Post Race!

[wes4dbt]

Here in Germany people are actually very conscious regarding public transport.
e.g. the city i live close by (~12 miles outside it) has some 240K citizens (so not that big compared to US), but Germany (as well as Europe in general) is way more densely populated.

I live in a town of @ 215k. There is a bus system but I never see more than a few people on it. The US just has a car culture. The expense is accepted. Though it can very greatly depending on where you live. Southern California has a population of @ 25million and cars are still the dominate form of travel. I went to New York and was amazed at the difference. It's built much more vertical, where So Cal is more spread out with single story homes/buildings. NY has a large subway and bus system that is heavily used. Many people in NY don't own cars, to me that just seems weird.

The only remaining question: "What do i do, if, in fact, i do have to go on a long-range trip?" (>200 miles)
Possible Answer: "Hybrid"

I think currently that hybrids are an excellent choice. They do seem to be gaining in popularity here in the US.

[dday9]

The local team has a 35K-capacity stadium.

That's it? The High School football stadium where I live has a capacity of 10k, and that's kids still in school.

Tiger Stadium, which is a rather large college stadium, seats 102,321.

[Zvoni]

That's it? The High School football stadium where I live has a capacity of 10k, and that's kids still in school.

Tiger Stadium, which is a rather large college stadium, seats 102,321.

That's rather a sound average in Europe (40K). With 10 Stadiums exceeding 75K in the whole of Europe
The only 100K-Capacity in Europe is Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain

Note: The Capacity of Germany's 2 biggest Stadiums (Signal-Iduna Park, Dortmund and Allianz-Arena, Munich) is due to standing places (!!).
During European Championship-Games (Champions League, Euro-League) and World/-European-Championships (incl. Qualifier-Matches) it's seating only, which reduces Capacity by 15-20%

https://www.stadiumguide.com/figures...ball-stadiums/

As i said before: Europe is more densely populated, so basically every city in Europe above 200K has its own stadium, but the distances between those cities are sometimes way below 100 miles.

So basically, the "radius" for supporters is way smaller to actually fill up stadiums.
Nevermind that in Europe there is no "mandatory patriotism" for the local team.
People don't root for the local team, just because they are the local team. Nevermind attending the matches.

The City i live close by with its 250K Citizens i'd hazard a guess, that 90% actually don't care one jot about the local team (or any other team for that matter).
They are just not interested in that sport.

[wes4dbt]

Tiger Stadium, which is a rather large college stadium, seats 102,321.

I've always wondered how the colleges were able to justify these huge stadiums. Not that there wasn't enough fans to fill the stadium but the football team only plays @ 7 home games a year. That's not very many games. The stadium is probably used for various other events but I wonder how often those events draw 100k people.

[dday9]

Oh yeah, Taylor Swift did her Era's Tour at Tiger Stadium.

Although, they've only done the graduation ceremony at Tiger Stadium twice: once in '91 when Ronald Reagan gave the keynote and again in '20 because of COVID restrictions.

It's funny how the stadium came about actually. Huey P. Long, the democratic populist of the 20s petitioned the government for a football field. The congress said no but did say that he could have either a library or dorms, so he said he'd settle on the dorms. Naturally when the dorms were built, they were built in the shape of a horseshoe with a field in the middle matching the exact dimensions of a football field with concrete seating stretching above them.

The football players lived in them until the 80s when they were finally condemned. When I was a boy, we'd pass by them going to our seats and I always wanted to live in one.

[wes4dbt]

Well, Shaggy is off peddling his butt across the country. I think he said he was going to start from DC. Don't know what route he's planning but I hope he doesn't have to spend to much time riding on the side of busy roads or highways. That could be dangerous. Hope he has a safe journey and doesn't end up turning feral.

[Zvoni]

I've always wondered how the colleges were able to justify these huge stadiums. Not that there wasn't enough fans to fill the stadium but the football team only plays @ 7 home games a year. That's not very many games. The stadium is probably used for various other events but I wonder how often those events draw 100k people.

