Why I Still Prefer the Meadowlands over Prudential Center

[MantaRay]

As someone who started going to Devils games in 1984 and was an STH for 10 years of Brendan Byrne/CAA i miss it due to the nostalgia associated of course. That will never change. Hell, i grew up watching the Cosmos play in there, too.

It's ok to take a trip down memory lane, but to prefer that building to the Rock is plain brain dead because this author is not coming off as tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes, i really wonder if we even deserve a team anymore with the nonsense and babbble that comes from this fanbase. Only Devils fans would prefer an outdated building to a beautiful state of the art building. Oh, and complain about the city it's built in like it's something out of an apocalypse.

Agreed.

The only thing I really miss about the CAA was Spring Tailgating BBQ's in the Giants Parking lot after crossing the Walkway Bridge of Death.

[DevsMan84]

Don't underestimate Devils' fans obsession with nostalgia, that's why we complain when the goal song changes, when Marty changes his mask, or when people want to drive and get stuck in neutral around the stadium for an hour after the game instead of taking the train

FWIW, when I take the train in from Somerville I usually get home around 11:30. When I drive in I get back home by about 10:30.

I like driving better.

[NJDevs4978]

FWIW, when I take the train in from Somerville I usually get home around 11:30. When I drive in I get back home by about 10:30.

I like driving better.

I meant getting stuck in neutral around the Meadowlands complex when they made you circle the whole freaking thing singlefile to get out It is a bit better getting out of Newark, but I still don't miss driving.

[Mitico12]

I miss Bob Arsena. Truly. I miss that guy and his hairpiece, his 1970s suit, and his great announcements.

The CAA was a great arena. It was a victim of the corporatization of sports.

The Rock is nice, but I still think it needs a few "finishing touches" to make a lasting impression.

Building a winning tradition at the Rock would be a start...

[TackleDummy]

The only thing I miss is tailgating in the middle of winter. We used to bring a fire pit and a grill and set up shop at the end of the tunnel.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Like many other long- and old-timers, I have lots of great memories from the old building...all of which have to do with what happened there, and nothing with the building itself.

As far as watching games goes, it was fine. Everything else about it pretty much sucked, especially when compared to modern facilities. I don't miss it one bit, and I'd never want it back.

[msweet]

The only thing to miss from the old arena is the team that played there. The NEWark Devils have basically sucked in comparison.

[DevilMinder]

Can't say I miss anything from CAA. We are in a better place now

[Onddeck]

The only thing to miss from the old arena is the team that played there. The NEWark Devils have basically sucked in comparison.

BINGO. the old stadium doesn't really compare. and that team in that stadium was a monster

Can't say I miss anything from CAA. We are in a better place now

good call.. the old seats and outdated structure is not missed in my mind. the pru center is really a thing of beauty

[Marv4Life]

Bob Arsena and the "success" we had there are the only things I will miss about that inaccessible drab of a facility that outlived it's usefulness 10 years ago.

The Rock is nice, but I still think it needs a few "finishing touches" to make a lasting impression.

Building a winning tradition at the Rock would be a start...

Bingo. We've only been here for over 4 years.

[justdo3043]

i miss the players, our team, and the game in general of that era and the parking

its a feeling for the devils the underdog too

[95Crash]

The Rock is great. It would be great, though, if they could get some kind of decent bar/restaurant going on the upper concourse. But that's a minor quibble.

As for the Brendan Byrne Arena, I miss it. Although I was never a season ticket holder, I still have many great memories from there: parking for free on or off Paterson Plank Road; hanging outside the Gold Circle, looking to score good tickets for cheap from people with extras; smoking in between periods on one of the two designated entrances, "stub and stamp!"; or when I didn't have good seats, circling the entire arena from behind the very top row of the upper level, looking for a good section to sit in; also, for me, I live about 10-15 minutes away, so I could drive from my house to the arena in 20 minutes or less during Rush Hour; but best oif all was the Parking Lot celebrations after we won the Cups -- sure they were quaint, but they were hella fun, and can never be replicated!

[roomtemp]

I miss it because its like 5 min away from my house. I told my brother I missed it awhile ago and he said it right "You miss the location if they were going to build the Rock over there you would be riding the bulldozer to knock the arena over"

[Jerrydevil]

I never realized how much I miss the old barn until I read this thread. It's pure nostalgia, though.

[newarkdev01]

We certainly left Continetal in style and it's awesome to remember the Stanley Cup years and thats what I think I will always remember the place as, exit 16w {aka 16 wins to the cup }(although I took rt17 to get there =-p ). I love the rock and what has done for the area and although I have not seen a lot of arenas I take a great sense of pride when the people from Nordique fans or Canadian Fans compliment the building. JVB may be bankrupt and the team may be hurting but I think that first great playoff run is going to make everything worth it and I am hoping we can have it so that we can speak about JVB the way we do about McMullen for giving us our team and OUR arena.

[Rob D]

As someone who had season tickets multiple years in the 90’s, I second the original post, and for one reason. I was there a few nights ago at the sold out Devils vs Leafs game. The acoustics of the old building, and the sound echoing off of every wall, plastic seat, and piece of concrete were just DIFFERENT. It didn’t matter how loud the crowd got the other night, it didn’t hold a candle to the arena floor literally shaking from noise at Brendan Byrne. Prime example.. If anyone frequented games in the 90’s, you’d remember the guy who always had his face painted starting the D-E-V-I-L-S chant. You could literally hear him echo from ACROSS the arena. It was just different. The sound deadening in the new building almost made it sound like a video game to me. It’s a nice building, but I don’t care how much tech you put in there, it’ll never beat the roar of the crowd in the old one. Just my take.

