The Intro/Outro for this video was removed. If you would like to watch an unaltered version, you can do so here: th-cam.com/video/3LTcWuf_o7c/w-d-xo.html
RCA Dome/Lucas Oil Stadium was actually the inspiration for the channel. I remember following the development of LO on the news from the early days to completion as a kid. I thought it would be cool to make a video about that, but then I saw that the arena the Nets (first major sports team I witnessed relocate in my childhood) played in was abandoned and have been sidetracked ever since. Saving the dome for a special episode and not sure how/when I'll do that yet.
The old Garden had a storied history and as a Larry Bird fan watched many Celtics broadcasts from that stadium in the 80’s. Thank you for producing this brilliant documentary. Well done Lee.
We Mets fans say the same thing about Shea Stadium....Although, It should never have been a dump. But the building was owned by NYC and operated by the Parks Dept. And of course the City and the Parks Dept neglected the facility.
3:32 Sadly Northeastern University has filed to demolish Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena), the Boston Garden's predecessor. At 114 years old (soon to be 115) it is the oldest indoor arena in the world and the original home of the Celtics, Bruins, and Whalers. The view from the first row of the balcony is absolutely sensational and there is nothing else like it as the balcony hangs out over the ice.
@brianfoley1805 It's almost like they should have spent money on upkeep and repair instead of putting a gigantic blueline to blueline video board in to an over 100 year old building 🤷♂️🤦♂️
@@bobheyotue9850 While acknowledging it's not what most people would consider a "great film", I absolutely love Celtic Pride. Kinda disappointed it didn't get a mention in this video, now that you mention it. I do hope the Bruins hold a team practice or something at Matthews before their 100th anniversary game in December. They did use the arena for one of their jersey reveal videos this year.
@ what could they possibly put there? Like the issue with me is that they’re going to demolish in order to make a sports complex/dormitory for students which is fine but seeing the new buildings Northeastern has been putting up it will be a eye sore personally they should renovate it and treat the arena like those historical Buildings that can’t be taken down.
I grew up in the 1970's & 1980's living in Framingham. My family owned a freshly squeezed juice business in Cambridge and later Allston, MA. We also owned a Cider mill in Sterling, MA. In 1984 I called Red Auerbach offering to supply the Celtics with 100% freshly squeezed juice (a true luxury in Boston) as a show of our appreciation - this was during the '84 Finals with the LA Fakers. To my surprise, Red invited us to Game 7 and asked that we meet him in the locker room a few hours before tip-off to avoid all the BS (remember this was Boston in the mid-1980's). We met the coaches ad several players... of course Red gave us two press box passes (remember the Panasonic & Technics signs in the upper balcony...). In those days, you shook hands and did business in person. He asked us to supply the Celtics for EVERY home game for the next five seasons. I was also delivering juice to some of the players homes (Larry Bird, The Chief, DJ and Rd Auerbach). Everything was free and we used product that we had to replace from Stop & Shop, Star Market, Roche Bros. and Brad & Circus accounts. Naturally, I made sure to take care of the security staff for every game. We were even making trips to the Hartford Civic Centre as mentioned in the video. It was an unbelievable time to be a Boston sports fan and we saw the Dynasty for free and up-close in-person. Soon enough the Boston Bruins (landlords of the Garden owned by Delaware North) contacted us and we had the same arrangement for several seasons!! I missed a handful of home games during that stretch before moving to Hawaii. This video brings back serious memories!! I was at all of those games in the mid-1980's. You could never do that in today's hi-tech World...
Nice to have parents and money huh..I gre up in Cambridge and snuck in to over 100 Celtics and Bruins games. It was the ONLY way i was able to witness Bird and the boys play. I sat with John Kiley as he played his piano/organ. He had to be about 62 in 1979 and was always reception to us low incombe kids that used the garden as our 2nd playground. Once Maurice Lucas let me retrieve his warmup shots before a Portland game back in about 1978. I was only 7, but his oncourt aggressive persona was the exact opposite that night.As he smiled and had me pass him all his hits or misses for about 10 minutes...Just a young poor white boy at the time. Different worlds, yet a bench of common memorie from that classic,hot n stuffy popcorn/ piss stenched arena. That was loved by so many Bostonians and many others....Was it Orange Julias by chance?
Massachusetts resident and Boston Celtics fan here 🙋🏽♂️ The Boston Garden was home to boatloads of Boston sports history…..but, it was a dump by any modern standards. TD Garden is awesome! I write all this with a literal chuck of the Garden’s parquet floor sitting right next to me on my nightstand. Family connections 😉
It was very cookie cutter when it opened. For all it's flaws the old Garden had character, while the new building felt very sterile. They also went all in on premium seating in the new one, to the point that the folks in the balcony were largely forgotten about when it came to things like concessions, with very minimal offerings up there the first few years. The concourse was just barren and empty. The new one has gotten much better with the renovations they've done over the years, but I still miss the old Garden and always will
I agree with the above comment completely, and would just add that the Bruins were eminently mediocre at the time, and the Celtics were a complete embarrassment. I have to say that I hate the current decor, with all the black.
@@johncassani6780 Yeah, that's a fair point and probably didn't help - winning tends to cover over a lot of other problems and neither team did much winning in that era. Jacobs owned the building, the concessions, and the Bruins so made bank whether they won or lost; add in concerts, the circus, etc. and it became a recipe for absentee ownership. Thus Bruins fans booing him relentlessly when they finally did raise a banner.
March 8th 1986 Bret Hart wrestled Ricky Steamboat in which many consider to be the greatest wrestling match of all time by many including Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I don't know if it was just the poor video quality of the 80s and 90s, but the look of the Boston Garden was just classic. I loved the look of the darker parquet over the new look in the TD Garden.
One of my friends grew up in Dorchester...he and some friends snuck into the Garden while it was being torn down and came away with some nice souvenirs. He has seats from the old Garden in his basement mancave!
Great documentary. I was born in 1978, went to college in Boston in 1997, and now at 46 enjoying the finally 'finished' North Station complex. It's amazing how much it has changed with the green line being above and in front of the old garden to today always blows my mind. So much nicer now and human friendly.
It had the best of seats, it had the worst of seats. Some of the front row balcony seats almost hung over the ice at hockey games. In some of the back row loge seats you could not see the far side of the ice because the balcony was in the way. Too many seats directly behind concrete poles. The sheet pizza was great.
Lots of awesome memories for me here with the old Boston Garden. My Dad got us 2 Bruins season tickets in 1979-80....so I got to watch most of Ray Bourque's rookie season from 3 rows to the left of the Bruins goal. Cool stuff for a 12 year old! In 2003, I took part in "Bruin for a Day" deal the Bruins had. The package came with "parking in the players lot". Which for me, was center ice at the old Garden. Perfect for my 1989 Dodge Daytona that looked like crap!