That's something i have wondered, too
Same for the NFL-Stadiums.
I mean, yeah, the NFL-Stadiums are privately owned (are they?), but the same applies: 8 @Home-Games, pre-season, Play-offs and/or finals not withstanding.
That comes out at what? 10-12 Games @Home?
What about the rest of the Year?
I don't think there are many Artists/Bands left on the planet who could actually do a Stadium-Tour through those stadiums.
And Wrestlemania is only once a year

If you compare that to Europe:
german 1. Bundesliga has 18 teams, each playing each other in one home and one away-match.
Resulting in 17 @Home-Matches.
Now adding German Cup-Games (different competition), and for the first 6 Teams of last season the international games (Champions-League, EURO-League).
It can add up to 25-30 Matches @Home (though those international Matches are usually not on weekends, but mid-week).

Now just do the math:
12 x 90K (NFL) vs. 20+ x 50K.

And remember the "side-revenue": 12 NFL-Matches you drink 5 beers. = 60 Beers
20+ Soccer-Matches x 5 Beers.......

btw: One of the most "successful" Stadiums in Germany is the old olympic Stadium in Munich.
Up until 2005 it was home to Record-Champion Bayern Munich (see Match-Stats above), but each year there were other Events there (sometimes even during Football-Season!!):
Track & Field-Competitions (European/World Championships).
Open Air-Concerts (AC/DC, Michael Jackson, Rammstein, Metallica, Rolling Stones, you name it)
Other Events like Red Bull eXtreme Games

btw: an average price for a Match-Ticket in Germany is around 50€
see here for Borussia Dortmund (biggest Stadium in Germany) https://www.bvb.de/de/de/tickets/tic...et-preise.html
Ticket for 1 Match from 11€ up to 77€
Season-Ticket (17 Matches) from 118€ to 900€
They even have reserved places for people in Wheelchair and with disabilities/handicaps

Now compare that to e.g. Ticket-Prices of LA Rams....

[Shaggy Hiker]

I think NFL stadiums get used for lots of different things. Perhaps the field itself is not used as much, but there are other facilities at modern stadiums.

[wes4dbt]

Yeah, most the new stadiums are designed as a multipurpose facility. Plus, the NFL teams get a lot of money from TV. I read it was $433 million a year per team. College teams get much less revenue from TV.

I see Shaggy is still alive.

[Zvoni]

I think NFL stadiums get used for lots of different things. Perhaps the field itself is not used as much, but there are other facilities at modern stadiums.

I just asked google "nfl stadiums utilization rate"

The AI-Summary on Top:

NFL stadiums boast near-perfect sellout rates for games, with average capacity utilization hovering around 95% to 98% for league games. However, when measuring annual chronological utilization, these massive open-air and domed venues are highly underutilized, averaging just 12 to 15 major events per year out of 365 days. [1, 2, 3]

I don't count the integrated Shopping Mall or Cinema-Complex.
I'm talking about actually really using the Stadium itself (for whatever purpose: Matches, Concerts, Boxing.....)

[Shaggy Hiker]

Lots of them are also massively taxpayer subsidized. It may be that they are profitable with tiny utilization.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah, most the new stadiums are designed as a multipurpose facility. Plus, the NFL teams get a lot of money from TV. I read it was $433 million a year per team. College teams get much less revenue from TV.

I see Shaggy is still alive.

Alive and biking. Lots of turtles, really. It's just turtles...all the way down.

[wes4dbt]

Alive and biking. Lots of turtles, really. It's just turtles...all the way down.

Are you talking about real turtles or speed bumps? I've heard people call them turtles.

I remember once I was driving in OK on aa road that was a little elevated from the surrounding farmland and there was just turtles everywhere on the road. (and tarantulas). I think there had just been a thunder storm come through.

[dday9]

Guess who has two thumbs and fiber optic internet at his house now? This guy!

[dday9]

300mbps up and down for $55 per month.

