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  1. #13
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by Mista T View Post
    Huh? Parking at Memorial Stadium was atricious! For Colts games, we were almost forced to take the bus because stadium parking was so bad. Bumper-to-bumper parking made it impossible to get out for an hour+. Parking on the side streets in that neighborhood was an open invitation for vandalism or car-theft.
    I went to games from 1975 until the end. Always parked on Upshire Rd, near Loch Raven Blvd and The Alameda. It was easy and we never had our cars messed with. (Probably wouldn't be the case these days).

    That's why I would go to games on the spur of the moment mid week back then. Downtown is an automatic $15-$20 to park. Prevents me from just going at the last minute.
    Baltimore Football Championships
    Ravens 2000, 2012
    Stallions 95 CFL
    Stars 85 USFL
    Colts 58, 59, 70





  2. #14
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by Mista T View Post
    Huh? Parking at Memorial Stadium was atricious! For Colts games, we were almost forced to take the bus because stadium parking was so bad. Bumper-to-bumper parking made it impossible to get out for an hour+. Parking on the side streets in that neighborhood was an open invitation for vandalism or car-theft.

    Parking, and freeway access, at Camden Yards is significantly better. Moreover, proximity to the bars and restaurants at Cross Street Market/Federal Hill area, Light Stret, and Harborplace make the downtown come alive during Ravens Sundays.

    Memorial Stadium was a shit-hole that was obsolete the day that it opened. I blame Irsay for being a jerk by stealing our team, but he was justified too, because of Memorial Stadium's shitty sightlines, obstructed views, inadequate parking, residential location, 2 pm starts, etc. Were it not for the dunb fuck Baltimore City politicians, esp Hymie Pressman, we would have had a retractible roof domed stadium at Camden Yards buit in the 1970s.
    That's why I parked 10 mins away at Mervo and walked up. I grew up in that neighborhood
    and went to hi school across the street. You just didn't know the territory. I know one guy who was smashed and got on the wrong bus and ended up in
    Harrisbugh, PA-lol, but I parked on the lot a few
    times and yes there was a wait like thousands of stadiums. I was really pissed in the late 70s to see all the DC plates there.

    YOu're right, Memorial Stadium was obsolete from the time it was designed but it was still
    a great place to watch a game unless you got stuck behind a concrete pole. I never did.
    It was almost 20 years old by the time Irsay took over. Rosey sold the team or traded to him because he couldn't get a new stadium here. He didn't get one out there either and had
    the same probs with the Colesium as Al Davis had years later.

    Memorial Stadium was 20 times better than that.
    Last edited by AirFlacco; 11-26-2012 at 07:36 PM.





  3. #15
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    Sep 2006
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    Hoes Heights, Baltimore
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by Mista T View Post
    Were it not for the dunb fuck Baltimore City politicians, esp Hymie Pressman, we would have had a retractible roof domed stadium at Camden Yards buit in the 1970s.
    Imagine also, if this happened at that particular time, how the planning and construction of the Baltimore Metro would have been different?

    It could have very well been built as both a north/south line from the Lutherville/Timonium area, as well as the west-downtown line from Owings Mills.

    The reason they went with Light Rail for the north/south line to Camden Yards now is because, in the late 80's/early 90's, the money wasn't there for Heavy Rail transit...but it certainly was in the 70's!

    I love taking the Metro in to O's/Ravens games, but I'd take it even more if it were a North/South route roughly similar to the current Light Rail, because it's more convenient to where I live.

    What could have been...





  4. #16
    I'm 40. My dad use to take us to Orioles games... Some kid fun pack tixs. We would sit up in those bleacher seats.

    I went to City. And returned every thanksgiving for the city poly game after helping my mom make a few dishes.

    It was always cold! But fun and cheap!





  5. #17
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    I would have liked Memorial Stadium just because of the atmosphere at Baseball games. The way Jon Miller describes the crowds there would have been my kind of crowd:






  6. #18

    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by CrowMST3k View Post
    I would have liked Memorial Stadium just because of the atmosphere at Baseball games. The way Jon Miller describes the crowds there would have been my kind of crowd:
    Nice video. The Orioles crowds at Memorial Stadium are very similar to the Ravens crowds today. Passionate, knowledgeable, never have to be told when to cheer and when to be quiet, etc.

