HemisFair Arena

Yes, this venue deserves its own thread. Alot of you youngsters dont know what I am talking about but the old folk will. You may have heard about it or may have been there for a game when you where in single digits in age, but let me tell ya. It was the best Spurs arena that will ever be. Every Spurs fan was like family in that place. I'll give you a case in point...Pat Riley, while he was coach of the Lakers, was on David Letterman. And David asked him.."what is the most difficult place to play on the road?" You would think he'd say Madison square or Boston gardens..but no...he said Hemisphere Arena in San Antonio. He said it felt like the fans were on top of him and the building was literally moving on its foundation when we were making noise. I miss that place....it was and always will be the best for San Antonio.

Sorry...Hemisfair...not hemisphere.

That was when the baseline bums were really on the baseline and acted like the Cleveland dog pound. I kid you not I went to a game recently and when they were intoduced my wife looked at the section full of passive elderly women and said, "Did they say the baseline mums?"

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

That was when the baseline bums were really on the baseline and acted like the Cleveland dog pound. I kid you not I went to a game recently and when they were intoduced my wife looked at the section full of passive elderly women and said, "Did they say the baseline mums?"

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+++++1. Baseline Bums were incredible.

29 went there alot as a kid good memories

In high school, some buddies and I would all pitch in and buy ---1 ticket--

to a spurs game then on game night we would all go and the one guy would go inside and then he would walk around to the side exit doors...

the mgmt used to have an old guy with a cane sitting on a chair---watching those doors...

it was the old doors with just a bar that you can push from the inside....

the one guy would walk past the old guy...push the bar on the door and all of us would run in and the poor old guy would just yell and try to stop us but we were gone...

not proud of it but when you are young and poor...you find ways to do shit...

that hemisfair was once called the loudest arena in the NBA and it used to rock like you would not believe...and the fans were not SPOILED ----YET!

many fond memories of the ICEMAN going nutz and carrying the spurs on his back...

Great place to watch a game. Sean Elliott said after the 95 playoffs that if they had been in the Arena that year instead of the Dome, they would have won the title. That place was the ultimate home court advantage.

Good times. :toast

squeezed inbetween the gate bars, in the back where the players would leave in their cars, when i was a kid(7 i believe) with my brother and we met almost all the spurs and then came david robinson and he was a freakin giant to me then and still is but he was cool as my mother came running up with some usher through the door the players exit at. good memories! that's the same arena i played in during half time vs the coyote.

Some good floor level Spurs action (7 1/2 min.) "In a Single Day"

I remember one time we made a sign "LA Lakers: Welcome to Your Chamber of Horrors" that was about 6 ft high and as long as the whole court and we hung it from the 2nd level railing; ah it was a great night! My sign was even mentioned in the paper. Also, at Hemisfair, after the first quarter you could move down to the good seats, no nazis checking tickets.

Great arena to see Spurs games. My parents would take me there when I was kid and our seats were right in front on D-Rob's parents. They were great people, and were always very kind in putting up with me and my relentless questions as a kid.

As a season ticket holder for all those years, from the first game to the last in the old Arena, I had some of the best times of my life there--or after the games. I kid you not.

Being a bum in that arena was a lot of fun. Even when the team was rebuilding around Alvin after trading Ice the bums were still rabid as hell. Good times!

This was where I saw my first dozens of Spurs games as a kid. Yes, the sound was deafening. And this was Pre-D-Rob, when the team was not good at all. The fans in attendance were still rabid. It seemed like the arena was specifically designed to blow the roof off the place.

