Philadelphia Sports

In May, Philadelphia, my hometown, celebrated a unique distinction. The culmination of the 1982-1983 Philadelphia 76ers Season ended in a World
Championship, for both the team, and the city. But, that was the LAST World Championship that my city has ever seen. 25 years. It It is the longest drought of any city with all four major sport franchises. It adds up to 100 seasons. 100 seasons! So basically, if you are younger than 28, you really don't have any recollection of a World Championship in the city of Philadelphia. I had an original "1983 Sixers World Champions" T-Shirt, but at 31, I don't have any real memories of it. The numbers tell the entire tale, when you compare Philadelphia to other to other cities. There are bascially 13 cities/areas with teams in all four sports: Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minniapolis/St.Paul, New York, Phoenix, The San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, DC & Philadelphia. In the 100 Seasons since the last Philadelphia Title, all of these cities except Philadelphia have one at least one title, and all but Philadelphia and Atlanta have won at least two. Since 1983, there have been 23 Expansion Teams to come into the 4 major leagues. Out of those 23 teams, 6 have managed to win championships, with the Florida Marlins winning two. The Philadelphia sports teams have played for their World Championship a total of 7 times: the Sixers in '01, the Flyers in '85, '87 & '97, the Eagles in '04, and the Phillies in '83 & '93. In comparison, the Chicago Bulls alone have played for and won the NBA Title 6 times. Yes, those numbers are downright scary. But, the real question is 'Why'?

Is it just a matter of the collective futility of all these franchises? Between 1974 and 1983, the Philadelphia sports teams made 10 trips to their championship games, and collected 4 championships for their troubles. The only team with the same ownership from those "glory years" is the Flyers. And, it's safe to say that the other three teams' ownership have had tempestuous relationships with the fan base at some point in the past 25 years, and some of the current owners are still in the middle of a war with the fans and media. The Phillies' Ownership have been criticized for being too cheap to care about winning. There are players who have accused the ownership of just that, like Scott Rolen, and Curt Schilling. Both left the Phillies and moved on to bigger careers, with Schilling winning three championships with the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox.

The Sixers were actually bought by the year before the city's last championship, but their fortuned quickly turned downward within three years of winning the title. The Sixers were later bought by the Flyers' owner, Comcast-Spectator, and they rebounded to a NBA Finals appearance in 2001. The Eagles have seen the best and worst of ownership in the past 25 years, going from Norman Brahman, who wanted to move the franchise, and now Jeffrey Lurie, who is getting mixed reviews right now for their aggresive management style and team philosophy which have left some turned off, and many others befuddled. Many believe that the Eagles' last and best chance for a championship left when Terrell Owens left. There are some that believe that the three of the teams, the Sixers, Phillies, and Flyers, are all in a positive up-turn. The Flyers made a deep run in the playoffs, and both the Sixers and Phillies both had recent playoff apperances. But, playoff appearance or not, there have been no parades down Broad Street in Philadelphia since Ronald Reagan was in office.

Is is the Curse of Billy Penn? Atop City Hall in Philadelphia stands a four-story tall statue of William Penn, the founder of the state of Pennsylvania. For over a century no other building in the city surpassed his height, through a "gentleman's agreement". But, that all changed in 1984, when constuction plans commenced on One Liberty Place, a new skyscraper in Philadelphia. When finally completed, Liberty Place would surpassed poor Billy's hat by 397 feet. And no major Philadelphia sports team has won since. The Philadelphia fans were treated by a NCAA Basketball Championship, from Villanova in 1985, while One Liberty Place was still under construction. Soon afterwards, One Liberty Place was completed, and the door was slammed shut even from small victories in the second-tier sports. There's even a movie coming out about this theory. Many writers romanticize and quote this reason as well. And given the history, it's hard to argue.

I remember watching a documentary in 2003 about the "Curse of the Bambino". I watched as senior citizens worried that they would never see a championship from their beloved Boston Red Sox. Oh Spare Me! This, from the same city who'd seen their Patriots win it all in '01 and '03, and the Celtics win in '84 and '86, a part of their 16 World Titles. And those same Red Sox have won two in the last five years. Oh, Boo-Hoo! Many Chicago Cubs fans scream "Woe is me", even though the Bulls have won 6 Titles, and the Bears and White Sox have each won a championship as well. Try being a Philadelphia sports fan. Our dedication is refined and honed in the fires of 100 seasons of our collective disappointment. We wear it as a badge of honor. But, believe you me. When one of these teams finally does pull it off, you will see the biggest and most grand parade and party a town has ever seen...