Yankees Can't Sellout Playoff Game

Wow this is embarrassing...

"The Yankees are in the ALCS for the first time since — ahem — 2004. But Yankee Stadium may not be sold out tonight for Game 1 against the Angels. That would be embarrassing for the business side of the organization. Whether it's the economy or the outrageous ticket prices, there were still 6,000 seats available as of last night through the team. Just a few minutes ago, to see what was out there, I pulled up four tickets on Yankees.com for section 221. OK, so they were $431 each. But they were there. The Yankees trumpeted their postseason ticket prices a few weeks ago, proudly saying they had held the line on prices. But apparently they didn't go far enough (Boston.com)."

Sure the cold temperatures might have something to do with it, but maybe it is time to notice that building this deluxe stadium might have been a mistake. I have heard nothing but terrible things, and it is embarrassing when the seat near the field are almost all empty during the regular season. Now they can't even sell all of them during a playoff game? What a black eye to the Yankees organization...

Notre Dame To Play Army At Yankee Stadium

"A source close to the situation confirmed to ESPN.com Friday that Army and Notre Dame will play the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium in 2010. Army issued a release Friday afternoon touting a "major college football announcement" Monday at the stadium. The announcement will be a game against the Fighting Irish, said the source, renewing a once-vibrant New York City tradition (ESPN)."

It is a good idea for these ballparks to find a way to use the offseason to make some money. The Winter Classic, and now football games is a good way to increase revenue, especially in these tough economic times.

Still, I wonder when the QB drops back to pass if he will over throw his receiver by 40 yards, since everything at that stadium seems to carry...

Yankee Game Prank

First Visit to the new Yankee Stadium...Grade: D

Last night I decided to go and check out the new Yankee Stadium for the first time. As a disclaimer for those of you that don't know me, I'm a Mets fan so I am not gonna make this a swayed article...I went as a fan of the game. On first impression, I walk in and think wow this place is fuckin niceee, maybe too nice. Huge HD screens on walls, banners, LED scoreboards, some crazy shit. Took us a good 10 mins to figure out which direction to go and how to find out seats. As we walk tryin to find our seats, we see some wayyy overpriced restaurants and bars...all empty lol. One resturant by home plate is like all glass and waiters in tux's = wack...this is fuckin baseball...dress down. Needless to say, no one was eating in that place either. Finally we find our way to the bleacher section in right center field (ticks $5 stubhub). The problem...from our seats we couldn't even see left field! There is a big Mohegan Sun Bar blocking the view over centerfield. If a ball is hit to deep left, we turn our heads to the right and watch the play on 3 HD flat screens on the wall. Given, not every bleacher seat has that issue but in my opinion it shouldn't be an problem not to see the game ever. To see what I'm talking about:


More problems from the bleachers include: 1.Can't see any screens behind you or in left/right field 2. Can't see any box score or statistics 3. You get a fantastic view of all the empty, overpriced seats around the field level infield

So my buds and I decided to walk around a bit and check out this Mohegan Sun Bar that was rudly blocking our view; cause it did look like a radical place. We couldn't get in. We were told we had to be "members" to get in; obviously it was empty too. Our reaction, "Members? Then what is the point of having and advertising the fuckin' thing?" The security guys agreed with us and gave us free "passes" to the Audi Club in the upper level left field; we checked it out. Honestly we kinda felt like we got a upgrade, like we got somethin' sweet. Nope, passes to the Audi Club basically mean you can go up there without an "Audi Club Ticket" or reservation to the restaurant up there; you get to walk around it but you can't sit and watch the game. You can sit and watch it at the bar but you can't see the field. No surprise only one guy was eating dinner in the huge Audi restaurant; even if we wanted to sit and eat, you need a reservation. A fellow annoyed fan had this converstatio with one of the employees...
"Can I sit here and watch the game?"
"I'm sorry sir, you need an Audi Club ticket to seat there"
"So I can't order food and sit in these empty seats?" "I'm sorry sir, you need an Audi Club ticket...it comes with the open buffet all game."
"How much are these tickets then?"
"$125-$200 depending on particular meals"
"well my tickets down at the field for myself and my wife costed $350 each, I still can't sit here?"
"Sorry sir, you need to go the ticket office and have your tickets exchanged then."
"Well thats stupid"



Overall, my point about this new Yankee Stadium is its awful. This stadium was built not to commend loyal yankee fans, it was built to rape the wallets of corporations and only the exclusive people that can afford a night at the park. If your going to build a new stadium that can't even sell tickets anymore and is extremely un-fanfriendly...why move to begin with? Its not even like it looks that much different; besides the MASSIVE HD screen in CF which I'll admit is frickin awesome (still can't see it from half the stadium though). Most importantly, Yankee fans don't like it. They want to go to games and actually care about the game more than how much money they have to drop to enjoy it. Total I only spent $14 (Ticket and Crackerjacks) but I can't speak for my friend that bought 4 $9 beers, onion rings and a burger. And yes, this all my opinion but I know I'm not alone and its just one of these things you have to experiance for yourself to love it or hate it. Although if your the solo Red Sox fan sitting in the bleachers, expect to be heckled for 9 innings straight and people chanting "swine flu" at you...thought it was pretty funny though.

Grades:

New Yankee Stadium: D "They messed up...bad"
Old Yankee Stadium: B "Fans loved it; history; had a special atmosphere"
Citi Field: A- "Extremely fan-friendly, looks amazing, needs more orange"
Shea Stadium: D- "The stadium sucked but Shea has a place in a true Mets fan's heart...sure, call us gay like that"