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Met Center Nights (with Jon Lawrence) · Hangin' Out with Bob

0:06
The voice you're hearing is not Bob. My name
0:10
is John Lawrence, and I'm a regular guest of
0:13
Hanging Out with Bob. So now, for the first time
0:20
ever, I'd like to introduce Bob. Welcome to your
0:24
show. Thanks, John. Good to be here. Today we're
0:32
going to, uh, flip the script as it, as it were,
0:36
uh, I'm going to be asking the questions. Bob
0:39
is going to be the expert for the subject at
0:44
hand. And, uh, that subject is, uh, what I like
0:47
to call met center nights. Bob can, can explain
0:52
a little bit about his history with met center.
0:54
Uh, so here we go. Bob, tell us a little bit
1:00
about Met Center and its history. Sure, be happy
1:03
to, John, thanks. It's officially called the
1:06
Metropolitan Sports Center, but it just got shortened
1:08
to Met Center. Yeah, I was going to ask that,
1:10
actually. It was in Bloomington, Minnesota, real
1:12
close to where the airport was, just off Cedar
1:14
in the B -494, in that area there. Right now,
1:19
when you go by there, it's in a Kia store, and
1:21
the Mall of America was built. But it was built
1:23
in 1967. It was, again, the Met Center was the
1:28
premier 15 ,000 seat NHL arena. That was a primary
1:32
use of the building. Known for having a fast
1:35
ice. Other teams loved playing here, I guess.
1:38
They took really good care of the ice. It was
1:39
a good place to play, good lighting and so on.
1:41
But that was the home for the North Stars from
1:43
1967 to 1993. During that time, they were hosted
1:49
two Stanley Cup finals. They lost both times,
1:52
but at least they made it. So again, it was opened
1:56
in 1967 when I was... like 14 years old, and
2:00
it was demolished, literally torn down in December
2:03
of 1994. Okay, that's kind of funny too because
2:07
it took several attempts They tried to have the
2:09
implosion and they go oops, I think they do it
2:11
three more times But it was there for for a good
2:13
long time from 67 to 93 So right and that was
2:16
well after Met Stadium was demolished, correct?
2:20
Right, right. I think Met Stadium got torn down
2:24
in about 82 or 83. I think okay, then you started
2:27
Well, I'm not sure about the exact date, but
2:30
it was at least a couple years after the last
2:31
season in 81 Right, but they started building
2:35
the Met Center in 1966 or so because I can remember
2:39
going to Twins games as a boy and you could see
2:41
that they were putting something up and I remember
2:43
asking my dad what are they going to do there
2:45
and he says well it's going to be for hockey
2:46
and basketball and other special events so. In
2:52
proximity to Met Stadium, Metropolitan Stadium,
2:57
it was on the same campus. They shared a parking
2:59
lot. That center was north and east? Yeah, it
3:05
was almost... due north of the stadium. And it
3:09
was not a long walk. I mean, you could get from
3:11
one place to the other. I don't know if it was
3:14
maybe three or four football fields away, but
3:16
it was close. And like you said, that great parking
3:19
lot was perfect for tailgating. Everything was
3:22
there. You were just there. You didn't have to,
3:24
you know, park in different ramps and walk and
3:26
all that stuff. So it was very nice. It's actually
3:30
really reminiscent of County Stadium and how,
3:34
uh, in Milwaukee and how that was in very similar
3:37
parking lot and a great tailgate. Oh yeah. Great
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atmosphere. Yep. Right. Yep. And I'm just going
3:44
to say North stars were the primary tenant. That's
3:46
who you think of, but there was interesting.
3:48
I was looking at to see how many different types
3:50
of events were held there over the years. Um,
3:53
I remember that it was, it hosted. Not one, but
3:56
two ABA teams. The American Basketball Association.
4:00
The Minnesota Muskies were the first version.
4:02
That was 67, 68 season. And then the next year...
4:06
This team had actually won the A .B. Championship
4:08
in Pittsburgh. They were called the Pittsburgh
4:09
Pipers, but they came here and they were the
4:11
Minnesota Pipers. But they lasted only a year
4:14
and they were gone. So the A .B .A. didn't last
4:16
here long. But there was also a major indoor
4:20
soccer league team called the Strikers, Minnesota
4:22
Strikers. They were there for four years and
4:25
it also served as a home. There was actually
4:27
a real, it was a basketball league that never
4:30
got off the ground, but it was a women's basketball
4:32
league that was there back in the 80s. And I
4:35
can't remember what they were called. Interesting.
4:37
Yeah. But I remember Iowa's team was called the
4:40
Cornettes. It was kind of a planned word. It
4:41
was a corn state. Minnesota, I forgot what the
4:43
name was, but they were there. There was, there
4:45
was team pro tennis. Um, I remember Billie Jean
4:49
King was the captain of this Philadelphia team.
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And there was a Minnesota team and you'd have,
4:54
you know, singles and doubles matches, but you
4:56
could have people actually. harassing the tennis
4:59
player, you know, it's usually quiet during the
5:01
majors and they'd be yelling at him, you know,
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it was like a wrestling match, but that didn't
5:05
that didn't go long. And then of course, rock
5:07
concerts, that was a huge part of them. And when
5:10
I was working there, besides hockey games. the
5:14
rock concerts were big and there were some great
5:16
performances over the years. Led Zeppelin was
5:19
there, the Rolling Stones, Elvis was there, Jimi
5:22
Hendrix, Prince, Springsteen, The Who. So it
5:26
was, you know, that and the St. Paul Civic Center
5:28
were the two main places, but they had a lot
5:30
of great concerts over the years. Wow. Very exciting.
