philly vs baltimore

[WKLAX]

for you who have been to both, which do you like better?

I liked philly a lot better... it seemed more organized and it was in a better location...

[MaKiMaKi13]

organized and in a better location?? care to elaborate ??

[MDlaxin69]

b-more no doubt... this is lacrosse's home town, this is where it is the state team sport. Its no wonder we broke a record with 52,004 people in attendance today at the semis.

[jaysfan19]

Ok, I am an awful, horrible traitor but I like Philly better. Things at M&T seem so spread out. We didn't check out LaxFest though. We had to be out of the lot by 6 for the O's game( our fault for not having a parking pass or Light Railing it) But as a Baltimoron(sic) I will give it to Philly- not as pretty but better organized so far.

[WKLAX]

^^^^
thats what i thought

[laxcomm]

BETTER PARKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

I attended the first championshiop when it was held at Hofstra and 28 more since then. Although I live above New York City I never missed a game at Byrd Stadium so it is not a matter of travel. If the games were at Byrd every year I would attend. The parking in Baltimore is TERRIBLE. I feel that 50% of the Lacrosse Championship Weekend is the tailgating where once a year friendships are renewed and new ones are made.

Have the games in Philly every other year and rotate them to other sites in the off years.

[spenny]

till baltimore shapes up and stops acting like hosting the FF is their god given right, its philly all the way.

this year the orioles are at home the same weekend as the FF? whats up with that?
last time the people at the parking lots illegaly sold spots to people who didnt have parking passes, so many people with parking passes didnt get parking.

personally i miss the days it was held on college campuses. water wasnt $4, and sandwiches $10.
next year for foxboro they opened ticket sales 3 weeks early to pats season ticket holders, and then right to ticketmaster with a $10 per ticket fee? how many of those ticketholders bought the tickets just to scalp them? great. so it went from a family event to an event that soon will be too expensive for most families to attend.

[unionvillelax10]

THANK YOU SPENNY. You just said it all.

[laxnbulldog32]

i may be a little biased but in philly theres no home team (unless Penn or Drexel makes it). Where in Baltimore you have Hopkins, Towson and many other Maryland teams all competing.

[laxcomm]

Home town fans are not the REAL lacrosse fans. At most of the championships since the early 80's I encountered large contingents of out of town fans. The most noticeable were the ones from upstate New York. They always traveled to see "Cuse" play no matter where the championships were held. Many of them did not like the championships in Syracuse because of the poor parking (just like Ravens Stadium) and the lack of being able to tailgate (see Ravens Stadium). The same can't be said of the B'more fans who seldom went to Rutgers and often did not even make the short trip to College Park. The record attendance set in Baltimore for the 2003 championships could just as easily been set in prior years at Byrd Stadium if the B'more fans made the trip to College Park.

True lacrosse fans will travel to the games no matter where they are and who is playing. This years record attendance for the games on Saturday is not much greater than the one set in Philly last year. Guess what, none of the eight teams in the 2006 tournament were from Philadelphia area.

[salisburylax]

Baltimore is alot better we have the inner harbor, fells point, canton, fedral hill for the adults. for the kids you have the aquarium, science museum, port discovery, espn zone, babe ruth musuem, b&o rail road musuem, art gallieries scattered through out. we have alot to offer beside the lax weekend. philly has south street the liberty bell pats cheesesteak but all that is far from the stadiums at least baltimores furthest attractions are no more then a 15min walk away. people are griping about parking last year the phillies had a homestand and people were asked to leave, also last year we had parking close to the stadium but we hit some traffic and we're a tad late and they told us the lot was full so we had to park near the baseball stadium. this year i parked in a garage for $10 tailgated some on the roof and it was a 5 min walk . to the comment from laxcomm im from baltimore i was introduced to lax in highschool so like 2000 or so. when the final four came in 2003 i went because it was convinient and i was starting to like the sport we had an awesome time so we preordered tix for 2004 as early as possible same thing for the past 3 years, so to say all hometown fans are not real fans is incorrect. i know people from past tailgates that do the same order as early as possible before the final 4 is set. yeah its awesome if md, navy, hop, umbc, towson, loyola, salisbury, wac make it to the weekend but if none of the teams make it i wasnt planning on selling the tickets, that atmosphere is awesome and i love lax. so try not to be so ignorant.

