Live Crowds: Which do you prefer being a part of the most?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Leena was spot on for golf and tennis:

 

Golf is, while certainly not unenjoyable, taxing to go to. This isn't a knock on tennis, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed it live.

 

Never seen NASCAR or a basketball game. Football was pretty good, but as has been mentioned a few times, pretty rough with fans that get a little too drunk/rowdy.

 

Baseball and hockey are definitely better live, and both for essentially the same reason: Lots of little stuff players do that you don't necessarily get to see on television. I'd rather sit higher up than field/ice level, especially for hockey, where it makes it easier to see the play develop.

[megaadvice 0]

Football (soccer) every day and twice on a Sunday.

 

The intensity, the emotion, the drama, not just that but the banter between home and away fans is something which to my knowledge is compleatly void from any American sport.

 

When I watch something like American Football or baseball on the Television I see fans of opposing teams sitting next to each othernothing ever seems to go off. It is magic when you are with a group of mabye 2 or 3000 of your own teams supporters all standing together in a tiny section of the ground with 30,000 home fans. When your team scores (say against a bitter rival or in a very important game) there is no better place to be or greater feeling the your corner of the ground explodes and goes f*ckin mental.

 

I think any proper English football fan can voutch for that.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Football (soccer) every day and twice on a Sunday.

 

The intensity, the emotion, the drama, not just that but the banter between home and away fans is something which to my knowledge is compleatly void from any American sport.

 

When I watch something like American Football or baseball on the Television I see fans of opposing teams sitting next to each othernothing ever seems to go off. It is magic when you are with a group of mabye 2 or 3000 of your own teams supporters all standing together in a tiny section of the ground with 30,000 home fans. When your team scores (say against a bitter rival or in a very important game) there is no better place to be or greater feeling the your corner of the ground explodes and goes f*ckin mental.

 

I think any proper English football fan can voutch for that.

 

Seriously, fuck off. If you're not aware of the hatred of some NFL rivals, like in Philly, or even Oakland, then don't comment on it.

[Art Sandusky 0]

A better comparison to the English football climate would be college football here, not the NFL.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I do think that the English/Euro soccer scene (sorry, I'm on this side of the Atlantic, so I'm calling it by the word that is used over here) is a bit more aggro, hate-filled than the sport scene is over here. But I think that's because we (Americans) have more sports to follow & get passionate about, and also have much more distance between the cities.

It is magic when you are with a group of mabye 2 or 3000 of your own teams supporters all standing together in a tiny section of the ground with 30,000 home fans.

Other than the cities that are really close (NJ/Philly or Toronto/Buffalo, for example) you're just not going to see 3k fans from go to an away game. If America was as small as the UK (not a diss against the UK, just stating the fact) it might be more advantageous for 3k fans to jump in the car and drive to an away game.

 

And, Porter, how was the ECHL game?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I talked about it in the blog, but it was a good experience. Too bad the game was poorly played.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Ahhh ... just went and read your blog entry about it. Sucks that the game was so poorly played. I know the Runners are a bad team, but thought that the Gulls were good, and figured the bad team would play up to the standards of the good team, instead of the good team playing down.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Well they were missing some of their best players, so that could be why it was so badly played.

[MrRant 0]

Hockey. I enjoy the atmosphere more as baseball is kinda slow paced for crowd involvement. Football is great and basketball is fun since it keeps everyone in it but since the scoring is constant they really only get up for dunks etc.

[Grenouille 0]

This is a tough tossup between hockey and baseball.

 

Hockey crowds can be fun due to the intense nature of the game. It always helps if the there's a full house too. For the first time in years the Portland Pirates played to a mostly full arena. Thank god we got the Ducks as the parent affiliate (never thought I'd say that). Cheering for your team on the road can be a little difficult too. The fans down in Manchester didn't take kindly to drunk Pirate fans after their team lost a shootout. Thankfully I only got water dumped on me, while my friend got beer.

