September 30, 1967: The Spectrum Opens

September 30, 1967: The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opens in South Philadelphia, just to the north of John F. Kennedy Stadium. The new baseball and football facility, Veterans Stadium, had recently begun construction, just to the north. The first event at the arena was the Quaker City Jazz Festival.

Lou Scheinfeld, former President of the Spectrum, explained that the name "Spectrum" was selected to evoke the broad range of events to be held there:

* SP: "SPorts" and "South Philadelphia"

* E: "Entertainment"

* C: "Circuses"

* T: "Theatricals"

* R: "Recreation"

* UM: "Um, what a nice building!"

That last one was a bit of a stretch. Scheinfeld also said that a seat in the city's first superbox initially cost $1,000 a year: "For every Flyers game, Sixers game, circus, you name it, you got 250 events for $1,000."

The first sporting event at the arena was a fight card on October 17, headlined by hometown hero Joe Frazier defeating Tony Doyle. The next day, the defending NBA Champion 76ers, previously playing at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center, made their Spectrum debut, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, 103-87. Elgin Baylor of the Lakers led all scorers with 24 points. Wilt Chamberlain scored only 11, but had 30 rebounds. The day after that, the Flyers made their home debut, beating their fellow Pennsylvania expansion team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 1-0. Bill Sutherland scored the 1st goal.

On March 1, 1968, wind blew part of the covering off The Spectrum's roof during a performance of the Ice Capades, forcing the building to close for a month while Mayor James Tate fought with Philadelphia County District Attorney Arlen Specter (later a U.S. Senator) over responsibility for the construction of the roof, and the damage was repaired.

The 76ers moved their home games to Convention Hall and to the Palestra, but neither of those arenas had ice rinks at the time, and there were no other NHL-quality sites in the Philadelphia area. Thus the Flyers hurriedly moved their next home game, against the Oakland Seals, to Madison Square Garden in New York, followed by a meeting with the Boston Gardens at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, before establishing a base at Le Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, home of their top farm team, the Quebec Aces. The roof was repaired in time for them to play their home Playoff games there.

In 1976, the nation's Bicentennial led to several events being held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was written, debated and signed. Veterans Stadium hosted MLB's All-Star Game, while The Spectrum hosted the NBA and NHL All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four, won by Indiana University.

In fiction, each of the fights between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed were held at The Spectrum in 1976: The 1st, in the original Rocky, on New Year's Day, January 1; the 2nd, in Rocky II, on Thanksgiving Day, November 25.

The Spectrum also hosted the All-Star Game for the NBA in 1970, and for the NHL in 1992. A 2nd Final Four was held there in 1981, again won by Indiana. The Spectrum hosted the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983, with the Sixers winning only the last of these; and the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987, with the Flyers winning the 1st 2 of these.

The arena became home to statues of 76ers star Julius "Dr. J" Erving, a prominent goal scored by the Flyers' Gary Dornhoefer, the fictional Rocky Balboa (later moved to its site in the movies, the Philadelphia Museum of Art), and Kate Smith, the Flyers' "good luck charm" during their 1974 Stanley Cup run.

Elvis Presley sang there 4 times: November 8, 1971; June 23, 1974; June 28, 1976; and May 28, 1977. The Beatles did not perform there together, but all of them except John Lennon would give solo concerts there. The Grateful Dead played there more than any other act, 53 times. Other notable Spectrum concerts included Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in 1969, The Doors in 1970, The Who in 1973, Bob Marley in 1975 and 1978, Queen in 1980, Bruce Springsteen paying tribute to John Lennon the day after his murder in 1980, Guns N'Roses opening for Aerosmith in 1988, N.W.A. and Metallica in 1989 (not on the same bill), and Philadelphia-area natives Pink and Taylor Swift in 2009 (not on the same bill).

Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena and the Flyers, was booking more events than it could handle.

So in 1992, JFK Stadium was torn down, and what was originally named Spectrum II was built on the site. The idea was that the new arena would host the headline events -- the 76ers, the Flyers, and the major concerts -- while the original Spectrum would host smaller events.

The 76ers' last game at The Spectrum was on April 19, 1996. They lost to the Orlando Magic, 112-92. The Flyers' last game there was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, on May 12. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Florida Panthers, 2-1. Mike Hough scored the winning, and last, goal at 8:05 of the 2nd overtime.