[rockstar13]

its got to be philly its right in the middle of the 2 biggest lacrosse states new york and maryland and you also have delware south jersey and pennsylvaina who are starting to get in to the sport

[laxcomm]

People go to the Lacrosse Championship Weekend (because of an NCAA basketball copyright it can't be called the Final Four) to watch lacrosse. The Saturday games start at 11 AM and end 3:30. By the time you get away from the stadium how much time is left to visit a museum or an art gallery?

The same can be said for Sunday. On Monday people just want to get on the road for the long ride home in Memorial Day traffic. In 2004 it took 7 hours to get to Westchester County, NY from Baltimore and probably longer to get to Long Island. I don't think that the Monday spectators plan on visiting museums or art galleries. They just want to get home at a reasonable time so they can go to work the next day.

When the Championship Weekend was first started with the game on Monday it was purposely scheduled for 11AM so that people could get an early start for home. Although the 1 PM start because of television committments is two hours later, you have to figue that it adds an extra hour to driving time. No problem for the Light Rail folks, but a big one for the travelers.

Forgetting the time constraints, after sitting in the hot sun for 5 hours on Saturday and Sunday, who has the energy to go sightseeing? Most people want to wash up, sit by a pool to rest, and then go out to a late dinner.

Motel and hotel prices in Baltimore were out of sight. This NEVER happened in College Park or Rutgers. As I said in an earlier post, I went to every championship that was ever held at Byrd Stadium and know what the costs were. They werte reasonable even though lacrosse spectators were competing with the motorcyclists from "Rolling Thunder" for rooms there was no gouging in College Park as there is in the Inner Harbor.

[laxersk8erguy8]

definitely philly
in baltimore we had to be out of the parking lot by 6 on saturday and we had to park a 10 minute walk away from the stadium on sunday. This won't be a problem next year, but i don't see why the MLB can't acknowledge lacrosse as a major sporting event that draws 50,000+ people, and just schedule the Orioles (or phillies) away. Also, the fan zone was alot more spread out this year.
Baltimore is a 7-8 hour drive from NY with the heavy memorial day traffic. Philly and Piscataway are more central locations for all of the NE lax world.

[BGlacrosse24]

Baltimore is not a nice place. It has the highest crime rate of any city in the U.S.

[laxcomm]

I am waiting to hear the comments from people who are in Baltimore now but don't have access to their computers. What they have to say should be interesting. No matter what the venue is, the games are always great.

[MC Escher]

def. baltimore

[hofstralax]

definitly philly. since LI and baltimore are pretty much the 2 biggest lax hotbeds, philly is the most central location. also philly was more organized and the parking was alot better

[HdGLaxWarrior]

Baltimore is not a nice place. It has the highest crime rate of any city in the U.S.

M&T bank is one of the best football stadiums in the US. Baltimore is a huge city. the stadium is a looong way away from the bad parts.

it's definately baltimore. does a record crowd mean anything to you?

[tiplax]

Eh, both had there upsides:
Baltimore: the outside lacrosse stuff was cooler. i liked the inner harbor, and the guy at the lax tent with cheap stuff
Philly: i felt the stadium was nicer, and the events were more organized

[spenny]

M&T bank is one of the best football stadiums in the US. Baltimore is a huge city. the stadium is a looong way away from the bad parts.

it's definately baltimore. does a record crowd mean anything to you?

well, they set a record crowd both times in philly too, so that doesnt mean anything. with the possible exception of next year, they will sbe setting new records every year for the next few years as lax continues to grow.

ive been a spectator and see the stands in both stadiums, and ive been a photographer in both stadiums and seen the pressboxes, locker rooms, fields and other spaces you dont normally get to see.

the public spaces are close, philly is slightly nicer, more comfortable and better laid out, but the private spaces, its no contest. ravens stadium is substandard compared to the linc. that place is just amazing

[HdGLaxWarrior]

lincoln financial is a brand new stadium, i'm just saying that the facilities are great.

and correct me if i'm wrong but, i'm pretty sure i heard them say the last record was set at baltimore 3 years ago.

