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Topic: RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Topic: RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

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west side cat
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Location: Cincinnati, OH
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/18/2019 10:05:29 PM

Bengals vs Chargers in 1981 AFC Championship game......freezer bowl. -9 degrees and wind chill close to 60 below. My mom and dad had season tix and mom wasn't about to go so I went with my dad. Coldest I've ever been. Remember the Bengals o-lineman coming out in shirt sleeves. Chargers were beat right then. Great memory with my dad who passed away 8 years ago.

OhioCatFan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/18/2019 10:49:34 PM

Jeff McKinney wrote:

OhioCatFan wrote:

Mine has nothing to do with play on the field, or a particularly memorable game. It involves some experiences on a personal baseball excursion to Cincinnati in about 1963. I took the train from Athens to Cincinnati to see the Cubs play the Reds. Before the game at Crosley Field, Ernie Banks, my childhood idol, came out to an area toward the back of the stadium where he could talk to fans. There was a short fence between him and the fans, but it was only about four feet tall, so it didn't really obstruct your view. Some handed him baseballs over the fence for him to autograph. I didn't have a ball with me, but I was able to exchange a few words with him, and be the recipient personally of a hand wave and one of his captivating smiles. It's a scene I will always remember and cherish.

Then, as I was walking back to the train station after the game, a car stopped and offered me a ride. You won't believe who was in the car: Jack Quinlan and Lou Boudreau, the Cubs broadcasters. I had listened to them on my radio for several years broadcast the Cub games on WGN. Yes, I had a special radio setup in my room with an outside antenna so I could listen to WGN during daytime Cub games in the summer, sometimes through static crashes when there were storms in the area. Yes, in those days, I was a most devoted fan. And, there I was sitting in the same car with these two legendary broadcasters. It was almost surreal. I don't remember exactly what we talked about, but I'm sure I came off as an awestruck kid (I was about 18 at the time) from the sticks. I do remember we had a pleasant conversation on the way to the train station, and they were both extremely cordial. I suppose the reason they offered me the ride was that I was the only one they saw wearing a Cubs cap.

So, this day is one day that will forever live in my memory. I got to meet Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau and Jack Quinlan all in one memorable Saturday afternoon in the Queen City!

Great story!

I just read this post to my wife. She asked me, "Who won the game?" I'm embarrassed to admit that my answer was, "I don't remember." Perhaps, if I think about it a little longer I can dredge up that fact out of the recesses of my memory, but at the moment I can't. I often say that I never forget anything, but that sometimes the retrieval mechanisms fails! ;-)

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

OhioCatFan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/18/2019 10:53:33 PM

OUVan wrote:

I was an Air Force brat and lived in St. Petersburg, Florida from 1965-71. My Dad was sent to Vietnam in late 1969 and we used to send him audio tapes every week that we made as a family. St. Pete used to be the Spring Training home to both the Cardinals and the Mets. The country club we belonged to used to host a celebrity golf tournament during Spring Training every year and my Mom got the idea that we should try to get some interviews from some ball players. My Dad was a huge baseball fan (Reds) and we thought he'd get a kick out of it.

Anyway, we get to the course and the first two players we come across are Bud Harrelson and Jerry Koosman. Keep in mind that this is the Spring of 1970 so the Mets are still basking in their WS win. My Mom pushes us up there and my brother and I are sitting their stammering trying to ask a question when Harrelson kneels down, grabs the microphone and calls Koosman over and they proceed to interview us. If it had ended there it would have been a special moment but it didn't. They then grab our hands and walk us around the golf course and we got about 20 players on tape, including Stan Musial. After hearing our story Musial even offered to buy us dinner later which we unfortunately had to decline because we were driving to my Grandmother's house that night across state. Anyway, only two players declined to be interviewed. One was Yogi Berra but he was literally getting into a cab. The other one hurt, Johnny Bench. As I said earlier my dad was a Reds fan and as such I was a Reds fan and Bench was my 2nd favorite player (Vada Pinson). He was on the practice tee and just waived them off when they asked. But the good far outweighed that moment and I still have a warm place in my heart for Harrelson and Koosman (and Musial). The tape was a huge hit in Vietnam (actually Laos but you didn't hear that from me) and my Dad said he played it for everybody he knew. He passed away in 2005 and we came across it. Took a while to find someone who had a reel-to-reel tape player but we played it for our families.

This is a very heart-warming story. Thanks so much for sharing it.

OhioCatFan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/18/2019 11:02:32 PM

cc-cat wrote:

On field pre-game for 100th anniversary of Rutgers/Princeton football game - my great grandfather is credited with scoring the first touchdown (goal) in college football history. . . .

