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Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Sunday, July 03, 2005Giants 6, Padres 9Stuff to do before I die:Color me unimpressed. I love how the neighborhood is shaping up (downtown San Diego: the place to be? Who would have thunk it?) and the view of the Pacific from the Harbor/7th Ave. side is spectacular. But none of that matters when you're inside the seating bowl. The sightlines are appallingly poor for a modern, single-purpose stadium. I was in the semi-cheap seats (upper-deck, a little more than halfway down the third base line) and I had no view of left field from about 20 yards from the foul pole. Compounding the problem is the fact that main video board is similarly blocked from view for the 15,000 or so patrons on the third base side. The only auxiliary video board is a tiny screen at field level on the right field wall - barely bigger than your average household bigscreen, and a strain to read from that distance. On the positive side, the food is actually edible (what a concept! Someone shoot off a memo to Aramark!) and at least all the seats are properly aligned, so you wont have to crane your neck to see whatever view of the field you may have. And despite all the construction going on around the stadium (I counted six large cranes within a block) parking is refreshingly fast and simple. Overall, PETCO is probably a great place to see a ballgame - if you've got the seats. But the fact is you don't have to add that qualifier for Angels Stadium, where there truly isn't a bad seat in the house. UPDATE: Oh yeah - there was a game, too. Comments:I completely disagree about Angels Stadium. The outfield seats between first/third base and the foul poles point to midfield rather than home plate -- where you spend most of your time watching. The result is a certain neck crick by the end of the game. At least Petco has the civility to angle their seats in those sections so you don't have to turn your head all the time. |
