I grew up in Philadelphia...in fact the reason I am a basketball fan is because I became a Sixer fan in the late 70's. The early 80's team that won the championship for Dr. J, Moses, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, etc., was a special team, much like the Rocket teams of the mid 90's. More significantly though, I remember when the torch was passed to Charles. Charles was drafted in the first round out of Auburn by a stale Sixer team that was beaten by the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the 84 playoffs. The team had nothing left after their 82/83 near sweep to a championship, and finished 1984 terribly. Charles came in with little fanfare among legends like Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Mo Cheeks and basicaly said: "This is my team now" Although he never had much support, those teams overachieved and won over 50 games one year and always made the playoffs. He always played every game with everything he had. I remember the sports talk shows in Philly used to get on him for dumb decisions and numerous technical fouls in the early years. One thing they never questioned however, was his heart. I guess I'll have to get used to the Shaq's, Kobe's and Kevin Garnett's of the world, but I will sure miss the Barkley's Jordan's, and Olajuwon's. Just getting older - Nights like this bring back memories. Goodbye Charles -
