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What was the atmosphere of Giants Stadium like (70s-90s)?

Route 9 : 1/6/2018 4:59 am
In your best words?

I was at the Redskins game as you know. I was the wacko who started the "Eli Manning chant" down in the section of 104 in 4 degree weather. If you've been to games, and see some loud mouthed good looking guy down there, that's me. I took my cousin who is over 9 and gonna be 10 in a few weeks. He's been to a couple games and an usher was talking to an older gentleman about the old stadium. I was laughing at the stuff they mentioned and my cousin asked me what it was like. I told him about all the fights, how it was a different crowd I guess. Maybe Giants Stadium wasn't special to some people but the old stadium was to me.

I kind of felt kind of ...old (to him) when he was asking me who Jeremy Shockey and Ike Hilliard were and me explaining all of that era to him. So I got to thinking...what about that era before I started going to games?

The wildest I've ever seen that place was the Ravens game in 2008. That crowd was very cranked up. So what was it like for 86...90? 2000 NFC Championship? Anyone here go to all those games?

Was everyone excited when the old stadium first opened? If you have been here long enough you would all know the 70s sucked. How about the 80s during those LT years? Or was it always the same kind of vibe?

Also, did you see many away fans back then? Eagle fans always annoying chanting that fight song? Or was that the same too? I starting going to games at the end of the Fassel era. If you ask me, at the old Stadium there were a bit more nut jobs. Grown men with red faces punching seats. Lol. Fights upon fights.

Most ever was that Giants Cowboy game from January 2005 (Eli manning first win) had to be 30+ fights that I viewed with my own eyes...

Wait  
idiotsavant : 1/6/2018 5:32 am : link
Your that 'loud mouthed but good looking guy'?

That settles everything. What's it like, being so handsome?
Idiot  
Route 9 : 1/6/2018 5:39 am : link
Eh. the usual. You get away with a lot, have fun but choose your battles wisely. I just got a new girlfriend so I'm tied down at the moment. Ladies love Route 9.

Knock on wood, This one is definitely a keeper.
Was there for the 97 wild card, both 2000 playoff games  
mattnyg05 : 1/6/2018 6:09 am : link
And the 2011 wild card game.

The 2000 playoff games were absolutely bat shit crazy. When Ron Dixon returned the kickoff against the Eagles I thought the entire stadium was going to collapse it was so loud. Same with the NFC title game it was so loud you couldn’t even hear your voice when you were yelling. Nothing compared to that. Our seats were in section 111 so we were in the lower bowl.

The 2011 wild card game was plenty loud but in MetLife our seats are in the loge section 338. It is not the same. I don’t know if that’s because we are up top or if the crowd is just different. It was very loud but those 2000 games were insane. I’m sure anyone who was there in 1986 (my dad was) would tell you the same about those games.
In short, MetLife is loud  
mattnyg05 : 1/6/2018 6:16 am : link
but it’s a different loud. I’m sure a dominant team and a nice home playoff game or two would get it back to where it was or close to the Giants Stadium days.

Not to Miller the thread but also-MetLife is such a boring dreary place compared to the “dump” that was Giants Stadium. It was shitty but it was our shitty. Now it feels like we’re one of two high schools that plays at the big fancy stadium with nothing to it.
...  
Route 9 : 1/6/2018 6:24 am : link
I was at the 2011 Falcon playoff game as well. When Nicks caught that 72 yard pass for the TD, that place and crowd was going nuts. I did go to the 2008 Playoff game as well vs Philly at Giants stadium. The crowd was juiced but when Eli made that God awful throw and it got picked off by Samuel, the place got dead right away. That game was really a gift for Philly.

I thought Fred Robbins got a loud roar when he picked off McNabb lol. When he caught that INT, I was cheering him on like no one else to run it in for the score because I had no confidence in that offense at all to score a TD that game.