Excellent piece. As a life long "almost" Bostonian, with many trips to the Garden for Celts and Bs (and concerts), was cool to see this walk-through of it's history and final goodbye.
I was a kid probably around 8 when my father took me to the garden to see Larry Bird near the end of his career, I'll never forget it. Unfortunately he passed away a couple months before this year's title, I would have loved watching the finals with him.
Bill Russell, the GREATEST WINNER in the history of TEAM sports: 11 NBA Championships during his 13-year Celtics career, followed a California state high school championship, 2 NCAA Basketball championships and a 1956 Olympic Gold Medal.
I remember driving past the half torn down garden when I was younger. It was always so cool to drive past on the highway and look right inside the Garden 😊
i live in boston. from what i understand from people who went to the old garden, it was a historic place, but not a nice place. it ran into disrepair, was very small and had a lot of poor viewing angles. people loved it but i’ve yet to meet someone who misses it or wishes it hadnt been torn down
Here's what I miss: cheap tickets, and seats right top of the action. The second floor was right on top of the first floor seats close to the court or rink, so you were sitting right on top off the action, unlike today where higher levels are all set back. The second floor "Galley Gods" were the rowdiest fans in the nation. No other arena today has seats like that.
I’ll never forget going to my first game there. All those yellow/gold seats and the way the stadium was so steep and the balcony was right over the ice. Place would get real load and shake during games. Was at the fog game during the Stanley Cup against Edmonton. Players skated around the ice to alleviate the fog. Been to several concerts there, sound SUCKED. Once saw Terry O’Rielly tear a Quebec Nordique’s face off on thanksgiving night, sitting there at 10 years old a foot from the glass. Dad, knew someone and we went it to the locker room after, I was petrified to meet Terry O’Rielly. They rolled hampers in with the players jerseys in them and his shirt was covered in blood. Some of the best memories of my life there.
There was an urban legend that Red Auerbach traded Ice Capades tickets to the Rockchester Royals GM, for a draft pick that ended up being none other than Bill Russell
not tickets: guaranteed performances in Rochester. they were highly lucrative, having them perform meant they were able to earn a lot of money in a short period of time. real thing was the cost to sign Russel, Rochester couldn’t afford to pay him what he wanted but the Celtics could
Even though im a Lakers fan i'll never going to hate the Celtics and the Boston Garden when I started watching the NBA back in the 80s every year its either Lakers, Celtics or Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals
As my name is Boston and a Boston sports fan from the state of Georgia I thank you for posting this online and also I have family that live there still to this day and fun fact My great grandfather who died 55 years ago in 1969 used to play for the Red Sox his name is Jim Galvin Allen he got struck out by Babe Ruth aka the Red Sox killer 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 But all I got to say is go Sox and Celtics this arena was our house of memories and winning it all last year was awesome
Once a year, they used to sell tickets to shoot on the parquet floor for about 5-10 minutes at a time. In a modern arena, the nosebleeds seem to disappear in the darkness. In the original Garden, they towered over you and though it had poor lighting, you could see every corner. I can see why a loud fanbase would make it so difficult to play against.
The late 1990's to early 2000's were a monumental time for the region in terms of sports facilities. Not only did Boston Garden get replaced. The Patriots were in need of a new facility in Foxboro, and the Red Sox ownership at the time proposed replacing Fenway Park. Luckily, Robert Kraft ended up buying the Patriots and getting Gillette Stadium built in 2002, at the very start of the team's most successful period. The Red Sox also went under new ownership and not only did they save Fenway Park, they revitalized it and gave it modern amenities while maintaining its classic feel. It became a historic landmark in 2012.
Actually, it was a frustrating and politically charged time. Every one of Boston's sports teams were looking for new arenas. Boston still has not had a new site for any team in 100 years. Fenway sat getting more and more outdated and was agreed upon to have a replacement, only to be shot down by an insulted Boston City council that didn't have its palms greased. No bribery, no new stadium for you. While VASTLY updated over the past 25 years, Fenway is still an awful place to watch a game for a regular. For a nostalgic first timer, it's very cool. You don't have to get sardined under tiny hallways in summer rainstorms where you'd almost die. But most of the seats are still uncomfortable or are aimed in the wrong direction or are obstructed views. Kraft desperately wanted to have a stadium in the Seaport(as did the Red Sox). When the attempt by Gov Bill Weld to get it there failed, Kraft pivoted to building Gillette Stadium. However, that had the ultimate political gamer, Speaker of the House, Tom Finneran, basically single-handedly kill that project because Kraft dare ask the state to give a small loan and provide highway infrastructure support that would come up to somewhere near $100M. Imagine that, Kraft didn't want the stadium to be a massive logjam and asked for funding to build roads that would help the area. After Kraft pivoting to Hartford to get a sweetheart deal with UConn and the state on a massive stadium/conference center hotel complex, the NFL and the state got involved and shamed Finneran for making this all happen and he relented and Kraft got his mostly privately funded deal approved. Fortunately for Kraft, his vision of a shopping area, conference center, medical complex actually worked somewhat and people will now go to the middle of nowhere Foxborough to support the area. Boston is full of NIMBYs and nostalgia types who have no vision of the future, what sports can brings to the table and the value of having high quality stadiums in a major metropolitan area. It's an embarrassment, really. While I love Boston and the Garden and Fenway, they each should've been ripped down decades ago. When Boston was originally selected to host the Olympics, I LOL'd. There was a 0.0% chance they'd build all the new arenas and stadiums to host all the events. Of course, it went to LA. None of the major sports teams in the Boston area have what I would consider anywhere near a truly premium sport experience. They are all flawed and that is a dynamic of the Boston area landscape I always expect.
8:08: "After the NBA was formed, the Boston Celtics went off like dynamite." NONSENSE! After the NBA was formed, the *Minneapolis Lakers* DOMINATED winning five straight championships with George Mikan. Get your facts straight! ❄
I went to Berklee College of Music when the Fleet Center opened, Livingston Taylor told us about the last night at the Garden in class right after it happened. I tried to get into a Celtics game once but the arena being small meant you couldn't just show up and hope there was a seat. The Red Sox were a closer walk for me and they were kinda bad those years, so I got into an April game for $14ish and managed to sit behind home plate on a drizzly day.
it was in an era where a lot of NBA and NHL teams were moving into brand new state of the art arena's. The Boston Garden was well over due to be replaced.
@@timothyflanigan1777 It does. The current arena was a compromise and at least with the refresh a few years back is much better. Boston hasn't had a new stadium site in 100 years. It deserves better.
@@timothyflanigan1777 I'd be ecstatic if new Celtics ownership had the money to build an arena just for the Celtics and it actually be a high-end sports experience. Not this compromised nonsense.
