38 replies to this topic

[PASabreFan]

[Spndnchz]

Why isn't the crowd louder?

[wonderbread]

Damn that dude name Joe is handsome.

[dudacek]

What I remember from that series was how good Hawerchuk was.

[d4rksabre]

That crowd is louder than any I've ever heard at HSBC, minus (maybe) a game against the Bruins in 1997.

[Claude_Verret]

One of my all time favorite Aud stories involves a pre-game incident in the oranges starring a drunk opposing fan.  I did not witness it myself, but I've heard my friend tell it so many time it feels like I was there.  My friend in high school used to go to a lot of games with his father who had a game day ritual where he would arrive at the game about an hour before puck drop, go to his seat and read the Buffalo News.  So my friend is sitting there in the oranges next to his father with barely anyone else yet in their seats, and he begins hearing this guy keep yelling "Bruuuinnns!!!"  "Bruuuuins".  As the sound gets closer, he notices the guy standing at the very top of the oranges in the section right next to his, still yelling Bruins with slurred speech.  As the guy begins to make his way to his seat in the last row of that section he trips and falls forward, spilling his beer, and he begins tumbling down across the rows.  Anyone who was ever in the Aud knows how steep those oranges were and the prospect of falling was always in the back of your mind when going up and down the aisles.  So here this drunk Bruins fan tumbling down the orange seats heading directly towards a family of four sitting about midway down the section.  They turn around just in time to see the guy about to tumble into them, and instead of attempting to stop his fall they end up redirecting him away from running them over, allowing him to continue his descent towards the precipice.  He eventually comes to a stop in the second row of the oranges, peels himself off the seats, looks around, raises both hands in the air and gives one last "Bruins!" as though he was proud of what he just accomplished.  My friends father, a man of very few words casually glanced away from his newspaper for a moment, looked at the guy, muttered "######" and went right back to reading.  Now that's the type of stuff you can't get in these new fangled hockey barns!

[JJFIVEOH]

That's hilarious and I can visualize it like I was there. So many memories about that place, gotta love it. I bet there could be an entire thread on it.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Haha!....How a few dozen people didn't die in the oranges...I'll never know.

My favorite was the nacho stand with the leaky roof, dripping through the asbestos and onto the counter as they poured the cheese.....

[SwampD]

I'm just surprised they let someone carry a camera that size into the aud.  It's not like that was an Iphone.  Cameras back then were not small.

[d4rksabre]

SwampD, on 08 February 2013 - 08:13 PM, said:

I'm just surprised they let someone carry a camera that size into the aud.  It's not like that was an Iphone.  Cameras back then were not small.

I sense a new mission for Chz...

[d4rksabre]

I can't let this thread go on without this being posted either

[Spndnchz]

SwampD, on 08 February 2013 - 08:13 PM, said:

I'm just surprised they let someone carry a camera that size into the aud.  It's not like that was an Iphone.  Cameras back then were not small.

I read somewhere that back then they didn't care. You could film all you want.

[Claude_Verret]

Ghost of Dwight Drane, on 08 February 2013 - 06:00 PM, said:

Haha!....How a few dozen people didn't die in the oranges...I'll never know.

My favorite was the nacho stand with the leaky roof, dripping through the asbestos and onto the counter as they poured the cheese.....

I remember that stand well.  When I was in high school and college my friends and I would often get SRO tickets behind the oranges.

[CallawaySabres]

Spndnchz, on 08 February 2013 - 04:36 PM, said:

Why isn't the crowd louder?

It was much louder (and they were losing)

[Claude_Verret]

d4rksabre, on 08 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

I can't let this thread go on without this being posted either

I didn't learn this until today, but Huey Lewis is my brother in laws amateur partner at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.

[d4rksabre]

Claude_Verret, on 09 February 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

I didn't learn this until today, but Huey Lewis is my brother in laws amateur partner at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.

Nice!

[Eleven]

That video is even more impressive when you consider that whoever made it probably had to use a ten-pound camcorder without a tripod.  These days, everyone carries a movie studio in his/her pocket and still can't produce something of that quality.

[Bmwolf21]

Ghost of Dwight Drane, on 08 February 2013 - 06:00 PM, said:

Haha!....How a few dozen people didn't die in the oranges...I'll never know.

My favorite was the nacho stand with the leaky roof, dripping through the asbestos and onto the counter as they poured the cheese.....

I always wondered the same thing. I was scared to death that my next step would be my last when walking up those steep steps.

[Eleven]

Bmwolf21, on 09 February 2013 - 02:47 PM, said:

I always wondered the same thing. I was scared to death that my next step would be my last when walking up those steep steps.

Yeah.  I had a death grip on my father's hand going up and down those.