5:36
So yeah, we'll dive into that just a little bit
5:39
more. I was just gonna say, as an aside, it's
5:41
very interesting. Elton John had a big hit, Philadelphia
5:45
Freedom. which was an homage to Billie Jean King,
5:50
one of his heroes and, you know, one of the first
5:52
people that ever came out as being gay. And that
5:56
was his salute to Billie Jean King. Philadelphia
6:00
Freedom was the name of the pro tennis team that
6:04
she was leader of at the time. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
6:09
that was amazing. Yeah. But I think probably
6:12
the most bizarre thing. Well, the Globetrotters
6:14
were there. Yes, they were fun. Uh, the boys
6:17
Minnesota state high school tournaments were
6:19
there for like 1969 to 1975. That was, that was
6:23
great. And then they just had some really bizarre
6:26
events. Like I remember one time I worked a Lawrence
6:29
Welk concert. Awesome. They actually sold beer
6:35
there. I didn't think that's what I did. I sold
6:37
beer when I was working there, but, uh, you know,
6:39
people were getting their beer during the intermission
6:41
to the show. And I can remember. He took an intermission.
6:44
Right. And when the intermission was over, he
6:46
came out and he yelled over the PA system. Okay
6:49
folks, get back to your seats. And the people
6:51
there, my beer stand just ran back. Hurry up,
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Myron Floren is about to come on stage. Lawrence
6:57
Wolfe. And then they do some private shows that
6:59
were never publicized. I remember one time, I
7:01
can't remember the employer. Let's just say Honeywell,
7:03
for example. They had Mac Davis come in. Wow.
7:06
And it was just for. Who was a big star at the
7:09
time. Who was a big star in the seventies. And
7:10
he did a concert and I heard that. I didn't see
7:12
it, but I heard one time Barry Manlow came in
7:14
for a best pie or something. So they would get
7:18
artists for private parties. I went to at least
7:22
one high school commencement exercise there.
7:25
I think it was a Bloomington Kennedy class. And
7:27
they would use that because they could get several
7:30
thousand people there. Most high schools, their
7:32
football fields, they could use them. But if
7:34
it was raining, then you're moving indoors and
7:36
then there's not enough seats. And so it got
7:39
used for a variety of different things. Right.
7:40
Yeah. I think summertime, I think they had the
7:43
circus. Oh, right. Yeah. Up here there for a
7:46
couple of weeks. The circus? Yep. I forgot the
7:48
circus was there. Probably a couple different.
7:49
troops of circus troops over the years and conventions
7:54
sometimes that they have a boat show or some
7:57
miscellaneous Show there for several days. Boxing
8:00
matches. There were several of those. I never
8:03
worked a wrestling card there. I think by the
8:05
time I was working there, I think the St. Paul
8:08
Civic Center, maybe the Minneapolis Auditorium,
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but they didn't, I don't remember any pro wrestling
8:12
when I was there, but a lot of boxing. A few
8:16
big matches, right? A couple of heavyweight championships.
8:19
They had Scott LeDoux wrestle, wrestle, box,
8:23
Rodney Bobak. Duane Vaughn? Oh, right. Yeah,
8:26
he had a brother, a younger brother. It sold
8:28
it out. There were like, like over 14 ,000 people
8:30
for that. And what I liked about the boxing matches
8:33
is a lot of times I'd work the floor. I had a
8:35
stand, a beer stand with kegs and all that. But
8:38
I remember I worked right on the floor and I
8:40
was more than maybe. 20 yards from the ring.
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So it was just like having to ring side seats
8:45
and people come up and buy a beer. And it was
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fun too, cause you see celebrities from time
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to time. I remember Paul Kross used to go to
8:55
a lot of boxing matches, Viking, Hall of Famer.
8:58
He'd come up to my stand, he's going, is that
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all you're selling is beer? Cause he wanted a
9:01
soft drink, like a Coke. I'm sorry. Cause he
9:05
was a real religious guy. Yeah. And I think he
9:08
took good care of his body and I think he just,
9:10
he just wasn't a drinker. not a beer drinker,
9:12
so I direct him to the concession stand with
9:15
a soda first. And then for a boxing match, I
9:19
don't think it was the same card, but I had a
9:22
guy come up to my... bar, I was looking down,
9:24
counting money or something like that. And he
9:26
said, where's the, there was like an upstairs
9:29
press area. And I looked up and it was Joe Frazier.
9:31
Oh, wow. Smoking Joe Frazier. He had this all
9:33
white suit on. He was as wide as he was tall.
9:39
Yeah, right. It was a fire plug. Yeah. And so
9:42
I directed him to the area, but I was just thinking,
9:44
wow, Joe Frazier. Yeah. And Joe Frazier talked
9:47
to me. He asked me a question. So yeah, that
9:51
was kind of fun. And NHL too. Because we'd set
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up our stand for selling at least an hour before
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the game, and visiting teams would come. There
10:00
was a coach for the Flyers, Philadelphia Flyers,
10:03
named Freddie Sherrill. And he used to, maybe
10:06
it was just pre -game nerves or something, but
10:07
he would walk around in the concourse. He'd just
10:09
kind of walk around. And whenever he's in town,
10:12
he'd walk by and he'd always nod, you know, I'd
10:13
just say, I was going and that kind of stuff.
10:16
So, well, and he had those, and then the member
10:17
of the team was called the Broad Street Bullies.
10:19
They were fighters. And he was their coach, but
10:22
they just, it was, it was fun to see, you know,
10:25
celebrities from time to time. So a little bit
10:30
more about that. So how did that come about?
10:32
How did you come to work there? Oh, yeah. Well,
10:36
I used to, I went, I never had season tickets,
10:39
but I went to a lot of Northstar games and I
10:42
went to maybe one or two concerts there, but
10:45
I just thought it was a neat venue. I always
10:46
liked it. I, you know, from the outside, I don't
10:49
know if it was that impressive from the outside.
