I was there and remember it well. Harmon was always rocking' but it was beyond deafening on that January afternoon. Great time!!

Yep, I was there. As I mentioned 13 days ago, it was the only Cal game in over 50 years of attending that I actually snuk in to watch. Used the UCLA band to get in. Anyone interested in reading the whole story, its on the January 25th "Questions about Haas Pavillion Seating" thread.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Yep, I was there. As I mentioned 13 days ago, it was the only Cal game in over 50 years of attending that I actually snuk in to watch. Used the UCLA band to get in. Anyone interested in reading the whole story, its on the January 25th "Questions about Haas Pavillion Seating" thread.

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I was there too. When Chris Washington stole that inbounds pass and laid it in I knew we were going to win. Pure madness!

There too, but also i think the 1969 game when it was so close and cal shoulda won...

I remember walking around downtown Seattle when I heard it. What flashed through my mind were all the UCLA players I'd seen beat Cal: Abdul Jabbar, Wicks, Walton, Meyers, Washington, Johnson, etc. I was sure sorry I missed that game.

3146gabby said:

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There too, but also i think the 1969 game when it was so close and cal shoulda won...

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Oh, I was at that one with a buddy. Abdul Jabbar wouldn't give us an autograph before the game. I resented that for years, while still acknowledging what a great player he was. Maybe it was Wooden's policy, who knows? I certainly came to realize what an intelligent guy he is both regarding basketball and other things. I've read several of his books and articles and I like his simple, direct writing.

HearstMining said:

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3146gabby said:

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There too, but also i think the 1969 game when it was so close and cal shoulda won...

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Oh, I was at that one with a buddy. Abdul Jabbar wouldn't give us an autograph before the game. I resented that for years, while still acknowledging what a great player he was. Maybe it was Wooden's policy, who knows? I certainly came to realize what an intelligent guy he is both regarding basketball and other things. I've read several of his books and articles and I like his simple, direct writing.

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I'm a dyed in the wool Lakers fan. My fandom originated with the Showtime Lakers. To me, Magic played basketball the right way (and is the one player I consider GOAT). That said, Kareem was unstoppable, even at age 40. Kareem's skyhook was blocked, at most, a handful of times in 20 years. He could hit it from either block with either hand. He could throw down the skyhook from three feet out to 15 feet out. He was sensational! I was definitely a fan of his basketball abilities.

Later on, I discovered he was a scholar and academic. I read some of his writing and appreciated him on that level, too. If I'm ever lucky enough to meet him, I might just say "thank you" and move on as I've heard he is more of an introvert who doesn't really fan interactions. I can respect that and don't mind giving him his space.

Of course, if I ever meet Magic Johnson, I'm probably likely to revert to that little ten-year old kid and become all starstruck and tongue-tied. He made me fall in love with basketball.

I was there!

oskidunker said:

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With a sell out, the experience might be similar. Eddie Javius should come and sit on top the basket again. I hope some from that team are there.

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I was there. I had seen many of those 52 straight losses in person.

Sadly, Eddie passed away a few years ago from Pancreatic cancer.

It was a very fun game, and a great crowd. Campy tried to downplay the significance of the streak, but without the streak, the win wouldn't have been that much of a big deal, except that it is ALWAYS nice to beat fUCLA.

It isn't like the Bruins were a good team, they were 9-9 in conference that year (compared to Cal's 11-7), 15-13 overall in the regular season, dropping to 15-14 after they lost their first round NIT game to Irvine. They had Reggie Miller as a junior, but in the last season before the 3 point shot came in, he wasn't as valuable. They hadn't been to the NCAA tourney since 3 seasons earlier. The probation of the early 80's had hurt (well, maybe the 1981 order for UCLA to disassociate with Sam Gilbert hurt more ), Larry Farmer's tenure as HC was not good, and then Walt Hazzard, in his second year for that 85-86 game, wasn't exactly great.

The streak was continuing through the past 4 years not because UCLA was good, but because Cal wasn't very good. We were close in 1984, with freshman Kevin Johnson hitting a shot to send the game to OT, but both teams, especially Cal, shooting poorly from the line down the stretch and in OT. I was a stringer for the AP at that game, was in the group interview with Larry Farmer post-game, boy, I've never seen a coach more depressed after a win, he knew his team wasn't good and he was a dead man walking. But at least the streak was intact.

It was a better accomplishment in 85-86 that we swept UW, who finished 13-5 in conference (i.e., 13-3 against the rest of the conference), than splitting with the Bruins who were 8-8 against the rest of the conference.

We were really close to an NCAA bid, if we could have won the double OT game at Arizona, we almost surely get there, or 1 or 2 of our other OT losses, at Dayton in late December or at WSU right before we beat UW in Seattle in the last game of the regular season to give us some hope of a selection. Maybe if we sweep the Bruins instead losing badly in the second game against them in LA, we get in.

