OK, I am rarely thrown for a loop by any news story because I am deeply cynical about a lot of things, but this story about the Braves? It's nutso.
Atlanta Braves Announce Plans to Move to New Stadium
The area they are talking about is a traffic nightmare. I've been through there countless times.The Braves folks say it will be better because of all the interstates around there but it's a traffic nightmare NOW. Unless we have flying cars or teleportation is possible in a few years, it will be a much bigger traffic mess.
The new stadium will cost over $600 MILLION, according to the AJC story. They could stay in the current stadium, which they've been in since 1997, but they would have to spend $200 million to "enhance the fan experience."
The new stadium will also have FEWER seats!
How does that enhance anything?! It will likely just make the tickets more pricey, and they are bad enough now.
As anyone knows who reads my blog, I am not much of a sports fan. Baseball is the exception. My grandfather Bob Hasty was a major league baseball player. When Michael and I were in the area of the old Atlanta Crackers stadium on Ponce yesterday I said "That's where your great grandfather used to pay. Yep, right there, where that shopping center is now."
Such a shame. I cried when they tore down Fulton County Stadium in the early 90's, to make way for the new stadium.That was the only place I ever saw my grandfather in a baseball uniform.
I have written about my grandfather over the years, as I did in this post, and this one. It's hard to explain why baseball stories like this disturb me so much.