Cardinals have best stadium in division
Jun 30, 2011, 4:46 PM | Updated: 5:54 pm
After finishing 5-11 the Arizona Cardinals were far from the best team in the NFC West last season. However, they did lead the division in a few unique categories.
According to ESPN’s NFC West blog, the Cardinals have the best stadium in the division.
University of Phoenix stadium, which was also home to the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship game last season, features a retractable roof and the first fully retractable field in the country.
While Qwest Field in Seattle may have been the only other legitimate contender for “Best Stadium in the NFC West,” the retractable field would have been hard to beat.
The natural-grass surface spends about 150 days each year basking in the Arizona sunshine, requiring only about an hour to slide back inside on a massive tray weighing 17 million pounds (the rough equivalent of 47,200 Deuce Lutuis). Cardinals players get to escape the heat on game days while playing on a natural-grass surface that ranks among the very best in biannual player surveys.
Not only do the Cardinals have the best stadium in the division, they also have the best training camp venue.
“It’s far enough from Phoenix to escape the blistering heat, but close enough for fans to turn out in large numbers,” ESPN’s Mike Sando writes.
It is certainly nice for the Cardinals facilities to get recognition, however, it would be even nicer if the lockout ended and the Cardinals were able to use the best training camp venue in the near future.
