Best Sports Venues

If you are a real sports fan, there is no shortage of hallowed grounds.

Baseball at Fenway or Wrigley. Football on the Fronzen Tundra. Basketball at the urban game’s Mecca. Golf on the windswept links of Scotland.

Everyone has his or her own idea of that short list of places that must be seen. Some have been around seemingly forever. Others have been refurbished. At least one is on its way out, and a few others may be in some danger.

Here’s our list, in reverse order of “gotta get there”:

10. Texas Stadium (Irving, Texas): It’s falling down. The plumbing is shot. It’s being replaced next season. When you get right down to it, it wasn’t such a hot idea in the first place. Still, many of the significant games of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s were played in that one-of-a-kind (for good reason, apparently) stadium with the hole in the roof.

9. Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.): The allure here isn’t so much the building as it is the setting. Nothing says “college football” quite like the Rose Bowl, which opened in 1922. Catching a sunset over the nearby mountains just before kickoff is one of the game’s real treats.

8. Lambeau Field (Green Bay, Wisc.): A cool trip in more ways than one. Green Bay is unlike any other NFL stop, and the sights and smells from the pregame tailgate are among the best. It’s a small town, and people for the most part are friendly and proud of their status as the league’s smallest city. A nice blend of small town and big time.

7. Royal and Ancient (St. Andrews, Scotland): Established back in 1754, the club is basically the home of  golf and organzier of the British Open. “The Open,” as it is known, returns to the Old Course in 2010.

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