I am a sports fan.
As a kid I played rugby, cricket, and running, representing my high school, KBHS, in all three sports.
These days, I’m a couch coach—screaming and yelling plays at the telly when I’m watching a game of note. But on rare occasions, I do visit an iconic stadium.
For that to happen, one, some, or all these criteria need to be met:
1. I am emotionally vested in one of the competing teams, including cursing the ref when he makes a bad call against my team. Suffered as the Bard stated in Hamlet, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and heartbreaking defeat. And even...prayed to Almighty God to take a break from running the universe to Bless my team with a victory. Pathetic? Desperate? Maybe. To quote the final words of Edgar Allan Poe (according to his attending physician Dr. John Joseph Moran), “Lord, help my poor soul.”
2. I attend the game with my crew, posse, best mates, fam, or loved ones.
3. The stadium/arena must be iconic, have a history with the community, and be a special space with a vibe and ambience that I want to experience again and again and again.
Here’s a list of the top five stadiums I have visited and watched games, from the most recent to the distant past.
December 27, 2025. SoFi Stadium
1001 S. Stadium Drive
Inglewood, CA 90301
Los Angeles Chargers versus Houston Texans
Texans won, 20-16.
In November 2016, construction began on SoFi Stadium. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, which was demolished in 2014, it officially opened on September 8, 2020.
With a price tag in the billions (that’s a capital “B”), the 3.1-million-square-foot stadium seats approximately 70,000 and is the largest stadium in the NFL. It is also the first indoor-outdoor stadium.
Continuing with the B-word, SoFi Stadium is Big, Bold, and Beautiful. And the county—Los Angeles—in which it is located bustles with Beautiful people with Big, Bold dreams who expect Big winners!
The stadium was christened on Sunday, February 13, 2022, when Super Bowl LVI took place. In this matchup, the hometown Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 23–20.
On Saturday, April 1, 2023, WrestleMania 39, “WrestleMania Goes Hollywood” took place at SoFi Stadium. Some of my favourite peeps-posse-fam—B-Man, Chris, Kim, Denise, and Grandpa—attended Night 1 of a red-hot ticket, two-night event.
Later, as B-Man fondly recalled, “Everybody loved Grandpa: His aura was infectious, and it was easy to see why I remember many people asking to take pictures with him outside the stadium. This brought me great joy because if it weren’t for him and Uncle Miguel, Chris and I wouldn’t be the fans that we are today, and for that I’m forever grateful.”
By 1:33 p.m., I had nestled my nates in Section 542, Row 17, Seat 11. My posse included my wife, Teresa, daughter G, and her beau, Brandon. My seat included a bird’s-eye view of the field and Infinity (the screen, mate, the screen). It was game on, bolt up!
The bolt did not come from the blue and yellow, for within the first six minutes, C.J. Stroud had thrown two long touchdowns on Houston Texans’ first two drives. By halftime (14-3), I was feeling the blues, and left singing ’em.
July 17, 2019. Angel Stadium
2000 E Gene Autry Way
Anaheim, CA 92806
Los Angeles Angels versus Houston Astros/MLB Baseball
Houston won 11-2.
Happy birthday, sis!
And here we were at Angel Stadium to watch the Los Angeles Angels play the Houston Astros. A perfect way to celebrate my sister Kim’s birthday: watching a sports game live with my best sporting-mate-sis-fan!
Let me clarify: I am a sports fan; Kim is a sports fan riding/sculling a Red Bull! She talks the talk—rugby, cricket, rugby league—and don’t get her started on Australian Brisbane Broncos player “Alf” Langer, or South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes!
And when push comes to punch, she’s got a mean left hook (one time she gutted me with a blow so intense, it took all my thespian skills to smirk it off). Many a childhood afternoon, we played our own international cricket matches in the backyard. I was always a B-A-S-T-A-R-D, never cutting my younger sister any slack; she a C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-O-R, never quitting, ever.
As we entered the stadium on that fine Wednesday evening—warm, clear, quintessential Southern California weather—the irony of naming moniker did not escape me: two sibling “angels” enjoying time together at this glorious stadium. As kids in West Auckland, New Zealand, the term “naughty devils” was frequently bandied about by some of the rellies (fortunately, this game was being played on a field, not ice; in Anaheim, not New Jersey).
Things did not go heavenly for the darling Angels in the outfield, infield, pitcher’s mound, or home plate. Grrr—in part due to the pitching of Astros’ Gerrit Cole and a three-run homer by George Springer in the fifth innings.
Despite the loss, we did get to see Shohei Ohtani before he became “SHOHEI OHTANI.” And as almost foreshadowing his future free agency signing, my sister did quip to me on our exit, “We should have gone to a Dodgers game.”
March 29, 2015. MCG
Brunton Ave
Richmond VIC 3002
Australia
New Zealand versus Australia/ ICC Cricket World Cup Final
Australia won the match by 7 wickets.
