Dome stadiums- Your feelings?

[carolinatony]

I grew up watching the ice bowl with Dallas and the Packers and think the game was meant to play Outside. Something doesn't feel right being in a dome. Ther's no wind or anything.
thoughts...

 

[drew4008]

Love them. So much better for the fans... who are paying for everything.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Growing up in suburban Detroit, I can say that domes are probably reason #1 why I hate the Detroit Lions. I hate domes with a passion. I absolutely love football in the snow. My ideal football game is something along the lines of the Oakland game in 2001. I think it's what separates football from other sports- the elements. Beating each other up in the trenches, muddy, nasty, cold football. I love it. Watching games in Foxborough, Green Bay, Chicago, it made me hate the Lions for selling out to get a Super Bowl (and doing so again) when there could've been a real home field advantage.

Domes cheapen the game, and I love being cold watching football. It adds to the atmosphere. Nice firepit roaring as I tailgate. Nothing better.

 

[carolinatony]

Thanks Michigan Dave
I was sad when both the Lions and Viking got domes. Its only 2/3 games a year that may be freezing Cold . There just is something about a cold snowing game.

 

[carolinatony]

Have you guys ever read the Fish board or Tampa and hear them complain when they have a game in Dec in NY,NE, or Buffalo.
That alone should make cold weather teams Never want one!

 

[MrClutch]

I also dislike domes and I'm glad that the Pats don't play in one. I love Pats winter football.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Thanks Michigan Dave
I was sad when both the Lions and Viking got domes. Its only 2/3 games a year that may be freezing Cold . There just is something about a cold snowing game.

Not only that, but the atmosphere in a dome sucks (not just in Detroit because the Lions are bad, either.) Sure, it may be louder (<coughINDYS PUMPED IN NOISEcough>) but you sacrifice the football "feeling." It lacks character and emotion. Ford Field is an amazing facility. The way they built it into Brush Street in Detroit (the old brick road is literally a concourse on the east side of the stadium) and worked the Hudson's warehouse in is an architectural marvel. And it's a waste, because it feels empty when you're in the building.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

How would those great games the Pats won in the snow (Miami and Raidahs) have been if we played in a dome. Some day, they might be obsolete I hope.

 

[nukin]

Yeah... domes suck. Windy Rainy Wet Icy Muddy football. That's the best.

I did'nt even like the new turf.

 

[Battaglia]

Detroit needs the dome to protect fans from falling bullets.

 

[zoostation]

The sterilization of America is out of control. You can’t visit any city without seeing a Wal-Mart, a McDonalds, a Home Depot. Let’s keep football real…let’s continue to attend the games in our beautiful “open air†stadium. If I want to hang out inside I’ll go to the movies.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Detroit needs the dome to protect fans from falling bullets.

Not quite. Detroit has it's problems, but it's not that bad. It's just a depressed economic area due to years of neglect from terrible city leadership. It's working on rejuvenation with the 2 new stadiums (and third for the Red Wings in proposals), the FoxTown area, the casinos, and Greektown. Detroit will never be a Chicago, I can concede that, but they managed to pull off a great Super Bowl when I thought it would be an embarrassment to the city, and that was a step in the right direction. Hopefully the Final Four will also help get some positive attention. Detroit isn't the best city, but it's a far cry from the urban war-zone it gets portrayed as to the nation.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Not quite. Detroit has it's problems, but it's not that bad. It's just a depressed economic area due to years of neglect from terrible city leadership. It's working on rejuvenation with the 2 new stadiums (and third for the Red Wings in proposals), the FoxTown area, the casinos, and Greektown. Detroit will never be a Chicago, I can concede that, but they managed to pull off a great Super Bowl when I thought it would be an embarrassment to the city, and that was a step in the right direction. Hopefully the Final Four will also help get some positive attention. Detroit isn't the best city, but it's a far cry from the urban war-zone it gets portrayed as to the nation.

When I was reading that all I could think of was that scene in Kentucky Fried Movie were the evil guy makes the ultrament punishment
Take him to... Detroit!
No! No, not Detroit! No! No, please! Anything but that! No! No!

 

[PatsFan24]

eh, i do not care for domes as much. outside is better. its nice to have a snow game or two each year. it is more fun when the conditions are a factor.

 

[zoostation]

Detroit needs the dome to protect fans from falling bullets.

you'd be surprised. That area of downtown Detroit is vibrant. The motor city gets a bad wrap but it's a fun town to party in. Huge hockey town.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I hate domes with a passion. I absolutely love football in the snow. My ideal football game is something along the lines of the Oakland game in 2001. I think it's what separates football from other sports- the elements. Beating each other up in the trenches, muddy, nasty, cold football. I love it. Watching games in Foxborough, Green Bay, Chicago, it made me hate the Lions for selling out to get a Super Bowl (and doing so again) when there could've been a real home field advantage.

Domes cheapen the game, and I love being cold watching football. It adds to the atmosphere. Nice firepit roaring as I tailgate. Nothing better.

this is the also my ideal one
i love when winter is coming, when snow is coming, when the cold is coming and when it is december...i love it really.

cut the domes...

 

[Fanfrom1960]

eh, i do not care for domes as much. outside is better. its nice to have a snow game or two each year. it is more fun when the conditions are a factor.

It's even more fun playing in it. It's hard to get going fast enough to hurt anybody. The offensive guys probably don't like it from the aspect that their stats go all to hell.

Anybody know about the thought process with Kraft, etc., that went into New England not doing a dome stadium?

 

[Patjew]

Anybody know about the thought process with Kraft, etc., that went into New England not doing a dome stadium?

I remember the story was Kraft asked Bledsoe for his opinion about Dome vs. No Dome, and Bledsoe pushed for No Dome since the elements gave the Pats an advantage in cold-weather games.

 

[Murphys95]

If there were one thing I could change about the NFL, it would be to eliminate domed stadiums. Football in the elements is what it's all about, whether it be 95 degree heat or 35 degree sleet. It adds so much to the game experience.

Besides, the most memorable games inevitably are those played outside - the Ice Bowl, the Snow Bowl, the Fog Bowl. There's a reason we've never heard of the 72 Degrees and Comfy Bowl.

 

[Mike the Brit]

It's going to be hard to get much of an argument going in this thread, isn't it?

I think that one of the best things about football is the variety of conditions under which it can be -- and is -- played. It signals the fact that football is played and followed passionately in every part of a huge country and it makes preparing for and playing football all the more challenging. Ideally, for me, football should be played outside on grass and I love watching cold weather and snow games. (I am still very sad that the Patriots don't appear to have been able to manage a grass stadium at Gillette).

But here's my slightly dissenting thought. Based on what I said above, I wouldn't want to see all of the existing domes torn down. If the NFL were all domes it would be as bad as Dunkin Donuts (as someone said) but a few add to the diversity and range of conditions. Never have a Superbowl in a dome, though!