I remember attending the chargers game with the fury of snowball throwing with my dad (when was it--94?) I was in middle scholl and I remember the craziness of that game. I remember traveling up the escalator and my dad getting hit in the back as we ducked while traveling up. I remember seeing something on one of the nightline entertainment stories about some guy who had his picture taken in the act of throwing an ice ball and it having negative consequences on his professional life. Anyone else there? Supposedly several people on the sideline were hospitalized and other stuff.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/03/15/1996-03-15_giants_snowball_thrower_sues.html - ( New Window )
I also remember some media guy got one tossed in his direction and he swatted it away and acted real cocky about it. Then he got about 50 more snowballs in his direction.
There's a lot of down time in a football game and with all that snow under the seats, there was bound to be some snowballs. I don't think anybody in the stands knew that the Chargers guy got hurt and I don't remember them making any announcements to stop.
The thing that always stands out is Will McDonough who was doing the sideline reporting for NBC was hovered inside the kicking net on the sidelines and said " These Giants fans are nothing , their less than nothing".
Even though our fans were out of control that comment always pissed me off .
I was 13 at the time and all I wanted to do was throw a snowball. My dad refused to let me (guess he has better judgment that I did at the time). Needless to say, my dad sent the Giants a letter telling them that this was their fault and that they needed to do a better job in the future.
He received a letter back from Wellington Mara apologizing. To this day we always say whenever anything goes wrong that "it was the stadium's fault"
I remember that day...unfortunatly, I agreed to go to dinner with my friend and his family and missed the whole thing. That was before I became a hardcore fan and refused to miss a game unless there was an emergency of some sort.
Dave Brown got picked off and the Chargers ran it back for a TD? Wow, that could have happened in any of those games that year.
2nd, the stadium had literally not been touched where snow removal was concerned. I remember slipping several times in 6" snow & ice while climbing the steps up to our seats. Once there, we had to keep our feet in the mess. Folks were pissed even before the ball was kicked off.
The yellow jacketed security couldn't give a damn, instead laughing at the freak show & discussing Christmas plans.
Absolutely my worst day attending a Giants game,
It seems to me like it would be really fun to pelt opponents with snow balls at the staduim. Especially if you are high up and throwing down toward say...Brian Dawkins. However, knowing what harm can come from it, injuries, mob related crap, I'm glad that the stadium doesn't leave the snow around anymore.
It was the last game of the year and the Giants were finishing off a miserable, miserable season at 5-11. I don't think a lot of regular ticket holders were in attendance, probably making the crowd a lot younger and a lot stupider. Factor in alcohol, snow, and a miserable team and you have a recipe for disaster. Embarrassing day to be a Giants fan.
It had snowed a few days before the game and nobody cleared the snow from the seats. The frozen snow was piled up about 6 inches under my seat.
I sit right behind the visitor bench and the snowballs started from the upper deck. They were barely reaching the Chargers' bench and I remember thinking that those people up there have horrible throwing arms. The Chargers wore those large coats and immediately put the big hoods up and over their helmets to prevent the snow from falling between their neck and shoulder pads.
As another person posted here already, I also remember the UPS promotion where they deliver an autographed ball to a lucky fan. The UPS guy got pelted. However, not as bad as anyone who was wearing another teams' jersey.
The guy who was knocked unconscious was not an eqipment guy, but an older assistant coach who was standing at around the 40 yard line. Snowball was thrown from my left about 10 rows back. It was like ice and the guy went right down.
Many people were taken out of there and lots of people lost their season subscription based upon the actions of those who bought their tickets. That is exactly why I will never sell my seats on stub hub or to anyone who I dont personally interview.
After that game, they developed the "chute" system to remove snow from the stands. They have this long plastic chute that is like a kids's slide. one end is all the way at the top of the section and the other end is aimed into a dump truck at field level. Workers shovel the snow onto the chute and the trucks take the snow away.
I remember the poor dude who won that autographed football. If memory serves me, he had on a Steelers jacket. He got pelted by a hundered snowballs as he walked back to his seat.
After San Diego returned that INT, it was quite a sight to see the snowballs raining down from all 3 levels trying to hit the player. You couldn't even count them all. Anyone who had on another team's jacket got hit. I saw people with Packers gear, Cowboys gear, Niners gear, and Raiders gear get it. That was f'ing crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czuk1d4Mg1Q - ( New Window )