December 30, 1967: The Forum Opens In Inglewood

December 30, 1967: The Forum opens, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. It becomes, and remains, the most famous indoor sports venue in the Western United States.

It was designed by architect Charles Luckman, and built on the site of a golf course, at Manchester Boulevard and Prairie Avenue, across Kelso Street from the Hollywood Park racetrack, 11 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

It was built because Jack Kent Cooke, the Canadian media mogul who owned the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, wanted to bring the NHL to Los Angeles. He had been told that there were more than 300,000 former Canadians living within a three-hour drive of Los Angeles. The Lakers had arrived in 1960, and had played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, next-door to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, whose Commission owned both buildings.

Dan Reeves, owner of the Rams, who played in the Coliseum, also owned the Western Hockey League's Los Angeles Blades, who played in the Sports Arena. The Coliseum Commission wanted to own L.A.'s NHL team, and told Cooke that, if he won the bid, his team wouldn't be allowed to play in the Sports Arena.

(This Dan Reeves was no relation to the man of the same name, then a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, who later became a successful NFL coach.)

So Cooke built The Forum, with $16 million his own money (about $140 million in 2022 dollars), and won the bid. The Kings debuted on October 14, at the Long Beach Convention Center, beating another expansion team, the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2. The Kings played 11 home games at the Sports Arena, and 6 at Long Beach, before The Forum opened on December 30, with a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, a fellow expansion team. The Lakers played their 1st Forum game the next day, December 31, beating the San Diego Rockets, 147-118. (The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971.)

The Lakers did very well at The Forum. The Kings did not, and their attendance reflected this. About those 300,000 people, Cooke remarked, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!" In 1979, Cooke sold the Forum, the Kings, and the Lakers to Dr. Jerry Buss (his doctorate was in chemistry) for a then-record $67.5 million (equivalent to $272 million in 2022). Half of the payment was in cash, and half was in real estate, with part of Buss's payment including the Chrysler Building in New York.

The Forum hosted 14 NBA Finals: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1991, with the Lakers winning in 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988; but only 1 Stanley Cup Finals, in 1993, with the Kings losing it. It never hosted an NCAA Final Four (the Sports Arena did so in 1968 and 1972), but it hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1972 and 1983, the NHL All-Star Game in 1981, and the Olympic basketball games in 1984.

In addition to the Lakers and Kings, it hosted the Los Angeles Strings of World Team Tennis from 1975 to 1978, the indoor-season games of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League in the 1979-80 season, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA from 1997 to 2000.

For sponsorship purposes, The Forum was known as the Great Western Forum from 1988 to 2003, The Forum presented by Chase from 2014 to 2022, and now as the Kia Forum.

In 1999, the Lakers, the Kings, the Sparks, and the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers all moved into the Staples Center, now named the Crypto.com Arena, in downtown Los Angeles. The last Kings game at The Forum was on April 18, 1999, a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The last Lakers game was on May 23, 1999, a 118-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Both teams played preseason exhibitions there before moving downtown.

Faithful Central Bible Church, with a congregation of over 12,000, purchased The Forum at the end of 2000, and began holding church services there on Sunday mornings. Unlike Houston's Lakewood Church, whose pastor, Dr. Joel Osteen, converted the Rockets' former arena, The Summit, into their church, Faithful Central representatives said that they never intended to convert the arena for religious purposes. In 2009, the church discontinued their regular use of the Forum for services.

The Forum was used for the 2002 film Like Mike and the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie. In 2009, Michael Jackson rehearsed at The Forum for his upcoming concert tour, but died while those rehearsals were in progress.

In 2012, the Madison Square Garden Corporation bought The Forum, and renovated it until 2014. It began hosting award shows: The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2015, '16 and '18; the American Country Countdown Awards in 2016; the Teen Choice Awards in 2016 and '18; the MTV Video Music Awards in 2017; and the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2016, '17 and '18.

In 2020, SoFi Stadium was built on the site of the demolished Hollywood Park; and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer bought The Forum, planning to built a new arena for his team nearby, the Intuit Dome. The Forum will remain standing through at least 2028, when Los Angeles hosts the Olympics again: The Forum is slated to host gymnastics.

*

December 30, 1967 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. Two college football bowl games were played that day: Penn State and Florida State played to a tie, 17-17, at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Floirda; and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), playing on its home field, beat Mississippi (Ole Miss), 14-7 in the Sun Bowl.

