I was never able to watch a game in the Fieldhouse. Perhaps it is the AA remodel or just the general sense of nostalgia for the past with the Sailors tribute (I know he didn't play in the Fieldhouse either), but I have been asking everyone that was able to attend a game there about their memories and experiences. Are there any videos of games there? I can't find many pictures on the internet either. A few, but not many. What experiences do posters have that they would be willing to share? Was it loud? Intimidating?
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The Fieldhouse
- Thread starter LawPoke
- Start date
LawPoke said:
I can't remember the exact date/year, but I was part of the first TV feed for a basketball game in the Field House in 1970 I believe. The part I remember most was the extremely poor antiquated equipment we were given to accomplish this task and if you think todays feeds are bad - they don't even compare. The Field House was loud with an elevated court (about 2 or 2 1/2 feet I believe) and the crowds were very raw and would throw many things including bananas at certain teams and when the refs made bad calls.
I can remember going to a couple of games there as a little kid.
The fieldhouse had a dirt floor for when there were rodeos in there. They would install a basketball court over that floor, raised a couple of feet above it, which made diving for the ball on the endline a bit of a risk. There were wooden pullout stands, just like those in your local high school gym, for the first twenty or so rows. My mom had her wallet stolen from her purse in those stands during a circus performance because you could just walk under them. There was maybe four or five feet between those stands and the court. The students sat right behind the benches, and man they would give the opponents' bench hell. It scared me at the time when we walked across there.
Wish I could find a picture of a game in progress!
The fieldhouse had a dirt floor for when there were rodeos in there. They would install a basketball court over that floor, raised a couple of feet above it, which made diving for the ball on the endline a bit of a risk. There were wooden pullout stands, just like those in your local high school gym, for the first twenty or so rows. My mom had her wallet stolen from her purse in those stands during a circus performance because you could just walk under them. There was maybe four or five feet between those stands and the court. The students sat right behind the benches, and man they would give the opponents' bench hell. It scared me at the time when we walked across there.
Wish I could find a picture of a game in progress!
nashvillepoke
Well-known member
My dad had season tickets since 1980, spent two years going to games with him. The fieldhouse was loud, crazy and extremely hot. Greatest memory was the student section, man those guys were nuts and really got into opposing team's heads.
Cheywypoke
Well-known member
Not sure how true this story is, but I think I head if from Kevin McKinney so it may very well be true. The concession stands were basically counters outside a couple doorways just past the baseline on both ends of the basketball court. As someone said, the court was raised a foot or so above the dirt floor and the benches for the teams were folding chairs placed on the ground 3-4 feet from the edge of the court. Don Haskins was able to get in Brandenburg's head and knew it. Brandy always thought Haskins was up to something, probably because he was. One game in the Fieldhouse Brandenburg noticed Haskins wasn't sitting with his team and was no where to be found. Brandenburg, of course, noticed and started, from the Cowboy bench, looking all over the Fieldhouse to see where Haskins was and what he was up to. After several minutes he finally spotted him leaning in one of the doorways to the concession stands munching on a dog and talking to some of the Wyoming fans while the game continued on the floor.
WyoAlum1987
Well-known member
The fieldhouse was like the drive in movie. You didn't get quite the quality of the main attraction, but the environment was half the show and you could do things there you could never get away with today. It was real dark in there, they just lit up the court, so some things got passed among the home crowd that would be confiscated today.
I suppose, well, no-I know that the AA is an improvement, but I miss the old days. The floor they played on was actually a lot higher than a foot or two off the dirt-and it had dead spots that would really frustrate the visiting team, the game was right next to the walkway, but it was up there a piece. I remember watching us whip BYU and Danny Ainge one night..loudest place I've ever been. A good part of the crowd was pretty likkered up most of the time, and it was wild as hell (and just as hot). We were only feet away from the action on the court, we said and did thing....well, you probably just couldnt get away with that nowadays-and I aint all that proud of some of them-one time though, I carried off a BYU cheerleader that got her ankle broke when the crowd rushed the court...she was just lyin there scared and hurt and in the way and surrounded by people that were not all that kind. Im sure she wondered what the hell this ol cowboy was gonna do with her when I snatched her off that floor, but I just got her out of the stampede and set her down with the other shell shocked kids in blue and white...got a big ol hug and kisses from her friends to boot..and I got out of there with my pride-no one saw me aiding the enemy...it was wild times boys, and its probably just as well those days are gone..but I'm glad I was able to be there.
I suppose, well, no-I know that the AA is an improvement, but I miss the old days. The floor they played on was actually a lot higher than a foot or two off the dirt-and it had dead spots that would really frustrate the visiting team, the game was right next to the walkway, but it was up there a piece. I remember watching us whip BYU and Danny Ainge one night..loudest place I've ever been. A good part of the crowd was pretty likkered up most of the time, and it was wild as hell (and just as hot). We were only feet away from the action on the court, we said and did thing....well, you probably just couldnt get away with that nowadays-and I aint all that proud of some of them-one time though, I carried off a BYU cheerleader that got her ankle broke when the crowd rushed the court...she was just lyin there scared and hurt and in the way and surrounded by people that were not all that kind. Im sure she wondered what the hell this ol cowboy was gonna do with her when I snatched her off that floor, but I just got her out of the stampede and set her down with the other shell shocked kids in blue and white...got a big ol hug and kisses from her friends to boot..and I got out of there with my pride-no one saw me aiding the enemy...it was wild times boys, and its probably just as well those days are gone..but I'm glad I was able to be there.
McPeachy
Well-known member
I loved that place. The smell of the bark (covered the dirt floor) - mixed in with Jack Daniel's, Copenhagen, and Tittybar Perfumed Sweat - ahhhhh. If anyone can invent a car freshener using those 4 smells combined, I am first in line to buy it.
I have lots of stories, I was a ball-boy for 3 seasons. Second best basketball I ever got to watch was during that 3 year stretch.
I have lots of stories, I was a ball-boy for 3 seasons. Second best basketball I ever got to watch was during that 3 year stretch.
WestWYOPoke
Well-known member
Indoor track and field use it daily for practice, otherwise that wouldn't be a bad idea.
WestWYOPoke
Well-known member
landpoke said:
Very true, I definitely agree with you...but losing indoor track would essentially kill outdoor and thus would hurt a lot of other sports because of Title IX. So practical? No. Would it be sweet? Hell yeah!
WestWYOPoke
Well-known member
landpoke said:
It would probably be easier to put a temporary ice rink and bleachers in the IPF than a track, but then of course the IPF would be unusable to everyone but hockey, which kind of defeats the purpose.
Among other things, it's where I saw my first live concert. I was six years old when my parents took me to see Johnny Cash at the Fieldhouse.
McPeachy nailed the smell of the place- bark and dirt tossed with Copenhagen, Skoal, mingling with cheap perfume and desperate cologne.
McPeachy nailed the smell of the place- bark and dirt tossed with Copenhagen, Skoal, mingling with cheap perfume and desperate cologne.
