October 31, 2015: The Debacle at Durham

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he?

October 31, 2015: Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes.

Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982.

After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key blocks, and had a clear path to the Duke end zone.

When he got to the Duke 16, his teammate Artie Burns threw a block that caused the line judge to throw his penalty flag. Elder got into the end zone, but the officials decided to check the instant replay. They declared that all 8 laterals were legal, no Miami ballcarrier had been legally tackled, and the illegal block made by Burns was actually a legal one. So Elder's touchdown stood, and the final score was Miami 30, Duke 27.

This became known as "The Debacle In Durham." The ACC later ruled that Walton was down, and that the illegal block was, in fact, illegal. They refused to overturn the game's result, but they suspended the entire officiating crew for 2 games.

Now, if it was Duke basketball, a lot of people wouldn't have minded seeing them get screwed. But Duke football has been far less successful, and has offended far fewer people.

*

October 31, 2015 was a Saturday. This was also the day that American Pharoah became the 1st horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American thoroughbred racing, adding the Breeders' Cup Classic to the "Triple Crown" of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. I have a separate entry for that vent.

Among the other college football games played that day:

* Number 1 Ohio State had the week off. They blew the Big Ten and National Championships by losing to Michigan State.

* Number 2 Louisiana State also had the week off. LSU blew the Southeastern Conference and National Championships by losing their next 3 games, to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

* Number 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State, 56-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Clemson went on to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Alabama had the week off. They won the SEC West Division title, and moved on to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 5 Texas Christian had played 2 nights before. TCU beat West Virginia, 40-10 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. Losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State cost them shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They did win the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

* Number 7 Michigan State had the week off. The won the Big Ten title, but lost the Cotton Bowl to Alabama.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Washington State, 30-28 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 9 Notre Dame beat Number 21 Temple, 24-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Notre Dame went on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 10 Iowa beat Maryland, 31-15 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Iowa finished 2nd in the Big Ten, but since Champions Michigan State qualified for the National Championship Playoff, Iowa got the league's Rose Bowl bid, losing "The Granddaddy of Them All" to Stanford.

* In the rivalry known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," Number 11 Florida beat Georgia, 27-3 at EverBank Field (now TIAA Bank Field) in Jacksonville. Florida won the SEC East Division, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama.

* Number 12 Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech in a wild one, 70-53 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Yes, that's a football game, not a basketball game. Losses to Oklahoma and Baylor cost TCU shots at the Big Twelve and National Championships. They went on to beat Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech went to the Texas Bowl in Houston, but lost to LSU.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 62-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Clemson then lost the National Championship Playoff to Alabama.

* In a rivalry for the Little Brown Jug, Number 15 Michigan beat Minnesota, 29-26 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat South Florida, 29-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force beat Hawaii, 58-7 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu; and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry for the Old Bourbon Barrel, Tennessee beat Kentucky, 52-21 at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky.

* And Rutgers lost to Wisconsin, 48-10 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Who's the money-grubber -- or the masochist -- who thought that RU joining the Big Ten was a good idea?

Game 4 of the World Series was played at Citi Field in Queens. Tim McGraw, country music superstar and son of New York Mets (and Philadelphia Phillies) legend Tug McGraw, both sang the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first ball. As far as I know, no other person has ever been given both honors at a major league game.

Michael Conforto's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, and another Conforto homer in the 5th made it 3-1. He is the only Met ever to hit 2 home runs in a World Series game. As late as the top of the 8th, they led the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

But for the 4th straight game -- actually, the 5th, since they did it in Game 5 back in 2000 -- the Mets blew a lead in a World Series game. Tyler Clippard walked the 1st 2 Royals in the 8th. With Jeurys Familia brought in to pitch, Daniel Murphy, the Mets' biggest postseason hero thus far, made a key error that allowed the tying run to score. Mike Moustakas singled home the go-ahead run, and the Royals tacked on another. Yoenis Céspedes, the other big Met hero of the season, got doubled off 1st base following a soft line drive to end it, in a 5-3 Royals win.

The Mets had thrilled the baseball world the last 3 months. Now, they were clowning their way to an ignominious defeat.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards, 117-110 at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points for the Knickerbockers, and that wasn't even close to making him tops in the league for the night.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 134-120 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Steph Curry scored 53 points for the Dubs.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-76 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 114-109 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin scored 37 for the Clips.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-90 at the Moda Center in Portland.

