My sports ‘firsts’

With no live sports taking place due to the pandemic, all we can do is eye a future when they return and relive great moments from their past.

Scott Adamson’s sports column appears whenever he feels sporty. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl and Instagram @adamsons60

ESPN has reminded us how cathartic looking back can be thanks to its “The Last Dance” mini-series documentary. And aside from that, I haven’t been shy about jumping on YouTube and finding old clashes from the North American Soccer League and United States Football League.

Sometimes when you watch these events, you realize just how many details you’ve forgotten over time.

Anyway, all this has prompted me to do a lot of thinking (and a little research) and recall the first times I saw sporting events live. Turns out it was a fun mental exercise, and I highly recommend it.

Obviously there are some that I can’t pinpoint; the first times I saw college baseball and college soccer were when I was a student at UAB, but I don’t remember specific dates. However, there are other firsts that really stand out.

So even though I don’t expect you to care about my fan milestones, maybe this will at least inspire you to take a stroll down your own lane of memories.

Here are mine – presented in chronological order:

College Football

Virginia Tech vs. Alabama (September 19, 1970, at Legion Field).

When I woke up that morning I thought my dad was taking me to see Jacksonville State vs. Samford at Seibert Stadium, which was very exciting for me since I’d never been to a college football game. In fact, the only live football games I’d seen were the ones I played in as a member of the L.M. Smith elementary school YMCA league team.

You can imagine my disappointment when he came to my room about an hour before we were supposed to leave and told me we weren’t going.

Ah, but it was a trick play.

Before I could reach the eye watering, lip trembling stage, he produced tickets to the Alabama-Virginia Tech game, set for that night at Legion Field.

Alabama won, 51-18, but I don’t remember details – just feelings. And sitting in a football cathedral with my dad made me feel like I was the luckiest kid who ever lived.

Pro football

Southern California Sun at Birmingham Americans (July 10, 1974, at Legion Field).

I was a big pro football fan and the New York Jets were my favorite team. That all changed on a hot night in Birmingham when the World Football League debuted.

Sitting between my dad and brother, I watched the Americans take an 11-7 victory over the visitors and could finally brag that I had seen a professional football game live and in person.

It also led to an obsession with the WFL that remains today.

Pro Baseball

Oakland A’s at Birmingham A’s (March 15, 1975, at Rickwood Field).

OK, I’m cheating a bit here. The American League team and defending World champions were slated to play their Southern League farm club on this night, which was to be the first time I had ever watched a live game involving a major or minor league team. But lightning knocked out a bank of lights at the stadium, and inclement weather prevented the game from being played.

But, I got second baseman Phil Garner’s autograph, watched Reggie Jackson and Billy Williams take BP, and saw Vida Blue throw some pitches, so I’m counting it.

*Technically the first pro baseball game I saw was on April 14, 1981, when the Birmingham Barons defeated the Jacksonville Suns, 6-5, at Rickwood Field.

Pro Hockey

Atlanta Flames at Birmingham Bulls (September 21, 1976, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum).

Once I found out the World Hockey Association’s Toronto franchise was relocating to Birmingham, I read anything and everything I could about ice hockey. And my, oh, my, did this game get me hooked.

Taking on the National Hockey League Flames at the brand new Civic Center, the Bulls’ Mark Napier (already a star at age 19) scored a hat trick – his last goal coming with 46 seconds left in sudden death – to give Birmingham a 7-6 victory.

It was just an exhibition game but it made me realize what a glorious sport this was.

College Basketball

Western Michigan vs. Alabama (December 28, 1976, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum).

I first got interested in college hoops when Pete Maravich played at LSU, but my exposure to the game was confined to watching it on TV.

But my brother gave me an early birthday present and took me to see undefeated and No. 4-ranked Alabama play Western Michigan in the first basketball game ever staged at the Civic Center.

I was part of a sellout crowd that watched the Crimson Tide take an 83-74 victory.

Pro Basketball

Stroh’s Roundball Classic (July 9, 1983, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum).

Here’s another case where I’m blurring the lines. The Stroh’s Roundball Classic was basically just a summer tour of NBA players who played defense-free exhibition games across the country. The stop they made in Birmingham featured stars like Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins.

The cool part for me is that I was covering the game for my college newspaper (the Kaleidoscope) and got to interview Johnson.

I can’t recall who won (not that it mattered), but the winning team scored 182 points and Wilkins had at least 20 thunderous dunks.