But ending a 52 game losing streak to anybody is a big deal, even if they weren't the team they once were, even if Sam Gilbert could no longer provide the best players money could buy.

I'd be happy if we could get 75% the crowd energy tomorrow that we got in 1986, and nice if the team can pull off a W. It sure would be nice to have the last regular season of basketball against UCLA result in a sweep.

GO BEARS!

MoragaBear said:

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I was there as a student. Besides ending the streak, my favorite moment was KJ elevating through the roof on a dunk attempt over their big center. It didn't go down but it was such a freaky athletic play that Harmon went as nuts as if he'd made it.

There's no film of it that I can find but here's KJ posterizing Olajuwon:

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I was fortunate enough to meet KJ at an event in Sacramento about 15 years ago. He was one of my favorite (non-Lakers) players in the NBA when I was a kid. It wasn't until I matriculated at Cal that I learned both he and Jason Kidd (another of my favorite non-Lakers players) were both Cal alumni. I really wish I got to see them in the blue and gold.

01Bear said:

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MoragaBear said:

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I was there as a student. Besides ending the streak, my favorite moment was KJ elevating through the roof on a dunk attempt over their big center. It didn't go down but it was such a freaky athletic play that Harmon went as nuts as if he'd made it.

There's no film of it that I can find but here's KJ posterizing Olajuwon:

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I was fortunate enough to meet KJ at an event in Sacramento about 15 years ago. He was one of my favorite (non-Lakers) players in the NBA when I was a kid. It wasn't until I matriculated at Cal that I learned both he and Jason Kidd (another of my favorite non-Lakers players) were both Cal alumni. I really wish I got to see them in the blue and gold.

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After the game Cal students went to the ucla buses-and thanked Walt Hazard for coming. They said , " We couldn't have done it without you."

oskidunker said:

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01Bear said:

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MoragaBear said:

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I was there as a student. Besides ending the streak, my favorite moment was KJ elevating through the roof on a dunk attempt over their big center. It didn't go down but it was such a freaky athletic play that Harmon went as nuts as if he'd made it.

There's no film of it that I can find but here's KJ posterizing Olajuwon:

---

I was fortunate enough to meet KJ at an event in Sacramento about 15 years ago. He was one of my favorite (non-Lakers) players in the NBA when I was a kid. It wasn't until I matriculated at Cal that I learned both he and Jason Kidd (another of my favorite non-Lakers players) were both Cal alumni. I really wish I got to see them in the blue and gold.

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After the game Cal students went to the ucla buses-and thanked Walt Hazard for coming. They said , " We couldn't have done it without you."

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Ha! That's excellent!

After this year's UCLA game, I walked past the ICLA bench and loudly thanked Chip Kelly for his early Christmas gift of a Cal victory.

I was there …. I still remember the black velvet jacket

Was that the game where the straw hat band wore Reggie ears?? (No way they would get away with that in today's world)


I remember going to the Pac 10 tournament and KJ wore his Beat the Streak T-shirt during warmups


"I will never lose to Cal or Stanfurd again" …. Reggie Miller

Cal8285 said:

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It was a very fun game, and a great crowd. Campy tried to downplay the significance of the streak, but without the streak, the win wouldn't have been that much of a big deal, except that it is ALWAYS nice to beat fUCLA.

It isn't like the Bruins were a good team, they were 9-9 in conference that year (compared to Cal's 11-7), 15-13 overall in the regular season, dropping to 15-14 after they lost their first round NIT game to Irvine. They had Reggie Miller as a junior, but in the last season before the 3 point shot came in, he wasn't as valuable. They hadn't been to the NCAA tourney since 3 seasons earlier. The probation of the early 80's had hurt (well, maybe the 1981 order for UCLA to disassociate with Sam Gilbert hurt more ), Larry Farmer's tenure as HC was not good, and then Walt Hazzard, in his second year for that 85-86 game, wasn't exactly great.

The streak was continuing through the past 4 years not because UCLA was good, but because Cal wasn't very good. We were close in 1984, with freshman Kevin Johnson hitting a shot to send the game to OT, but both teams, especially Cal, shooting poorly from the line down the stretch and in OT. I was a stringer for the AP at that game, was in the group interview with Larry Farmer post-game, boy, I've never seen a coach more depressed after a win, he knew his team wasn't good and he was a dead man walking. But at least the streak was intact.

It was a better accomplishment in 85-86 that we swept UW, who finished 13-5 in conference (i.e., 13-3 against the rest of the conference), than splitting with the Bruins who were 8-8 against the rest of the conference.

We were really close to an NCAA bid, if we could have won the double OT game at Arizona, we almost surely get there, or 1 or 2 of our other OT losses, at Dayton in late December or at WSU right before we beat UW in Seattle in the last game of the regular season to give us some hope of a selection. Maybe if we sweep the Bruins instead losing badly in the second game against them in LA, we get in.

