1000th post

so i wanted the 1000th post to be a little special, so i decided to chronicles some of the many special sporting venues i have been lucky enough to visit in my lifetime...and i am sure i will leave a few out, but here goes.

let's start with the pasttime:

Shea Stadium: my all time favorite baseball stadium. my first game was againt the astros in 1970, and i was at the last game ever at Big Shea.

Citifield. pepsi porch on a warm summers day.

Yankee Stadium...3 venues...1 game at the olde stadium in September of 1974 , a day game against the Tigers with my brother Jay, couldn't believe the monuments were on the field...........The Renovated Yankee stadium, hundreds of games, including one in the final home stand.(many opening days too with a stop at THE WEB). most memorable game was of course game 6 against the dodgers and REGGIE< REGGIE< REGGIE...3 homers....unreal, sat in the very last row of the upper tier behind home plate...was able to stand the whole game with a cold brew and just watch history unfold, also with my brother Jay at this game.....who knows, if he was still alive i might still be a yankee fan........and the new Yankee stadium, only once thus far.

Fenway Park: probably close to 50 games at this beautiful park, still spend more time looking around the venue than actually watching what's happening on the field...strongest memory though was watching BCs BU in Hockey on a friday night in January from the right field bleachers in the snow, surreal to say the least.

Wrigley Field: the friendly confines.....lucky enough to have been there once....saw the Mets rally back against Lee Smith on the strength of Hojo and DARRYL to tie in the 9th and win it in the 10th August of 1985.

Louisiana Superdome: allow me to explain.....March 1989, last weekend of spring training, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's played 2 exhibition games in the Superdome...if my memory serves me , the Giants were bargaining for a new stadium with the city of San Fran and threatening to leave the Bay Area, so they explored New Orleans and a possible destination....in an odd twist, these 2 teams would meet that October in the Earthquake Series.

Camden Yards , Olympic Stadium de Montreal, Veterans Stadium Philly, RFK Stadium D.C.

Football:

Giants Stadium: miss her already......2 most significant games were the 2001 NFC Championship Rout of the Vikings 41-0 , and I was also at the final game, a dissapointing loss to Carolina.

Shea Stadium: saw a lot of Jets games over the years, tickets were always easy to get. saw them beat the Packers to make the playoffs in 82 or 83 and was at the last Jet game against the Steelers....quite possibly the most insane sporting event i hace ever seen.

Soldier Field, the Vet , Notre Dame Stadium, Navy & Marine Corps Stadium, West Point: probably forgetting a few, but the one notable was the 100th Army Vs Navy Game down in Philly with a select group of ten...sadly a few of those in attendance are no longer with us, great memories though.

Basketball:

More college than NBA , but here goes:

Nassau Veterans Memorial Colosieum: DR J and the Nets of the ABA , did not realize how special that really was until 100 years later.

MSG: was lucky enough too see a dozen games between 1971-1975 when my father was able to get his company seats in the old Reds, Mike Riordan and Debusschere were my favorites...actually went to the final regular season game for Dave, they had a nice ceremony for him.....also got to see the Celtics in 73, Havilcek, Cowens, Jo Jo White, Heinsohn coaching, very memorable....went to a few in the Bernard King Era, he was the best, s/b in the Hall of Fame....havent been to a game in a long, long time.

NCAA's at the New Boston Garden and went to an East Regional Final down in Philly between Duke and USC , a million NIT games, Coaches verse Cancer at the garden and the Meadows, but nothing too special.

Hockey:

MSG: well, the 1994 Playoffs, every game except the Caps clincher from section 419, row F seat 16. Matteau Matteau.....saw the flying Frenchmen twice 78 & 79 and that was eye-opening....the speed and the uniforms, will never forget......saw Gretzky final game , and was there for the Jersey Retirement ceremony for Richter and Graves.

Boston Garden: Saw the Broadway Blueshirts twice in the Old Garden, including April 1st 1995 in the final days of their last season.

Montreal Forum: saw 3 or 4 games at the Forum, most memorable by far was the Canada Cup 1991 when the USA came up short against Canada.....some maniac was tossin beers into the wheel chair section, but it was still a great night....it was the beginning of the end for Gretzky and his match stick spine.....most surreal moment was with Ranger Fan Club Chanting "WE ARE....ST JOHNS's" in 1985 after Mullin and the boys beat Georgetown that afternoon to be ranked #1.

United Center Chicago: sadly i never made it to the old Chicago Stadium, but I did see a good home opener between the Blackhawks and the Red Wings in October 2000 while on business in the windy city.

Hartford Civic center: Jai Lai all afternoon, Rangers-Whalers that Night....a lethal combination.

Verizon Center in DC : chanting Nineteen Never to Caps fans was fun.


Brendan Byrne, Nassau Mosoleum, The Rock : nothing good ever happened in these arenas except the occasional visit by Jerry Garcia & the Boys.

I have also been lucky enough to attend 1 Kentucky Derby, 2 Preakness Stakes, 5 Belmont Stakes and the Breeders Cup Classic.

apologies to all the events i have forgotten , and thank You to my Readers for supporting the past 1000 posts.