September 10, 2007

Stadion Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, USA


Stadion Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, USA

The Edward Jones Dome is a 69,000 seat football stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and home of the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. It was constructed largely to lure an NFL team back to St. Louis, and to serve as a convention center. Completed in 1995, it was known as the Trans World Dome, after Trans World Airlines, until 2001, when TWA was acquired by American Airlines. The facility was then briefly known as the Dome at America’s Center (America’s Center being the adjacent convention facility) until the naming rights were acquired on January 25, 2002 by Edward Jones Investments, a brokerage house based in St. Louis.

The Edward Jones Dome became the site of the biggest indoor gathering in United States history in 1999 when Pope John Paul II held mass in the stadium. Over 104,000 people attended the service. Interestingly enough, that same year it also hosted WCW Slamboree.

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September 9, 2007

Ski Jumps W Salt Lake City, Usa


Ski Jumps W Salt Lake City, Usa

Ski jumps in Olympic Park w Salt Lake City

September 7, 2007

Warszawianka Courts, Warsaw, Poland


Warszawianka Courts, Warsaw, Poland

Warszawianka tennis courts in Warsaw

California Speedway, Fontana, Usa


California Speedway, Fontana, Usa

The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. It is a relatively new race track, opening in early 1997, and has additional configurations and facilities to accommodate “road” races, motorcycle races, vehicle testing, and drag races (Auto Club Dragway), even though the track cannot host NHRA national events, because of International Speedway Corporation’s corporatewide deal with Pepsi. (The NHRA has a policy prohibiting certain Pepsi brands to be advertised anywhere at their national events as part of a deal with Coca-Cola.) This racetrack is a stones throw from the old Ontario Motor Speedway and the old Riverside International Raceway. After Riverside’s closure in 1988, Southern California did not host a NASCAR race from 1988 to 1997, when the new California Speedway was opened.

In addition to NASCAR, the raceway has also hosted open-wheel events from both CART and the Indy Racing League. In 1999 Canadian driver Greg Moore was killed in a crash at the track, resulting in a major overhaul of the backstretch for safety (it was discovered Moore’s car slid in the grass off Turn 2, allowing the car to overturn, and cause the fatal crash; following that, ISC, which had purchased the track, paved that section of backstretch apron in time for the 2000 NASCAR event to prevent cars from sliding in that section, and to allow for drivers to have control of the cars in an incident); in 2003 the Indy Racing League set the highest average speed for any circuit event in motorsports.

Like many modern oval tracks, Fontana also features an infield road-course, which has been used by the Grand American Road Racing Association and by the Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship, with the JGTC race being unique in the fact it was a night race.

The circuit is often used for television commercials.

[Source: Wikipedia]

September 1, 2007

Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, USA


Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, USA

Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a A 3/4 mile (1.2 km), D shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch Series and the Featherlite Modified Series. RIR also hosts the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, and the United States Auto Club Silver Crown Series.

Richmond International Raceway is located at the Richmond Raceway Complex, which is an 800 acre (3.2 km²), multi-purpose facility.

Richmond Raceway Complex also hosts the Virginia Golf Show, Bassarama, Richmond Home and Garden Show, RV and Camping Expo, Richmond Boat Show, Richmond Classic Sports Card Show, East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Expo, Craftsmen Classic Spring and Christmas Shows, Bizarre Bazaar Spring and Christmas Shows and other various arts and craft events.

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August 31, 2007

RBC Center, Raleigh, USA


RBC Center, Raleigh, USA

The RBC Center (originally the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena) is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is home to the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL and the North Carolina State University Wolfpack men’s basketball team of NCAA Division I. The arena also hosted the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League from 2000 to 2002. The arena neighbors Carter-Finley Stadium, home of Wolfpack Football; the North Carolina State Fairgrounds; and Dorton Arena (on the Fairgrounds).

The arena seats 19,722 for basketball or 18,730 for ice hockey, including 75 luxury suites and 2,000 club seats. The building has three concourses, and includes a 500-seat restaurant.

The idea of a new basketball arena first emerged in the 1980s under the vision of Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano. In 1989, the NCSU Trustees approved plans to build a 23,000 seat arena. The Centennial Authority was created by the NC Legislature in 1995 as the governing entity of the arena, then financed by state appropriation, local contributions, and University fundraising. The Centennial Authority refocused the project into a multi-use arena, leading to the 1997 relocation agreement of the Hurricanes (then the Hartford Whalers). Construction began that year and was completed in 1999 at a cost of $158 million, which was largely publicly financed by a Hotel and Restaurant tax. The Hurricanes agreed to pay $20 million of the cost, and the state of North Carolina paid $18 million.

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August 28, 2007

The Hungaroring - Formula One Race-track, Budapest, Hungary


The Hungaroring - Formula One Race-track, Budapest, Hungary

The Hungaroring is a Formula One race-track near Budapest, Hungary, location of the Hungarian Grand Prix. It became the location for the first Formula 1 Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain in 1986.

Hot and dusty: those are the keywords for the Hungaroring. Held in the middle of a central European summer, it is the only established circuit in the Grand Prix calendar never to have seen a wet race. The circuit is generally dusty due to underuse throughout the season, and this dustiness is heightened by the circuit’s location in a valley near Budapest, attracting dust and litter from the city. Its location on sandy soil also means that if a car drops a wheel off the track, it kicks up massive clouds of dust.

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July 29, 2007

Infineon Raceway, California, USA


Infineon Raceway, California, USA

Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip in the hills of northern California, near Sonoma, north of San Francisco. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills. It is host to one of the only two NASCAR races each year that are run on road courses. It is also host to several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR, wanting a west coast road course event to replace it, chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside International was razed for a shopping center development.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporation, Infineon. However, as with many renamings of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name.

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Old motocross race track, Gdynia, Poland


Old motocross race track, Gdynia, Poland

Old motocross race track in Gdynia Chwarzno, Poland

July 26, 2007

Bradley Center, Milwaukee, USA


Bradley Center, Milwaukee, USA

The Bradley Center is an indoor arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA, the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL (and formerly of the IHL) and the Marquette University men’s basketball team. It was also the former home of the Milwaukee Wave of the MISL from 1987-2003, the Milwaukee Mustangs of the AFL from 1994-2001, and the Badger Hockey Showdown from 1989-2002.

Currently, the Bradley Center is one of the oldest arenas used in the NBA.

The arena was completed in 1988 at a cost of $90 million. It was meant to be a modern replacement of The MECCA, which was built in 1950. It was gift to the State of Wisconsin by philanthropists Jane Pettit and Lloyd Pettit in memory of her late father, Harry Lynde Bradley of Allen-Bradley fortune. The arena seats 20,000 for end-stage concerts, 18,717 for NBA games, 19,000 for college basketball, and 17,800 for ice hockey.

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