I see there's someone named MullinFan browsing right now. It brings up one of my funniest memories of the bums at Hemisfair. A dude named Leon dressed up in a giant beer costume one time to heckle Mullin his first game back after checking out of the Betty Ford Clinic. It was cold, but man, it killed me then and it still does now. :lol

On a side note, if you go into the LA Times archives from one of the days around the 2003 Finals, they have more stories about Leon doing stuff like dressing up in a big diaper with a baby bottle full of beer and calling Magic a crybaby when LA came to town. His exploits were part of the front page story in the Times Sports section that day. :lmao

and no mention of the live band??????? Come on people. Does anyone remember the columns that blocked the views? haha. Was a great place. Was able to get real close to the players. im not sure if it was louder or not before they raised the roof too.

We use to buy cheap tickets then walk down in 2nd quarter, but I think kids still do that now. haha. I really hoped the new building woudl be like that, but its more about money now.

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Originally Posted by bigfan

Also, at Hemisfair, after the first quarter you could move down to the good seats, no nazis checking tickets.

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no doubt! my brother and i used to sit right behind the bench all the time. damn good memories.

i also won a duffle bag with the old spurs logo on each end screenprinted and 2 boxes of skybox cards off one of those program guides back in the day.

Good memories but the arena sucked. Only good thing was it was really loud.

Cant forget the red white and blue basketballs....great place, loud as hell, started going in 76'....

I was 10 at the time and remember going to a Spurs-Sonics game in the Hemisfair back in 77. After the game I wanted Iceman's,James Silas's, or Larry Kenon's autograph. So I just walked right into the Spurs locker room. About 2 steps inside the locker room, some security guy yanks my collar from behind and kicks me out of the locker room. The security guy did get one of the Spurs to give me a an autograph, but the guy was some dude named Mike Ward, who I don't even remember playing for the Spurs. Oh well. I absolutely loved the old arena. Best place ever to watch a basketball game.

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Originally Posted by YODA

and no mention of the live band???????

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Cotton-eyed Joe, line dancing en masse on the concourse at halftime?

I remember that.

(Bull-shit!)

You could hear the profanity of the Bums clearly from about anywhere in there.

Saw fans pour beer on the opposing team. A number of times.

man we got some old peeps up in here :lol

Me and my buddies use to buy a $3.00 ticket in the green seats ( behind the backboard) and then walk over and sit with the rich folk in the red seats at mid-court. Of course in the first few ABA years there would only be about 5000-7000 people per game. And at halftime we we go find some stairwell to smoke some weed.

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Originally Posted by YODA

and no mention of the live band???????

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Al Sturchio and The Sound of the Spurs. This was before the videoboard became such a focus of the entertainment experience.

me and my uncle use to buy the cheap "obstructive view" tix....if u dont know they were seats right behind the pillars that held up the balcony...then sneak our way to the bottom seats...worked everytime!

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Originally Posted by Solid D

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Watching that just made me think that there a lot of parallels between how the NBA has changed from the 70's to now and how Las Vegas has changed.

More money, more corporate, cleaner... but a lot less soul.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Some good floor level Spurs action (7 1/2 min.) "In a Single Day"

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Thanks so much for posting this. Lots of good footage of George Karl who is battling cancer in Denver now.

If you wait after the clip is over and several additional clips are shown as thumbnails, you can clik and see Part 2. which features a come back and last second win by the Spurs.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Al Sturchio and The Sound of the Spurs. This was before the videoboard became such a focus of the entertainment experience.

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That was a big memory of them playing "Volver" at the end of the third quarter! We all sang loud on that! Another great thing was after a victory you just walked across the street to Gambits (?) in the riverwalk level of the original Marriott with your plastic Spurs cup for free beer! Why they would build a new arena out in the middle of the slumiest part of town is beyond me.

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

Thanks so much for posting this. Lots of good footage of George Karl who is battling cancer in Denver now.

If you wait after the clip is over and several additional clips are shown as thumbnails, you can clik and see Part 2. which features a come back and last second win by the Spurs.

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Damn I miss those days when basketball was just basketball and not a circus like today

it's a shame that only the richies can get remotely close to the court now. Have any of you watched them? They are like zombies during the game. Only moving to talk on their cell phone or text. And if one brave guy or gal dares to attempt to stand up and cheer loudly they get stared down.

