Monday, October 23, 2006
FENWAY FOREVER
One of my favorite sports writers is Jim Caple. He reports on the future of Tiger Stadium - maybe a little league park, condos, retail space, you get the picture. Hopefully, Fenway Park is never the subject of that kind of discussion. Anyway, Caple speaks to how I feel about Fenway.
We are very possessive of our ballparks. Our own homes are just four walls with a mortgage, a shell we'll gladly sell to move to a place with extra storage and a better school district. But a ballpark? That's sacred land. Not only because of a stadium's place in our personal memories but also because of its importance to our collective memory. Ballparks are one of the last remaining places -- and perhaps the only place -- where we truly come together as a community for a shared experience. We won't exchange words with the passengers next to us during an entire cross-country flight other than to ask if they're going to eat all their pretzels. But put us in a stadium and soon we'll be hugging, slapping high-fives and orchestrating the wave with everyone in the section as if they were fraternity brothers.
One of my favorite sports writers is Jim Caple. He reports on the future of Tiger Stadium - maybe a little league park, condos, retail space, you get the picture. Hopefully, Fenway Park is never the subject of that kind of discussion. Anyway, Caple speaks to how I feel about Fenway.
We are very possessive of our ballparks. Our own homes are just four walls with a mortgage, a shell we'll gladly sell to move to a place with extra storage and a better school district. But a ballpark? That's sacred land. Not only because of a stadium's place in our personal memories but also because of its importance to our collective memory. Ballparks are one of the last remaining places -- and perhaps the only place -- where we truly come together as a community for a shared experience. We won't exchange words with the passengers next to us during an entire cross-country flight other than to ask if they're going to eat all their pretzels. But put us in a stadium and soon we'll be hugging, slapping high-fives and orchestrating the wave with everyone in the section as if they were fraternity brothers.