Thurmond & Komives BGU pictures in The Palestra!!!

[BGSU33]

My wife and I were passing through Philadelphia last week and we made a stop at the University of Pennsylvania because I wanted to see The Palestra & Franklin Field. Luckily for me, a door to The Palestra was open because a crew was working on the floor and we got to go inside. The Palestra has always been on my list of arena to see and it didn’t disappoint. Having just been to Hinkle Fieldhouse a few weeks ago and now to The Palestra, these two venues are certainly MUST-SEE facilities in terms of the “old barns” still out there in use. Walking through the door and into the arena, years of history hit you right in the face. From the old arched girder rafters to the creaky wooded seats, it was like turning back the clock and going back in time entering that building. It just had that smell of an old arena, sort of like Anderson Arena does. I’m not saying it stunk or anything, it just smells like, well, an old gym. The floor, the seats, the paint, etc. I know anyone who frequents AA knows exactly what I’m talking about. I swear I could be blindfolded and taken into AA and I would know exactly where I was.

Anyway, walking through the concourse area of The Palestra, there are photo collages on the walls of all the great players over the years who have played in facility, as well as collages of some of the great games that have taken place in the arena. My wife was walking ahead of me looking at one of the collages and said, “Hey, here are a couple guys from BGU.” When she said BGU I knew exactly who they were going to be. I walked over to check it out and sure enough, there on the wall next to one another was Nate & Butch. When I got home I looked in the media guide to see when they likely played there and it appears BG played in a pair of games in an event (Quaker City) on December 26 & 28 of 1962 against St. Joseph’s (BG lost 58-57) and Manhattan (BG won 80-73). The picture of Nate is of him palming a pair of basketballs in both hands with his arms stretched out in front of him, and the one of Butch is of him shooting a jumper. I’m pretty sure I have seen both pictures before elsewhere but it was awesome seeing these two displayed on the walls of The Palestra like that.

I don’t know how to post pictures on here, so if anyone knows how and is interested in seeing them, I can email them to you and maybe you can post them on here for anyone else who may want to see them. I took a shot of the entire collage and then close-ups of Nate & Butch.

[manager]

As recently as the 70s and maybe early 80s, BG made an appearance at least every other year in the Palestra. Had a home and home with St. Joe's for years. I got to see several of those games. Usually close and well-matched. It's a great old barn.

[Falconfreak90]

33,

That's a very cool story. That barn sounds like McArthur Court at the U of Oregon. Josh and I were able to sneak in there last year while the OR volleyball team practiced. That place is a BiG time throwback!

https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml ... CLID=22185

I think you may have suggested we take a look at that arena last year before we left...somebody here did.

I'd love to go to a game there someday...

[BGSU33]

33,

That's a very cool story. That barn sounds like McArthur Court at the U of Oregon. Josh and I were able to sneak in there last year while the OR volleyball team practiced. That place is a BiG time throwback!

https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml ... CLID=22185

I think you may have suggested we take a look at that arena last year before we left...somebody here did.

I'd love to go to a game there someday...

'Freak,

Yeah, that was me who told you to check out McArthur Court while up in Eugene. Another awesome venue! The sad part is, Oregon is in the process of planning/raising money to build a new arena. I'm sure it will be amazing, but it'll be sad to see them leave the old place.

As for the Palestra picks, I sent some photos to Grant and he said he'd post them.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Here's the link to the Flickr slideshow of BGSU33's awesome pictures from the Palestra!

http://flickr.com/photos/pepperguy/sets ... 9041/show/