Dahlberg Arena memories

[SoCalGriz]

mid/late 70's, was always great to watch the raw potatos fly when Idaho/ISU came to town. We were publically threatened by the league with a technical foul if we continued. The next game when ISU starters were being introduced, someone tossed a box of instant potatos which drew laughter from the ref and no technical.

I remember playing an inspirational game against Idaho State whom we tied for regular season championship. We were in a 1 game playoff to see who would go onto the NCAA tournament. Very loud crowd and we stood the entire game cheering our brains out, but ended up losing a close game. After the loss the crowd gave the Griz a long standing ovation despite the loss. Pretty cool and took some sting out of the loss.

 

[Grizfan-24]

Three moments stand out to me, all of them later in the Dallbergh reign:

1. Uof I Thursday night game, Potato Game before the game. The USA chants, still bring chills.
2. Delvon Andersons block in the same game. Stunned silence. I don't think people realize really what had happened, but it was a weird delayed reaction. Still one of the best blocks I have seen.
3. Keith Crawfords dunk against UNR from FT line extended. Sitting in front of the band at the time and saw that right in front of me. I have never heard crowd come unglued like that before or since.

Maybe a close fourth by not a Griz game:
Hellgate High School and Billings West in 92, Camel/Dicks backboard dunk was pretty sweet. The best non college environment I had been a part of. That place was packed.

 

[Geddes]

Three moments stand out to me, all of them later in the Dallbergh reign:

1. Uof I Thursday night game, Potato Game before the game. The USA chants, still bring chills.
2. Delvon Andersons block in the same game. Stunned silence. I don't think people realize really what had happened, but it was a weird delayed reaction. Still one of the best blocks I have seen.
3. Keith Crawfords dunk against UNR from FT line extended. Sitting in front of the band at the time and saw that right in front of me. I have never heard crowd come unglued like that before or since.

Maybe a close fourth by not a Griz game:
Hellgate High School and Billings West in 92, Camel/Dicks backboard dunk was pretty sweet. The best non college environment I had been a part of. That place was packed.

Anderson is still my favorite player to this day. I was at the Hellgate/West game too. That was an amazing atmosphere for a highschool game. There was a lot of talent on the court for that game. And, the Idaho/Griz "potato game.." that was the first time I was privy to witnessing "cops vs. protestors." If only everyone had a smart phone in their pocket back then...some serious viral videos would have been created...

 

[grizatwork]

I remember leaving earlier and earlier to get into the student section. There from 87 to 93. Delvon Anderson was the Will Cherry of his day. Lightning quick hands. Roger Fasting. So stinking smooth and he had hops. Darren Engelent growing from a skinny freshman to a shot blocking phenom. One of my favorite players to watch was actually Wayne Tinkle. He had no vertical jump, but he had great body control was hard to guard because he could hit that mid range jumper. The ESPN game at the start of Desert Storm. Someone had a sign that said Even Saddam Parties Naked. It was taken down in a hurry and then the protestors. Pretty surreal evening.

 

[EverettGriz]

It was probably 84 or 85, and the GRIZ were up 6 or 7 on weeebs with about 10 seconds left when Monty called a time-out. The place was going BONKERS with noise, and McCarthy evidently thought the TO was unnecessary and that Mike was simply showing them up. McCarthy and Monty spent 45 of the 60 second timeout in front of the scorer's table literally SCREAMING at one another. When Monty turned back toward the team huddle, he looked up at the student section and gave two big fist pumps and the crowd -- seemingly impossibly! -- got even louder.

Man, I miss stuff like that.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

... This week marks the golden anniversary of the University of Montana showplace that has answered to MSU Field House, Adams Field House, Dahlberg Arena, the Special Events Center, and other, more colorful, terms. Any way you slice it - or shuck it - the past 50 years have been a moveable feast.

There's been plenty of ham. Monte the mascot, gyrating tuba player Nate Schweber and public address announcer Lee "Fat Dad" Curtis all come to mind, along with such coaching thespians as Jud Heathcote, Blaine Taylor and Neil McCarthy. There's been sugar too (Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson, the Sugar Bears dance team), not to mention fruit (UM's student cheering section) and vegetables (several hundred rolled potatoes, directed toward the starting lineups of Idaho, Boise State and Idaho State). Add a heaping helping of "Krysko" (Larry Krystkowiak), and don't forget to stir in Shannon Cate. From the start, the Field House has been a multi-purpose facility. Gun, garden and auto shows. Figure skating exhibitions. Circuses. Rodeos. Pro wrestling. Public affairs conferences. Ski swaps. Lectures. Commencement exercises. Concerts featuring everyone from Henry Mancini to Alice Cooper, Garth Brooks to Pearl Jam. It's also been a setting for Lady Griz volleyball, Griz wrestling, indoor track, gymnastics meets and boxing matches. Still, basketball was always the centerpiece, beginning the night the Field House held its grand opening, on Dec. 18, 1953.


