Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles, is the conspicuous facility because of its size. Even in the offseason, the ballpark across the parking lot is noticeable because of a bright red sign and a message board proclaiming its home inhabitant as Major League Baseball champions. Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004, is the home of Phillies while the Eagles’ home field is one year older.  Rounding out the last of the newer stadiums is the home of the Flyers and 76ers, which opened way back in 1996.

But amid the new palaces for this city’s sports teams sits a haunt for generations of Philadelphia entertainment fans. Like the aforementioned venues, the Spectrum’s formal name is preceded by a corporate sponsor. But while the arena doesn’t host big league events anymore, many sports fan have been making the trek to see a historic site that is scheduled to be razed this spring.

The Spectrum has been like an old friend to a sports-crazed city since it opened in 1967. There are many similarities between the old barn and Nassau Coliseum, which is undergoing a major public relations campaign by the Islanders to renovate what is considered by many fans to be an outdated facility.

Yet the Spectrum is undeniably one of the most storied places in North American sports. It has hosted two NBA All-Star Games and four Finals series, six Stanly Cup Finals series (one more than the Coliseum) and two All-Star contests, two Finals Fours and crossed over into the entertainment world, with banners still hanging that chronicled the Grateful Dead tours. From the cinema world, the Spectrum was in the script of the famous “Rocky” fight against Apollo Creed and the actual building at one time was the location of the famous statue to honor the fictional Rocky Balboa (sorry, Philly fans, he is just a character and not a real champion).

Some fans like Will Janson said some non-sports events will make the demolition of the Spectrum a sad day and could prompt him to take home some memorabilia before the doors close for good.

“I actually had the prettiest girl in the world sitting on my shoulders during a David Bowie concert in ‘76″ Janson said. “She actually still lives in the neighborhood. I’ll try and grab a section of the wall and I’m going to try and grab my seats.”

The Spectrum serves as the home to the AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers’ farm team. Though long since outdated for the modern NHL, the capacity of 17,380 for hockey allows fans to sit close to the ice, making it easy to envision the heyday of one of the most intimidating places to play for visiting teams when the Flyers were racking up consistent playoff appearances decades ago.

“I like the comradery here,” Brett Marino said during an intermission of a Phantoms game. “Everybody’s always glad to be here and glad to see a good game. It’s a shame. I’ll hate to see it go.”

Purple stanchions on the glass give the place a unique look and portraits of past Flyers and 76ers great players and coaches are painted on the walls of the narrow corridors that stretch around the arena.  Instead of an eagle-eye view of the action from the press box on the luxury box level, the press sits between the two-tiers of seats, sitting within ear-shot of the crowd. A small staircase actually located inside the media area allows access to the dressing room by descending two flights of stairs into the rickety underbelly that has served as the dressing room for Hall of Famers and A-list celebrities.

Passageways directly next to the benches lead from the dressing room to the ice, making the players who enter and exit the playing surface are level with the first rows of seats. Players are literally within touching distance of the fans. It’s easy to imagine fans of the  Broad Street Bullies taunting future Islanders Hall of Famers during the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals, where the Islanders were able to hold off a Philadelphia team that went undefeated for 35 games during the regular season to win the first of its four straight titles.

“The building is outdated ,but you can’t beat the seating here,” said Chris Poole, who has been coming to the Spectrum for the past three decades. “I saw my first concert here [to watch] Kiss.”

Almost 140,000 fans have passed through the Spectrum’s gates this season. Overall, the Phantoms average nearly 7,000 per game. Claude Giroux, the Flyers 2006 first-round pick who started the year in the AHL before getting called up, said it meant extra playing in the Spectrum.

“Every game, they cheer a lot,” Giroux said after a December win against Hartford. “It’s a big motivation every time we play here. We’re lucky to have those fans.”

New arenas seat closer to 20,000 people and offer amenities like more leg room, cup holders and wider lobbies, though there is usually a tradeoff with fans sitting further from ice level. The Devils’ new home in Newark exemplifies the dichotomy between modern perks and things like great sight lines for which old barns like the Spectrum were noted. Some fans like the close-quarter feelings a 42-year-old arena provides.

“It just has a nice feel,” Michelle Penkrot said. “It’s nice that it’s a little smaller.”

A patch that that espouses the arena as “America’s Showplace” is being worn on Phantoms jerseys this season. It is influenced by the original logo, replete with 1960s-era color scheme. The Phantoms could move to Allentown, Pa. next season after Comcast Spectator, the Spectrum’s owner, sold the team to Brooks Group of Pittsburgh. While those plans have not been finalized, there will certainly be a literal and figurative vacancy at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.

“It’s very intimate,” Jansen said. “You’re close to [the action]. It’s old style now, well, it wasn’t back then. But it’s just perfect.”

Bills wide receiver James Hardy, tight end Derek Schouman and safety John Wendling were present to show their support and assist with the soup can delivery at the Food Bank of WNY today.

