As part of my job as a commercial real estate editor, I manage to finagle my way into some cool things now and again, and yesterday was one of those times. As a lifelong Yankees fan, it kinda rankled my feathers a bit, but I reached down deep inside and got over it. After a year of trying, I got myself on the media list for the NY Mets, and yesterday got a full-access tour of Citi Field, the new ballpark that will replace Shea Stadium.
And yes, it was very, very cool. And freezing @$#! coldAs part of my job as a commercial real estate editor, I manage to finagle my way into some cool things now and again, and yesterday was one of those times. As a lifelong Yankees fan, it kinda rankled my feathers a bit, but I reached down deep inside and got over it. After a year of trying, I got myself on the media list for the NY Mets, and yesterday got a full-access tour of Citi Field, the new ballpark that will replace Shea Stadium.
And yes, it was very, very cool. And freezing @$#! cold! When was the last time you went to a baseball stadium while it snowed? But it was so totally worth it.
I was there with about 50 or 60 of my closest reporter friends (actually I didn?t know any of them), and got to walk the under-construction stadium, from the very top level all the way down to the field. So I?ve touched home plate even before the Mets players! (I’ve got a bunch of photos uploaded, so check on the Photos section and see what I mean!)
I have to say, this stadium is going to be great. There are great site lines from every seat, and as a spectator you?ll be really close to the field no matter what section you?re in. The physical seats are not in place yet, and the guts need to be built, but the shell is almost entirely done.
So one thing I’ll always be able to take with me, for all my years, is that no matter what happens on that field, no matter how big games the Mets play, no matter how many great players touch that field, I’ll always be able to say that I was there before it all started, on the field, with the snow and the cranes and metal girders, looking out from home plate in a way that very few people ever will.
As a Yankees fan, it stuck in my craw just a little to be on Mets turf, but this was just too cool to pass up. Now I gotta get myself onto the Yankees media list and get a tour of that too!
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2008/02/18 18:45
