I did an entry a month ago about some of the sports venues I have been in, and seen games in and filed stories from … that are gone.

I had the Spectrum in Philadelphia on that list, but it was a bit premature.

No longer.

They got around to actually knocking down the building today, and as always these things leave me a little wistful.

I was inside the Spectrum only the one time, as I mentioned a month ago. For Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Turns out, it was one of the great moments in the history of the building. It landed at No. 2 on this ESPN top-10-moments clip. (Thanks, David,  for sending me the link.)

(And, yes, I find it quite annoying that the child sportscasters are marveling at how 1989 is ancient history. Hey, it’s great to be young … but not when you’re trying to demonstrate the slightest familiarity of sports history. Makes it seem like you ain’t seen nothin’ except on tape.)

But back to the Spectrum. And me. As I think of it a bit more, I have been in the city of Philadelphia only twice in my life, and both occasions were to see sports events.

The first time was on Sept. 3, 1978, at Veterans Stadium (which is, in fact, already gone), when the Rams defeated the Eagles 16-14. It was one of those multipurpose stadiums that were so common in the 1960s and 1970s, the round things that housed baseball and football teams but were bad places to see baseball or football.

Frank Corral kicked a 46-yard field goal fairly late to win it for the Rams. I could have told you that. But the only specific memory I have of the game is being in the lockerroom, afterward, and being among those talking to Corral about the winning kick. Corral (given name, Francisco Corrales) was from Riverside, and I asked him if he had ever kicked a longer field goal. He said, yes, he had, at Riverside City College. And I said, “Was it against Berdoo?” And he said yes. And the discussion went on.

When we were done, one of the Philly reporters said, “Did he say that longer kick was against Purdue?” And I explained to him that no, it was when Corral was at the JC, and they had played San Bernardino Valley College in the city of San Bernardino. Berdoo. The guy couldn’t have been less interested.

And then the Spectrum. Which stood next door to Veterans Stadium. On Broad Street. Seems weird to think I was in the Spectrum nearly two years later. Because, yes, Game 6 of the 1980 Finals does seem quite some time ago, even to me.

I was covering the NBA Finals for Gannett News Service. During the three months that I worked for GNS as their first full-time (if short-term) sports correspondent, I traveled the country and covering all sorts of random big events. That we did that is, now, hard to imagine. The expense and all. But it was 1980 and Gannett was preparing to launch USA Today in 1982, and the company had some money and was gearing up.

(In that three-month period in 1980, I covered Roger Staubach’s retirement announcement in Dallas, the Masters, the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby and the NBA Finals. And the big three events in the middle of that sentence … I’ve never been back.)

So, made the cross-country trip to Philadelphia because it was a Game 6, and someone can always clinch in Game 6, and this time it was the Lakers. However, they played without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had hurt his ankle in Game 5, and I figured I would see Philly win and then just come back home for Game 7 in Inglewood — since back then the Finals were still on the old 2-2-1-1-1 format.

Magic Johnson, however, had a different idea. In perhaps the greatest individual effort in a team game that I have ever seen, the rookie opened the game by tapping the jump ball (yes, that is Brent Musberger on the video) and then just took over the building. He scored 42 points points, took 15 rebounds and had seven assists. I wrote something like, “This went beyong Magic. This was sorcery.”

The Lakers won, 123-107. Jamaal “Silk” Wilkes had a career-high 37 points and took 10 rebounds. Jim Chones (!) did a nice job in the paint keeping Julius Erving and Darryl Dawkins away from the rim.

But it was mostly about Magic, who played wherever he want and did pretty much whatever he wanted to do.

In the Spectrum, more than 30 years ago. And now it’s coming down. Seems weird. I know these places get old and decrepit, and no one really likes being in those buildings anymore … but it seems like they ought to keep them as museums. No? Guess not.