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Dahlberg Arena memories

It was in the mid to late 70s when "The Zoo" was at its zenith. I was a graduate student teaching introductory psychology at the time and one of my favorite students was a free spirit by the name of Mike Pantalione. ( Mike started the youth soccer program in Missoula and is now considered to be the best junior college soccor coach in the nation - 6 national titles at Yavapai Junior College and a member of the JC Hall of Fame). Mike was a leader of the zoo and typically sat at the east side center court in the first row. Because I was a usually a little late given my class sechedule, I sat in the south, floor level section which housed bleachers at that time and was considered to be part of the zoo. During a game against Weber, Mike and a friend donned black and white striped referee shirts and harrassed the Wildcats by pretending to call fouls on them. When the half ended, Mike positioned himself at the south east exit which was used by the visiting team in those days. When Neil McCarthy, the Weber coach tried to exit the arena, Mike stood in his way. McCarthy told him to get out of his way, and Mike responded by t'ing him up with the hand signal for a technical foul and exclaiming "TECHNICAL ON YOU!" Three times McCarthy yelled at Mike to get out of the way and three times it earned him a technical foul from Mike. At that point, McCarthy hauled off and landed a solid right to Mikes face. All of this happenned right next to me as I was sitting at the end of the section and could have leaned over and touched either guy. Mostly, I watched in shock as Mike hit the floor, his eyes rolled up in his head and he was out like a light. Of course the place went nuts and McCarthy was lustily booed upon his return for the second half. Mike was apparently told by UM personnel that he had to apologize. So, before the second half began, he, still in his referee jersey, slowly walked from the zoo to the visitors bench and shook McCarthy's hand. Now, you may have heard loud booing at Dahlberg following an attrocious call or some boorish behavior by an oppenent, but I guarentee you that the loudness and intensity of the boos at that time have never been matched in Dahlberg, or perhaps any other arena in the nation. Ah, the memories.
 
BWahlberg said:
griz5700 said:
BWahlberg said:
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....
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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!
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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?
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By the way, The dunk by Nate Colvill that shattered the glass delaying the game by at least an hour was not during 90 or 91 season. Nate was a freshman during the 1992-93. I do not believe he did it during his freshman season, but may be he did. It was sometime from 1993 - 1996 anyway.
 
A few more recent memories (Unfortunately, I've only got 2001 through 2007 of quality time in Missoula).

- March 20, 2004: Lady Griz hosting La Tech in the NCAA tourney. By far the loudest and most packed I've seen the place. One of the best games I've seen there as well. 81-77 final, with the Lady Griz up by 3 with 90 seconds left. Lots of fun on that night despite the loss.

- December 5, 2002: The 1-4 Griz host #25 Gonzaga. It ended up being a showdown between two great shooting guards. The highly touted Blake Stepp from the Zags and a redshirt freshman from the Griz who went on to have a pretty good career himself. The Griz were up 61-50 midway through the second half - but then Kennedy (worst coach in the history of Griz bball btw) started a slow-down, milk the clock offense at the 10 minute mark. The game ended with a 25 to 3 Zag run in those final 10 minutes. Gonzaga may have won the game, but it was a lot of fun watching the scrappy Griz freshman come off the bench and outplay the seasoned Zag veteran.

- February 1, 2003: Not really a memorable game in itself, but probably the second largest crowd I've seen there. The Griz beat Sacramento State 64-56, in a regular season Big Sky game between two sub-par teams. The reason for the huge crowd? It was the height of Monte Madness. Monte had just won the Mascot of the Year award and he (Barry) really knew how to put on a show.

- December 2, 2005: Stanford came to town as one of the favorites in the Pac 10 that year. The game was circled on the calendar and the Griz proved that they would be one of the top teams in the country that year. The crowd was electric and the team responded by blowing Stanford away right from the start. It was an indication of things to come for that 2005-06 team that beat Nevada in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Virgil Matthews established himself as a force to be reckoned with that night.

- February 27, 2006: Northern Arizona had already captured the Big Sky title and was hosting the tournament, but this last game of the season between the top two seeds was still a big game for setting the tone going into the tourney. The Griz came out and really took it to NAU in the first half. It was all capped off by probably the most exciting moment I've witnessed in that gym (Disclaimer: I am biased). Partially through the first half, Kevin Criswell got a steal and threw down a slam on one of NAU's guards. Our little section of the student section went absolutely bonkers. Chris should remember that. ;) Griz went on for the big win and the momentum carried them through the Big Sky tourney.