And there were 10 games in the NHL: 

* The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders, 3-2 in a shootout at the Prudential Center.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the BB&T Center (now the FLA Live Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal with 1:16 left in overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-2 at the Scottrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. David Backes scored the winning goal with 34 seconds left in overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* In the Battle of Alberta, the Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena, which hosted the Clippers later that night). Jeff Carter scored the winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime.

And in England's Premier League, North London team Arsenal went to Wales, and beat Swansea City, 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium (now Swansea.com Stadium).

April 6, 1992: The Metrodome's Treble

April 6, 1992: Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It makes the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils were led by Christian Laettner with 19 points, Grant Hill with 18, and Thomas Hill with 16. Michigan were led by their "Fab Five," all freshmen: Forward Chris Webber scored 14 points, guard Jalen Rose 11, center Juwan Howard 9, guard Jimmy King 7, and forward Ray Jackson 4.

This NCAA Final Four, the 1st held in Minneapolis since Williams Arena, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, held it in 1951, was the conclusion of a historic period. The Metrodome had a unique treble: It hosted the World Series on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, 1991, with the Minnesota Twins beating the St. Louis Cardinals; and Super Bowl XXVI on January 26, 1992, with the Washington Redskins beating the Buffalo Sabres, 37-24.

Metrodome basketball setup

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was named for the former Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Mayor of Minneapolis, and 3-time candidate for President including the 1968 Democratic nominee for President.

It opened at 5th Street and Chicago Avenue on April 3, 1982, and local officials bragged that it opened on time and on budget. It replaced suburban Metropolitan Stadium as the home of Major League Baseball's Twins and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

The University of Minnesota played their football games there from 1982 to 2008. And for their 1st season, 1989-90, before the Target Center opened, it also hosted the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

But baseball teams hated it, having trouble seeing the white ball against the white roof, and feeling that it was too easy to hit home runs there. It became known as the Homerdome. Perhaps New York Yankees manager Billy Martin hated it more than anyone else: Possibly channeling his former teammate and coach Yogi Berra, he once said, "It's a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it." (He meant "had it named after him.")

Football players didn't like it, either, citing its hard artificial turf. In 1984, Detroit Lions running back Billy Sims blew out his knee on that turf, ending what could have been a Hall of Fame career.

The Twins won the World Series there in 1987 and 1991, and made the Playoffs in 5 other seasons. The Vikings were considerably less successful: They reached the NFC Championship Game 4 times, including hosting it in the 1998 season, but lost them all.

In 2009, UM moved back onto their own campus, opening TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium). The Twins moved into Target Field, a mile to the west, for the 2010 season. On December 12, 2010, snow broke through the Metrodome's roof, forcing the Vikings into TCF Bank Stadium.

Finally, after threats by team owner Zygi Wilf to move them to Los Angeles, Las Vegas or San Antonio if he didn't get a new stadium, on December 29, 2013, the Vikings beat the Lions, 14-13, on the playing surface named Mall of America Field -- ironically, named for the giant shopping center built on the site of Metropolitan Stadium -- and the Metrodome was demolished. The Vikings played at UM for 2 seasons, while U.S. Bank Stadium was built on the site of the Metrodome.

The Metrodome is not missed outside the Gopher State. Nevertheless, it remains the only venue to have hosted a World Series, an NFL Championship Game (under any name), and an NCAA Final Four. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium and Miami's Hard Rock Stadium had hosted a World Series and a Super Bowl.

The Superdome in New Orleans, the Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ford Field in Detroit, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, NRG Stadium in Houston, AT&T Stadium in Dallas, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, and U.S. Bank Stadium have hosted a Super Bowl and a Final Four.

*

April 6, 1992 was a Monday. This was also the day that Barney & Friends premiered on PBS. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

April 6, 1992: "Barney & Friends" Premieres

April 6, 1992: Barney & Friends premieres on PBS. Sadly, it is not a reboot of the police sitcom Barney Miller.

Sheryl Leach created the series, aiming at children ages 2 to 5. The "Friends" included human kids and other actors in dinosaur costumes, including Baby Bop, DJ and Riff. The theme song, to the tune of "This Old Man," had Barney singing, "I love you, you love me... " and so on. For anybody above the age of 5, it grew old quickly. It aired on PBS until November 2, 2010.

