ESPN ranks America's 100 most important sporting venues.

[Crazyswordsman]

ESPN Page 2 - Caple: America's 100 most important sports venues

100. Memorial Stadium (Cal)
99. Van Cortland Golf Course
98. Staples Center
97. Rickwood Field (Birmingham)
96. Neyland Stadium
95. Assembly Hall (Indiana)
94. Bill Armstrong Stadium (A cycling track at IU)
93. Coney Island
92. Midway Stadium
91. Key Arena
90. Dean Smith Center
88t. Memorial Stadium (Nebraska) and Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
87. Oakland Coliseum
86. Mitchell and Ness (some jersey store in Philly)
85. Kerland-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic
84. United Center
83. Beaver Stadium
82. Legion Field
81. Cotton Bowl
80. Thompson-Bowling Arena
79. Topps Baseball Card Company (I swear some of these things are effing ridiculous)...
78. PNC Park
77. Ben Hill Grifin Stadium (The Swamp)
76. AT&T Park
75. Iditarod course
74. Field of Dreams (in Dyersville, IA)
73. LA Memorial Sports Arena
72. Texas Stadium
71. Franklin Field
70. Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory
69. Pipeline (Honolulu)
68. Candlestick Park
67. Bethpage Black (another golf course)
66. Conseco Fieldhouse
65. Raymond James Stadium
64. LA Forum
63. Tiger Stadium (LSU)
62. Hinkle Fieldhouse
61. Joe Louis Arena
60. Eddie Robinson Stadium
59. Hayward Field
58. Cameron Indoor
57. TPC Sawgrass (another golf course)
56. Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (Is this the place where the whole roid controversy started....)
55. Ratliff Stadium
54. Herb Brooks Arena (this was where the Miracle on Ice was)
53. Vero Beach Training Facility (Dodgertown)
52. Fleet Arena (TD Banknorth Garden)
51. Rosenblatt Stadium (just another way for ESPN to confuse people into thinking college baseball is incredibly popular when attendance at the CWS goes down and ratings do the same)
50. Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
49. The Kronk Gym (in Detroit)
48. Arthur Ashe Stadium (US Tennis Open)
47. Busch Stadium III
46. Bank of America Stadium
45. Lamade Stadium (this is where the LLWS is played)
44. Pauley Pavillion
43. Yale Bowl
42. National Basketball Hall of Fame
41. Mall of America (no comment...)
40. Dodger Stadium
39. Gold's Gym (shut up...)
38. The Spectrum (Philly)
37. Saratoga Race Track
36. Pro Football Hall of Fame
35. Durham Athletic Park (how this beat out Cameron Indoor is beyond me)
34. The Palestra
33. Autzen Stadium
32. Allen Fieldhouse
31. Rucker Park
30. Metrodome
29. Shea Stadium
27t. Michigan Stadium and Ohio Stadium
26. NCAA headquarters (aka the Pac-10 fan club)
25. Boston Marathon course
24. Talladega Superspeedway (notice how they put all the Nascar tracks in the top 25....more shameless promotion of a sport that isn't popular in the cities. In New York, we say if we want to watch car racing we'll just drive out on the Cross Island Parkway)
23. Soldier Field
22. SI HQ
21. Pebble Beach Golf Links
20. Daytona International Speedway ("International." Try turning this into an F-1 course, then we'll talk).
19. Lambeau Field
18. Notre Dame Stadium (OMG ITS TEH FOUR HORSEMEN!!! ND IS GOOD EVERY YEAR BECUZ THEY WER GUD IN TEH 40S!!!)
17. Louisiana Superdome
16. Caesar's Palace (Gambling isn't a sport. It's what we do when we get pissed off).
15. The US Olympic Training Center
14. Churchill Downs
13. Wrigley Field
12. LA Coliseum
11. Fenway Park
10. ESPN HQ (MORE self promotion)
9. The Rose Bowl (Like ND fans, you need to stop wailing in Ye Olde Big Tenne and Paque Tenne matchupe. Get some quailty in there because we're sick of SC blowouts).
8. Nike HQ (Once again, I must ask how much Nike payed off ESPN)
7. Indianapolis Motor Speedway
6. National Baseball Hall of Fame
5. Augusta National Golf Club
4. The Astrodome
3. Madison Square Garden
2. Camden Yards
1. Yankee Stadium.

I still wonder why the hell they put in these stupid clothing stores and gyms and yet left out places like Sanford Stadium, Homewood Field, the Carrier Dome, Rupp Arena, Darryl K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, Kyle Field, Joe Louis Arena, RFK Stadium, Heinz Field (or ANYTHING related to the Steelers). Did someone pay ESPN to do this? -CSM

[Lurch1982]

No dome should be on there, especially the Astrodome. That was awful in multiple sports.