[laxn]

BALTIMORE, its the heart of lacrosse (well maybe up in NY too)

[BwineLAX42]

The record will continue to be broken each year, don't bring that into the argument. And Baltimore was suppossed to surpass 60k this year and barley got passed 50, so I don't want to hear it.

Also, move the Championship game to 7pm, remember the Virginia-Hop game '05 and how much better that was?

Ravens stadium is only about 2 years older than the link. Also, IMO the Philly events were better.

[BwineLAX42]

Baltimore is not a nice place. It has the highest crime rate of any city in the U.S.

Philly isn't much better. Camden + Philly > Baltimore.

[thepalehorse]

philly, baltimore seemed less organized then philly. Somthing about having it in philly seemed better.

[Dlax44]

philly..baltimore didnt have as much give aways and philly had a much nicer complex with a lot more to do..baltimore did have a cool inner harbour where all the restaurants were but philly was definitely better...i just have one question...WHY FOXSBORO?

[laxcomm]

Philly has Better parking = Better tailgating

[shiftylax]

Considering old man river stopped me from setting up a grill in our parking lot this year I'm going to go with Philly. We had to tailgate in the handicapped parking area under the over pass. Kind of killed my game. Ridiculous.

Not to mention to weakest sports bar I have ever seen was the only place in Baltimore that hosted the UFC fight AND charged 8 bucks at the door. I spent all night arguing with boorish heathens over illegal knees, elbws to the head and Rampage's striking ability. Not too pleasant.

Also, a member of Team LN was assualted in Baltimore and had to throw some punches to maintain the lifestyle to which he is accustomed.

Although I did manage to spend over 5 hours in the Greene Turtle...it's still not close - Did I mention that my hotel room was 259 bucks a night?

So yeah, Philly wins.

[stegmakk]

Philly no doubt...awesome parking...MUCH better stadium/facilities...
Balti is nice on the water and has the turtle...but Im still going with philly...besides its more centrally located for LI and Upstate NYers to travel too...

p.s. it wasnt me who threw down

[8-ball]

id say philly, only because it was a little more organized. baltimore has the nicer surrounding area. the crime rate is high, but st. louis is much worse. to me, it doesnt and shouldnt matter where its held. as long as the events are fun and kept entertaining for everyone. the attendence will go up every year, so there should be no argument about that at all. it would be pretty cool to have it held on a college campus somewhere, but maybe they should do that with the quarter finals. double headers at different campuses. it shouldnt matter where it is, because personally, id travel and will travel to the FF every year, and i live in northwest ohio. a good lacrosse fan wont complain about how far it is from where they live. i understand if some cant make the travel, then just watch it on tv. it would be really really cool to have the championship later in the day when its not so hot, etc...those are just thoughts at the top of my head, but still, to me it all makes sense.

[spenny]

Considering old man river stopped me from setting up a grill in our parking lot this year.

no tailgating in the media parking lot. it was on the back of our parking passes. if the parking is for the working media, it makes sense to me.

[mcourtne]

I enjoyed the games and the week end.

Both cities are great.

I’ll have to choose Philly as a better venue because…the tailgating situation was not very good in Baltimore

We bought our tickets and parking pass a couple weeks after they went on sale and got seats behind goal line extended (I was expecting better seats) and a parking pass in a lot behind CORTLAND GLASS COMPANY. We had a nice spot near the loading dock, two big dumpsters and a dump truck. There was a highway behind us and a low cost housing development to our right . Our parking pass said no grilling was allowed. We had to be out an hour after the last game of every day because the gate to the lot got closed and locked every night. The trash cans got emptied once the entire week end.


I worked at the Philly event and was being given food and drink every time I turned around so I don’t know if the prices for food and drink were any higher in Baltimore than Philly. But, here’s a question for M&T stadium, how can you prevent people from bringing in their own water, then charge $4.00 for a bottle of water when it’s so hot you have people needing medical attention?

[roycegracie47]

Personally I wish the games were back at Byrd Stadium....

[brunos13]

Any one know were the '09 Championship will be held?

I think the '08 in Boston is a joke. The stadium is in the middle of nowhere. At least 45 minutes from either B-town or Providence. Both nice cities but..........

[shiftylax]

no tailgating in the media parking lot. it was on the back of our parking passes. if the parking is for the working media, it makes sense to me.

