Wrigley beats Fenway for No. 1 "Old School Venue"

Fox Sports posted their Top 10 Old School Sports Venues earlier this week. Wrigley Field managed to beat out Fenway Park - here's the write up on both parks:

Wrigley

Impossibly narrow concourses, cramped seating and poor sightlines from the back of the grandstand can make watching a Cubs game a chore. But hardship is just part of the charm here, along with the outfield-wall ivy, day games, bleacher bums, rooftop grandstands, blustery winds off Lake Michigan, the ghost of Harry Caray and the hard-partying Wrigleyville neighborhood. The history of this place is especially colorful, from the Billy Goat Curse to the Bartman Incident. Fans wear the team's famous postseason futility like a badge of honor. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is the beer drinkers' national anthem in Chicago. The Second City has many great sports bars, but this is the biggest of them all. What would happen to this place if the Cubs actually won a World Series?

Fenway

The Green Monster looms large in our national pastime. It may be the most distinctive single stadium feature in the sport's history. But there is more to Fenway than the 37-foot left-field wall, which allegedly stands 310 feet from home plate. It oozes history. This is where Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski ruled. Like Wrigley, it subjects real fans to narrow concourses and wedge-in seating. In that way, the stadium hasn't changed much since it opened in 1912. Like Wrigley, it sits in a great neighborhood and offers ample party opportunities within the immediate vicinity. And unlike Wrigley, it has been home to recent World Championship glory. Caroline is sweet indeed.

Bottom Line: Since this survey was designed to rate the most "Old School" venues, I can't say that I disagree with the results... Wrigley has maintained most of it's original charm - maybe to a fault - while Fenway has been through a number of changes during the Henry/Warner administration.

But I will say this - My friends in Chi-Town have told me that Wrigley is often filled with "rich snobs" (to use a term from the comments below) and many baseball fans would rather attend a White Sox game than fight for seats with the Chicago "elite." ... But despite the steadily increasing prices at Fenway, the rich snobs have yet to take over The Fens - like they did in the Garden - and that, coupled with the fact that parts of the stadium aren't likely to fall on me during the game, makes Fenway the better venue in my oinion.

Personally, it think the ownership has done a great job of updating the park without losing all the charm... but not everyone agrees... take these comments from the original post with a grain of salt... some of them are just plain idiotic...

"there was an article on espn.com about 2-4 months ago written by a new york (yankee fan) journalist who attended a yankee redsox game and wrote about his experience stating that it was single handedly the best baseball game experience you could possibly ever have. the funny part was at the end of the article he states "and even the yankees lost and it was still that good" i have never been there but i follow the history of the game closely and to me that matters more than luxury boxes or high dollar ammenities, especially when you can impress your bitterest rival like that."

"this place is called a `toilet` by most real fans. even smells like u-r-i-n-e. Cramped and filthy, there`s absolutely NOTHING nostalgic about this dump, as it`s `charm` faded a long time ago and has been replaced by the hassles of attending a game there (lack of amenities being the number one problem, and we`re not talking skyboxes and luxury items, wer`re talking BATHROOMS and CONCESSIONS and seats with good sightlines!!!!)"

"Just wondering if you have sat with the fans at Wrigley and Fenway? I am a Dodger fan, and Ilove baseball, but by far the best venue is FENWAY PARK. I hate the Red Sox, but FENWAY is the best as a true fan of the game. Wringley is not even in my top 5. I would even put Camden Yards ahead of Wringley, get away from the rich snobs!"

What say you?