Opening Day Sets Cincinnati Apart (Findlay, Washington: home, casino, safe)

[t45209]

What a wonderful day to be a Cincinnatian!!!! Yes, the Reds won, but Opening Day makes Cincinnati unique. There is nowhere in the US that can boast such a great experience. This is Cincinnati's Mardi Gras. The Findlay Market Parade, celebrating the history and tradition of Reds baseball brings tears to my eyes. The fact that this city turns out in such numbers and enthusiasm for what is our traditional welcoming of Spring is amazing. I am so proud to be a Cincinnatian on Opening Day...this is the kind of day that keeps me from ever considering taking a job that would take me away from my home town.

[Love-Cinci]

This was my first time at the parade and it was a blast. My kid REALLY enjoyed it too and is still going on about it, especially seeing Lightning McQueen...lol

[deg1114]

Originally Posted by Love-Cinci

This was my first time at the parade and it was a blast. My kid REALLY enjoyed it too and is still going on about it, especially seeing Lightning McQueen...lol

My first time too! It's almost like a Cincinnati holiday. I was getting tired of being the one who was always stuck at the office so this year I took the day off. Even with the cold, I'm glad I did!

[Love-Cinci]

I hope they do make it a city-wide holiday.

http://www.msaarch.com/makeitofficial/ (broken link)

[Tubby513]

I hear you, Opening Day in Cincy is truly amazing! Didn't hurt that the game was incredible too. That's why you stay for 9 innings people!

[Ohiogirl81]

I miss sneaking out of the office to watch the parade. But, I got home yesterday just in time to watch the bottom of the ninth inning on a free preview of MLB Extra Innings!

Everyone at my office today is yapping about Opening Day ... Uh, people, yesterday was Opening Day. *shaking head* Unenlightened idiots ...

Originally Posted by t45209

this is the kind of day that keeps me from ever considering taking a job that would take me away from my home town.

You could always schedule your vacation around Opening Day ... I know people who do. You know, like how I schedule my vacation around Oktoberfest.

[goyguy]

Every game at Fenway Park is like Opening Day all over again. Good times if you can get a ticket!
Has anybody here seen a Reds home game at each of the three ballparks they've played in over the past fifty years? I'm old enough to have warmed the bleachers at Crosley Field as well as plastic seats at Riverfront Stadium. How does the latest, corporate-named, venue compare?

[t45209]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Every game at Fenway Park is like Opening Day all over again. Good times if you can get a ticket!
Has anybody here seen a Reds home game at each of the three ballparks they've played in over the past fifty years? I'm old enough to have warmed the bleachers at Crosley Field as well as plastic seats at Riverfront Stadium. How does the latest, corporate-named, venue compare?

My dad tells me that I went to Crosley once, but I was nothing more than a whelp in my mother's arms. I was more a child of the Big Red Machine era.

I can say this, while I was no lover of Riverfront Stadium, once they knocked the back wall out of it, it compared very favorably with the new Great American Ballpark. We maybe could have saved ourselves a half a billion bucks. Only now, nearly nine years later are we starting to get some of the promised riverfront development, and the stadium is still cut off from downtown. But, gosh if you simply rebuild what you already had in the same place, I'm not sure why anyone thought the results would be significantly different than what we had with 30 years of Riverfront.

As far as GABP is concerned, I think what we got is an also-ran among the new generation of stadiums. It smacks of an effort to try to please everyone and in the end no one thinks it's all that great. I never understood the attraction to the river, and if you pay for good seats, you can't even see it anyway. All in all, it feels a little cartoonish and is not the great baseball cathedral that the oldest professional team deserves. The best thing about GABP that virtually no other team has is the Reds Hall of Fame Museum...a top notch tribute to the team and its history.

I've also had the opportunity to compare GABP to the likes of Camden Yards, PNC Park, Safeco Field, Coors Field, (New) Busch Stadium and a number of others, and Cincinnati got short changed. Of these, Safeco in Seattle is my favorite with Camden coming in a close second. These parks in particular have wonderful character and architectural detail, great views, and a welcoming atmosphere. Coors Field and Busch weren't nearly as nice in my opinion, but score points for enhancing their surroundings and showcasing the city.

