New York Trip Report, Part 1: Go Mets

During my second visit to New York, I was subject to many new amazing experiences which only fuelled my love for 'The big Apple'. My first memorable experience was at a Mets game, which amazed me as to how much more entertained I was than at a match where I actually support the team I'm watching.

My first baseball experience was unbelievable; I was even amazed by the stadium. The only comparison I have is with a football game which pales in comparison. It had the usual cheers when runs were scored, which is the only likeness to the glorious game of football. After that, we were treated to a sporting show of pure entertainment value which even kept the kids engrossed the whole time.

There was a constant stream of music, lights, bundles of T-shirts fired into the crowd along with the occasional game ball to catch. A flurry of games where contestants won game tickets, kids won as many baseball cards as they could grab & free pizza from sponsoring pizza places. Cheers were encouraged, not just from the rowdy members in the crowd but the team really wanted you to get behind them & urge them to victory.

Now, the stadium was something else, not too dissimilar to a football stadium, multi-tiered seating, but not once did I see a huge line of people waiting for a bad pie & a Bovril. Each tier had its own food & beverage concession stands in addition to the constant stream of mobile vendors to keep you topped up, all designed to keep the fan happy, suitably lubricated & free to relax & watch the game.

I think football can learn a lot from baseball, I'd be happy to return to a Mets game at any time, when I go see a football game, it has to be a special occasion & that all revolves around the entertainment value I got from a similarly price ticket to two very different forms of entertainment.