Kind of sucks those are the only two home playoff games we've had in the past 10 years.
Ok I will take you back...  
EricJ : 1/6/2018 6:50 am : link
the 70's...
Initial optimism with the new stadium but then immediately the fans saw this was the same old Giants but in our own building. This was older fans for sure.... and me the kid.

Early 80s...
Same fans as in the 70s now their kids also starting to go. Place starting to get a bit crazy as the defense begins to dominate and LT arrives on the scene

Mid 80s...
My opinion the best ever. When you have the team finally going deep into the playoffs and contending for superbowls... it was great. From a fan perspective we got away with a lot. My seats happened to be right behind the visitor bench so my experience was different. The trash talking with the opposing teams was amazing. We felt like the 12th man. One game, we got Dexter Manley so pissed off that he had to be benched for the remainder of the quarter. The guy had just come off of a drug suspension and during that time it was released that he did not know how to read. So, we showed up with big bags of flour to simulate coke, candles and spoons for free basing. Signs that had the word CAT misspelled. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Again, a lot of this now being done by the children of the old Giants' fans.

90's - you start seeing that continued transition of fans but now more seats being sold to non season ticket holders than ever before. As you get towards the late 90s and into the 2000s and the internet grows and you get online ticket sales this happens even more. As a result, you also start to get more of the opposing team's fans show up at games simply because they can now get the tickets. If you remember hearing about the snow-bowl game. It was the last game of the year between the Giants and Chargers in 1995. The Giants were eliminated already, it was a stadium filled with snow that was not removed from the seating area and many of the chargers fans had purchased the tickets. Plus you had giants fans who were there just for that game and were not the regular ticket holders. I was there and the snow balls started to fly. The chargers were wearing their helmets and coats on the sideline to prevent from getting hurt. People with horrible arms in the upper deck unable to reach the field were dropping them close to me. An assistant coach got hit in the side of the head with an ice ball and knocked him out. That changed how NFL teams were instructed to manage snow in the stadiums forever.

I will stop there. Left a lot out.
Been there since 1966  
Bubba : 1/6/2018 6:52 am : link
stadium was much loader then Met Life. Not just because of the energy level but because of the configuration as well. It was a smaller stadium with seats closer to the field. Less away fans but remember tickets were harder to come by. No PSLs, no ticket exchange...
Duh  
Bubba : 1/6/2018 6:55 am : link
louder not loader. What EricJ said but more condensed.
You can't compare  
nygnyy274 : 1/6/2018 7:24 am : link
anything to those crowds in the 80s the only time that could rival
It was the 2000 NFC championship game. Go watch games from the 80s like the Dallas game in 86 where Steve Pelluer was refusing to get behind center because of the crowd noise. and players on the Giants defense had to tell the crowd to quiet down there was over a minute left in the game to and the cowboys were driving to kick a game tying FG. This also happen in the ram game in 88 at Giants stadium the referee had to tell the crowd to quiet down or the Giants would be penalized and parcells was going nuts waving his arms for the crowd to quiet down lol that stuff doesn't even happen in Seattle. The horns blaring in the crowd in the 80s was awesome to
Noise level  
BigBlue2007 : 1/6/2018 7:32 am : link
I started going in 2000 at the old stadium. I remember people complaining about the noise level in Giants Stadium. Fans always saying it wasn’t loud. One of the craziest games I remember is the Saturday Night Week 17 Patriot game that New England won by 3. The Pats secured the undefeated season, but man was it loud. Those fans wanted it that night. The 2002 won and in game was great vs Philly too. The Vikings NFC Championship game in 2000 as well.
1986 NFC Championship game against the Redskins was...  
Crispino : 1/6/2018 8:23 am : link
the loudest, most raucous game in the stadium’s history. It was Seattle loud, and the atmosphere was worthy of the historic moment. As the final seconds wound down, the crowd was so amped that you could actually feel the stands bouncing and vibrating. Then, confetti was released and the winds created a kind of confetti tornado that kept it swirling around the stadium for at least a half an hour as fans continued to celebrate the win. I went to very nearly every Giants game in the history of the stadium, and that game was the best from from a crowd standpoint. Electric.
RE: 1986 NFC Championship game against the Redskins was...  
EricJ : 1/6/2018 8:32 am : link
In comment 13774661 Crispino said:
Quote:
the loudest, most raucous game in the stadium’s history. It was Seattle loud, and the atmosphere was worthy of the historic moment. As the final seconds wound down, the crowd was so amped that you could actually feel the stands bouncing and vibrating. Then, confetti was released and the winds created a kind of confetti tornado that kept it swirling around the stadium for at least a half an hour as fans continued to celebrate the win. I went to very nearly every Giants game in the history of the stadium, and that game was the best from from a crowd standpoint. Electric.