[SwampD]

Bmwolf21, on 09 February 2013 - 02:47 PM, said:

I always wondered the same thing. I was scared to death that my next step would be my last when walking up those steep steps.

The 400s in the Verizon Center in Washington are very much like the oranges were.  My fondest memory of the oranges is a very smoky Moving Pictures tour in 7nth grade.

[Potato]

My Dad used to do consulting work for the Sabres back in 70s and 80s and they would pay him, in part, with season tickets in the Oranges.  As I recall, the seats were second row of the Oranges, underneath the press box (which was basically a catwalk hanging from the ceiling).  There was a "not quite all there" older guy who had season season tickets in the same section and would go to the games alone.  I remember at least one game where the guy forgot to wear his pants! ...he was literally sitting there for 3 hours in his tighty whiteys, with a headset on to listen to the radio call, completely oblivious to the fact that he was pantless.  In retrospect, it is kind of sad (mental illness isn't funny).  But, when I was a kid it was pretty funny.

[Claude_Verret]

Another friend of mine worked for the arena football team in Buffalo. They used the aud floor to put together their astroturf field before installing it at MMA. So my friend got us into the aud one Saturday to "check on their progress".  We ended up wandering around the Aud for a few hours, from the oranges all the way down to the Sabres locker room.  I ended up with some nice souvenirs.

[nucci]

Eleven, on 09 February 2013 - 02:47 PM, said:

Yeah.  I had a death grip on my father's hand going up and down those.

Yep, me too.

[Grumpy]

CallawaySabres, on 09 February 2013 - 07:08 AM, said:

It was much louder (and they were losing)

And it wasn't a jumbotron takiing over the TO's, nor a love fest geared toward children in the crowd. You really can't compare that building and the fans to today.  Totally different culture back then.

I grew up in that building and loved the ramps. My couisen and I played cup hockey.  My dad showed me the bathroom in the basement  where the cars parked and the Zamboni dumped the ice. It was always empty. Pop machine was right there if you wanted to get a can. MY 22 y/o remembers me taking him down there and still has his  wooden mini-stick collection of all teams,  They were $5/stick.  It was a great place to watch hockey.

Edited by Grumpy, 09 February 2013 - 07:19 PM.

[d4rksabre]

Grumpy, on 09 February 2013 - 06:36 PM, said:

And it wasn't a jumbotron takiing over the TO's, nor a love fest geared toward children in the crowd. You really can't compare that building and the fans to today.  Totally different culture back then.

I grew up in that building and loved the ramps. My couisen and I played cup hockey.  My dad showed me the bathroom in the basement  where the cars parked and the Zamboni dumped the ice. It was always empty. Pop machine was right there if you wanted to get a can. MY 22 y/o remembers me taking him down there and still has his  wooden mini-stick collection of all teams,  They were $5/stick.  It was a great place to watch hockey.

Cool stuff!

I love reading everyone's stories about the Aud.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

d4rksabre, on 09 February 2013 - 09:12 PM, said:

Cool stuff!

I love reading everyone's stories about the Aud.

I had a friend that worked on the tv production crew. They had a trailer outside where the game was produced, and I'd hang out there for the 1st period until the security guard left his post at the back door. Would sneak in and hang out in the lower golds for the 2nd half of the game. Didn't do it too much, but we were kids and nobody seemed to mind.

I also remember the garage that Grumpy does. Went back there after a WWF program and it sucked seeing the bad guys and good guys getting in the same limo together.

[Corp000085]

I loved the aud. loved the corridors, ramps,,and the dark maze you had to take to get to your seats. The seating was steep and tight. I miss that place

[d4rksabre]

Corp000085, on 09 February 2013 - 10:00 PM, said:

I loved the aud. loved the corridors, ramps,,and the dark maze you had to take to get to your seats. The seating was steep and tight. I miss that place

The clever architecture of old buildings give them so much character that new builds just can't recreate.

[PASabreFan]

Panoramic, interactive view of the Aud before demolition. A view precious few ever had during a game, or otherwise. Click on full screen view. I enjoyed panning up and seeing the same view so many players had after they got laid out.

http://buffalovr.com/mem/index.html

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

PASabreFan, on 09 February 2013 - 11:12 PM, said:

Panoramic, interactive view of the Aud before demolition. A view precious few ever had during a game, or otherwise. Click on full screen view. I enjoyed panning up and seeing the same view so many players had after they got laid out.

http://buffalovr.com/mem/index.html

Thanks PA......this is like making love on your 50th anniversary.....a shell of the peak....but still better than anything else......

[R_dudly]

Wow flashback. Best memory and deal standing room only in the oranges for playoffs against the Quebec Nordique. Easy access to teh beer line and was safer than walking to and fro from your seats.