I was commuting into Boston when the Garden was being torn down. I would take the elevated green line, and it would slowly go by the demolition, which each day creeped further along. One issue with the old garden is that unscrupulous ticket resellers would resell obstructed view tickets as regular tickets. And these views were nearly completely obstructed.
I knew 2 girls who were cheerleaders for a local college and their school would sometimes play there late in the afternoon. I found out I could go there and when they left, I could lay low and be there for the Celtic game that night. This was in 1981, so I saw some great games - was a championship year. I also figured out that the building next to the Garden was attached and you could work your way out there through the areas where the concessions were put together.,
As a Laker fan, it’s a travesty that the BG was not preserved and renovated. Shame on the local preservation board for selling out. Thankfully the same mistake was not made with Fenway. The Celtics have played in a generic glorified shopping mall the last three decades while the Red Sox play in one of the coolest stadiums around.
@@EdwardDevin not necessarily. Fenway has managed to add enough revenue generating seats and luxury amenities to make the RedSox one of the richest franchises. Decision was much more about a real estate development than a great arena. The replacement is bland
I'd much rather a glorified shopping mall to go to many games than the Garden or Fenway. Both were great in one time events or to see playoff games because you can deal with the inconvenience or just outright pain. Like the second to last time I went to a game at Fenway(2014) and the seats along the 3rd base line crushed my hips and the seat in front dug in under my kneecaps. we let a mom and son sit in our seats while we stayed back in SRO. When I last went(in 2016) I used the internet to find modern, plastic seats and we only paid a small fortune for those. I miss the Garden but it was so far past time for it to go. Not worth preserving. For what??
I remember going to the garden when it was auctioned. I would be in the second group in. In thr room we were waiting there was a no smoking sign that said boston gardon on it. I begged my mother for a while. I was 13 at the time. She finally said go do it and as i was about to put my hands on it a large man came up and stood between me and the sign and ripped it off the wall. A few moments later an official came in and said everything was sold. Everything from the Garden sold in an hour and a half. Good times.
To add... There were actually 2 hockey teams playing in the Boston old Boston garden.... The Boston Whalers played there, in a different league than the Boston bruins....sure many games were at Northeastern Universities Mathews area, but scheduling is what it is, and often the garden was "home" ice for the Whalers. Eventually as the different leagues combined they would join the NHL and move to Hartford. Celtic games in Hartford were always interesting, especially when televised to a national audience, as the announcers would try to explain how the Celtics weren't home but were home..
i remember going on a class trip in like the 5th grade to see the Garden when it was half torn down, and then into the new Fleetcenter… still the best trip i have ever been on
This team used to practice in Hellenic College of the Holy Cross in Brookline,MA. I watched my cathedral win a basketball championship here without even knowing the history of the gym I was in. Very cool
I’m just happy that they connected the green, orange and commuter stations as part of the long renovation. The mall is meh, except for the grocery store. Super useful. The new hobo gates are a hassle
The smell of Marijuana was an every game occurence back in the late 70s and into the mid 80s. I was too young to partake in those bake sessions. They were relegated to the mens rooms , but even more so in the upper balcony that was named ( ra ist)heavan. Yes , I was a kid and just knew what i was told back then. John Kiley let me sit alongside him on more than a few times as he played the organ to the home crowds delight. Always knew the best times to get the garden rocking and the players juices flowing with his classic one of a kind sound. I payed for about 40 Bruins and Celtics games from 1976-1988. I snuck in with my friends to over 150 for sure. Only got caught once. Totally sucked it was a Bruins vs Quebec playoff game. No arrest just a kick in the ass by an usher that knew me very well. All of this would NEVER happen today. I can still smell the beer/ popcorn/ piss smell of the old barn that Larry legend shined the brighest of all. Terry O' reilly giving out pucks out of a white bucket prior to Bruins games was what made the Bruins the best back then. Taz was by far my favorite Bruin. Nobody gives the effort he gave back then NOBODY!!#24
I grew up 18 miles away from Boston Garden and have seen many a hockey game since the 70’s. There was something very special about that old building and The Bruins always had an advantage with the smaller ice surface, especially against teams like the 70’s high flying Canadians. It was a sad day in Boston sports history when they closed it down but even I understand it needed to be replaced. Saying this, some of the old arenas should have never been torn down. The old Montreal “Forum” had so much hockey history that teams who often seeming had games lost in amazing ways (79 Bruins for example) led to the rumor that “the ghost” of Montreal greats were in the building. Chicago’s Rigley field was a sin against baseball. Even going back to the 50’s, what baseball fan wouldn’t want to visit Ebbit’s field, home of The Brooklyn Dodgers. The biggest sin of the wrecking ball, eventhough I hate their guts, is The House That Ruth Built, Yankee Stadium. How can anyone justify that? Lastly, there has been talk about replacing the beloved “Fenway Park”, the last standing monument to baseball. I’ve been to about 50 games there and if they ever tore it down I’d never watch a baseball game again.
the old garden was torn down in the mid 90s due to age and safety hazards the new garden opened in sept 1995 as the Shawmut center during construction Fleet Center TD Bank North and TD Garden my cousin Adele has a Brick from the home team locker room the original garden stood for 67 years
Rockingham park in Salem NH continued remaining dormant until the mid 2010s after plans also fell through for a casino. Now we have Tuscan village, which is basically a whole new downtown area that brought thousands of people into Salem
If "Boston Arena" is the facility I think it is (Currently Northeastern University's Matthews Arena), it's currently in its last hockey season of operation before being razed for new development. It's a shame. It's the oldest ice rink in the country and a terrific venue to see a game in. It will be missed.
The cool part was how they took it down. The first walls they took down were of the east side where only 100yards from route 93 so the inside was wide open to everyone driving by for weeks just like the thumbnail pic. I saw it all there. Celts and Bs. Circus, Ice Capades and concerts. Epic building but I always felt like I was in a basement
Logistics and exact dwelling aside, when it came to history, the old "barn" was tops! To not carry the name GARDEN immediately is as much a reflection on the greedy dicks that took over
This is gr8... Hey LaBreeceTV, why not do a Modern Ruins on the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas... also, a Modern Ruins on the Tropicana Field (which got the roof ripped off by Hurricane Milton) ? The Boston Garden was great in its own right... with many championships from the Bruins and the Celtics
EDIT The construction guys were working on the NEW building but still needed to remove outer sections to do so. That might be the brick I got. What a great video. I do have 1 thing that I am confused about. I graduated HS in 94. That next winter I took a job with a sandwich shop across from the old Garden called the Birds Nest (poultry was his specialty, nothing to do with the great number 33). I remember feeding the construction guys working the demo there and they gave me a brick from the joint. But this was also the year a banner was stolen by kids at my former HS. LOL The construction guys, knowing I was from Melrose broke my balls about being involved. LOL Either way, I grew up in that joint and had some of the best memories of my father in there. Great documentary.
