Durham Bulls Game

About 5 years ago we went to the Durham Bulls game in their new (now 10 years old) stadium. I had been to the old stadium they played in w/ the metal bleachers and authentic old time® atmosphere, but after seeing the new Durham Bulls Athletic Park I knew the old parks had to go if a team wanted to attract a parent club and draw fans. I liked Greensboro's World War Memorial Stadium, but that day exposed the fatal design flaw in that stadium. The concourse w/ your hot dog and beer vendors has to go around the upper part of the stadium. This accomplishes two things. One, the crowd can sit right on top of the field. Two, their can be modern facilities like locker rooms w/ all the trimmings built underneath the seats. The old WW Memorial Stadium has a concourse that runs right along the playing field. The fans were missing out and the team was suffering in the less than stellar working conditions.

So anyway, the family went to the Bulls game yesterday, and I had to compare the stadium to the new Grasshoppers place. The Bulls stadium is bigger and has a better variety of vendors. They also have section of seats out in right field. I like actual seats in the outfield. Even if a fence blocks what's happening at the closest point to you, it's still a good perspective on most of the action. The major drawback was I paid $5 for a 24 oz Pabst Blue Ribbon. You should get a 6 pack of Pabst for $5 even at a ball game. I was so outraged that I only went back one more time. As for the Hoppers stadium, it's not that much smaller than the Bulls stadium, but it feels a lot cozier. The seats are at a steeper angle, and to get back to complaining about concourses the Bulls vendor concourse feeds to another concourse that separates the $8 tickets from the $7 tickets. Maybe things are a lot better down in the $8 seats, but it felt a lot further away than the Grasshoppers game. I'll have to see how the Greensboro stadium looks in 10 years, but right now it is holding up well against the DBAP.