    For the Orioles, that all got ruined when they moved to Camden Yards and the owner at the time, Eli Jacobs, opened up the prime seats to his friends and associates in New York City and Washington, DC. The regular, long-time fans got shafted in the new stadium.

    For instance, I had lower level season tickets behind the Orioles dug-out...not box seats...they were about 25 rows up underneath the over-hang. But still, in the lower level. When I got my season tickets for Camden Yards, I was shocked. They had put me in the upper deck, all the way down the right field line, 1 section from the end.

    I remember another season ticket holder, who had 8 seats right behind home plate, and had purchased an 81 game plan since 1954 (the team's first year)...his seats were relocated way down by the foul pole.

    The new fans were corporate, up-scale folks that were there to be scene and had no real attachment to the Orioles. I distinctly remember how much different the crowds were in the first few years of Camden Yards. It is starting to come back slowly, but the atmosphere has never been what is was like at Memorial Stadium.





  7. #19

    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by Galen Sevinne View Post
    There was a corner of the endzone on the closed end that was pavement. You would never have that now. Imagine catching a diving touchdown pass only to land on pavement?
    Was watching A Football Life for John Riggins

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUlgf8pSPtQ

    You can see the corner of the endzone at the 10:00 mark.

    What the hell? How was that even allowed to happen. Different times I guess





  8. #20
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by Irish Raven View Post

    You can see the corner of the endzone at the 10:00 mark.

    What the hell? How was that even allowed to happen. Different times I guess
    Partially true. IIRC, it wasn't a hard pavement e.g. asphalt or concrete. Rather, it was the gravel warning track for baseball. I always had thought that the City was extra cheap by not sodding that section every season.

    Also, what's not showing in that video was the infield, which stayed in place through September, or well into October for the many seasons that the Orioles played postseason games. Except for the pitcher's mound being leveled, the Colts had to play on a field which had dirt infield over 1/4th of the way down the field in the closed end of the horseshoe.

    I believe that the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, Candlestick Park (to be razed next year), and San Diego's stadium are the only remaining multi-purpose stadiums to house an NFL team.


    :T2:
    In a 2003 BBC poll that asked Brits to name the "Greatest American Ever", Mr. T came in fourth, behind ML King (3rd), Abe Lincoln (2nd) and Homer Simpson (1st).





  9. #21
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Quote Originally Posted by CrowMST3k View Post
    Imagine also, if this happened at that particular time, how the planning and construction of the Baltimore Metro would have been different?

    It could have very well been built as both a north/south line from the Lutherville/Timonium area, as well as the west-downtown line from Owings Mills.

    The reason they went with Light Rail for the north/south line to Camden Yards now is because, in the late 80's/early 90's, the money wasn't there for Heavy Rail transit...but it certainly was in the 70's!

    I love taking the Metro in to O's/Ravens games, but I'd take it even more if it were a North/South route roughly similar to the current Light Rail, because it's more convenient to where I live.

    What could have been...
    Development in Baltimore and the surrounding area is often a case of "What could have been." The money was indeed there in the 70s for heavy rail and the plans had been there since the 60's for an entire network of heavy rail lines.

    Blame the folks down in AA County --where the Light Rail would eventually run, ironically-- who felt that crime would follow the line down there. Killed any chance of them building the N-S line. Things shifted to the NW line that we all know today and that's what got built. Then the money dried up as did the political will, which has never really come back.

    Shame. Charles Center was built to accomodate a platform for the N-S line. There had been talk of it being used in either the Red Line (never happen now, even if the Red Line ever gets built) or a future N-S line along Charles Street.

    And yeah, it's true, Schaefer had to build the current Light Rail with only state funds. But if the new Colts stadium is built at the Camden Yards site, the new O's stadium probably is too (we're probably just celebrating the 25th or so anniversary), and they might have gone ahead and built the N-S line anyway.

