The New York Knicks are visiting the San Antonio Spurs next Tuesday night, December 7, The Brooklyn Nets will visit on January 21.
Before You Go. San Antonio is in Texas. If you're still nervous about people who aren't willing to protect you from COVID, don't go. If you do go, wear a mask. If anyone has a problem with you, ignore them. They're the idiots. But don't say that. You'll be outnumbered.
San Antonio is in Texas, but this is going to be Winter. You won't have to worry about excessive heat. Still, the
San Antonio Express-News website is predicting high 70s for the afternoon, unseasonably high by our standards, and high 50s for the evening. At least they're not predicting rain for the entire week.
Contrary to its Confederate past, and its Republic of Texas past, San Antonio is not in a foreign country. You will not need to bring a passport, and you will not need to change your money. It is, however, in the Central Time Zone, so you'll have to set your timepieces back an hour. And, despite what Donald Trump says, there is no wall in San Antonio to keep you -- or illegal immigrants -- out.
Tickets. The Spurs were averaging 18,393 fans per home game in 2019-20, before COVID shut everything down, a sellout. Not surprising, considering they're the only team in town. (They don't even have a major college football or basketball team anywhere near, and San Antonio FC have little chance of getting promoted to MLS, especially with the MLS expansion team coming to Austin.) Getting tickets could be tough.
Lower level seats, the 100 sections, are $151 between the baskets, and $88 behind them. Upper level seats, the 200 sections, are $27 between the baskets and $16 behind them.
Getting There. It's 1,864 miles from Midtown Manhattan to downtown San Antonio. Google Maps says the fastest way from New York to New Orleans by road is to take the Holland Tunnel to Interstate 78 to Harrisburg, then I-81 through the Appalachian Mountains, and then it gets complicated from there.
No, the best way to go, if you must drive, is to take the New Jersey Turnpike/I-95 all the way from New Jersey to Petersburg, Virginia. Exit 51 will put you on I-85 South, and that will take you right through Charlotte and Atlanta, to Montgomery, Alabama. There, you'll switch to I-65 South, and take that into Mobile, where you'll switch to I-10 West, which will take you through New Orleans and Houston, and on to San Antonio.
You'll be in New Jersey for about an hour and a half, Delaware for 20 minutes, Maryland for 2 hours, inside the Capital Beltway (Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia) for half an hour if you're lucky (and don't make a rest stop anywhere near D.C.), Virginia for 3 hours, North Carolina for 4 hours, South Carolina for about an hour and 45 minutes, Georgia for 3 hours, Alabama for 4 hours and 45 minutes, Mississippi for an hour and 15 minutes, Louisiana for 4 hours and 45 minutes, and Texas for 5 hours. Use Exit 569 for downtown.
So we're talking about 27 hours. Throw in traffic in and around New York, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans and Houston, plus rest stops, preferably in Delaware, and then one each in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana, and maybe 2 in Texas, and it'll be closer to 36 hours. Still wanna drive? Didn't think so.
Flying? If you play your cards right, you can get a nonstop flight for only $240. Most likely, though, you'd have to change planes in Dallas or Houston, regardless of which airline you used. Still, even that is just 8 hours, and that's a whole lot better than 36. The Number 5 bus can get you from the airport to downtown in 45 minutes.
Amtrak can get you there with the Lake Shore Limited leaving Penn Station at 3:40 PM Eastern on Saturday, arriving at Union Station in Chicago at 9:50 AM Central on Sunday, and switching to the Texas Eagle at 1:45 PM and arriving in San Antonio at 9:55 PM Central on Monday -- giving you a trip of 30 hours and 15 minutes, but nearly a full day in San Antonio before tipoff at 7:30 PM Central on Thursday.
You would then board the Texas Eagle again at 7:00 AM Central on Wednesday, arriving at Chicago at 1:52 PM Central on Thursday, switching to the Lake Shore Limited at 9:30 PM Central, and arriving back in New York at 6:23 PM Eastern on Friday. The cost would be $464 round-trip. The Historic Sunset Station is at 1174 E. Commerce Street at Hoefgen Avenue, just north of the Alamodome.
