Athletics The Upstate’s mild seasons provide the ideal climate for outdoor enthusiasts and sports fans. Professional and college sports, as well as first-class recreational centers, balance the world of activity and entertainment for spectator and participant alike. Since 1998, the 16,000-seat Bi-Lo Center (www.bilocenter.com) has been home to the Grrreenville Grrrowl (www.grrrowl.com), the city’s East Coast Hockey League franchise, and has hosted Clemson University basketball games. Many of the Upstate’s facilities provide up-close and personal opportunities for viewing sports. The Greenville Braves — farm team for the Atlanta Braves — play in cozy 7,000-seat Greenville Municipal Stadium, where you don’t need binoculars, even from the back row. The G-Braves play a 70-game home schedule starting in April, and there are special events for nearly every date. Get the real feel for professional football at the NFL’s Carolina Panthers (www.panthers.com) summer training camp at Wofford College in July. The public is invited to attend practice sessions free of charge. In April, the BMW Charity Pro-Am (www.bmwcharitygolf.com) comes to The Cliffs Communities (Cliffs Valley and The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyards). If you like motorsports, check out the Greenville-Pickens Speedway (www.race-track.com/gps) 2006 marks the 61st season of racing at GPS. Or you can visit the Greer Dragway (www.greerdragway.com) and take your earplugs. Soccer fans cheer on the Greenville Lions and Lady Lions at Sirrine Stadium in downtown Greenville. Sporting events also abound at several college campuses. Clemson University (www.clemson.edu), with its prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference affiliation intimidating 81,000-seat stadium (“Death Valley”) and national-caliber teams in football, baseball, tennis and soccer, is a short drive from Greenville. The Tigers are the reason orange is a prominent Upstate color. Just north of Greenville sits Furman University (www.furman.edu), a perennial powerhouse in the Southern Conference. Its 17,000-seat Paladin Stadium may be smaller than Clemson’s, but the verdant campus is a perfect setting for any athletic event. The Spartanburg Stingers (www.spartanburgstingers.com) open their fourth season in 2006 with the Coastal Plain League, a summer league for top-notch college baseball players, many of whom go on to the pros. The Stingers play at Duncan Park Stadium in Spartanburg. Local recreation departments sponsor adult and youth leagues in many sports — soccer and baseball are most popular — and offer noncompetitive activities ranging from horse riding to indoor rock climbing. One of the newest facilities, the J.B. “Red” Owens Sports Complex in Easley, hosts the Big League World Series for 16- to 18-year-olds. CHARLOTTE OBSERVER FILE PHOTO