Any memories or stories of Olympia Stadium?

[night-timer]

Since it was demolished in '87, I will never see or experience this legendary Detroit sports stadium. Does anyone have any recollections of it? I believe it was the home of the Red Wings before they shifted over to the Joe.

[emu steve]

Since it was demolished in '87, I will never see or experience this legendary Detroit sports stadium. Des anyone have any recollections of it? I believe it was the home of the Red Wings before they shifted over to the Joe.

I do.

I was a season tix holder in the early 1970s.

Also brought a 35mm camera in the late 70s and took photos from ice level.

When I was a young kid I got to see ONE game a year, the Thanksgiving game vs Montreal.

Later I'll scan and paste a photo I took in the mid-70s [[one will notice that the hideous advertisements are not on the boards. That came later).

This is classic 1970s NHL hockey.

[Pickford-Bentler]

After WW2, my father had Red Wings season tickets. He saw the playoff game in which a young Gordie Howe slammed his head into the boards. My father told me that the most exciting player to watch from that era was Rocket Richard. Apparently, his eyes would light up like a maniac on a mission to score.

[Pickford-Bentler]

Both my parents had Olympia memories. My mother's uncle was a friend of Jack Adams'. So he would take my mom to visit the players a the Olympia. After being discharged from the Coast Guard for a severe head injury, my father was able to attend the two LaMotta vs. Robinson fights that were held at the Olympia in 1943.

A fine article about the fights:


http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/artic...t#.U6F1A5VOW70

[Smirnoff]

I had the opportunity in the 1960's to play in a midget hockey tournament at Olympia.....attended many games in the 70's - every seat in the stadium hovered over the ice, very close to all the action!

Toward the end, it was not safe at all, the neighborhood changed drastically......

[night-timer]

I had the opportunity in the 1960's to play in a midget hockey tournament at Olympia.....attended many games in the 70's - every seat in the stadium hovered over the ice, very close to all the action!

Toward the end, it was not safe at all, the neighborhood changed drastically......

Smirnoff, midgets play good hockey - they're still young - Life has not yet "happened" to them. [[That's my take on them.)

Apart from that, because I am not a Detroiter, can you tell me more about the 'changes' you speak of?

[RedeemerKid]

Crappy seats to a Globetrotters game in the mid-70's.

[rb336]

The Four Together benefit for World Hunger Year - James Taylor, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and Harry Chapin sharing Denver's "in the round" stage. just them and, I think, Red Shea, Lightfoot's guitarist

[night-timer]

Emu Steve, we should talk! How did you get that name? It intrigues me because the 'emu' is a large, flightless bird in Australia... here's a recent photo I took of an emu, deep in the Australian Outback...

I'm a photographer in Sydney, Australia. I'm visiting Detroit for five weeks [[July 14 - August 19) to shoot photos, shoot videos, conduct interviews and to cover whatever news stories I can find at street-level.

My visit to Detroit coincides with the 313 birthday of your city. The week-long celebrations are being held from 19-25 July. I'll be there. [[You can't miss me - I'll be the only guy in Michigan with an Australian accent.)

I'll be posting a few questions about photography in 'The D' before I arrive. All comments are welcome. Thanks.

[emu steve]

Emu Steve, we should talk! How did you get that name? It intrigues me because the 'emu' is a large, flightless bird in Australia... here's a recent photo I took of an emu, deep in the Australian Outback...

I'm a photographer in Sydney, Australia. I'm visiting Detroit for five weeks [[July 14 - August 19) to shoot photos, shoot videos, conduct interviews and to cover whatever news stories I can find at street-level.

My visit to Detroit coincides with the 313 birthday of your city. The week-long celebrations are being held from 19-25 July. I'll be there. [[You can't miss me - I'll be the only guy in Michigan with an Australian accent.)

I'll be posting a few questions about photography in 'The D' before I arrive. All comments are welcome. Thanks.

I hope no one thinks that photograph is of me.

[DetroitPlanner]

Dad would take my brother and I there to see games all the time. We would go to red wing games, jr wing games, college games. We would drive to Grand River and get on the bus. That was a treat as we mostly took the Dexter/Joy bus.

EMU here is a school. Eastern Michigan University.

[kryptonite]

I went to a David Bowie concert at Olympia seems either 1976 or 1977.

