Wide World of Sports Venues-February 20

American Airlines Arena

Miami, FL

Opened: December 31, 1999
Construction Cost: $213 Million
Capacity-19,600 with upper levels, 16,000 without upper levels, can be configured in five ways with a minimum of 5,000 and a maximum of 20,000
Home Teams: Miami Heat (NBA) 2000-Present, Miami Sol (WNBA) 2000-2002
Events Attended: None

Wide World of Sports Venues-February 7

Sun Life Stadium

Miami, FL

Opened: August 16, 1987
Construction Cost: $115 Million
Capacity: 1993 Baseball-47,662 2001 Baseball-42,531 2003 Baseball-36,531 2006 Baseball-36,331 2008 Baseball-38,560 Soccer-74,916 Football-76,500
Home Teams: Miami Dolphins (NFL) 1987-Present, 1989, 1995, 1999, 2007 and 2010 Super Bowls (Peyton Manning Vs. Drew Brees in seven hours), University of Miami "The U" Hurricanes (NCAA) 2008-Present, Florida Marlins (MLB) 1993-2010, Florida Atlantic Owls (NCAA) 2001-2002, FedEx Orange Bowl 1996-1998, 2000-Present, Blockbuster/Carquest/MicronPC/Champs Sports Bowl 1990-2000
Events Attended: None

Tim's Two Cents-February 3

The Spectacle of Super Bowl Media Day.  As we get closer and closer to the big game in Miami, we are reminded how much of a party the Super Bowl has become.

The biggest example happened yesterday with Media Day.  This is where media from all over the world converge like locusts at the Super Bowl to interview players from the respective Super Bowl participants.

Usually, the players are asked meaningless questions that have nothing to do with football from members of the media who seem like they have never covered the game whatsoever in their career.  With that being said, it was somewhat interesting to see that the focus this year was on Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney's ankle  injury, making him questionable for Sunday's big game.  He'll probably play, but how effective he'll be, that's another question.

In a sense, Media Day has sort of turned into an Oscars Red Carpet special that nobody really cares about.  What true football fan really wants to know what kind of shoulder pads Drew Brees wears?  I certainly don't.  Questions like these must annoy those media members who are experts that have followed the game for years like Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter.  Other media members who don't cover sports, especially football, have no business going to Media Day to cover the big game.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and BrokenSphere under CC-SA 3.0 License   

Tim's Two Cents-January 31

Is the Pro Bowl Past it's Prime?  The answer is yes.  The NFL's All Star Game will be today.  There will be no huge waves or scenic beaches on the Hawaiian islands.  It will still be at a beach.  The one known as South Beach. 

Leading up to this week, almost everyone has been trashing the Pro Bowl.  Like almost everyone else, I don't see the magic of the Pro Bowl.  While I applaud the NFL for trying something new by moving it up before the Super Bowl, it ultimately seems doomed for failure.  We won't get to see any of the Colts or Saints players who were selected to go.  That means no Peyton Manning or Drew Brees.  They will instead be playing for the grand prize next Sunday.

While the Pro Bowl will provide us with an opportunity to see a football game on an otherwise relatively quiet weekend, I won't be watching.  Most of the players won't even be playing very hard to avoid injuries.  The other truth is that most of them probably go just to get a free trip to Hawaii.  That won't be happening this year.  The way I see it, the NFL will have to move the Pro Bowl back to the way it was before.  I don't know how many people will watch if this happens.  I did hear of one way to improve the Pro Bowl.  At halftime, introduce the Super Bowl teams and have that be the kickoff to Super Bowl week leading up to the big week.  I guess it would make it more interesting.  Then again, there's already Media Day.  

The television ratings prove the NFL is the most popular of the four major sports by a country mile, but they have the worst All Star Game of the four major sports.