Not only that but this part you had to be there to see...
When the Giants won that game and everyone was filtering out, the older Giants fans like my father were as happy as they have ever been in their lives. The Giants were finally going to the Superbowl. Total strangers were hugging each other. People crying... it was amazing. For many of them, it was literally a "now I can die" moment. So many years of bad football from the old yankee stadium, to Yale, to Shea... finally.
2000 NFC Championship  
giantfan2000 : 1/6/2018 8:36 am : link
I went to that game -- I waited in line forever at Tower Records downtown broadway - it was FREEZING COLD. But what that Tower Records did was before the tickets went on sale they would go thru the line and ask people how many tickets they wanted . When the tickets were open to be sold . they would just sit there and punch the machine as aggressively as possible and usually get an insane amount of tickets -- so I scored 4.

I went with my dad who flew up from the south. I was worried the Dad would embarrass me because he is the type that throws the remote and screams at TV when Giants make mistakes or screw up . But I swear I have never seen a team dominate a game from the moment of the kickoff until the end of the game .. My Dad was waiting for them to make a mistake and sat there in stunned silence as Giants completely dismantle the Vikings. It was really one of the more perfect games a team has every played in the playoffs ..

the stadium was rocking especially at the trophy ceremony after the game ..

too bad they fell apart during the Super Bowl... (because of that phantom defensive holding call on Keith Hamilton)


I wasn't there in 86  
Bobby Humphrey's Earpad : 1/6/2018 10:11 am : link
But I was there in 2000 and the NFCC was the loudest and most insane sporting experience I have ever been a part of. The Vikings had no chance from the introduction of the starting defensive lineup. Summerall and Madden pointed out how fired up the stadium was, and Madden at times had to yell over the crowd noise.

Like many of the 70s stadiums, the old stadium had great sight lines and acoustics + the wind. The seats are further back in the new stadium.
86 Playoffs  
steviej : 1/6/2018 10:43 am : link
I was there & it was amazing to kick the 49ers ass then beat the skins. Growing up & always seeing dallas or Washington or 49ers in the bowl & now u could actually say The Giants R Going to the Super Bowl was a feeling I’ll never forget. And I was out all night celebrating. Memory
Great posts by all  
Route 9 : 1/6/2018 10:47 am : link
So far!!
The old stadium was great for noise  
JohnF : 1/6/2018 11:35 am : link
Seats were close to the field, and it made a difference.

I was there for the 2000 NFC Championship game. Now, I've been in Arena Games (Indoors), where you couldn't hear the person next to you because of the noise level of the crowd (at the TU center, for the 1999 ArenaBowl, you could feel the sound waves on the floor as well as well as hear them.)

This was the closest I've seen to it outdoors. Remember the 4 circular ramps that people used to get to their seats? They looked like smoke stacks from all the MJ being smoked there during halftime!

This was an odd crowd, btw...similar to the infamous "New Orleans Home Game" crowd, a lot of people in attendance were younger (and probably blitzed coming in from tailgating). This was because back then you could turn in your playoff tickets (which you had to buy as part of your package) for a discount on your next year's ticket bill.