“12,000 cans of Campbell’s Chunky soup is an incredible donation and we are thankful that the Bills fans cared and clicked online enough to make this happen,” said Food Bank of WNY marketing and public relations director, Michael Billoni.  “We are happy to distribute this food to our partner agencies and continue to help the less fortunate in the Western New York community.” 

For the past nine years, Campbell Soup Company has invited NFL fans to harness their competitive team spirit for a good cause…tackling hunger in America.  As part of Chunky soup’s “Click for Cans” online food drive, fans earned soup donations for their local community food banks.  Fans were encouraged to log on to www.chunky.com every day for 17 weeks, where they clicked on the helmet of their favorite team to register.

This season featured weekly team matchups mirroring those of the NFL’s regular season.  After the regular season match ups, the teams with the top four ‘Click for Cans’ records from each conference battled it out in bracket-style playoffs that culminated with the championship match between the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills and Packers were undefeated and cruised through their playoff bracket to square off in the Championship which assured a 12,000 can donation to both team’s food banks.  The Packers fans nipped the Bills fans in the final voting to receive an additional 5,000 cans.  All remaining NFL squads received a 1,000 can donation to their local Feeding America food bank.

The fans of the Bills and Packers supported the contest with greater numbers than any others in the NFL.  “I would like to congratulate the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills on a fantastic ‘Click for Cans’ season,” said Doug Brand, Campbell’s Chunky soup Brand Manager.

February 6, 2009 – 12,000 cans of Chunky soup donated to Food Bank of WNY by Bills

Each month, about 95,000 hungry Western New Yorkers turn to soup kitchens, food pantries, and

other emergency food providers – 40% are children and 11% are seniors!  The Food Bank of WNY

helps to make sure that the soup kitchens, pantries and other providers have enough food to feed the

hungry.  The Food Bank ships about 1 million pounds of food every month to about 360 member

agencies to help feed the less fortunate in Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

The Food Bank of WNY solicits food donations from farmers, wholesalers, retailers and other members of the food industry.  Additionally, community groups hold food drives to collect canned goods and other non-perishable food for the Food Bank.  The WNY Community is also very supportive in providing cash donations to the Food Bank.  These funds are used along with government grants to purchase food very efficiently.  About 94 cents of each dollar goes directly to providing food to the less fortunate.

Campbell Soup Company has donated more than three million pounds of food to Feeding America food banks nationwide over the past year.  For more information on the Campbell’s Chunky/NFL Tackling Hunger program, please visit http://www.chunky.com/Happenings.aspx.

Founded in 1959, the Buffalo Bills are one of the most storied franchises in the National Football League (NFL).  The Bills have won two American Football League (AFL) Championships (1964 – 1965) and won an NFL record four straight AFC Championships (1990 – 1993) that included four trips to the Super Bowl.  The Bills pride themselves on supporting the Western New York community by establishing player outreach programs, supporting NFL educational and physical fitness youth initiatives and increasing community awareness.  Under the guidance of newly elected Hall of Fame member and team founder, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., the Bills will celebrate their 50^th Season in 2009.  For more Bills community relations information, please visit www.buffalobills.com or call (716) 648-1800.

When Larry Fitzgerald went 64 yards on a pass from Kurt Warner to give the Arizona Cardinals a 23-20 lead with 2:47 left in the game, it appeared that the vagabond franchise would win its first championship since the days of the Nuremberg trials. But Ben Roethlisberger directed the Steelers to the game-winning drive by dissecting the Cardinal secondary along with game MVP Santonio Holmes. The wide receiver’s leaping grab over double coverage in the right corner of the end zone was even more impressive when considering that he was able to keep both feet in bounds. Holmes finished with 9 catches for 131 yards and one touchdown.

“It was a play that we drew up that we were hoping to get open in the back of the corner,” said Holmes. “The defensive back bit up on the short route and Ben (Roethlisberger) held onto the ball long enough to get it to me.”

Arizona fought back from a second quarter 10-0 deficit and were poised to go into the locker room at halftime either tied or in the lead. With the score 10-7 and only 18 seconds remaining in the half, Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison picked off a Warner throw intended for Anquan Boldin and rumbled down the field 100 yards for the score. It set a Super Bowl record for the longest interception return.

Many teams would have been deflated by the sudden turn of events, but Arizona held Pittsburgh in check and Warner directed them on an eight-play, 87-yard scoring drive culminating with a one-yard pass to Fitzgerald. A subsequent safety on a Jeff Hartwig holding penalty in the end zone made it a four-point game. The Cardinals received the free kick, setting up Fitzgerald’s long touchdown run and, unfortunately, false hope for many.

“Yeah, I was confident we were going to be able to get a stop and we were going to be champions,” the wideout said. “I never lost faith. Sometimes things just don’t go your way.”

The Steelers became the first franchise to win six Super Bowls, and head coach Mike Tomlin now has a title in only his second year at the helm. “I’m not concerned about my personal milestones,” he said. “I just want to contribute to the legacy that is the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

By accomplishing what he did, Tomlin now becomes an important part of that legacy.