Sports Editor Justin Kline shares his travel bucket list.
I’m really happy for the Plant City Prowlers: they get to go to Cooperstown, a baseball mecca, and play some games.
Baseball fans who haven’t made that trip to New York, including myself, likely have the town and its Baseball Hall of Fame on their bucket lists. While every sport’s hall of fame is packed with cool bits of history, I’ve heard many times Cooperstown has the coolest experience.
It’s not the only place I’d like to visit, though. These are the five places I definitely want to travel to in my lifetime, whether it’s to catch a game or just take in the sights and atmosphere.
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
I could fill this column with spots in Southern California, as there are so many to pick from. But if I had to narrow it down to just one choice, I have the Rose Bowl just edging out Dodger Stadium.
There’s nothing quite like it in football. It’s the Lambeau Field of the NCAA, yet it has a million times more charm. It’s where some of the biggest, best games in sports history have been played, and you’d be hard-pressed to find more striking football photos than anything taken there at sunset.
Built in 1922, it’s among the last of America’s major sports stadiums that hasn’t undergone extreme renovations or, at the worst, been demolished. College football isn’t the only sport it hosts, but I’d love to catch a USC-UCLA game there or, of course, the actual Rose Bowl game.
I have it over Notre Dame Stadium because every time I watch the Irish, my favorite team, in person, they lose.
Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
Fenway Park has more history, AT&T Park has the San Francisco Bay and Wrigley Field gives you a chance to run into Bill Murray. I get why those are popular ballparks to visit.
But, for my money, the home of the Baltimore Orioles is tops on my list of ballparks to visit.
It was completed in 1992 but designed with a “retro” look in mind. It’s a gorgeous stadium, with a great view of downtown Baltimore, and launched an MLB-wide trend which saw 21 other teams go for the “throwback” look when building or renovating their stadiums.
It’s not the same experience as a Fenway or a Wrigley trip, where everything really is retro because it’s old. But it’s a lot more comfortable during the game.
If you want to see how dedicated the city is to the game, take a walk on Eutaw Street and look down — every home run ball that ever flew out of the stadium and landed on the street has a plaque there, placed on the balls’ landing spots.
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
It has one accurate tagline: The World’s Most Famous Arena.
The current Madison Square Garden opened in 1968 and is best known for hosting both the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. But, since the Knicks are the laughingstock of the NBA, you’re better off going to a Rangers game if you’d like to see a home team get a win.
It’s the home of many notable NBA and NHL playoff moments, as well as high-profile college basketball tournaments. It’s considered one of the best boxing venues around, something that’s stuck since Muhammad Ali had his first fight against Joe Frazier there. It’s also the site of the first-ever WWE WrestleMania.
The stadium, which got $1 billion-dollar renovation several years ago, isn’t just a good place to catch a game. It’s also one of the city’s top concert venues, hosting some of the biggest artists in the world on a regular basis.
Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
They say that there’s nothing in college hoops quite like catching a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. That’s great, but there’s one caveat: you have to deal with Duke fans. I hate Duke, so I’d rather go to the arena several miles away from Durham.
It’s not the house that Michael Jordan built, as it was constructed in 1986 — two years after he joined the Chicago Bulls. But, as far as basketball experiences go, it’s hard to top.
You’ve got all that history hanging from the rafters, in the form of championship banners and 47 retired jerseys.
You’ve got 20,000 people going nuts on any given night for one of the game’s most legendary programs — compared to just over 9,000 for Duke — and the opportunity to watch many of the best teams in the sport do battle in what is arguably its best conference, the ACC.
There are plenty of great college game day experiences to choose from, but North Carolina is at the top of my list.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
