So, I've decided to expand on MSE's fine sign related suggestion and so, without any further ado, here are my 10, though in no particular order, favorite non on ice Flyers memories. Most of these are from the Spectrum, yeah, I know, what a surprise!
1. THE SIGNS
Dave "Sign Man" Leonardi always kept us folks in section K entertained. Some of my faves were
TELL IT TO THE CZAR- from the 1976 game vs the Soviet Red Army team
ILKKA SCORRA GOALLA!
CAN YOUR EYE DOG SKATE?- worked on all officials, but it was always trotted out when Stickle was working the lines!
START THE BUS!
NEXT GOALIE!
2. WHISTLING
Long drawn out whistling was always heard anytime Ron Duguay and later, Jaromir Jagr were on the ice.
3. Fred the Vendor
Fred had some iron lungs, and whether he was selling peanuts, beer or popcorn, you could hear him throughout the building.
4. Being able to walk right in front of the press box and engage, and more importantly, tease the beat writers and visiting writers. This was always a must any time Stan Fischler was in town.
5. The Spectrum was an amazing place to see a game and I will always miss the old girl. Between Flyers games and concerts, I estimate that I was in that barn nearly 1000 times. But walking into the new stadium in 1996 for the USA vs Canada World Cup game is a memory that I will always cherish. The wide concourses, huge screens and just the newness of it all, blew me away!
6. Pelle Lindbergh's pregame memorial service in 1986. I still get choked up just thinking about it and yes, I still have my ticket stub with his picture on it. In a great gesture, instead of tearing the ticket which was the normal procedure back then, the ushers just marked them with a little "X" in the corner so that we could all have that last ticket with Pelle on it as a souvenir.
7. THE CHANT
Not the bastardized version that we get today, but the original chant that the organist would accompany: LETS GO FLYERS! CLAP....CLAP....CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!!!
8. Being there to watch both Bernie Parent's and Bobby Clarke's numbers be raised to the rafters.
9. Back in the mid 70s, my dad and his partners went to all the playoff games and the season openers so I didn't get to see this live, but having Kate Smith there in person to sing "God Bless America" has to be on the list and I do remember seeing it on TV prior to game 7 vs the Isles in 75.
10. The clouds of smoke that would slowly drift in from the concourse during intermission. Yes kids, back in the dark ages you could actually smoke indoors, just not in the seating area. Everyone used to light up in the concourse between periods! Of course, that was nothing compared to the cloud of smoke in the building when the lights came on after a Grateful Dead show in the 80s!
OK, Your turn!!