Goodbye to the Silverdome (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

Tomorrow marks the last game to ever be played at the Pontiac Silverdome, when the 1-14 Lions play the 5-10 Cowboys. The game is a sellout.
Just think of all those great championships won at the stadium. There was, err, um... oh, yeah. The Michigan Panthers won the 1983 USFL championship game there, the Detroit Express won a soccer title there (I was at that game), and the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI. The Pistons played in an NBA Finals series there in 1988 -- they won the next two NBA championships after moving up the road to The Palace of Auburn Hills.
As for the Lions, they had 16 losing seasons in 27 years playing in the 'Dome. The high point was their only postseason victory in the past 44 years -- a 38-6 victory over Dallas in 1992. They were 1-1 in postseason games played in Pontiac (they lost 28-24 to Green Bay in 1994), with a regular season home record of 115-92-1. That means they lost a lot of road games in those 27 years.
Maybe I can run on the field and grab the piece of turf that Billy Sims tripped over, ripping his knee up and ending his career.
Ah, memories.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

Did a professional football team ever call the Silverdome home?

 

[teapot2001]

I'll remember it for Wrestlemania 3 when 93,000 people set the indoor attendance record.

~T

 

[McPaul]

I'm with Bill. I didn't know there was any professional football played there! In the regular season, MUCHLESS the playoffs!!

 

[JohanK]

Scott, what are the future plans for the dome? Are they still going to hold high school state championship games there?

 

[Jeff_A]

Quite seriously, I will always remember it as the home one of the greatest: Barry Sanders.

 

[Michael Warner]

The Silverdome isn't going anywhere, just the Lions. Too bad really as that place is ill suited for practically any type of event. I recall all the concerts I attended there as a teen and how awful the acoustics and sight lines were. Maybe the next time the roof blows off they'll just leave it open air.

 

[Jason Hughes]

The sad thing is that the rag known as the Oakland Press has been having people sumbit stories, memories, blah blah blah about the dump as if it were sad to be saying goodbye. This is not like the closing of Tiger Stadium or the Olympia for Christ's sake.

The sad thing is that you will basically have to be Joe CFO to be allowed into the new stadium. Despite all the tax dollars being pumped into the place, they are not going to be selling tickets to the general public (either season tickets or to a bunch of corporate fucks that won't even pay any attention to they game - in other words it will all be people there they could care less, except they get to brag to the neighbors that they went). I hope they have 27 more pathetic years there. No sports team has ever, ever less deserved a new stadium. The Fords can go to hell.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Did a professional football team ever call the Silverdome home?

The Michigan Panthers won the first USFL championship, and the title game was played in the Silverdome. Other than that...
I attended an NBA Final game there. It's probably my best memory of the place, even though the Pistons lost the game to the Lakers. There must have been 65,000 people in attendance.

 

[Dennis Reno]

This thread should be titled "Good Riddance to the Silverdome"!

IMO the Dome and the Lions are perfect together. Both suck. My wife and I had season tickets for several years in the early to mid '90s. We decided to cancel our order for three reasons:

1. Unable to improve our four seats. Keep in mind that people I knew who had just one season under their belt were able to improve theirs.

2. Wayne Fontes - 'nuff said

3. The obnoxious, drunk fans. The Dome was no place to take kids. There was usually several major fights (in the stands, the Lions don't put up much of a fight) every game. People taking a whiz in the sink was a regular occurance. Seems like the Dome/Lions attract a lot of the dregs of society...

I am thrilled that Ford Field is being built downtown. Too bad its the Lions moving into it! I hope they will play the HS championship games at Ford Field. That will give people something to cheer about!

 

[Tom-G]

The high point was their only postseason victory in the past 44 years -- a 38-6 victory over Dallas in 1992.

I remember that game vividly. I hate the Cowboys so much, I can't even put into words exactly how much I loathe that franchise and to see them get pounded in the playoffs was nothing less than awesome.

New stadium, new start (hopefully) for the Lions. Looks like Mike McMahon might be the QB to play in that new stadium.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Did a professional football team ever call the Silverdome home?

Didn't you read Scott's post, Bill? The USFL champion Michigan Panthers played there.

Speaking of another type of Panther, after all the grief the Lions caught this season, they didn't even wind up with the worst record in the NFL. Those Carolina Panthers were fast out of the gate with that one win, but they were determined to play spoiler to the Lions after that!

Regards,

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Ken,
Yes, the Carolina Panthers ended up as the worst team in the NFL this year, despite all the Lions publicity. The Panthers lost their last 15 games, a league record for a single season. Meanwhile, the Lions finished with a win over the Cowboys. It's always good to beat Dallas, even when the game doesn't matter.
While the Lions sold out their season finale with approximately 80,000 in attendence, only 21,000 showed up for the Panthers home game today. Detroit sold out 6 of 8 home games this year.
Just think how the fans would react if they ever won a title! We may never see it, though. :frowning:

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Scott,

A lot of the national media has been pointing out that the Lions have had good attendance despite their losing so many games this season. As a matter of fact, I believe that only two home games had to be blacked out for local TV despite the large capacity of the Dome.

This is partly a testament to the fans, but I think part of it was also the significantly increased number of season tickets sold before the season. This was due partly to the new M&M regime, and largely to the desire of fans to have a shot at good seats for the first season at the new stadium downtown next year.

I will give credit to the fans for actually attending the games, though.