Anyway sorry for the mini rant but it's things like these that makes me miss the old arena.

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Originally Posted by Chomag

it's a shame that only the richies can get remotely close to the court now. Have any of you watched them? They are like zombies during the game. Only moving to talk on their cell phone or text. And if one brave guy or gal dares to attempt to stand up and cheer loudly they get stared down.

Anyway sorry for the mini rant but it's things like these that makes me miss the old arena.

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Is why alot of people like College basketball IMO. Ive been down low a few times and im shocked sometimes. A big play and I jump up to my feet. I swear to ladies next to me used left hand (fingers) clapping into thier right palms. Im like...WTF is this? They looked at me like I souldnt be here. Some people with money are just arrogrant. Kinda sad. Its why we miss the good old days when we were all pretty much equal. Butlers and suites are just BS.

Remember how even the so-called 'richies' who had seats on those aluminum bleachers on the floor level used to rhythmically stomp on them during the "Cotton-eyed Joe" and "Orange Blossom Special" during breaks in the BB action and the sound was deafening.

We liked to do the wave too. In fact, the floor level crowd was pretty damn active.

My friend and I shared four seats behing the Spurs bench about 7 rows up. During the All Star game that was held in SA, we took some big plastic numbers I had and held them up as cool chicks passed by on the walkway on the floor, giving them a grade like in the Olympics. It got a good laugh.

For those of you who watched the 7 minute video I posted earlier entitled, "In a Single Day" but didn't see Part 2, the 2nd half of the game versus the Denver Nuggets, here it is (below).

In the videos, you will see Spurs players such as "Si" James Silas (13), Rich Jones (33) one of the guys from the Dallas Chaps who moved with the team, Swen Nater (31) an amazing rebounder, Coby Dietrick (25), George Karl (22), Bobby Warren (21), Donnie Freeman (20), and Ice, of course. The head coach giving the half-time talk was Bob Bass and his almost bald-headed assistant coach was Rudy Davalos, who went on to enjoy a successful career as Athletic Dir. at UTSA, U. of Houston, and U. of New Mexico.

Interesting tidbit, that season (1975), 6'8" Collis Temple was a member of that Spurs team the first 3 months of the season. Collis, as in, the father of Spurs guard Garrett Temple.

The World's Fair was hosted in San Antonio in 1968 and was titled the "HemisFair". Structures such as the Tower of the Americas and HemisFair Arena were built as theme venues. The HemisFair Arena had a capacity of about 10,000 and after the NBA merged some of the existing ABA teams into the league in 1976, there were requirements placed on San Antonio to provide a venue with seating for at least 12,000 (as I recall). The decision was then made to raise the roof of the HemisFair Arena, so scaffolding went up inside and outside the arena and work began. The roof-raising yielded an upper deck that added almost 7,000 more seats, albeit with some not-so-great sight lines.

That arena got very loud, rivaling such arenas as the always noisy Chicago Stadium.

Here is that second video:

lol obstructed view

All of my memories of Hemisfair Arena were when I was but a tot. I remember the place, but not very vividly. Random recollections of a Spurs vs. Kings game. Lots of people going crazy. It's the first time I remember being in the middle of a very large crowd, but feeling secure that everyone was on my side.

Great place and easily at the time, the loudest arena in the NBA. Seeing the Iceman, Captain Late, Mr. K, Sugar and the Whopper (everybody had a nickname in those days) play were good times indeed! My dad used to work for one of the initial investors who brought the team from Dallas. He used to get free tickets all the time and we would sit in the "box" seats. They weren't luxurious or anything like that, they were just mid court about 10-15 rows up. At the time, Red McCombs was just a millionaire used car salesman.

Johnny Moore. John Lucas. Stan Albeck....All blasts from the past. Its great to hear everyone's story about that place.

