University of North Carolina Athletics
Key Sports Venues Have Tar Heel Tinge
September 24, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 24, 2008
Late last week, ESPN.com's Jim Caple ranked America's 100 most important sports venues. It wasn't a list of his favorite sports venues, or the most beautiful sports venues, but the most important. As Caple wrote, it's "the venues that have had a profound influence on the way American sports are played or have enjoyed multiple historic moments." Carolina's Dean Smith Center is on the list at number 90. That's a nice honor, of course, but what's even more impressive is that Carolina athletic teams have played at nearly a third of the nation's most important sports venues. Stadiums in the top 100 that have hosted the Tar Heels include:
No. 1, Yankee Stadium
No. 3, Madison Square Garden
No. 4, Astrodome
No. 12, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
No. 17, Louisiana Superdome
No. 18, Notre Dame Stadium
No. 27, Michigan Stadium
No. 27, Ohio Stadium
No. 34, The Palestra
No. 35, Durham Athletic Park
No. 38, The Spectrum
No. 42, Basketball Hall of Fame
No. 44, Pauley Pavilion
No. 46, Bank of America Stadium
No. 51, Rosenblatt Stadium
No. 58, Cameron Indoor Stadium
No. 62, Hinkle Fieldhouse
No. 63, Tiger Stadium
No. 65, Raymond James Stadium
No. 71, Franklin Field
No. 73, LA Sports Arena
No. 77, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
No. 81, Cotton Bowl
No. 84, United Center
No. 88, Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
No. 90, Dean Smith Center
No. 91, Key Arena
No. 95, Assembly Hall
No. 96, Neyland Stadium
That's an impressive six of the top 18, 15 of the top 51, and 29 of the top 100.