    The entire area would probably look alot different, as well. Too bad the people in charge today lack the vision of folks like Schaefer.
    ---

    Baltimore Colts (AAFC): 1947-1950
    Baltimore Colts (NFL): 1953-1984
    Baltimore Stars (USFL): 1985
    Baltimore Colts/Stallions (CFL): 1994-1995
    Baltimore Ravens (NFL): 1996-Present





  10. #22
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    Speaking on the off topic discussion about rail travel...I was too young while all these systems were going up, but now as an adult...Luckily, I live out in Westminster, so it makes a LOT of sense to use the Metro Rail to get from Owings Mills to Downtown for Orioles/Ravens games. Fun fact about it though, my initial plan every time has been to take Metro to Lexington Market, then Light Rail from there to the stadiums. All 4 times I've done it, I have ended up just walking from Lexington Market to the Stadiums because the Light Rail was so far behind, I didn't feel like waiting. Also, every time...I have beaten the Light Rail there.

    Anyway, I find it very ironic that the Light Rail is probably the heavier used form of transit, given the locations of the rail at BWI, the Stadiums, up in the Towson area, and with service to Penn Station, while the Metro which is designed to be the high capacity system, really serves mainly Hopkins, OM/Reisterstown areas, and a couple downtown spots along Pennsylvania Ave, Fells Point, and two "Inner Harbor" stops in Charles Center and Lexington Market. It works for me, since Light Rail is generally PACKED while Metro is fairly lightly used by comparison, and I don't mind the walking, but it'd be nice someday if the state can get the funds together to put together an extension of the Metro line or some sort of corresponding line that goes N-S. My guess is, since Light Rail is cheaper, the focus would be to keep expanding Light Rail, bus service, etc as a complimentary combination of systems to get people around. I just know what happened to me this year on the day of the Championship Rally with Light Rail...It was totally overwhelmed by the volume of commuters and if I hadn't had gracious parents who came out and picked up myself and my son, I have no idea how much longer we would've been stuck there. We were out there for 2.5 hours by the time we gave up, and I heard people waited another hour or so beyond that before they finally sent some empty trains up from Southbound locations just to clear the stadium queues.

    As for Memorial Stadium, I have very faint memories of it from some Orioles games and two Stallions games. My dad parked us close to the stadium, but we walked there from our spot and I liked seeing the area, especially remember the Hopkins building across the street, which I always mistook for Municipal Stadium for some reason (My dad was trying to explain that there used to be an old stadium that Memorial Stadium replaced, but it was in the same location, not across the street). We also used to do the Baltimore March of Dimes walkathon from Memorial Stadium that walked around a lot of those neighborhoods. I remember the games a bit, but not as much of the stadium itself, but I love seeing old pictures of it and hearing the more detailed stories about it.
    .
    .
    “When I think of a Baltimore Raven - we go in there, we take your lunch box, we take your sandwich, we take your juice box, we take your applesauce, and we take your spork and we break it. And we leave you with an empty lunch. That’s the Baltimore Raven way.” - Steve Smith Sr.


    Call me a Special Teams coach again. I dare you! I double dare you, MFer!





  11. #23
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    Jun 2011
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    Re: What was Memorial Staduim Like

    RavenScallywag:

    I used to say that Westminster would NEVER, EVER see an extension of Metro out there. The political will against it has been so high in the past, I think it was mentioned very briefly and then forgotten. Maybe one day when the area is dominated by folks like you who would use it LOL

    Hopefully they'll get the N-S line to Towson one of these days. It would be great for the university and the area. Maybe end it at Goucher. I'm over that way and I've been ready for that for years. It would probably also pass JHU. Then, Baltimore would be like other cities were kids and parents can use the train to get to and from school (aside from larger moves of furniture and stuff obviously).

    The old Venable Stadium (which was shaped like a horseshoe, though not ironically so) was the predecessor to Memorial Stadium, which was built out of Venable.

    The Hopkins building is the old Eastern High School before Eastern was merged with Lake Clifton some years ago. It was the all-female counterpart to City (much like Poly-Western), right across Loch Raven Blvd/Rd.

    I did the March of Dimes with my mother from there as well.
    ---

    Baltimore Colts (AAFC): 1947-1950
    Baltimore Colts (NFL): 1953-1984
    Baltimore Stars (USFL): 1985
    Baltimore Colts/Stallions (CFL): 1994-1995
    Baltimore Ravens (NFL): 1996-Present





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