10:51
It didn't have like a brick exterior or anything,
10:53
but I just thought this is a place where a lot
10:55
of great games are played. So when I went in
10:58
there and I went to games, I saw these guys out
11:00
in the concourse selling beer. Right. And this
11:02
would be like a kiosk, right? It wasn't a big.
11:05
you know, permanent stand, right? No, it was
11:07
a stand. It had wheels on it. And we'd go to
11:10
our, an elevator that would go downstairs when
11:12
you'd enter the building, but you'd bring it
11:14
up to your, uh, your station and then you could,
11:17
uh, uh, set up. And when I saw these guys selling,
11:20
I thought, you know, I was, I was going to be
11:22
starting at the university of Minnesota that
11:24
year. I think it was still 20 years old and I
11:27
thought this would be a great part -time gig.
11:28
You know, I'm going to see if they have, and
11:30
I called, I think the company was called Canteen.
11:33
That was the vendor. And I said, are you looking
11:35
for, um, you know, bartenders at events there?
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And he said, well, as a matter of fact, we are.
11:41
So I went there and applied and, um, I got hired
11:44
and I was within a week I was starting. So instead
11:47
of doing hockey games and then rock concerts
11:49
and all that. So, yeah, I just asked, you know,
11:52
your training was probably three minutes long.
11:57
Well, I like I knew how to drink beer right if
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I can drink it I can sell it and I said I've
12:03
changed kegs Before so I thought I could do this,
12:07
you know, and it was just all you were selling
12:08
was beer and peanuts Okay, and the beers were
12:12
like in 12 ounce cups and then the bag of peanuts
12:14
They weren't skimpy, but they were good size
12:17
bags and this again This is 1974 but a beer and
12:21
peanuts was a dollar five And I remember that
12:24
our managers always said if you can ask if they
12:26
got a nickel, so we don't have to keep giving
12:28
out change. Oh, right. Good call. You got a nickel?
12:32
So that was kind of the question we'd ask. That
12:34
was the first year and then prices went up, but
12:35
I kept thinking of beer and peanuts for a dollar
12:38
five. If they gave you two bucks, you'd give
12:40
them 19 nickels back? Yeah, everything was manual.
12:45
We didn't have computers or nothing like this.
12:47
Again, this is the 70s. So you had your little
12:50
till with your change and that stuff. So you
12:52
get paid by the hour or commission? Yeah, it
12:55
was by the hour. I mean, some nights would be
12:57
super busy and some nights, like I said, I didn't
12:59
sell a lot of beer at Lawrence Well. But Led
13:04
Zeppelin concert, we probably went through like
13:06
five kegs. Right, right. If I can, let me tell
13:12
you about the Rock Hunts, it's interesting because
13:15
what their policy was, you could only sell one
13:18
beer per customer. Okay, you know if somebody
13:20
wanted up and said they were gonna buy three
13:21
for their friends that were sitting this end
13:23
Well, we always had to pretend that or imagine
13:25
that these were for underage people, right? So
13:27
that's why you know, we had signs no beer. No
13:29
ID. It's amazing though Some people still try
13:32
to get around it. I left it out in the car I
13:34
forgot it and and I said don't bring my friends
13:37
up, you know, and sometimes they would hassle
13:40
you But we just had to stick that but one beer
13:41
per customer right for rock concerts Okay, it
13:44
wasn't one beer at a time at a time right, right,
13:47
right. So It was interesting. I thought that
13:50
just the way they had set up, you know, because
13:52
something like that could be really abused. Otherwise,
13:54
you know, no, no, no, that's Wally. Yeah, right.
14:00
Right. Yeah. Well, the beer man. Yeah. Yeah.
14:02
And I never did that. Those are I don't think
14:04
we had those for rock concerts for hockey games.
14:06
You certainly had the people going up and down
14:08
the aisles. They were carrying their beer. But
14:11
for rock concerts, they had to come upstairs
14:13
and purchase it there. So And how well could
14:19
you hear the concerts from where you were at?
14:21
Oh, it was really good. I mean, you could, you
14:23
could definitely hear it. It was very loud, even
14:24
in the concourse. Okay. That was the only drawback
14:28
to working concerts is because you. could hear,
14:31
but you couldn't really see it. Usually nobody
14:34
had a beer stand by themselves. We usually had
14:36
at least two people. And if it was not as many
14:40
people coming, because maybe they were right
14:42
in the middle of their set, one guy could stay
14:44
by the bar and say, you want to go watch for
14:46
five minutes. And then they could stand by the
14:48
entrance to the seating and then you could see
14:50
everything there. So it was different though,
14:52
John, because this was the early seventies. I
14:55
guess bright lights and loud sound system, but
14:58
they hadn't introduced those large monitors yet.
15:01
Now with concerts, even if the artists look like
15:05
ants and they get the big screens, they didn't
15:07
have that in the early 70s. So you could see
15:09
them, but they were really small. It was loud
15:11
and you could hear it. uh, moved depending on
15:19
the event and, and at the time, or was it almost
15:22
always in the same spot? Yeah, I always had the
15:24
same spot. They, they, they like to have us in
15:27
the same areas. Uh, so I, I kind of liked that
15:29
part, but they would have them spaced out. Well,
15:32
depending on what kind of crowd they were expecting.
15:34
If they were expecting a cello, like for a hockey
15:36
game or a concert with a famous band, I would
15:39
say the stands were probably every 50 feet away.
