My Arena

Top 2. Jun 10, 1999 9:34 AM

» H2O - The Bradley Center rafters

Imagine a game where the fans are close to the action, on top practically. And imagine this happening in a large arena built primarily for hockey but the one major league team is basketball (the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL are considered minor league). It's a big place.

But way up in the rafters, one can see the plays as they develop. No, the souviners tossed into the stands don't make it up that far, but the entire view of the game is great. It's better than TV!

Milwaukee Mustangs--It's FAN-demonium!

-- posted by H2O

Top 3. Jun 13, 1999 6:16 PM

» AlgUSF - The Ice PALACE

The Ice Palace is just what the name says. A palace It is located in beautiful downtown Tampa, right along the water on Channelside Drive. Across the street there is a bar called Newks (I think who ever owns it copied off of the bar in St. Pete called Ferg's across from Tropicana Field), where the Official post game party is. Our music isn't as crazy as most, but our football is the BEST. We concentrate more on enjoying the football on the field than the music over the PA. If we wanted to listen to music, we would have stayed home. If you come to the Ice Palace, prepare to lose. The Ice Palace is home to the four time world champion Tampa Bay Storm, even though the Storm has not won any of them while playing there. It always gets extremely loud when the Pred Fans come over, Orlando is probably our biggest rival. They call Tampa Bay vs. Orlando "The war for I-4", because of the Interstate highway that runs between us.

-- posted by AlgUSF

Top 4. Jun 23, 1999 4:33 PM

» PredFan - The Pepsi Arena, by Anne Malone

I watched this arena being built from my mother's office window on the
14th floor at 91 State St. I wasn't living here at the time and could
only visit about 4 times a year because it was a 20 hour trip by car
each way with 4 kids.
I would see the buildings getting ready for demolition, then the big
hole,then the foundation etc. I remember saying to my mother once that
I felt like this new building would someday be very important in my life
and she looked at me like I had lost my mind!
But life went on as usual and eventually I was living in CT and
getting divorced from my husband of 17 years. I hadn't lived in Albany
for many, many years but had kept in touch with some of my old friends.
One friend in particular was my best friend from high school named Jim.
He was even the photgrapher for my wedding and the godfather to my
oldest son.
So one day I get a phone call from him because his team was playing in
Hartford and would I like to go to the game with him? Of course I went
and the rest is history. I married him and now live in Albany and have
not missed a home game yet. With him running the booster club for the
team there are times when we have to work on club business all week
before the game and raffle ticket sales during the game and halftime
parties for the club during the game. Or if it's an away game we have to
arrange busses for the trip or like this week we have to arrange a 100
inch projection TV for a party that we are having across from the Pepsi.
So the arena is a very big part of my life and to just get on line and
say that we have a GREAT ARENA just doesn't do it justice. I have
brought numerous friends and family to the games and they are just swept
away by the emotion of the crowd. Me too, but for a different reason.
And yes we have cold beer!

-Anne Malone

-- posted by PredFan

Top 5. Sep 21, 2000 6:01 AM

» zorikh - Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knights & CityHawks

What is it about indoor football and soccer at MSG? It just never catches on. Ironically, the guy who came up with Arena Football got his idea watching an indoor soccer game there. What they never mention is that the home team, the New York Express (owned by Giorgio Chinaglia), went 3-22 and folded before the season ended. In the first 6-team season of the AFL, The New York team was an independent enterprise called the Knights, whose star players were from the Connecticut Giants minor league team who had also scabbed for the Meadowlands Giants during the strike. They won two games all season, neither of them at home, the jousting team at halftime (who regularly play at the Cloisters Medieval Festival in Ft. Tryon Park in Manhattan) received calls of "Bullsh***! Bullsh**!" The fans stayed away in droves and the team folded.

10 years later, the management of MSG brought forth 2 new teams: the New York Liberty (WNBA) and the New York CityHawks (AFL). There were great hopes for this team. The Garden dressed itself up well for the game and made a real effort to make the experience exciting. There were live bands, DJ's, a dance team, and 2 mascots. Unfortunately, they found it difficult to fill the seats. This being the Garden, there was a rush at the end of each game to get the players and fans out because they had to change the floor for whatever was happening the next day. This went against the AFL policy of fan accessibility. The bar across the street, however, was where the team and dancers hung out and you could meet the players there. The fact that they only won 5 games in 2 seasons, only one or two of them at home, however, meant that the mood there was kind of lugubrious. There was no place for pre-game tailgating (a barbecue grill in the parking garage just wouldn't do), and no real strong fan base developed. They were so desperate for audience they tried all sorts of ways of giving away tickets. I may be the only person in New York who paid full price twice!

The trouble is that in NYC there is so much else that people here enjoy to do, such as go to parties, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, theater, movies, etc, or have to do, such as work, go to school, commute to the suburbs, etc. that the ideal AFL fan just doesn't exist here, especially not for a team that can't win.

I went to one game of each season of AFL ball at MSG. I took pictures of one game and wrote an essay on it you can see on my website http://zorikh.8m.com

-- posted by zorikh