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Stade Olympique - User Comments Add your own

Not So Bad -- 2005-03-11

This stadium gets a real bad rep because very few fans show up to the games, but it really isn't so bad. I'm not saying it's one of baseball's best stadiums, but it isn't one of the worst. The seats are big and comfortable, the food is good, and everything is really cheap. You could get seats right behind home plate for about $30. It's hard to get a bleacher seat at Fenway Park for that price! The only annoying thing about Stade Olympique is that the roof looks like a huge, blue tarp was placed above the stadium. If the fans would show up, this wouldn't be a bad place to watch a game.

Chris Fanning

Olympic Stadium -- 2004-09-01

Well what can u say about one of the worst stadiums in the world. Of course, built for the Olympics in the 70's, it was never complete, and thats probably why the games suffered in Montreal. Over the years, there have been many collapses in the Stadium, lucky no ones died yet. But as for the baseball, well first of all, these days at least, Montreal is not a baseball city. Nobody cares about whats going on. It so quiet, u can hear people talking from across the stadium. But i will say one good thing, because nobody goes, its very easy to get cheap cheap sets. The food is pretty cheap too, but its not very good tasting. What ever happened to the dream of Baseball in Montreal. If the Expos could have ever got that downtown ballpark that was rumoured for so many years and some steady ownership, maybe they would have had a chance. Goodbye Expos!

Vinnie Bagga

Is there anybody in there? -- 2004-08-30

Went to Olympique the year Bonds smashed the HR record. We went later in the year after he had already passed the 50 home run plateau. Before the game, we went to the Botanical gardens across the street (hey, I was with my wife!). When it got close to game time, we left the gardens to go to the game and saw...absolutely nobody! We began to doubt there was a game that day. We also wondered if the start time had changed. Eventually, we saw a couple of people who looked like they worked there and they directed us to the entrance. Once inside, you had the feeling that you were let inside before the doors were supposed to open as there were only vendors and a small group of fans. In the midst of breaking the home run record, Barry drew only 8900 fans and many of them were Mets and Yankees fans! I get the feeling this place died when baseball went on strike in '94 and the Expos last placed a competitive team on the field (they actually had the best record at that point in the season. Would there have been an Expos-Yankees World Series? Did the strike force the Expos to move and cost Don Mattingly his best chance at a World Series?

mike brennan

great city with an underappreciated team in montreal -- 2004-04-08

since i am a met fan, i decided to a met game on the road. i went to montreal in july to a game between the mets and montreal. i had great seats for a great price. my seats were right on the field and near the mets bullpen. the food was good and it was a well played game. if montreal wants to keep their team, they better start showing up in 2004 or it will be their last.

adam

why cant it work? -- 2003-09-15

I was in Montreal several years ago but missed the chance to see a game (San Fransisco was in town). After Felipe Alou's teams were dismantled with depressing regularity through the 90's, and all this talk about relocation, what kind of crowds would you expect? I think there is an element of self fulfilling prophecy here. What about Florida? What about Tampa Bay? Who needs baseball in these places? Talk about moving to Mexico? No offense, I'm sure its nice to visit, but it's the Third World. Baseball in Montreal could work, but it needs revival. Hell, historically Montreal IS a baseball town as much as other mid century backwaters like Kansas City; Jackie Robinson played in Montreal. I hope it can work and thrive. What they need are commitments. Stranger things have happened.

sean m.

Deserves its reputation, but still fun... -- 2003-05-07

Pretty much everything I'd heard about the Big O turned out to be true. On the inside it's very plain looking, at best.

I saw two games there in April '03 (D'backs and Astros). Both games were exciting...the Expos are a fun team to watch in any venue.

The crowd was pitiful at both games. The second game was on a Saturday afternoon, and I heard people commenting on the "nice turnout" (8,000 anounced, but looked well under that to me).

Still, the cheap food, star players (Vlad, Vasquez, etc), excellent seat availability, and pleasant surrounding neighborhood make it worth a visit if you're in Montreal. Certainly a unique experience...just don't expect Wrigley Field!

Traveler

The Big Owe -- 2002-08-28

If you wonder what a baseball game in Purgatory would be like, then catch the Spos at the Stade. Though the game may not be first rate and you might forget that baseball is being played, at least the beer is cheap and plentiful. And if you want to stick around after the game, sometimes they open the field to the fans. You can run around the bases as if you were Gary Carter and slide head first into home plate, just like Charlie Hustle, and have all the Montreal cops say "That was cool" rather than kick you out or arrest you. Gosh Damn! I will miss you Big Owe. Though some say you were a big waste o' cash and that you are structurally unsound, you're still better than Shea Stadium.

