PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — “The bell is a symbol of the city’s unity and passion” is what longtime Philadelphia 76ers public address announcer Matt Cord shouts before every home game to the thousands of eager fans ready to watch basketball.
A tradition started within the last decade, the ceremonial pregame bell ringing has become a fun aspect of the presentation at the Wells Fargo Center, especially before huge postseason showdowns when it essentially becomes a first pitch-like tone setter.
Big names like Allen Iverson and Julius Erving have rung the Sixers' pregame bell. Other Philadelphia stars like Meek Mill, Jalen Hurts and Bryce Harper have had the honors as well. It was deafening when Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles rang it before a postseason game against the Boston Celtics only months after he dethroned Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Lauren Gordon, a 52-year-old Sixers superfan from Norristown, can say she has done the same thing as those luminaries.
Gordon’s fandom embodies the words Cord recites nearly 50 times a year. Her passion for her favorite team is second-to-none, and one has to assume her infectious enthusiasm is a unifier to those who share the same common interest in seeing the Sixers do something they haven’t done in four decades — win a championship.
“I like to root for people and I like to root for teams, and it just so happens it’s my Philadelphia 76ers,” Gordon said. “ And I just want the players as individuals to do well, as well as the team, as well as the organization because that carries over into the city.”
Gordon, a season ticket holder since 2013, had a chance to ring this bell a few years ago because her fandom is so spectacular that it won a national contest.
Related
‘I feel like I’m part of the process’
Winning a title no doubt has its power. Just like recent KYW Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week Uriah Young, Gordon’s Sixers fandom was sparked when the 1982-1983 Sixers, led by Julius Erving and Moses Malone, went all the way.
“That was just such a fun feeling for me that I just followed the team ever since then,” said Gordon, explaining how watching Maurice Cheeks emphatically dunk the ball at the end of Game 4 of the 1983 Finals is something she’ll never forget.
She also remembers the excitement that brought to the Delaware Valley.
“It was the topic in school on the playground, and I was a girl,” Gordon said. “I was a tomboy, too, so I would be out on the blacktop playing ball with the kids at recess and I just remember talking about the Sixers.”
That was almost 40 years ago, and the 76ers haven’t won an NBA title since.
But for four decades, Gordon has held her own as a knowledgeable, encouraging and loyal fan – from scheduling her life around the Sixers’ 82-game-plus schedule and occasionally traveling to road games, to sharing a season ticket package with her ex-husband.
Yup, you read that correctly. More on that in a bit.
“I feel like I’m part of ‘the process,’” Gordon said. “So, when you feel a part of something, they have my buy-in. I’m part of everything.”
Her house pays homage to the team she so adores. She has tons of pictures showing her various experiences and encounters as a fan, posters, banners and countless pieces of Sixers clothing.
“I wear Sixers stuff every day, except if I have a work meeting, or of course a wedding or something like that,” she said.
As far as what she’s like as a fan watching games, her 20-year-old daughter Kendall Gordon described her mother as someone who could be “one of the Tom McGinnis-like commentators,” calling plays before they happen, with a level of focus that requires her utmost attention.
In other words, if you see Lauren Gordon at the Wells Fargo Center and want to chat with her while the game is going on, you’ll probably have to wait until halftime.
Lauren is a very supportive fan even if a player is struggling, like Ben Simmons was towards the end of his tenure with the team.
And while she admits she’ll get frustrated with head coach Doc Rivers, she still finds the balance to give him credit when it’s due.
Lauren considers herself an ambassador for the team, and her YouTube page is a testament to how much fun that is.
Dedicated season ticket holder, even through a divorce
Lauren is a mother of four and has certainly shared her fandom with her children, including Kendall. When she was much younger, Kendall convinced her mother to go to a game.
While there, Kendall noticed the Sixers Junior Dancers, which she eventually joined. After that, Lauren’s husband at the time suggested they purchase season tickets, which they’ve held since 2013.
