Detroit pros sports venues

The LCA discussion in the Pistons thread got me thinking about all of the places I've watched Detroit pro sports teams. Here's where I've been and how I would rank them.

Hockey: 1. Olympia Stadium. Incredible sight lines 2. LCA Modern and cool. Maybe a little gimicky. 3. The Joe. Hurried construction and became obsolete almost instantly. The great teams and Cups taint peoples memories of what a dump it really was.

Baseball: 1. Tiger Stadium. It just WAS baseball. 2. The Copa- a very distant second. Shitty site lines, built facing the wrong way so the Detroit skyline could be seen over the outfield. Man do I miss the corner.

Football: 1. Ford Field. State of the art. Great place to watch an NFL game. 2. Silverdome. Too many seats but also a great venue for the Lions. LOUD. The House of Wayne. 3. Tiger Stadium. Baseball park.

Basketball; 1. Cobo Arena. Only 12k seats. Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, etc. 2. The Palace. Still state of the art as it sits and rots. Say what you want about the location in Aurburn Hills but it was an outstanding basketball and concert venue. 3. LCA ( it's really a hockey arena) 4. Silverdome. Football Stadium

I think ford field sucks. Give me an outdoor stadium to watch the lions Vikings bears or packers in a snowstorm all day. Zero character and neutralizes a very needed home field advantage for the lions.

duffy munn wrote:The LCA discussion in the Pistons thread got me thinking about all of the places I've watched Detroit pro sports teams. Here's where I've been and how I would rank them.

Hockey: 1. Olympia Stadium. Incredible sight lines  2. LCA  Modern and cool. Maybe a little gimicky. 3. The Joe. Hurried construction and became obsolete almost instantly. The great teams and Cups taint peoples memories of what a dump it really was.

Baseball: 1. Tiger Stadium. It just WAS baseball.  2. The Copa- a very distant second. Shitty site lines, built facing the wrong way so the Detroit skyline could be seen over the outfield. Man do I miss the corner.

Football: 1. Ford Field. State of the art. Great place to watch an NFL game.  2. Silverdome. Too many seats but also a great venue for the Lions. LOUD. The House of Wayne. 3. Tiger Stadium. Baseball park.

Basketball; 1. Cobo Arena.  Only 12k seats. Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, etc.  2. The Palace. Still state of the art as it sits and rots. Say what you want about the location in Aurburn Hills but it was an outstanding basketball and concert venue.  3. LCA ( it's really a hockey arena) 4. Silverdome. Football Stadium

Will do.

It was a disastrously stupid idea. Half the metro area could never realistically go to a game. Going there or Cleveland was a legit question they could ask themselves. Getting in and out was a constant nightmare. Then when you got there you were greeted by a massive parking lot in all directions. When you got inside the concourse was typically congested because you had only one instead of two. You had suites where you should have seats. The upper deck was way too large. Rather have those seats lower. 

The palace was great for 1987. But it’s been replaced by a far superior arena, which really isn’t a question for anyone that wants to consider the two with any level of non bias.

Even as an old-timer it's hard for me to compare some of the venues.

I saw one Lions game in Tiger stadium in maybe 1971 or 72, two or three Wings games in Olympia in same years, not a single Pistons game in Cobo (saw an awesome Foghat show there in 77 though lol).

JLA was a dump. Everyone's biggest beefs with JLA were the narrow concourses (justifiably) but for me it was location. They couldn't have picked a worse spot downtown.

I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Even as an old-timer it's hard for me to compare some of the venues.

I saw one Lions game in Tiger stadium in maybe 1971 or 72, two or three Wings games in Olympia in same years, not a single Pistons game in Cobo (saw an awesome Foghat show there in 77 though lol).

JLA was a dump. Everyone's biggest beefs with JLA were the narrow concourses (justifiably) but for me it was location. They couldn't have picked a worse spot downtown.

Putting a stadium on the riverfront was a mindblowingly stupid use of real estate

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:Even as an old-timer it's hard for me to compare some of the venues.

I saw one Lions game in Tiger stadium in maybe 1971 or 72, two or three Wings games in Olympia in same years, not a single Pistons game in Cobo (saw an awesome Foghat show there in 77 though lol).

JLA was a dump. Everyone's biggest beefs with JLA were the narrow concourses (justifiably) but for me it was location. They couldn't have picked a worse spot downtown.

