

9) “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen. I realize that the Boss sounds like good time party music, but some of us are actually listening to the actual lyrics. “Days” is about “time slipping away, and leaving you with nothing.” I’m just trying to watch a game here, not contemplate my own death.

8) “Tequila” by The Champs. Does anyone listen to this song without thinking of Pee Wee Herman? And, thanks to his movie-watching habits, does anyone think of Pee Wee Herman without thinking of Pee Wee’s Herman? No, I didn’t think so. Let’s just play something else, OK?

7) “Charge”, traditional bugle call. Unless we’re taking the field in an Artestian melee of fans against opponents (and yes, please, do — the blog traffic would be phenomenal), this really isn’t helping much. The fact that it will be repeated until the stadium sound man thinks we’re excited enough isn’t helping matters. There are no more children at games, thanks to the crazed prices; so let’s stop playing childish things.

6) “Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men. Speaking of the end of children’s music, this is more war crime than song. Let’s just pray that it ends in our lifetime.

5) “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ‘N Roses. Your home team’s exercise in welfare for millionaires (also known as a stadium) is is not a jungle. No one is going to see spectacular wildlife, get eaten alive by insects, or have their morals corrupted in a Conradian nightmare of moral relativism. What’s going to happen there is that they are going to get paid, and you are going to do the paying. Not really jungle-esque. Besides, if we all stop playing this song, maybe Axl Rose will stop trying to make more music.

4) “All Star” by Smash Mouth. Should we really blame the musicians when a song is played to death and beyond? After all, it’s not like they made the people who made, well, just about every damn movie made in the last five years use this soul-free mind-number. But on the other hand, they did make the damn thing, and I’m pretty sure they are cashing the checks. So screw ‘em.

Oh, and if you think that’s cold comfort for the million times you’ve heard this thing, consider that their souls will be tortured eternally in a special circle of Hell where the truly experimental stuff will be done. It’s thoughts like this one that will help you get through life.

3) “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)” by Bill Conti. I don’t even really like the damn “Rocky” movies, being, you know, an actual mature adult with a spine that contracts when in close proximity to wooden dialogue and steroid-influenced acting. But I do know this: no team that doesn’t call Philadelphia home should go anywhere near this schlock-fest. We don’t enjoy it ironically, or as a matter of unintentional comedy; we hear it and want to fight someone. Someone bigger than us, and definitely wealthier. And that goes for other team’s fan bases, too. Find something else, you freaking thieves. (And yes, Boston, we are talking about you. Again.)

2) “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang. Ah, the ’70s. Will they ever go the hell away? Not until we rise up as a unified force and end the tyranny of co-opted funk with a paramilitary action against the people who can’t clap on the 1. (If we must get retro funky, can’t we at least do it with James Brown, Rick James or George Clinton?)

1) “We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions” by Queen. The real shame of this is that it’s actually a great beat and, eventually, guitar solo. (Not that you’ll ever hear the damn solo; it’s about the Boom-Boom-Bah, Boom-Boom-Bah.) But the lyric is something that every embarrassment has to inflict on the world, and they are usually drunk off their ass, since you don’t usually hear this one until late in the game. It’s also utterly generic: you can hear it at every stadium in the land, from the minor leagues and college on up. Honestly, pick a song and make it your own. It’s not that hard.

Feel free to add your own in the comments, of course…

Interlude: Soft, pansy

Douglas Charles — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:30:00 +0000

NFL: Rodney Harrison: NFL ‘is turning into a soft, pansy sport’
NFL: Favre given deadline by Vikings coach Brad Childress
NFL: Eagles owe city $8 million in suite revenue
NFL: Jerry Jones considering Pacman Jones return
NFL: Cowboys have no interest in bringing back Pacman
UFL: Ex-First Boston CEO to run UFL’s NY football team
MLB: Man charged in Adenhart’s death pleads not guilty
MLB: Tiger Stadium demolition to resume
BKB: CBA signs 15-year deal in bid to boost popularity

on 205th recommends…

Interlude: Yes!!

