A few days ago, I asked on my poll question whether Fenway Park was a mecca or a shithole. Six responses so far - well, actually, five if you don't include my own - and it appears that public sentiment regards Fenway as a historic field of dreams.
(And by the way, I'm quickly learning that audience participation is not the strong suit of my extremely small readership. I'm fairly certain I have more than 5 readers, but apparently, everyone else's mouse must be on the fritz. Send me your names and addresses and I'll ask my pal Jess, Schwartz IT guru, to look into the problem.)
Anyway, back to Fenway. People like it. They love it. They want more of it.
God bless you all, because I am the contrarian. It is I who registered the one and only vote against. And you know why?
Because Fenway Park is a dump that needs to be torn down yesterday, if not sooner. I believe most people would agree if they were to be honest, but because Bostonians are so resistant to change, we fall back on history, tradition and emotion to rationalize the irrational.
The last time I was at Fenway, getting up the ramp and to my seat took more than 10 minutes. I'm not talking about 10 minutes from the time I entered the park, walked to the other side and found my seat. I am talking about approaching the ramp and immersing myself in a bottleneck of human flesh because the corridor and ramp were both entirely too small to allow for a normal flow of people. 10 minutes to walk about 50 feet.
I'm thinking of a sports venue that was built nearly 100 years ago. It was constructed using technology and materials from a century ago. There is zero leg room, a healthy percentage of seats face the wrong way, there are seats where the view is obstructed by giant polls and by any definition, it's not equipped to handle the amount of people that attend each game. Oh, and it has a never dissipating stench.
Fenway? Nope. The old Boston Garden. If memory serves, I don't recall a SAVE THE GAHDEN campaign. That place was a smelly old dump whose replacement was long overdue. As is Fenway's.
So why the fervor to keep things the way they are? Honestly, I really don't know. Perhaps because it's small and the seats are close to the field? Well, so were the seats in the Garden. As well as old Foxboro Stadium. In fact, the seats at the old football stadium were probably closer to the field than anywhere else, but that is no reason to put up with the considerable downside. My seats at Gillette Stadium are significantly farther from the action, but it's a superior venue in every way.
History then? Nostalgia? Tradition? Please correct me if I am mistaken, but didn't the Sox endure an 86 year curse? Even if you don't believe in curses, the fact is that between 1918 and 2004, there was considerably more heartbreak than triumph at Fenway. The real question is, why wouldn't we want a new stadium to erase all of the painful memories of the past? And if you look beyond the heartbreak factor, consider:
The Montreal Canadiens are the signature franchise of the NHL. They have won 24 championships since beginning play in 1909. In 1996, they moved from the historic Forum - a stadium that was rich in nostalgia, tradition and was 72 years old at the time - to a modern arena.
The New York Yankees are the signature franchise of major league baseball. They have won 26 championships since beginning play in 1913. Next year, they are moving from Yankee Stadium - a place that is rich in nostalgia, tradition and will be 85 years old at the time - to a modern venue.
I've been fortunate enough to visit some of the newer stadiums, such as Camden Yards in Baltimore, AT&T Park (formerly Pac Bell) in San Francisco and Miller Park in Milwaukee -- and I'd rather watch a game at these places than Fenway. While they don't have the rich tradition of some older stadiums, they are clean, modern, comfortable and fan-friendly. I don't mean to be patronizing, but am I the only person who considers this important, especially for sky-high ticket prices?
If you haven't yet visited a newer stadium, give it a shot. Your reaction will likely be similar to mine when I first stepped foot in Camden Yards: "Wow...this is what it's like to actually be comfortable at a game." If you are completely honest with yourself, you'll have to at least consider that maybe upgrading isn't a bad thing.
Fenway Park is almost 100 years old. It is a wonderful old relic. But, it's a relic and it's time to be replaced. Red Sox nation is supposedly the most rabid fan base in all of sports. Don't we deserve better?
I know what you're thinking - and you're right. She has my nose and Jenn's sense of God.
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