Sports Q: Where is the best place you’ve ever attended a sporting event?
Fenway? The old Garden? Somewhere else?
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For some reason, watching the Red Sox spring training games has made me really miss going to the ballpark more than I have at any time since the pandemic started. I can’t wait to get back to Fenway again, or the Garden for a Bruins playoff game. It made me wonder, where is your favorite place you’ve seen a game? Mine is Fenway locally and the old Yankee Stadium for a road game. – Tom A.
I know what you mean, Tom. Mentioned in Tuesday’s column that I haven’t covered a game in person since last spring training. I love JetBlue Park and the vibe, and deeply miss being there right now. Or being anywhere, really.
To answer the question, I’ll break this down locally and then places outside of Boston. Pretty predictably, probably, locally it would be Fenway, even if the tiny seats require such contortionism that I can barely move the next day. When I’m covering a game there, I always make a point to walk up the ramp to the press box on Level 5 after the fans start arriving, just to take in the buzz of anticipation and remember how lucky I am to be there.
If I had a time machine, I’d go back to the old Garden in 1986 and watch Bird and the Celtics at their peak. I was only there once, for the 1993 Hockey East Finals. (Go Black Bears.) I should have been way more aggressive in pestering my parents to go. Envious of those who have so many great memories from that building.
Outside of Boston, my favorite place I’ve seen a game (any sport) is Dodger Stadium. Gorgeous backdrop of the mountains, a nice breeze blowing through, and a retro feel to the concourse (more brilliant Janet Marie Smith work) that evokes the Brady Bunch era. Honorable mention would be Wimbledon. I got to cover the men’s singles final during the 2012 summer Olympics in London. That’s a place I never thought I’d get to, and it was just as cool and classy as it seems on TV.
Related to nothing, I can’t think of a truly appealing place where I’ve seen a football game. Most of the Super Bowl sites are indoor testaments to excess.
What does everyone else think? Where is the best place you’ve ever seen a game or a sporting event? I’ll hear you in the comments.
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