Pro Soccer

New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers at Birmingham Grasshoppers SC (June 6, 1993, at Birmingham-Southern College).

Birmingham fielded a team in the United States Interregional Soccer League (which evolved into what is now known as the United Soccer League) in the early 1990s, and that gave me a chance to support my hometown club.

It was composed mostly of Birmingham-Southern players and it really wasn’t professional, but since it grew into a league that is, I decided to grandfather it in and define it as “pro” soccer. In an effort to spark my nephew’s interest in the Beautiful Game, I took him to see the Gamblers and Grasshoppers mix it up on a brutally hot Sunday afternoon.

New Orleans scored a 2-1 victory.

Welp, that’s all I got. Now it’s your turn …

7 thoughts on “My sports ‘firsts’”

  1. You and I bought our first scalped tickets for the Alabama/Tennessee game in the early 70’s. The guy left us enough money to buy a Coke. Also, Allen was your “ photographer” at the Stroh’s Classic. I think y’all were impressed by something Mark Aguirre showed y’all…

    1. If Allen only had film in his camera and got a photo, we’d have had a scandal on our hands.

  2. That’s awesome Scott, and I too shared many of my sports firsts with my Dad. I am lucky that this past season at the age of 86 we were able to knock one off of his bucket list seeing our beloved Buffalo Bills play in Miami.

    First college football game: UB vs. Colgate 1994 with Dad. Until UB resurrected the program no D1 college ball in Buffalo so a late bloomer!!

    First NFL game: Buffalo Bills vs. NY Jets 1973 at old War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, with dad, which is also my earliest memory. The Jets won I vaguely remember Joe Namath but what I do remember my dad and his buddies carrying pony kegs into the game on their shoulders, times sure have changed!!

    First Pro Basketball was Buffalo Braves vs. Boston Celtics Game 4 1974 East conference semis. With dad. Buffalo won and I remember Bob McAdoo went off for Buffalo scored like 50 points…Two for McAdoo!! Braves had some great teams and were supported it’s a shame they left.

    College Basketball: Canisus vs.Wake Forest at the Aud 1994. With dad. Canisius lost but I got to see a young Tim Duncan and the John Bielien coached Griffs would make the NIT final four that year which was amazing!!

    First Pro baseball game 1979 Buffalo Bisons.vs Holyoke Millers AA Eastern League. Baseball returned to Buffalo after a long absence. Later on The War Memorial is where The Natural was filmed and I got to be an extra! Don’t remember the score but Tony Pena’s unorthodox catching style I remember.

    Pro Hockey:1974 Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington Capitols. Sabres won 9-2 Gilbert Perrault went off with 3 goals. Perrault was magic. He would get the puck behind the Buffalo net and you would be on the edge of your seat and as he came up through center the crowd would start to rise, be on our feet by the blue line. it was like a precursor to the wave. Amazing never saw anything like it till Alexander Mogilny in 1992-93. Oh and I was with Dad….

    Pro Soccer: 1979 Buffalo Stallions vs Pittsburgh Spirit MISL at the Aud. with Dad. Don’t remember the score but indoor soccer in that era was wild.

    Thanks for the walk down the memory road. This pandemic leaves us all longing for the time spent between father, son and family. I am blessed my dad is still with us and it is no surprise that he is my owner partner with Unity FC. Our dream was always to own a pro sports team together, not a major league behemoth but a minor league team that is part of a community that we could hang out with the fans and tip a few with them at the corner bar. While we are a Tier 2 women’s team, I feel like in a sense we have accomplished the dream. When I was able to hand him the 2019 Florida State Championship trophy it was an emotional moment. Fathers and sons and in our case now daughters and granddaughters. Thank you again Scott for walking me down memory lane. You are the best.

  3. Thanks, Mark! Glad you and your dad can still make and share memories. I know he’s very proud of you.

  4. One of the best things I’ve done was to subscribe to your notifications. I’ve loved every single one. We’re taking a break from social media but not from you. You have been a bright spot for a long time and I needed to tell you. If you need anything, please reach out. Thank you, Scott, for every smile you have added to our days.

    J & G

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words … y’all are two of my favorite people. Hope you’re both doing well and look forward to the return of your posts.

  5. My first pro football game was the Detroit Lions at the Atlanta Falcons in December of 1968 but I was at that same Birmingham game you went to. I had a seat in the nosebleed section.

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