Behold Santa Clara, the worst National Championship venue available

The College Football Playoff final will happen Monday in Santa Clara, California. The scene: The home of the San Francisco 49ers and site of several casually attended Pac-12 title games, Levi’s Stadium, a modern facility just a few miles from the headquarters of the most powerful tech companies in the world.

• It has no friends, and everyone hates it. No one should feel bad about this, try to befriend it, or defend it.

• Getting there is bad -- Levi’s sits a full hour in traffic away from San Francisco, just at the southern point of the Bay that looks like the tapering business end of the lower intestine. The traffic is appropriately craptacular on a good day, and the parking around the stadium limited and expensive.

• Playing there is bad -- This is mostly because of the cursed turf, a surface openly reviled by visiting teams.

• Watching football there is bad -- Levi’s Stadium has all the character of a freshly built county prison.

There is some good news: the ticket might end up being the cheapest part.

Prices have plunged as the game approaches, currently about a fourth of the previous year’s game in Atlanta between Alabama and Georgia. It might not even sell out, leaving a very real chance that someone could get into the game Monday night for face value.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2019/1/3/18160692/santa-clara-national-championship-stadium-city-location-alabama-clemson

One thing the link leaves out is the enormous expense someone from Alabama or South Carolina faces in traveling all the way to Santa Clara. Public transit is weak. Hotels cost a fortune.

Final thing: The Bay Area is supposed to be pounded by rain Monday.