RIP Hoosier (RCA) Dome

Yes, I'll miss it. Covered a lot of games there in my time. I always liked that Dome because it seemed very easy to navigate and the rooms for the media were very nice. Also, for the Final Four, you couldn't beat how easy it was to get around the city and the arena. Only one better, IMO, was San Antonio.

 

The Packers never played in Baltimore or Indy, buck.

 

Where's the sploogefest like there was for Texas and Yankee stadiums? Oh, there isn't one.

Hoosier Dome and Shea Stadium are proof that none of these eulogies are about the building but rather about the team that plays in them. And the reason why I say, "Mr. Construction Worker, Tear Down That Wall!" The team plays on; the building's gone and we'll get over it rather quickly.

 

You mean the story is about the people? Since when?

 

They weren't kidding with those warning signs about it being windy once you exit the dome.

 

was only in it once, partaking a Mizzou-SIU first-round NCAA game as a fan. Wasn't impressed.

I understand the sentiment attached to those who saw it more than me, but it's a relic that needed to go

 

I was forcibly removed from there ... as a journalist.

 

I've got a lot of memories from that old barn.

When it was being built, my grandfather was mesmerized by it. An engineer and architect, he was curious about the dome being held up by air pressure. I'll always remember going down there with him and listening to him explain how it would work.

I went to countless Colts games there, mostly in the 80s and 90s when they were absolutely terrible. So when I think about games there, I mostly remember an empty stadium, having entire bench rows in the upper deck to just me and my dad. I got to see a few games in the Manning era, too, so I know how different the atmosphere was in the last 10 years. It's not what I'll remember.

I got to play a high school football game there when I was a teenager. That was pretty cool. It seemed so empty, though, being on the field.

Covered a Final Four there and was lucky enough to watch, as a fan, my alma mater play in one too.

And went to a few other random events there -- a monster truck show, Pink Floyd concert, etc.

For whatever reason, one of my strongest memories of the Hoosier Dome was walking out of a game shortly after they sold the naming rights to RCA. The Hoosier Lottery had a banner ad up in the stairwell that led out of the stadium. It read "Joe's Dome. You can do a lot with $10 million." -- or something like that.

For the sake of my own nostalgia, I'm sorry to see it go. I won't ever be able to take my kid there and tell him about what it was like. If we visit Indy and I take him to Lucas Oil Stadium -- it'll be cool, but it won't be any different for me than any other NFL stadium. He won't get to feel that great rush as the wind pushes you out of the stadium on your way home (which for many years was my favorite part of going to a Colts game).

As a football fan, I'm not sorry to see it go. It was a terrible place to watch games. So cavernous. So sterile. So bland.

It's strange now, for me, going home and going to sporting events. Since I graduated high school a little over a decade ago, they've torn down Market Square Arena and the Hoosier Dome, and let Bush sit empty. The new venues are all major improvements, but it just doesn't feel the same. At least there's still the tracks ...

 

OK, now there's a story I want to hear.

 

Damn. Just found this thread and you pretty much summed up all I would have said.

The Dome was the only place I ever played a game (high school football), covered games (Colts and high school football) and watched games (countless Colts, high school state finals bball, college bball, et al.). I was hoping to be the only one to say that on the board. Guess not.

It certainly needed to go...though, I'm still not sure Lucas Oil Stadium is really all that much of an improvement (as Conseco was to MSA).

And, for sake of some further discussion, I'll give my nominations for best games ever played in there in each sport.

College hoops: Duke/UNLV '91. Sure, the fix may have been in, but that national semifinal was a mega event.
(Honorable mention to the Arizona/Kentucky OT final in '97 and Princeton beating defending champ UCLA on the backdoor in '96).

High school hoops: South Bend Clay/Valpo '94. Bryce Drew and Tim Bishop's 3-point bombs were offset by Lee Nailon and Jaraan Cornell in an overtime final. (Honorable mention: Damon Bailey winning the title in front of 40,000+, Jeff Poisel beating the buzzer in '96 for Ben Davis, Lafayette Central Catholic beating Alexandria 113-106 in the ill-fated tournament of champions in 1998...still a great game).

Colts: Colts/New England 38-34 in the AFC Championship in 2007. Brady vs. Manning with the Super Bowl on the line until the last play after a huge Indy rally. (Honorable mention: Manning breaking the touchdown record in closing seconds of eventual overtime win against San Diego, Eric Dickerson goes nuts against Denver in Monday Night Halloween game, Steelers upset Colts on way to Super Bowl surviving wild fourth quarter).

One Central Indiana native's list....someone else can come up with others and feel free to rank Wrestlemanias or Monster Truck Rallies, but those aren't exactly things I'll remember from the Dome.