Saying Goodbye

After 26 years, Santos Laguna played its final game in Estadio Corona yesterday, a 1-1 tie against Pumas. Corona was a tremendously fun spot to watch a game, despite seating less than 20,000. My favorite part was how at the standard 4 p.m. start time, the stadium was divided almost perfectly down the middle into the sunny and shady sections. The sun at 4 is no joke in Torreón, so only the hard-core, beer-swilling, riot-inciting crazies would park themselves beneath the sun, while the rest of us more sensitive types in the shade would watch the goings-on opposite side of the stands with almost as much curiosity as the game.

Replacing a classic stadium is always an impossible task, and this switch has a Chicago Stadium-United Center vibe to it. The new pad scores points for a fantastic name: Territorio Santos Modelo. Shockingly, it's also decked out with corporate boxes and restaurants and the rest, which might be fun if I were rich, but I'm not. And there's also a church. Seriously, it's inside the stadium.