The Metrodome

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grant1simons2
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The Metrodome

Postby grant1simons2 » April 27th, 2016, 8:26 am

Is it time? Can we start reminiscing about the days of the dome? That weird pillow on the outskirts of downtown. I think it is.

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David Greene
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby David Greene » April 27th, 2016, 9:00 am

The loudest sound I've ever heard occurred when my dad and I went to the celebration after the Twins won the pennant in '87. Holy buckets.

We couldn't afford Series tickets. :)

mattaudio
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby mattaudio » April 27th, 2016, 9:37 am

Wow look at that photo... A legitimate freight train in downtown, on the old Milwaukee Road. This must have been taken in 1982 or early 1983... 33 South Sixth (Multifoods Tower) was nearly topped off.

I seem to remember rail here when going to the Dome as a pup in the early-to-mid 1990s, and I think it only served the Star Tribune's former printing plant as its last industrial customer (or whatever was on the block which is now the MSFA ramp).

grant1simons2
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby grant1simons2 » April 27th, 2016, 9:40 am

It's really fascinating to think of all the history that was made there. I remember going to Gopher games there, the Vikings game where we chanted "FIRE CHILDRESS!', Eden Prairie winning things, some Twins games, the troughs. There was so much. I made sure to buy a little piece of the roof when they were selling it off in pieces.

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mister.shoes
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby mister.shoes » April 27th, 2016, 11:10 am

I went to a lot of Twins games in there, but none were as fun, exciting, and loud as Game 163 in 2009. I managed to score a front-row ticket just past 3rd base at something like 1am the day of the game. It was insane.
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kirby96
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby kirby96 » April 27th, 2016, 11:34 am

I was at the Twins game in 1986 where a bad storm hit and ripped the roof. One interior panel ripped free, and all the water collecting on the roof came through that low spot and poured on the upper deck like a waterfall. The whole roof was waving and the lights undulating. For several minutes the folks in the crowd were concerned they were about to be a part of a major disaster (we thought a tornado might be hitting because the storm was LOUD). They evacuated the crowd into the concourses while simultaneously announcing that the dome was designed so that even in the event of a full collapse, nothing would hit the crowd (I believe this was the first non-construction period roof failure, so it was a bit of uncharted territory).

So the storm moves on after a few minutes, they crank up the air to even the pressure (the exterior panels leaked, but didn't completely fail), and 15 minutes later it was game on again. Wally Joyner hit a dinger to beat the Twins in a late inning.

Kinda fun to remember that. I remember being a scared little kid hugging my dad's leg for dear life. It's great to have such a vivid memory of ballgame with dad, 'the protector'.

seanrichardryan
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby seanrichardryan » April 27th, 2016, 11:35 am

And let's not forget the always charming Metrodome parking lot where I saw the Deftones in 96' and a bunch of Warped Tours etc.
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PhilmerPhil
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby PhilmerPhil » April 27th, 2016, 10:53 pm

Great skate spot too... http://youtu.be/eGjQDF07e3c
(skip to 0:20)

RailBaronYarr
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby RailBaronYarr » April 28th, 2016, 2:33 pm

I'll agree game 163 in 2009 was loud. Though I remember the first 3 quarters of the 2003 Gopher vs Michigan game being just as loud. That was my freshman year in the marching band, and I remember during pregame I couldn't even hear myself think, let alone the instruments around me. Some other nostalgia-type memories:

- The dome always had a smell to it that other football/baseball venues I've visited didn't/don't. Not in a bad way, but I can't explain it. It's like the smell of peanuts and other food mixed differently with the concrete and air. It smelled the same in college as I remember it back when I went to my first Twins game (and for some reason I really remember watching the moon out the window on the car ride home)
- Playing an 8th-grade football game on the crappy astro-turf
- Refilling Dasani water bottles in band up in the tunnel, and the crappy metallic taste that water had
- $2 student ticket/$1 dog nights during college
- Bringing my two friends to a Twins game with my parents freshman year in college, my mom asking when we arrived in the 3rd inning "did we miss halftime?"

David Greene
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby David Greene » April 28th, 2016, 3:45 pm

I'll agree game 163 in 2009 was loud. Though I remember the first 3 quarters of the 2003 Gopher vs Michigan game being just as loud. That was my freshman year in the marching band, and I remember during pregame I couldn't even hear myself think, let alone the instruments around me.
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LakeCharles
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby LakeCharles » May 2nd, 2016, 12:19 pm

Also Rollerdome was great.

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mister.shoes
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby mister.shoes » May 2nd, 2016, 12:56 pm

This is bad nostalgia instead of good nostalgia, but I was at the Dome the day of the 35W bridge collapse. future.mrs.shoes and I were walking along 4th street from the Haaf ramp as dozens of emergency vehicles went flying by. We started to hear rumors of a disaster while sitting in a tent on the plaza for a company event, but had no cell service for obvious reasons. We didn't know for certain what had happened until we were inside for the game.

As coincidence would have it, brother.shoes and his future wife were also at that game with a bunch of friends. They'd been pre-gaming over in Seven Corners when the news came on the TV and then walked across the Washington Ave bridge to get to the Dome. Everything about that day was bizarre (for those of us going to a baseball game—for everyone else it was just plain awful).
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MattW
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby MattW » May 9th, 2016, 11:30 am

One of the unique things I miss was walking into the dome before a game. You shuffle in and are in a a big concrete hall way. Then you walk by a gate into the main bowl and see how large of a room the dome was and that an actual baseball game was happening there. With open concourses being the norm now, you don't have that feeling anymore.

Mcgizz
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby Mcgizz » May 9th, 2016, 11:48 am

I just returned from Toronto yesterday. While I was there I was able to go to a Blue Jays game in the Rogers Center. I never thought I would ever feel nostalgia for the Metrodome, but being in the Rogers Center made me realize that our giant ugly concrete dome was better than theirs. It took a while for that to actually sink in.

David Greene
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby David Greene » May 9th, 2016, 11:49 am

Would be interesting to compare BC Place.

MNdible
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby MNdible » May 9th, 2016, 12:02 pm

Or the Silverdome!


Didier
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby Didier » May 9th, 2016, 4:05 pm

Remember when the Skydome was revolutionarily futuristic? That ended fast.

Record Machine
Metrodome
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby Record Machine » February 14th, 2017, 9:27 am

Old concept drawing from a Gopher recruiting video...

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PhilmerPhil
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby PhilmerPhil » February 14th, 2017, 9:43 am

Got a link to the recruiting video?

Record Machine
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Re: The Metrodome

Postby Record Machine » February 14th, 2017, 10:04 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VEFfgv_JkQ

Some interesting little clips of the city in between football highlights.


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