I'm sure the game on Tuesday night was up there with these memories. Glad to see some big excitement back in the building. Hopefully there are two more big 7k+ crowds at exciting moments coming up next week.
 
one of my favorite memories of dahlberg had little to do with bball--the 95 FB NC ceremony where they retired super D's #15. he cried like a little girl.
 
griz8791 said:
The crowd doing its own play by play chant: "Pass. Pass. Dribble. Dribble. Think. Pass . . . "
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That was awesome. And then when I guy would dribble and stop, then saying "dribble" and getting them to dribble again and causing a turnover. The power of suggestion was strong when 8K people said it for sure.
 
I unfortunately got to UM right during the dismantling of the the Zoo. My memory of it after the renovation was the Griz getting to host the tournament and getting upset by the thugs at Northridge. Classless turds wouldn't even come back out after they got waxed by NAU to receive their trophy. Glad they are out of our conference.

Still remember NAU's sharp-shooter hitting a full court heave right at the buzzer before halftime right in front of me. It was pretty awesome.

Hoping this year's Griz make the most of their home-court advantage and erase that memory for me.
 
Niksich hated Krysko and they had a war everytime he reffed one of our games. He called a rotten call on Larry one time and I screamed at him from about two feet away that he was the worst ref and person I had ever seen. An old lady sitting in our student section, don't ask me why, then piped up and said he is a terrible ref but a good person. She introduced herself to me and the stunned students around me as Mrs. Niksich! Great memory.
 
crackgina said:
Niksich hated Krysko and they had a war everytime he reffed one of our games. He called a rotten call on Larry one time and I screamed at him from about two feet away that he was the worst ref and person I had ever seen. An old lady sitting in our student section, don't ask me why, then piped up and said he is a terrible ref but a good person. She introduced herself to me and the stunned students around me as Mrs. Niksich! Great memory.
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:lol:
 
Geddes said:
crackgina said:
Niksich hated Krysko and they had a war everytime he reffed one of our games. He called a rotten call on Larry one time and I screamed at him from about two feet away that he was the worst ref and person I had ever seen. An old lady sitting in our student section, don't ask me why, then piped up and said he is a terrible ref but a good person. She introduced herself to me and the stunned students around me as Mrs. Niksich! Great memory.
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:lol:
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That has to rank up there as one of the funniest all time GRIZ posts. I am laughing my ass off. :thumb: :lol:
 
crackgina said:
Niksich hated Krysko and they had a war everytime he reffed one of our games. He called a rotten call on Larry one time and I screamed at him from about two feet away that he was the worst ref and person I had ever seen. An old lady sitting in our student section, don't ask me why, then piped up and said he is a terrible ref but a good person. She introduced herself to me and the stunned students around me as Mrs. Niksich! Great memory.
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That's hilarious! :lol:
 
I practically grew up in Dahlberg arena. I love hearing some of these old stories, many of which I witnessed but had forgot all about. My personal recolection dates from the mid to late 80's as a child through my senior year in 2006. My dad was a student in the early 70's and has many stories from the hey day of the Zoo. Sadly I'm in Portland now and don't get to see many games live, but Griz BBall is still my poison of choice.

One of the most vivid memories I have has to be one of the more bizzare things EVER to happen at ANY level of basketball ANYWHERE. It would have been around christmas sometime in the mid 90's, I forget who the Griz were playing. The Griz were up by three points with just a few seconds left on the clock. The visiting team drove the length of the court and hit a 3 at the buzzer. The game should have gone to overtime, but the scorers table put 4 points up on the board for a 1 point Griz loss.

Both teams walked off the floor and most of the crowd walked out of the stadium not realizing what happened. My dad and I yelled at everyone we could. We watched one guy get escorted out of the stadium by police because he was screaming at the refs and the scorers table, and no one would acknowledge him. We sat around for probably 20 minutes in total dis-beliefe. FINALLY Blaine Taylor came running out of the locker room realizing what had happened. Both teams literaly had to get out of the showers and redress to play the overtime. The Griz dominated overtime in front a few hundred remaining fans and won the game.

To this day I don't know how so many people, Officials, players, coaches, fans, etc. walked out of that building without batting an eyelash. Crazy stuff!
 
Jaredkuehn said:
I practically grew up in Dahlberg arena. I love hearing some of these old stories, many of which I witnessed but had forgot all about. My personal recolection dates from the mid to late 80's as a child through my senior year in 2006. My dad was a student in the early 70's and has many stories from the hey day of the Zoo. Sadly I'm in Portland now and don't get to see many games live, but Griz BBall is still my poison of choice.

One of the most vivid memories I have has to be one of the more bizzare things EVER to happen at ANY level of basketball ANYWHERE. It would have been around christmas sometime in the mid 90's, I forget who the Griz were playing. The Griz were up by three points with just a few seconds left on the clock. The visiting team drove the length of the court and hit a 3 at the buzzer. The game should have gone to overtime, but the scorers table put 4 points up on the board for a 1 point Griz loss.