But ending a 52 game losing streak to anybody is a big deal, even if they weren't the team they once were, even if Sam Gilbert could no longer provide the best players money could buy.

I'd be happy if we could get 75% the crowd energy tomorrow that we got in 1986, and nice if the team can pull off a W. It sure would be nice to have the last regular season of basketball against UCLA result in a sweep.

GO BEARS!

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I was there, duh. (250,000 people have said they were there, but I really was.)

We came close to snapping the streak at Pauley, the year Mark McNamara was a senior (1982), He had like 35 pts. That was the year we had Wes Howell, who went on later that year to go out for football and had that amazing TD catch in the '82 Big Game.

calgldnbear said:

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I was there …. I still remember the black velvet jacket

Was that the game where the straw hat band wore Reggie ears?? (No way they would get away with that in today's world)


I remember going to the Pac 10 tournament and KJ wore his Beat the Streak T-shirt during warmups


"I will never lose to Cal or Stanfurd again" …. Reggie Miller

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And I don't believe he did…,

I think you are correct.

86 was definitely better than tonight. All Hail Dave Butler!

MoragaBear said:

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Here are the last few minutes of the game:

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Thanks for posting this. Watching today's game on TV and the fans seem so far removed from the court vs. when I was in school. Was trying to explain to my wife just how close we could stand to the court and she thought I was misremembering. This is an excellent confirmation.

The crowd vibe on TV at least brought me back to late 80s/early 90s energy, was great to see. Hopefully it keeps on going.

When you compare Harmon to Haas, you can clearly see the advantage of a true homeport advantage that Harmon had. Not only did the opposing team have to inbound the ball amongst hostile students, some of them shouting directly in both ears, the rest of the place was so very loud, obnoxious, rude, hot and sweaty and so much fun for us, the fans. Wish we could go back to that, but yes those days are gone. Now, it looks so very corporate. I don't know if any other arenas still have the fans so close to the court, but I doubt it. Probably safety and security reasons. And yes to Bearister, they should never have made the expansion Fromm 6600 to 11000 or whatever it is now. 7500-8000 would have been perfect.

GO BEARS!!

sonofabear51 said:

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. I don't know if any other arenas still have the fans so close to the court, but I doubt it.

GO BEARS!!

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UW

HoopDreams said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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. I don't know if any other arenas still have the fans so close to the court, but I doubt it.

GO BEARS!!

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UW

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Huh? UW does not have students on the floor the way Harmon did. The student section at HecEd is behind the benches (and player family seating) and score table. And even the high-priced court side seats at UW are not anything like what you see in those photos of old Harmon Gym.

calgldnbear said:

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I was there …. I still remember the black velvet jacket

Was that the game where the straw hat band wore Reggie ears?? (No way they would get away with that in today's world)


I remember going to the Pac 10 tournament and KJ wore his Beat the Streak T-shirt during warmups


"I will never lose to Cal or Stanfurd again" …. Reggie Miller

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I believe the ears were at a later game (I was at both, but sitting on opposite ends). The straw hat band also did a hair spray spoof of Steve Kerr's hair, after which he referred to them as Shakey's pizza waiters. It was a fun time when the students knew all the dirt on the other teams' players and coaches. (Anyone remember the huge Casey Jacobsen pictures showing his "zits"?)

Thx for the correction. Many times the announcers comment about how close the fans are but have never seen hec

In any respect I agree there probably aren't any D1 courts with fans that close to the court

I'd just be happy if they just restored the student sections on the side and baselines that used to extend much farther out after the renovation to Haas

drizzlybear said:

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HoopDreams said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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. I don't know if any other arenas still have the fans so close to the court, but I doubt it.

GO BEARS!!

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UW

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Huh? UW does not have students on the floor the way Harmon did. The student section at HecEd is behind the benches (and player family seating) and score table. And even the high-priced court side seats at UW are not anything like what you see in those photos of old Harmon Gym.

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HoopDreams said:

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Thx for the correction. Many times the announcers comment about how close the fans are but have never seen hec

In any respect I agree there probably aren't any D1 courts with fans that close to the court

I'd just be happy if they just restored the student sections on the side and baselines that used to extend much farther out after the renovation to Haas

drizzlybear said:

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HoopDreams said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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. I don't know if any other arenas still have the fans so close to the court, but I doubt it.

GO BEARS!!

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UW

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Huh? UW does not have students on the floor the way Harmon did. The student section at HecEd is behind the benches (and player family seating) and score table. And even the high-priced court side seats at UW are not anything like what you see in those photos of old Harmon Gym.

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I defer to you all regarding the best configuration. (It's been many years since I've been to a game at Haas, unfortunately.) But I would love to see the student section visible on TV.