15:42
Oh wow, very close. There were a lot of them
15:45
around. Almost one per section or one for two
15:49
sections or something like that. That's probably
15:50
how they did that. If there were some events
15:53
where they weren't expecting a lot of sales,
15:55
then they might not open as many. Then you might
15:57
have to walk 50 feet or 100 feet to another stand.
16:01
In Met Center, it was one corridor. It wasn't
16:04
a two -level thing. It was one corridor. down
16:08
if you're in the lower bowl and up if you're
16:10
in the upper bowl, but no multiple corridors.
16:16
No, no, no. It's not like Target Center or even
16:19
the X, excuse me, Grand Casino Arena. So it was
16:24
a real... basic look to it, but it had really
16:27
this Met Center itself. It had great sight lines.
16:30
There weren't any like posts or trap or obstructed
16:32
view seats or anything. It was it was wherever
16:34
you sat there, especially for hockey, you could
16:37
see the action. Right. Yes. Yep. I attended probably
16:41
10 hockey games in my in my lifetime at Met Center,
16:45
you know, before the North Stars left. Right.
16:49
But yeah, absolutely. There were a lot of great
16:53
vantage points. Even the upper deck was constructed
16:59
so that you had a fairly close view of the ice.
17:04
Yep. Well, in fact, there were times when my
17:07
brother and I had my youngest brother was so
17:09
much younger than us at the time. He was only
17:10
eight or nine years old. But when we were like
17:12
teenagers in early 20s, we would go to games
17:15
that were sold out or they had standing room
17:17
tickets. Right. And you could actually stand
17:19
behind the top rows of seats in like the corners.
17:23
And sometimes it'd be like 100 people in each
17:26
of those corners standing watching the game.
17:27
Right. And we were we were shoppers, too. I mean,
17:30
there were times we'd buy standing room seats.
17:31
But if we'd see like empty seats, down below.
17:34
We'd go down there and then if somebody would
17:36
come with the takes we'd go, oh I'm sorry I guess
17:38
we're in the wrong seat. But a lot of times we'd
17:41
be able to sit in these seats and not have to
17:44
move. The old premium upgrade. Now do you remember
17:50
for most of the time that Arena was there the
17:53
seats were like random colors. Yes. There's like
17:57
kelly green, white, black, and gold. Yellow.
18:00
And there was yeah and there was no They were
18:04
just everywhere. And I think that was by accident.
18:06
I think they started installing them and they'd
18:08
go, oops. They thought it was supposed to be
18:09
like section by section, but it kind of made
18:11
it unique, I thought. Just the fact you could
18:13
see different colors. It was novel. I don't remember
18:17
anything like that in any other arena I've been
18:19
to. So as a spectator, why don't you tell us
18:25
about one or two of your most memorable events?
18:29
Oh, okay. Well, let's see, in 1969 and 70, in
18:36
the early 70s, they had some good teams, and
18:40
they made the playoffs, and we would go to playoff
18:42
games too, and the prices weren't so bad. Usually
18:46
against the Blues. Yeah, the St. Louis Blues,
18:48
and I remember one year they faced Montreal,
18:53
like a semifinals. And those were some great
18:56
series. Oh, that Montreal series was outstanding,
19:00
very controversial ending where the goal was
19:03
scored like right at the end of the game. And
19:06
was it before or after the end of the game? And
19:09
that was a knockout game, right? Yeah, that was
19:12
game six or whatever. They took Montreal to six,
19:15
but I believe they were the first expansion team.
19:18
When I say expansion, in 68 they had like six
19:21
teams. Six to 12. They were the first expansion
19:24
team to beat an established team in the playoffs.
19:27
Every other time, like if St. Louis played. Montreal
19:31
on the Stanley Cup. They always got swept or
19:33
something like that. And the North Star has actually
19:34
beat Montreal in that semifinal series, at least
19:39
a couple of times. It went to six games. But
19:42
those were great because that's the first time
19:44
I'd ever heard really, really sustained cheering
19:48
and that. I mean, being inside an arena like
19:50
that, I just had never experienced that. It was
19:53
wild. Yeah. Yeah. And that's... Montreal teams
19:56
were really good then I mean probably second
19:59
to Boston in that era Oh, you know and they and
20:02
they won a couple of cups and oh, yeah Yeah,
20:04
they did, you know Whenever Boston didn't and
20:07
then and then the Flyers that you talked about
20:09
the Broad Street bullies kind of had their little
20:12
run But but yeah for the the original six those
20:16
were the two. Yeah powers at the time. That's
20:19
right, Montreal and Philadelphia and Boston with
20:24
Bobby Orr. Yeah, it was very exciting. So for
20:29
hockey games, I think it was those late 60s,
20:32
early 70s in playoffs. That was a great time.
20:35
I actually, I'm trying to think now. I've seen
20:39
a lot of good concerts as a fan, you know, gone
20:41
to concerts, but I think most of the big groups
20:44
I saw at the Met I went there as an employee.
20:47
I never bought tickets to go there. But I did,
20:50
one time, have the experience of actually selling
20:53
beer on the floor at a rock concert. It was a
20:56
group called, oh, who was supposed to be the
20:58
headliner that night? I forget who it was. But
21:00
the warm -up band was a group called Steppenwolf,
21:03
which had been a big group in their own name.
21:07
But they found out that the band that was supposed
21:08
to be the... on the top building couldn't make
21:12
it. So Steppenwolf played the whole concert and
21:15
they went on for like, well, probably two and
21:17
a half hours. But my beer stand wasn't more than,
21:20
I don't know, 50 yards from the, or 50 yards
21:24
from the stage. And that's relatively close.
21:26
Oh, yeah. And it was extremely loud. Oh, I can
21:29
imagine. Those PAs were, you know, was in a stone's
21:32
throw where I was standing. Yeah. Did you occasionally
21:36
take a peek over to the stage during that one?
