The 76ers battle for our very soul

By Len Davidson

Today marks the resumption of the historic battle of Soul vs. Bureaucracy, also known as Good vs. Evil or Sixers vs. Celtics.

Since some of you may know only a bit about this battle, here are a few points to consider:

Philly history was and will always be about positive, rootsy soul, as in the Lenni Lenape, a cappella street corner harmony, Hall and Oates, Julius Erving, and the greatest soul basketball team ever: Wilt Chamberlain, Wali Jones, Chet Walker, Hal Greer, and Luke Jackson, with Billy Cunningham — that's right, the Kangaroo Kid! — as the sixth man.

Unless the greatest were the Philadelphia Sphas (of the American Basketball League) in the '30s, or Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks, et al. in the '80s. Or maybe it was the all-playground squad that looked to block every shot on defense and dunk every ball on offense: all those players on one incredible team of Erving, Darryl Dawkins, Lloyd Free, Doug Collins, "Jellybean" Bryant, George McGinnis, Caldwell Jones — a team with so much soul that it was actually too much, and they lost to Jack Ramsay's bureaucratic, mechanical Portland Trail Blazers. But, as someone noted, they were still better.

Yes, soul is us: Bruce Springsteen, Lee Andrews, the Soul Survivors, the Castelles, the cheesesteak hoagie, Dirty Frank's, Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak, and the Rib Crib.

Soul runs so deep that when I was a kid and said, "Guy Rodgers was the best ball-handler and passer who ever lived," my dad would say, "Yeah, but you never saw Menchy Goldblatt play." I laughed at his ignorance until I looked Menchy up and learned he was a South Philadelphia star and two-time all-American at Penn in the 1920s. So I'll never know, but maybe Menchy could take Guy. And some Lenape could take Menchy.

Soul means the Palestra, the Dumpster Divers, all-day shows at the Uptown, Hyski O'Rooney McVoutie O'Zoot, Gil Scott, Jill Scott, the Roots, the Mummers, the Stylistics, the Delfonics, the Intruders, and the rest of the Gamble and Huff crew.

It's Chaney and Gottlieb and Litwack and the Hawk Will Never Die, and the Geator (sort of), and the Mag Men, and Iverson and Barkley, and the Three Stooges.

It's wireball, wallball, stepball, stickball, boxball, hoseball, and halfball.

It's Barson's, the Hot Shoppe, Nick's, DiNic's, Termini Bros., the Triangle Tavern, and Levis Hot Dogs.

I won't even mention the Italian Market, Chinatown, Mario Lanza, Ben Krass, Dave Zinkoff, and a thousand others.

But remember, Lou and Thaddeus and Dre and Jrue, that Otis Redding is watching from the dock of the bay, and Al Green is preaching for you, and Bob Marley is meditating on a spliff, and Curtis Mayfield is so proud of you, and Fats Domino and Dr. John are eating muffulettas and Sno-Bliz in honor of your hoagies and water ice (orange, though hard to find, is the best).

So fight the evil forces of Red Auerbach; the arrogance of Cousy, Bird, McHale, Pierce, Garnett, Rondo, Ainge, and Russell; and the city that gave us the unethical Patriots, the racism of Louise Day Hicks, and the Big Dig.

Fight the power, Sixers. Fight the bureaucracy!

Len Davidson is a Philadelphia neon artist. His website is www.DavidsonNeon.com.