[dday9]

I had 300mbps down before, but it was only 5 or 10mbps up. So hopefully my remote calls won't drop my audio/video because of the connection quality any longer.

[wes4dbt]

I'm a bit confused about this new push of fiber optic cables. I just saw an article about NEW ATT Fiber. I've had ATT fiber optic cables for close to 20yrs. At least that's what they told me. Now they're acting like fiber optic cables are the newest thing.

[dday9]

They didn't even lay the fiber optic until a couple of months ago, but at the time it was only AT&T that was offering it and I absolutely refused to go to AT&T. I called my ISP (Rev) literally once a month to check if they were offering it until they finally offered it.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Fiber optic cables have been around for a long time. They often either weren't available for households, or they were fiber optic to the pole, then copper into the house. There have been exceptions to this in various places, though.

I could have fiber, but there is only one company and I've never seen a company as loathed as that one.

[dday9]

It has been nonstop rain here, very scary.

[dday9]

I think Ida broke me. I get overly worried about rain like this.

[dday9]

It's the smell. Any time I get a whiff of mildew, it's like I'm teleported back to trying to open my door after the storm but had to kick it open because it was so swollen from the rain.

[dday9]

And I absolutely hate that.

[wes4dbt]

My sister live in La. According to her, mold is the state flower.

[dday9]

It finally stopped raining, although we still can't flush our toilets.

[wes4dbt]

It finally stopped raining, although we still can't flush our toilets.

That must present some problems. Especially the fact you have a family. Does the city provide any type of temp solution???

[wes4dbt]

I find it amazing the strength of, what I call, "the ties that bind". People that live in areas that are prone to hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, they just stay and rebuild. Family, friends, where they grew up, it has a hold on them. I understand, I can't see myself moving away from my family, no matter what happened.

[dday9]

No, but I have a few places that we can go to, erm, do our business.

Of course, for my son and me it's fairly easy to go #1. Just go out back to a part that's not visible to the road. Just a bit more difficult for the ladies.

[dday9]

Flushable toilets are back.

[wes4dbt]

Glad to hear it. Somethings are best done at home.

Was this just your house or a neighborhood problem???

[dday9]

Probably a combination.

The home I lease had the same exact problem when it'd rain hard, but I switched it from a cesspool to a sewage treatment system and the problem stopped.

[dday9]

The parish doesn't offer sewage treatment in my area, so unless you do like what I did in the house I'm leasing, I imagine you're probably running into the same issue.

[wes4dbt]

Definitely don't have that problem here. There's a good chance we wont see rain again until October or later. Occasionally we might get a little rain passing through but usually it will evaporate before it hits the ground and we just get a humid day.

Hot and dry, that's what I'm use to. I went to Houston to visit my sister, never knew 90degree weather could be so miserable, 90 here during the summer seems very pleasant. But I guess if you live there, it's just normal and not a problem.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I have finally had a day without rain. It's been a while. Still turtles, though. Mostly painted turtles, but I encountered a pair of snapping turtles on the path yesterday (not together).

[dday9]

Unlike the little kid at the fair, I do not care for turtles too much.

[dday9]

There was one time that I went fishing and this same turtle took my bait like 10 times; and trying to unhook a turtle is very unpleasant.

[dday9]

No to mention that a snapping turtle scared the ever-living crap out of me one time.

[dday9]

I just looked it up and found that there's actually two types of snapping turtles: common and alligator.

Probably my ignorance, but I just thought that alligator snapping turtles were older common snapping turtles.

[wes4dbt]

I have finally had a day without rain. It's been a while. Still turtles, though. Mostly painted turtles, but I encountered a pair of snapping turtles on the path yesterday (not together).

How about an update? Where abouts are you?? Or are you in the witness protection program?

[wes4dbt]

There was one time that I went fishing and this same turtle took my bait like 10 times; and trying to unhook a turtle is very unpleasant.

I'm not sure which one of you to blame for repeating the same mistake 10 times. lol