21:38
They were in front of me. OK. So I was stationed.
21:41
I could just look out and see them the whole
21:42
time. Oh, facing the stage. Yeah, I was facing
21:44
the stage. Interesting. I wasn't behind. I was
21:45
facing it. So they only had it. They only had
21:49
the stage at about. blue line. Okay. Maybe the
21:52
red line. It didn't go all the way to the end,
21:54
but they did have seats on the floor. Okay. But
21:56
it didn't take up the entire floor. So yeah,
22:00
you were like maybe center -iced to the goal
22:04
line. Not far from where the goal judge would
22:05
be. Yeah. That's where my stand was set up. So
22:07
they were like center -iced. So it felt really
22:10
close. Wow. Wow. You and John K. best buddies.
22:17
Yeah, he had his sunglasses on, and they gave
22:19
a really good show. I wish I could remember who
22:21
the band was. They were supposed to be warming
22:23
up for it. But for whatever reason, the artists
22:25
couldn't make it, so Steppenwolf played the whole
22:27
time. And the crowd was fine with it. They weren't
22:30
rioting or anything. They seemed to enjoy it,
22:33
so. Oh, good, good. All right. How about another
22:38
memorable non -hockey game event? Anything come
22:43
to mind? What was, uh, so the big boxing matches,
22:47
the one you mentioned, right? Scott Ladew and
22:50
Rodney Bobak. Wasn't, uh, was Dwayne Bobak, did
22:54
he fight Larry Holmes there? The one that last,
22:58
I remember that fight, but I was watching that
23:00
on TV. I don't think it was in Minneapolis or
23:02
in Bloomington. I thought he was fighting him
23:04
somewhere else. I remember that fight because
23:06
it's like Kenny Norton. No, I'm sorry. Bobak
23:09
and who? Oh, yeah, it was Ken Norton. I was thinking
23:12
of Larry Holmes, but it was, yeah, it was Ken
23:14
Norton. I think it was, yeah, because Ken Norton
23:17
actually hit him or punched him and like hit
23:19
him in the throat or something. Yeah. I think
23:21
it kind of choked him. It was like a first round
23:23
knockout. Yeah, right. It was, it was very quick.
23:27
And I don't remember if Larry Holmes fought either
23:29
of those Bobbocks. He may have. It might have
23:31
been Ladew. He, I think there were. Well, Scott
23:34
Ladew even fought George Foreman. Yeah. And he
23:36
got. Just pound it. I'm amazed he lasted as long
23:40
as he did. Right. You know, he was on his feet
23:43
for a lot longer than most guys would have been
23:44
against Foreman back in the day. Yeah. But I
23:48
know Joe Suchere has, there was some big fight
23:51
and I think it might've been Ken Norton. And
23:54
he tells this funny story about how after the,
23:58
after the fight, he went and interviewed Norton
24:00
who, you know, had one easily. Yeah. And he,
24:04
he said to Dorton, boy, that was something. He
24:06
said, what do you mean boy? And he's only, he's
24:11
only kidding. And, uh, so, so like a couple of
24:16
years later, he sees Sushri again and he says,
24:18
Hey boy, so it was, it was a smile, you know,
24:22
at the moment, but Sushri was a little nervous
24:25
about. I just thought of something, John, when
24:27
I, when I worked that, um, Lidu -Bavik fight,
24:32
I had taken the portable bar down the elevator
24:36
and wheeled it back to where our headquarters
24:39
were on the ground floor. And that's where all
24:42
the athletes and whatever would walk to the dressing
24:44
room. And I was sitting at the bar and I think
24:47
I was counting money. And I wasn't looking up
24:50
and a guy comes up to the beer stand and goes,
24:52
you got any more beer left? I looked up and it
24:54
was Scott LeDoux. You know, I didn't even have
24:58
a keg. The kegs weren't even there. I was just
24:59
going, sorry, I don't have any. He just walked
25:02
up and said he wanted a beer because he just
25:04
wanted to fight before a sell -out crowd. But
25:07
it was funny looking up and seeing him. That's
25:09
awesome. Any other athletes ever approach you
25:11
during an event that they were participating
25:14
in? Where I had my stand for most of the games,
25:18
there was a stairwell right next to it. It was
25:21
a door you walked in and go downstairs. But the
25:24
players would often come up through that stairway.
25:28
And the guy we used to see all the time, because
25:29
on the other side of my beer stand was a guy
25:31
that sold souvenirs. His name was Chris and he'd
25:33
sell pennants and all that stuff. guys would
25:38
come through and remember Al Shaver? Oh yeah.
25:40
He was the play -by -play announcer for the North
25:42
Stars. He would always come through that door
25:44
and he'd see us and always say hi, you know,
25:45
how you doing? But it was fun seeing the players
25:47
that maybe weren't playing because they were
25:49
injured or something. Oh yeah. And we used to
25:51
see Bill Goldsworthy all the time. No kidding.
25:53
Number eight, you know, he had the goldy shuffle
25:55
when he scored a goal but he'd come up to the...
25:57
He'd always sit in these press boxes at the top
26:00
of the arena, but he'd always walk through and
26:02
say hi to people. So it was fun to see these
26:04
guys like in street clothes, just being friendly.
26:07
I always thought hockey players were really nice
26:09
guys. They just were real friendly. I'm sure.
26:12
Yeah, exactly. Most of them were Canadian at
26:14
that time. There weren't very many European players
26:16
in their early 70s, but it was fun to see everyone
26:19
from Bobby Orr and Phyllis Bezido to... Right.
26:23
Bobby Clark, and I never saw Dave Schultz walk,
26:26
and I just never timed it right, but I just remembered
26:28
he was a big brawler for the Flyers. Right, yeah,
26:31
led the league in penalty minutes. Yeah, yeah.
