did anyone see it or part of it?
how do you feel about closing stadiums?


FLUSHING, N.Y., February 7, 2008 – The New York Mets today announced that Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and native New Yorker Billy Joel will become the final artist to perform at Shea Stadium at what has been dubbed “The Last Play at Shea,” on Wednesday, July 16, presented by Citi. 

“Shea Stadium is one of the most hallowed venues in rock & roll history and it’s an honor to help throw Shea the ultimate concert farewell party,” said Billy Joel.  “As a sports fan and a music lover, I will always have a place for Shea Stadium in my heart.  I thank the Mets for giving me and my fans a chance to rock Shea Stadium one last time for the ages.”

Billy Joel’s exclusive Shea concert extravaganza will take place the night after Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in the Bronx.  With his upcoming show at Shea, Joel becomes the first artist in music history to have played all four of New York City’s premier sporting venues: Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium and Madison Square Garden, where, in April 2006, he broke the record for longest sequence of sold-out shows by a single artist

This just breaks my heart. I really hate to see Shea get imploded and I'm not too sure what they are going to do to Yankee Stadium. I'm not a Yankees fan but there is so much history in the stadium. I think I heard something about turning Yankee Stadium into a museum which I would like to see. I would also love to see that with Shea-because there was a lot of history made there, too. The Beatles played there-plus how it important the stadium was during 9/11-and after. Shea was the one and only pro ball park that I have been to (back in the '70s). I think I am going to cry the day it become dust.




Cat

think I am going to cry the day it become dust.




Cat


me too.

Shea, like Wrigley, is a dump.

I'm not quite sure what the reason behind moving from Yankee stadium is though, no real need, apart from financial gain obviously, but at 1.3 billion for the construction it'll be years before it pays off.

Shea, like Wrigley, is a dump.



Gee, thanks a bunch!

Me, I find people don't even know Shea rhymes with play anymore!
::)

The difference is that Yankee stadium was already pretty much gutted and rebuilt in the early to mid 70's, so there is really no nostalgia. The old house that Ruth built is long gone.

Shea doesn't have a classic feel to it like Wrigley or Fenway...but it's still pretty much the same place that opened in 1964, and it always had a better feel to it than the cold, monolithic, colorless post 1976 Yankee Stadium. In the early 90's Yankee stadium was pretty much a tomb, Steinbrenner wanted the team in Jersey.

I'm a Cleveland Indians fan, but I'm also sympathetic of the Yankees fanatics' sadness over the imminent loss of their longtime home. Who wouldn't be, good times or bad? Lord knows Cleveland Stadium was the site of more bad baseball than just about anywhere else in the 70s and 80s...but it was still our place. I was sad to see it torn down, as disrespected and unloved as it was by the sportwriters and history priests.
In that respect, I can see why Yankee Stadium coming down in the world would be a big deal. To think that Ruth, Mantle, Ford, Maris, Jackson and many other Yankees greats trod that field, not to mention some of baseball's greatest moments took place there...well, it truly causes one to stop and realize the history of the venue.

All that poeti crap aside, it's often said that as Americans are a wasteful lot. I suppose one can see some signs of this behavior in how relatively quickly our state of the art, shiny new sports venues can become very unfashionable. Anybody remember the Kingdome in Seattle? That stadium had barely kissed its 20s goodbye when it was imploded to make way for a new stadium. The situation wasn't very different in Pittsburgh, where Three Rivers Stadium had stood since the early 1970s and fell just a few years ago. I'm all for new stadium if it's a matter of safety and more capacity, but doesn't this all seem to smell a little too much of "me too"ism ? This stuff didn't seem to be happening until places like Baltimore and Cleveland started building throwback style ballparks for their teams. Am I right?

I read somewhere that Paul McCartney made a appearance at the this show. 

I read somewhere that Paul McCartney made a appearance at the this show. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fPfB06P7Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynk6zCgUGlk



Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fPfB06P7Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynk6zCgUGlk



Cat
the concert goers received a very nice and unexpected treat. that must have been exciting. thanks Cat