Mike and The Mad Dog locked horns yesterday in an argument regarding new stadiums. In case you are not familiar with the two sport talk show misfits, they air in
Yesterday the two carried on an argument in regards to whether or not the Yankees needed a new stadium. Chris feels they don’t while Mike feels they do. Since the new stadium, like Citi Field, is less than a year from being completed, the point is moot anyway. Regardless, Chris’s basic point was that the Yankees will draw 4 million people whether they have a new stadium or not. He also made the case that the Yankees are simply trying to make more money.
Mike, on the other hand, feels the Yankees do need a new ballpark because the current yard is old with cramped concourses and few amenities. He countered Russo with the idea that the Yankees are entitled to make money, after all baseball is a business. The battle raged for way more than an hour with Mike constantly repeating himself and Mad Dog getting caught in contradictions.
In general, I usually don’t listen to this show because the two of them aggravate me to no end. They both hate the Mets so what’s the point of listening. They constantly give Ed Coleman a hard time during Mets updates. And unlike Murti Sweeny who covers the Yankees, Ed takes their crap and changes his opinion, never confronting the two hosts. I like Coleman but I really wish he would grow a pair when talking to these two guys.
In regards to the stadium issue, I have to take sides with the big boy here. Yankee Stadium is as much a dump as Shea is. This nonsense about all its history with Ruth and Dimaggio went out the window in 1974 when they gutted the place, a point Mike must have made 40 times. It’s also a point I agree with. Yankee fans should have been outraged 35 years ago, not now. As I mentioned in a piece I wrote last week, Shea is older than Yankee Stadium. How can an edifice, which was 90 percent or more rebuilt, considered a renovation. It was new construction on the same site. And it was a bad job. Removing the scoreboards from the field was bad enough but ripping out the frieze on the roof was downright criminal.
Another point several callers made is the new ballparks will be cost prohibited. Again, I have to agree with Mike who pointed out the price of tickets will go up regardless. Let’s face it. Going to a ballgame is no cheap feat anymore. However, I can go online today and get tickets to any Mets game (except opening day, closing day, and the Yankee series) for a few bucks. Of course the seats are going to be in the nose bleed section but if you want to get in, you can. I just went to Mets.Com and punched in three different games, all in April. Two Saturday games, April 12 and 26 against the Brewers and Braves respectively, have seats available for 10.00 each. A Wednesday night game against the Nationals has seats as low as 5.00 each. So it’s affordable provided you are not fussy about the view. Admittedly, Yankee tickets will be a bit harder to come by because of the false notion of tearing down the house that Ruth built. But for the diehard, bleacher seats are 14.00 dollars, still an affordable price. I don’t defend the Mets or the Yankees in regards to seat prices but baseball is a business. If you want your team to sign free agents at exorbitant prices, then don’t complain when tickets are more expensive.
I’m just not quite sure the point Mad Dog was trying to make. But I guess that’s what the show is really all about anyway.
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