Speaking of anuses, tonight was my company Christmas...er...Holiday party.
This was the first time in 5 years we actually had it outside of work, so the accountants must be letting their iron grip slip a little with old age. They booked the club level of
SBC Park, where the SF Giants play baseball and just walking distance from the office. And while I am the first person to be lulled into a drooling stupor while watching a baseball game, it was actually pretty cool -- as we got the run of just about the whole stadium: field, batting tunnel, clubhouses and locker rooms, press boxes, etc.
Such as, in addition to the phone bank, checking out the Ethernet and laptop jacks in the dugouts. Pick up a phone, and suddenly you're dialing the visiting team's GM... which was kind of bewildering when that happened, given that the Giants haven't played anybody in months.
IMO, the Giants organization is really smart about how they go about outreach to fans and the media. Apparently, it is only one of five privately funded MLB parks in North America ... and the first, and last, built since Dodger Stadium in 1962. And they have staffers who really point out the stadium details that come with ownership to make it a cool place -- instead of one owned by a municipality that's set up to minimize maintenance costs.
What does this have to do with anything? Just made me think about the potential for a stadium, particularly with private ownership, as the delle Alpi gets revamped. Fans and players hated Candlestick Park as the worst in MLB for nearly 40 years before SBC Park was built, and the aesthetics, culture, and fan attendance difference is like night and day.
Who knows? Maybe Italy will win rights to host Euro 2012 and will get a chance to revamp a lot of their stadia in the process -- much like what happened recently in Portugal. Italy sure could use it, and it might even bring a longshot chance of a CL final there. But there's something about the potential for a club-owned stadium -- as is the case in many other football leagues -- that could be lost.