You were WORKING? Stegs had the parking pass...I'm just an innocent hack writer...plus Stegs didn't have his keys for the whole weekend.

[brunos13]

You were WORKING? Stegs had the parking pass...I'm just an innocent hack writer...plus Stegs didn't have his keys for the whole weekend.

OK, as a former team mate of Stegs and part time contributor to his website, please let us in on why he didn't have his keys.

[spenny]

OK, as a former team mate of Stegs and part time contributor to his website, please let us in on why he didn't have his keys.


3 guesses.

hell yes i was working, those 5500 photos didnt take themselves

[Lax101]

Also, a member of Team LN was assualted in Baltimore and had to throw some punches to maintain the lifestyle to which he is accustomed.

By the way, I am the Team LN member who was assaulted by a hobo at a shady gas station right in Inner Harbor, just a walk away from M&T Bank Stadium. Absolutely ridiculous.

Let me tell you this: I've been to Orlando, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, New York, LA, Chicago, Nashville, Omaha, San Francisco, Providence, and up and down Jersey, and I can honestly say Baltimore is the worst city I ever visited. By far.

I'm sorry, I stayed in the nice area of Baltimore, the Inner Harbor, and I get attacked by hobos? And two days before my hobo visit, shiftylax and I got to meet a nice cracked out prostitute at the same gas station. Really, if that's the NICE area of Baltimore, then where the hell is the ghetto?

The area around M&T Bank consisted of rundown buildings and projects. It was either Stegs, Spenny, or Shiftylax who brought this up: shouldn't the real estate be nice around a stadium? In fact, why wouldn't it?

The actual commercial area of Inner Harbor is NOTHING special compared to what Boston, New York, and what other major cities have for commerce. Hell, Fanueil Hall, the Prudential Center, etc.-take ONE commercial area of Boston, just one, and it beats all of the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

In all, the city is underdeveloped, has an alarming number of homeless, and was an awful site for lacrosse, except for the Baltimore fans (no disrespect to them, just the city they live in). Boston is a much nicer city and I already admit the logistics of having the game all the way in Foxboro will be a nightmare, but at least tourists will enjoy the Boston atmosphere.

[jjchones]

Philly
Parking, parking and parking. You CAN tailgate at philly. Balt. forces you to leave after the game. As much as I do like the inner harbor I'd rather be in Philly. The lax fest is removed from the stadium at Balt. and in Philly it's part of the scene.
Regardless of our opinions the tournament will be in Balt. for two years and then sent to a token place for one year, then repeat. Watch what happens next year at Foxboro, it is doomed to fail. If they draw 80,000 the attendance will be announced as 50,000. Listen to Quint during next year, I bet he'll be talking down the tournament at foxboro every chance he gets (that is when he's not talking about himself or Rabil's hips). We heard all year about the record breaking numbers that we would have at M&T this year, didn't really happen did it! Do you believe the attendance figures?
The media wants it at Baltimore and will do everything they can to keep it there. IL included.

[brunos13]

Ohhhhhhhh. :WTF: Stegs, them micro brewed beers are going to kill you!

[brunos13]

So it is back in Balti for 09/10?

[tomahawk]

Lax 101:

Sorry you got messed with. B-more can be a real rough town- don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time, alone!

The area one block off of Pratt becomes sketchie at best real dang quick...... (it's even worse after dark) ......The panhandlers hang there because there are out of towners and they can scrounge up a little cash......As far as M&T-it's not in a real nice neighborhood either- but it is a urban stadium and that's what one gets when you go to an urban stadium...bar none.

Not sure B-More is the worst city......I've been to DC and it's pretty dang sketchie in front of the White House at night. San Fran- the last time I stayed in town- there were thousands of homeless staying on the lawn of city hall ......NYC- sure!....Philly has cleaned up it's act a little- but man - the stadiums are in a good place......Trenton and Newark- sure- wonderful cities- I like Jersy- but big cities aren't garden spots.....

I'm all for Phillie anytime for the Final 4- we may even get more of us B-more-ites...

Next years games aren't even in Boston- they are in Foxboro- you know the 120 dollar club seats that come with parking- guess I'm listening and watching to Quint next year on ESPN......thats really stinks....but Foxboro?