 

Baseball crowds can be fun and into the game depending where you go. The minor league games I attend for Portland Seadog are usually quiet passionless affairs with parents intent on watching a game with their kids jumping all over, which takes away from the enjoyment of the game.

 

The crowds at Fenway are usually pretty good for the games I go to. Someone already mentioned the frat boys who can be a pisser, but thankfully they stick to the bleachers with the others that are there to spend $6.50 a beer. The last time I sat in the bleachers I ended up with some guy in my lap because he lunged at a Yankee fan who wouldn't shut up. That was it for the bleachers for me. Nowadays I stick to the field boxes and end up sitting with the pleasant enough people who pay top dollar to actually see the game.

[Guest guerillagenius]

I've been to NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB games. I love Vikings games in person, it's a lot of fun, there aren't too many douchebags here in MN to ruin it. Though the best time I've had was at our minor league teams game's, that's right the Bill Murray owned St. Paul Saints. It's a freakin blast, the game itself is almost secondary to all the crazy antics and promotions going on. I recommend it to anyone visiting in the summer to try for tickets (though they are very hard to come by) you will not regret it. Most fun I've had at a baseball game.

[Anorak 0]

Football (soccer) every day and twice on a Sunday.

 

The intensity, the emotion, the drama, not just that but the banter between home and away fans is something which to my knowledge is compleatly void from any American sport.

 

When I watch something like American Football or baseball on the Television I see fans of opposing teams sitting next to each othernothing ever seems to go off. It is magic when you are with a group of mabye 2 or 3000 of your own teams supporters all standing together in a tiny section of the ground with 30,000 home fans. When your team scores (say against a bitter rival or in a very important game) there is no better place to be or greater feeling the your corner of the ground explodes and goes f*ckin mental.

 

I think any proper English football fan can voutch for that.

 

Definately. I think away games provide many of the best days out and lasting memories for most football fans. There's a special atmosphere when you're with a small number of your team's hardcore supporters. You often get a good mix of the funnier, more knowlegeable and simply mad fans there.

[skullman80 0]

Hockey.....Hockey fans are a different breed than any other type of sports fan. Passionate....so passionate. The best damn game on earth when you are there live, nothing like it, IMO.

 

Especially at times like this...

 

[Guest The Satanic Angel]

Adding to the hockey love. I went to my second NHL hockey game just last week and I had an absolute blast. Skull, what game is that pic from? I was at the 4/13 Penguins/Rangers game.

 

Been to baseball games during Spring Training, boring as hell.

 

Still waiting to go to a NFL game.

 

I've been to a college bowl game, and the best I can say about that experience is that I was excited when the bands played at half time.

[skullman80 0]

Adding to the hockey love. I went to my second NHL hockey game just last week and I had an absolute blast. Skull, what game is that pic from? I was at the 4/13 Penguins/Rangers game.

 

Been to baseball games during Spring Training, boring as hell.

 

Still waiting to go to a NFL game.

 

I've been to a college bowl game, and the best I can say about that experience is that I was excited when the bands played at half time.

 

The pic is from the final Pens home game on 4/17 vs the Islanders. That pic was taken right after Crosby got his 100th point of the season.

[Guest The Satanic Angel]

I SOOOOO wanted to go to that game! I knew it couldn't have been the 4/13 game, there weren't enough empty seats.

 

EDIT:

 

And no, I'm not enough of a fan to know the difference in jerseys between the Rangers and the Islanders.

[skullman80 0]

I SOOOOO wanted to go to that game! I knew it couldn't have been the 4/13 game, there weren't enough empty seats.

 

EDIT:

 

And no, I'm not enough of a fan to know the difference in jerseys between the Rangers and the Islanders.

 

 

It was a playoff atmosphere for a team that is in last place. The igloo hasn't been that loud since 01 when the Pens last made the postseason.

 

The Crowd was pushing for Crosby to hit 100 from the first faceoff, bedlam ensued after he hit 100.

 

For as crappy as this team was this year, the Igloo was filled to 95% capacity all year long, so the fans didn't abandon the team. I had a 20 game package and enjoyed pretty much every game even the losses...