The old Boston Garden was charming in it's own ways. Many obstructions, some fans on the second tier were right on top of the action, unlike current stadiums where the higher levels are set way back. I don't think they had air conditioning. I seem to remember their was a hockety playoff game where the hot air met the cold ice and caused fog on the rink. Fans were obnoxious and wild. Also during the sixties, when the Celtics were winning a title every year seats where always available for $2 and up. Now off course everything is $$$$.
Glad you liked the view. You missed out on sono much more. BTW fleetcenter is /was trash compare to the Garden. The name was never official and is now just a bad memoria. Those two years all Home teams were NO good. Unless you consider Sherm Douglas a great player
@phillipbrooks3680 Antoine Walker and Walter McCarty were my guys. I also remember seeing them play the Cavs with an aging Shawn Kemp who was one of my favorites
Been there many times in late eighties to see live WWF events, Saw all the top billed wrestlers Yes, Hogan Dugan Sheik, tag team demolition etc. Was also at the NBA Hometown Boston Celtics VS the Charlotte Hornets November 23. 1988 14,890 fans and we were at courtside watching Larry Bird sidelined with foot injury saw hm on bench also Muggsy Bouges was playing at 5'3" he was quick and impressive. Can't watch it on tv but live it is entertaining. Fools. should be a historical landmark/treasure
March 8th 1986 Bret Hart wrestled Ricky Steamboat in which many consider to be the greatest wrestling match of all time by many including Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I went there in oct 1995 when they filmed Celtic pride. Everything had been stripped out of there. Got out the same time as the circus at the fleet center. They were so close to each other.
These old arenas should have been renovated like Wrigley instead of replaced and demolished. Imagine if MSG was tore down. Instead of auctioning the floor it should have been recycled into the new floor. The teams could have used other local stadiums until the revamp was done. Same with the Spectrum in Philly.
Super Video! Does anyone have an "Obstructed View" ticket stub?😅😅 You"d have a nice hunk of steel right between your legs. Classic Boston. Games , The Circus😅, outrageous concerts! I saw "Queen" fourth row "Stage Freddy" in 1982. Turned out it was one of their very last appearances ever in the U.S. You'd camp out overnight at the Box Office and get rewarded with awesome seats. We were blessed to assemble in that dilapitaded entertainment temple.😂
I drove by this everyday on the expressway on the way to work and watched it being torn down, stuck in traffic could see seats were l sat for many bruins and celtics games concerts
My grandfather bought eight season tickets and two of them were what was known as "obstructed view seats". You literally sat behind a load-bearing post
Modern day stadiums SUCK stadiums built w balconies were built for good sight lines that made for a good experience. We the fans should have said NO to chile bowl stadiums, todays true fans are sent so far away from that action that attending makes little sense Chicago stadium and Boston Garden are the best stadiums ever built, architectural gems. Todays architects suck, no innovation
Bobby Orr and WAYNE CASHMAN?? Look, I've got nothing against Cashman. He was an outstanding player, but if you're going to hold up players as the face of the Bruins then Orr is a shoe it, but how about Phil Esposito or John Bucyk? Or Gerry Cheevers?
As a kid hopping on train at the old Savin Hill T station and going to Haymarket Station. Around end of 1st period or 1st quarter of a Bs or Celts game finding a scalper and getting tickets for as little as $2. Sometimes we’d go to Chinatown first and find a homeless dude to buy us a pint or two at packie. Coming back on the train and getting into fights with south shore kids or some college kids. Good times
The Intro/Outro for this video was removed. If you would like to watch an unaltered version, you can do so here: th-cam.com/video/3LTcWuf_o7c/w-d-xo.html
Great Job as always. Would you do a video on the RCA Dome and North Charleston Coliseum?
RCA Dome/Lucas Oil Stadium was actually the inspiration for the channel. I remember following the development of LO on the news from the early days to completion as a kid. I thought it would be cool to make a video about that, but then I saw that the arena the Nets (first major sports team I witnessed relocate in my childhood) played in was abandoned and have been sidetracked ever since. Saving the dome for a special episode and not sure how/when I'll do that yet.
Biden caused it to get removed.
The old Garden had a storied history and as a Larry Bird fan watched many Celtics broadcasts from that stadium in the 80’s. Thank you for producing this brilliant documentary. Well done Lee.
it had history, but it was a dump.
The garden was a dump but it was our dump
Like RFK.
Stand by your dump
i miss the pole seats
What were the high seats called?
We Mets fans say the same thing about Shea Stadium....Although, It should never have been a dump. But the building was owned by NYC and operated by the Parks Dept. And of course the City and the Parks Dept neglected the facility.
3:32 Sadly Northeastern University has filed to demolish Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena), the Boston Garden's predecessor. At 114 years old (soon to be 115) it is the oldest indoor arena in the world and the original home of the Celtics, Bruins, and Whalers.
The view from the first row of the balcony is absolutely sensational and there is nothing else like it as the balcony hangs out over the ice.
But the walls are falling down now...
@brianfoley1805 It's almost like they should have spent money on upkeep and repair instead of putting a gigantic blueline to blueline video board in to an over 100 year old building 🤷♂️🤦♂️
@@RobMcDougallwe better have a Celtics pride 2 in honor of the arena
@@bobheyotue9850 While acknowledging it's not what most people would consider a "great film", I absolutely love Celtic Pride. Kinda disappointed it didn't get a mention in this video, now that you mention it.
I do hope the Bruins hold a team practice or something at Matthews before their 100th anniversary game in December. They did use the arena for one of their jersey reveal videos this year.
@ what could they possibly put there? Like the issue with me is that they’re going to demolish in order to make a sports complex/dormitory for students which is fine but seeing the new buildings Northeastern has been putting up it will be a eye sore personally they should renovate it and treat the arena like those historical Buildings that can’t be taken down.