MCG. The “G.” G-zero of the heart of Australian sport. Located in Yarra Park, it is one of the blue-blood stadiums of sporting venues with a long, sacred history.
In 1877, it became the birthplace of Test Cricket when it hosted the very first Test match ever played (Australia versus England). It was also the main venue for the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
On March 15, 1956, this sacred ground also hosted America’s Pastor, The Reverend Billy Graham, when he held a historic religious crusade.
On March 29, 2015, the ICC final was a day-night match. My crew included my wife, Teresa, my sis Kim, her husband, Len, and 93,009 other spectators. Got my derrière to Level 4, Q37, Row FF, Seat 7. Game on.
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first.
I can’t believe I’m here at the MCG watching New Zealand take on our perennial nemesis Australia in the final. Pinch me!
My reality check came in the first over when New Zealand Captain Brendon McCullum was bowled for a duck by Mitchell Starc; I knew duck/kiwi-hunting season was now officially open. In 45 overs (out of a maximum of 50), we scored 183 runs. Australia reached 186/3 in 33.1 overs to win the game.
After it was all over, Teresa and I ducked out to avoid any trash-talking from the victorious Australians. None came. They were graceful winners. Even my best mate, Aussie filmmaker/auteur Mark Savage, whom I love to chaff whenever the All Blacks wallop the Wallabies, remained silent. Add “Gentleman” to his résumé!
And “Chagrined” to mine.
Years later when I asked him about his verbal restraint, he quipped with typical Aussie assurance, “Why would I need to sh*t on your cricket team; they’re miserable enough!”
Ouch.
July 28, 2011. Fenway Park
4 Jersey St.
Boston, MA 02215
Boston Red Sox versus Kansas City Royals/MLB Baseball
Royals won 4–3.
Boston is one of my cherished world cities (tip of the Jacaru also to Auckland, Edenborough, Las Vegas, London, Melbourne, Nashville, Rome…) Its history, culture, accent, and vibe all enchant me. And they do know how to throw a tea party!
The city has had its fair share of famous visitors: When Paramahansa Yogananda first visited America, aboard The City of Sparta, he arrived at Harbor Pier in Boston, on September 19, 1920.
Visiting Titletown was part of an East Coast road trip I took with Teresa and the sprogs. My mum, who was visiting from New Zealand, also joined us.
On a warm, sunny New England Thursday afternoon, my eldest daughter, Sadie, and I visited Fenway Park, the oldest continually operating ballpark in Major League Baseball, as part of a dad-daughter day (none of the others were interested in attending). We were there to eat pretzels, see the Green Monster, sing “Sweet Caroline,” and cheer on the Red Sox. We were there to enjoy, in her words, “a fun day!” My word: together.
We did all that and more, including watching Royals Billy Butler hit a knock-your-socks-off fourth inning, three-run home run off Red Sox starter Josh Beckett. Ouch.
Sadie left with a pair of red socks; I with a contented heart.
February 1975. Eden Park.
42 Reimers Avenue
Kingsland, Auckland 1024
New Zealand
New Zealand versus England/Cricket
England won by an inning and 83 runs.
Spending time with my father, “hanging out,” involved toiling alongside him in the orchard during all hours of the day and night. His given name was Paul, but in reality, he was the reincarnation of Sisyphus, and I was Sisyphus’s son. His shoulder-to-the-boulder assistant to the never-ending tasks, jobs, errands, and duties fate had assigned us.
One fateful morn, as we ate breakfast in ritualistic monastic silence, Dad glanced up from the sports section of The New Zealand Herald and said, “The English cricket team is in town. They’re playing New Zealand at Eden Park today. Wanna go?”
I was completely caught off guard. Dad was serious—but in a good way!
With a mouthful of food, I struggled to reply. I swallowed slowly on juicy pieces of lamb to prolong my reaction time.
Would I like to go? Would I like to go? Are you kidding me? A day away from the orchard so I can hang out with Glenn Turner, Geoff Howarth, Dayle Hadlee, Ewen Chatfield, and my dad! Together, I’m sure we could teach these pommes a thing or two about the game they had created. Let’s go!
“Sure, Dad. Thanks.”
I replied with a controlled amount of enthusiasm and sincerity. Dad was not one who indulged a sprog’s flashy displays of emotion, and I did not want to jinx the experience. Today was to be a day of relaxation, a day of cricket, a day of father and son.
Dad slid his empty plate toward me. “Wash up the dishes, and I’ll meet you at the car.”
So this is what it’s like to die and go to heaven. Eden. Stadium of Eden. Eden Park, here we come…
…Eden, Fenway, MCG, Angel, SoFi: each so fine a stadium, a cavernous cauldron of percolating memories, shared moments, and the sweet taste of fandom.
© 2026
Dear Reader,
Share some of your favourite sporting venues and memories created there.
