After bringing Wilt Chamberlain back from the Warriors in 1965, the 76ers built one of the greatest teams every in 1967, winning the NBA Championship. By 1973, they had collapsed, and finished with the worst record in NBA history, 9-73.
They rebuilt, and reached the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980 and 1982, before winning another title in 1983. But 2 disastrous trades in 1986 doomed them, and they've only reached the NBA Finals once since, in 2001. The last few years, they have asked their fans to "trust the process." Well, they're waiting.
They played at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center through the 1967 title, then moved to The Spectrum in South Philadelphia. In 1996, they moved next-door to the arena currently named the Wells Fargo Center.
The Philadelphia Civic Center's Convention Hall
From their beginnings, the have retired the Number 4 of forward Dolph Schayes, who had starred for them in Syracuse. From their 1967 title team, coached by Alex Hannum with Dr. Jack Ramsay as their general manager, they have retired the 13 of center Wilt Chamberlain, the 15 of guard Hal Greer, and the 32 of forward Billy Cunningham.
From the 1983 title team, coached by Cunningham, with Pat Williams as general manager, they have retired the 2 of center Moses Malone, the 6 of Julius "Dr. J" Erving, the 10 of guard Maurice Cheeks, and the 24 of forward Bobby Jones. From the late 1980s and early 1990s, they have retired the 34 of forward Charles Barkley. From the 2001 Finalists, they have retired the 3 of guard Allen Iverson.
And, in place of a retired number, they have hung a banner with a picture of a microphone, in memory of Dave Zinkoff, the public address announcer for the Warriors from their founding 1946 until their move in 1962, and for the 76ers from their 1963 arrival until his death in 1985.
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October 19, 1963 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" was first played at Anfield, home stadium of Liverpool Football Club, who beat Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion, 1-0. I have a separate entry for that event. Also, Arsenal lost to Aston Villa, 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
There were 3 other games in the NBA that day:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 121-97 at the Cincinnati Gardens.
* The aforementioned San Francisco Warriors beat the Baltimore Bullets, 103-102 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now named the CFG Bank Arena) Wilt Chamberlain scored only 23 points. Walt Bellamy scored 36 in defeat.
* And the St. Louis Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-108 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Jerry West scored 30 for the Lakers, Bob Pettit 32 for the Hawks.
There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 2-0 at the Montreal Forum. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks were not scheduled.
And these major college football games were played:
* Number 1 Texas beat Arkansas, 17-13 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Texas went on to win the Southwest Conference, and won the National Championship by beating Navy in the Cotton Bowl.
* Number 2 Wisconsin beat Iowa, 10-7 at Iowa Stadium (later renamed Kinnick Stadium) in Iowa City. But Wisconsin would lose to Ohio State the next week, knocking them out of the Big 10 and national title pictures.
* Number 3 Pittsburgh beat their arch-rivals, West Virginia, 13-10 at the old Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia, in the "Backyard Brawl." Pitt lost their next game, away to Navy, and blew their shot at the National Championship. And, then an independent, it had no conference championship to win. They finished the season 9-1 and ranked Number 4, but didn't even go to a bowl game.
* Number 4 Ohio State were upset by USC, and it was a regular-season game, not the Rose Bowl. It wasn't even close: 32-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This ruined Ohio State's chances of winning the Big 10 and National Championships. As I said, they took their frustrations out on Wisconsin the next week.
* Number 5 Mississippi beat Tulane, 21-0 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. "Ole Miss" went on to win the Southeastern Conference, but lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
* Number 6 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 21-6 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. A later loss to Nebraska cost them the Big 8 title.
* Number 7 Illinois beat Minnesota, 16-6 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois won the Big 10, and beat Washington in the Rose Bowl.
* Number 8 Georgia Tech were upset by Auburn, 29-21 at Grant Field in Atlanta.
* Number 9 Alabama beat Tennessee, 35-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham.
* Number 10 Navy beat Virginia Military Institute, 21-12 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Navy would rise to Number 2, but lost the Cotton Bowl and the National Championship to Texas.
* North Carolina, currently unranked, beat North Carolina State, 31-10 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UNC won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and beat the Air Force Academy in the Gator Bowl.
* Nebraska, currently unranked, beat Kansas State, 28-6 at Memorial Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. Nebraska would go on to win the Big 8, and beat Auburn in the Orange Bowl.
* Washington, currently unranked, beat Stanford, 19-11 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. Washington went on to win the title in the AAWU (forerunner of the Pac-12), but lost the Rose Bowl to Illinois.
* Army beat Wake Forest, 47-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* Notre Dame beat UCLA, 27-12 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
* Dartmouth beat Holy Cross, 13-8 at Memorial Field in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth went on to win the Ivy League title.
* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat Lehigh, 30-6 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway. And Princeton beat Colgate, 42-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.
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