Read more: http://missoulian.com/sports/football/college/copper-silver-golden-anniversaryposted-december/article_534ef59a-52ce-5fce-819a-2eec57af48ee.html#ixzz1nyuAgLaX" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[AllWeatherFan]

In addition to all of the above (and I concur on Pope's dunk at Idaho being perhaps the greatest play ever), I remember a few more:

**Future NBA players Frank Oleynick and Freeman Williams (who led the NCAA in scoring two years in a row), coming into the field house and running into a freaking buzz-saw named Michael Ray Richardson; and

**Larry Farmer and Weber State coming into town and getting pasted by Krysko and company.

 

[EverettGriz]

I remember Washington playing regularly at Dahlberg, coming in with great players like Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp, and walking out with some pretty sad faces!!

I also remember one year Washington had ridiculous shorts with lettering which read "THE U" running down them. Man, we gave them so much shit about those shorts I think players coming off the bench were reluctant to take off their warmups.

 

[Grizfan-24]

Hard not to be nostalgic about those days. I as a kid started going to games, had seasons tickets for much of the time, when Monty was here. My parents had great seats, under the old arangement 3 rows up in the section behind the scorers table. A great place to be. I watched a lot of great sound basketball over those years and yes I remember those days fondly.

My favorite players from that era will always be either Hurley, Zanon or Fasting. Loved those guys. Those teams played sound defense, ran great pattern offense and had incredible post play. I loved Delvon because he was the most unassuming player we ever had, yet give you a double double most nights and was as much of a lockdown perimeter defender as we have ever had.

The one thing I love about Tinkle is his connection to that era. He was apart of that era when basketball mattered in Missoula, and he cares about making basketball matter again. For those who were around for the 1980's, should love the fact that Tinkle is running the helm. While Dalbergh isn't the same, never will be for that matter, is still capable of generating an environment that few gyms can produce. That is why I think those last two games were special, because for the first time in a long time our students and crowd brought the thunder. I wish I was there to watch the tournament games, bums me out to a degree that maybe we are seeing a basketball revival in Missoula and I am not around to see it.

Hope we channel some our inner Zoo over the next week and make sure that there is no chance that anyone escapes missoula with the title.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19821209&id=W_1jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6470,4028458" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We'll leave the last word to Dan Niksich, a Spokane, Wash., teacher and coach who officiated Big Sky games for 31 years before retiring in 1994.

"I loved officiating there," Niksich said. "I loved the excitement, the fans, the rush of being on that court. I always told the younger guys that if they could go to Missoula and make it there, they were ready for anywhere."

Read more: http://missoulian.com/sports/copper-silver-golden-anniversary/article_0b765af0-26e3-5a27-aa7d-4c4b5fc2fb65.html#ixzz1nz256jsV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ordigger]

Let's not forget the Lady Griz who consistently were averaging upper 4K, and a single season best of 5200 in mid 90s.

Loudest crowd I ever heard for a Lady Griz had to be the playoffs in 1988 when we as the 4 seed hosted number 5 seed Stanford. 8709 screaming fans saw an great game that night, although we fell in OT 74-72. And that crowd wasnt even the largest that season. In February 9258 showed up to watch the LADY Griz play the Bobcats, and winning 67-59. That was the year the ladies started 26-0, and finished at 28-2 with only losses to Stanford (above) and Lady Cats in Bozeman.

 

[griz5700]

I grew up in the Adams Center sitting in general admission seats drink games in the 80s and early 90s. I can't remember who did it but I recall a griz player breaking a backboard on a dunk... Mightve been 90 or 91....

Yep, ol Nate Covill. I was the Ballboy that year - pretty sweet gig. Get out of school (4th grade), go right to Dahlberg, fold jerseys, hand out jerseys to players, and shoot around with the players. Then do some other misc. stuff prior to the game and during the game. That Covill dunk was insane. I was first row, right under the basket. Man, crazy. Nate used to always play horse with me a few hours before tipoff, just a really nice guy. Good times!

Go Griz!

 

[Mavman]

What year did the lady griz and lady broncos battle for attendance record west of the mississippi? I beleive the record went back and forth a few times. My first games were michael rays senior year, then the zanons ,pope, glass, krysko,tinkle,nielson,fasting,anderson,kane,engelant,and the others kept me coming back.
I miss attending griz games it has been 15yrs.

 

[grizpack]

The old Hamm's bear was "Otto". He was goofy.

The zoo used to hold up newspapers or turn their backs in dead silence when the opposing team was announced.

