Yesteryear

[ISU FAN 1]

https://www.facebook.com/1672106633051640/posts/2125760647686234/

Literally gave me goosebumps.

 

[Phantom]

So awesome.

Man I miss the days when we would draw full, energetic, LOUD AS F*** crowds, and of course actually win big games.

 

[fdbird83]

That was ISU's first NCAA team. Lost to Ohio U in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

 

[chuckie1980]

It must be the length of the shorts.

 

[gobirds85]

That was ISU's first NCAA team. Lost to Ohio U in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

I remember one of the restaurants in town with their marquis sign "Watch out Kentucky". I believe we all thought the first round was a given. Reynard Malaine's shot for the lead was incredible. Then Donewald didn't put anyone on the inbounds pass, and the rest is history. Sad, sad night. I believed I discovered beer that evening.

 

[MadBird]

Don't mean to highjack the thread, but it would be nice if the Redbird for Life Club (which I never heard of till just now) could dig up a video of recently deceased running back Ron Bell from back in the day!!

Great to see Lamb and the others in action again. Those were great days.

 

[Hrtnfldhse]

My first year on campus was this year. That game and the whole year was amazing. It was always nice to go to a game at Horton and hear the PA announcer let us know our ranking when introducing the team..... If I remember right, the Ohio game was on St. Patrick's day that year.

 

[SgtHulka]

 

[Brick]

It’s always interesting to see the old video. Talking about the old crowds and it was noisy in Horton, a smaller venue. BUT as I recall though a MVC Championship game it actually wasn’t a sellout. I believe it was also the game where a scuffle broke out. Coach Richardson grabbed Lamb from behind and Rick shrugged him off like it was nothing. Ahhh those were the days. Went to Tampa for the NCAA game only to get my heart broken!

 

[Bird Friend]

My first year on campus was this year. That game and the whole year was amazing. It was always nice to go to a game at Horton and hear the PA announcer let us know our ranking when introducing the team..... If I remember right, the Ohio game was on St. Patrick's day that year.

Yep . . . and Donewald wore a green blazer that perfectly matched Ohio U's uniforms . . . smh

 

[stats]

So awesome.

Man I miss the days when we would draw full, energetic, LOUD AS F*** crowds, and of course actually win big games.

I second that. I think back then, the crowd felt like it was their responsibility to make it difficult for the opponent. It was our responsibility to help the team win. At least, I felt that way.

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I loved that game and Rickie Johnson and his D and enthusiasm. He is my all time favorite Redbird

 

[Brick]

I loved that game and Rickie Johnson and his D and enthusiasm. He is my all time favorite Redbird

Still love Doug the Jet as my favorite but Ricky in top 5 for sure. Loved Raynard too . Rick’s dunk on Benoit Benjamin probably the best of all times. Wish we had the video of that one

 

[Phantom]

So awesome.

Man I miss the days when we would draw full, energetic, LOUD AS F*** crowds, and of course actually win big games.

I second that. I think back then, the crowd felt like it was their responsibility to make it difficult for the opponent. It was our responsibility to help the team win. At least, I felt that way.

Absolutely. It was like that at RA throughout the 90s too, and off/on since then. Granted, a 21 year NCAA tourney drought will lethargize an audience pretty good. But no doubt the pride in (and responsibility as you aptly put it) of creating a home court atmosphere has been long lost, sadly. You can always tell those games where the crowd just KNOWS it's ready to rock, and that energy is really fun to feel. The players absolutely love it too.

 

[StLRedbird]

So awesome.

Man I miss the days when we would draw full, energetic, LOUD AS F*** crowds, and of course actually win big games.

I second that. I think back then, the crowd felt like it was their responsibility to make it difficult for the opponent. It was our responsibility to help the team win. At least, I felt that way.

Absolutely. It was like that at RA throughout the 90s too, and off/on since then. Granted, a 21 year NCAA tourney drought will lethargize an audience pretty good. But no doubt the pride in (and responsibility as you aptly put it) of creating a home court atmosphere has been long lost, sadly. You can always tell those games where the crowd just KNOWS it's ready to rock, and that energy is really fun to feel. The players absolutely love it too.

I loved how Horton always felt like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode with slightest mistake by the bad guys, imagined affront by the zebras, or any positive event at all for the good guys. But Raynard was a personal favorite of mine at the time. You would see one of the bad guys fly out of the paint and into the first row and there would be #44 with his plams out in front of his chest like "I didn't do nuthin' to that guy".

 

[gobirds85]

Raynard was my favorite Redbird but Rick Lamb driving the baseline for a jam over DePaul was my favorite moment. On the way out of Horton someone at Tri was blasting “We are the Champions” our the window. Epic. Unforgettable.

 

[WoodlandWarrior]

The Lamb - Malaine - Cornley - Zwart - McKinney - Duncan - Stefanovic - Johnson era was unforgettable. We may never see that again in our lifetimes.

 

[DBird]

The Lamb - Malaine - Cornley - Zwart - McKinney - Duncan - Stefanovic - Johnson era was unforgettable. We may never see that again in our lifetimes.

And we will never see the likes of Lewis Galvan Jones Mayes Yarbrough Wilkins Years..............The Best

 

[RBFANTOO]

Favorite Redbird? That has to be Doug Collins. I always felt sorry for anyone that had to defend him. He was so fast that if you blinked he was gone and scored an uncontested bucket. He was very entertaining to watch. Another favorite of mine from yesteryear was Bubbles Hawkins. He was smooth as silk and had NBA written all over him. He was also very great to watch.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

The Lamb - Malaine - Cornley - Zwart - McKinney - Duncan - Stefanovic - Johnson era was unforgettable. We may never see that again in our lifetimes.

That was ISU’s best and most competitive and talented team since I have followed ISU hoops. So so much fun it was going and watching them play. So sad knowing the glory days of ISU hoops are gone forever barring an improvement in conference affiliation.