ESPN - Sweet Seats: Exceptional Vantages in Majors, Minors - Travel
And, yet, as transferable as the "ballpark experience" may be, every one of our green cathedrals somehow finds a way to offer a game-day environment that is unique unto itself. Photo courtesy Toledo Mud Hens The Roost Seats hang out over the right field corner, offering Toledo Mud Hens fans lucky enough to sit in them a unique vantage.
Due to the very nature of baseball's "diamond," to its irregular outfield dimensions and to its teams' tendency to place ballparks in locations where they may show off the best attributes of their home cities, the game offers fans a wide range of stadium designs. And within each of these can be found nooks and crannies from which to watch the action that enhance and amplify the viewing experience.
Among the most interesting ballpark design innovations to come along in recent years is one that has brought about the merger of pre-existing buildings with new stadium construction projects in some cities. The most well-known example of this phenomenon exists at Petco Park in San Diego.
The Padres' home park offers several different viewing areas that are only made possible due to the inclusion of the Western Metal Supply Building that rises in left field home run territory. The second and third floors of the century-old structure feature private party suites that come complete with airy balconies. These porches, as you might expect, are great spots for ball hawks to set up shop during batting practice.
The fourth floor, meanwhile, houses an in-stadium bar and grill. And the rooftop boasts some of the most altitudinous bleacher seats in the big leagues.
In the minor leagues, Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium presents a one-of-a-kind viewing experience for fans of the Southern League's Montgomery Biscuits within the second level of a long, narrow building that runs along its first base line.
The building, which once served as a storage facility or "train shed" for a local rail line, has stood since 1898. Its lower level provides space for concession stands and rest rooms, while upstairs there are six luxury boxes. Another minor-league team to capitalize on this what's-old-is-new-again design approach is the Toledo Mud Hens.
The International League team's Fifth Third Field is home to a section of "Roost Seats" courtesy of a deck that extends off the third floor of a renovated six-story warehouse down its right field line. Believe it or not, the first three rows of the 282-seat Roost actually hang right out over the playing surface.
Mud Hens spokesman Jason Griffin explained the thinking of team management, Lucas County administrators, and the architects at HNTB who made the group decision to transform what was an abandoned property into a signature ballpark feature. The building adds a lot of character to the field," Griffin said.
It might have been cheaper to knock it down, but if we had done that the field wouldn't have the same charm. And fans wouldn't have the chance to watch the game from such a unique location."
In addition to housing team offices, banquet facilities and what Griffin describes as the largest souvenir store in minor-league baseball, the building's trademark feature, the Roost, was designed to replicate the effect at old Tiger Stadium, which once offered a similar overhang to fans of the Mud Hens' big-league parent club in Detroit.
While the Padres, Biscuits, Mud Hens and a handful of other teams have done well to embrace and renovate their cities' historic buildings for the sake of seating variety, this is just one of many measures teams utilize to make a day at the ballpark extra special. Editor's note : This is an updated reprise of a previously published feature.
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Student loans get government aid - News
House of Representatives gave final approval of the "Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008," President George W. Bush signed the bill into law.
With this bill signed into law, students and families now have every assurance that they will continue to have access to all the federal student loans they are eligible for, no matter what happens in the nation's financial markets," said Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor George Miller.
In the Committee's fact sheet on the bill, the bill is referred to as a contingency plan to ensure "continued, uninterrupted access to federal loans, regardless of what's happening in the credit markets," even though "no student or college has reported any problems accessing federal student aid to date." According to the Department of Education estimates, 40 to 60 percent of students who have not fully exhausted their eligibility for federal assistance take out private loans.
While federal aid might be currently accessible to students, private lending has become costly and less reliable as the U.S. With wary investors and scarce capital, many lenders struggled to fund their loans. Under this new bill, the U.S.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling, who only a year ago was criticized for not being strict enough and was described as "missing in action" after the corrupt practices were uncovered in the student loan industry, will be granted authority to advance federal funds to agencies acting as lenders of last resort and to purchase loans from lenders in the federal guaranteed loan program, thus, ensuring lenders' continued access to capital in order to originate new loans.
However, the purchase of such loans will only be authorized if there is no cost for the federal government. The Continued Access bill, which was initially approved in the House of Representatives by a vote of 383 to 27 on Thursday, April 17 and was passed on Thursday, May 1, will increase the annual loan limits and, thus, reduce borrowers' reliance on costlier private college loans. Continued..
Google Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1 Education Expert posted 5 12 08 10:51 AM EST Unfortunately, many kids will miss out on going to schools because of actions by the government.
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AFP: 'Iron Man' shows staying power, keeps top box office spot
It also compiled 170 million dollars in foreign ticket sales, according to the figures, soaring past the likes of comic book heroes Batman, Superman, the X-Men, Daredevil and Catwoman to potentially launch itself as a major franchise for Paramount.
In distant second place with a debut weekend of 20.2 million dollars was "Speed Racer," a high-tech live-action take on the Japanese boy-drives-car animated series from the 1960s. Hot on Speed's tail was the brisk romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas," in which two people -- Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz -- seeking comfort in the city of sin wake up married after a night of debauchery. It debuted by earning 20 million dollars.
Slipping two spots to fourth with 7.6 million dollars was another romantic comedy, "Made of Honor," which stars Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan as friends who inch towards love as they plan her marriage to another man. In fifth was former box office topper "Baby Mama," a surrogate motherhood comedy starring former Saturday Night Live comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, which netted 5.8 million dollars.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall," billed as "the world's first romantic disaster comedy," was sixth with 3.8 million dollars. In seventh was "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" with 3.2 million dollars. The sequel to 2004's "Harry and Kumar go to White Castle" sees stoner buddies landing in the notorious Guantanamo jail after being mistaken for terrorists. The Forbidden Kingdom," the first movie pairing of martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li, dropped from sixth to eighth spot on its third weekend, with 1.9 million dollars.
Nim's Island," a youth-oriented tropical adventure with Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin, came in at ninth place with 1.3 million dollars. Rounding out the top 10 was "Redbelt," a martial arts action flick penned by renowned playwright and screenwriter David Mamet, which pulled in 1.1 million dollars.
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montgomeryadvertiser.com Montgomery Advertiser
BIRMINGHAM - Alabama"s economy has plenty of opportunity for growth, but it must overcome challenges - inside the state and across the globe - if it is to maintain its expansion for the next decade, according to the head of the state retirement system. David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, told a seminar hosted by Business Alabama magazine and the Business Council of Alabama that the state has room to grow in tourism, manufacturing, steel and aerospace over the next 10 years.
It must, however, find ways to overcome worldwide shortages in energy, food and water as well as a crumbling infrastructure. Cosby Woodruff In your voice Read reactions to this story Newest first Oldest first Add your comment (max maxchars characters) You must be logged in to leave a comment.
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