Historic Sunset Station, with the Alamodome behind it.
ALERT: This time, you can't do that. The Lake Shore Limited is already sold out for that day. There is another way to do it, but you'd have to spend a night in a hotel in New Orleans waiting to change trains. So Amtrak is out for this trip.
On Greyhound, you'd have to leave Port Authority on Sunday, changing buses in Atlanta and Dallas, and getting to San Antonio on Tuesday, to make it by tipoff. Round-trip fare is $695, but it can drop to $484 with advanced purchase. The Greyhound station is at 500 N. St. Mary's Street at Pecan Street, a block from the River Walk.
Once In the City. Texas declared its independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836; was admitted to the Union as the 28th State on December 29, 1845; became the 7th State to secede from the Union, on February 1, 1861; and the 10th former Confederate State to be readmitted, on March 30, 1870.
San Antonio was founded by the Spanish in 1718, and named for St. Anthony of Padua. With over 1.4 million people, it's the 7th-largest city in America, trailing only New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and Philadelphia. This makes it easily the largest city in the U.S. without a Major League Baseball team, and except for Montreal the largest such city in the U.S. and Canada combined. Now that Los Angeles has gotten back into the NFL, San Antonio is the largest U.S. city without a team in that league, too.
But its metropolitan area has just 2.5 million, making it smaller than all MLB markets except Kansas City and Milwaukee, and 26th in the NFL. (That's if you properly combine Cincinnati and Dayton, but it's still bigger than the combinations of Milwaukee and Green Bay, and Buffalo and Niagara Falls.)
The city's population is 64 percent Latino, 27 percent white, 7 percent black and 2 percent Asian. This mixed heritage is reflected in the Spurs' lineup: They have long relied on foreign-born (or, at least, off-the-mainland) players, including Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Tony Parker (France) and the still-there Pau Gasol (Spain). As recently as 2013, 8 of their 15 players were born outside the 50 States. And San Antonio has had considerably less racial strife than other Southern cities, including Texas cities Dallas and Houston.
The sales tax in San Antonio is 8.25 percent. ZIP Codes for the area start with the digits 781, 782 and 788. The Area Code is 210, with 756 being added as an overlay next October. CPS Energy -- its initials coming from its former name, City Public Service -- runs the electricity.
The San Antonio River divides addresses into East and West, and Market Street into North and South. VIA Metropolitan Transit runs buses, charging $1.20 for a single fare, and the "E" streetcar, a free downtown circulator.
San Antonio has 3 "beltways" ringing the city. From inward to outward, they are: Interstate 410, State Route 1604, and another consisting of State Route 46 (north), State Route 123 (east), State Route 97 (southeast), and State Route 173 (southwest and west).
Going In. The Spurs' arena is named the AT&T Center, not to be confused with the Dallas Cowboys' new home, AT&T Stadium; or the San Francisco Giants' new home, which used to be named AT&T Park, but is now Oracle Park.
Since 2002, it has hosted the Spurs, including the last 4 of their 5 NBA Championships. It also hosts the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League, and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. It formerly hosted the WNBA's San Antonio Stars, who have been moved to Las Vegas.
AT&T Center, with the Freeman Coliseum behind it.
The official address is 1 AT&T Center Parkway, and it stands off E. Houston Street and N. Onslow Street, next to the Freeman Coliseum, a 1949 arena seating just 9,800, where the Stars played the 2016 season, previous minor-league hockey teams played, and the Stock Show & Rodeo was previously held. Formerly known as the Bexar County Coliseum, Elvis Presley played 2 shows there early in his career, a matinee and an evening show on October 14, 1956.
The complex is 3 miles east of downtown, and can be reached with the VIA Number 22, 24 or 25 bus in about 40 minutes. Parking has to be reserved in advance, and costs $14. So, better to take the bus in.
Most likely, you'll enter the arena from the south end. The court is laid out east to west.