While Lauren and her husband divorced, they still share the two tickets in Section 120. She has one. He has the other.
And it’s not a touchy subject. Lauren laughs about it.
“Right after the separation going into the divorce, one game was a little awkward because, of course, all of our friends in our section were so used to seeing us together,” she said.
Now, Lauren said they’re in a really good place and communicate with one another about whether he’s coming to a game or not, which she says is rare.
“I pay for my seat,” Lauren said. “He pays for his seat, and whether he comes there or not, it doesn’t matter because I’m in the building.”
If he doesn’t attend, it is usually one of their kids, a family member or a friend.
But Lauren found it interesting that one of the few games he attended was when it would have been their 30th wedding anniversary.
Nonetheless, the Sixers are a strong part of the history between Lauren and her ex-husband. Their first date was a 76ers game.
“My dad’s first words to my mom were ‘Sixers,’ kind of called out to her,” Kendall said. “So I literally just feel like I was born into a Sixers-loving family.”
Kendall explained that her mother’s super fandom was normal to her, saying their whole house is “Sixers,” but especially, her mom’s room.
“That’s just always been her type of environment. She’s always been crazy enthusiastic about the Sixers.”
Kendall said she started recognizing her mom’s massive fandom when Lauren won a national contest in 2019.
Fansided’s 2019 Fan of the Year
Lauren put her Sixers fandom against other superfans from around the country when she submitted herself in the blogging network Fansided Fan of the Year contest.
The application included putting together a video that Kendall helped her produce, and the content of it was basically the life of Lauren and how it revolves around the Sixers – from the decorations of her home to her TV remote in a Sixers case.
She was chosen as one of five finalists for the contest, competing against fans of the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Astros, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings. Lauren took pride in the fact she was the only woman in the contest and the only fan from the NBA.
She won the contest, which was decided by public votes, and was very proud of that victory.
What came next, though, was a total surprise to her and her family.
The Sixers honored Lauren and her family by upgrading them to courtside seats for a game in the winter of 2019. After arriving to the arena, the Gordons’ season ticket sales representative Alex Deffa, now a manager of premium services with the 76ers, told Lauren she was going to ring the ceremonial pregame bell that night.
“When I found out I was ringing it, I literally cried, because who gets to do that?! And it was me!”
Nearly 40 years after falling in love with a team that has been to only two Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals since that magical moment on May 31, 1983, Lauren was rewarded for her steadfast loyalty to this team.
Lauren said she really embraced the bell ringing and felt like she was “living the dream.”
“I was just ringing that bell … bing, bing, bing…and then, at the end, Matt Cord goes, ‘Lauren Gordon, Fan of the Year!’ and the crowd goes crazy. I’ve never had that many people cheer for me. So, it was just awesome. If anyone gets to do that, it is the most amazing experience ever.”
Lauren’s goal as a fan is to see her favorite team once again win a championship, but if that doesn’t happen, ringing the bell is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime, unique experience.
And even if the Sixers don’t fulfill Lauren’s biggest goal, her fandom will certainly not be for naught, as it inspired her daughter in ways unimaginable.
“Honestly, I would say my mother is just one of a kind … it’s rare to see a girl so involved with sports and actually knowing the game as well as my mom does,” Kendall said. “And for her to have that for as long as she has, since she was a child, it’s just really inspirational to me as I want to go into sports broadcasting.”
What would an NBA title for the first time since 1983 mean for her mother?
“She has talked about that day for as long as I can remember, and I just know that she [would be] so ecstatic if we ever went to just parade Philly and go crazy,” Kendall said.
“She has a bottle of Sixers champagne that she refuses to open until we win the championship. And yeah, she said if she never gets a chance to see it, and she passes on before that time, she said to sprinkle her ashes throughout Philly so she could still be there.”
It has been an up-and-down start to this Sixers season, but Lauren said “there’s no reason why we can’t make it to the Finals.”