Tikmiel Tikmeier

Come for the game, stay for the city -- 2002-07-10

The Big O is the absolute worst place to see a ballgame this side of hell! The foods awful, the team usually stinks and people watching the game at home are closer to the action than ticket holders. Having said that Montreal itself is a great road trip for any fan, period! It's a mix of Vegas, Paris, NYC, Soddam & Gamorrah! The nightlife is incredible, the restaurants are all five star (even the three star ones) and the women are unequalled and extremely friendly! Grab your boys and make the trip to see your team before it's too late. Trust me.

Marcus

transportation -- food -- 2001-09-13

Saw games vs. Reds Aug 24 and 25, 2001. Expos won 8-24, Reds won 8-25. Very convenient subway system takes you directly to stadium. Tickets available and affordable. Enjoyed display of Expos all-century team and live band before and after games. They have a nice system of taking food orders for people in certain seats behind home plate. But the food itself is absolutely the worst stadium food I have ever encountered.

kb

Kevin Burton

The Big Owe -- 2001-08-15

Can this be the worst stadium in the majors? Perhaps. Went to a game August 12 against the Brewers and the Expos won 5-0. The stadium is too large, too dark and ugly. The seats are narrow and hard, and a huge black curtain hangs in centre field to cover up the big empty hole at that end of the stadium. The sound system is horrible and the video scoreboard is out of date. The roof is depressing and too low (many foul balls bounce off it).

Some positives: The ballpark can be accessed easily by subway and it is very easy to get tickets. We were part of the walkup "crowd" and were able to get tickets on the lower level over the third base dugout as attendance was under 7000. Still, the team is exciting to watch. After the game, they let the kids run the bases and sit in the Expos dugout. Oh yeah, and kids' tickets were only a buck!

Domination

Olympic Stadium -- 2001-07-20

When I visited Olympic Stadium for the '76 Olympics, it was an ugly, unfinished mess of new cement. During a recent (7/5/01)visit to see an Expos' game, I was not surprised to see that after 25 years the stadium is an ugly, finished (mostly, unless you count the roof) mess of old (except for the new patches)cement. Someone in the Expos' front office should be indicted for assault (selling tickets) with deadly weapons (the seats in Olympic Stadium)! All that being said, I still enjoyed the game. Not even the Expos' management (despite their obvious best efforts) or the city of Montreal (wonderful in other respects, criminally indifferent to baseball)can ruin baseball. I think the Expos have a future, but not in Montreal.

Lgraz

My visit to an Expos Game -- 2001-07-09

I enjoyed my visit to an Expos game at Olympic Stadium in August 1999. There were around 7,000 people on hand. The Expos won against the dodgers and Vlad hit 2 home runs, which caused the place to go completely bonkers...for about 15 seconds. The fans were polite and the ushers, etc., were helpful. One thing I noticed was that there was quite a bit of marijuana being smoked to the displeasure of no one I wouldn't guess, given the fact that the smell was omnipresent during the entire game.

The Expos web site took down the drawings and pictures of the model for the new stadium during September of last season. The franchise, in all honesty, should be allowed to fold, which at this point would help baseball. A beautiful city and, sadly, no place for baseball.

Flaco Jimenez

The Big "O" -- 2001-06-10

Went to 2 Mets/Expos games in Sept. 2000. Got great seats on game day. Subway cost $1 and stops under the stadium. You never have to deal with bad weather. Attendance was only 5000 for a Friday night game and half of them were Mets fans! Maybe the Canadians don't support their baseball team, but it's an excellent way to see your favorite team on the road.

Don Kilinski

-- 2001-06-09

It was like having a game in your living room.

Stade Eyesore -- 2001-06-04

On the outside it looks like a spaceship. Inside it looks like a dump. They left Jarry Park (which still stands as a tennis stadium) with a promise that they would move to the first MLB retractable roof stadium, but the roof never worked. So after years without a roof, they put an ugly permanent lid on it. Parts of the concrete fell out. The reflective glass backstop is ugly and so is the fake turf. And so is the fact that 4,000 fans attend a major league baseball game, even in a stadium and a team that's ugly. They don't need a new stadium. They need to move out of Montreal. Put them in RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. until a new baseball park there is built and rename them the Senators. Hey, they can't play as bad as some of the Senator teams of the past!

David Bryant

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