What Was the Loudest You've Ever Heard the Barn?

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WindyCityGopher

WindyCityGopher

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Inspired by an earlier post by Dr. Don and his recollection from the 1982 season (and in advance of what I hope is a dangerously loud crowd tonight), I thought I'd ask this question: Unless you had a decibel meter this is completely subjective, but what game were you at where the Barn was craziest? Mine was in January 1989 when the Clem and the boys beat the #1 Flyin' Illini. I was a junior with season tickets and can still remember how insane that place was from team intros to the final buzzer. My voice was totally shot at the end, but it was one of the very best sporting events I've ever been to.
 

I think mine would be my freshman year when Vincent Grier out scored Wisconsin in the 2nd half. The student section was as roudy as I can remember. I recently noticed that entire game is on youtube...

 

For me it would be the early Mussleman years. Sweet Georgia Brown Pregame, the crowd clapping in unison in anticipation of the "show", the lights dimmed as the Gophers exploded through the huge Gopher curtain. 17,000 to 18,000 people standing and cheeriing. Then the pregame. Fred Taylor (OSU Coach) said the visitors could hear it all in their locker room well before it was time to go up.
The games with Brewer and Behagen (at least until after the OSU game) Winfield, Turner, Nix etc. were wonderful. I know it has been as loud since but never LOUDER!
P.S. In those days the student section was in the second deck.
 

Morg was just a young pool shark. He and I went over to he barn on March 27th, 19 and 60. Edgerton was unbelievably playing Austin for the state HS championship. With the young HS kids screaming and a huge crowd of 19,018, somehow Edgerton won 72 - 61.
 

makemyday said:
Morg was just a young pool shark. He and I went over to he barn on March 27th, 19 and 60. Edgerton was unbelievably playing Austin for the state HS championship. With the young HS kids screaming and a huge crowd of 19,018, somehow Edgerton won 72 - 61.
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Before the fire marshall stepped in and fuched up The Barn.
 


I haven't been to as many games as most guys on here, so the game that comes to mind for me was February 28, 1994 when Minnesota beat Indiana 106-56. Seems like everyone was just fired up the entire game.
 

SKOOKM said:
I haven't been to as many games as most guys on here, so the game that comes to mind for me was February 28, 1994 when Minnesota beat Indiana 106-56. Seems like everyone was just fired up the entire game.
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I had season tickets with my dad from 1990-2000. This is one of the games I will always remember. Voshon Lenard just shooting the lights out in the first half.
 

I wonder if coach Pitino has had a chance to watch the pre-game warm-ups during the Musselman years? Some day I would love to see this tradition brought back, but I realize this is a pipe dream.
 

Leo Rautins tip in winner almost brought the roof down. I can't remember the year, but my father and I ran all the way to car yelling.
 



1997 when John Thomas was getting ready to shoot free throws to win the game against Illinois. The rouser was so loud Minnesota bounced off the ceiling. Close second and third - when the Gophers took the floor for the Indiana game after they won the Big Ten and "Beat Kentucky" at the welcome home.
 

Oh my goodness - thanks for posting! Best basketball game I've attended.
 

SKOOKM said:
I haven't been to as many games as most guys on here, so the game that comes to mind for me was February 28, 1994 when Minnesota beat Indiana 106-56. Seems like everyone was just fired up the entire game.
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I was at that game. Believe me, Bobby Knight was not fired up. His biggest loss ever........................................but remember-You Were There.
 

Pretty much any home game in '72. Williams Arena used to seat over 18,000 back then. They often had an overflow crowd watching on closed circuit in the hockey arena. The first B1G game that year was against Indiana and they had a crowd of over 19,000. The Fire Marshal was not amused.
 



Loudest moment-there are many but probably after the win over Indiana in 2013

Loudest starting when the doors open until the end-Indiana in 2008
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Inspired by an earlier post by Dr. Don and his recollection from the 1982 season (and in advance of what I hope is a dangerously loud crowd tonight), I thought I'd ask this question: Unless you had a decibel meter this is completely subjective, but what game were you at where the Barn was craziest? Mine was in January 1989 when the Clem and the boys beat the #1 Flyin' Illini. I was a junior with season tickets and can still remember how insane that place was from team intros to the final buzzer. My voice was totally shot at the end, but it was one of the very best sporting events I've ever been to.
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The 1989 Illinois game. I was there, too. I remember my dad got tickets and we watched the polls hopeful they'd be number one. Gophers played a great game and the barn was on fire.


I was at the Indy game last year, but 1989 was better. Clem had them play so hard, it was easy to cheer for them. I wasn't there last night, but it sure felt like those days again with the effort and atmosphere.



These are the good old days?
 

Beating Indiana 108-89 on Super Bowl Sunday in 1990. Indiana was great, but Burton and Newbern were on fire. Game was nationally televised on ABC, and I met former Kentucky coach Joe B Hall during pregame warm ups. He was the color commentator. The building was so loud during the second half that Knight was having trouble communicating with the officials.
 

I'm only 20 years old but I have been to almost every gopher bball home game since I was about 7 or 8. Last night was the loudest I have ever heard The Barn. You just had that feeling that there is just no way we are going to to lose in here tonight. I am a student here now and that student section was wild last night. When Hoff put up 26 against Purdue when they were ranked 7th the barn was really rocking too. Obviously Indiana was rockin.
 