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Originally Posted by Dex

lol obstructed view

All of my memories of Hemisfair Arena were when I was but a tot. I remember the place, but not very vividly. Random recollections of a Spurs vs. Kings game. Lots of people going crazy. It's the first time I remember being in the middle of a very large crowd, but feeling secure that everyone was on my side.

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Huh? What I do? :)

I still have my first ticket stub. It was obstructed view and was also no smoking. Worst of both worlds.

Remember the Hemisfair very well. The birthplace of my Spurs adoration.

The Spurs Corral (in-arena bar for after games) was quite a mystery to me because I wasn't old enough to get in. However, my buddies and I did manage to sneak in once. We were ceremoniously thrown out.

A couple of memories:

Anyone remember the time that Baseline Bums doused then Denver Nuggets coach Larry Brown with guacamole? It seems that Brown, when asked what he liked about the San Antonio, rhe eplied, "the best thing about San Antonio was the guacamole." At end of the next scheduled home game between Spurs and Nuggets, the Bums "special delivered" some of the delicasy to Brown - on top of his head. They doused him as he was about to enter the tunnel leading to the locker room. Fortunately, Brown was a good sport about it.

Anyone remember the upper-level, "obstructed view" seats in the old arena? The ones that sat behind those pillars that were installed when the roof was raised. That's right. As the Gervin-era Spurs become more popular and began generating more revenue, the powers that be felt it necessary to expand the arena capacity - by literally raising the roof of the Hemisfair. This culimated in the installation of several pilars (columns) at the upper levels. Many of which, blocked the view of certain upper level seats. Purchasers of these tickets were duly warned on the tickets that they were obstructed view. Being a poor kid, who really couldn't afford better seats, I would buy an obstructed view aisle seat and either lean over in the aisle or literally sit on the aisle steps and watch the game. What fun.

Loud, dank, smelly...the hemisfair was such a great place to watch Spurs basketball. It truly was, as longtime PA announcer, Pat Tallman properly dubbed it, "the noisiest arena in pro basketball".

oh crap i remember that and do you guys remember when we used to stomp our feet like crazy instead of clapping?, that place did rumble it was amazing i always went to the spurs/bulls games we had the bulls number when we were there/ and for at the dome

I started going there in 1975 when I got my driver's license. I had season tickets the last 3 years it was open. They were up on the 3rd level in section 312. It was so loud that you had to scream the whole game just to talk to the guy next to you. You would be wiped out after a game--great times. I had season tickets 1 year in the Alamodome and it was so dead I didn't renew. I would just go to 10 or 12 games a year and buy floor seats, but section 312 in Hemisfair were more fun.

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

Anyone remember the upper-level, "obstructed view" seats in the old arena? The ones that sat behind those pillars that were installed when the roof was raised. That's right. As the Gervin-era Spurs become more popular and began generating more revenue, the powers that be felt it necessary to expand the arena capacity - by literally raising the roof of the Hemisfair. This culimated in the installation of several pilars (columns) at the upper levels. Many of which, blocked the view of certain upper level seats. Purchasers of these tickets were duly warned on the tickets that they were obstructed view. Being a poor kid, who really couldn't afford better seats, I would buy an obstructed view aisle seat and either lean over in the aisle or literally sit on the aisle steps and watch the game. What fun.

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Good stuff...however, the reason the Spurs had to raise the roof and add capacity was because when the Spurs joined the NBA, 10,000 seats did not meet NBA standards. So, San Antonio decided the best plan would be to raise the roof of the HemisFair Arena...thus adding almost 7,000 additional seats.

I loved yelling "HEY LEWWWWW!!!" every time Kareem took a foul shot.

man i miss that place the games, boxing, the live bands. it was a great place

I sat next to and behind some of the lower level concrete pillars. Couldn't see the jumbo-tron in some seats but it never stopped the noise or my cheering. Don't forget how the cigarette smoke would turn the air into a stage 500 air alert.

do ya'll remember the 10 cent beer nights.