Food. San Antonio is at the center of Tex-Mex culture, especially food, in America. This is reflected at the AT&T Center. The HEB Fan Zone has Tortilla Fresca, "Extreme Nachos" are at Sections 113 and 128, and Section 105 has a Churros stand.
But the arena has lots of other offerings, including their base, the 3-Point Meal: A hot dog, a 16-ounce soda, and popcorn, at Sections 103, 118, 126, 209 and 226.
There's Top Dog hot dogs at 105, Rudy's Country Store & BBQ at 121, Bratwurst or Jalapeno Cheese Sausages at 105, Funnel Cake at 113, and Anne's Ice Cream at 111, 125, 212 and 225. Sections 122 and 200 have "Bottomless Soda Fountains," offering free refills. Coffee and frozen lemonade stands are all over. And, as you would expect in Texas, lots and lots of beer, and lots and lots of margaritas.
Team History Displays. The Spurs hang their 5 NBA Championship banners: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014. These are flanked by Conference title banners: 1999, 2003 and 2005 on the left; 2007, 2013 and 2014 on the right, followed on the right by a single banner for their Division titles: 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
On the other side of the arena are banners for their 10 retired numbers. 00 for guard Johnny Moore, 13 for guard James Silas, and 44 for the Iceman, George Gervin, predated their 5 NBA titles. 6 for guard Avery Johnson, 21 for forward Tim Duncan, 32 for forward Sean Elliott, and 50 for center David Robinson were from the 1999 title. Duncan's 21, Robinson's 50, 9 for guard Tony Parker, 12 for forward Bruce Bowen, and 20 for guard Manu Ginóbili are from the 2003 title.
Duncan, Parker, Bowen and Ginóbili were still with the Spurs for the 2005 and 2007 titles. Duncan, Parker and Ginóbili were still there for the 2014 title.
The numbers for Parker and Ginóbili were not yet retired
at the time of this photo.
Gervin and Robinson were named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. They and Artis Gilmore, whose Number 53 has not yet been retired, were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Parker and
Ginóbili could be. Gervin, Robinson, Duncan and Kawhi Leonard were named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players.
Gervin, Silas, Bob Netolicky and Billy Paultz were named to the ABA All-Time Team. So was Louie Dampier, the former University of Kentucky star who played for the Kentucky Colonels, before playing the Spurs' 1st 3 seasons in the NBA, 1976-79. A statue of Duncan stands outside the AT&T Center.
The Spurs have rivalries with the other 2 Texas-based teams in the NBA. They lead the Houston Rockets 122-103 in their all-time series. They have faced each other in the Playoffs 4 times. The Rockets won the 1st 3, in 1980, 1981 and 1995, before the Spurs won in 2017.
The Spurs lead the Dallas Mavericks 134-89. They've had 6 Playoff matchups, with the Spurs winning in 2001, 2003, 2010 and 2014; and the Mavs winning in 2006 and 2009.
Stuff. Part of the arena's renovations included a larger team store, to sell more items. Whether they go with the Texas theme and sell cowboy hats with the team logo on them, I don't know.
Despite having won more titles since 1998 than any other team but the Lakers (who've also won 5 in that span, to 3 for the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors, and 1 each for the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers), the Spurs have never been media darlings.
This may be due to the fact that San Antonio is the 3rd-biggest market in Texas, behind Dallas and Houston. Or, it may be that, compared to the power of Shaquille O'Neal, and the flash of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Steph Curry, Tim Duncan seemed boring -- even though he's probably been the best, or at least the most accomplished, NBA player since Michael Jordan retired for the 2nd time in 1998.
So if you're looking for books about the Spurs, good luck. Shane Frederick has done the Spurs' edition of
The NBA: A History of Hoops series, while Jesse Blanchard published
Dynasty: The San Antonio Spurs' Timeless 2014 Championship.
Their best player has been honored with Clayton Geoffreys'
Tim Duncan: The Inspiring Story of Basketball's Greatest Power Forward, and the coach for all 5 titles with
The Leadership Lessons of Gregg Popovich: A Case Study on the San Antonio Spurs' 5-time NBA Championship Winning Head Coach, edited by Leadership Case Studies.
Highlight DVDs are available for all 5 titles, and the NBA made up a collection for the 1st 4 (1997 to 2007).
During the Game. A November 13, 2014 article on DailyRotoHelp ranked the NBA teams' fan bases, and listed the Spurs' fans 5th. It mentions that the attendance has fallen below 18,000 only 3 times since 1994, before the Popovich-Duncan golden age began. (I won't call it a "dynasty," but it is a "golden age.") "That's loyalty at its finest," the article says.
Spurs fans are, by Texas standards, not particularly aggressive. They don't much like the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns or whatever team LeBron James happens to be playing on at any given moment. But they won't start trouble. They certainly won't start it with fans of the Knicks or the Nets. So if you leave them alone, they'll show you the same courtesy.
Coach Pop has hired the 1st female assistant coach in the history of men's major league sports in North America: Becky Hammon, a 6-time WNBA All-Star for the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Stars. She led the Spurs to the Las Vegas Summer League title in 2016. Also that year, she was inducted into the Liberty's Ring of Honor. In 2012, she was named to the WNBA's 15th Anniversary 15 Greatest Players. In 2016, she was named to the WNBA Top 20 at 20 -- in the 20th Season, rather than at the 20th Anniversary.
The Spurs' longtime National Anthem singer was Charles Glenn, but he retired at the end of the 2019 season, due to illness. Before Game 3 of the 2013 NBA Finals, former Hootie & the Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker got held up at the airport on the way to San Antonio, and had to cancel his performance of the National Anthem with but hours to spare. They hired Sebastien De La Cruz, an 11-year-old local boy, a 5th-generation American, who'd recently appeared on
America's Got Talent, with no controversy for that. He sang the Anthem wearing a mariachi costume in black and white, Spurs colors, and knocked the fans' socks off.
After a despicable outcry from online racists (shades of the Jose Feliciano situation during the 1968 World Series), the Spurs responded by, essentially, telling the bigots to go to Hell. They invited Sebastien to do it again before Game 4, proving that San Antonio is an oasis of open-mindedness in the bigoted desert of Texas.
He was invited back before Game 2 of the 2014 Finals and a 2015 Playoff game, and is now 16 and a junior in high school. In 2016, he sang the National Anthem at the Democratic National Convention. In spite of all this, he is still not the Spurs' official Anthem singer. Perhaps, with Glenn's retirement, with De La Cruz will soon no longer has to worry about getting back from the game on a school night, he will be made the official singer. In the meantime, the team still holds auditions for the Anthem.
Sebastien De La Cruz
The Spurs have The Coyote as their mascot. He won the NBA's Mascot of the Year award for 2014 and 2020, and he's been elected to the Mascot Hall of Fame. He wears Number 2! (That's right: 2 with an exclamation point.) He's also been known to wear costumes, like Uncle Sam and Batman. And, like Go the Gorilla in Phoenix and Hugo the Hornet in Charlotte, he does stunt dunks.
This Coyote doesn't waste his time chasing roadrunners.
On April 8, 2017,
Andrew Lynch ranked the NBA mascots for Fox Sports' website. He ranked the Coyote 1st, saying, "Look at those eyes and tell me there's a better mascot in the NBA. I dare you."
The Spurs also have the Silver Dancers as their cheerleaders. They have 2 theme songs, "Go, Spurs, Go!" and "Black & Silver." "Go, Spurs, Go!" is the home fans' main chant.
After the Game. Compared to Dallas and Houston, San Antonio's crime problem is considerably less. You do not need to fear your way out of the arena.
There is a place called New York Bar at 2838 N. Loop 1604 East, but I have no idea if it caters to New Yorkers, or if it specializes in putting New York teams' games on its TVs. It could just be a name. Sideliners Grill is a known Jet fans hangout, but it's 14 miles north of downtown, and it's a place you'd have to drive to, unless you want to take 3 buses. 15630 Henderson Pass.
If your visit to San Antonio is during the European soccer season, the top "football pub" in town is The Lion & Rose, at 17627 La Cantera Parkway, 16 miles northwest of downtown. Bus 94.
Sidelights. On November 30, 2018,
Thrillist published a list of "
America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and San Antonio came in 22nd. While San Antonio has become a huge city, its sports history is not very long, and not very varied. But its history goes back over 300 years, and is worth checking out.
* HemisFair. HemisFair '68 was a World's Fair, whose structures included what remains the tallest structure in San Antonio, the 750-foot Tower of the Americas. The grounds also included a convention center, now named for the late longtime Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez; a pavilion that has been converted into the main building of the University of Texas at San Antonio; the Briscoe Western Art Museum, easily the best-known museum in the city that isn't The Alamo; the 403-foot Tower Life Building, built in the Art Deco style in 1927 and incorporated into the Fair site; the Aztec Theatre; and the HemisFair Arena, the Spurs' original home.
Built as part of the Fair in 1968, the American Basketball Association's Dallas Chaparrals, who had experimented with playing at several site in Texas, moved in for the 1973-74 season, and changed their name to the San Antonio Spurs. It seated just 10,146, so in 1978 they literally raised the roof, and increased capacity to 16,114 fans. Despite many of those nearly 6,000 extra seats being obstructed view, the Arena became one of the loudest in the NBA following the semi-merger with the ABA.
The popularity of the Spurs actually doomed the place, leading to the need for a larger arena. They moved out in 1993, and it was demolished in 1995. The site is now occupied by an expansion of the Gonzalez Convention Center.
Elvis never sang at the HemisFair Arena, but he did give concerts at the Convention Center on April 18, 1972, October 8, 1974, and August 27, 1976.
Although Dallas now has an NHL team, and Houston had one of the better WHA teams, San Antonio has never tried to get a team in either league. The closest NHL team is the Dallas Stars, 275 miles away. The closest Major League Soccer team is the Houston Dynamo, 193 miles. The closest major-college football team is the University of Texas, 77 miles.
* Alamodome. Built by Bexar County in 1993 to house the Spurs, and also to attract an NFL team, this stadium seats 65,000 people for football, and is expandable to 72,000. It annually hosts the Alamo Bowl and the U.S. Army-sponsored All-American Bowl. (Fort Sam Houston is located in San Antonio.)
It's hosted the NCAA Final Four 4 times: 1998 (Kentucky beat Utah in the Final), 2004 (Connecticut over Georgia Tech), 2008 (Kansas' epic comeback, or Memphis' epic choke if you prefer), and 2018 (Villanova over Michigan). It will host again in 2025. It hosted the 1996 NBA All-Star Game.
Since 2013, the Texas Rangers have closed their spring training by playing at the Alamodome, although the shape of the field makes it unsuitable for baseball, with the right field pole just 280 feet from home plate and straightaway right only 305, perilously close.
The U.S. soccer team played at the Alamodome on April 15, 2015, beating Mexico 2-0 -- or "
Dos a Cero," as U.S. fans sometimes taunt their arch-rivals, due to that score having been a famous result between them at the 2002 World Cup. The U.S. team previously played in San Antonio at Comalander Stadium on June 14, 1988, a 1-0 win over Costa Rica. It hosted 2 games of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On the sitcom
Coach, The Alamodome hosted the 1993 Pioneer Bowl, at which the fictional Minnesota State won the National Championship. (But game action was filmed at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.) When Gregory Nava made his film
Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez as the ill-fated Latina singer, the Alamodome was used as a stand-in for her legendary Astrodome concert, even though the structures look nothing alike, inside or out.
But the stadium's main focus remains football. And yet, the only team currently calling it home is the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), who announced the starting of their program in 2006, first hit the field in 2011, and moved up to the FBS (formerly Division I-A) in 2012. The Roadrunners are members of Conference USA, and from 2011 to 2015 were coached by former University of Miami head coach Larry Coker. Under current coach Frank Wilson, they reached the 2016 New Mexico Bowl. The Big 12 Conference Championship Game has been played there in 1997, 1999 and 2007.
On November 19, 2018, Moneywise compiled a list of their Worst College Football Stadiums, the bottom 19 percent of college football, 25 out of 129. The Alamodome came off very badly, at Number 3:
The 25-year-old Alamodome is massive. It has a capacity for up to 64,000 football fans — which doesn't do the UTSA Roadrunners any favors.
This year's home opener drew more than 42,000 fans, though that still meant that about a third of the stadium was empty. The lack of spectators leaves much of the game day atmosphere at the door.
The Alamodome gets just two and a half stars on Yelp. "The grading and angles of the stands create too many blind spots," says one negative reviewer. "I probably would have been better off watching the game from home." The Dallas Cowboys have occasionally held training camp at the Alamodome -- making some sense, since, according to
a September 2014 article in The Atlantic, they are easily the most popular NFL team in town, well ahead of the closer Houston Texans. The Canadian Football League's brief American experiment included the San Antonio Texans, who played only the 1995 season. The San Antonio Talons of the Arena Football League failed in 2014, after 3 seasons. The New Orleans Saints played 4 "home" games there in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina made playing at the Superdome impossible that season.
But in 1993, shortly after it opened, the NFL chose Charlotte and Jacksonville for its expansion teams. After the 1994 season, Los Angeles' teams chose to move elsewhere: The Rams to St. Louis, the Raiders back to Oakland. After 1995, the old Cleveland Browns chose to become the Baltimore Ravens rather than the San Antonio Whatevers. And in 2002, after the new Browns became the NFL's 31st team, the 32nd went to another Texas city, Houston.
The Raiders recently made an inquiry about moving to San Antonio, but they wanted the Alamodome only as a stopgap facility, and the city to build them a new stadium. That wasn't going to happen. And so, for the time being, the closest NFL team will remain the Houston Texans, 201 miles away.
The Spurs usually played before a basketball setup of 20,662, but were able to expand to 39,554 for Games 1 and 2 of the 1999 NBA Finals. But the stadium's sight lines simply weren't meant for basketball, and after that title, the Spurs had a lot of leverage, and got a new arena.
The Alamodome has enough events scheduled so that its future is not in doubt, but the chances of an NFL team ever playing there are getting slimmer and slimmer. 100 Montana Street at Market Street. Number 26, 28 or 30 bus from downtown.
* Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. Built in 1994, this ballpark is now the oldest in use in the Class AA Texas League, and is known as "The Jewel of the Texas League." It seats 6,200 people, with a left-field hill that can hold another 3,000. (If you've been to a Jersey Shore BlueClaws game, you have an idea.)
It's the home of one of the most storied minor-league baseball teams, the San Antonio Missions. But the 2018 season will be the last for the current version, in the Class AA Texas League. For 2019, they have been moved to Amarillo, which is opening a new ballpark. But the Pacific Coast League's Colorado Springs Sky Sox have moved in for 2019, to become the new Missions, thus promoting the team to Class AAA, 1 step below the major leagues.
They've won 13 Pennants, 6 since moving in, most recently in 2013. Their alumni include Hall-of-Famers Brooks Robinson, Joe Morgan, Dennis Eckersley and Pedro Martinez, plus All-Stars Jerry Grote, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Eric Karros, John Wetteland, Mike Piazza, Pedro's brother Ramon Martinez, Paul Konerko, Paul Lo Duca, Adrian Beltre, Felix Hernandez and Chase Headley. 5750 West U.S. Highway 90, about 8 miles west of downtown. Number 76 bus.
From 1968 to 1993, the Missions played at V.J. Keefe Stadium, on the campus of St. Mary's University. It still stands. 1 Camino Santa Maria, about 6 miles west of downtown. Number 82 bus. Keefe Stadium was the new home of San Antonio baseball after a 3-season hiatus.
Before that, Mission Stadium was their home from 1947 to 1964, including Brooks Robinson's and Joe Morgan's tenures with them. The Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center and the County Probation Office are now on the site. Mission Road and Mitchell Street, about 3 miles south of downtown. Number 42 bus.
According to
an April 2014 article in The New York Times, the Texas Rangers are easily the most popular MLB team in San Antonio, with the Houston Astros, the Yankees and the Red Sox battling it out for 2nd, despite the Astros being closer than the Rangers, 199 miles to 281.
* Alamo Stadium. Built in 1940, this remains, approaching its 80th Anniversary, the largest high school football stadium in Texas, seating 18,500 people. It was home to the San Antonio Wings of the World Football League in 1975, the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL in 1984 and '85, the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football in 1991 and '92, and the San Antonio Thunder of the old North American Soccer League in 1976, featuring English soccer legends Bobby Moore of West Ham United and Bob McNab of Arsenal. 110 Tuleta Drive, about 3 miles north of downtown. Number 7, 8 or 9 bus. The San Antonio Zoo is across U.S. Route 281, the McAllister Freeway.
* Toyota Field. This 8,296-seat stadium opened in 2013 for the San Antonio Scorpions of the new version of the North American Soccer League. But it was sold after the 2015 season, and the Scorpions were folded, and the new owners put a new team there, San Antonio FC. 5106 David Edwards Drive, adjacent to the Morgan's Wonderland amusement park, 15 miles northeast of downtown. Bus 17 to the Randolph Park & Ride, then transfer to Bus 502.
* H-E-B Park. Okay, this isn't close to San Antonio. In fact, it's 230 miles away, at 1616 S. Raul Longoria Road, in Edinburg, just 16 miles from the Border. But San Antonio is the closest major league city to it.
It's a soccer-specific stadium that opened in 2017, seats 9,735, and serves as the home of Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, of the United Soccer League, the 2nd tier of North American soccer. The team is affiliated with Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo. In October 2018, H-E-B Park hosted Group B of the CONCACAF Women's Championship, including the national teams of Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Jamaica.
* The Alamo. If there's one thing a person not familiar with the NBA knows about San Antonio, it's that it's the home of
Misión San Antonio de Valero, a.k.a. simply "the Alamo." A mission set up by Spanish priests in 1718 (the current building dates to 1758), it was named for Saint Anthony of Padua (as was the city), and nicknamed for the Spanish word for the nearby cottonwood trees.
It was the site of a siege, ending on March 6, 1836, by Mexican troops, trying to keep American slaveholders out of their country. That's right: Despite what the people of Texas and the 1960 film
The Alamo, with John Wayne playing Davy Crockett, told you, if you truly "Remember the Alamo," you know that the good guys won there. Indeed: Irony of ironies, at the Alamo, the Texans were the very things today's white Texans say they hate the most: Illegal immigrants! And otherwise criminals. (Slavery was already illegal in Mexico.)
The Alamo is one of many bullshit-laden John Wayne movies, and it's hardly the most egregious offender.
But it was held up as an example of Texas courage, "The Shrine of Texas Liberty." At the Battle of San Jacinto, 46 days later, at which the establishment of the Republic of Texas was assured (until, terrified of another Mexican invasion, they called their Uncle Sammy for help, resulting in annexation by the U.S. in 1845), the Anglo troops yelled, "Remember the Alamo!"
(This led to Union troops in the Civil War yelling, "Remember Fredericksburg!"; U.S. troops in the Spanish-American War yelling, "Remember the
Maine!"; and U.S. troops in the Pacific Theater of World War II yelling, "Remember Pearl Harbor!")
It's open 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, until 7:00 in the Summer. Admission is free, but they do accept donations -- understandable, since we're talking about a building over 250 years old. 300 Alamo Plaza at E. Houston Street, downtown.
It's easy to forget that this 263-year-old structure,
kept standing because of a battle 185 years ago,
is in the heart of a modern city.
* San Antonio Municipal Auditorium. Built in 1926 as a municipal memorial to World War I, and still standing, Elvis sang here near the beginning of his career, in 1956, giving 2 shows each on January 15 and April 15. 100 Auditorium Circle at Jefferson Street, at the northern edge of downtown.
Elvis also sang in West Texas at the following locations:
* Abilene, at the Fair Park Auditorium on February 15 and October 11, 1975; at the Exposition Center in Abilene on October 9, 1974; and at the Taylor County Coliseum in Abilene on March 27, 1977.
* Alpine, at the Alpine High School Auditorium on February 10, 1955.
* Amarillo, at the Amarillo Municipal Auditorium on October 13, 1955 and April 13, 1956; at the Amarillo Civic Center on June 19, 1974.
* Andrews, at Andrews High School on April 28, 1955.
* Big Spring, at the City Auditorium on April 26, 1955.
* Breckenridge, at the High School Auditorium on April 13, 1955, and the American Legion Hall on June 10, 1955.
* Brownwood, at the Memorial Hall on July 4 and October 10, 1955.
* Cherry Springs, at the Cherry Springs Tavern on October 9, 1955.
* DeLeon, at Hodges Park on July 4, 1955 (an afternoon show before Brownwood Memorial Hall).
* El Paso, at the Civic Center Coliseum on April 11, 1956; November 10, 1972; and June 2, 1976.
* Lubbock, at the Fair Park Coliseum on January 6, February 13, June 3 and October 15, 1955, and April 10, 1956 at the Cotton Club on April 29 and October 15, 1955; at the Johnson-Connelley Pontiac Club on June 3, 1955; and the Municipal Coliseum on November 8, 1972 and May 13, 1976.
* Midland, at the Midland High School Auditorium on January 7, May 31 and October 12, 1955.
* Odessa, at the Field House at Odessa Senior High School on February 16, May 31 and October 14, 1955; at the Ector County Auditorium on April 1, 1955; and at the Ector County Coliseum on May 30, 1976
* San Angelo, at the San Angelo City Auditorium on January 5 and February 17, 1955.
* Seymour, at the Seymour High School Auditorium on April 25, 1955.
* Stamford, at the Stamford High School Auditorium on April 15, 1955, and at Roundup Hall on April 15 and June 17, 1955.
* Sweetwater, at the Municipal Auditorium on June 9 and December 16, 1955.
Now, back to points of interest in and around San Antonio:
* San Antonio River Walk. Also known as Paseo del Rio, this network of walkways along the San Antonio River is a level below the streets of downtown, connecting downtown to the HemisFair site to the south and the Southwest School of Art and the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts to the north. In between are stores, bars, and, well, it's San Antonio's answer to Greenwich Village and the South Street Seaport, all in one.
* Sea World. In addition to Orlando and San Diego, Sea World has a theme park in San Antonio. It's 18 miles west of downtown, but still within the city limits, at 10500 Sea World Drive. Number 64 bus, taking an hour and 15 minutes.
The San Antonio area has never produced a President. The closest it comes to doing so is Lyndon Baines Johnson, who served from November 22, 1963 to January 20, 1969. His LBJ Ranch, now part of the National Park System (he died in 1973, and his wife, Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, followed him in 2007), is 70 miles north of San Antonio in Stonewall, Texas. It can only be reached by car.
San Antonio hasn't yet been a major TV and movie location. The recent NBC medical drama
The Night Shift was set there, but filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Films produced in or around San Antonio include the 1927 silent classic
Wings, the original 1972 version of
The Getaway, The Great Waldo Pepper, 8 Seconds, All the Pretty Horses, Miss Congeniality, and the 1st 2
Spy Kids movies. And, of course, Pee-Wee Herman's film
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure had a segment shot at... uh, I forget.
Friday Night Lights' fictional town of Dillon wasn't said to be near any major city, but the book it was based on was about the real Permian High School in Odessa, in West Texas, so I'm putting it with the San Antonio trip guide.
*
San Antonio is home to history and one of North American sports' most successful, yet underappreciated, teams. If you're a Knicks or Nets fan, git on down and check it out.
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