#4's 3rd House

So today I went to new Yankee Stadium. I managed check out the ladies rooms during the seventh inning stretch without getting arrested. I know this is a grave disappointment to Attaturk, who'd hoped I'd Twitter my arrest, booking, and, especially, a night in the Bronx House of Detention. Alas, it was not to be. Grateful for my liberty, I offer you the following observations about the new place:

1. With the exception of the iconic frieze that mimics that of the original Yankee stadium, I thought the inside of the stadium uninspiring. I am told by bigger baseball fans than me that the overall sight lines at the new place are an improvement over that of the old, though. I sat in the deck just to the left of home plate and the view was fine.
2. The interior spaces in the new place are a vast improvement over the old. They're light and open to both the stadium and the street. Not nearly as claustrophobic and ugly as old Yankee Stadium.
3. I don't know what was more shocking -- the prices of the food being sold at the stadium ($9 for a Bud Light) -- or the calorie counts posted next to the prices of the food being sold at the stadium (1,000+ kcal for a bag of nuts). I'm curious if posting these calorie counts will depress sales of cheese fries and jumbo hot dogs.
   
4. A lot -- and I mean A LOT -- of the seats at what the team calls the "Legends" level were empty. There were entire sections empty -- and not just those at the left and right end of the "Legends" suite area. This a beautiful 70-degree day when the deck and other levels were packed. The drunken hipsters sitting in front of us told me that Hal Steinbrenner gave a press conference last week wherein he admitted that the tickets were too expensive
   
5. As demonstrated by the aforementioned drunken hipsters (and yeah, they were from Williamsburg), you can sneak booze into the stadium. They told me how they did it, but I'm not going to tell you, because I don't want you to get in trouble.
   
6. The team missed an opportunity to cast off some of the more tired crap it used to entertain fans at the old stadium. They are still doing the dopey "YMCA" thing, playing the same sound effects, and torturing us with the aforementioned Kate Smith recording of "God Bless America". This stuff is boring (and was never entertaining to begin with).
   
7. That said, the Roll Call survives the transition, and for that I'm glad. I always liked the Roll Call because it was something the fans developed themselves.