Sports Wins

I’ve had a little trouble watching the news lately. If you read my “Point of View” column in the September-October 2016 issue, page 16, you can make an educated guess why. I’ll readily admit that instead of focusing on critical U.S. (and, ultimately, world) issues, I’ve been distracting myself with sports.

Before I got married, I played for many years in my brother’s Fantasy Football League and have a decent record of making the playoffs. (My secret? I like to draft “sleepers”.) I actually won the whole shebang once, which was a great feeling, considering I play against guys who’ve been my brother’s friends since we were kids (there’s a lot of trash talk) and are football fanatics. I took a two-year hiatus from Fantasy while planning a wedding and enjoying the first year of marriage. This year, however, I was glad to be back in the game, entrenched in the statistics of certain players and cheering on new teams (since my beloved Chicago Bears stink) while avoiding arguably more important matters. Consequently, I’m happy to report I’m in the league’s playoffs yet again!

Obviously, football, and other sports, are a passion (distraction?) for most of the world. In fact, sports is a multi-billion-dollar global industry. A quick look at the venues we showcase in this issue will illustrate how important it is for sports teams to have a stadium that will draw new and existing fans. For example, our “Cover Story”, is about Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. Its new Choctaw Lazy River is a 3-foot-deep pool in a figure-eight configuration that allows Frisco RoughRiders’ fans to watch baseball in their bathing suits.

“I always wanted a signature visual element for the ballpark that no one would ever get used to seeing … ,” says Chuck Greenberg, RoughRiders’ general partner and CEO. “I wanted something everyone would want to come and see, to create buzz, and attract new fans to our ballpark and the ballpark experience.”

The ballparks, football stadiums, hockey arenas and local sport facilities that follow the “Cover Story” provide examples of the many ways sports venues can be upgraded to “create buzz”, whether through energy efficiency, luxury and/or fan experience.

To continue with the sports jargon, the MVPs of retrofit building materials are recognized in this issue, page 20. This is retrofit’s fourth-annual Top 50 Products issue, which celebrates the products that received the most reader inquiries from the September-October 2015 to July-August 2016 issues. We asked the manufacturers to share case studies about how their top products solved a problem or achieved the desired result within a retrofit. Although many of the Top 50 are fairly new, a few manufacturers were able to share retrofit projects in which their top products were specified. We hope you take a look at and consider using the Top 50 in your next retrofit project.

The football season soon will come to an end and so will my Fantasy Football League’s matchups. I guess I’m going to have to face reality. Actually, the Chicago Blackhawks are looking pretty good this season … .

P.S. retrofit is hosting its first conference this year in October. The one-day conference, which will take place in Chicago, will focus on retrofitting in that great city, as well as share examples of successful, repeatable projects from around the country. Stay tuned for more details in our next issue and follow us on social media for timely updates. We look forward to seeing you in the home of the World Series Champions!