To name a few........ Monster Trucks in the mid 80s Eric Anthony Homer 1990 Pirates game power outage 1996 Nolan Ryan retired number 1996 Sammy Sosa end of 1998 <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/H45XNxX03Vo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QbB-S_pgnXU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
1997. Braves/Astros playoff game. I was in 7th grade I got "sick' that day and went to the game with my father and grandfather. Sure they lost but I'll never forget the atmosphere of the dome. The conversation b/w innings and the drunk guy that got crushed by security for rushing the field after the game and us laughing after.....
A lot of memories. I don't remember how old I was or what exactly I was there for, probably an Astros' game, but the first time I was there and coming from the concourse and looking out over the field and that incredible roof. I remember it was daytime and how it felt to come from the heat into the amazing twilight of the dome with the roof lit up like stars. Also the echoes of sound in that huge space. My other big memory is watching my first concert there. It was The Who in 1983 and my ears are still ringing. Looking back I wonder why my parents let a 12 year old go now that one of my cousins is 12.
Can't believe no one mentioned the Refugee All Stars concert back in 2005. People came from all over to attend this thing.
I was two years old and was attending my first ever baseball game. It was towards the end of the game, and my dad and I were able to move up to dugout seats. Jeff Bagwell, who was/still is my favorite ballplayer, made the final out of the inning, walked right up to me handed me the ball. It's one of my earliest memories and definitely one of the best sports-wise. The ball is still enshrined in my room.
Went to an Oilers game with a family friend and his daughter in the early 90s... They both died in separate untimely incidents in the years following. The place is cursed. Tear it down!
-First Astros game in 1988 against the San Diego Padres. -Parents dropping me off with friends and buying kids $1.00 outfield tickets at the box office and sitting anywhere in center field. -Talking smack to Brett Butler in Centerfield the whole game, finally he throws a ball into the stands but looks me dead in the eye smirks and throws it over my head. Still was worth talking smack. -Rockets Championship celebration. -Oilers Last game at Astrodome.
So many memories, and I only witnessed the end of the Dome's run. I basically missed the Oilers entirely. 3 Immediately come to mind though My first Monster Jam, I got to finally see Grave Digger in person. That combined with Robosaurus (9 year old me thought that was the coolest thing ever) made that a permanent one. Went to many Rodeos, but getting to see Garth Brooks was certainly the best one. But easily the biggest was Sosa's 66th homer, still got the ticket stub. Didn't get to go to a lot of games growing up, a few a year. We bought tickets for this one early, banking on history. Which we got to see, for a few innings anyhow. Astros' won, and I got the Big Units autograph (which was no easy task)
Being a kid and my family being able to arrord season tickets every year before the league started raising he ticktet prices. We had season tickets for the Oilers for 8 straight years and when we start our seats were $16 a game and our lst year they were $38 a game. But I had a great time going menories I'll never lose.
Ryan vs Fernando pitching duels, especially the no-hitter. Jose Cruz acrobatics in the outfield. Mother Cookies cards. Luv Ya Blue era in general, especially the pep rally. The scoreboard. Picking up all the plastic astrodome / astros / oilers cups and washing them and reusing them as treasured momentos.
I witnessed two of the most amazing comebacks there, both Katy games two years apart. '92 - Down 12 to Clements and score with around 45 seconds left. Onside kick and one of my oldest friends recovers it. Very next play, 55-yard TD pass to win the game. '94 - Katy's first run to the state final was nearly derailed early. Down 11 to Beaumont Westbrook with about a minute left and we score TD/convert 2-pt conversion to make it a FG game. Onside kick is grabbed by both teams on multiple occasions, but no one could get a handle on it. The ball ends up around Westbrook's own 30 where they recover it. As the players were getting off the pile, Westbrook's star QB decks a Katy player from behind, earning an ejection and a penalty. There was another 15-yard penatly for unsportsmanlike and they ended up deep in their own territory with a new QB. First play, fumbled hand-off that Katy recovers in the end zone to take the lead. Westbrook actually ended up driving fairly close in the last 25 seconds, but our QB (the aforementioned friend who recovered the onside kick in 92) was put in for defensive purposes and picked-off a pass to seal it. Craziest game I've seen in person, looking back on it.
Oh, I for got one: In 1985 we took some kids to a monster truck show and destruction derby. This daredevil guy got into what looked like a conga drum and they raised him up to the top of the dome and let him drop into a a little swimming pool. Problem was he missed by about 2 feet. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19850121&id=5H5RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gQYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4246,3338126 I wasn't at this one but I found this video looking to see if there was one for Soucek. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BRvIIus3rcs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I went to my first baseball game there against the Rockies back in 97 or 98. I remember taking my glove hoping to catch a ball. It never happened.
the astrodome is also the place where i "learned" about the speed of sound. sitting in the outfield watching batters make contact but not hearing the sound until a second later was really cool at the time.