I grew up in the 1970's & 1980's living in Framingham. My family owned a freshly squeezed juice business in Cambridge and later Allston, MA. We also owned a Cider mill in Sterling, MA. In 1984 I called Red Auerbach offering to supply the Celtics with 100% freshly squeezed juice (a true luxury in Boston) as a show of our appreciation - this was during the '84 Finals with the LA Fakers. To my surprise, Red invited us to Game 7 and asked that we meet him in the locker room a few hours before tip-off to avoid all the BS (remember this was Boston in the mid-1980's). We met the coaches ad several players... of course Red gave us two press box passes (remember the Panasonic & Technics signs in the upper balcony...). In those days, you shook hands and did business in person. He asked us to supply the Celtics for EVERY home game for the next five seasons. I was also delivering juice to some of the players homes (Larry Bird, The Chief, DJ and Rd Auerbach). Everything was free and we used product that we had to replace from Stop & Shop, Star Market, Roche Bros. and Brad & Circus accounts. Naturally, I made sure to take care of the security staff for every game. We were even making trips to the Hartford Civic Centre as mentioned in the video. It was an unbelievable time to be a Boston sports fan and we saw the Dynasty for free and up-close in-person. Soon enough the Boston Bruins (landlords of the Garden owned by Delaware North) contacted us and we had the same arrangement for several seasons!! I missed a handful of home games during that stretch before moving to Hawaii. This video brings back serious memories!! I was at all of those games in the mid-1980's. You could never do that in today's hi-tech World...
Nice to have parents and money huh..I gre up in Cambridge and snuck in to over 100 Celtics and Bruins games. It was the ONLY way i was able to witness Bird and the boys play. I sat with John Kiley as he played his piano/organ. He had to be about 62 in 1979 and was always reception to us low incombe kids that used the garden as our 2nd playground. Once Maurice Lucas let me retrieve his warmup shots before a Portland game back in about 1978. I was only 7, but his oncourt aggressive persona was the exact opposite that night.As he smiled and had me pass him all his hits or misses for about 10 minutes...Just a young poor white boy at the time. Different worlds, yet a bench of common memorie from that classic,hot n stuffy popcorn/ piss stenched arena. That was loved by so many Bostonians and many others....Was it Orange Julias by chance?
I too lived in the Punchbowl district of Honolulu briefly in 2008 and 2009
Gimme money
Massachusetts resident and Boston Celtics fan here 🙋🏽♂️ The Boston Garden was home to boatloads of Boston sports history…..but, it was a dump by any modern standards. TD Garden is awesome! I write all this with a literal chuck of the Garden’s parquet floor sitting right next to me on my nightstand. Family connections 😉
Ah I miss taking the train there and tons of ppl with all the games 😢I miss the good days
Boston resident here who never got to see the old garden (saw fleet center a lot though). Well said, and lucky you 🍀
Cant stand the fleet center. The garden was the best. Man i miss my youth
The garden will never be forgotten. Not any time soon at least. I rememeber when the new one opened, most people were very negative about it.
It was very cookie cutter when it opened. For all it's flaws the old Garden had character, while the new building felt very sterile. They also went all in on premium seating in the new one, to the point that the folks in the balcony were largely forgotten about when it came to things like concessions, with very minimal offerings up there the first few years. The concourse was just barren and empty.
The new one has gotten much better with the renovations they've done over the years, but I still miss the old Garden and always will
I agree with the above comment completely, and would just add that the Bruins were eminently mediocre at the time, and the Celtics were a complete embarrassment. I have to say that I hate the current decor, with all the black.
@@johncassani6780 Yeah, that's a fair point and probably didn't help - winning tends to cover over a lot of other problems and neither team did much winning in that era.
Jacobs owned the building, the concessions, and the Bruins so made bank whether they won or lost; add in concerts, the circus, etc. and it became a recipe for absentee ownership. Thus Bruins fans booing him relentlessly when they finally did raise a banner.
New garden was bad, they piped in aploze because Bruins stunk.
The old garden had so many obstructed views and was small/ if they can tear down the original yankee stadium, they can tear down anything
March 8th 1986 Bret Hart wrestled Ricky Steamboat in which many consider to be the greatest wrestling match of all time by many including Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I don't know if it was just the poor video quality of the 80s and 90s, but the look of the Boston Garden was just classic. I loved the look of the darker parquet over the new look in the TD Garden.
Nah, it looked like that in our brains, too. LOL
All just nicotine stains
Front row balcony were the best seats in the house.
One of my friends grew up in Dorchester...he and some friends snuck into the Garden while it was being torn down and came away with some nice souvenirs. He has seats from the old Garden in his basement mancave!
As a former Celtics dancer, who just got her ring from our recent championship, it’s so awesome to see the history of what stood before TD garden. ☘️❤
Great documentary. I was born in 1978, went to college in Boston in 1997, and now at 46 enjoying the finally 'finished' North Station complex. It's amazing how much it has changed with the green line being above and in front of the old garden to today always blows my mind. So much nicer now and human friendly.
It had the best of seats, it had the worst of seats. Some of the front row balcony seats almost hung over the ice at hockey games. In some of the back row loge seats you could not see the far side of the ice because the balcony was in the way. Too many seats directly behind concrete poles. The sheet pizza was great.
I am not aware of any arena today that has seats as good as those front balcony seats.
@@ppumpkin3282 True and it's a shame.
@@ppumpkin3282 Matthews Arena, but not for long
I remember going there in the 80's to see Andre the giant wrestle with the WWF , also the Monster trucks
They had monster trucks in the Garden? 😮
@@Dejays_lifestyle they used to, now they do Monster Jam in Gillette and DCU Center
Lots of awesome memories for me here with the old Boston Garden. My Dad got us 2 Bruins season tickets in 1979-80....so I got to watch most of Ray Bourque's rookie season from 3 rows to the left of the Bruins goal. Cool stuff for a 12 year old! In 2003, I took part in "Bruin for a Day" deal the Bruins had. The package came with "parking in the players lot". Which for me, was center ice at the old Garden. Perfect for my 1989 Dodge Daytona that looked like crap!
Came out in 1983?
Excellent piece. As a life long "almost" Bostonian, with many trips to the Garden for Celts and Bs (and concerts), was cool to see this walk-through of it's history and final goodbye.
I was a kid probably around 8 when my father took me to the garden to see Larry Bird near the end of his career, I'll never forget it. Unfortunately he passed away a couple months before this year's title, I would have loved watching the finals with him.
3:40 The Boston Arena is still around and still used for college sports and is now called Matthews Arena as Northeastern University bought it.
I believe that's where "The Doors" Live in Boston" Album was recorded. 1970?
Phenomenal Album.
…it’s being demolished in May because it’s crumbling from below: huge foundation issue that irreparable
Bill Russell was a great legend as a Celtics
Bill Russell, the GREATEST WINNER in the history of TEAM sports: 11 NBA Championships during his 13-year Celtics career, followed a California state high school championship, 2 NCAA Basketball championships and a 1956 Olympic Gold Medal.
Bill Russell was Legend in general..
I remember driving past the half torn down garden when I was younger. It was always so cool to drive past on the highway and look right inside the Garden 😊
i live in boston. from what i understand from people who went to the old garden, it was a historic place, but not a nice place. it ran into disrepair, was very small and had a lot of poor viewing angles. people loved it but i’ve yet to meet someone who misses it or wishes it hadnt been torn down
Here's what I miss: cheap tickets, and seats right top of the action. The second floor was right on top of the first floor seats close to the court or rink, so you were sitting right on top off the action, unlike today where higher levels are all set back. The second floor "Galley Gods" were the rowdiest fans in the nation. No other arena today has seats like that.