Bob West voiced the character until 2000, and David Joyner wore the suit over that same stretch. For the rest of the show's run, Dean Wendt provided the voice, and Carey Stinson wore the suit.

In 1994, I was at a game of the Trenton Thunder minor-league baseball team. It was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th. The Thunder loaded the bases. A foul ball was hit, and the video board played Barney's theme song, and showed a cartoon version of him dancing, and getting hit with a ball. The capacity crowd of 7,000, sick of their kids watching the purple dinosaur and his show, roared its approval. Next pitch, base hit, Thunder win. Every time I go back to the Trenton ballpark, I hope they play that clip: It's good luck.

On April 6, 1998, 6 years later to the day, the British kids series Teletubbies premiered in the U.S. News broadcasts had warned us ahead of time. Sure enough, it was every bit as annoying to people over age 5 as was Barney.

*

April 6, 1992 was a Monday. On the same day, Duke University beat the University of Michigan, 71-51, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It mades the Blue Devils the 1st team to win back-to-back National Championships since UCLA in 1972 and 1973.

This completed a unique treble for the Metrodome: Not only did it become the 1st stadium, and it would remain the only one, to host the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four, but it hosted all 3 within a period of 6 months. I have a separate entry for that event.

And American soccer player Julie Ertz, a 2-time winner of the Women's World Cup, was born.

The NBA didn't schedule any games for the night of the NCAA Final. The NHL was in the middle of its 1st players' strike, which ended up lasting 10 days. So there were no scores in that League.

And Major League Baseball had its Opening Day, and these games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bobby Bonilla hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. It would be the highlight of the season for the 1992 Mets, which local sportswriter Bob Klapisch would call, in the title of his book about them, The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Bonilla, in particular, did not appreciate it.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0. This was the 1st game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have a separate entry for that event. Rick Sutcliffe pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 2-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Doug Drabek pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, with Roger Mason completing a 6-hit shutout. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kirby Puckett hit a home run. Chuck Knoblauch went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. George Brett did not play.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In spite of the big score, it was a bad day for legends, old and young. Nolan Ryan didn't make it out of the 5th inning, and Randy Johnson didn't get out of the 6th. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

March 30, 1991: The Last Time Duke's Basketball Team Was an Underdog

Christian Laettner (left) and Grant Hill

March 30, 1991: The basketball team of Duke University defeats the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, the defending National Champions, 79-77, in the Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.

It is now hard to imagine Duke being an underdog, but, at the time, it was UNLV who were the big bad villains of college basketball.

UNLV were coached by Jerry Tarkanian, a.k.a. "Tark the Shark," known for his bald head and nervously chewing on a white towel while sitting on the sideline. With a starting lineup that included future NBA stars Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon, all of whom would return for a senior year, they went 34-5. In the Final, at the McNichols Arena in Denver, they beat Duke, 103-73.

Under coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke had lost to Louisville in the 1986 Final. In 1990-91, with stars like Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill, they got back to the Final Four, going 29-7. But UNLV took a 45-game winning streak, still the longest in college basketball since UCLA's record of 88 straight ended in 1974, into the Final Four at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

This time, Duke took a 13-5 lead. UNLV adjusted, but not much, and only led 43-41 at halftime. With less than 4 minutes to go, Anthony fouled out of the game. With 2:31 left, UNLV led 76-71. But the Blue Devils fought back, tied the game at 77-77, and Laettner was fouled on an offensive rebound with 12.7 seconds to play. He sank both free throws, and Duke led, 79-77.

UNLV had one more chance. Johnson considered shooting over Laettner, but thought better of it. He passed to Anderson Hunt, who tried a 3-pointer over Hurley and Laettner, to win it. He missed, and Duke had pulled off the upset. They went on to beat Kansas in the Finals, 72-65. 

The following season, UNLV were rocked by scandal, and Tarkanian was forced to resign. They've only advanced as far in the NCAA Tournament as the Sweet Sixteen once since. In contrast, Duke made it back-to-back titles in 1992, beating Michigan in the Final. They would win 5 National Championships under "Coach K," who retired having won more games than any other collegiate coach.

