Safeco, Citi and the New Yankee Stadium

I have to admit it; I'm really looking forward to the new stadium. I'm a bit (ok, a big bit, a bit large enough to be called a lot) disgusted that it's being financed in large part by a bank that's received an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars to be bailed out of their financial mess. That aside-- and I will leave it aside, because I'm not going to let it cloud my enjoyment of going to a ballgame-- I'm really excited to go to games at Citi Field. A while back, I went to Seattle and saw a Mariners game. The Mariners play in one of the first of the new-style stadiums, and the architects on Citi Field were the same ones who worked on Safeco. I loved Safeco. There wasn't a bad seat in the house, and the food options were plentiful and-- best of all-- afforded a view of the field while waiting on line for beer or other refreshments. And as a personal favorite feature, they piped in the radio coverage of the game into the restrooms, meaning that one didn't have to gamble on missing what happened while standing on line for the loo. In short, I loved Safeco.

And that got me excited about Citi. It's going to be a great place to watch a ballgame, and there really will be no bad seats in the house. Moreover, there's going to be a Shake Shack at the park. Does it get better than that?! It's also just going to be a beautiful stadium, a place designed for the enjoyment of watching a baseball game. Though I don't expect to get to as many games as I've been able to in the last couple of years (there are nearly 15,000 fewer seats a Citi than there were at Shea, and they'll definitely be more expensive, and I've just moved to Brooklyn, so my disposable income may be a prohibitive factor), I know I'll really dig the experience every time I go tot a game. I just hope that they pipe the radio coverage of the game into the restrooms at Citi.




Interestingly, I haven't heard nearly as much excitement about the New Yankee Stadium from my friends who are fans of the team from the Bronx. I'm not actually sure why this is, and it may be a flaw of sampling; I talk to a lot more Mets fans than Yanks fans, though I do talk to Yanks fans, too (Hi, Rica!). So, people who route for the team in the Bronx: how do you feel about the new stadium? Am I wrong that y'all don't seem all that pumped about your new stadium? Does anyone else find it bordering on obsessive to re-create a stadium in exactly the same dimensions, just newer? Are Yankees against progress?