I’ll never forget going to my first game there. All those yellow/gold seats and the way the stadium was so steep and the balcony was right over the ice. Place would get real load and shake during games. Was at the fog game during the Stanley Cup against Edmonton. Players skated around the ice to alleviate the fog. Been to several concerts there, sound SUCKED. Once saw Terry O’Rielly tear a Quebec Nordique’s face off on thanksgiving night, sitting there at 10 years old a foot from the glass. Dad, knew someone and we went it to the locker room after, I was petrified to meet Terry O’Rielly. They rolled hampers in with the players jerseys in them and his shirt was covered in blood. Some of the best memories of my life there.
I knew every nook and cranny of that building. It wasn't flashy but fitting for sports events. I loved my 26 years there.
There was an urban legend that Red Auerbach traded Ice Capades tickets to the Rockchester Royals GM, for a draft pick that ended up being none other than Bill Russell
not tickets: guaranteed performances in Rochester. they were highly lucrative, having them perform meant they were able to earn a lot of money in a short period of time.
real thing was the cost to sign Russel, Rochester couldn’t afford to pay him what he wanted but the Celtics could
You do such A Great complete job on these. Well done 👍 👍
Yay! Welcome back! Missed your videos!
Even though im a Lakers fan i'll never going to hate the Celtics and the Boston Garden when I started watching the NBA back in the 80s every year its either Lakers, Celtics or Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals
As my name is Boston and a Boston sports fan from the state of Georgia
I thank you for posting this online and also I have family that live there still to this day and fun fact
My great grandfather who died 55 years ago in 1969 used to play for the Red Sox his name is Jim Galvin Allen he got struck out by Babe Ruth aka the Red Sox killer 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
But all I got to say is go Sox and Celtics this arena was our house of memories and winning it all last year was awesome
Do a video on what happened to Foxboro Stadium, home to the New England Patriots before Robert Kraft bought the team.
It’s a parking lot for Gillette now 😂(that place was truly a dumb and was not safe for kids)
Once a year, they used to sell tickets to shoot on the parquet floor for about 5-10 minutes at a time. In a modern arena, the nosebleeds seem to disappear in the darkness. In the original Garden, they towered over you and though it had poor lighting, you could see every corner. I can see why a loud fanbase would make it so difficult to play against.
The late 1990's to early 2000's were a monumental time for the region in terms of sports facilities. Not only did Boston Garden get replaced. The Patriots were in need of a new facility in Foxboro, and the Red Sox ownership at the time proposed replacing Fenway Park.
Luckily, Robert Kraft ended up buying the Patriots and getting Gillette Stadium built in 2002, at the very start of the team's most successful period. The Red Sox also went under new ownership and not only did they save Fenway Park, they revitalized it and gave it modern amenities while maintaining its classic feel. It became a historic landmark in 2012.
Actually, it was a frustrating and politically charged time. Every one of Boston's sports teams were looking for new arenas. Boston still has not had a new site for any team in 100 years.
Fenway sat getting more and more outdated and was agreed upon to have a replacement, only to be shot down by an insulted Boston City council that didn't have its palms greased. No bribery, no new stadium for you. While VASTLY updated over the past 25 years, Fenway is still an awful place to watch a game for a regular. For a nostalgic first timer, it's very cool. You don't have to get sardined under tiny hallways in summer rainstorms where you'd almost die. But most of the seats are still uncomfortable or are aimed in the wrong direction or are obstructed views.
Kraft desperately wanted to have a stadium in the Seaport(as did the Red Sox). When the attempt by Gov Bill Weld to get it there failed, Kraft pivoted to building Gillette Stadium. However, that had the ultimate political gamer, Speaker of the House, Tom Finneran, basically single-handedly kill that project because Kraft dare ask the state to give a small loan and provide highway infrastructure support that would come up to somewhere near $100M. Imagine that, Kraft didn't want the stadium to be a massive logjam and asked for funding to build roads that would help the area. After Kraft pivoting to Hartford to get a sweetheart deal with UConn and the state on a massive stadium/conference center hotel complex, the NFL and the state got involved and shamed Finneran for making this all happen and he relented and Kraft got his mostly privately funded deal approved. Fortunately for Kraft, his vision of a shopping area, conference center, medical complex actually worked somewhat and people will now go to the middle of nowhere Foxborough to support the area.
Boston is full of NIMBYs and nostalgia types who have no vision of the future, what sports can brings to the table and the value of having high quality stadiums in a major metropolitan area. It's an embarrassment, really. While I love Boston and the Garden and Fenway, they each should've been ripped down decades ago. When Boston was originally selected to host the Olympics, I LOL'd. There was a 0.0% chance they'd build all the new arenas and stadiums to host all the events. Of course, it went to LA.
None of the major sports teams in the Boston area have what I would consider anywhere near a truly premium sport experience. They are all flawed and that is a dynamic of the Boston area landscape I always expect.
No air conditioner, Huge rats , smell of urine opposing teams hated playing there it was great .
Remember that smoke haze? 4 up in the corners beer stands. Man!! That place was primitive to the maximum.
Im from Philly a boston celtics fan since 1982 I enjoyed this
8:08: "After the NBA was formed, the Boston Celtics went off like dynamite."
NONSENSE! After the NBA was formed, the *Minneapolis Lakers* DOMINATED winning five straight championships with George Mikan. Get your facts straight!
❄
Yes, but then the Celtics won ten of eleven in the 60s, including seven straight. 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
Wonderful video!
I saw My Dad Graduate College there. A moment I’ll never forget. Miss Ya and love Ya Dad. ❤️
6/28/74, Weather Report Suite>JAM>US Blues
@ saw it. ✌️
Since you did Boston Garden it fitting you should do a video on Chicago Stadium
I went to Berklee College of Music when the Fleet Center opened, Livingston Taylor told us about the last night at the Garden in class right after it happened. I tried to get into a Celtics game once but the arena being small meant you couldn't just show up and hope there was a seat. The Red Sox were a closer walk for me and they were kinda bad those years, so I got into an April game for $14ish and managed to sit behind home plate on a drizzly day.
I went to many concerts and hockey/basketball games as a 1970's Boston teen, great place, you could feel the energy and some building shaking moments.
Amazing piece!
@10:22 What arena is that ?
it was in an era where a lot of NBA and NHL teams were moving into brand new state of the art arena's. The Boston Garden was well over due to be replaced.