As time went by, as such teams often do, Duke went from being a plucky underdog, admired by the rest of the country, to being a bunch of arrogant bastards, making the rest of the country sick of them. Until 1991, only fans of the other Atlantic Coast Conference teams, especially their nearby arch-rivals, the University of North Carolina, were aware of Duke fans' behavior in the stands at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, reminiscent of English soccer hooligans.

But, like the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots, and the University of Notre Dame's football team, the rest of the country eventually got tired of their act, hating both Duke and the "Cameron Crazies" intensely, developing an "Anybody But Duke" mentality.

*

March 30, 1991 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat their neighbors, the New Jersey Nets, 130-117 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Houston Rockets, 114-82 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 104-96 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets, 130-116 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-91 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Dallas Mavericks, 115-102 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 8 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-5 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat their Provincial rivals, the Quebec Nordiques, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, intra-State rivals, played to a tie, 4-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

And in English soccer, Arsenal inched closer to winning the Football League title, by beating Derby County, 2-0, at The Baseball Ground in Derby, in the East Midlands. Derbyshire was one of the few places in England where baseball ever caught on, but the name of the stadium remained long after the sport was given up on, much like New York's Polo Grounds. Alan Smith scored both goals for the Gunners.

March 26, 1928: The Philadelphia Museum of Art Opens

March 26, 1928: The Philadelphia Museum of Art opens, at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, at 26th Street, at the western end of the Parkway, on the banks of the Schuylkill River.

It had originally been established at Memorial Hall, part of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, That building now hosts a children's museum, the Please Touch Museum, at 4231 Avenue of the Republic, 2 miles away across the Schuylkill River.

A larger museum had been planned since 1895, but one thing led to another, and it was delayed. It took until 1907 to decide on a site, Fairmount, a high point in the city, surrounded by Fairmount Park, where the city's main reservoir was then located. So then, they had to find a location for a new reservoir.

Julian Abele, the 1st black graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design, had his design for the building accepted in 1914. He later designed the Free Library of Philadelphia, 6 blocks away; then joined the faculty of Duke University, designing their 2 best-known buildings: University Chapel and what became Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But the city still wasn't home free: World War I interfered with the gaining of building materials, and it took until 1928 to build and open the place. A major renovation was completed in 1976, and an expansion in 2004.

The Museum of Art houses more than 240,000 objects, highlighting the creative achievements of the Western world and those of Asia, in more than 200 galleries spanning 2,000 years. Modern artwork includes works by Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dalí. The expanding collection of contemporary art includes major works by Agnes Martin, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns and Sol LeWitt, among many others.

A Philadelphia art critic said rotten things about the statue of Diana, sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, atop the 2nd Madison Square Garden from 1891 to 1925. Where is that statue today? Of course, on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Every year, on Thanksgiving Day, the floats in the nation's oldest continuously-running Thanksgiving Day Parade go up the Ben Franklin Parkway, and put on a televised spectacle in front of the Art Museum at the end.

But if there's one thing anyone outside Philadelphia knows about the Museum of Art, it's the connection to the Rocky films. In the 1976 film Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, playing boxer Rocky Balboa, ran up the Museum's 72 steps as part of his training. When he got to the top, he had a great view of the city. As the City Council eliminated the "unwritten law" that said that no building in the city could be higher than the statue of William Penn atop City Hall, the view from the Art Museum Steps changed, to show the new skyscrapers.

I've done it. I don't mind telling you,

72 is a lot of steps.

In the 1982 film Rocky III, a statue of Rocky was unveiled on the Art Museum Steps. For a while, it was moved to the city's main sports arena, The Spectrum. It was moved back to the Art Museum Steps every time they had to film there, and is now at the bottom right of the Steps, permanently.

Since those films began, there have been certain things that tourists must do in Philadelphia: See the Liberty Bell, eat a cheesesteak sandwich, and run up "the Rocky Steps." At the end of the 1991 film Rocky V, Stallone and his real-life son, Sage, playing Rocky Jr., spoke for so many:

Rocky Sr.: "I been runnin' up an' down these steps for 20 years, and I never knew there was valuable pictures in this building, y'know?" 

Rocky Jr.: "Well, you're never too old to learn something new. You're gonna love Picasso."

Rocky Sr.: "Yeah, well, I love almost everybody."

*

March 26, 1928 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL was between the end of the regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So there were no scores on this historic day.