MEMORIES OF BRUCE McLEOD: "It is only now that as a 48 year old I can honestly come clean with this story.
My name is Bruce. I went to Game 5 of the 1976 ABA Finals with my friend Stanley. We went without tickets, legal ones anyway. One night, being 17-year old delinquents, we went out at 2am and stole items from people's milk boxes. Back then, there were still such things as milkmen who delivered. In one particular box there were two tickets to Game 5. We went to the game and spent the first quarter walking around and around the concourse and aisles of McNichols Arena. We were too afraid to take the seats we (actually, the legal owners) were supposed to sit in. About midway through the second quarter, we got tired of walking around and decided to take "our" seats. The people sitting in that area STARED at us as we began to sit down. Then the usher approached and asked us if these were our season tickets. So, of course, we lied and said we bought them from "some guy". The Denver Police were very interested in our story. When they couldn't prove we stole them they simply kicked us out of the arena. As it turned out, we had one more very significant theft that night.
As we trudged across the McNichols parking lot, we passed a limousine. It had what I noticed was a "shiny object" in the back seat. The rear door was not shut all the way which I think is why it didn't lock. The "shiny object" turned out to be the ABA Championship trophy. Needless to say, Stanley and I "removed" it. I kept it hidden in my room for about two whole months before my mother discovered it and wanted to know what it was and, more importantly, WHERE it came from. Of course I embellished a story about how we "bought it from some guy" (probably the same guy who had "sold" us our Game 5 tickets).
Much to my dismay, I came home from school one day and found that "my" ABA trophy had disappeared. Mom had somehow found out what I had, and worse…had determined where it belonged. Years later she told me she mailed it to somewhere in New York. It cost her over $7.00 in postage which she promptly deducted from my allowance. I sure wish I still had it, it would be quite the conversation piece. Mom has since passed on but she did instill some good values in me. Unfortunately, I didn't apply those until later on in life. Stanley and I were..."the Third Team" of the ABA Finals. Too bad we didn't win the trophy honestly.
Even though I now live in Southern California, I still remember those cold Colorado nights, the Rockets/Nuggets of the ABA, and the AM radio that gave me most of the ABA memories I have. Long Live the ABA!"
MEMORIES OF TROY TURNER: "The 1975-76 Nuggets were my first exposure to pro basketball. Sure, I watched the Sunday afternoon NBA games. But my fandom was reserved for this "new" team of Nuggets, Listening to Al "Swish" Albert broadcast the games on KHOW radio (and occasionally simulcast the games on KWGN TV) was a pure treat as the Nuggets did battle at such exotic-sounding locales as Market Square Arena and Freedom Hall. I got tickets as an 8th birthday present as the Nuggets were set to defend home court at Big Mac against the Utah Stars. About a week later, I heard the news from Bob Kurtz on KBTV that the Stars had closed up shop. I was in shock! Would the game be cancelled? Luckily, the Pacers were shipped in as replacements-and what a game it was! I can't remember much else about the game except Gene Price's PA calls of "DA-vid THOMP-son!!," and the Nuggets won 140-134. I will always remember the ABA fondly - it was wild, it was crazy-but it was ours!"
MEMORIES OF FRED PEAL: "I found your site for the first time tonight and damn near cried. As a kid I watched Byron Beck at the University of Denver and then as a Denver Rocket. Mental pictures of Bobby Jones, DT, Dan Issel, Dr. J, Doug Moe, Larry Brown, and Connie Hawkins are so bright tonight I can't believe it's been over 30 years. Carl Scheer pacing the floor, SRO crowds at the old Auditorium Arena, and those beautiful red, white and blue basketballs. The parade of slam dunks and those gawdawful uniforms in the NBA today just can't compare to the excitement of the run n' shoot ABA."
MEMORIES OF DARREN MARQUARDT: "My most vivid Nuggets memory is of a game at the Auditorium Arena. The Nuggets were playing the Colonels during the 1974-75 season. My dad had two season tickets behind the basket in the front row. If it was a weekend game, my dad would purchase two extra tickets - my brother and I would sit on the floor right in front of my parents. In the second half of this game, Artis Gilmore blocked a Nuggets shot. I don't remember who took the shot for Denver. After Gilmore blocked the shot, his momentum carried his hand against the backboard, leaving a huge hand print! Almost in shock my brother and I looked at each other with our mouths wide open. We couldn't believe the size of this hand print. I was only 9 years old at the time. I don't remember anything else about that game, just that huge print."
MEMORIES OF SAL MUNIZ: "I was an avid Denver Rockets and Nuggets fan for the entire existence of the league. I remember attending a game in approximately 1975 at the old Auditorium Arena. It was the Nuggets vs. the Spurs, and the finish was absolutely *mind-boggling*.
What I recall is the Nuggets scoring something like seven points in the final 19 seconds to secure an unbelievable victory. Swen Nater was a key player for the Spurs, because at one point he angrily threw the ball at a Denver player, which missed, and I think Bobby Jones grabbed it on one bounce and made a quick shot. Either Claude Terry or Jeff Congdon also played a major role with key 3-pointers; most likely Terry, because I think Congdon played for the franchise at an earlier time.
At games end, I took a moment to survey the bedlam in the arena. I think surreal is the appropriate word, because I have never (before or since) been in such a NOISY gathering which also allowed me a moment of odd *silence* to observe the happening. My wife lost a *valuable* bracelet in the excitement, while jumping up and down. Strangers were yelling, screaming, and hugging one another. The crowd spilled into the streets, and the excitement continued for several blocks..."
