Most importantly, never criticize the fans for believing in their team no matter how bad they play. Being Cubs fans, you almost have to have pity for them at some point but we’ve been in the same boat many seasons. We’ll stop having pity if the Nationals make it to a World Series before we do :)

You cheer for your favorite players, you cheer for your team for getting hits, and you cheer because it’s fun to possibly see them get an upset win. There’s nothing wrong with going to a baseball game on a beautiful weekend. Plus ticket prices are reasonable there.

They’ve also lost about 35 games by 1 or 2 runs. If they won maybe half of those, they’d potentially still be in the race.

Also, Cubs did not have an easy time sweeping this series. I was at last nights game. There was NOTHING easy about that win for them.

Now in regards to the actual park:

I’m in CT and I find that the prices at National’s Park was cheaper than both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field by a few dollars for everything.

Also, I understand the comment about it looking like a mall. I saw that from the outside and actually said the same thing to my friends but it actually felt more like a Jersey Shore or Atlantic City board walk from the inside (concession stands at least).

But I do completely agree you forget you are in DC once you’re inside the park and that’s not really a bad thing. I think the area around the park is going to be built up in the next 5 years. Plus you’re practically in VA. That’s an entire market to try and get people to come to games.

I drove 12 hours roundtrip yesterday to see the Cubs, had a great time, talked to really nice people there (Cubs and Nats fans) and I recommend anyone to visit the park if you’re in the area.

I agree they could have either put the ballpark in a better area with a more scenic backdrop. The lack of things to do outside the park was kind of disappointing. They did all the promotions/advertisements like all the other modern ballparks do, but I did not feel they went overboard like some places. I really didn’t encounter very many of their fans, it was almost entirely Cub fans sitting around us. They seemed a little under staffed in the concessions/vendor areas, but they probably are not used to having big crowds. I did like their jumbotron and scoreboard. It was very well layed out and gave a lot more information on each matchup than most places I have been. I also liked that it was easy to get in and out of, with many gates and located close to the metro. Overall, I would say the experience there was slightly above average…comparing it to other parks I’ve been to, it was better than Atlanta and LA, but behind San Diego, Colorado, NYY, etc.

As a transplanted Cubs fan who shares season tickets to the Nats, I can tell you Nats fans are what you expect in DC. It took Ovechikin and 25+ years for the Caps to build a fan base and since so many people in DC are from elsewhere, its going to take a star and a few generations to build a real base. The team has a decent farm system now (it helps to draft high every year) and I think they are building the right way, it remains to be seen how many fans are still there when they finally get competitive. Also, the changes in lobbying laws KILLED the Nats. Most of the expensive seats were bought by lobbying firms to entertain, something they can no longer do.