As a season ticket holder all the way back than it was the most enjoyable arena to watch a game. I could easily get close to the floor and the crowds were pretty sparse for some games. Those games the players could easily hear you yelling at them. I got many a player to react to me while on the floor. Of course, those were my younger days.

My most memorable game was the night the Spurs defeated the Lakers twice the same night.

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Originally Posted by Twisted_Dawg

Me and my buddies use to buy a $3.00 ticket in the green seats ( behind the backboard) and then walk over and sit with the rich folk in the red seats at mid-court. Of course in the first few ABA years there would only be about 5000-7000 people per game. And at halftime we we go find some stairwell to smoke some weed.

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The red seats were great at Hemisfair. I actually preferred those to the yellow seats closer to the court.

Went to 2 games at hemisfair....I remember being kinda creeped out. I was like 6.

P.S baseline bum , awesome sig video...that intro bought back memories of my pre duncan spurs

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

Anyone remember the upper-level, "obstructed view" seats in the old arena?

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I'm sure nobody that didn't read the post right above your post remembers them.

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Good stuff...however, the reason the Spurs had to raise the roof and add capacity was because when the Spurs joined the NBA, 10,000 seats did not meet NBA standards. So, San Antonio decided the best plan would be to raise the roof of the HemisFair Arena...thus adding almost 7,000 additional seats.

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jeez I'm old enough to remember when there wasn't any obstructed view seats...........

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Originally Posted by Winehole23

(Bull-shit!)

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Yes!!! And LOUD bullshit at that!!!

I went to my first Spurs game when I was nine in 1976; it was against the Sonics. The score was up in the 140's and the things that I recall most vividly from that game were the general rowdiness of the fans that was extolled from Pat Tallman ("welcoming the world's greatest fans to the NOISIEST arena in pro-basketball!"), the full western swing band, and Larry Kenon going coast to coast on a steal and dunking from what seemed like the free throw line.

My dad worked for SASA in the 80s, and had access to season tickets from 82 through 91. Third row, center court. And from that vantage point, I can say that one of the most vivid features of Hemisfair was the heckling. Our fans were brutal back then. After one of Don Nelson's jiggly yelling tantrums at a ref, I can remember a lady belting out, "Get a bra if you're going to shake like that!" The whole section erupted. He heard it too, you could tell. I yelled at Don Cheney one time that he had the refs in his pocket, and the dude patted his wallet and laughed. The original baseline bums of the 70's were beasts, but by the 80's, the Baseline Bums had become a joke; I'll never forget watching a group of them lean over the tunnel after a game to get Karl Malone's autograph. I drug my date over to their section to yell at them, something I never would have done to the 70's group. I saw Gervin's jersey retirement game (against MJ's Bulls--we won) from an obstructed view seat.

I could go on for hours. Thanks for creating this thread. I loved the Bean Pot, and while I still love going to Spurs games, they will never have the gritty, down home feel of HemisFair. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if I could pick any Spurs season to relive it would be the one that got away--1978-79--for the simple reason that no group of fans and no team has ever had a tighter bond. Hemisfair created and stoked that fire.

Somebody mentioned the Spurs Corral. In the old Hemisfair Arena it wasn't a 'members only' snooty place. Anyone could go in and drink, before the game, during the game, halftime and after.

My partner and I started going in the first season and we got wasted at every game since we also drank beer while in the stands between bouts in the corral.

The bartender/manager was Ralph Reid, the father of Robert Reid, the star of St. Mary's and later a pro on the Rockets. I dated a couple of waitresses I met there.

After the game drinks were special and you got copies of the stats to read while waiting for the traffic to thin.

The cops who worked the games started playing half-court games after their shift was over. We got up a team from the Corral and started playing them full court. Ralph Reid, the Corral manager was our center and he'd contribute a pitcher of martinis to keep our spirits up when bodies flagged. The waitresses were our cheerleaders. What a blast.

