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Favorite area places to play/see a game, past and present.


cityofRaven
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1 hour ago, stu_bean said:

Will give a big amen to that.  I think it was last year that a few of the "boards" in the main walk were sagging down no less than 4"  Sure didn't want to walk on them.  Several other places in the stands would sink down when walking on them.  Fix the visitor side and Richlands would be an ok place.  Fix parking and that much better.  I know both are impossible and out of control of tings but for me the whole experience weighs in on the places I enjoy traveling to the most.  My top three for the overall experience are:

George Wythe

Honaker

Abingdon

Of course Bulldog stadium is my favorite.  I know there are better ones but it's home!

I've never stepped foot on the visitor side of Ernie, so I can't comment on how it is over there. I know that I've always hated how small those bleachers are, and I can assume that some sideline views are obstructed because of the lack of verticality over there, but from the home side, Ernie is a helluva lot nicer than most places around here lol. I am also admittedly a tad bit bias on this issue. 

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I'm not sure how anyone from Tazewell can say that Ernie's visitor side is bad and compliment their own stadium when they are virtually the same bleachers at both. The only difference is the visitor side at Richlands is elevated a touch, be it not much.

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2 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said:

I've never stepped foot on the visitor side of Ernie, so I can't comment on how it is over there. I know that I've always hated how small those bleachers are, and I can assume that some sideline views are obstructed because of the lack of verticality over there, but from the home side, Ernie is a helluva lot nicer than most places around here lol. I am also admittedly a tad bit bias on this issue. 

I've heard complaints from Tazewell visitor section as well but never been over there so I can't verify that either.

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3 minutes ago, stu_bean said:

I've heard complaints from Tazewell visitor section as well but never been over there so I can't verify that either.

Yep. It's not the size of the bleachers. It's the fact that from the top row, you still can't see a good 5-7 yards into the field from the sideline because of the players lol. Another thing that always bugged me about Tazewell was that the pressbox is not centered to the 50. It's centered to the 42 1/2. As a band kid back in the day, you would find relative points that were the same at every field and use those as guides...except Tazewell. lol. 

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1 minute ago, stu_bean said:

Want to talk about asymmetry...look no further than Lebanon.  I have to rate it as the weirdest stadium to go to.

Also very true. And I think I've sat on both sides as the visiting team on multiple occasions. They like to flip it around a lot. 

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25 minutes ago, Ryan4VT said:

My grandmother has a bad ankle and can't walk on flat land very far, much less up that hill. And my grandfather has had 14 back surgeries and he's beginning to struggle getting around as well. That, and the fact that parking is not great when you're trying to get out of there, are the reasons I left Abingdon off of my list. It took me 50 minutes to get out after the game this year. That's just crazy. 

Yeah, that may be true ..but where else do you get victory tacos?

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22 hours ago, TTownTigers said:

Narrows is rough and old, but the setting in the small town and near the River make it still......in my opinion, a cool place to watch a game.  

 

Has been completely redone on both sides seating wise.  Lowered capacity on the home side.  Only place I know where you can grill out, tailgate, and enjoy your favorite adult beverage in a friend/family members front yard and not miss a play. 

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Nelson Memorial is prob high on my list as well honestly. Back in the late 90's - early 00's when the Grundy/Richlands rivalry was close and they had just did the improvements, if you played there early in the year when there was grass, that was a pretty cool place to play. 

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If Mitchell Stadium isn't your #1 choice, there are three possibilities.  One, you've never been, in which case I would demand you go on the fourth Friday in August.  Two, you've suffered a traumatic brain injury that has robbed you of your memory of how wonderful it is, in which case you have my sympathies and prayers for recovery.  Three, you're wrong, and you need to repent of your foolishness.

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10 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

If Mitchell Stadium isn't your #1 choice, there are three possibilities.  One, you've never been, in which case I would demand you go on the fourth Friday in August.  Two, you've suffered a traumatic brain injury that has robbed you of your memory of how wonderful it is, in which case you have my sympathies and prayers for recovery.  Three, you're wrong, and you need to repent of your foolishness.

Sorry. Home will always beat Mitchell. :) Though it is second on my list. 