The 2000 team wasn't very good (this was before Fassel's "Push my chips" speech), so a LOT of people turned those tickets in. When that team caught fire, there were a huge number of playoff tickets avalaible for the NFC Championship game.

Those were distributed at Tickemasters. Now, in the Metro area, the lines went back blocks...no way to get tickets there unless you were in front. I was luck enough to get to a Ticketmaster in the Saratoga Area, waited in line from 4:30am till it opened, and got two tickets before the sale ended. Face value of those tickets?

$45!

Anyway, back to the game. They gave out towels, but those ran out quickly (I brought my own). Everyone was screaming, and standing up. The old "Sit down in Front" diehards weren't there, or they were outnumbered. If you look at the game, the only time people sat down was halftime, and even up 34-0, the crowd revved up for the 2nd half like it was 0-0.

No doubt in my mind the crowd got into the Viking's heads. That, and Strahan going wild, as well as the best 1/2 half ever by a Giants QB (Collins was lazer sharp), just took the heart out of that team.

The icing on the cake was Wellington's "Painted Mud" speech after the presentation of the NFC Trophy.

I'm sure Old Giants Stadium was incredible for the 1986 NFC game, and other times. I know I was there for the 2000 NFC game, that was amazing.
From watching lots of old highlights of big Giants games  
dpinzow : 1/6/2018 12:30 pm : link
I actually think the 81 home finale vs Dallas was the loudest (on a day cold like today). Crowd was literally jumping on every play
Ah yes the 2000 NFCC game  
Dave in PA : 1/6/2018 1:08 pm : link
The best live sporting event I ever attended. It was COLD that day, but it being a day game brought some extra warmth to the event, both physically and emotionally. We really had no reason to expect to win, going against a really high powered Vikings offense featuring Robert Smith, Culpepper (before his wheels fell off), Randy Moss, Cris Carter and a beastly O line anchored by Corey Stringer. Anyway, they handed out white towels before the game and things started going really positively for us early on and the place was going berserk. A sea of white towels and sustained noise unlike any other game I’ve ever been to. It was almost a shocking experience how well things went. The fans couldn’t believe it. What a day
It was about 78% nitrogen  
LakeGeorgeGiant : 1/6/2018 2:39 pm : link
21% oxygen
1% argon

With trade amounts of hyrdogen, helium, carbon dioxide, and of course methane.
As a season ticket holder long before the stadium opened in '76..  
kinard : 1/6/2018 2:41 pm : link
... here were the most noteworthy games in the stadium:

1) Stadium opener in 1976 - Damn Cowboys ruin the day. I think Jimmy Robinson of Giants caught first TD (at least for Giants)
2) December 1981 - Beating Dallas in OT on a Joe Danelo field goal (after he missed 2 chippies) to put Giants on the precipit of playoffs for the first time in almost 2 decades.
3) 1986 Championship game - Cold, windy, confetti flying all over, 78,000 people smiling at once. Maybe the best day that old house ever had.
4) Ron Dixon returns opening kickoff against Eagles in Playoff game - This was the loudest I ever remember stadium being. Game stayed loud for the rest of the game.
5) Dominating Vikings in NFC Championship - Stunning dominance against very good Viking team. Not loud, just...almost surreal. Everything that could go right went right.
6) Giants beat Eagles in 2002 playoff game 10-7 - Tiki has great game but fumbles a bunch of times; David Akers misses 35 yard game winning kick with a minute left; Shockey with huge TD catch and Matt Bryant drills winner in OT -

