Battle of the stadiums

Published 11:59 pm Sunday, September 2, 2007

Ah, autumn. That fine season when the air gets crisp, the leaves turn bright, and disillusioned baseball fans become optimistic football fans.

That may be especially true around here: The Seahawks have won three preseason games, while the Mariners lost their ninth straight Sunday.

Of course, there’s no point in comparing the two teams. But since they’re both playing, we can certainly compare their stadiums. Consider:

Safeco Field: Has a capacity of 47,116 and 76 restrooms, or .0016 bathrooms per person.

Qwest Field: Has a capacity of 67,000 and 63 restrooms, or .0009 bathrooms per person.

Edge: Safeco. We’ll take every 10,000th of a bathroom we can get.

Safeco: Has a retractable roof that protects all fans from the elements.

Qwest: Has a non-retractable roof that covers 70 percent of the seats.

Edge: Safeco. At least there we’ll only be cold while we’re waiting for the bathroom, instead of cold and wet.

Safeco: Has 62 food stands, 26 kiosks, a restaurant and a pub.

Qwest: Has 38 concession stands and 40 portable carts.

Edge: Safeco. It’s less likely you’ll still be in line for a hot dog when the best play of the game happens.

Maybe we won’t give up on the M’s just yet, after all.