Very interesting about your g-grandfather. That's a neat family connection. I would only be more impressed if you were a descendant of Jay Berwanger, the first Heisman Trophy recipient, and my Chicago-graduate father's favorite athlete of all time!

Seriously, that connection with the birth of college football is something to be very proud of. The best I can do is to say that I once dated a girl whose great-uncle was on the first All-American team.

cbus cat fan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/18/2019 11:59:56 PM

1. I was born overseas while my dad was in the military. I was very young when we returned, but I do remember one uncle going to Vietnam and one coming home in the summer of 1970. It was my earliest sports memory. The one who came back got emotional watching a Saturday afternoon baseball game on TV. "God this is great," he exclaimed! "What's so great," I said. "Baseball, and not getting shot," he said. "Watching a baseball game with your family and a beer in your hand, it doesn't get much better than that," he exclaimed.

2. Watching bits and pieces of a basketball game of our beloved Alma mater on a Toledo station in the early 1970s. I remember trying to understand the different conferences etc. It was quite a learning curve and exciting all at the same time.

3. World Cup Soccer 1978 (Closed Circuit TV Cleveland Public Hall. The last World Cup not shown on live TV in the US.) I grew up next door to a family from the Middle East. The youngest son and me were always playing any and every sport. Though I had seen the New York Cosmos and the old NASL, I had never seen international soccer on TV. Though I was pretty familiar with it due to European family ties. The trip to Cleveland was crazy enough as the neighbor kid's dad drove like we were back in the old country. Talk about a white knuckler. After a near riot between rival fans trying to grab each others flags and police threatening to shut the whole thing down, we then went to an Indians game where the first 15,000 got seat cushions. We didn't get to old Municipal until the third inning. However, the usher assured us that there were plenty of seat cushions available. We dodged them in the lower deck from the various kids and drunks tossing them down from the upper deck for the remainder of the game.

4. Summers mid-late 1970s. We couldn't afford a nice family vacation those years so we went to a Reds night game and stayed in a Cincinnati hotel which I though was so cool. It was the Big Red Machine heyday. The weird thing occurred a couple years later when I was a freshman in high school. I was in a study hall with a senior girl who was also a Reds fan and definitely a wild child. One Monday she came to school with as bunch of pictures of her and her older sister with the Reds in the Clubhouse and a hotel suite? I was bewildered and asked how did you get in there. She laughed and said, silly freshman. At that point, I think I still thought athletes were paragons of virtue.

5. Fast forward to this century and I am on a family vacation out west. We stopped in Las Vegas to visit some family members and they told us we should visit some sports shop in town because Pete Rose is always there on that particular day signing autographs. My wife and I along with our young kids went there and it was vintage Pete. He asked me were I was from, quizzed me on my baseball history and strategies of the game. He then went on a tirade of sorts (channeling Mick from Rocky--"Management kid-you need management.") He asked me why Sparky Anderson was the greatest manager of that era. I gave the best answer I could and he went off of sorts. He stood up and addressing the small assembled crowd inside and anyone within earshot inside the mall, went on a soliloquy of sorts explaining how great managers are motivators. Some guys need a pat on the back, but some need a kick in the %ss. He ranted about players not realizing their potential and a good %ss kicking manager knows how to get it out of them. He ranted about moneyball etc. While all of this is going on my kids are clinging to me not knowing what this crazy guy might do. Though they were very young, it is something they will probably never forget, I know my wife and I certainly won't, and I am guessing most of the people within earshot won't either.

Last Edited: 6/19/2019 1:05:20 AM by cbus cat fan

ShoreCat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 7:48:06 AM

1. Getting Sid Monge's autograph on the Goodtime II on Lake Erie as a kid in the mid 1970's.

2. Going through the baseball cards I bought at a card show at Summit Mall in Akron in 1986, feeling a hand on my back asking me "who did you get" and I turn around and it's Brook Jacoby, who then talked baseball with me and my best friend for 10 minutes.

3. Game 5, 1995 World Series. Jim Thome's homer to dead center is still the loudest sound I've heard coming off a bat.

4. Game 4, 1995 World Series. Watching Blues Traveler at the CSU convocation center. John Popper from Blues Traveler would give score updates after every couple of songs.

5. Championship parade for the Cavs in downtown Cleveland. I didn't think it was possible to get that many people downtown. Still an unreal sight.

6. 1981 Penn State vs. Notre Dame. Riding the PSU alum bus from Cleveland with my dad and watching Todd Blackledge and Curt Warner beat the Irish.

7. 1994, Opening Day at Jacobs Field. The start of a new era of Tribe baseball, that I still can't believe did not get us one World Series Title.

