Philadelphia's sports pinnacle

In 1981, Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson authored a book on Philadelphia's recent sports history. In its title, the final word in the phrase "A City of Losers" was crudely crossed out and replaced by "Winners."

It was perhaps the briefest and most effective way to portray an unprecedented run of athletic success that began in October 1979 and magically persisted until January 1981.

During those astonishing 16 months, Philadelphia was transformed from a gritty outpost of the sports universe to its unrivaled capital.

One of just a handful of cities with teams in each major professional sport, Philadelphia's four all would play for championships in that brief span, one following another like Penn Relays sprinters.

In May 1980, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals and the 76ers the NBA Finals. Five months later, the Phillies played in a World Series. And three months after that, the Eagles traveled to their first Super Bowl.

Ultimately, only the Phillies would win a championship. But the season-long journeys of all four teams would leave a lasting impression on a city that is mad - and just as often angry - about sports.

It all began on consecutive autumn nights at the Spectrum, Oct. 11 and 12, when first the Flyers and then the 76ers began their 1979-80 seasons with home victories.

Actually, it was the Flyers who had initiated the city's Great Sports Surge a few years earlier, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75. But those championship winners never roared through a season the way the 1979-80 Flyers would.

They would lose the season's second game two nights later in Atlanta. Then they would not be beaten again until Jan. 7, a record-setting streak of 35 games, 87 days. It remains the longest such streak in pro sports.

Coached by Pat Quinn - Bobby Clarke was his playing assistant - Philadelphia would lose just 12 of 80 regular-season games. With 116 points, the Flyers finished 25 points ahead of the Patrick Division runner-up Islanders.

Those young and talented New Yorkers would defeat them in a six-game Stanley Cup Finals, whose concluding overtime match was marred by one of the most notorious officiating decisions in Philadelphia sports history - linesman Leon Stickle's blown offside call on the Islanders' second goal.

The 76ers were nearly as impressive. Led by Julius Erving, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks and Bobby Jones, they went 59-23 in a high-flying regular season.