Watching on TV last night, the student section looked awesome. I know the Izzone (we get it- you jump up and down) and others get all the love but on TV, the Barnyard is visually the best student section in the Big Ten. A huge part of this is that the cameras can really focus behind the baskets but the students dressed up as animals really add to the visuals.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Inspired by an earlier post by Dr. Don and his recollection from the 1982 season (and in advance of what I hope is a dangerously loud crowd tonight), I thought I'd ask this question: Unless you had a decibel meter this is completely subjective, but what game were you at where the Barn was craziest? Mine was in January 1989 when the Clem and the boys beat the #1 Flyin' Illini. I was a junior with season tickets and can still remember how insane that place was from team intros to the final buzzer. My voice was totally shot at the end, but it was one of the very best sporting events I've ever been to.
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last night was great, Indiana last year was great-- maybe as loud as the place can get with seating the way it is now vs back in the bench seat days. My seats are lower level, across from Gophers bench, some corporate but not too bad, quite a few Badger fans around last night and it was still really loud. But Jan '89 against Illinois, I don't remember seeing any orange in the building so everyone was loud and I was two rows from the top in the corner across from the Gophers bench, and in that seat '89 was louder.
 

I'll echo some earlier posts that last night was fantastic as was last year versus IU. January 89 versus Illini was the tops for me though. Melvin Newborn set the tone by being a force on both the offensive and defensive end. I think the Barn is getting back to the energy levels of the Clem years. The younger folks will have to continue to lead some of the old timers to get off their seats and get loud.
 

Why is the Barn such a great home court advantage? I hear people refer to it as such all the time. I'm not trying to dispute it. Just curious. Is it the structure that allows it to be louder than other arenas?
 

For me it was loudest when this team played in the Barn:


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The loudest I remember, and maybe it was because I was a kid at the time, was when Ariel McDonald hit a buzzer beater to knock off a (as I recall) ranked Jud Heathcoate squad. But that game last night was waking the echos. Man, was that fun.
 

afurry91 said:
Why is the Barn such a great home court advantage? I hear people refer to it as such all the time. I'm not trying to dispute it. Just curious. Is it the structure that allows it to be louder than other arenas?
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I'm no audiologist, but I think it's because the upper deck seats nearly hang over the court, while most newer arenas have the upper deck set further back (to accommodate the luxury suites). I wonder whether the raised court and curved roof line of the building have anything to do with bouncing the sound around more than other arenas, but again, I would turn to those trained as engineers to answer that question. All I know is that when it's rocking, the Barn is really damn loud...like ear ringing loud. And that's a beautiful thing.
 

As much fun as last night was, add several thousand more people with Musselman's pre-game show jacking everyone up. Games against Knight or Iowa or Ohio State and the arena would just vibrate. Also remember an early 70's game against Al McGuire and a Marquette team that was number one or two. We got there a couple of hours early to make sure we got in. They had a few thousand more next door watching on TV. There was also a more continuous flow to game, can't remember television time-outs, and no stupid promotions to dampen the enthusiasm. Believe me, children, it was louder then. (And, oh ya, we walked uphill both ways in blinding blizzards to get to the arena.)
 

My grandpa said the 1910-1911 team had the loudest fans cheering for the Gophers. Not even a contest.
 

Old-timers, remember that your hearing is starting to degrade, so if you thought the 1954 game was actually the loudest, it might be because you can't really hear the more recent games very well.
 

This doesn't really answer the question, but it sort of does. We've had season tickets since 1990, so that's all I have to draw from. For my money, the 1990's have not been matched for noise and excitement since, although I feel there's plenty of potential going forward, especially with the congregation having gotten a little younger over the past couple years.

I have never seen a crowd so jacked up as for the home opener against Wisconsin on January 12, 1994. It was the year when Arriel McDonald and Randy Carter were seniors, and Lenard, Orr and Walton were juniors. There were extremely high hopes for the team. They had won at Northwestern to start the conference schedule. Walking there along 4th Street, fans were spontaneously chanting, "Here we go, Gophers, here we go" on their way to the arena. I've never heard that kind of thing on the street before or since. The Gophers started slow, and the Badgers with Tracy Webster and Michael Finley started hot, but after the first TV timeout it was all Gophers. Once the home team started to catch up and go ahead, the place was pandemonium. 90-53 was the final score. The 106-56 win over the Hoosiers occurred later that season, but it directly followed a double-digit loss to MSU on the road, and by that time the Gophs had lost 6 conference games, and the bloom was off the rose just a little. The Indiana game was loud and crazy, but I remember much more energy in the building for the UW game.
 

Feb 1997 vs Illinois. Bobby J picked the pocket of an Illini player, tip-toed the sidelines, went up for a contested layup, got fouled hard, and made the 3 pt play in the closing minutes of the 2nd half in a tighty contested game. That was the loudest I've ever heard it by a country mile.

On the flip side was watching the team lose to Arkansas-Little Rock back in the '06-'07 in front of about 5k people
 

Until recently, it was the women's Round of 32 game in the 2004 NCAA tournament, on their way to the Final Four. Lindsay Whalen and Janel McCarville systematically destroyed #3 seed Kansas State (and some supposed All-American that was originally from Sibley East) in front of a packed house that didn't let off the gas all night.
 

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