Mark Lembright '85
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 9:21:22 AM

Game 5 of the Miracle of Richfield in 1976, witnessing the CAVS last second win over the then Washington Bullets along with over 20,000 crazed, outrageously loud CAVS fans at the Richfield Coliseum.

P.S. Great thread idea!

OU_Country
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 9:27:59 AM

Fantastic stories OUVan, and OCF!

Kevin Finnegan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 9:51:47 AM

FearLeon wrote:

Game 6 of 1986 World Series. Mets-Red Sox #BillyBuckner

I've always felt for Bill Buckner, may he rest in peace. He doesn't deserve all of the blame or probably even the lion's share for that event. I think most people erroneously believe that if he fields that ball and tags first, that the Red Sox win the series. In reality, it just pushes game 6 to the 11th inning.

Bob Stanley deserves as much blame as anybody else, I'd say. He had a two-run lead in the 10th, had two outs with nobody on base when the wheels came off. He gave up three singles, and with the tying run on third base, threw a wild pitch. So, when Mookie Wilson grounded to Buckner, it just would've elongated the game, but not ended it.

cbus cat fan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 9:53:19 AM

OU_Country wrote:

Fantastic stories OUVan, and OCF!

Yes those were great stories, though OUVan's description of my childhood hero Johnny Bench not wanting to take part in that worthy endeavor was a bit depressing. Ohio Cat Fan, I am envious of you seeing the old Crosley field and Ernie Banks too boot, not to mention the train ride back to Athens. Hard to top that one!

Buck.Cat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 9:56:18 AM

July 17, 1994 - World Cup Final Italy vs Brazil in the Rose Bowl

I was in the stands behind the goal as Roberto Baggio of Italy put his PK attempt over the goal to give Brazil the Cup.

GoCats105
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:35:19 AM

Buck.Cat wrote:

July 17, 1994 - World Cup Final Italy vs Brazil in the Rose Bowl

I was in the stands behind the goal as Roberto Baggio of Italy put his PK attempt over the goal to give Brazil the Cup.

What a heartbreaker.

GoCats105
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:36:18 AM

Thanks for sharing everyone. This is exactly what I wanted to read when I started the thread. Keep em coming!

Deciduous Forest Cat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:36:31 AM

finnOhio wrote:

FearLeon wrote:

Game 6 of 1986 World Series. Mets-Red Sox #BillyBuckner

Buckner was a great player and people also forget that the Mets lost game 1 of that series 1-0 because an easy groundball went five-hole on Tim Teufel. It was such a nutso series.

GoCats105
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:38:08 AM

BayCat wrote:

7. 1994, Opening Day at Jacobs Field. The start of a new era of Tribe baseball, that I still can't believe did not get us one World Series Title.

I'm not a big baseball fan, but those Tribe teams of the mid to late 90s were so fun to watch.

OUVan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:48:17 AM

finnOhio wrote:

Bob Stanley deserves as much blame as anybody else, I'd say. He had a two-run lead in the 10th, had two outs with nobody on base when the wheels came off. He gave up three singles, and with the tying run on third base, threw a wild pitch. So, when Mookie Wilson grounded to Buckner, it just would've elongated the game, but not ended it.

Agreed. Just like the real culprit in the Steve Bartman game was Alex Gonzalez. He booted a sure double play ball that would have gotten them out of the inning with the Cubs still up 3-1.

Deciduous Forest Cat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:48:54 AM

1994 - the Choke in Doak - Florida leads Florida State 31-3 going into the 4th only to see FSU score four touchdowns. The game ended in a tie, when that was still a thing. was in the "open" endzone surrounded by FSU students, with Burt Reynolds behind us in his luxury box. 7 of the 8 touchdowns scored were in that endzone.

1990 - Pirates/Reds NLCS. Game 4, rode three hours to game, three hours back. went to school, did game 5 again later that day.

Late 80s, can't remember the year. I am a Mets fan who grew up listening to Ralph Kiner do color on WOR. But Kiner hit a crapton of homers for the Pirates. Well, when the Mets visited, the Pirates decided to have a Ralph Kiner day. ... Hell if I remember who won the game, but Pirates/Mets games were always fun. However, getting back to our hotel and waiting on my dad to get us checked in, Ralph Kiner gets out of his cab and is crocked out of his gourd. I have to wonder when he started drinking that day.

Five or 6 years ago, first trip to Wrigleyville, and a night game to boot. Mets got waxed but unforgettable experience.

OUVan
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 10:59:19 AM

This is a great thread, by the way. So many cool stories.

