Kansas concert in 75' and Marquette basketball game the year following when Marquette won the National Championship.
Can you recall your greatest memory of event(s) at Rec Hall?
- Thread starter Jerademan74
- Start date
I have a few. The double dual vs Southern Connecticut in the winter of 1976/77--they had Peter Kormann, who was an Olympic medalist the year before. It went down to the last event and each gymnast topped the previous one. Packed house too. Then there was the game vs Rutgers when PSU was down by 30 early in the second half and came back to win by two (1977-1978 season, I think). An amazing win from a truly horrid team (they'd lost to Delaware in regulation, up 10 with under a minute to go--no 3 pt shots in those days either). Finally, seeing Mr. Spock at Colloquy.
Martin Luther King, Jr. speech, with me directly in front of him in the 3rd row...don't know how my frat brothers got us that row...he was an amazing man, regardless of your party of choice...simply amazing!
Love that building, especially having lived in Hamilton for two years. As a spectator I guess beating Iowa soundly in wrestling c.1985. Also recall some great gymnastics, including seeing Tony Griffith's score a 10.0 on pommel horse, IIRC, also c.1985. Lar can set me straight on both if he reads this ;-)
But I have equal memories of going over there to play football in the main gym on Saturday nights when the bleachers were pulled back. We had a pretty good crew including a few guys on the PSU roster. That place wasn't high enough for John Bruno when he wanted to boom one.
But I have equal memories of going over there to play football in the main gym on Saturday nights when the bleachers were pulled back. We had a pretty good crew including a few guys on the PSU roster. That place wasn't high enough for John Bruno when he wanted to boom one.
The return of the team in 1994 after the Illinois comeback. We had just clinched the Big Ten title, a berth in the Rose Bowl, and the undefeated season was still alive.
Runner up was literally bumping into Dan Gable at my first dual meet that same fall. For a wrestler, there was no bigger figure at that time.
Runner up was literally bumping into Dan Gable at my first dual meet that same fall. For a wrestler, there was no bigger figure at that time.
Pretenders, J. Geils and Phil Collins. Almost beating Alabama in basketball in December 1982.
I was at the J. Geils concert as well - I can attest to how loud that was. One of the loudest concerts I was ever at. Also remember when the B-Ball was really bad and Dominos had some promotion that when PSU scored 80 point I think you got free toppings or something. PSU used to send this guy out late in the games to chuck up 3's when they were either up or down by a lot - his names was Graves I think but we chanted Pizza Man when he came in.
I was thinking the Virginia game as well; my freshman year. Will never forget Brown's layup during our big run in the second half...Concerts would be the Edger Winter Group, again my freshman year, then the two Kansas shows I saw there, Billy Joel, and the two Genesis concerts post Peter Gabriel.
Wow, I never imagines so many people have such different but all great memories of Rec Hall. I can honestly say that Rec Hall may be even more memorable to me in different ways than Beaver Stadium was. I have to admit though, that the feeling I get when being part of 108,000 screaming fans at a big Penn State football game is hard to beat!
I remember the J Geils Band but I always have wanted to see the Pretenders...oops...what was I taking at the time...?
The Springsteen concert you missed was in 74 at the Performing Arts Center or whatever it was called at the time...2000 seats an incredible show...
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You started a good thread here, Jerademan74, and people have responded. Congrats!
Aug 94, the first time I walked in to play hoops and womens volleyball was just finishing up. Sports bras and spandex are the greatest inventions ever.
I was there for Mike Reid wrestling heavyweight against Lehigh. I also saw Janis Joplin at Rec Hall.
...witnessing Penn State win the 1953 NCAA Wrestling Championship...
...the 1st Eastern team to accomplish that...
...the same night we also won the NCAA Gymnastics Championship...
...but not in Rec Hall...
...I've often wondered if any other school has ever won 2 NCAA Championships the same day...
...the 1st Eastern team to accomplish that...
...the same night we also won the NCAA Gymnastics Championship...
...but not in Rec Hall...
...I've often wondered if any other school has ever won 2 NCAA Championships the same day...
I remember seeing George Carlin. He came out totally stoned on stage to begin his act. He was slurring his words so badly that he actually had to stop his act half way through and walked off stage. Does anyone else remember this? This was memorable, but not for a good reason! I also saw Roberta Flack that same year. I am not a great fan of hers, but she was good!
Grateful Dead x2, Pretenders, Jackson Browne, Talking Heads, Devo
Well, I only attended one sporting event there, but it was memorable.
PSU/Michigan basketball game on January 8, 1995. Penn State won. But more memorably, Joe and Sue were sitting a couple rows behind us, so I met him for the first time and got his autograph at halftime.
PSU/Michigan basketball game on January 8, 1995. Penn State won. But more memorably, Joe and Sue were sitting a couple rows behind us, so I met him for the first time and got his autograph at halftime.
