The Spectrum's "Final Floor"

The Spectrum in Philadelphia is coming down. It was completed in 1967 to house the NBA's 76ers and NHL's Flyers, which it did until 1996, when the larger and glitzier Wachovia Center (also known at various times as the CoreStates Center and First Union Center) opened a short distance away.

For another 13 years, the Spectrum has survived, hosting minor-league hockey, indoor soccer, and occasional college basketball games (including the Atlantic 10 tournament, as recently as 2002), among other things. But now, the Spectrum has reached the end of its run and will be demolished later this year as part of an entertainment development.

All this year, tribute is being paid to the Spectrum. As one example, the arena's history has been captured in a website called Remember the Spectrum (complete with online sales of Spectrum paraphernalia).

As a further nod to the Spectrum's basketball history, tonight the Sixers will come back to host the Chicago Bulls, for one last NBA game. Accordingly, I took some screen captures from YouTube videos of classic 76ers-Lakers moments of the early 1980s (see the top of this posting). As shown above, for much of its history, the Spectrum featured a center-court design that presented a simplified version of the visible color spectrum.

And via the Sports Uniform Watch blog, I found this article about how the 76ers commissioned a new basketball-court surface that will reproduce the old look, for tonight's game.

Big Yellow Taxi -- Big East Men's Floor

The center-court logo for the Big East men's tournament at Madison Square Garden has a cute touch with the New York City yellow taxicab. I wasn't sure how well the cab could be discerned from the screen capture of the court (from ESPN 360), so I provided another image of the logo, as well.

Big East Women's Floor

Matt R. stated in a comment on a previous thread that the Big East women's tournament had a "huge" center-court logo. Even the word "huge" is an understatement, like saying that Michael Phelps is a "good" swimmer. Also, does anyone know if the unusual depiction of the year 2009, with the "20" at 90 degrees to the "09," has some special meaning?

WCC & CAA: Really Big Logos!

Two conferences, the West Coast Conference (WCC; top photo) and the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) evidently wanted to make sure nobody missed the fact that these were the CHAMPIONSHIPS going on. The WCC logo appears to have been designed like a shimmering sign on the Las Vegas strip, in honor of this year's host city. The CAA logo in Richmond, Virginia, is only slightly less overwhelming, to me.

Conference Tournament Floors

We're currently in the early stages of conference-tournament mode in Division I NCAA men's and women's basketball. Three conferences -- the Atlantic Sun, Big South, and Ohio Valley -- are holding their men's championship games today. Other leagues are currently in the middle of their tournaments, while the rest -- mainly the major conferences -- won't be starting theirs for a few days.

The host cities of many conference tournaments create special floors for the occasion. Below are a few of my favorites; these are from previous years, so you won't necessarily see the same designs this year. I encourage readers to submit, via the Comments system, links to photos of whatever conferences' tournament floors you can find!

Let's start out with the Big 12. Whichever year the following photo was taken, the conference came up with a design that showcased all 12 schools' logos, in what I would say is a crisp, elegant fashion that does not overwhelm (source).


Next, we have the Big 10. This screenshot from what is currently the front page of the conference website shows how a full set of school logos can be depicted in more of an "artsy" way, via a pinwheel motif at center-court.


Finally, for now, we have the Missouri Valley Conference. The MVC tournament earns my accolades not so much for visual aesthetics, but rather for its clever play on words in relation to its permanent St. Louis home: Arch Madness!!! (This is a screen capture from a freeze-frame of a YouTube video, so it's not all that clear. My apologies.)


Again, it would be great if our little online community of basketball-floor aficionados could document as many conference-tournament designs as possible. Thus, if you discover any good online photos, please post the links via the Comments.

Major Makeover: Temple University

Besides West Virginia (entry below), another school that has toned down its basketball court design in recent years is Temple University in Philadelphia.


From a highly elaborate drawing in the two-point shooting areas emphasizing the Owl wing feathers (source), Temple has switched to a more traditional scheme with only the keys and center circle painted in (source). The latter features the university's unique "T" design.

Major Makeover: West Virginia

The West Virginia Mountaineers' court this year looks very different from how it's looked in the past. Gone are the blue painted-in two-point areas (with white lines resembling the black seams on a basketball) and empty keys. Now, the solid yellow rectangular keys represent the only coloration in the halfcourt areas. (The sources for these photos are here and here.)