In 1967-68, our Freshman basketball team went undefeated. Our coach, Henry Benner, rewarded the team with a trip to see the Philadelphia76ers at the brand new Spectrum. The game was scheduled for March 27, which happened to be a playoff game against the New York Knicks.
Unfortunately, on March 1st, during a windstorm, part of the Spectrum roof blew off. The Sixers shifted the game to The Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania campus. To us, this was an added bonus, The Palestra was and remains, a legendary venue, hosting the storied Big Five contests between Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, Villanova and Penn. At that time, the Big Five was some of the best college basketball in the country. In addition it was a smaller venue, the seats would be closer to the court.
Our seats were in the lower level in the corner, facing left of the basket. The two teams contained many future Hall of Famers, on the Knicks, there was Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Walt Bellamy and Bill Bradley. The Sixers boasted, Chet Walker, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham and perhaps, the greatest player of all time, Overbrook High’s, Wilt Chamberlain. The Knicks also had a bench player, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career as a coach, Phil Jackson.
The game opened with the introductions, I still get chills when I recall the Sixers all time great public address announcer, Dave Zinkoff, boomingly introducing Hal Greer. “From Marshall U-ni-ver-sity at six…foot…..two, guard, Hallll, Greeeeeeeeeer!” The game was as amazing as we anticipated with the Sixers carrying a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter. The Knicks, behind Cazzie Russell’s eventual 40 point game, outscoring the Sixers by 10 points, tying the game at the end of regulation. The first OT did not prove to be the end, both teams scoring 12 points. The second OT, the Sixers outscored the Knicks 13 to 7 for the victory. The Sixers were led by Chet Walker’s 32 points and Chamberlain’s 24 rebounds.
Winning came with a high price, star sixth man, Billy Cunningham, broke his wrist on a fall to the Palestra hardwood. Though they would eventually defeat the Knicks, the loss of Cunningham’s scoring power off the bench, led to them losing 4 games to 3, to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Finals. This was after having a 3-1 game advantage, the first team uin Finals history to lose the series after having such an advantage.
Another Sixers game, May 16, 1980, 12 years later, was played in the Spectrum. This game produced what is considered as the one of the greatest individual performances in NBA history. It was game 6 of the NBA finals, pitting the Sixers against the Los Angeles Lakers. Once again, many Hall of famers were present. On the Sixers, Julius Irving, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones and Billy Cunningham as coach. The Lakers boasted Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who, due to a twisted ankle, did not make the trip to Philadelphia. The Lakers were holding a 3-2 game advantage as they came to the Spectrum, sans Jabbar. Spirits were high in Philadelphia due to the great center’s absence. As always, Zinkoff was the PA announcer and his legendary, “Julius Errrrrrrrrrrrrving”, introduction was thrilling. It was the sixth game of a best of seven finals.
LA coach, Paul Westhead, decided to start the 6-9 Johnson at center. The game was tied at halftime, but the Lakers dominated the second half, surging to a 123-107 victory and the Championship. As the game progressed. Magic, as the game dictated, played at the guard forward and center positions, recording 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. During the second half, it seemed as every loose ball came directly into his hands. It was truly a magical performance, leaving the capacity Spectrum crowd deflated and deathly silent as the game ended. My two friends and I sat there in total shock, waiting until the arena was near empty, wordlessly exiting to our car. Still in shock, driving home on I-95, we missed every exit that would take us to Lancaster. We regained our senses as we reached Wilmington Delaware, doubling the normal ride time. All three, finally realizing we had witnessed, as painful as it was for Sixers fans, a piece of NBA history.
Two years later, I had become a partial season ticket holder, splitting 16 games with my restaurant manager. Our seats were in Section R, fourth row, right at the east side foul lane, opposite the benches. We also belonged to the private club, Ovations, that was located below the arena. This membership, afforded us the opportunity to have a before game dinner, then a short walk to our section, directly across the concourse from the escalator that brought you up from the dining area. It also gave us the opportunity to buy advanced packages to major concerts. The packages included pre-concert dinner and seats in the same section of our basketball seats, right next to the stage.
I and Linda went to an early spring Sunday afternoon game, including a buffet brunch in Ovations. Being quite balmy, I was attired in cream slacks and a French blue button down oxford shirt. As we entered, I immediately went to the bathroom before reporting to the hostess. The Sixers were one of the best teams in the league, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks Andrew Toney, etc., so the dining room was packed. The hostess led us to our table, which was located on the far side of the dining room, directly past the buffet. Taking our seats and ordering our drinks, the waitress directed us to go to the buffet at our leisure. We went right to the buffet, crossing half of the dining room. After filling our plates, we proceeded back across the same half of the dining room, returning to our table. I sat, placing my napkin across my lap. At this point we had traipsed across the entire dining room, returning half way back to the buffet and then back again to our table. Only then, after the entire patronage of Ovations had watched our journey, did I notice that my French blue shirt tail was sticking eight inches straight out of the wide open fly of my cream colored pants. I looked at Linda and said, “How did you do that?” She of course insisted that not only did she not have any part in my exposure, but had not noticed anything amiss. My guess, there are a number of people in the Philadelphia area that have repeated this story, albeit, from a different perspective.
Chuck's Stories 