Both teams walked off the floor and most of the crowd walked out of the stadium not realizing what happened. My dad and I yelled at everyone we could. We watched one guy get escorted out of the stadium by police because he was screaming at the refs and the scorers table, and no one would acknowledge him. We sat around for probably 20 minutes in total dis-beliefe. FINALLY Blaine Taylor came running out of the locker room realizing what had happened. Both teams literaly had to get out of the showers and redress to play the overtime. The Griz dominated overtime in front a few hundred remaining fans and won the game.

To this day I don't know how so many people, Officials, players, coaches, fans, etc. walked out of that building without batting an eyelash. Crazy stuff!
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wow! that is totally insane! never heard of anything like that haha..glad they figured it out....kinda sorta reminds me of them calling a saftey on pete in that game vs NAU in 2010 when he stepped out of the back of the endzone on a kick off.....just gave em 2 points...everybody knew it was messed up but they didnt fix it...

one of my fav memories was in 2006, when kevin criswell got that fast break dunk right at the end of the game...his last game in the home arena..very great memory
 
DrJ said:
It was in the mid to late 70s when "The Zoo" was at its zenith. I was a graduate student teaching introductory psychology at the time and one of my favorite students was a free spirit by the name of Mike Pantalione. ( Mike started the youth soccer program in Missoula and is now considered to be the best junior college soccor coach in the nation - 6 national titles at Yavapai Junior College and a member of the JC Hall of Fame). Mike was a leader of the zoo and typically sat at the east side center court in the first row. Because I was a usually a little late given my class sechedule, I sat in the south, floor level section which housed bleachers at that time and was considered to be part of the zoo. During a game against Weber, Mike and a friend donned black and white striped referee shirts and harrassed the Wildcats by pretending to call fouls on them. When the half ended, Mike positioned himself at the south east exit which was used by the visiting team in those days. When Neil McCarthy, the Weber coach tried to exit the arena, Mike stood in his way. McCarthy told him to get out of his way, and Mike responded by t'ing him up with the hand signal for a technical foul and exclaiming "TECHNICAL ON YOU!" Three times McCarthy yelled at Mike to get out of the way and three times it earned him a technical foul from Mike. At that point, McCarthy hauled off and landed a solid right to Mikes face. All of this happenned right next to me as I was sitting at the end of the section and could have leaned over and touched either guy. Mostly, I watched in shock as Mike hit the floor, his eyes rolled up in his head and he was out like a light. Of course the place went nuts and McCarthy was lustily booed upon his return for the second half. Mike was apparently told by UM personnel that he had to apologize. So, before the second half began, he, still in his referee jersey, slowly walked from the zoo to the visitors bench and shook McCarthy's hand. Now, you may have heard loud booing at Dahlberg following an attrocious call or some boorish behavior by an oppenent, but I guarentee you that the loudness and intensity of the boos at that time have never been matched in Dahlberg, or perhaps any other arena in the nation. Ah, the memories.
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Yep. Philly was a gem. :lol: :lol:
 
As a student and fan during the amazing Missoula 60's, 70's and into the 80's when I had to move, I've found this thread incredible. My recollection is that somewhere in there the Griz went to Notre Dame and beat them pretty well. Anyone else recall that?

Sent from my Droid
 
stargriz said:
As a student and fan during the amazing Missoula 60's, 70's and into the 80's when I had to move, I've found this thread incredible. My recollection is that somewhere in there the Griz went to Notre Dame and beat them pretty well. Anyone else recall that?

Sent from my Droid
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No, they went to Hawaii and beat Notre Dame...in a Holiday tourney
 
December 30, 1982:

Montana has one of its two home losses that season. UM's opponent has a scrappy point guard nobody has ever heard of before. Some guy named John Stockton.

The only other team to beat UM in Missoula? Weber State.
 
I read through the posts here pretty quick. One of the characters that stand out in my memory was a guy we called Mega-Mouth. He did a pretty good job doing background work on the vistiting teams and signal out who to pick on the whole game. He was a larger person and could easily be heard over most of the crowd. He created a home court advantage by himself and then the zoo being next to the court made it one of the most electric places to play or watch a game (I had the opportunity to do both).
 
Sugar Ray Richardson scoring 40 against the cats....

Totally took over the game with steals and dunks!!!
 
Also the famous potato game. ESPN was in town to show the Idaho-UM game.

Protesters layed on the floor to protest the gulf war just as the teams were being announced.

Smuggled in Potatos were then hucked at the protestors leaving many of them dazed as the football players and cops dragged them off the court.

Priceless was tha ESPN announcer. "Ah, we have protestors on the floor.... they are being hit with stuff... the protestors are being pelted with POTATOS!!!!!

As the protesters whre being drug off the court the Chant of U-S-A was the loudest cheer I ever heard in Dahlberg.

BTW... I have been trying to get a copy of that game for years, if anyone has it I would buy a copy from you.
 
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