I recently ventured into Hostile Territory for the second time in a week, this time for some NBA Basketball featuring your Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH. If you haven't already, check out the podcast with my recap of the experience here:
As is common in many areas with multiple pro sports teams, the arena is situated near another stadium, Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians. I had these views walking from my parking spot:
It was only a 10-15 minute walk and probably saved me $35-45 in parking fees. I'll definitely remember this spot if I make it back later this Summer when the Phillies are in town.
First impressions are important. They had me hooked when I saw a Great Lakes Brewing taproom on the main concourse:
After grabbing a beer, I headed into the seating area real quick to take in some of the pre-game shootaround:
The arena attendant really didn't want to take my photo. She seemed paranoid that something was going to happen if she paused for 5 seconds. I just think she didn't want to cater to a Sixers fan. :P
Anyway, I headed back to the concourse to move upstairs toward my seats. Plenty of bright, open spaces here that also provided a nice view of the sunset. I also found a growth chart - no photo of me for comparison, sorry not sorry:
At one end of the arena, the upper concourse opens up to the Loudville Brew House, an expansive area behind the basket providing an airy experience that reminded me of the Bud Light Party Zone at Lucas Oil Stadium I visited several months back:
I could envision enjoying this area a lot if I had purchased a standing room only ticket. This is also the area where I found this delicious buffalo oyster mushroom sandwich:
The view from my seat was pretty good even for an upper deck seat:
I had a pretty good look at some of the retired number banners from up here too. I dig that they have the former Cleveland hockey franchises still included here, even though I have never heard of any of these players:
National Anthem and introductions:
I mentioned the 610 Stompers on the pod. Here they are in action:
The Ricky Rubio bobblehead giveaway was a hit with the locals. I ended up gifting this to a friend of mine who is actually a Cavs fan:
The in-arena entertainment included a neat scene where everyone turns on their cell phone light and moves it to the rhythm of the song being played. I should have grabbed a video of this:
After some controversy in the 4th quarter, SIXERS WIN!
On my way back to the car, I happened to come up on the 610 Stompers again:
Some night views of the area as I walked back to my car:
Overall a good experience made better of course by the fact that the Sixers won and solidified their playoff spot. I'd definitely return for another game here.