Broomball @ Midnight!
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 11:02:16 AM

Calvin Schiraldi ran out of gas trying to get the third out of his third inning in relief of Clemens, he coughed up the lead in the 8th. Stanley's WP (a much more pivotal moment in the game and an epic fail for Stanley) allowed the tying run to score in the 10th before the ball to Buckner. Even if Buckner fielded it, I'm not sure he beats Wilson to the bag.

John McNamara is the primary cause of this epic implosion. He pulled Clemens too early, abused Schiraldi like a rented mule and didn't bring Dave Stapleton as a defensive replacement at 1B, as had been the post-season protocol. He wanted Buckner to be on the field for the celebration, and he was, except it was the Mets doing the celebrating.

Buckner is also the victim of a false media narrative. He was cheered by Sox fans at the rally in 1986 and returned and played for the team in 1990 without incident. His return to Fenway moment was nice, but it was the media, especially Dan Shaughnessy at the Globe (he's the Curse of the Bambino author as well) that kept the charade going and made it worse with the passing of time.

This was all fixed on 10/27/04 and 07, 13, and 18 haven't hurt either.

Last Edited: 6/19/2019 11:37:30 AM by Broomball @ Midnight!

You just got lesson number one: don't think; it can only hurt the ball club. - Crash Davis (1988)

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OU_Country
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 11:59:59 AM

west side cat wrote:

My folks were at that game, and then the Super Bowl a few weeks later.

GoCats105
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 12:37:33 PM

Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:

No f*cking way! That one is an all-timer. Also, one of my favorite EA Sports NCAA Football comeback scenarios which was impossible to beat.

Last Edited: 6/19/2019 12:39:12 PM by GoCats105

100%Cat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 12:48:31 PM

I wouldn't say any of mine were truly historic games, but still big to me.

-1988 All Star Game in Riverfront (still mad the HR Derby was cancelled that year due to rain)

-1990 NLCS Game 6 clincher for the Reds over the Pirates

-1990 World Series games 1 and 2, Cincinnati vs Oakland

This is maybe an odd one because they lost, but...

-Athens football state title game in Columbus. I think everyone knew whoever had the ball last was likely to win. Then the collective air went out of the Athens side when the title-clinching INT went through Trae Williams hands. From where I was sitting, not only was it a clincher...if he caught it I think it was a 90+ yard pick-six. Next play, Central Catholic scores the winning TD.

jpmo
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 2:38:46 PM

1) Mario Lemieux scoring 5 goals 5 ways- Voted the NHL's greatest moment. To this day, he is the only player ever to have done this. My Dad told me over and over what an amazing thing we just watched in person on our way home. I still believe he is the greatest hockey player who ever lived.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW4Nir6L9kg

2) Penguins beat the Bruins to advance to their first Stanley Cup Finals. What a great call by Mike Lange as well...probably the best living radio play by play guy in all of sports.
https://www.nhl.com/penguins/video/recchis-game-winning-g...

3) Indians vs Braves 1995- I'm 16 yrs old and I head to the men's room between innings. I step up to my urinal and glance at the guy next to me who had a well-manicured mustache. We gave each other the "man nod" and went about our business. It took me a minute to realize it was Rollie Fingers.

You don't have to outrun the bear...just the other guy.

rpbobcat
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 3:19:49 PM

All of these posts have been really fun to read.

After reading them I remembered a couple of others.

Sports:

1.Meeting rookie Willis Reed at a Knight's of Columbus Saint Patrick's Day Dinner.
What made it extra special was that this back in the no meat on Fridays days.
The dinner fell on a Friday,so the priest gave us special dispensation to eat corned beef.

2.My wife and I were at a convention in A/C.
She was wearing her Giants jacket.
A sales rep came over and said there's someone you need to meet.
It was O.J. Anderson doing a promotion for the company.
He a autographed a football and gave it to her.

3.Running into Giants kicker Matt Bahr at The Sharper Image in Hackensack.
Nobody in the store recognized him but my wife.

Non Sports:

The first time Lord of The Dance came to Radio City we decided,at the last minute,to try to go.

It was the second night and we got the "house seats",third row orchestra,dead center.

When we were walking to Radio City we saw search lights all over the place.

Turned out,night one was a preview,and this opening night.

My wife was in jeans and a sweater.
Me,jeans and a button down shirt.

Most of the people siting around us were in gowns and a tux.
Maybe they thought we were eccentric millionaires.

What was funny was Kathleen Turner and her husband were sitting in front of
us.
Her husband kept complaining he had to spend $15.00 for a program.

GoCats105
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RE: OT: You Had to Be There!

Posted: 6/19/2019 3:34:06 PM

jpmo wrote:

I didn't even know this was a thing. That's a good one.

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