Well kids, it's official... I'm now a Lawn Chair Boy. And as Langston mentioned I'm also a die hard Philly sports fan and LCB's token hockey guy. Well, as fate would have it, mere hours after being asked to join LCB earlier this week, Ed Snider announced that the Spectrum is scheduled to meet the same demise as the Vet following the Phantoms 2008-09 season. I can't help feeling that another little piece of my childhood will be demolished along with that stadium. Sure the Wachovia Center is great but those Stanley Cup Champion banners hanging from the rafters weren't won on that ice. So in tribute to the former home of the Flyers and 76ers I thought I would highlight some of the memorable events the Spectrum played host to over the years. While not the bastion of sports history that is Yankee Stadium, the Spectrum's death sentence is nontheless worthy of lament.
The Spectrum has held countless concerts over the years and artists like Bob Marley, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, The Who, and Guns 'N' Roses have graced the stage. The Grateful Dead played there 53 times!
NCAA Basketball: In addition to hosting tons of games for Philly's Big 5, the Spectrum was the frequent cite of the A-10 tournament. Remember Christian Laettner's last second jumper to beat Kentucky in '92? That was at the Spectrum. That same court hosted the Final Four in '76 and '81... good memories for you Hoosier fans out there.
The NBA Finals were played there 4 times including the Sixers World Championship in 1983. (That happens to be the last time us Philly fans had a championship to celebrate. I was 2.) NBA All-Star games were held at the Spectrum in '70 and '76.
It is the current home of the Flyers AHL affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms (2 time Calder Cup champions), the MISL's Philadelphia Kixx, and on Saturdays the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul.
The NHL All-Star game was held there in '76 and again in '92. It was on the Spectrum ice in 1976 that the Flyers became the first NHL club to beat the Soviet Red Army team. And of course, the Stanley Cup Finals were played on that same ice 6 times with the Flyers winning in '74 and '75. (Not bad for a team that entered the NHL as part of the intial 1967 expansion.)
And a wide eyed 7 year old boy who dressed as Bobby Clarke for Halloween and idolized Rick Tocchet will never forget the first time he stepped foot in the Spectrum for the first time and saw those banners proudly displayed in tribute to past glory.
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