During the years 1974-89, the Pittsburgh Penguins won zero games in the Spectrum. Zero.

After the jump, Michael Fichman wonders if tearing down the Spectrum might be sweet, sweet comeuppance for those on the other side of Pennsyltucky divide.

I don’t make much of an attempt to hide the fact that I’m not really a Philly sports fan. This column is probably better off that way. When you’re in too deep, you lose perspective, and you need people like me to inject that perspective into the discussion. More often than not, my “perspective” comes in the form of some sort of put-down or belittling comment. My first impressions of Philly as a sports town were formed long before I moved here in 2001, during the 1980s, when I came to know Philadelphia only as the home of the Flyers — and what a terrible shithole Philly must be to spawn a team like that (I kid, sort of). So, with the news that the Spectrum may soon be reduced to rubble, I’m here to tell you my memories of that godforsaken building and its skating tenants. It’s a story any Philly fan could love.

Penguins vs. Flyers means it’s time to put on the foil

During the years 1974-89, the Pittsburgh Penguins won zero games in the Spectrum. Zero. Thirty-nine losses, three ties and zero, count ‘em, zero wins. That’s four presidential administrations. By the late 1980s, resentment of the Flyers grew to something just short of hatred. For the most part, around my way the Flyers were just known as “Philly Bastards,” a group of assholish no-necks with a hotheaded goalie and a penchant for committing borderline felonies on the ice. And the fact that we couldn’t top that group of abhorrent dickheads made their behavior all that much tougher to stomach.

By 1989, the Penguins had Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey and Tom Barrasso — the nucleus that would bring them two Stanley Cups. With the help of some on-site voodoo rituals by local radio personalities, they eventually won in the Spectrum and put the whole messy losing streak in their rear view mirror. Throughout the ’90s and ’00s, the two teams have had a pretty even rivalry. Both teams have been amongst the most consistently successful in the league, with neither team missing the playoffs more than a few times over more than fifteen years. The Flyers are in the Wachovia Center now, and the demons of toothless slasher Bobby Clarke, Kate Smith’s jingoistic jinx and those forty-two winless games are just a pleasant memory around here. But for Penguins fans, the Spectrum is still alive.

The sooner they tear it down, the better.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 2:28 pm.