Be Careful what you Wish for Windsor...

By Pete McGrath

The other night, three of my buddies and I took a field trip to Windsor to see the Spitfires take on the Saginaw Spirit. It easily made it into my top five sporting experiences. OHL hockey is fast, and since the players are hungry to get to the next level, they play very hard. We saw some good goals, some good checks, some good saves, and most importantly a solid face-to-face fight. However, the real star of the game to me was the arena.

The Spits play in Windsor Arena, an old school arena that looks like a barn, and is nicknamed (you guessed it) - "the barn." The Windsor Arena has everything that fans today supposedly do not like. The concourses are small and crowded. The only place to buy a t-shirt or a jersey is a small, cramped stall right next to the door that opened up directly to the cold Windsor night. The bathrooms are pretty small, and they didn't have the little privacy dividers between the urinals. The concessions stand only offered the standards- popcorn, pop, fries, no beer (bummer), nachos and hot dogs. There are no ice daiquiris here, and there is no build in Buffalo Wild Wings or Little Caesars or Big Boy or Ferris Wheel. There is no jumbotron playing the "Over?" speech from Animal House. The aisles to the seats are narrow, the steps are steep, and the seats themselves are not the movie theatre style you see in most stadiums today. In fact, my buddies and I sat on a wooden bench with no seat backs. I'm sure the locker rooms are small, and the players have to walk past the fans to get there. And the arena smells. The locker rooms and players benches come right up to the concourse, so as a fan the smells of the game are in full effect. Anyone whose ever been around hockey knows that nothing stinks up a room like one hockey bag, so imagine how ripe it is around forty players.

After almost 80 years of faithful service, the Windsor Arena is being replaced by the new Windsor Family Credit Union Center (why every arena is a center now I don't know- I think Colosseum, Arena, and Forum are a lot cooler.) The arena will feature more seats, over 1,300 upholstered club seats, over 30 private boxes, and a restaurant that lets fans eat while watching the game. The arena features four ice sheets and a fitness center, which is a good contribution to the local youth hockey leagues. The rationale behind the 62 million dollar arena is a chance for Windsor to get more Rush concerts (Canadians love their Alex, Geddy, and Neil) and more hockey tournaments. Perhaps the CHL's championship, the Memorial Cup, will come to town once every ten years. Plus, fans should be wowed by all these new modern amenities and club seats. But are those amenities really worth it?

There was something about the old barn that made all those shortcomings into strengths. It was a little crowded in the concourse, but I was only there entering the game, leaving the game, and buying popcorn during the 2nd intermission. Judging from the what I saw of the outside of the arena, I thought the concourse could have been expanded a bit if that was such a problem. I really liked how I wasn't bombarded by merchandise and concession stands all trying to take my money when I made my way to the rest room- or excuse me, wash room in Canadian lingo.

The bathroom itself was a little crowded, but all bathrooms are at all sporting events. This might be the biggest lie that all new stadiums use to get taxpayer money. Comerica Park was constructed with this promise, and it was pure bullshit. No matter how big the bathrooms are, whenever a bunch of guys all get up at the same time, the bathroom is going to be crowded. It's not as if these bathrooms with the stalls and the new urinals are any cleaner either. Guys are guys, and we tend to miss, so despite the new bathrooms, there is still urine all over the floor in any guys room at any sporting event. This will not change with the new arena.

Moving back to the concessions, I have seen a lot of reviews of stadiums online, complaining about the lack of concession options. I have never understood this. I enjoy good food as much anybody. I am a good cook(I can make other things besides pasta and red sauce), and I appreciate all types of food. However, a sporting event is not the place for me or anyone to try to expand the palate. Hot dogs, pop, popcorn, nachos, and candy are all an arena really needs. This is all the Windsor Arena offers, and it offers them at a fair price. My large popcorn was only 2 loonies, instead of an arm and a leg.

The Windsor arena lacks some other modern amenities as well. There is no jumbotron here, but I think this is a good thing. The jumbotron has dummed down American crowds. American crowds cheer when their told, like when the "noise" meter comes on the screen at Joe Louis. It also takes people's focus off the game. It was refreshing for me to be able to just cheer on the players all by myself. Also, I loved how the DJ played the "Law and Order" thunk thunk after the other team got penalties. The seats themselves were not the movie theatre style you see in many stadiums today. Our "seats" were just a wooden bench, but they actually provided a lot of leg room. The aisles were narrow, and the steps were steep. While new arenas don't like this set up, they're a plus in my eyes. Narrow aisles mean more seats for fans, and steep steps means you get right on top of the action and a much better sightline over the fans in front of you. From our seats about ten rows up we could see the whole ice surface.

I'm sure getting dressed in a small locker room gets old, and I'm sure it seems a little odd to be tripping over fans while getting to the locker room. But in today's sports world where the players are so separated from the fans that pay ungodly amounts of money to see them, it was cool to see the players walk right by. And after attending so many games in generic antispetic buildings, I was caught off guard by that hockey smell walking by.

However, that smell was the best part of the night. After a number of Wings, Pistons, Tigers, and Lions games I've been to over the years, I have begun to feel like I am at a movie theatre where the main show happens to be the game. To be honest, it really isn't that much fun to go to a professional sports game these days. I'm usually really far away from the playing surface, I cheer when I'm told, and I think nothing of paying 8 bucks for a beer. That Friday night in Windsor was different. For the first time in a while, not despite, but because of crowded seats, old fashioned bathrooms, packed concourses, limited (and cheap!) concession stands, cheap merchandise, alack of jumbotrons making me into a lemming, and that brutal whiff of the players walking by, I didn't feel like such a stooge for shelling out a ton of money for a dead atmosphere. I spent 20 bucks total and I actually felt like I was at a hockey game for once.

Like Tiger Stadium, the Boston Garden, the Chicago Stadium, the original Comiskey Park, and many other historic venues throughout the country, Windsor Arena is being replaced by a supposedly better building. Unlike those buildings however, the Windsor Arena will remain open for youth hockey leagues, which is great news for a preservation buff like me. However, Windsor wanted all the modern amenities and new stadium, and paid for it with taxpayer money. They got their wish of expensive club seats, expensive suites, an overpriced restaurant, newer bathrooms, and nicer seats. But to me, and by many people who feel that those old buildings were a lot better than the new generic ones that replaced them, those amenities are not amenities at all. It seems to me that Windsor just traded in its Cadillac for a Chevy. I guess this proves that old adage true. As the cliche goes- "be careful what you wish for, you may regret it/ be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." You got your wish Windsor, but when you fall victim to the movie theatre effect that happens to me all to often, you will regret it.