Also:
Caesar's Palace = Boxing.
Mitchell and Ness = Invented the throwback jersey. Really helpful in preserving jersey history
Daytona: IRL ran a few test runs to see if they'd go back. Not their fault open wheel doesn't want to go there
Considering how dominant Nike is in sports as a whole, their HQ complex is pretty important

Wrigley and Fenway should be automatically in the top 5, and certainly ahead of any baseball stadium not named Yankee (I'd put them before Yankee, but I could see where an argument could be made for Yankee). But certainly not behind Camden or the Astrodome.

All the places you listed are either generic, have no historical significance, or are outright dumps (RFK).

[LinkManDX]

The Spectrum? Seriously?

That's where the minor league teams play/they hold concerts.

[Crazyswordsman]

^^RFK is where the Redskins had most of their history (and by history I mean Super Bowls).

Lurch, what would you put down?

And Sanford Stadium isn't generic at all. It has the iconic hedges and the mausoleum for mascots. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

It doesn't take away from the plain and simple fact that RFK is a total dump and the Redskins are an awful franchise. Their historical footnote is they were the last NFL team to integrate because they were run by an idiotic micromanaging bigot. Granted, if you put Shea on the list (Also a dump), I guess your standards are low.

My list would only have like 10 places on it, and about half would be baseball related.

If Kauffman's waterworks don't get in, Sanford's shrubberies don't get in.

[ShyGuy727]

Needs more Crosley Field.

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

86. Mitchell and Ness (some jersey store in Philly)

lol "some jersey store"

51. Rosenblatt Stadium (just another way for ESPN to confuse people into thinking college baseball is incredibly popular when attendance at the CWS goes down and ratings do the same)

That's a filthy lie. Quit slinging ****. ESPN, ESPN2 Score Best-Ever Marks With College World Series - 6/28/2008 6:19:00 AM - Multichannel News

20. Daytona International Speedway ("International." Try turning this into an F-1 course, then we'll talk).

F1= Not American. Read your own topic title again.

18. Notre Dame Stadium (OMG ITS TEH FOUR HORSEMEN!!! ND IS GOOD EVERY YEAR BECUZ THEY WER GUD IN TEH 40S!!!)

And the 20s, and 30s, and 40s, and 60s, and 70s, and 80s and early 90s....


Joe Louis is a dump.

[Lurch1982]

Joe Lewis is a dump, but its also number 61. Reading comprehension FTL.

[Crazyswordsman]

Originally Posted by ShyGuy727

That's a filthy lie. Quit slinging ****. ESPN, ESPN2 Score Best-Ever Marks With College World Series - 6/28/2008 6:19:00 AM - Multichannel News



F1= Not American. Read your own topic title again.

I read in USA Today that ratings went down from .8 to a .7.

The fact that they call it an international raceway means they should have international races on it, not Southern ones. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Crazyswordsman

I read in USA Today that ratings went down from .8 to a .7.

The fact that they call it an international raceway means they should have international races on it, not Southern ones. -CSM

Oh for ****s sake.

24 Hours of Daytona.

[LinkManDX]

I watched a game in RFK once, it was a total dump.

I'd say Veterans Stadium should be on there, but that's only because I'm from Philly.

[Robotazy]

Originally Posted by Lurch1982

Oh for ****s sake.

24 Hours of Daytona.

omg.

Daytona = International.

If I talk to an Englishman about Daytona, he will know what I'm saying.

[Auron]

Is this most important today or most important historically? I feel the need to point out that the Aud (also known as the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium) is being torn down this month. That building has some history to it.

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by Auron

Is this most important today or most important historically? I feel the need to point out that the Aud (also known as the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium) is being torn down this month. That building has some history to it.

Originally Posted by the article

Rather, this is a list of America's 100 most important sports venues. And by that I mean the venues that have had a profound influence on the way American sports are played or have enjoyed multiple historic moments or, better yet, have had both. The criteria are a little open to interpretation, but one of the basics is that the venue must still be physically in existence (no Shibe Park or Ebbets Field). And preferably (but not necessarily), it still should be in use by someone, if not the team with which it is most associated. Oh, and another thing -- as you'll see, the venues need not be actual arenas of competition.

Also, its a Page 2 article, so its just one (probably jackass) writer's opinion slopped together with no real effect on the rest of the world.

[Crazyswordsman]

Originally Posted by LinkManDX

I watched a game in RFK once, it was a total dump.

I'd say Veterans Stadium should be on there, but that's only because I'm from Philly.

If they're gonna put the Vet in, they need to put in Ebbett's Field. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

^RTFA. With each post you make, I wonder if you did in the first place. Against criteria for both since both are retired and ripped down. That also goes for the Polo Grounds, Forbes, Crosley, Tiger, Boston Garden, Chicago Stadium, or any other historic stadium you want to throw there.