<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Fans feel at home at Cardinals Stadium NFL.com wire reportsGLENDALE, Ariz. (Aug. 12, 2006) -- A strange sound erupted an hour before the Arizona Cardinals' first game in their new stadium.The visiting team was booed as it took the field for pregame warm-ups.This rarely occurred in the Cardinals' former home, Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, where visiting fans often outnumbered Cardinal faithful.No longer. Cardinals Stadium is sold out for the 2006 season, and the $465 million retractable-domed palace was awash in red as the Cardinals kicked off their preseason opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers."This place is alive," said Greg Bloemke, a 43-year-old season-ticket holder from Chandler. "You can feel the excitement in this building."That wasn't all Bloemke felt. As he walked in from the 100-degree temperatures in the parking lot, a blast of air conditioning made him shiver."The first impression was cold," he said.This is another change from Sun Devil Stadium, where Cardinal fans baked in metal-backed bleachers. That's why ASU plays most of its early-season games at night. But the Cardinals were bound by television contracts to play in afternoon heat, which doesn't abate until almost midseason."It was just miserable," said Dave Stanton, a 39-year-old Scottsdale resident who had season tickets for 10 years in Tempe. "You almost dreaded going every Sunday."Many fans didn't bother. But that changed today, when a full house turned out. Fans were dazzled by a state-of-the-art stadium that has been hailed as one of the top 10 sports facilities in the world by Business Week magazine. The silver structure, which rises from farmland in this suburb west of Phoenix, was designed by Peter Eisenman.The facility also will host the Fiesta Bowl, and in January, will be the site of the first new Bowl Championship Series national title game. The stadium also has been awarded the 2008 Super Bowl.Fans held up camera phones as they passed through the turnstiles. Many focused on the translucent roof, which allowed the desert sunlight to stream in."It's like we have a professional football team out here now," said Mike Cistolo, 42, a transplanted Steelers fan from Chandler.Fans have bought in to the revival -- for now."This is nice. It will wear off if they don't play well," said Dave Stanton's mother, Marta, who wore a vintage Jake Plummer Cardinal jersey. "They've got to produce or else it'll drop off."The optimism generated by the new stadium is unprecedented in the long and not particularly glorious history of the Cardinals, who were formed as a football club in 1898 and became an NFL charter member in 1920. The vagabond franchise left Chicago for St. Louis in 1960 and moved to the desert in 1988.The Cardinals have enjoyed little success through the decades, but the club is celebrating its past now that it has its own home for the first time.The new stadium features a ring of honor, with eight inductees. Five Pro Football Hall of Famers are included: longtime owner Charles W. Bidwill Sr., the father of owner Bill Bidwill; quarterback Charley Trippi; running back Ollie Matson; quarterback Jimmy Conzelman; and cornerback Dick "Night Train" Lane.About the only thing missing was first-round pick Matt Leinart, who is sitting out because of a contract holdout.His absence wasn't the only kink. There were thousands of empty seats at kickoff because of massive traffic on the nearby freeway."My first impression, to be quite frank with you, is they have to solve their traffic problems," said Tony Pietrcollo, 57, who flew in from Pittsburgh for the game. "Once they figure out the logistic problems, it's going to be a neat experience."Pietrcollo has followed the Steelers to more than a dozen road games. Despite the traffic, he said he gladly would return to Cardinals Stadium."Definitely the most unique stadium I've seen," he said.AP NEWSThe Associated Press News ServiceCopyright 2006, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved</div>http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/ARI/9598536
Yeah it does, that quote at the very bottom of the article pretty much explains it. All the pictures of it I've seen it doesn't even look real...
Its a very sweet looking stadium i think , but i think the new MONSTER PARK will be better :beerbang2:
