Ok, so it took me a week but here are the pics of the lower bowl area at the new Consol Energy Center. Hey, sometimes life happens in between posts!

The view from rink level at Consol Energy Center

Here is my 10 month old son Magnus working the glass.

Here’s a view of the lower bowl looking up from the glass.

My daughter got a good look at the new player’s benches:

Here is a look at how the players will enter the ice from behind the benches at the new Consol Energy Center:

And lastly, center ice from ice level:

Center Ice from Ice level at Consol Energy Center

One thing is for sure that it will be easier to get around the Consol Energy Center than the old Igloo. The Concourses are huge and there are none of the annoying vendor carts impeding progress! Take a look:

Consol Energy Center Concourse Area

I forget exactly where this was but I think it was the First Niagra Club:

In Arena Restaurant area

One thing that really disappointed me (aside from the lack of leg room in the seats) is the Highmark Kid’s Zone.  This area is down right small and cramped and if there are any number of people in it at any time you can see how crammed it gets.  And there isn’t even that much in there.  Plus, the way it is arranged you almost cannot help but walk in front of people trying to take pictures of their kids putting their heads on dummies wearing Penguins uniforms.  One is on one side of the narrow area and the other is on the opposite wall meaning either you have to do a lot of weaving through these two popular items or walk in front of people trying to take pictures.

The Highmark Kid's Zone

Please, and I hope the Penguins will listen, fix the layout of this area!

The gift shops are no longer kiosks taking up space but have their own little cubbies!  Problem seems to be they have crammed too much stuff into these areas if you ask me:

A Consol Energy Center Gift Shop

Now if you are wondering what food and drinks are going to cost well I have a picture of what they were charging at the open house:

The Snack bar menu at the Consol Energy Center

Some things (like the chicken fingers basket) went up while other things (like Nachos) are so far the same price and yet others (like beer) seemed to go down a hair.  I remember at the old arena beers were $8.  They had them listed here as $7.75.  I don’t know if they are the same size or not because I did not buy one. Oh, and FYI the Nacho at the open house were stale as stale can be. That was just not very classy if you ask me as it seemed like the Penguins were trying to rid themselves of last year’s inventory rather than providing quality snacks.

Up next, part IV … and yes this one will include lower bowl pics I promise!

Now for some pics of the ice. Here is the view from the upper concourse.

Center Ice from second level of Consol Energy Center

As for the second concourse, people with these tickets are definitely further back than at the old arena respectively.  Our seats are a good two to four rows back further which is, I suspect, a result of the placement of the boxes between the first and second levels and the decision to not overhang the second level completely over these boxes.

We are in section 201, Row H seats 3 & 4:

Section 201 Row H

Here is the view of the ice from our seats which are tucked closer to the red line where as at the Igloo we were closer to the blue line:

View from Sect 201, Row H, Seats 3 & 4

Here is my son Magnus (age 10 months) testing out a seat:

Magus checks out a Consol Energy Center Seat

Here is my daughter Charlotte (age 3 years) chilling in another:

Charlotte relaxing in one of the Consol Energy Center's seats

A couple comments on the seats if I might.  First, THANK YOU for the wider seats!  This is a definite improvement that I could feel immediately upon sitting down.  Secondly, but really, couldn’t you give us a little more leg room to the row in front of us?  At the old Igloo I could put my feet flat on the floor and not have my toes hit the back of the seat in front of me.  But at the Consol Energy Center with my feet flat on the ground my toes are right up against the seat in front of me.  In fact I have to pull my feet back just to fit.  This means it will be harder for people to get in and out of the row if you ask me.

Also, really?  No cup holders?  Haven’t we all had enough bad experiences with spilled drinks on the ground due to tight quarters at the Igloo to understand how important these are?  The Penguins dropped the ball on this one.  Sorry.

Up next, Part III including views from the lower bowl …

Yesterday was day one (of two) for season ticket holders to go look at the new Consol Energy Center. We had tickets and went and here are some of the pictures of the building with actual people inside along with some comments. There are a lot of pictures so I will be making multiple postings to get the good ones illustrative of the center up without creating one long, cumbersome post.

The Consol Energy Center

Here is a picture of the exterior of the CEC when you are coming down from the old Mellon Arena lots:

Just inside the Trib Total Media gate you will find the Penguins All Time Team display featuring videos, pictures and all sorts of interactive material on the players selected:

Penguins All Time Team Display at Consol Energy Center

More pics of the All Time Team Display:

All Time Team Display (close-up 1)

Another part of the Penguins All Time Team Display

I like the way this has been done because it appears that it would be easy to update if in another thirty years they decide to revamp who is and is not on the team.  The use of video displays instead of things like statutes makes this display very enduring and ensures that it will stay relevant.

Everything is certainly much more open than at the Igloo.  The old arena while nostalgic was just a dark place.  The Consol Energy Center is open and bright.

The second level Concourse at Consol Energy Center

For now you can see the old Igloo from the new arena until it is torn down.

Viewing the Igloo from Consol Energy Center

One last pic for part one of this topic before I start the second post, here are the Championship and scoring title banners hung from the rafters.

Championship and Other Banners Hung At Consol Energy Center

Part II coming in a few minutes …

Well, now we know what the 2010-11 season ticket prices for the Penguins are going to be.  It sure took the Penguins long enough to tell us since asking us for a deposit months BEFORE releasing this data.  Today I finally received information on my new seats in the Consol Energy Center and we are looking at a reasonable 5% increase in ticket prices.  I say reasonable considering we are getting a nice new arena although I think that it is time for the Penguins to hold the line on prices after this year for a couple years considering they have been increasing the past couple of years.

Anyway, this year I paid $44.75 per ticket for two seats in D7 (Row F seats 3 & 4).  Next year, and I hope that I am reading this right, my new seats in Section 201, Row H (seats 3 & 4) are going to be $47 a piece.  $47/$44.75 = 5% increase.

Although I did have a shock at first because I misread the pricing chart.  The Penguins have added some new pricing tiers to what would be D section in the new arena and section 202, just to our right, will be paying $59 a seat.  I saw that and am glad I am where I am although we appear to be pushed further down towards the goal line where as right now we are closer to the blue line which I like because I can see the ice very well.

According to the 3D seating chart provided by the Penguins this is what our view will look like:

First impressions are that we seem a bit further from the ice than before but I will have to check that out with actual photos from the actual locations.

All in all, tickets that last year ran me $3,848.50 will be be $4,042 this year.

Here is some more pricing info for other areas:

Club Seats  FS – $152    HS – $158

First Row Glass  FS – $110    HS – N/A

Lower Bowl Double Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 104, 110) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower BowlDouble Attack End Coners  (Sec 105, 109) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 106-108) FS – $82    HS – $88

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners Plus (Sec 114-115, 121-122) FS – $92    HS – $98

Lower Bowl Single Attack End Coners  (Sec 116, 120) FS – $87    HS – $93

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone Rows B-R (Sec 117-119) FS – $75    HS – $81

Lower Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 117-119) FS – $64    HS – $70

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides Rows A-E (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Sides (Sec 201, 204, 218, 221) FS – $47    HS – $53

Upper Bowl Center (Sec 202-203, 219-220) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Double Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 205-206, 216-217) FS – $42    HS – $48

Upper Bowl Double Attack End End Zone (Sec 207-215) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus Rows A-E (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $59    HS – $65

Upper Bowl Single Attack End Corners Plus (Sec 222-223, 233-234) FS – $39    HS – $45

Upper Bowl Single Attack End End Zone (Sec 224-232) FS – $29    HS – $35

Forgive me if some of this info is a little off, I have been transcribing in from the brochure.  And if you are confused but all this variation in pricing from end to end you are probably not the only one.  Several other season ticket holders I have talked to were likewise a little taken back until they figured it all out as well.

I wanted to talk today about the Pens heading down to Carolina to try and continue their hot start for the month of March, something that seems to be a bit of a tradition in the Burgh as of late.  But no, instead I feel compelled to address another issue; the issue of Steeler’s Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the reaction of some people here in Pittsburgh to another accusation of sexual misconduct.

A year ago a fruit loop in Tahoe accused Big Ben of rape.  That case holds about as much water as a sieve.  The woman openly bragged about having Ben’s baby and was, by all legitimate accounts not all that stable mentally.  Now we have another case between Ben and a woman where all sorts of accusations are flying.  And along with those accusations come the inevitable calls from the Ben haters for the head of the Steelers star QB and for him to be run out of town on a rail.

I honestly don’t get it.  The man is accused of a serious crime.  He is not convicted of one.  Sure the accusations are serious but if Big Ben is not guilty of them should he be punished and the target of scorn?  Scorn, I might add, that I think comes from people who never really liked Big Ben and have for years been putting him down since (and even before) that terrible Super Bowl he had against the Seahawks where the team won in spite of him.

I hear the rumors about Ben every day.  Someone’s sister’s best friend didn’t get an autograph when they approached Ben while he was trying to enjoy a dinner in a local restaurant and he is the worst thing since Hitler.  Then there are the ones where people claim he runs out on the check and worse.  These third party sources and callers to sports talk shows around town always seem to have the story but never much to back it up.  The restaurantand the actual people involved are never mentioned and we are given sweeping generalizations.  And to those who bitch about Big Ben not giving you an autograph when you disturb him when he is trying to enjoy a meal?  I personally think you should thank your luck stars that he didn’t put you through the wall for being just that rude.  Yes he is a star quarterback.  But he is not your personal slave who must just at your command.

Yeah, I really do think these same people who are jerks like that or just the type that don’t like Ben and make up all sorts of stories about him are the same ones in overdrive now.  What is worse, I hear that the Steelers organization is a little miffed at Ben too.  But if he isn’t convicted of a crime or doesn’t admit to something why?  Do the brass really hate him all that much?  Is Coach Tomlin that much of a Dixon guy that he would help fuel such animosity?

Hey, if all it takes is an accusation to get someone run out of town here in the Burgh then maybe I should start some really unsavory rumors about the Bob Nutting!  If all it takes is a rumor, true or not, that say Mr. Nutting likes to eat puppies after boiling them alive then maybe we could get someone who gives a damn about baseball into an ownership stake in the Pirates and shed our losing ways at PNC Park.  But no, Pittsburghers seem more than willing to endure a pathetic franchise taking up residence on the North Shore and even an admitted wife beater in one James Harrison than wait until all the facts are in on Ben Roethlisberger.

I mean for Christ’s sakes!  The man won us one Super Bowl and in the case of the game against Seattle played well enough not to lose another.  He lit the league on fire this year and kept Pittsburgh alive in games when the defense, the defense so many can never say a bad thing about, couldn’t have stopped the offense of a junior varisty squad from any local high school.  And what does he get for that?  He gets a bunch of haters who can’t wait to get him out of town and will use anything to justify their burner hate for him.

Ben gets charged and convicted I say you’re right all you naysayers.  He should be gone.  But until that time I want him treated the same way I would want to be treated – innocent until proven guilty.

Stop hating just to hate.  Hey, it’s not Big Ben’s fault he can get a girl ten times hotter than you just by flashing his smile and it is certainly not his fault that you couldn’t even hold his jock strap.