Fenway Park continues to battle time but how long can it and other cherished sports fields last?

"See how much leg room you have between your knees and the back of that chair? Well Fenway is a little worse than that." That was the response I got from Mike, a native Bostonian last summer en route to Las Vegas via US Airways when I asked what the experience at Fenway Park is like. Fenway Park is perhaps Baseball's most famous ball stadium for its history and quirky characteristics such as it's irregular shape, Pesky's pole, a large hand operated scoreboard and most famous of them all, the Green Monster; a 37-foot green wall that towers over left field. I've always wanted to go see a game at Fenway for those very reasons and when I got seated next to a Boston sports fan for a 4 ½ hour flight to Vegas I finally got some first hand and local experiences of the cherished park. "I really wish that they would build a new park. The history is great and all but the seats are to close to each other, they're uncomfortable, the bathrooms are horrible and parking is a pain. Plus good tickets are hard to come by because of the small capacity of the park." This was hardly a resounding reference for the cherished park.

Fenway has undergone many renovations and alterations, most notably this season with the addition of bar stool seating upon the top of the Green Monster. Fenway Park has a capacity of only 34,246 far below the 60,000-seat capacity of other monstrous ballparks. It is for this very reason that creative ideas have been instituted to preserve this historic and beloved baseball monument. In essence they're trying to stretch out the life span of a 91-year-old stadium to compete with a baseball world that has inundated fans and teams with state-of-the-art, interactive, corporate ball fields. Now here's the rub. Fenway Park is just one example in a string of many old arenas, stadium and fields where a decision eventually needs to be made; a decision to leave the era of nostalgia, atmosphere and history to the current era of fan comfort, state-of-the-art multimedia and revenue generation.

	Boston Gahden was wicked good and wicked small.(Read With Boston Accent)

The trepidation of abandoning a historic sporting home in favour of new digs is increased with the notion that home-ice/field advantage isn't what it once was. With the NHL playoffs in full bloom there are plenty of examples that discount the home-ice advantage logic. The Minnesota Wild beat both the Avalanche and Canucks in pivotal game 7 match-ups where they were the road team. Anaheim ousted both Detroit and Dallas, which included road victories in Game 1 and Game 2 of both series. The Boston Garden once allowed the Bruins to hold an advantage over their opponents because of the small dimensions of the rink. The Bruins style of play was orchestrated by the small confines and thus created a competitive advantage. The Montreal Forum struck fear in opponents because of the history and the 24 Stanley Cup banners that hung from the rafters. Visiting teams came into the Forum knowing that they had to play the Canadiens, the most storied franchise in league history and for many teams that hurdle was too great to overcome. When the Blackhawks played their games at Chicago Stadium there were nights where the fans were so loud and boisterous that you couldn't hear the national anthem being sung. The roar of the fans rocked the walls of the old Stadium creating a huge edge for the Blackhawks. The new cavernous United Center can't compare to the noise the old building generated. It's like comparing Creed to Led Zeppelin. The NHL now sports a collection of arenas that differ by their location, elaborate entrances, selection of food and laser shows.

	Must be some thin air in those theatres or maybe Ben Affleck's performance sucked the air out of the room.

Baseball has the greatest amount of creative license to create a unique and distinct home advantage because of the lack of dimension restrictions that MLB carries. I mean take a look at the range of different ballparks in baseball; some parks have large outfield walls like the ones in Boston and Cleveland, some favour right handed hitters like the fields in San Francisco and Baltimore's Camden Yards. Some are considered great pitching parks because of their large dimensions like Detroit's Comerica Park, although in the Tigers' case, for something to be considered a home field advantage you actually need to have the talent to gain from your surroundings. Finally, even the location of your park can be a sheer advantage like the ones the Rockies possess with their big batters and the thin air of Coors Field, where balls leave the yard faster than people leave the theater after watching DareDevil. There are endless possibilities for unique nuances a team can incorporate in their field. For instance the swimming pool the Arizona Diamond Backs have in right-centerfield in their park. With a short right field in San Francisco's 3Com Park fans are regularly treated to Barry Bonds HR blasts that reach McCovey's Cove. It is because of this creative license that character can still be preserved with the new stadiums. Perhaps the Red Sox can transplant the Green Monster into new confines, which will appease fans like Mike and other Red Sox fans.

Another aspect that brought such great atmosphere and fan reaction to the old parks was the cramped seating and close proximity to the playing surface. Fans were much closer to the action and were therefore more vocal and part of the game. I saw a Leafs game at Maple Leaf Gardens before the Leafs left for their new home, the Air Canada Centre, and it was a remarkable experience. I walked in and couldn't believe how close the front ticket window was to the rink. There was no elaborate lobby and great staircase that met you; simply the ice surface and stands. With the new rinks there are so many features and attractions that can distract you, but here the only focus was on the game. Perhaps it is because of this focus on the actual game that home-ice/field advantage was a much bigger fixture in the older parks and stadiums.