The Spectrum continued to hold public events until a series of Pearl Jam concerts from October 27 to 31, 2009. The building was torn down the following year. Xfinity Live! Philadelphia, a dining and entertainment complex, opened on the site in 2012.

In 2005, the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats opened a new arena, named the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Neither the team nor the arena kept their original names. In 2008, the arena became the Time Warner Cable Arena. In 2014, the Bobcats were permitted to take the name of the city's previous NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets. In 2016, following Time Warner's breakup, its cable-TV operations were bought out by Charter Communications, and the arena became the Spectrum Center. Charter Communications and their Spectrum division have no connection to Spectacor or the Snider family, which sold Spectacor in 2011.

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September 30, 1967 was a Saturday. Actress Andrea Roth was born. And, in college football, Nate Northington of the University of Kentucky became the Southeastern Conference's 1st black football player. I have a separate entry for this event. Kentucky lost to the University of Mississippi, 26-13 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Notre Dame were upset by Number 10 Purdue, 28-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 2 Southern California (USC) beat Michigan State, 21-17 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* The night before, Number 3 University of Houston beat Wake Forest, 50-6 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* Number 4 UCLA beat Washington State, 51-23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Georgia beat Clemson, 24-17 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 7 Nebraska beat Minnesota, 7-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 8 Texas lost to Texas Tech, 19-13 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 9 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 25-3 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Boston College, 21-10 at Alumni Stadium, just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Navy lost to Rice, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston; and Air Force lost to the University of Washington, 30-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* In New Jersey, Princeton beat Rutgers, 22-21 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

And in New Jersey high school football, East Brunswick, the school that would one day be my Alma Mater, beat Woodbridge, 14-0 at home, at the stadium that would one day be named Jay Doyle Field.

And these games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. This was the next-to-last day of the regular season, and the Red Sox and Twins were battling the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox for the American League Pennant. Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox and Harmon Killebrew of the Twins each hit his 44th home run of the season. Neither of them homered the next day, so they finished in a tie for the AL home run lead.

With Yaz also leading the AL in batting average and runs batted in, that means that, despite only being tied for the home run lead, he was awarded the Triple Crown. There would not be another Triple Crown winner for 45 years.

At the time, the Red Sox' games were broadcast on WHDH-Channel 5. With the Sox involved in a Pennant race for the 1st time in a generation, the station went against protocol, which was to save money on videotape by taping over old games, and saved several games from that season. These clips were edited down into a highlight reel, except for the last 2 games, this one and the next day's. As a result, this Boston victory over Minnesota is, as far as is publicly known, the oldest surviving full color video broadcast of an MLB game.

* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-0. Mickey Lolich pitched a 3-hit shutout. The California Angels won the nightcap, 8-6. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 1-for-8 with a walk.

With this doubleheader, the AL standings now featured the Red Sox and the Twins tied for 1st place, with the Tigers only half a game back. The Red Sox and Twins played each other again the next day, with the winner assured of no worse than a Playoff for the Pennant the next day. The Tigers had another doubleheader, and if they swept it, they would have a Playoff with the Red Sox-Twins winner. As it turned out, the Red Sox beat the Twins, and the Tigers only split their doubleheader, so the Sox won the Pennant.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox had been eliminated from the race when the Senators beat them the night before, so this game was meaningless -- except, perhaps, to Senators pitcher Frank Bertaina, who pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle drove in the Yankees' 1st run with a groundout, and then left the game due to injury. Rookie Reggie Jackson did not play for the A's in this game. The next day, the Yankees won, 4-3. This was the last game for the A's representing Kansas City. The next season, they moved to Oakland.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Les Rohr pitched 8 shutout innings, and Ron Taylor completed a 7-hit shutout, to outpitch Don Drysdale. Ken Boswell hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). In contrast to the AL, the Cardinals had the National League Pennant wrapped up several days earlier. Lou Brock went 3-for-4. Roger Maris went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Joe Torre went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hank Aaron only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, and Brooks Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Rookie Johnny Bench did not play for the Reds in this game.

* And the San Francisco Giants swept a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 and 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie McCovey hit a home run in the 1st game. Willie Mays went 0-for-4, and then did not play in the 2nd game. Three Giant pitchers -- Bill Henry (3 innings), Nestor Chavez (4, winning pitcher) and Lindy McDaniel (2, save) combined on a 4-hit shutout.