And the sad part is whenever a new arena or stadium is created, the lifespan grows shorter up to 20 years now.
@@therealjaystone2344 i say within in 10 years, rumblings will start that Boston will need a new arena.
@@timothyflanigan1777 It does. The current arena was a compromise and at least with the refresh a few years back is much better. Boston hasn't had a new stadium site in 100 years. It deserves better.
@@timothyflanigan1777 I'd be ecstatic if new Celtics ownership had the money to build an arena just for the Celtics and it actually be a high-end sports experience. Not this compromised nonsense.
I was commuting into Boston when the Garden was being torn down. I would take the elevated green line, and it would slowly go by the demolition, which each day creeped further along. One issue with the old garden is that unscrupulous ticket resellers would resell obstructed view tickets as regular tickets. And these views were nearly completely obstructed.
I knew 2 girls who were cheerleaders for a local college and their school would sometimes play there late in the afternoon. I found out I could go there and when they left, I could lay low and be there for the Celtic game that night. This was in 1981, so I saw some great games - was a championship year. I also figured out that the building next to the Garden was attached and you could work your way out there through the areas where the concessions were put together.,
As a Laker fan, it’s a travesty that the BG was not preserved and renovated. Shame on the local preservation board for selling out. Thankfully the same mistake was not made with Fenway. The Celtics have played in a generic glorified shopping mall the last three decades while the Red Sox play in one of the coolest stadiums around.
It has a personality.
To fix it too much money, had to go new with more suites.
@@EdwardDevin not necessarily. Fenway has managed to add enough revenue generating seats and luxury amenities to make the RedSox one of the richest franchises. Decision was much more about a real estate development than a great arena. The replacement is bland
@bdjs2k great point and thank you , garden all done.
I'd much rather a glorified shopping mall to go to many games than the Garden or Fenway. Both were great in one time events or to see playoff games because you can deal with the inconvenience or just outright pain. Like the second to last time I went to a game at Fenway(2014) and the seats along the 3rd base line crushed my hips and the seat in front dug in under my kneecaps. we let a mom and son sit in our seats while we stayed back in SRO. When I last went(in 2016) I used the internet to find modern, plastic seats and we only paid a small fortune for those. I miss the Garden but it was so far past time for it to go. Not worth preserving. For what??
I remember going to the garden when it was auctioned. I would be in the second group in. In thr room we were waiting there was a no smoking sign that said boston gardon on it. I begged my mother for a while. I was 13 at the time. She finally said go do it and as i was about to put my hands on it a large man came up and stood between me and the sign and ripped it off the wall. A few moments later an official came in and said everything was sold. Everything from the Garden sold in an hour and a half. Good times.
To add...
There were actually 2 hockey teams playing in the Boston old Boston garden....
The Boston Whalers played there, in a different league than the Boston bruins....sure many games were at Northeastern Universities Mathews area, but scheduling is what it is, and often the garden was "home" ice for the Whalers.
Eventually as the different leagues combined they would join the NHL and move to Hartford.
Celtic games in Hartford were always interesting, especially when televised to a national audience, as the announcers would try to explain how the Celtics weren't home but were home..
i remember going on a class trip in like the 5th grade to see the Garden when it was half torn down, and then into the new Fleetcenter… still the best trip i have ever been on
This team used to practice in Hellenic College of the Holy Cross in Brookline,MA. I watched my cathedral win a basketball championship here without even knowing the history of the gym I was in. Very cool
I was lucky enough to watch Celtic games with my dad at the garden. I loved that place
I’m just happy that they connected the green, orange and commuter stations as part of the long renovation. The mall is meh, except for the grocery store. Super useful. The new hobo gates are a hassle
Very Interesting. Thanks 👍😊
Thank you for this!
The smell of Marijuana was an every game occurence back in the late 70s and into the mid 80s. I was too young to partake in those bake sessions. They were relegated to the mens rooms , but even more so in the upper balcony that was named ( ra ist)heavan. Yes , I was a kid and just knew what i was told back then. John Kiley let me sit alongside him on more than a few times as he played the organ to the home crowds delight. Always knew the best times to get the garden rocking and the players juices flowing with his classic one of a kind sound. I payed for about 40 Bruins and Celtics games from 1976-1988. I snuck in with my friends to over 150 for sure. Only got caught once. Totally sucked it was a Bruins vs Quebec playoff game. No arrest just a kick in the ass by an usher that knew me very well. All of this would NEVER happen today. I can still smell the beer/ popcorn/ piss smell of the old barn that Larry legend shined the brighest of all. Terry O' reilly giving out pucks out of a white bucket prior to Bruins games was what made the Bruins the best back then. Taz was by far my favorite Bruin. Nobody gives the effort he gave back then NOBODY!!#24
They called it "grape heaven?" That sounds so Boston.
I grew up 18 miles away from Boston Garden and have seen many a hockey game since the 70’s. There was something very special about that old building and The Bruins always had an advantage with the smaller ice surface, especially against teams like the 70’s high flying Canadians. It was a sad day in Boston sports history when they closed it down but even I understand it needed to be replaced.
Saying this, some of the old arenas should have never been torn down. The old Montreal “Forum” had so much hockey history that teams who often seeming had games lost in amazing ways (79 Bruins for example) led to the rumor that “the ghost” of Montreal greats were in the building. Chicago’s Rigley field was a sin against baseball. Even going back to the 50’s, what baseball fan wouldn’t want to visit Ebbit’s field, home of The Brooklyn Dodgers. The biggest sin of the wrecking ball, eventhough I hate their guts, is The House That Ruth Built, Yankee Stadium. How can anyone justify that?
Lastly, there has been talk about replacing the beloved “Fenway Park”, the last standing monument to baseball. I’ve been to about 50 games there and if they ever tore it down I’d never watch a baseball game again.
Just subscribed, like to see a what happened to the RCA Dome episode at some point in time.
Started watching the B's in 1974 from northern New Hampshire and used to dream of going to any games there.
This was a fun watch and educational
the old garden was torn down in the mid 90s due to age and safety hazards the new garden opened in sept 1995 as the Shawmut center during construction Fleet Center TD Bank North and TD Garden my cousin Adele has a Brick from the home team locker room the original garden stood for 67 years
Saw many a great show at the old Garden ! 🤘🏻🎶
Love your stuff!
I got to see Bird in the Garden v the Rockets. Saw him a few other times. Garden was a classic building.
i don't even watch basketball or NBA stuff & that looks detailed & nice, tbqh.
I remember walking downtown and seeing the place being torn down in 1998. I was like wow that was the Boston Garden right there.
Saw my first game in the Garden in 1973 at age 14. Sat in the end zone for Larry the Legend's first game in 1979. Wow was I lucky
13:43 This isn't true. Game 5 was played in Edmonton not Game 4. Game 4 was to be replayed at the end of the series if needed.
