Anderson Arena--stream of consciousness

The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces

I remember.....

My first game at Anderson.  We played St. Bonaventure, and I was 7 and my Dad took me.  I remember that I felt like I was sitting in absolutely the biggest place ever built.

A very big game in the Pat Haley era when BG played and lost to a CMU team that featued future pros James McElroy, Dan Roundfield, and Ben Pouqette.  It was one of those days in Anderson, where people were sitting in the aisles.  I recall that the championship was at stake, but CMU was too good for the Falcons that day.

A game during a horrible winter storm when BG played Miami.  After Jim Krone announced the leading scorers, he then read the road conditions.  I'll never forget the instant quiet in the arena that night, and the ominous sound his announcement had..  I remember him saying "I-75 South.  Impassable."  The Redskins actually slept that night in the Wood County jail.

When BG came closest to getting into the Big Dance.  I was in college, we were playing Ohio U in the one year when the MAC tournament was played entire on home floors.  All we needed was one home win and we were on our way.  OU brought a small, rogue pep band, and the whole night was intense and bitter, like two animals in the same cage.  Of course, you know what happened...OU pulled off the road win.  And, the same night, BG missed a penalty shot in overtime of the CCHA finals and lost to MSU and were not invited to the NCAA tournament.

We were playing a MAC tournament game, and when the game started, David Jenkins was nowhere to be found.  Apparently, he has spun into a ditch back home in Warren.  He showed up at half time, dramatically, and led the team to victory in the second half.

A game against Houston, one the Falcons won 121-101.

A game against Mississippi, where baseball great Don Kessinger was on the Ole Miss announcing crew.  I remember that the Mississippians were making fun of a college announcer who pronounced the name "Sean" as "Seen."  Later I researched that, and that "Sean" was Sean Touhy of The Blind Side.

The John Weinert coat gag.  Man was that obnoxious.  If an opponent did that to us I would hate him with the heat of a thousand suns.

The Faine Brothers, with long range bombs before the 3.

The hatred...absolute, visceral hatred I felt seeing Bob Nichols walk through that tunnel and onto the court.

BG's giant front line which featured Mark Cartwright, Skip Howard and Cornelius Cash.

Super scorer and beer drinker Jeff Montgomery

The first game I took my son to against Urbana...

The Cole Magner game against Miami where Cole led the team to a win and was mobbed by the football team on the floor.

A Rocket game in a snowstorm where UT had a huge halftime lead and then the Falcons roared back to win to the thunderous delight of the Falcon fans.

Seeing Dick Vitale coach the Titans....

A game where BG led CMU, and CMU decided to stallout the first half.  They only had to get the ball over that hash every 5 seconds and they stood there and passed the ball over that line for most of the first half, and BG stood there and watched them.

Dan Hipsher taking free throws--he would toss the ball in front of him with backspin so it would bounce back to him.

A game against Princeton, coached by Pete Carril, in which he broke our press by passing the ball out of bounds along the baseline to get it in.

The Pea Pickers.  BG was short of depth once, and to give some rest to our guys, Weinert would substitute five scrubs in all at once.  They would go crazy, pressing, fouling, running, trapping, and then come out as a unit a couple minutes later.

The Giant picture of the national championship football team over the stairwell (wonder where that is now)

Watching my son play junior falcons at halftime a couple of games.