26:33
Probably second, maybe second to André Moose
26:37
DuPont or something. Yep, yep, yep. I'm trying
26:42
to think if I think of any of the celebrities
26:43
as we're talking, I'll bring it up. I do remember
26:47
one time, it was a rock concert and Jethro Tull.
26:51
It was their show. After the concert, we were
26:55
downstairs. We always wore these green vests
26:58
and yellow clip -on ties. We had to wear white
27:02
shirts and then we put on these clip -on yellow
27:04
ties and green vests. North Star colors. Yeah,
27:08
North Star colors, exactly. We were leaving.
27:10
or getting ready to go home. And I see there
27:13
was a lead singer in Jethro Tull. He also played
27:15
a flute. His name is Ian Anderson. And he was
27:18
wearing, he kind of looked like something out
27:19
of a Shakespeare play or something. He had a
27:21
tight sound and he had the beard and all that.
27:23
But I remember seeing him walk and he looked
27:26
like he's about five foot six, real short guy.
27:29
But it just looked funny seeing him walk by himself.
27:31
So I didn't see a lot of the rock stars after
27:35
concerts. I remember. They must have gone, as
27:38
soon as they left the stage, they must have been
27:40
like out to the bus. Yeah. I don't know where
27:41
they went. It was some hotel or something, but
27:44
I didn't see many of them. I was, I was kind
27:45
of hoping I could have seen like Led Zeppelin
27:47
and Robert Plant or Jimmy Page, but that never
27:49
happened. I never saw those guys after the concerts.
27:52
I do remember, I'm really getting deep in the
27:55
weeds here, but remember a group called Seals
27:56
and Croft? I do. And they had this one song,
28:00
it was something about darling if you want me
28:03
to be close to you. And there was a woman that
28:06
sang in that song. She was singing part of it.
28:08
And I don't know what her name was, but she had
28:10
a very nice voice and all that stuff. But after
28:12
she had sung her song and I was getting done
28:14
for the night, I saw her behind the stage walking
28:17
and I just said... You did a great job, great
28:19
voice. She said, oh, thank you. But that was
28:22
my only brush with fame as far as the rock stars.
28:26
There was a group called England Dan and John
28:29
Ford Collier. Yeah, wasn't he a brother of the
28:31
Seals? Yeah, I was just going to say that. The
28:33
Seals guy was brothers with England Dan. Yeah,
28:36
that's right, that's right. They were brothers.
28:39
Exactly the same genre, the same, you know, they
28:42
might even be played back -to -back. WCCOFM or
28:48
something. In fact, speaking of Seals and Croft,
28:51
I see where Dash Croft just passed away. Seals
28:54
had died maybe a few years ago, but Dash Croft,
28:58
he was in his 80s, but he just passed away. They
29:01
were interesting because they were Baha 'is of
29:04
the Baha 'i faith, and they were kind of a part
29:07
concert, part evangelical roadshow. Really? They
29:10
would stay after they played and then they would
29:12
explain their their faith to people that wanted
29:14
to hear. No kidding. It's kind of like a Billy
29:16
Graham thing except for Baha 'is if you were
29:18
interested. Part concert, part revival. Yeah,
29:22
that's the word. Revival. They would stay after
29:24
and explain their faith to them. Wow. Interesting.
29:27
I was gone long before that concert was over
29:29
so I don't know how that went exactly. So you'd
29:35
be set up for an event But but closed down before
29:39
the end of the event Yeah, we would stop selling
29:42
beer after the second period of hockey. Okay,
29:44
it would take us 20 minutes just to you know
29:47
shut down during the intermission. But then once
29:50
the third period started, you were, that's right.
29:52
After the second period intermission was, then
29:54
we'd start taking things down. We'd make sense.
29:57
Yeah. We'd untapped the kegs and we'd, you know,
29:59
count our money and bring that stuff downstairs
30:02
and turn that in. So, so that's, yeah. And for
30:05
rock concerts, sometimes it was the same way.
30:07
They usually lasted, um, they usually lasted,
30:10
you know, a couple hours, maybe, maybe two and
30:13
a half. Springsteen started doing the marathon
30:15
ones. I was just going to say, unless it's Bruce
30:16
Springsteen. Then it's three hours and 45 minutes
30:20
or something. It seemed like that for a couple
30:21
hours. Somebody, one of our managers said, okay,
30:25
you can shut down, you can shut down this stuff.
30:26
Plus when you get concerts, you get the younger
30:29
people and I guess they don't want them to get
30:30
too, they don't want to worry about them being
30:33
over -served. So they would have a shutdown at
30:35
a certain time. And that always got kind of dicey
30:38
too, because then you get these kids that would
30:39
be mad saying, come on, I just, you know, I said.
30:41
Sorry, we're shut down. I'm empty. We're done.
30:47
We're done. Yeah. All right. Well, that's that
30:52
sounds like a good time. So how long did you
30:55
did you work Med Center? I started in January
30:59
of 74 when I was. just about to start my junior
31:02
year at the university. So I had 74, all of 75,
31:07
and most of 76. Because in 76, I graduated from
31:12
the U. I had my journalism degree and I was looking
31:14
for newspaper work. And I got that job in Decor,
31:17
Iowa. I worked down there. So I stopped in...