I got a kick out of going to National's Park in Washington, because is a virtual mirror image of GAPB. It has the same goofy notch, but instead of being on the third base side of home, it's situated on the first base side. I thought it was a pretty lackluster and generic ballpark...it could have been anywhere.

I've also been to Wrigley and Fenway, and people are often surprised when I say I like Fenway better. Fenway Park is a dark, dirty, oddly built, cramped, and it takes two innings to get a beer, but it's a great place to see a ballgame. And all those quirks are what makes it so great. You can't hardly tell if you are watching a game in 2011 or 1941. Wrigley, while a baseball jewel, lacks the quirky personality of Fenway.

I've also been to some of the worst parks, like Miami, Florida, and the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The people in Phoenix seem to like their stadium (Insert-Corporate-Name-Here Park), but maybe it's because it keeps the heat off of them. I couldn't find much to love about the place, and it smells like a locker room inside.

So, I think what we've got here in Cincinnati is a middle-shelf stadium. No one is going to exactly hate it, but few would argue that we could have done much better (Broadway Commons).

[kjbrill]

Can't quite understand why Broadway Commons would be that much better. Why is a view into a derelict hillside superior to one across the river? And if the ballpark went there where would the casino go?

GABP to me fits its surroundings and environment very well. It is a good ballpark in a medium density drawing territory lucky to keep its team competitive. The Reds Museum pays homage to their legacy as the original professional team. How can you showcase a City better than being located on its most prized asset - the riverfront? Excuse me if I just don't understand the criticisms. We are fortunate to have what we have.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Can't quite understand why Broadway Commons would be that much better. Why is a view into a derelict hillside superior to one across the river? And if the ballpark went there where would the casino go?

GABP to me fits its surroundings and environment very well. It is a good ballpark in a medium density drawing territory lucky to keep its team competitive. The Reds Museum pays homage to their legacy as the original professional team. How can you showcase a City better than being located on its most prized asset - the riverfront? Excuse me if I just don't understand the criticisms. We are fortunate to have what we have.

Eh, I still carry the torch for Broadway, even though it's spilled milk. Back in the day, I was very active with the campaign for Broadway...so much so that John Allen of the Reds called me at home to discuss the issue. At first I thought it was one of my friends crank calling me, but it was really him. We had a friendly, but spirited conversation, but it was obvious that neither one of us was going to change our minds. At the end of the day, one of the key reasons the Reds wanted the riverfront was so the surbanites could come down to a game, park easily, and get the heck out of Dodge as quickly as possible, the same as they had been doing for 30 years. And Marge was pretty adamant and blunt about not wanting her team in the "ghetto." To me, we had an opportunity to do exactly what Denver did to revitalize LoDo, or create our own Wrigleyville. We squandered that opportunity, and cast vision aside in favor of the safe route where we gained little over what we already had. If the ballpark had to be on the river, I'd argue we should still be playing at Riverfront Stadium.

I think you are being silly calling Mt Adams derelict. That comment holds no credibilty. And, as I mentioned before, most of the fans at GABP have no view...it's just open sky unless you are in the cheap seats. Many people argued that if the ballpark was to go on the river that they should have at least oriented it to open up toward downtown. St. Louis did a nice job of showcasing the Arch and downtown from their ballpark, and Pittsburgh is one of the best with the bridges and downtown visible.

Location issues aside, I've still been to better ballparks. Some interesting architectural criticism of GAPB was written at the time of its completion, and the general consensus of "the trained eye" was that it was a marginal design.

But, in the end, it's the home of our Reds, and I'll learn to love it. And, about that time, in 20 or 30 years, just like ol' Riverfront, someone with a short memory will harp about how it's dated and not maximizing revenue for the team, and we'll be watching baseball in Hebron or some such place.

Actually, I think the riverfront would be a much better location for the casino.