February 6, 2004 [LINK]
Stadium on D.C. waterfront?
At a meeting in Washington this week, D.C. government officials showed MLB honchos a much better baseball stadium site: near the southwest waterfront. It's a pleasant area, with several fine restaurants, and, more importantly, is closer to us fans on the south side of the Potomac than any of the other proposed sites in D.C.! Arlington withdrew from the stadium picture last summer, but I wonder if officials in Alexandria have contemplated having a stadium built on the West End of their fine city? That area has convenient access to Metro, the Beltway, and is close to the Landmark shopping mall and a dense urban high-rise apartment district. Not a perfect site, but at least it wouldn't be in a suburban wasteland.
Many thanks to Mr. Roy Sorice, who explained to me the reason that the Chicago Bears played in the cramped quarters of Wrigley Field all those years was because Soldier Field was such an inhospitable white elephant, until it was finally renovated in 1971, that is. Before that, its main uses were hosting "midget auto races and the college all star game..." (That was before my time, I'm afraid.) Keep those historical tips comin' in, sports fans!