[Taro T]

Claude_Verret, on 09 February 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

I didn't learn this until today, but Huey Lewis is my brother in laws amateur partner at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.

I've got a fiver for him if he 'accidentally' pops Huey in the head practicing his drive.  I'm sure there's a few others out there that will up the ante enough to make it worth his while.

[Spndnchz]

Found this a while back. http://www.roadwolf....log/?page_id=78 Guys got in through some hatch in the sidewalk to stroll around through the Aud for a bit and took some pics.

My Dad took me to a game there when I was like 8?  Don't remember too much myself.  I do remember the entrance.

[Claude_Verret]

For Christmas every year, Santa would leave Sabres tickets in mine and my brothers stocking.  Santa always came up with seats in the upper blues, where they had those ###### black and white TVs installed so that you could see the scoreboard.

Taro T, on 10 February 2013 - 12:25 AM, said:

I've got a fiver for him if he 'accidentally' pops Huey in the head practicing his drive.  I'm sure there's a few others out there that will up the ante enough to make it worth his while.

Ha! I'll send him a text. My sister in law sent me a pic of him shooting the ###### with Gretzky on the practice range the other day.  I also just heard that he gets to drop the puck at the Sens game on 2/21.

[PASabreFan]

How's Dudley Hart been doing? Besties with Lindy, IIRC.

[Claude_Verret]

PASabreFan, on 10 February 2013 - 12:08 PM, said:

How's Dudley Hart been doing? Besties with Lindy, IIRC.

Good question.  From Googling, It looks like he has been having some pretty serious issues with his back in recent years, and the last PGA event he played in was the 2012 Pebble Beach Pro Am a year ago.  Hopefully he can find his way to better health in order to get back on tour.  His residence is listed as Clarence, NY so I assume he is probably neighbors with Lindy.

This also prompted me to look up another golfer with Buffalo ties, Jim Thorpe.  It looks like he is still competing on the champions tour, but he went to prison for a year in 2010 for tax evasion!

[Suffer_enuff]

Claude_Verret, on 08 February 2013 - 04:48 PM, said:

One of my all time favorite Aud stories involves a pre-game incident in the oranges starring a drunk opposing fan.  I did not witness it myself, but I've heard my friend tell it so many time it feels like I was there.  My friend in high school used to go to a lot of games with his father who had a game day ritual where he would arrive at the game about an hour before puck drop, go to his seat and read the Buffalo News.  So my friend is sitting there in the oranges next to his father with barely anyone else yet in their seats, and he begins hearing this guy keep yelling "Bruuuinnns!!!"  "Bruuuuins".  As the sound gets closer, he notices the guy standing at the very top of the oranges in the section right next to his, still yelling Bruins with slurred speech.  As the guy begins to make his way to his seat in the last row of that section he trips and falls forward, spilling his beer, and he begins tumbling down across the rows.  Anyone who was ever in the Aud knows how steep those oranges were and the prospect of falling was always in the back of your mind when going up and down the aisles.  So here this drunk Bruins fan tumbling down the orange seats heading directly towards a family of four sitting about midway down the section.  They turn around just in time to see the guy about to tumble into them, and instead of attempting to stop his fall they end up redirecting him away from running them over, allowing him to continue his descent towards the precipice.  He eventually comes to a stop in the second row of the oranges, peels himself off the seats, looks around, raises both hands in the air and gives one last "Bruins!" as though he was proud of what he just accomplished.  My friends father, a man of very few words casually glanced away from his newspaper for a moment, looked at the guy, muttered "######" and went right back to reading.  Now that's the type of stuff you can't get in these new fangled hockey barns!

Actually, I think I was there!  (Or the same thing happened on another night...).  My dad and I were sitting in seats he got from a co-worker - first row orange, section 36 right behind the net. (This would be the Zamboni end of the Aud). We were there early and I was reading the game program. Suddenly, we heard a commotion to our right.  A guy had lost his balance and fallen about 15 rows back in the next section over.  He slid down on top of the seat backs and stopped just a couple of rows from the railing.  He had this panicked look on his face like he was going to just keep going right over the railing and down into the lower blues. I remember him yelling, but I don't think it was "Bruuuiiiinns!"  It was more like a plain old scream.  Maybe it was a different night.....

[MattPie]

My parents have a bunch of pictures skating on the ice at the Aud, back in the early 70s. My Dad apparently knew someone, so he skated around and took a few shots on net, a few with my Mom playing goal. Also a few pictures of my very-young cousins at centre ice.

As for HSBC, about 10 years ago a friend was working for Adelphia and his office was under the seats in the arena. If you came in from main entrance, you'd walk past the escalators and thru a card-swipe door. We went to a game back then (19th row, on centre ice, nice seats) and wandered around the arena afterwards (didn't see anyone interesting though).

[Corp000085]