And of course 3 of the worst days of my life in that Stadium- Joe Pisarcek fumble in '78; Chris Calloway fumbling onside kick in 1997 Minnesota game and Flipper Anderson in 1990 in OT playoff game (that Giants team would have went all the way).
Playoff run in 86  
STL Gman : 1/6/2018 3:12 pm : link
Our seats were 3rd row 15 yard line. Demolition of the 49er's and then domination of the skins. The crowd was deafening and both games you could see the look of despair on the opposing teams faces. don't think I ever screamed louder than when jim burt KO'd montana and LT brought the pick home. Those were the days!!
12-0 at home in 1986  
arniefez : 1/6/2018 4:00 pm : link
two of them didn't count but I was there for all 12. The two playoff games Fassel won in 2000 were great but didn't compare to the 1986 season. If you weren't lucky enough to be there you can't even imagine. Scoring points is exciting in the moment. Rooting for the 1986 defense was unlike anything I've ever experienced in attending sports games. I was at Yankee Stadium the night Guidry struck out 18. It was like that every week. You tailgated with an anticipation of defensive carnage and there was defensive carnage pretty much every week.
RE: RE: 1986 NFC Championship game against the Redskins was...  
Gene : 1/6/2018 4:21 pm : link
In comment 13774664 EricJ said:
Quote:
In comment 13774661 Crispino said:


Quote:


the loudest, most raucous game in the stadium’s history. It was Seattle loud, and the atmosphere was worthy of the historic moment. As the final seconds wound down, the crowd was so amped that you could actually feel the stands bouncing and vibrating. Then, confetti was released and the winds created a kind of confetti tornado that kept it swirling around the stadium for at least a half an hour as fans continued to celebrate the win. I went to very nearly every Giants game in the history of the stadium, and that game was the best from from a crowd standpoint. Electric.



Not only that but this part you had to be there to see...
When the Giants won that game and everyone was filtering out, the older Giants fans like my father were as happy as they have ever been in their lives. The Giants were finally going to the Superbowl. Total strangers were hugging each other. People crying... it was amazing. For many of them, it was literally a "now I can die" moment. So many years of bad football from the old yankee stadium, to Yale, to Shea... finally.

Yes, yes and yes! I was there that afternoon and to this day it's one of the fondest memories I have about my dad who bought the season tickets the 1st year the Giants moved into Yankee Stadium.

When the game was over we just sat there stunned. We couldn't move. We couldn't believe it. All we kept saying was "The Giants are going to the Super Bowl." "Our team is finally going to the Super Bowl.
RE: It was about 78% nitrogen  
Pete in MD : 1/6/2018 4:30 pm : link
In comment 13775063 LakeGeorgeGiant said:
Quote:
21% oxygen
1% argon

With trade amounts of hyrdogen, helium, carbon dioxide, and of course methane.


You forgot the Neon, which was a little more prominent in the '80s for some reason.
I was a teenager in the mid-80s and Jints Central was Camelot....  
bw in dc : 1/6/2018 4:51 pm : link
It got colder earlier, the uniforms were better, Parcells and Belichick roamed the sidelines, LT was revolutionizing the game, Simms was growing as a passer, the NFC was a juggernaut, and we were consistently a threat for 6 out of 7 years.

I loved it when I went. It felt more blue collar. It was louder. It was rougher. It wasn’t the finesse ass football we play now. It really was smash mouth, physical football. The crowd really embraced that identity...and it’s never been the same since....
Been to over 100 Giants games  
djm : 1/6/2018 8:56 pm : link
From the early 80s through this season. The one thing I'll always remember or the thing that stands out will be sitting in my seat as they introduced the defensive players and seeing #56 run out of the tunnel. That's the indelible mark. There were a few games back then where LT would be "questionable" with an injury and we wouldn't know for sure whether he'd play. Of course he would play. Place would go bananas.
Regarding the 2000 playoffs vs the Vikings...  
EricJ : 1/6/2018 9:14 pm : link
Yes it was extremely loud but I cannot believe that I forgot about this....

So, those of you who know me know that my seats are ridiculous. So, back then there was a camera on a cart that would go back and forth along the visitor sideline. So, every time that thing would spin around to the crowd I had a good shot at getting some air time.