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I enjoyed my one trip to Mitchell.  The old buildings near the entrances gave it a unique feel.  Bullit Park is like that, it still have the gate houses/ticket booths that are made of old stone and look 100 years old

 

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Never been to Mitchell, played at Hicks once when it was grass and the end zone out to the 5 yard line was flooded (scrimmage).  For myself I need to separate the list between played and watched.   "Home" will almost always be your favorite.  With that said;

Northwood (home) good field, great home side stands, a lot of history in that venue.  Football has been played on that field since 1920 and the Saltville Alkalies semi-pro baseball team played there. (picture taken in March of 1967)

Played                                (in no real order)                                                                                                                      Watched

George Wythe                                                                                                                                                           John S. Battle  (hated playing on the field)

Marion (before they moved the field the baseball infield came out to around the 8 yard line it was pretty cool)       Abingdon

St. Paul (just different, felt like the crowd was right on top of you)                                                                             Gate City  (it kinda wowed me with the home side filling half the visitors bleachers and their GC chant)

                                                                                                                                                                                   Chilhowie - Because most of the home side thinks their $h!t don't stink and the visitors don't like them, it makes for a great aptmosphere                        

 

 

Baseball-Football.jpg

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11 hours ago, Falcon Mania said:

I don't see a way to upgrade the visitors side.  They can't really add higher or more seating due to the road and middle school directly behind.  I guess they could install some sort of endzone seating?  Best case scenario is they get bathroom or port-a-potty on the visitors side or concessions.  Either that or upgrade their home side facilities.

 

For those that say "Ohhhh Abingdon and that hill"  Probably the same people that walk 2 miles to Lane Stadium and then climb to the top row for their seating.  The hill is not as bad as most say.

My Top 5 High School Stadiums in our area:

1. Abingdon

2. Virginia High

3. Richlands

4. Bluefield

5. John I Burton

 

It is for grandparents who have accessibility issues.  Why didn't they build a ramp on the away side like they did the home side?

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11 hours ago, Falcon Mania said:

I don't see a way to upgrade the visitors side.  They can't really add higher or more seating due to the road and middle school directly behind.  I guess they could install some sort of endzone seating?  Best case scenario is they get bathroom or port-a-potty on the visitors side or concessions.  Either that or upgrade their home side facilities.

 

For those that say "Ohhhh Abingdon and that hill"  Probably the same people that walk 2 miles to Lane Stadium and then climb to the top row for their seating.  The hill is not as bad as most say.

My Top 5 High School Stadiums in our area:

1. Abingdon

2. Virginia High

3. Richlands

4. Bluefield

5. John I Burton

 

and JIB? really? crab grass and seats they manually move out of the way during baseball season? That place is trash!

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6 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

If Mitchell Stadium isn't your #1 choice, there are three possibilities.  One, you've never been, in which case I would demand you go on the fourth Friday in August.  Two, you've suffered a traumatic brain injury that has robbed you of your memory of how wonderful it is, in which case you have my sympathies and prayers for recovery.  Three, you're wrong, and you need to repent of your foolishness.

MItchell had lumpy grass when I played, I hated it. As a fan the past few years their turf has been junk. (finally fixed it). Its nice now, but I don't label it as a High School field.

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Holston, Holston, and Holston. Best concession I'm SWVA (bold statement, but I'm standing by it) and just an all around cool, but different design.

 

I'm from Marion, and while I wouldn't trade our stadium for anyone's, I would hate it as a visitor. Marion is something like 75-80% more likely to win at home over the past five years or so. Moveable "basket style" away bleachers, weird parking, a baseball infield that extends to the 10 yard line, and the away team locker room being in the gym on top of the hill behind the home bleachers while the home team uses the field house all makes for a less than excellent visitor experience. Plus, the stadium was designed to be a sound trap for the home fans. With the home bleachers built onto the side of the hill, the sound travels across the field, bounces off the steel siding on the General Dynamics plant immediately behind the away bleachers, and then back across the field. I was caught outside the stadium last season and thought from the parking lot that the away team had scored when in reality it was Marion. The cheers were louder after they had bounced off General Dynamics, making it sound like the away bleachers were cheering.

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22 hours ago, local_insight said:

Must of found something interesting on your history is she looks at your posts on this board.  

She does get on here and lurks once in a while and enjoys what is on here.  She is every bit as big a High School Football fan,  and actually a football fan in general as I am or most I know !  Absolutely loves it and likes the info and banter on here.............sometimes.....lol 

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Mitchell Stadium has been my favorite to see a game and play. 

As far as a spectator, I would follow with Abingdon, Gate City, Honaker, and George Wythe. I actually enjoyed a couple of games at Patrick Henry as well.  

I like Ernie Hicks from my playing days and the home side, but concur with Richlands Alum on the other issues. While not so different, I enjoyed Bullitt Park from the home side as a neutral observer as well, but did not care for the away side during games attended otherwise. 

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8 hours ago, tornado99 said:

I enjoyed Bullitt Park from the home side as a neutral observer as well, but did not care for the away side during games attended otherwise. 

Can't speak from the home side but it sucks from the visitor side since the scoreboard is behind the stands.  Or at least it was when we were down there a few years back...

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