If you think of it, many nations have what one might consider a "National Stadium" The most obvious would be England's Wembley, but France (Stade de France), Germany (Berlin Olympic Stadium), Mexico (Azteca), Japan (Tokyo Dome), Austrailia (Telstra Stadium), and many other nations have what could be considered a premier national stadium. If America had a national stadium (which it probably doesn't at the moment), which would it be?
Many baseball fans might consider Yankee Stadium, but a "national stadium" should have a global identity that baseball doesn't really provide, so we need to look at stadiums with a history of international competition. We actually used to have more stadiums in that mold; meaning huge 100,000 seat track and field stadiums such as JFK in Philadelphia (now demolished) and Soldier Field in Chicago (now unrecognizable). I would argue that there are only two real candidates, and they both reside in Southern California.
The Rose Bowl and LA Coliseum are now seen as bastions of college football. However, both stadiums have a tremendous history of domestic and international sport. The LA Coliseum has hosted a more diverse range of events, beginning and ending with college football, with two Olympics Games, two NFL teams, 2 Super Bowls, a World Series, and countless other events in between. The Rose Bowl has hosted the premier college football bowl game annually since 1922, along with the the 1984 Olympic Soccer Final, the 1994 World Cup final, subsequent Women's World Cup finals, and 5 Super Bowls. Its a tough call, but the Rose Bowl is both the most recognizable college football stadium in the nation and the premier international soccer venue, so I give the slight edge to the Rose Bowl as the venue I would title our "National Stadium".
I am interested in my readers' opinions on this. Are there any other really good candidates to be considered our "National Stadium"? Do you agree with my assessment? Post your comments here or click a vote on my poll on the sidebar of the site. Also, check out my plans for updating bothe the Rose Bowl and the LA Coliseum seen below.
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