Putting a stadium on the riverfront was a mindblowingly stupid use of real estate

And then walling it off from any significant amount of parking was even dumber.  Very few businesses benefited from JLA on the riverfront.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I think ford field sucks. Give me an outdoor stadium to watch the lions Vikings bears or packers in a snowstorm all day. Zero character and neutralizes a very needed home field advantage for the lions.

You do know the Lions haven't played a home game outside since 1974, right?

Floyd Robertson wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
Putting a stadium on the riverfront was a mindblowingly stupid use of real estate

And then walling it off from any significant amount of parking was even dumber.  Very few businesses benefited from JLA on the riverfront.

The Joe was a Coleman Young desperation move. The Wings were about to follow the Lions and Pistons out of Detroit so the Joe was built without much logic or vision. Hell, the construction was nearly complete when they figured out they forgot to include a press box.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Here. Ford field is like the Applebee’s or Red Robin of arenas. Just basic and not an exciting environment.

duffy munn wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I think ford field sucks. Give me an outdoor stadium to watch the lions Vikings bears or packers in a snowstorm all day. Zero character and neutralizes a very needed home field advantage for the lions.

You do know the Lions haven't played a home game outside since 1974, right?

Which brings me to my next point. Most of these grades or ratings will be based on memories people made at these places. Which isn’t really fair if your are judging venue alone.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Here. Ford field is like the Applebee’s or Red Robin of arenas. Just basic and not an exciting environment.

Applebee’s during the 2015 MSU um game is pretty exciting. An unnamed restaurant that has character during the 2018 MSU Rutgers is pretty boring.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Here. Ford field is like the Applebee’s or Red Robin of arenas. Just basic and not an exciting environment.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

duffy munn wrote:

You do know the Lions haven't played a home game outside since 1974, right?

Which brings me to my next point. Most of these grades or ratings will be based on memories people made at these places. Which isn’t really fair if your are judging venue alone.

These two things seem linked otpt

This place was awesome to watch a game... or a fight

Nordic wrote:This place was awesome to watch a game... or a fight

To this day I'm surprised dozens of people didn't get tossed over the upper deck railing or drunkenly stumble over it and plummet to their deaths. It could get downright scary up there.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

duffy munn wrote:

You do know the Lions haven't played a home game outside since 1974, right?

Which brings me to my next point. Most of these grades or ratings will be based on memories people made at these places. Which isn’t really fair if your are judging venue alone.

Oh no question memories and experience affect judging a venue. Especially in the case of Tiger Stadium for me. I still have vivid memories of being in awe of the place as a kid. I literally cried as an adult after attending the final game at the Corner.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Here. Ford field is like the Applebee’s or Red Robin of arenas. Just basic and not an exciting environment.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:
Which brings me to my next point. Most of these grades or ratings will be based on memories people made at these places. Which isn’t really fair if your are judging venue alone.

These two things seem linked otpt

The Lions could win a super bowl at fucking ford field and the place will still be applebees or olive garden. There's nothing unique or cool about it - it's just an average fieldhouse style dome.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

These two things seem linked otpt

The Lions could win a super bowl at fucking ford field and the place will still be applebees or olive garden. There's nothing unique or cool about it - it's just an average fieldhouse style dome.

I stopped reading after Lions and winning a super bowl.

duffy munn wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

The Lions could win a super bowl at fucking ford field and the place will still be applebees or olive garden. There's nothing unique or cool about it - it's just an average fieldhouse style dome.

I stopped reading after Lions and winning a super bowl.

You made it to super bowl?

I think LCA is sweet. Plenty of "character". I have no idea what Wags was ranting about in the other thread.

I also think the Palace is still a pretty nice arena. It's just out in the middle of nowhere.

Fords field I think OTPT is showing his age. It was pretty much the first indoor stadium of its kind. i.e. non dome for a pro football team. The windows to the outside, the warehouse making up one side of the field, the suites in the warehouse, the club level. It was a pretty sweet building when it opened and I think it's still pretty cool. Got to go on a tour this year with a bunch of 3rd graders for a field trip. Cool place.

I do miss Tiger Stadium. It was a dump though in a declining area (at the time). It was time to move. I love Comerica but yeah there are definitely some things they could have done better.

JLA was a dump but it was our dump.