The next day, New Year's Eve, the pro football leagues' Championship Games were held. In the AFL, the Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Oilers, 40-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. And in a game so cold it became known as the Ice Bowl, the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The day after that, New Year's Day 1968, the major college bowls were played. Number 1 University of Southern California (USC) beat Indiana, 14-3 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and clinched the National Championship. Number 3 Oklahoma beat Number 2 Tennessee, 26-24 in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Louisiana State University (LSU) beat Number 6 Wyoming, 20-13 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. And Texas A&M beat Number 8 Alabama, 20-16 in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

There were 2 NBA games played on December 30, 1967. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 122-107 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Wilt Chamberlain scored 30 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks, 106-104 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Jerry West scored 34 points.

There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association, which was in its 1st season:

* The New Jersey Americans (who became the New York Nets the next season) beat the Oakland Oaks, 123-117 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Indiana Pacers beat their rivals, the Kentucky Colonels, 124-80 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Muskies beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 104-92 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Denver Rockets beat the Houston Mavericks, 96-80 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver.

And the entire newly-expanded NHL was in action. In addition to the Kings and the Flyers:

* The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 3-3 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Oakland Seals, 2-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 8-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the Boston Bruins, 5-4 at the Met Center in Bloomington. Yes, it hosted an NHL game and an ABA game on the same day.

And in English soccer, a London derby was held at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London. Arsenal and Chelsea played to a 1-1 draw.

March 23, 1994: Wayne Gretzky Becomes the NHL's All-Time Goals Leader

March 23, 1994: Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings scores the 802nd goal of his NHL career, surpassing the record of 801 by Gordie Howe.

The milestone occurred at 14:47 of the 2nd period, on a power play. The goaltender who gave up the goal was Kirk McLean of the Vancouver Canucks. Nevertheless, the Canucks won the game, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

Gretzky set the single-season record in 1982, with 92 goals. He also had seasons of 87, 73 and 71. Howe never reached 50 goals in a season, topping out at 49 in 1953.

He would finish his career with 894 goals. What's more, he had 1,963 career assists, for a total of 2,857 points. To put that in perspective: Through the end of the 2020-21 season, Gretzky had more assists in his career than any other player has had points. (Jaromir Jágr had 766 goals and 1,155 assists, for 1,921 points.)

Counting playing in the World Hockey Association, Gretzky never caught Howe, scoring 940 to Howe's 975. But that's in the regular season. Counting both leagues, and their respective Playoffs (not now, Jim Mora Sr.), Gretzky had 1,072 goals, Howe 1,071.

It's also worth remembering that Gretzky played 82-game seasons with 4 rounds of Playoffs, while for most of Howe's career, it was 70 games and 2 rounds. "The Great One" was not the greatest player in hockey history: "Mr. Hockey" was.

In a 2016 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, Zach Sherwin played Gretzky, against competitive skateboarder Tony Hawk, played by "Nice" Peter Shukoff.

UPDATE: In 2025, Alexander Ovechkin surpassed Gretzky, finishing the season with 897 goals.

*

March 23, 1994 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that Luis Donaldo Colosio, running for President of Mexico, was assassinated. And it was also the day of the Green Ramp Disaster at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. I have separate entries for those events.

There were 5 other games in the NHL that night:

* The New York Rangers, who turned out to be Gretzky's last team, beat his 1st NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 1-1 at the Miami Arena.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The St. Louis Blues, for whom Gretzky played 18 games in 1996, beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Winnipeg Arena.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 99-87 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 100-92 at The Omni in Atlanta. Kevin Willis scored 32 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Despite their proximity, Atlanta and Charlotte have never become an NBA rivalry.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 112-109 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Doug Smith led all scorers on the night with 36 points.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-107 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 78-77 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* And the Orlando Magic beat the Utah Jazz, 98-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

January 7, 1972: The NBA's Longest Winning Streak

January 7, 1972: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 134-90 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta. It is their 33rd straight victory, a record for North American major league sports.

To put this in perspective, here are the longest streaks in the other sports:

* Major League Baseball: 22, by the Cleveland Indians, from August 24 to September 15, 2017. From September 7 to 30, 1916, the New York Giants had 26 wins and a tie, but no losses.

* National Football League, regular season only: 23, by the Indianapolis Colts, from November 2, 2008 to December 17, 2009. However, they lost a Playoff game on January 3, 2009.