Loudest I ever heard it was when Idaho came in ranked pretty highly, and the Griz took them down.

Anyone remember the "Bunny Beater" game? The week before the game, there was an article about how the farmers in Idaho were having trouble with rabbits (I think in the potato crops). They would form a circle, and then close it in, trapping all the rabbits in the middle. They would then use bats to wipe out the rabbits. The Zoo started the Bunny Beater chant as soon as Idaho (maybe it was ISU?) came into the gym, continued as they dressed out, and through the game. It was classic.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

It was a game Roger Fasting - and others who saw it - will never forget. The three-overtime, 89-88 road win in 1991 over Pepperdine, led by future NBA player Doug Christie, was what Fasting believed Grizzly basketball was all about.

... It was UM’s basketball tradition that helped draw Fasting across the state to Missoula in 1987. “Just the environment,” Fasting recalled. “I had a great visit when I went there (and) felt a real strong connection to Stew (Morrill) and Blaine (Taylor) and felt comfortable right away. It was an outstanding experience.” His biggest adjustment was to the size, speed and skill level of the players at UM and on other teams. Playing man-to-man defense was another adjustment after playing mostly 2-3 zone in high school, but Fasting learned well enough to earn the team’s outstanding defensive player award as a senior in 1991-92.

“There’s a whole scheme to it,” Fasting said of man-to-man defense, “and once you learn it you make each other look good and know they’re going to be there if you get beat.” Fasting, based on returning personnel and his desire to play more, asked head coach Morrill to redshirt him for a season after he played as a true freshman. It was during that redshirt year that he really figured out he could play at that level, bolstered by a summer spent playing numerous pick-up games in Seattle, Wash. and time working out with football friends in the UM weight room.

“Tony Reed and Nate DuChesne were both graduating,” Fasting noted, “and then I saw it was kind of wide open and there were a lot of opportunities as long as I came back in good shape.” Fasting still ranks seventh in UM career assists with 363 and 20th in scoring with 1,047 points. He was a first-team all-Big Sky Conference selection as a senior and played on league championship teams and in the NCAA Tournament as a junior and senior. What stands out most besides the win at Pepperdine was the first Big Sky title in 1991 that took a long-established monkey off the program’s back. “I can still remember being up by about 10 points (on Idaho) with seven minutes to go and saying, ‘Man, we’ve got this, we’re gonna win this championship game,’” Fasting recalled. “Doing that got us into the NCAA Tournament which is the dream of every basketball player, I think.”

John Boyd got his degree in Spanish from the University of Montana in 1987 after a four-year career in Grizzly basketball. ... Boyd took recruiting trips to Montana, Weber State, BYU, the University of the Pacific and Santa Clara and received scholarship offers from Montana, Gonzaga and Weber. But his trip to Missoula nailed it for him. “As a kid I loved the outdoors,” Boyd said, “grew up fishing and hunting with my dad, and was definitely impressed with the level of support in the community.”

Missoula was a basketball town back then, just ahead of the onset of major football interest during the Don Read years. The Grizzlies regularly drew 7,000-plus fans with students sitting at side court roughing up opposing teams and coaches. “I remember some of those Weber State games when students would get newspapers out and yell and scream, and the Adams Field House was just a phenomenal, hard place for visiting teams to come in,” Boyd recalled.

Head coach Mike Montgomery had enjoyed success at UM, and Boyd had a strong attachment with assistant coach Bob Niehl as well. He and Niehl still communicate and exchange Christmas cards. “I remember the day, getting into my little Chevy four-cylinder, loading up my trunk and heading over to the University of Montana, and never really looked back,” Boyd said. “It was just an incredible experience and a great place to be (during) a pretty incredible time period.”

During his career Boyd played with men like Jim Caler, Craig Larsen, Derrick Pope, Marc Glass, Rob Hurley, Doug Selvig (Derek’s dad), John Bates, Bruce Burns, Larry Krystkowiak, Larry McBride, Leroy Washington, Scott Zanon, Todd Powell, Steve Vanek, the late Herb Jones, K.C. McGowan, John Reckard, Tony Reed and current Griz coach Wayne Tinkle. He and Powell were roommates for three years. “Not only great athletes, but great people,” Boyd said. “Just great memories on the court, off the court, being in the town of Missoula in that school, and I’ve never regretted the decision to go there.” Boyd was a junior when Herb Jones was a freshman and remembers the talented Jones blossoming toward the end of his freshman year. Unfortunately Jones was killed in a highway accident while returning to Missoula the following summer. “A very emotional, difficult time for the program, for his family, for everybody who was close to him,” Boyd remembered.