When I think of character in a stadium rarely do I think of any pro venue. Maybe tiger stadium. Pro sports has changed so much. Same with college. I think "team" is missing from professional sports now. It's also trending that was in college now. My favorite venues are college ones for that reason. They still hold character which is built by the trams that played there. Maybe tiger stadium was the last pro venue that held that type of aura for me. Professional sports is now a "me" business that markets stars over teams and that's cool. If you really had the opportunity to walk a venue without a soul in it, just to soak it so in, how many would be pro venues? College, I could name quite a few. Probably alot of the reason is there's quite a bit of turnover in pro venues and the opportunity to build character, memories, or whatever is short relatively speaking.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I think LCA is sweet. Plenty of "character". I have no idea what Wags was ranting about in the other thread.

I also think the Palace is still a pretty nice arena. It's just out in the middle of nowhere.

Fords field I think OTPT is showing his age. It was pretty much the first indoor stadium of its kind. i.e. non dome for a pro football team. The windows to the outside, the warehouse making up one side of the field, the suites in the warehouse, the club level. It was a pretty sweet building when it opened and I think it's still pretty cool. Got to go on a tour this year with a bunch of 3rd graders for a field trip. Cool place.

I do miss Tiger Stadium. It was a dump though in a declining area (at the time). It was time to move. I love Comerica but yeah there are definitely some things they could have done better.

JLA was a dump but it was our dump.

I agree with all of this except loving Comerica.

duffy munn wrote:

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I think LCA is sweet. Plenty of "character". I have no idea what Wags was ranting about in the other thread.

I also think the Palace is still a pretty nice arena. It's just out in the middle of nowhere.

Fords field I think OTPT is showing his age. It was pretty much the first indoor stadium of its kind. i.e. non dome for a pro football team. The windows to the outside, the warehouse making up one side of the field, the suites in the warehouse, the club level. It was a pretty sweet building when it opened and I think it's still pretty cool. Got to go on a tour this year with a bunch of 3rd graders for a field trip. Cool place.

I do miss Tiger Stadium. It was a dump though in a declining area (at the time). It was time to move. I love Comerica but yeah there are definitely some things they could have done better.

JLA was a dump but it was our dump.

I agree with all of this except loving Comerica.

Should have modernized tiger stadium like Fenway and Wrigley

aualum06 wrote:

duffy munn wrote:

I agree with all of this except loving Comerica.

Should have modernized tiger stadium like Fenway and Wrigley

Or at least built the new ballpark some what like Tiger Stadium. At the old ballpark you were right on top of the action. Even in the upper deck. At the Copa, sitting in the upper deck is miles away from it.

I have skimmed this thread. Tiger stadium was dope, Comerica can't compete. Going to NFL games in person is literally always a bad idea.

/contribution

Lived in Michigan from 1976-1990

Saw The Pistons play at Cobo, Silverdome and JLA.
Lions at Silverdome
Tigers at Tiger Stadium
Wings at Olympia and JLA
Went to a Tuesday Night Fights at Palace and a handful of concerts

Tiger Stadium was a shithole
Silverdome had great sightlights
Cobo was old
JLA was barely adequate in 1979
Palace was really nice

Dr. Strangelove wrote:Lived in Michigan from 1976-1990

Saw The Pistons play at Cobo, Silverdome and JLA.
Lions at Silverdome
Tigers at Tiger Stadium
Wings at Olympia and JLA
Went to a Tuesday Night Fights at Palace and a handful of concerts

Tiger Stadium was a shithole
Silverdome had great sightlights
Cobo was old
JLA was barely adequate in 1979
Palace was really nice

Cobo was built in 1961 so by the time the Pistons left if was less than 20 years old. And take the shit hole comment back about the Corner. Iconic baseball venue.

I have another thing to add as far as local stadiums go.

The big house sucks.

duffy munn wrote:

Dr. Strangelove wrote:Lived in Michigan from 1976-1990

Saw The Pistons play at Cobo, Silverdome and JLA.
Lions at Silverdome
Tigers at Tiger Stadium
Wings at Olympia and JLA
Went to a Tuesday Night Fights at Palace and a handful of concerts

Tiger Stadium was a shithole
Silverdome had great sightlights
Cobo was old
JLA was barely adequate in 1979
Palace was really nice

Cobo was built in 1961 so by the time the Pistons left if was less than 20 years old. And take the shit hole comment back about the Corner. Iconic baseball venue.

50k seats at Tiger Stadium but only 10k could see the entire fucking field. Neighborhood was shitty. Amenities we're non existent. It was a shithole

Never saw the Pistons play at Cobo but imagined it to be like a large high school gym.

Vaguely remember going to a game at Olympia. Recall the seats were upper level and part of getting to them was an industrial catwalk...open grating under foot. JLA was kind of a dump. Even the suites weren't that nice.

