January 2, 2007 [LINK / comment]
The grandstand in what will be the right field corner, as seen from the north end of the construction site. Roll mouse over this image to see the grandstand behind home plate, on the southwest side.
After visiting some friends in Northern Virginia on Sunday, Jacqueline and I drove across the Potomac to check out the new stadium construction site. Things are indeed progressing at a rapid clip. Unfortunately, the skies had become overcast by the time we got there late in the afternoon, so these photos aren't that great. On the lot where the future parking garage will be built, we saw the Good and Plenty carry-out / eatery, which has been closed down and boarded up, unfortunately. Retaining some (but not all!) of those old neighborhood gathering places would have greatly enhanced the ballpark's place in the community, like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park.
I have created a rudimentary page for the future Washington Nationals Stadium, with a very rough sketch diagram.
Opening Day will be on April Fool's Day this year, so who knows what goofy hijinks will take place? Until then, the daily countdown will be displayed on the top right of the baseball blog page.
I don't usually spend much time discussing football, but the victory by Boise State over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last night was one of the most amazing finishes I've ever seen. The outcome itself was a big upset, but the bizarre way it ended was truly a jaw-opener. I was worn out from the New Year's party, but I'm glad I stayed up past midnight to see the conclusion, in overtime. To top it off, the guy who scored the winning [two-point conversion] on a trick "Statue of Liberty" play, Ian Johnson, proposed to his girlfriend, who is one of the cheerleaders. Talk about a fairy-tale ending! See ESPN. Hats off to Boise State.
By the way, this was the first game I had seen played in the University of Phoenix Stadium, the new space-age, climate-controlled home of the Arizona Cardinals, featuring a retractable grass field. I think that's the first time that a university has obtained stadium naming rights in a competitive bid process. According to azcentral.com, "It is the nation's largest private university, with 250,000 students, most of them working adults."
UPDATE: Ironically, the University of Phoenix does not seem to have an athletic program!
For some obscure technical reason, my Web hosting service was not functioning for a few hours earlier today. My apologies for the inconvenience. Unlike yesterday morning, however, this time it was not my fault!