[sumas]

Sorry my memories of Olympia had zippo to do with sports. It was also a music venue. Saw the Rolling Stones, The Wings, Arlo Guthrie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and so many others. Main floor seats were not so primo. Cardboard on ice and you would freeze your buns off.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Sorry my memories of Olympia had zippo to do with sports. It was also a music venue. Saw the Rolling Stones, The Wings, Arlo Guthrie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and so many others. Main floor seats were not so primo. Cardboard on ice and you would freeze your buns off.

What a great and eclectic set of performers! You have good taste.

[rb336]

of course, there is this:

[EastsideAl]

of course, there is this:

The Monkees show was, alas, cancelled.

[rb336]

The Monkees show was, alas, cancelled.

it was rescheduled later that summer, then a little while ago at the Fox

[Zacha341]

I did not go to anything at OS but grew up in its shadow [[nearby) and recall seeing throngs of folks passing or driving by home to see concerts... lots of congestion in the area when Elvis played there. It was a huge structure that could be seen for miles.

[Hermod]

Dark and smoky with almost vertical seating.

I saw a few games there in the 50s when someone would give my father tickets.

They always had a semi-pro match there as a warmup for the Wings match with the semi-pro teams sponsored by a local business. Gage-Drummy Oldsmobile often had a good team in the local semi-pro league.

[night-timer]

Thanks!

Some of you are talking in Detroit lingo/slang which I don't understand, but thanks for the replies.

Please also let me know if it's safe taking photos of Detroit from/in Belle Isle... it looks like a nice place for 'cityscape' photos of the Detroit downtown skyline. Yet, on this forum, there seems to have been reports of drunks and 'hoons' on Belle Isle. Thanks again.

[sumas]

Thanks!

Some of you are talking in Detroit lingo/slang which I don't understand, but thanks for the replies.

Please also let me know if it's safe taking photos of Detroit from/in Belle Isle... it looks like a nice place for 'cityscape' photos of the Detroit downtown skyline. Yet, on this forum, there seems to have been reports of drunks and 'hoons' on Belle Isle. Thanks again.

I've been Detroit most of my life. Not sure about Detroit lingo, what's a hoon?

Belle Isle is quite safe and very beautiful. Detroiters are about the friendliest folk you can meet. If you are nervous several people on this forum provide body guard service.

[EastsideAl]

what's a hoon?

I had to look this up. Apparently, it's essentially an Australian term for a hot rodder or otherwise disruptive or anti-social driver. With the State Police activity over there now, there certainly isn't much 'hoon' driving happening on BI anymore! In fact, driving much more than 20 MPH could get you a ticket these days.

[night-timer]

I had to look this up. Apparently, it's essentially an Australian term for a hot rodder or otherwise disruptive or anti-social driver. With the State Police activity over there now, there certainly isn't much 'hoon' driving happening on BI anymore! In fact, driving much more than 20 MPH could get you a ticket these days.

That's right - a hoon is a young male whose life focuses entirely around his car. Hoons display loud bad-taste, spin donuts in their car or get into illegal drag-racing. None of them have girlfriends.

I didn't know the word hoon was uniquely Australian; in the late 1980s I heard an American [[or maybe Canadian) woman use the word - in the Scottish Highlands, no less.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. Olympia looks like it would've been a behemoth of a building. Working there probably sucked, as I noticed [[on Google Images) a total lack of windows.

[EastsideAl]

Thanks!

Some of you are talking in Detroit lingo/slang which I don't understand, but thanks for the replies.

Please also let me know if it's safe taking photos of Detroit from/in Belle Isle... it looks like a nice place for 'cityscape' photos of the Detroit downtown skyline. Yet, on this forum, there seems to have been reports of drunks and 'hoons' on Belle Isle. Thanks again.

You'll have no problems on Belle Isle. The whole island is very nice, but the western end facing downtown is truly wonderful. Don't forget to walk over to the nearby Scott Fountain! [[now on the other side of the giant concrete field where the pits are for the auto races).

[TheUsualSuspect]

I remember going to a Wings game at the Olympia with my dad. I would have been 7 or 8 years old. The vertical-ness of the stairs was beyond words. They were like climbing a ladder.

I remember holding my dad's hand like a life-line, thinking that if someone ever tumbled down the stairs...they wouldn't stop till they reached the bottom.

The up-side of those seats is that the views were nearly over the ice. No bad seats is that venue.

Gordie Howe was invited back for a tour before it was demolished. He was asked if he wanted any particular momento before they knocked it down. Gordie asked for and received the penalty-clock. Nice gesture by the Wings and excellent choice by Gordie.