At this game for some reason a guy on the ground with a camera on his shoulder and at one point he has it pinned right on me for a good few seconds. So, I am driving home after the game and decide for some reason to check my work voice mail. The mailbox was filled. All of these people I know thru business saw me and left messages. I get home and check the recording and there it is... Then, a few years later there was some recap of the game on TV and they showed that snapshot again for some reason. So, I still have a VCR tape of the game...
EricJ  
Simms : 1/7/2018 1:52 pm : link
Hit the nail on the head, thanks for posting.
This year is the first opening day I missed since 1972, been to all the other games in between.

1986 was glorious and also attending road games in Dallas and Washington too.
It was amazing as the wind was gusting. The crown was cheering Here we Go Giants Here we Go as we entered the stadium, Cow bells, horns, once in a while a trumpet would break out the CHARGE salute.

The 1985 game against the Niners was the loudest for me. 1986 championship game was a close second. Although my seats were in 110 the overhang from above brought cheers that engulfed the stadium.

The stadium structure and the people were ramped up to make a difference.

The new stadium sorry but IMHO is not close the same experience. Its blah, the fans in other sections get hosed, and you feel a little second rated. Especially when you can compare stadiums slightly older and newer that make ours seem suspect.

The cost , the cost, please TWO teams building a stadium one that could have set the standard where exposed in the stadium project only to be mirrored by the product they allowed themselves to put on the field.

The old stadium felt like a place meant to play football. People would roam the parking lot to find tickets "to walk in with" so people would sell to you. At times invite you to join their tailgate.

My BBQ crew is 60 to 75 people strong, a few days larger. Everyone I talk to agrees.

Have to give credit to the parking lot people, because currently its managed far better than the old stadium days. The staff of the new stadium are also on top of their game too.

If other teams can figure out how to build a stadium to meet the needs of the fans, and help it become a difference in terms of home field advantage, still scratch my head.




That was awesome...  
FatMan in Charlotte : 1/7/2018 1:57 pm : link
Quote:
Not only that but this part you had to be there to see...
When the Giants won that game and everyone was filtering out, the older Giants fans like my father were as happy as they have ever been in their lives. The Giants were finally going to the Superbowl. Total strangers were hugging each other. People crying... it was amazing. For many of them, it was literally a "now I can die" moment. So many years of bad football from the old yankee stadium, to Yale, to Shea... finally.


Went with my Dad and Uncle to that game and grown men were crying with joy and just a surreal time leaving the stadium. Just like EricJ described it.

The Niners 49-3 blowout was also an incredible game to be at in person.

My favorite has to be the 2000 Championship game. We literally didn't sit in the seats for the entire first half and then we went down to the lower rows for Wellington's speech during the trophy presentation. Amazing day. Never seen a crowd so pumped as that game.
Here is another one....  
EricJ : 1/7/2018 2:04 pm : link
That late December game vs Carolina. The winner earns home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The game is Sunday night. There was a lot of snow on the ground and it is extremely cold just like today.

I get to the stadium around 4pm and the later games are starting. To keep warm, people have fires set all over the parking lot. Once it got dark, it looked like a war zone in Baghdad. I was walking from fire to fire and there were many TV screens available to watch the earlier games. Everyone was in a a really good mood. Maybe a combination of the magnitude of the game, being the holidays... I dont know. You were being given drinks and food by strangers without even asking.

So in the stadium it is extremely loud. People up out of their seats and a lot of that possibly was simply to keep warm. The running game was unreal for us that night and when you are running it down someone's throat it makes the crowd love it even more. Carolina was running the ball well too that night. At the end, we prevailed and closed it out with yet another run. The place went crazy.
my dad and I  
UESBLUE : 1/7/2018 3:42 pm : link
had season tix from 85-2003 (until he passed). It was a different time and a different stadium. I saw kids grow up; old men who would pass away in the offseason and their adult kids take their seats etc. Very few fights and a lot of warm welcomes from the regulars. Our seats were one section from Andy Rooney who used to lead the G I A N T S cheer after we scored. Some of the best days for me...i went to the new stadium a couple times and like so many things, its just not the same.
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