Crown Drought

                               It has been 36 years since Affirmed won horse racing's last Triple Crown in 1978, the longest drought in the sport's history.   Here's a slice of what life was like then :

• President : Jimmy Carter
• Philadelphia Mayor : Frank Rizzo
• Flyers Captain : Bobby Clark
• Eagles coach : Dick Vermeil
• Chip Kelly : Was in high school
• Sixers' leading scorer : Julius Erving
• Mike Schmidt : Just 21 homers, but third of nine consecutive Gold Gloves
• Gay marriage : Not even a consideration
• Wilt Chamberlain : Elected to basketball Hall of Fame
• Gallon of gas : 65 cents
• Non-sports story of the year : MOVE crisis in West Philly
• Current local athietes alive (four majors) : Kimmo Timonen, Hal Gill, Mark Streit, A.J. Burnett, Wil Nieves, Marlon Byrd; no Eagles or Sixers
• Chase Utley/Jimmy Rollins : Born late in 1978
• John Chaney : Won Division II basketball title at Cheyney State
• JFK Stadium : Hosted the Rolling Stones and a crowd of 100,000 (June 17)
• Big 5 player of the year : Michael Brooks, La Salle
• No-hitter vs. Phillies : Bob Forsch, Cardinals (April 16)
• Oscar for best picture : Annie Hall
• Son of Sam : Notorious New York City serial killer David Berkowitz given six life sentences