A Forum First

     Between 1968 and 1999 the premier indoor sports facility in the greater Los Angeles area was a building simply known as The Forum. Throughout its years The Forum was also known as the Fabulous Forum. After December 1988 the building became known as the Great Western Forum as a local bank had purchased naming rights to it.
    When did it all begin, travel now back to December 30, 1967 when the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League opened the building with a hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The first two hockey goals were scored by the Flyers and the Kings had to wait another night to score their first goal in the building. They following night, the Lakers took their turn to play in the new digs, taking on the San Diego Rockets. The Lakers celebrated their opening by romping over their visitors by a score of 147-118.
   Although the Kings and Lakers had left the Los Angeles Sports Arena, that building was never allowed to fall into desrepair. It remained a very active participate in the local sports and entertainment scene to this very day. The Forum today was its location in suburban Inglewood has not been so lucky since its replacement by the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. It does still host some events but, not like it did in its heyday.
  Tommorrow we will look at the legendary Ice Bowl game played on the very same day the San Diego Rockets first traveled to the once Fabulous Forum.