[msweet]

CAA was steeped in history and Devil power. Pru Center has yet to do that.

[mfitz804]

What I do like better about the new place is it is way easier for me to drive to. I’m not a fan of Newark and was not happy when the move was announced, but now, I like it better. 

Rob D is not wrong, though,  the old place had some magic. Perhaps it was simply a function of how good we played there for so long. 

[Lateralous]

It was great for its time but I really don't miss the meadowlands at all.   The fact that I had to go to the TGI Friday's in Secaucus to continue celebrating after an hour or two in the parking lot after Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup kind of put the nail in the coffin for me at the Meadowlands.  Heading over to the bars and restaurants around the arena in Newark was way more fun after "Henrique, It's Over!" Hopefully we have a lot more of that in the near future.   

Spring playoff tailgating at Giants Stadium and the walk back after the game through the cattle shoot was fun though.    

Edited December 1, 2022 by Lateralous

[MB3]

Had season tickets in both. 217 at CAA and 230 at the rock.

CAA is special because we won cups there. Everything else about it sucked. The concourses were atrocious. Getting to and from games was atrocious. The food sucked, the bathrooms were small and infrequent, jumbotron was a joke, in-game experience didn’t exist. 

Prudential is better in every way. Pretty soon we’ll give it some great memories, too. 

[Rock]

The only thing I miss about CAA is the location. I lived 5 minutes away and knew all the back roads in and around the place.  At the end of game 4 in '95 I was one of the last people to leave the building. I come across the bridge and the F'n Hanson brothers are partying with the fans at the Budweiser booth in Giants stadium parking lot. Good times! 

Go Devils make some memories at the Prudential Center!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I have lots of great memories of what HAPPENED at BBA/CAA, so it will always have a place in my heart for that alone, but the building itself was very meh.  I'll never miss the long food lines (for what was usually not terribly good food), the perpetually cranky employees, the scarce bathrooms, that single concourse (the only things I liked about it were the TVs at every entrance and the skylights were kinda cool).  The new building blows CAA away in every aspect.

And roughly 30 minutes has now been shaved off my driving time, so there's that too.

The last time I was there was to see the Harlem Globetrotters, long after the Devils had bid the place soyonara...took my daughter when she was little.  It was weird going back there...it just felt ancient, and so cavernous compared to The Rock.  Our seats wound up being in an old press booth, of all things.  It didn't help that the then-stalled Xanadu project was showing signs of decay...just made everything that much more depressing.  My "pristine" memories include the parking lot in front of the building, where you always had a clear view of the place no matter where you parked...no multi-level parking, no Xanadu...just CAA and the surrounding vegetation and the din of nearby traffic.     

[Jerrydevil]

I’m a Devils fan, so I go where the Devils go.  The Prudential Center is a good building. My issue has always been Newark. As a white person, I was always more comfortable in the Meadowlands. It’s as simple as that. 

[mfitz804]

29 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I have lots of great memories of what HAPPENED at BBA/CAA, so it will always have a place in my heart for that alone, but the building itself was very meh.  I'll never miss the long food lines (for what was usually not terribly good food), the perpetually cranky employees, the scarce bathrooms, that single concourse (the only things I liked about it were the TVs at every entrance and the skylights were kinda cool).  The new building blows CAA away in every aspect.

And roughly 30 minutes has now been shaved off my driving time, so there's that too.

The last time I was there was to see the Harlem Globetrotters, long after the Devils had bid the place soyonara...took my daughter when she was little.  It was weird going back there...it just felt ancient, and so cavernous compared to The Rock.  Our seats wound up being in an old press booth, of all things.  It didn't help that the then-stalled Xanadu project was showing signs of decay...just made everything that much more depressing.  My "pristine" memories include the parking lot in front of the building, where you always had a clear view of the place no matter where you parked...no multi-level parking, no Xanadu...just CAA and the surrounding vegetation and the din of nearby traffic.     

Well put. The memories of the BBA/CAA are what made that place. It was not a nice arena. I remember being very confused my first time or two at the Rock because there were multiple concourses and I had no idea where anything was. That’s better now. 

If anything, I would say that the Rock could be even better. The food options are not great, in an age where a lot of places have seriously upgraded their offerings, the Rock has not. I feel like they are actually significantly worse than when it opened. 

The Devils Den is pretty cool, aI guess, it’s hard to justify spending money in there when you know full well you can just go online and buy the same products cheaper. 

I don’t do anything at all in the surrounding areas, mostly because I got with my daughter and I don’t take a 15 year old to bars. Aside from that, we don’t go to the restaurants because we don’t have time. We’re lucky to get a game in, and by the end of it, it’s just time to go home. 

We can make jokes about Newark all we want, fact remains it’s not a safe place to be at night and I don’t think walking around there at night is a good idea, outside of the block or two immediately around the building. 

All of that said, I can’t wait to go again. 

[Jerrydevil]

4 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

 The food options are not great, in an age where a lot of places have seriously upgraded their offerings, the Rock has not. I feel like they are actually significantly worse than when it opened.  

The food was pretty good when The Rock first opened. Hobby’s deli was in there, I remember that.