I'll date myself.
Ahearn, like Allen, changed over the year, For the first 20 after opening in 1951, its entire interior surface was dirt. Games were played on a raised platform floor. Sometime in the ealry 70s, they put in the running track and some kind of synthetic court. That court was used only one year because it wasn't kind to legs.
Seating dropped from 13k plus when it opened to just more than 10 kin its last year. Some end zone bleachers seats had views restricted by court side. Basically little league baseball stands. There would sometimes be mud puddles you had to walk around.In the late 70s, I watched games from the student seating, wich was courtsid to the north and the mable eastern third of the sourth court side.
It was a loud, great experience. But restrooms were a horror. Unlike in its early days, fans couldn't smoke in their seats, bbut they could go down behind the bleachers at have time and light up. There was often a haze of smoke handing around the second half. Photos from the 50s capture a constate smoke haze.
During the early 80s Blackman years, a guy I worked for bought me season tickets in the metal balcony in the west end zone. I remember watching the 96-69 win against KU from there in which a staggered VD. Valentine walked the ball up court late in the game so that we didn't score 100.
BB ended at Ahearn after 37 years. Bram is now 31 years old. Games at Doom can get just as loud, but its not as consistently crazy as when we competed for championships every year.