 

[BWahlberg]

I grew up in the Adams Center sitting in general admission seats drink games in the 80s and early 90s. I can't remember who did it but I recall a griz player breaking a backboard on a dunk... Mightve been 90 or 91....

Yep, ol Nate Covill. I was the Ballboy that year - pretty sweet gig. Get out of school (4th grade), go right to Dahlberg, fold jerseys, hand out jerseys to players, and shoot around with the players. Then do some other misc. stuff prior to the game and during the game. That Covill dunk was insane. I was first row, right under the basket. Man, crazy. Nate used to always play horse with me a few hours before tipoff, just a really nice guy. Good times!

Go Griz!

We must've been about the same age then - naturally at that point I didn't really remember much about the player or the crowd... but how can you forget seeing a glass backboard shatter?

 

[Griz1]

Dahlberg Arena holds many fine memories for me. Besides those that have been mentioned five others really stand out.

Scott Zanon's dunk versus Idaho State to seal the game. He took off from the free throw line coming off a screen in traffic and threw it down.

Reggie Lewis' dunk was "eye popping". Reggie played for Northeastern coached by Jim Calhoun and later starred for the Boston Celtics. His life unfortunately ended way to early.

Bus Connors, BSU coach, loved playing in front of the Zoo and they loved him. I remember him body surfing in the Zoo and a big sign being held up by Zoo members saying "The Bus stops here".

Johnny High from Reno was one of the leading scorers in the nation when he showed up here. He had just been accused of, and I think arrested for, beating his girl friend. When he showed up from warm ups to the end of the game the band kept playing Michael Jackson's Beat It and the Zoo joined in shouting "Beat It" every time he touch the ball. The entire Zoo wore bandages and had black eyes. I think High went 3 for 23 or so as he was very intimidated.

The last thing I will recount is what I call "the parting of the Red Sea". We were playing the Bobcats and someone from their fan section threw a bottle of beer that just missed Rodney Brandon. Allen Green the former tight end and NFLer walked up through the Bobcat fan section looking for the guy who threw the bottle and everyone scrambled to get as far away from him as possible. It was hilarious.

 

[SoCalGriz]

In addition to all of the above (and I concur on Pope's dunk at Idaho being perhaps the greatest play ever), I remember a few more:

**Future NBA players Frank Oleynick and Freeman Williams (who led the NCAA in scoring two years in a row), coming into the field house and running into a freaking buzz-saw named Michael Ray Richardson; and

**Larry Farmer and Weber State coming into town and getting pasted by Krysko and company.

I was at the game where Oleynick had a horrible game. It was not just Michael Ray. Some guy whom was sitting close to The Zoo, had a really loud voice and somebody gave him some cheat sheet on Oleynick. The guy harrassed poor Franky all game. You could see it in Olynick's eyes, he was frustrated and cringed everytime our loud boy yelled. Sent Seatle home with a rare loss.

 

[Griz1]

Dahlberg Arena holds many fine memories for me. Besides those that have been mentioned five others really stand out.

Scott Zanon's dunk versus Idaho State to seal the game. He took off from the free throw line coming off a screen in traffic and threw it down.

Reggie Lewis' dunk was "eye popping". Reggie played for Northeastern coached by Jim Calhoun and later starred for the Boston Celtics. His life unfortunately ended way to early.

Bus Connors, BSU coach, loved playing in front of the Zoo and they loved him. I remember him body surfing in the Zoo and a big sign being held up by Zoo members saying "The Bus stops here".

Johnny High from Reno was one of the leading scorers in the nation when he showed up here. He had just been accused of, and I think arrested for, beating his girl friend. When he showed up from warm ups to the end of the game the band kept playing Michael Jackson's Beat It and the Zoo joined in shouting "Beat It" every time he touched the ball. The entire Zoo wore bandages and had black eyes. I think High went 3 for 23 or so as he was very intimidated.

The last thing I will recount is what I call "the parting of the Red Sea". We were playing the Bobcats and someone from their fan section threw a bottle of beer that just missed Rodney Brandon. Allen Green the former tight end and NFLer walked up through the Bobcat fan section looking for the guy who threw the bottle and everyone scrambled to get as far away from him as possible. It was hilarious.

 

[grizatwork]

Unfortunately, I have been unable to make any basketball games since I left in 1993. I feel as responsible for the decline in fan interest as anyone. I have season tickets for football, but interest fell off for me in basketball. I think the renovation year at Sentinal, the change in student seating, and the money I drop in Missoula 5 to 8 times a year during football season contributed to my backslide. I am going to make a real effort to go to 2 or 3 games a year from now on (at least). I would challenge all of you to do the same. I am even including lady griz in that. I think the basketball program could flourish if we all went to an extra game or two. Wouldn't it be great to be a football and basketball school?