44 Years Ago Today... | The Boneyard

44 Years Ago Today...

I was there with my then wife. We would have been pancaked where we were sitting.
 
Yup - was a pup and remember waking up and turning on the b/w tv and seeing it.
 
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If that were to happen today in the middle of the night when no one could get hurt, I assume insurance coverage would be enough to build a brand new modern coliseum solving the decades old problem of this brutalist beast of a building.
 
i have seen a few people post pictures of this on twitter today. crazy.

 
I was a uconn an whalers season ticket holder. A nasty night as I remember. Hear about it on wtic bob steele early in the am
 
I was in middle school in Fairfield County, don't even remember hearing about it until mid-80s when I got to UConn. Crazy that if it happened a few hours earlier would have been the worst disaster possibly ever, anywhere.
 
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As a kid, I got to see the Corny & Company play a bunch at the NH Coliseum after the collapse but where did the Whalers play? I just Googled it and nothing was coming up.
 
BuffaloHusky said:
As a kid, I got to see the Corny & Company play a bunch at the NH Coliseum after the collapse but where did the Whalers play? I just Googled it and nothing was coming up.
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Springfield
 
wheelerdog said:
The Civic Center roof collapsed. Any Yarders at the UMass game 6 hours earlier?
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I was there and I always claim ( probably falsely) that I was the last person to see the roof intact. After the game, my girlfriend and I tried to go to the bar that was on the top floor of the Sheraton Hotel attached to the Civic Center. It was, of course, closed, but we looked out the window by the elevator and marveled at the massive expanse of white snow over the roof. Never dreamed it was about to collapse.
 
I was there also. It was a double header that night. UHart played Amherst in first game. Went to watch Mark Noon ( UHart). I was on St.Paul team as a freshman and sophomore when Mark was a junior and senior at St. Paul.
Second game was UConn vs UMass. I got tickets from a friend of mine whose brother was scorekeeper for UConn hoops team. Probably many people have said this, but we were one of the last people out. Waiting for scorekeeper to finish up.
Still doesn’t seem real that roof collapsed
 
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I was there with 3 other UConn students. We were still on break before second semester. It was great to see the 6' 11' Al Lewis have a night with a few dunks IIRC. There was a light snow going on driving in. We came out after and there was 8 inches in the lot by the old hotel where Dunkin Donuts park is now which is where we parked. The rain came later and brought the roof down.
 
wheelerdog said:
The Civic Center roof collapsed. Any Yarders at the UMass game 6 hours earlier?
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Sitting in Section 103 to watch Al Lewis have his career game against UMASS. Next morning viewed the destruction driving from West Hartford to PWA. Definitely memorable.
 
What was capacity then? 16,000 or so? I imagine roughy 70,000 people will say they were there. I was not. That was around the time my dad started taking me to games though, certainly remember it well. Did the Whalers play in New Haven after? I can’t recall.
 
HuskyHawk said:
What was capacity then? 16,000 or so? I imagine roughy 70,000 people will say they were there. I was not. That was around the time my dad started taking me to games though, certainly remember it well. Did the Whalers play in New Haven after? I can’t recall.
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10,500 for hockey. Hoops a little more
 
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HuskyHawk said:
What was capacity then? 16,000 or so? I imagine roughy 70,000 people will say they were there. I was not. That was around the time my dad started taking me to games though, certainly remember it well. Did the Whalers play in New Haven after? I can’t recall.
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The Whalers played at the Springfield CC and the games began there within a couple weeks. The fans called themselves the 91 Club I believe. Very lucky to have an arena so nearby that was willing to help out.
 
wheelerdog said:
I wasn't there, but for some reason I've always remembered watching on TV and seeing an Al Lewis dunk.
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I was there & waiting for the Al Lewis reference. He had 19 pots 10 on 5 dunks. We used to joke that Al Lewis pulled the roof down. After the game, Al was asked how did he do it. He had a blank look & replied “I don’t know.” The sad part is he didn’t know & had the game of his life that night.

&, like the others on here, I would’ve been crushed.
 
HuskyHawk said:
What was capacity then? 16,000 or so? I imagine roughy 70,000 people will say they were there. I was not. That was around the time my dad started taking me to games though, certainly remember it well. Did the Whalers play in New Haven after? I can’t recall.
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The CT equivalent of saying you caught Hendrix at Woodstock?
 
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