31:20
like September of 76. Okay. So it was almost
31:23
three years, but, um, it was a good time and
31:25
I left on really good terms. I got to know a
31:27
lot of these people working there. I, everybody
31:30
else had other jobs. You know, they were, I was
31:32
among the younger people working there, but the
31:34
guys in their thirties and forties there, I remember
31:36
a guy who worked at the Ford plant in St. Paul
31:38
and he'd come and sell beer in the evening. And
31:40
another guy worked at a, a transfer, a trucking
31:43
place and he'd come there and sell. So it was,
31:46
it was pretty, pretty good money for not too
31:49
hard of work at least for me at least it was
31:51
um you have to be aware i could i could tap a
31:54
beer blindfolded right so often and and and there
31:59
was a little bit of a technique back then a pouring
32:02
yeah you don't want it you didn't want it to
32:04
be three fours full of head you know you wanted
32:06
to pour it just right and so i did that and and
32:09
i It was a good place to schmooze, you know,
32:12
I always like talking to people. So you'd come
32:14
up and especially like hockey games, you get
32:17
fans from other cities that were coming to visit,
32:19
you know, people from New York when the Rangers
32:21
were in town and that stuff. So it was just fun
32:23
to get to meet and talk to different people.
32:26
Right. Nice. And that was kind of the toward
32:29
the end of the North Star's good run there in
32:32
the, in the early first half of the seventies,
32:35
you know, when they had a good team. Yeah, really
32:39
good. You're right, though, because they started
32:42
to slide in the mid 70s. And when I was down
32:45
in Iowa. Um, I remember they, they just had really
32:48
bad teams and they ended up merging with the
32:50
Cleveland Barons. Yeah. Cause they were in financial
32:53
trouble. Right. Right. For the first time. Yeah.
32:57
And then wasn't there some of the seals to the
32:59
golden or no, the owners of the seals ended up
33:02
taking over the guns, the gun brothers. Yes.
33:05
They, they kind of bought out the two. Well,
33:08
I think they actually. Was, was Cleveland, was
33:12
the California Golden Seals became the Cleveland
33:15
Barons maybe? That could be. And then they merged
33:18
and under the North Star's name. Right, right.
33:22
But that was like around 79 or somewhere in there.
33:27
But, you know, when you worked there, it was
33:29
still, you know, JP Parisi, Jude Ruhn, and, you
33:33
know, the defensive core was all pretty good.
33:35
Yeah, Goldsworthy was still there. Yeah, Goldy.
33:38
And then, you know, you had defense, you know,
33:41
you had the steady Freddie Barrett and Ted Harris.
33:47
Um, I probably Dennis O 'Brien probably had just
33:49
showed up and Tom Reed, those would have been.
33:52
Yeah, Tommy Reed. I remember that too. And, and,
33:55
um, I can't remember if Louie was still playing,
33:57
Lou Nanny. Yeah, he would have, he would have
33:59
still been, because he, he was a player coach
34:03
in the later, in that team that merged, I think
34:06
he was a player coach. So I think he played all
34:08
through the seventies. I think it was actually
34:11
a little bit younger than some of the, you know,
34:13
like goals worthy and, and, uh, uh, JP, I think
34:17
those guys were just slightly older than, than
34:20
Louie. Yeah. They had a goalie. Well, Cesar Maniaga
34:23
was going there. Gumper Gumborzi was a goalie
34:25
for a while when I was there. Jill's mulash.
34:30
Yeah, he came a little bit later. He had a guy
34:32
named Julie Jill Bear. Jill Bear. That's what
34:35
I'm thinking of. Quebec players. Yeah, Jill Bear.
34:38
That's what I was thinking of. And then he got
34:39
traded to Boston once Jerry Cheever was going
34:42
to retire, right? Right. They got what Fred Stanfield
34:47
or something for him. Yeah. I think Jack Gordon
34:49
might've been still coaching the North Stars
34:52
then. It went through a few coaches though. They
34:55
said they started to struggle in the mid seventies
34:57
toward the last year. So I was working there.
34:59
They, they weren't as good. They started to slide
35:01
off. And by the time I came back from Iowa, I
35:04
never went back to work at the Met, but I remember
35:05
then they got Bobby Smith and Steve Payne and
35:08
they, they, they rose. Once that merger happened,
35:11
they had a lot of good players. young and coming
35:15
up together and you know they unfortunately had
35:20
three major injuries to their three best defensemen
35:24
you know they were they were with those guys
35:27
again you had Hartzberg who continued to play
35:32
but he wasn't the same guy guy from Minneapolis
35:37
Minneapolis Henry Tom Hirsch was a high draft
35:41
Henry Yeah. And yeah, he was a friend of a friend.
35:46
So, you know, a year older than me. So I, I got
35:50
to face him on the ice and big, big tall guy.
35:53
I remember when I first started working, there
35:56
was one kid from Minnesota that actually played
35:58
for the North Stars. Excuse me. And I think he
36:00
went to Hastings. His name is Dean Talifas. Oh,
36:03
and he went to know he went to Hastings. Yeah,
36:05
and then he played at Wisconsin instead of Minnesota,
36:07
but he was with the North Stars for at least
36:10
a year or two. Yeah, he would have been like
36:12
in that era when they started kind of sliding.
36:15
Yeah. Yeah, I'm say 74, 75. So when he was playing
36:19
there, but I remember he was a local guy. So
36:22
because the majority of the players were from
36:25
We're from Canada, if that's the word. Lou Nanny,
36:29
I just... I'm reminded Lou Nanny lived in the
36:32
same neighborhood as the Esposito brothers in
36:35
Sault Ste. Marie. What a team they must have
36:38
had, right? Yeah, they're really good friends
36:41
because I know a lot of times Esposito used to
36:43
be on shows when Lou Nanny was a guest or something.
36:47
They've been lifelong friends. And they were
36:50
GMs at the same time and used to call each other
36:54
to make trades and whatnot. I think Tony played
36:57
a long time. long time goalie for the Blackhawks.
37:01
Right. Yeah. It fills with the Bruins. Yeah.