* NFL, counting the postseason: 21, by the New England Patriots, from October 5, 2003 to October 24, 2004. This includes winning Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004.

* NHL: 17, by the Pittsburgh Penguins, from March 9 to April 10, 1993. That streak ended with a tie 2 days later, 6-6 against the New Jersey Devils, in the regular season finale. The Pens then faced the Devils in the 1st round of the Playoffs, and stretched the unbeaten streak to 20-0-1, before the Devils beat them on April 25 at the Meadowlands. The Pens then finished the Devils off, but their bid for a 3rd straight Stanley Cup ended in the next round, against the New York Islanders.

From October 14, 1979 to January 6, 1980, the Philadelphia Flyers had a 35-game unbeaten streak: 25-0-10.

In English soccer, Arsenal F.C. of North London went 49 straight Premier League games unbeaten, from May 7, 2003 to October 16, 2004: Played 49, won 36, drawn 13, lost exactly none.

But the 1971-72 Lakers played 33, won 33, tied/drawn exactly none, lost exactly none. 33-0-0.

The Lakers began their streak on November 5, 1971. Their 1st big star, Elgin Baylor, retired before the previous game, a home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Halloween. With Baylor, the Lakers had reached 8 NBA Finals -- and lost them all.

They were better without him. Jim McMillian took his place at small forward, along with Harold "Happy" Hairston at power forward, Jerry West at point guard, Gail Goodrich as shooting guard, and the one and only Wilt Chamberlain at center. The team also included future coach Pat Riley and Keith Erickson.

So, on November 5, at home at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, they beat the Baltimore Bullets, 110-106. They rest of the 1st 10: Golden State in Oakland, New York at home, Chicago away, Philadelphia away, Seattle at home, Portland away, Boston at home, Cleveland at home, Houston at home.

The next 10: Milwaukee at home, Seattle away, Detroit at home, Seattle at home, Boston away, Philadelphia away, Portland at home, Houston away, Golden State at Oakland, and Phoenix at home, 126-117 in overtime. That was the closest anybody came during the streak to stopping it.

The last 13: Atlanta at home, Portland away, Golden State at home, Phoenix away, Philadelphia at home, Buffalo away, Baltimore away, Houston at home, Buffalo at home, Seattle away, Boston at home, Cleveland away and Atlanta away.

Finally, on January 9, a nationally-televised game at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena -- "The MECCA" -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Lakers, 120-104.

The Lakers went 69-13 that season, setting a new NBA single-season record for wins, with a winning percentage of .841. That record would stand for 24 years. Even without the 33-game winning streak, a record that has not seriously been approached in any sport, they were 36-13, for a percentage of .735. In other words, take the streak out, and they were still on a 60-22 pace.

The Lakers went on to beat the Knicks in the Finals, to finally win their 1st NBA Championship in Los Angeles. They had previously won 5 titles in Minneapolis before moving to L.A. in 1960.

*

January 7, 1972 was a Friday. There were 6 other games in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 117-113 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Walt "Clyde" Frazier had 32 points in defeat for the Knickerbockers.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Buffalo Braves, 123-110 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Connie Hawkins scored 32 points for the Suns.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Cincinnati Royals, 151-132 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. (This arena still stands, but is now named Huntington Place.) For the Pistons: Bob Lanier scored 29, and Dave Bing 27. For the Royals, the team now known as the Sacramento Kings: Nate "Tiny" Archibald had 41, and Jim Fox had 26.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Chicago Bulls, 104-94 at the Chicago Stadium. Archie Clark had 32 points, while Jack Marin had 26. Wes Unseld had only 9 points, but 24 rebounds.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-114 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. John Havlicek scored 37.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 125-111 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Spencer Haywood led all scorers on the night with 48.

There were 5 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 107-104 at the Island Garden in West Hempstead. The Nassau Coliseum opened 35 days later. Rick Barry scored 43 in defeat for the Nets.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 120-102 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Carolina Cougars, 106-99 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Charlie Scott scored 36 for the Squires.

* The Dallas Chaparrals beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-101 at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis. (It's now the Corteva Coliseum.) Donnie Freeman scored 37 for the Chaps, who became the San Antonio Spurs for the 1973-74 season.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Miami Floridians, 124-108 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between the Conference Championship Games and Super Bowl VI. There was 1 NHL game played that day: The Detroit Red Wings and the California Golden Seals played to a 4-4 tie at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.