Douglas Charles — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:30:00 +0000

MMA: Strikeforce announces return of Gina Carano
UFC: How to make Fedor in UFC 2009: Undisputed
NFL: Ochocinco on ’08 offseason: ‘I didn’t lift one weight, run one route’
NFL: Sources say Brett Favre had surgery to repair shoulder
MLB: Alex Rios apologizes for profanity-laced YouTube tirade
MLB: La Russa, Twitter settle lawsuit over fake account
MLB: Judge orders stop to demolition of Tiger Stadium
NHL: Old home of Buffalo Sabres falls to wrecking ball
BOXING: George Foreman III wins pro debut by KO

on 205th recommends…

Interlude: Awesome

Douglas Charles — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:30:00 +0000

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson has words of warning for Danica
NFL: Fake Ben Roethlisberger Facebook page says he has skin cancer
NFL: Ex-QB Leaf indicted on drug, burglary charges
NFL: Cowboys show off giant TV in $1.1 billion stadium
NBA: Bobcats officially up for sale
NBA: Pistons’ Hamilton sues ex-business manager for theft
MLB: Selig says Ramirez is proof drug tests work
WWE: WWE distributing images of Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke

on 205th recommends…

Interlude: Duck, woman!

Douglas Charles — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:30:00 +0000

NHL: Detroit police: Chair swung by Ducks GM hit woman
NHL: Return to Winnipeg mentioned for Coyotes
NFL: Jon Gruden joins MNF, replacing Tony Kornheiser
NFL: Bills’ McIntyre arrested for exposing sexual organs
NBA: Newark mayor suggests Nets could be up for sale, moved
NBA: Nets’ arena in Brooklyn set for ground breaking
MLB: Twins’ new ballpark will feature rooftop seats
MLB: Cubs’ offer won’t be voted on next week
HORSE RACING: Attendance plummets at dry Preakness infield

on 205th recommends…

Interlude: Fancy

Douglas Charles — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:30:00 +0000

NFL: New venue to be called Cowboys Stadium
NFL: Eagles coach’s oldest son returns to prison
NFL: Dungy: Vick wants second chance when he’s out of prison
CFB: Lawsuit against Reggie Bush inches forward
NBA: Kenyon Martin doesn’t think Cuban’s apology sincere
MLB: Mets streaker charged; told police it was a bet
MMA: Say goodbye to MMA in Montreal
BOXING: Kimbo Slice will make his pro boxing debut this summer
TENNIS: Kournikova makes move from model to motivator

on 205th recommends…

Time lapse video of the FedEx Forum is pretty cool

Douglas Charles — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Twelve hours at the FedEx Forum in Memphis condensed into two minutes is quite interesting and gives me an idea for the next time I have sex. When she complains that it didn’t last long I will just tell her it was the time lapse version…

Interlude: Hank Hill approves

Douglas Charles — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:30:00 +0000

NASCAR: Owner Roush promotes propane power for cars
AWA: Wrestling legend Verne Gagne suspect in death investigation
NBA: Wade sues estranged wife, attorneys
NBA: Rick Adelman: Tracy McGrady mishandled injury disclosure
NBA: LeBron: Dunk contest needs to be ‘cleaned up’
UFC: BJ Penn has only begun to complain
UFC: Reportedly UFC 97 in Montreal is definitely on
MLB: Shea Stadium completely demolished after 44 years
GOLF: Teed off man uses golf club in clash over manners

on 205th recommends…

Time lapse of the Winter Classic rink being built

Douglas Charles — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:30:00 +0000

On January 1st the NHL is hosting a game of professional ice hockey outdoors in a baseball stadium, Wrigley field to be exact. While I know there are actual hockey fans who are excited about this event taking place, I think I got a bigger buzz out of watching the rink being built in time lapse photography form than the buzz I will be get once the game itself actually takes place…

H/T: With Leather

The RCA Dome just saw Aubrey O’Day

Douglas Charles — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000

The other day the good ole former home of the Indianapolis Colts, the RCA Dome, was set about being taken down, beginning with the deflation of the roof.

In other news, Mike Ditka is still going strong.

Underground soccer stadium being built

Douglas Charles — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Qatar, like the rest of the Middle East, is hotter than a wool sock stuffed with yellow fever. So in a way, it makes sense that the tiny nation’s capital city, Doha, is building “The Wall,” the world’s first underground stadium. PLUS, IT’S REALLY COOL LOOKING!

Interlude: Butts

Douglas Charles — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:30:00 +0000

SOCCER: Argentine coach paying fines to smoke on bench
CFB: Team dumps logo near buttocks after 70-0 loss
CFB: Virginia QB admits drug, alcohol use on probation
NFL: CBS sues NFL Players over fantasy football
NFL: Indiana touts ‘Peyton Manning Bonds’ as fans boo Colts’ stadium deal
LPGA: LPGA backs down from English-only policy
TRACK: High jumper accused of drinking vodka at meet
NBA: Olajuwon, Ewing, Riley lead new class of inductees into Hall of Fame

on 205th recommends: HOTTIES IN CLEATS