Sandra's a Yankees fan- I'd like to hear her thoughts on the closing of this stadium...
Well, it's partly sad from a personal viewpoint, since I'll always cherish all the times my dad brought my brothers and me to the Stadium. I was in the Colosseum in Rome a couple of years ago, and you get a chill knowing you're walking in the same place Caesar walked. There is some of that in the Stadium as well, knowing Gehrig, Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, et al played on that same field.
Having said that, I'm certainly looking forward to going to a brand spanking gorgeous new ballpark next year. The fact that it's right across the street helps in a small way, at least in my mind, preserve the history of the place. It would be a lot different if the Yankees were coming to New Jersey.
It's interesting to hear a Met fan refer to 'Steingrabber', who was somehow able to resist the urge to sell the naming rights of the Stadium to a corporate entity. Who knows how many untold millions he could have grabbed by calling the place Empire Blue Cross Stadium or something.
Wilpongrabber, on the other hand, sold out early and sold the naming rights to the new stadium to Citibank. At the rate banks are historically bought and sold, the name certainly won't pass the test of time...perhaps even a short time with what's going on right now.
Odds are many years down the road people will still refer to Yankee Stadium nostalgically, while the Mets' stadium will just be another place that goes through so many name changes it becomes like Cleveland, San Francisco, Arizona, etc., where you can't keep track of what the stadium is being called these days. I honestly don't know.
As far as the closing of Shea Stadium, if enough people cared there would be shows about it. That's how TV works.
Sandra
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