Saw a number of games at Tiger Stadium but never the Lions. Saw a World Cup game (MSU indoor turf), a Michigan Panthers game, and 5 or 6 Lions games at the Silverdome. Went to the last Monday night game at the dome. Rams kicked our ass 35-0. Game sucked but 2 chicks sitting directly behind us thankfully provided alternate entertainment by flashing their tits until they were escorted out. Saw many Pistons games at the dome. Got free tickets a number of times. One game we were sitting 5 rows from the top...was hard to see if/when shots went in.

Went to the first regular season game at Ford Field in 2002. Haven't been back since.

Always liked The Palace and Comerica. Tiger Stadium was great but was definitely outdated. Haven't been to LCA yet

Dr. Strangelove wrote:

duffy munn wrote:

Cobo was built in 1961 so by the time the Pistons left if was less than 20 years old. And take the shit hole comment back about the Corner. Iconic baseball venue.

50k seats at Tiger Stadium but only 10k could see the entire fucking field. Neighborhood was shitty. Amenities we're non existent. It was a shithole

I'll give the the obstructed view seats but the good seats were awesome. Section 335, rows 1 and 2 above Tiger dugout ( my families season tickets)was the best vantage point in baseball. Right on top of the action. And Corktown has always had charm. Hoots, the Press box and the still open Nemos were great bars.

I worked the valet lot at Carls Chop House in the summer of 84 and got to see around 40 games at the Corner. Corktown was electric.

Unlike most of you, I loved the location of the Palace. But then, I lived in Flint. Being used to that and the Silverdome, it felt like such a hike to go to Wings and Tiger games.

Palace was pretty convenient to me, too. Actually LCA isn't much further but I knew lots of shortcuts for the Palace in terms of parking and how to avoid traffic and get in and out. But I don't go to many games these days anyway. With downtown flourishing it's way better to have the arena down there. I think it's a kick ass place to watch a game. I have not sat in the upper deck (only lower and the gondolas which are freaking cool as hell). The one thing I could do without are the $5 Dasanis and $12 Two Hearteds. I think the Mercedes Benz concept is pretty cool. But whatever.

I need better memories there because the lasting one I have is Langford-Bridges-Cash-Jaren shooting 3 for 180 from 3 point range and losing to Syracuse.

I'm not sure how venue owners/operators sleep at night while selling $5 bottled water. Charge whatever for beer/alcohol/food.

Floyd Robertson wrote:I'm not sure how venue owners/operators sleep at night while selling $5 bottled water. Charge whatever for beer/alcohol/food.

As long as people keep paying the venues will keep gouging. The price of taking a family of four to a pro sports event is ridiculous.

Sonner or later the bubble has to burst.

Sports venues and ticket prices are a sick joke. And while that revenue is important it's not the number one or two revenue stream. First and foremost these people are putting on a TV show and empty seats look like shit on TV. They should price their tickets accordingly in order to fill seats and make it look better on TV

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Tiger stadium: obstructed view seats, bleachers in the sun for six bucks, the ledge along the outfield wall where the padding and metal fence met and savy outfield players practicing before the game to jump on it. The urine smell mixed with popcorn smell behind home plate

Character.

DWags wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I still have no idea what character in a stadium actually means. Seems made up.

Tiger stadium:  obstructed view seats, bleachers in the sun for six bucks, the ledge along the outfield wall where the padding and metal fence met and savy outfield players practicing before the game to jump on it. The urine smell mixed with popcorn smell behind home plate

Character.

So.... old. Got it. Like I told otpt and you in the other thread.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

DWags wrote:

Tiger stadium:  obstructed view seats, bleachers in the sun for six bucks, the ledge along the outfield wall where the padding and metal fence met and savy outfield players practicing before the game to jump on it. The urine smell mixed with popcorn smell behind home plate

Character.

So.... old. Got it. Like I told otpt and you in the other thread.

I imagine those things were there when it was new. Except maybe the urine smell.

DWags wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
So.... old. Got it. Like I told otpt and you in the other thread.

I imagine those things were there when it was new. Except maybe the urine smell.  

Your idea of character is very boring.

Only thing I didn’t understand at comerica is that they made a big deal of the flagpole still being in play in the outfield.... but then they moved the fence in and didn’t move the flagpole. Just left it there. Anyway I also like comerica more than you guys, but I a) have gone to way more games there than I ever did at TS and b) don’t sit in the $5 seats.