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The Old Shea Stadium
July 1st, 2009 by Denise I Smithson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
As sad as it is, it’s time to say goodbye to the old Shea Stadium after 44 years of sports memories for all of us. It hardly seems possible that the Mets were an expansion team all these years after their cross-town American League rivals first took the field. It’s also hard to remember the stadium being called the Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium, but that’s what it called until a movement was launched to name it in honor of William Shea.
Through the years Shea Stadium has been the home to some of the greatest baseball players ever to pick up a bat. Players like Duke Snider, Nolan Ryan, Warren Spahn, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel, Richie Ashburn, and Gary Carter who all became heroes in the baseball Hall of Fame. And who can forget the entertaining players like Lenny “Nails” Dykstra and Gil Hodges who just toughed it out on a daily basis?
There’s been good times and bad, ugly and outrageous, but at the end of the day, they are all great memories intertwined with the stadium’s history. We watched Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry take the Mets to a World Series win over the Boston Red Sox in 1986. Unfortunately, the fame took its toll as both players spent the rest of their careers dealing with drug issues and other problems.
The historic moments are numerous. In 1969 we witnessed their first Championship when they became known as the Miracle Mets at a time when no one had ever heard of the young Nolan Ryan who would go down in baseball history for striking out 5,714 batters. In fact there are so many historic moments in the story of Shea Stadium that it’s hard to summarize them in an article; we could literally write a book about it. The stadium may be gone as a new chapter begins but the memories will live on for eternity in the hearts of recreation and sports fans all over the world.
After the tragic and shocking events of 9/11, Shea Stadium became the central hub for supplies, food and a place of refuge for many 9/11 victims. On September 21, the Mets helped New Yorkers to heal by providing the first sporting event to be held after that tragic day. New Yorkers will tell you it was one of the most stirring nights ever in baseball history. With tens of thousands of fans packing the stadium to watch the Mets take on the Braves, the team honored New York’s finest, those brave men and women who worked tirelessly to help the 9/11 victims, and then went on to play a great game. Shea Stadium is truly a place like no other. It will always be remembered with fondness and with the eager anticipation of another 50 years of baseball history.
College vs. Professional Sports – Which Do You Prefer?
July 1st, 2009 by Denise I Smithson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Sports fans have always debated the merits of college athletics versus the competition of professional sports leagues; they probably always will. There are fans on either side of the divide, both convinced that their preference is backed by the facts. Others have different preferences for different sports, preferring professional football but college basketball, etc. Football and basketball are in fact the two sports which seem to spark the most passion in fans over this issue.
College basketball has March Madness to its credit, something whose appeal even a diehard NBA fan would have a hard time discounting altogether. This tournament keeps college (and professional) basketball fans on the edge of their seats. It’s a tournament where upsets can – and do happen frequently. Underdogs you may not have thought about for years can suddenly upset the seemingly invincible favorite. There are dozens of games in the tournament, so there is nearly always something going on and this is one of the few occasions where betting on sports suddenly becomes socially acceptable, with nearly every workplace having a March Madness pool.
College basketball fans argue that the collegiate form of the sport is purer, with most of the players in it simply for the love of the game. The passion of the players is matched by that of the fans, many of whom have lifelong loyalty to their favorite teams, often exceeding that accorded to the NBA teams.
Professional basketball fans aren’t necessarily given to knocking college basketball (since many if not most fans actually enjoy both), but argue that the NBA offers a superior level of play and competition. They aver that the league provides fans with an opportunity to watch the sport played by the nation’s very best players.
The seven game series which make up the NBA playoffs are pointed to by fans as a way of guaranteeing that the best team will emerge victorious. While it’s hard to claim that the NBA playoffs offer more excitement than March Madness, they also make the point that regular season games are more compelling events.
When it comes to football the main topic usually relates to the playoffs and the way the champion is determined. Detractors of college football can’t stand the Bowl Championship Series. There isn’t a playoff format where each team gets to prove themselves. Rather the competition is determined by voting and by computer formulas. You can be a great team, maybe even the best team in the country at the end of the season, but if you aren’t ranked 1 or 2, than you have no chance at winning a championship. This makes the bowl season and the championship game somewhat dubious.
Fans of college football make the counterargument that the structure of the Bowl games series makes the regular college season incredibly exciting, since a team can lose its shot at the championship with just one lost game. Since there is a lot riding on the outcome of each and every game, fans remain engaged an excited throughout the entire regular season.
The arguments for which is better, collegiate or professional sporting, will never be settled easily. Those who feel one way are likely to keep that point of way. The great thing is that you can choose to watch what you want and enjoy each league and level of competition for their differences and specific strengths.