I took my first steps at HemisFair Arena and then proceeded to eat shit and roll down the orange studded ramps inside! Greatest Baby's-Day-Out ever thanks to dad, but mom was a little bummed she missed seeing me walk for the first time... call is irresponsible parenting if you wish, but I've been a Spurs fan ever since :toast

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

Somebody mentioned the Spurs Corral. In the old Hemisfair Arena it wasn't a 'members only' snooty place. Anyone could go in and drink, before the game, during the game, halftime and after.

My partner and I started going in the first season and we got wasted at every game since we also drank beer while in the stands between bouts in the corral.

The bartender/manager was Ralph Reid, the father of Robert Reid, the star of St. Mary's and later a pro on the Rockets. I dated a couple of waitresses I met there.

After the game drinks were special and you got copies of the stats to read while waiting for the traffic to thin.

The cops who worked the games started playing half-court games after their shift was over. We got up a team from the Corral and started playing them full court. Ralph Reid, the Corral manager was our center and he'd contribute a pitcher of martinis to keep our spirits up when bodies flagged. The waitresses were our cheerleaders. What a blast.

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hmm don't remeber the corral but remeber the Lone Star Pavilion before games

I didn't go to any spurs games there, but went to lots of rock concerts and gun shows there...

I saw the spurs in their early ABA years.

The Spurs played an uptempo run and gun exciting brand of basketball which fuled the crowd to go crazy after a scoring burst. Much easier to get the crowd going nuts with offensive style of play than defensive play.

I still have my Lights Out HemisFair t-shirt and my 1993playoff ticket stub from the Phx game. The last one there.

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Originally Posted by disciple

As a season ticket holder all the way back than it was the most enjoyable arena to watch a game. I could easily get close to the floor and the crowds were pretty sparse for some games. Those games the players could easily hear you yelling at them. I got many a player to react to me while on the floor. Of course, those were my younger days.

My most memorable game was the night the Spurs defeated the Lakers twice the same night.

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I was at that double-header too! Two great victories!

The best seats at Hemisfair were the loge seats in the balcony that hung out over the edge IMHO, especially the ones on the far right or left. Perfect 3/4 angle view of the court.

I never got to see a Spurs game there. But I did see Rignling Bros. circus when I was 5 or 6. Gunther Gebel was there and I got this poster of him with the Lions. I don't know what happend to it though.

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Originally Posted by Winehole23

You could hear the profanity of the Bums clearly from about anywhere in there.

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:toast Yes, you could. You also couldn't see the game through all the smoke in the arena. :lol

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Originally Posted by Solid D

Here is that second video:

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Real solid stuff, Solid (pun intended).

It was a joy to see all that old vintage Spurs footage - especially that of the Spurs very first power forward, Rich Jones.

Don't know where you dug this up, but thanks so much for posting.

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

Somebody mentioned the Spurs Corral. In the old Hemisfair Arena it wasn't a 'members only' snooty place. Anyone could go in and drink, before the game, during the game, halftime and after.

My partner and I started going in the first season and we got wasted at every game since we also drank beer while in the stands between bouts in the corral.

The bartender/manager was Ralph Reid, the father of Robert Reid, the star of St. Mary's and later a pro on the Rockets. I dated a couple of waitresses I met there.

After the game drinks were special and you got copies of the stats to read while waiting for the traffic to thin.

The cops who worked the games started playing half-court games after their shift was over. We got up a team from the Corral and started playing them full court. Ralph Reid, the Corral manager was our center and he'd contribute a pitcher of martinis to keep our spirits up when bodies flagged. The waitresses were our cheerleaders. What a blast.

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That's good to know. I always thought it was "exclusive". Didn't matter anyway, I was too young to get in, but I always wondered how it was. i always had visions of "hot" women being in there, socializing with both "big-wigs" and the players.