😯
Rockingham park in Salem NH continued remaining dormant until the mid 2010s after plans also fell through for a casino. Now we have Tuscan village, which is basically a whole new downtown area that brought thousands of people into Salem
If "Boston Arena" is the facility I think it is (Currently Northeastern University's Matthews Arena), it's currently in its last hockey season of operation before being razed for new development. It's a shame. It's the oldest ice rink in the country and a terrific venue to see a game in. It will be missed.
The cool part was how they took it down. The first walls they took down were of the east side where only 100yards from route 93 so the inside was wide open to everyone driving by for weeks just like the thumbnail pic. I saw it all there. Celts and Bs. Circus, Ice Capades and concerts. Epic building but I always felt like I was in a basement
HES BACK
its tragic to see buildings from that era go down but i get why. im just such a sucker fir the architecture of the time
I loved the old Garden and I love the new Garden too.
It turning into a parking lot was quite depressing
No it's the hub on causeway
@@White_sox_fanyea after 2 decades
Logistics and exact dwelling aside, when it came to history, the old "barn" was tops! To not carry the name GARDEN immediately is as much a reflection on the greedy dicks that took over
This is gr8... Hey LaBreeceTV, why not do a Modern Ruins on the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas... also, a Modern Ruins on the Tropicana Field (which got the roof ripped off by Hurricane Milton) ? The Boston Garden was great in its own right... with many championships from the Bruins and the Celtics
I would add the Buffalo auditorium and the met center from Bloomington.
This is a niche one but the "forest city velodrome" that used to house the london knights built in the 60s
EDIT The construction guys were working on the NEW building but still needed to remove outer sections to do so. That might be the brick I got.
What a great video. I do have 1 thing that I am confused about. I graduated HS in 94. That next winter I took a job with a sandwich shop across from the old Garden called the Birds Nest (poultry was his specialty, nothing to do with the great number 33). I remember feeding the construction guys working the demo there and they gave me a brick from the joint. But this was also the year a banner was stolen by kids at my former HS. LOL The construction guys, knowing I was from Melrose broke my balls about being involved. LOL
Either way, I grew up in that joint and had some of the best memories of my father in there.
Great documentary.
I’m thankful I got to see a bruins game with my dad at the old garden
Some of the original parquet floor from the garden was used in the construction of Auerbach Center
Thank You..
Make a vídeo of the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid
The old Boston Garden was charming in it's own ways. Many obstructions, some fans on the second tier were right on top of the action, unlike current stadiums where the higher levels are set way back. I don't think they had air conditioning. I seem to remember their was a hockety playoff game where the hot air met the cold ice and caused fog on the rink. Fans were obnoxious and wild. Also during the sixties, when the Celtics were winning a title every year seats where always available for $2 and up. Now off course everything is $$$$.
My parents moved the family to Boston in 1996, just in time for me to look over the ruins of The Garden from a window inside the "Fleet Center" 💔
Glad you liked the view. You missed out on sono much more. BTW fleetcenter is /was trash compare to the Garden. The name was never official and is now just a bad memoria. Those two years all Home teams were NO good. Unless you consider Sherm Douglas a great player
@phillipbrooks3680 Antoine Walker and Walter McCarty were my guys. I also remember seeing them play the Cavs with an aging Shawn Kemp who was one of my favorites
Been there many times in late eighties to see live WWF events, Saw all the top billed wrestlers
Yes, Hogan Dugan Sheik, tag team demolition etc. Was also at the NBA Hometown Boston Celtics
VS the Charlotte Hornets November 23. 1988 14,890 fans and we were at courtside watching Larry
Bird sidelined with foot injury saw hm on bench also Muggsy Bouges was playing at 5'3" he was quick and
impressive. Can't watch it on tv but live it is entertaining. Fools. should be a historical landmark/treasure
March 8th 1986 Bret Hart wrestled Ricky Steamboat in which many consider to be the greatest wrestling match of all time by many including Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I went there in oct 1995 when they filmed Celtic pride. Everything had been stripped out of there. Got out the same time as the circus at the fleet center. They were so close to each other.
These old arenas should have been renovated like Wrigley instead of replaced and demolished. Imagine if MSG was tore down. Instead of auctioning the floor it should have been recycled into the new floor. The teams could have used other local stadiums until the revamp was done. Same with the Spectrum in Philly.
Maple Leaf gardens. Sorta similar to the Boston garden
Super Video!
Does anyone have an "Obstructed View" ticket stub?😅😅 You"d have a nice hunk of steel right between your legs.
Classic Boston.
Games , The Circus😅, outrageous concerts!
I saw "Queen" fourth row "Stage Freddy" in 1982. Turned out it was one of their very last appearances ever in the U.S. You'd camp out overnight at the Box Office and get rewarded with awesome seats.
We were blessed to assemble in that dilapitaded
entertainment temple.😂
I've got a couple front row balcony stubs. Those seats were incredible.
I drove by this everyday on the expressway on the way to work and watched it being torn down, stuck in traffic could see seats were l sat for many bruins and celtics games concerts
My grandfather bought eight season tickets and two of them were what was known as "obstructed view seats". You literally sat behind a load-bearing post
Amazing documentary....last saw GnR and Aerosmith in 93/94
Finally back🎉
I have never heard an explanation why Madison Square and Boston Garden were both named Garden and no other arenas (that I know of).
Shame The Old Boston Garden Never Had Air Conditioning At All During The Later Years Which I’ve Read About As a Philadelphia Sports Fan
@17:56 the sign that says "affordable housing in downtown Boston".... yeah that came to fruition 🤣🤣🤣
Modern day stadiums SUCK
stadiums built w balconies were built for good sight lines that made for a good experience.
We the fans should have said NO to chile bowl stadiums, todays true fans are sent so far away from that action that attending makes little sense
Chicago stadium and Boston Garden are the best stadiums ever built, architectural gems.
Todays architects suck, no innovation
Bobby Orr and WAYNE CASHMAN?? Look, I've got nothing against Cashman. He was an outstanding player, but if you're going to hold up players as the face of the Bruins then Orr is a shoe it, but how about Phil Esposito or John Bucyk? Or Gerry Cheevers?
As a kid hopping on train at the old Savin Hill T station and going to Haymarket Station. Around end of 1st period or 1st quarter of a Bs or Celts game finding a scalper and getting tickets for as little as $2. Sometimes we’d go to Chinatown first and find a homeless dude to buy us a pint or two at packie. Coming back on the train and getting into fights with south shore kids or some college kids. Good times
I used to love watching WWF when they were at the Garden. They would always cheer the heel. 😂
The Garden was so rundown that it became a character in the t.v. series Showtime.
You from Boston?