Norfolk is a AAA city in the best sense of the designation.
We know our neighbors here. It’s easy to get involved in a meaningful way in local politics and government. If you’re an artist and you’re good, you’re going to get attention.
Here in Norfolk our sports teams are a reflection of the city itself: Not so big as to feel distant and unfamiliar, but not so small that they lack cultural substance.
It’s good—and a heck of a lot of fun—to be a AAA city.
The Norfolk Tides AAA baseball team plays in Harbor Park, a state-of-the-art ballpark modeled after the acclaimed Camden Yards in Baltimore. Harbor Park is nestled between the Elizabeth River and Norfolk’s vibrant Downtown. There’s something almost magical about having the city lights behind you, an international ship cruising in the near distance past right field, and the home team beating up on an International League opponent.
Locals know that you spend a night at Harbor Park as much for the baseball as the family-friendly interactive games, comradery with your fellow Norfolkians, a chance to see major league talents on their way up to the Orioles, and to laugh at the Tides’ mascot, Rip Tide. Nobody’s quite sure just what Rip Tide is exactly, but we all know we love him.
The key word here: charm.
The Norfolk Admirals hockey team play in the heart of Downtown at Scope Arena, making it tantalizingly easy to use public transportation to get Downtown, check out some puck action, and then enjoy some dinner or drinks on Granby Street. The Admirals, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, are so much fun they need two mascots: A dog/rabbit hybrid named Hat Trick, and a dog named Salty.
The newest addition to Norfolk’s sports scene is the Old Dominion University football team, which in 2009 enjoyed one of the most successful inaugural seasons in the history of the NCAA by going a jaw-dropping 9 – 2 at the 1AA level. The Monarchs play at the newly refurbished—and truly glorious—Foreman Field on the vibrant ODU campus.
Norfolk boasts a host of AAA teams, just waiting for you to fall in love with and call your own. But keep this in mind: Norfolk/Virginia Beach is the largest metro area in America to not have a major league sports team. So if bigger is what you want, it would seem to be only a matter of time before bigger is what we get.