It's not the stadium
Written: May 10 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Aesthetics: |
 |
|
| Food Selection: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Great historical landmark
Cons: Not designed for baseball
|
|
|
| BlackVapor's Full Review: Olympic Stadium |
I live in the Montreal area and I can tell you, the Olympic Stadium is a landmark. Not many cities can boast to have a stadium that was used in the Olympics. However, this stadium is far from being designed for baseball and far less for baseball in Montreal.
Montreal's CFL team, the Alouettes used to play its home games at the big O, and Montreal almost lost its team. However, the team moved downtown, to the Molson Stadium, at McGill university. What happened? Football is now the best show in town. This summer, over 14000 season tickets were sold, and the stadium only holds about 17000 people.
This is why the Expos need to go downtown. First of all, the area where the stadium lies is at the far east of the city, far from downtown. In fact, there is not much else than the stadium in that area. Added to this, the stadium holds 60000 seats. When only 10000 fans come to the games (average this year), the atmosphere simply is not there.
However, the main reason why there are few fans coming to the Expos' home games is the team's performance. You can realize that it can be very frustrating to see players evolve and become MLB stars one or two years after the Expos had to give them away to other teams, lacking the budget to keep them. The Montreal crowd likes to see its sports teams win, otherwise, they wont pay to watch a game. Personally, I do not think this way, but many people do.
This year, with the increased budget, the team will probably see more fans, and the new Labatt Stadium that is under way downtown will also help.
In other words, when it is full, the Olympic Stadium is a great place for baseball. However, it is empty most of the time, so the new stadium HAS to be built for our baseball future.
By the way, many French Canadians do enjoy baseball. Personally, I have gone to many more baseball games than hockey games, and I have played for many years. For the others that are afraid of Quebec separating from Canada, I tell you, it will not happen anytime soon. Besides, if Quebec ever does become independent, it will most definitely not influence baseball! :)
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: Better Get There Early
Seat Location: Lower Level
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
BlackVapor
|
|
Member: Mathieu Melancon
Location: Laval, Quebec
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.