stevesbets

Recently I attended the last Sixers game at the Spectrum before it is torn down. For those of you that don’t know, the spectrum served as the home of the Sixers from sometime in the 60s through 1996. They have been playing at it’s new next door neighbor, the Wachovia Center since 1996 but went back to the Spectrum for one last game. On Philly talk radio all day people were serving up their spectrum memories which mostly consisted of the legendary 1983 team with Dr J, Moses, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks and company. I was born in 1983 so my memories of this team are a little fuzzy however I do have my own memories from the Spectrum.

I went with my friend Alex who I have been attending Sixers games with since we became old enough to drive. Hard to believe now that this was nearly 10 years ago, just after the drafting of Allen Iverson, the move the Wachovia center and just before the best year for Sixers fans my age, 2001 when they made a run to the finals and Iverson won MVP. We immediately noticed that the concourses were quite tiny and the seats were cramped, however the stands engulfed the court and there was a real community feel to the building

When I was little my dad had partial season tickets to the Sixers at the Spectrum. He would get home from work and we would immediately leave for the games. When I was very young, the games were the only time i spent in his sporty convertible since he worked long hours and most of my car time was spent in the family minivan. I remember the smell of the seats and always feeling like it was the smell of the Sixers game. Back then they announced the starting lineups with the lights on, without a huge video intro and lots of bells and whistles. Nevertheless it was the most exciting thing to me and I would always joyfully scream their starting lineup in the car on the way. I can’t imagine if I were little now as the promotions for kids are bigger and better. Being older and wiser though I prefer less music and noise and more focus on the game that was the standard back at the Spectrum.

The Spectrum to me is not about great teams with Doc and Moses, it is about my favorite player back then, Hersey Hawkins. Along with Johnny Dawkins, Charles Barkley, Rick Mahorn, Armon Gilliam (those 5 being the starting lineup i would announce in the car), Charles Shackelford, Ron Green, Greg Grant, Greg Graham, Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry, Andrew Lang (the last 3 being the players they got for Barkley in a trade with Phoenix). A string of hapless coaches after Jimmy Lynam that included Doug Mo, Fred Carter, John Lucas and Johnny Davis, and an age of utter futility in Sixers basketball where it was pretty much a given that they wouldn’t make the playoffs and the building was always half empty (until AI arrived on the scene). None of that matter though because I loved the smell of the leather in the car and I was still young enough that I could dream of becoming like Hersey Hawkins. I made this list from memory, how many players and coaches from the early 90s do you remember?