37:06
Yeah. Good times. Yep. All right. Well, why don't
37:12
you wrap it up with maybe one or two other memories
37:16
of your time at the Met Center and, you know,
37:20
and we'll call it a show. Yep. No, I'll be happy
37:23
to. Oh, I want to bring up one more thing about
37:25
the North stars. And I did not know this till
37:27
I looked this up, John. The Met Center, according
37:30
to my information, they were the first NHL team,
37:34
or excuse me, the first NHL arena to sell advertising
37:37
space on the rink sideboards. Now everybody's
37:41
got it. They're just around, but they were the
37:43
first NHL team. They started doing that in 78
37:45
and 79. I was going to say, right around the
37:47
time of the merger, all of a sudden, yeah, those
37:49
advertisements started showing up on the boards.
37:53
And now everybody has advertised. Heck, I think
37:56
they might even have it on their jersey. I don't
37:58
know. That must have been a Gunn Brothers idea.
38:02
And it stuck. And now everybody has it. Right.
38:05
And, you know, it's funny that it always seemed
38:07
so unfair that that arena got torn down after
38:09
just, you know, I don't think it was even 30
38:11
years. Right. 67 and 94, they turned it down.
38:15
But a little over 25 years old. It's funny, though,
38:18
it still seemed like it wasn't that old. But
38:20
you know that there is not one arena in the NHL
38:24
now that was older than the Met. The oldest.
38:28
Arena now. I just looked up this morning. The
38:30
oldest one is Madison Square Garden. Okay, that
38:34
was that was opened in February of 68, which
38:38
is virtually the same time. And I think they've
38:40
had two or three major renovations at the garden.
38:43
But otherwise, every other arena was built in
38:46
the ladies or ladies. I'm surprised that Madison
38:48
Square Garden is that new. Was that maybe the
38:51
second? I think it's the second version of it.
38:54
Kind of like Yankee Stadium. Right. Yeah, exactly.
38:57
Because this isn't in Madison Square Garden for
38:59
Right. Generation back to Jack Dempsey or something.
39:03
Right. Right. Right. So, yeah. So I thought that
39:06
was interesting. The part about the advertising.
39:08
I just forgot about that. So yeah. But yeah,
39:12
Johnny, first of all, he did a great job of interviewing.
39:15
It was your idea to do this. And then I'm flattered
39:17
that you asked. It was fun to talk about it.
39:19
It's funny now because. several decades later,
39:21
when you think back about where that Met Center
39:23
was, there's a big blue Ikea store there, that's
39:26
there, where the Met Center was. And the Mall
39:29
of America, and more specifically, the Nickelodeon
39:33
Indoor Music Park, that's where Met Stadium was,
39:36
because they still have a home plate there. You
39:38
can walk across home plate, and it has that red
39:40
seat where Herman Killibrew was. And then Memorial
39:44
Stadium, where the Gophers played, another stadium
39:47
at, and you were like an usher at some Gopher
39:49
football games, right? Yeah, that's correct.
39:51
In 77. That got torn down when they moved to
39:53
the Metrodome. Right now, there's an aquatic
39:56
center there, and then there's this giant alumni
39:59
center building with the current stadium sort
40:02
of like... kiddy corner across the street. Right.
40:04
Right. Right. So it's funny. They actually built
40:07
that aquatic center in the middle of Memorial
40:09
Stadium. That's what stood for probably four
40:12
or five years at least. And there was still a
40:16
big push by some people to get back on campus.
40:19
And finally, they tore it down so that those
40:21
people would be, you know, and to great protest.
40:25
Don't don't tear down that piece of garbage.
40:28
It was not a bug. Well, beautiful place, kind
40:32
of like Williams Arena nowadays is, you know,
40:36
the barn is showing its age. Yeah. Yeah. And
40:39
there's a lot of people that would like to see
40:41
the new arena. Yeah. I don't know where they
40:43
build it, but they'd like to. It's an incredibly
40:45
nostalgic place. And, you know, the memories
40:49
in that place are great, but it's the wrinkles
40:52
are showing. Yeah. And it's been there a long
40:55
time over a hundred years, I think, Williams.
40:57
But yeah, the Met Center will always hold a.
41:00
That's replaced my heart. One, just because it
41:02
was a great place to go to see games. Yep. And
41:05
then two, just working there. I got to meet a
41:06
lot of fun people there. It just, it's good memory.
41:09
Good time. So no doubt. Did you, so did you tailgate
41:11
at a Met Center events? Would you, would, were
41:15
you wanting to participate in that? I don't think
41:18
I ever did that. I think we just, well, a lot
41:20
of times we'd go there and we try to buy tickets
41:22
off people that were trying to sell tickets.
41:25
So we didn't really tailgate. We're just trying
41:26
to get into the place. Um, but no, I never, never
41:29
tailgated. Certainly. pass by plenty of tailgaters.
41:34
They would be camped out there for hours before
41:37
the game. Oh, and for Viking games too at Met
41:39
Stadium. That's where I first started seeing
41:41
purple school buses. They would literally get
41:45
there like six in the morning. Start partaking
41:50
in the antifreeze. Yeah, exactly. Those days
41:57
were fun. fun times. They really were. They really
42:02
were. All right. Well, great, Bob. I'm glad we
42:08
could do this. This was a great deal of fun.
42:10
Yeah, it was fun. Well, you did a great job interviewing
42:11
John. I'm glad we could talk about it. So thanks
42:13
again. And again, to our listeners, thanks for
42:19
hanging out with me, Bob at Home, and today's
42:22
host, John Lawrence, my friend from Northeast
42:24
Minneapolis. We hope you'll join us for the next
42:26
episode of Hanging Out with Bob, wherever you
42:28
listen to your podcasts. Until then, bye.