Barry was even more than a star, he was closer to a superstar. He was the ACC Athlete of the Year, and if you go through that list, you'll find legendary names in lots of sports, such as:
1956 Dave Sime, Duke - Track and Field
1961 Roman Gabriel. NC State - Football
1965 Brian Piccolo, Wake Forest - Football
1972 Barry Parkhill, Virginia - Basketball
1973/75 David Thompson, NC State - Basketball
1976 John Lucas, Maryland - Basketball
1979 Renaldo Nehemiah, Maryland - Track and Field
1982 James Worthy, North Carolina - Basketball
1983 Ralph Sampson, Virginia - Basketball
1984 Michael Jordan, North Carolina - Basketball
1986 Len Bias, Maryland - Basketball
1991/92 Christian Laettner, Duke - Basketball
1991/92 Dawn Staley, Virginia - Basketball
1993 Mia Hamm, North Carolina - Soccer
1993/94 Charile Ward, Florida State - Basketball and Football
1997 Tim Duncan, Wake Forest - Basketball
2006 J.J Redick, Duke - Basketball
2003/04 Alana Beard, Duke - Basketball
Most of those on the list above are Hall of Fame caliber people in their sport. I left a bunch of recognizable names off the list just because they didn't quite reach Hall of Fame level.
Parkhill was that good while at UVA - and the victory over him in his "homecoming" game (for the youngsters who don't know, the Parkhills graduated from State College High) was.very sweet and easily in my top five Rec Hall events.
When Oklahoma basketball with one of the Grants, Stacy King and Mookie came in. We played our hearts out early and then got blown out. Prior to the game, the student body noted that the Oklahoma cheerleaders were probably twice as tall and twice as gorgeous as our cheerleaders. The students cheered them whenever they were close by. Very entertaining. Their mascot could dunk btw. Very intimidating way to start pre-game.
REM with opener 10,000 Maniacs (everyone said who? but not after they performed). Nice double bill but memories are hazy.
Almost forgot. Eddie Murphy concert. At the time he was a huge star.
REM with opener 10,000 Maniacs (everyone said who? but not after they performed). Nice double bill but memories are hazy.
Almost forgot. Eddie Murphy concert. At the time he was a huge star.
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When you stop to think about it, Rec Hall has had quite the stars come through that building. There have been so many great sporting events such as basketball, wrestling and gymnastics, and many football rallies on the Friday night before a big game. I actually really got the ability to see and connect with Joe Paterno there. He attended so many events and was truly the ambassador of Penn State in so many ways.
I caught that show. I think tickets were like $8-10. I went because of the Chili Peppers, and had never heard of the other two at the time. I thought the Chili Peppers kicked ass. Pearl Jam put on a good show as well. Smashing Pumpkins were mediocre at best and Corgan proved to be a real D'Bag on stage with his too cool to play for a bourgeois college crowd posturing. All in all, a great show at a bargain price.
Foolin' around with a blonde Tri Delt behind the bleachers late on a Friday evening in Spring '85.
That is my favorite Rec Hall moment.
That is my favorite Rec Hall moment.
The Epstein brothers that wrote Casablanca were Penn State boxers. One won the NCAA championship.
I helped setup and tear down the stage for the Public Enemy / House of Pain concert in fall of 1992
Two came to mind immediately. First, it was my Phys Ed class with the legendary Joe Humphries. It was Casting 101. Taught us how to cast fly rods and bait casting. I could remember coming into class on the basketball floor and Joe had these wooden disks all lined up that we had to cast at and hit. Second, it was seeing REM back in October of '87. I remember it was a cool night and some of us gathered and made the journey from East Halls to Rec Hall. We "prepared" for the show on our walk up. From what I can remember, it was a great night.
And Fencing too I forgot. We used to be several time National Champions in Men's and Women's Fencing. I never saw a single event though. Wasn't my sport, but wish I had in retrospect.
A lot of great memories in Rec Hall but the most significant was the day of my commencement after the Fall term in 1981. The commencement ceremony was shortened so that a big screen could be lowered and they proceeded to show the Pitt -PSU game. I think some of you may remember the score: 48-14!
This was easy-early December 1982; Football team heading to Sugar Bowl vs. Georgia and a highly ranked Alabama hoops team came in to take on Frank Brickowski and the boys. Lotta buzz around campus as Bama was good and everyone was pumped about the football team. 'Bama did their early warm up before the game and retreated to their lockeroom as was/is normal. They came back out for the final warm up to a packed Rec Hall and lined up for layups. All at once they took off their warm up tops to reveal they were wearing blue tee shirts with the words "Go Lions Beat the Dawgs" in white lettering on the back-as the crowd realized/noticed the shrits, the place went nuts! They then took off the shirts and threw them to the crowd-was kind of a weird game then as fans had a hard time rooting against them. But there was great energy all night in old Rec Hall. As I recall, the Lions played them tough and lost in OT-It was a great scene however and the only regret I had was not making sure I got one of those shirts
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