#18

Mellon Arena - Pittsburgh Penguins

Convenience/Access - It isn't hard to get to and its in Pittsburgh proper. There are probably few to no people who walk here, though. Its not in a crowded area.

Location/Scene - The only thing that seemed remotely walkable was the hotel down the street. Hop in your car (perhaps a Mercedes truck) if you want a postgame scene.

Outside Appearance - It's a big white dish in the middle of a parking lot. Aah, the parallels with Nassau continue. (they aren't done). After some debate, we all agreed that this place is actually quite cool looking. The roof is definitely unique and doesn't look so bad from the outside. The outside of the structure is nice.

Inner Aesthetics - The roof is a goddamned bubble! It is Idaho-level white and looks completely jarring, especially with giant ads plastered brutally all over it and scaffolding hanging down. The seating bowl is unique looking and hard to describe. It certainly isn't the oval/igloo shape you might expect. The seats are all red, except for the club seats, which are black. This would look good if the Devils played here. The scoreboard and signage are sub-par.

Concourse - It isn't common for the three of us to completely agree on something rink-related, much less use the same adjectives and superlatives when describing it. Yes if each of us had to summarize the Mellon concourse, it is a five-star lock that we would all use the following three words in some order: hazard, brutal, fire. There is nothing much to see or do other than pray for a swift return to your seat, or out of the building.

Sightlines - We expected better. They aren't bad of course, but for an old, smallish rink they certainly aren't outstanding. We have no idea what the view is like from the upper seats behind the nets that basically touch the roof as it slopes inward.

Bathrooms - Unacceptable. First you have to navigate there, and then you have to handle them. Just hold it.

Concessions - Apparently all of the decent sporting event food in this city is at PNC. Expensive too. Iron City beer gets 2 out of three thumbs down.

Fans/Atmosphere - Thanks to a great young team, Pitt has gone from almost being relocated to Waterloo to being a tough ticket and an obnoxiously popular team. When we went the fans were loud but there was a high asshole contingent behind us. Its worth noting that besides that, every single encounter all three of us have ever had with Pittsburgh people is overwhelmingly positive. Some great folk in western PA.

History/Banners - Tons of great success in this place's past, but like on Long Island, you can't really feel it just being here. Its got the banners and such but you're not swimming in it (which we thing you should be) like in many other rinks.

Cool Stuff - We think we remember some table hockey games set up somewhere.

Bars - nah.

Store - The main store seemed decent, but the smaller kiosks were way too expensive and boring. This is one of the rare arenas where none of made an impulsive souvenir buy.

Value - Our tickets were very expensive for the quality, as was just about everything else. Apparently there are good student programs here.

Overall - We all like Pittsburgh a lot as a city. We all like the Igloo. It‚s just old and decrepit and needs replacing- and unlike with the Islanders, it will be soon. PNC Park is off-the-charts awesome, and Heinz is always rated highly as well. Consider also that Pit is one of the few NHL teams making money, and there are plenty of reasons to expect the new arena will be boss. But for now, the fact that it's a hilarious bubble and has a cool nickname does not cover up its warts, making it our choice (albeit a contentious one) for worst of the rinks so far.

Random - For lack of anything else better nearby to do, we hung around in the parking lot after the game on a really fucking cold night. Doing so provided us with humor and pictures that still stands out among trip moments.