"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
During last night's Stadium Series game between the Flyers and Penguins, I was taken aback by the patch on the sleeves of the Penguins jerseys, where they referred to Pittsburgh as the "City of Champions." To me, Pittsburgh is West Virginia with taller buildings, but I guess if you hail from the west side of the commonwealth, you have a different perspective. Sure, the Steelers have six Super Bowl trophies, and the Pens are the current holders of Lord Stanley's Cup (you know no idea how painful it is to type that). But the city isn't even represented in all four major professional sports. Places like Boston and Chicago, with multiple titles for the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, Blackhawks and Bulls, plus solo banners for the Bruins, Bears, and White Sox are much more deserving of the "City of Champions" moniker. Hell, even the Cubs, the Lovable Losers, won the World Series.
Which brings me to my beloved Philadelphia, currently residing at the opposite end of the spectrum from Boston and Chicago. It's been a long time since 1980, when the Phillies won their first World Series and the Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers all made the championships of their respective leagues. Since then, an NBA title in 1983 and a World Series crown in 2008. Beyond that, its been largely miserable.
The Fightin' Phils won the National League pennant in 1993 and 2009, but couldn't bring home the hardware.
The Sixers rode Allen Iverson to the NBA Finals in 2001 but couldn't match up with the ShaqKobe Lakers.
The Eagles lost to the GoPro Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX but haven't so much as sniffed the Vince Lombardi Trophy since.
The Flyers have been arguably the most successful franchise in the city, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1976, 1985, 1987, 1997, and 2010. And yet, no parades to show for it.
So in my almost 42 years on this planet, or 168 sports seasons...3 championships. That's 1.8%. That's woeful.
Unlike the aforementioned Cubs, who secured the sentimental support from the casual public, or LeBron James and the Cavaliers bringing a championship to the Cleveland, aka "The Mistake by the Lake," nobody is going to feel sorry for Philadelphia or the fans. You might have heard about our reputation, and how we booed Santa Claus when he threw snowballs at the Easter Bunny...or something like that.
Not lovable, just losers.
That may be hard for my Philadelphia sports fan brethren to digest, but damn it if it's not the truth. I've been heartbroken by these teams time and time again, putting so much time and energy into them only to watch them fail. I swear them off, say I'm not doing it anymore. And yet, by each opening day or season kickoff, I'm all in again. Maybe that makes me insane.
Or maybe the insane part is, I still expect championships. Every season, every year. I believe Roger Goodell will hand the Lombardi Trophy to Carson Wentz one of these years. I feel like the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons 76ers will win multiple NBA titles. I think the Phillies have the type of prospects in the farm system to reclaim their seat atop the baseball world.
And you better believe I can see Claude Giroux lifting the Stanley Cup over his head. Then we can wear "City of Champions" patches on our jerseys.
During last night's Stadium Series game between the Flyers and Penguins, I was taken aback by the patch on the sleeves of the Penguins jerseys, where they referred to Pittsburgh as the "City of Champions." To me, Pittsburgh is West Virginia with taller buildings, but I guess if you hail from the west side of the commonwealth, you have a different perspective. Sure, the Steelers have six Super Bowl trophies, and the Pens are the current holders of Lord Stanley's Cup (you know no idea how painful it is to type that). But the city isn't even represented in all four major professional sports. Places like Boston and Chicago, with multiple titles for the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, Blackhawks and Bulls, plus solo banners for the Bruins, Bears, and White Sox are much more deserving of the "City of Champions" moniker. Hell, even the Cubs, the Lovable Losers, won the World Series.
Which brings me to my beloved Philadelphia, currently residing at the opposite end of the spectrum from Boston and Chicago. It's been a long time since 1980, when the Phillies won their first World Series and the Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers all made the championships of their respective leagues. Since then, an NBA title in 1983 and a World Series crown in 2008. Beyond that, its been largely miserable.
The Fightin' Phils won the National League pennant in 1993 and 2009, but couldn't bring home the hardware.
The Sixers rode Allen Iverson to the NBA Finals in 2001 but couldn't match up with the ShaqKobe Lakers.
The Eagles lost to the GoPro Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX but haven't so much as sniffed the Vince Lombardi Trophy since.
The Flyers have been arguably the most successful franchise in the city, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1976, 1985, 1987, 1997, and 2010. And yet, no parades to show for it.
So in my almost 42 years on this planet, or 168 sports seasons...3 championships. That's 1.8%. That's woeful.
Unlike the aforementioned Cubs, who secured the sentimental support from the casual public, or LeBron James and the Cavaliers bringing a championship to the Cleveland, aka "The Mistake by the Lake," nobody is going to feel sorry for Philadelphia or the fans. You might have heard about our reputation, and how we booed Santa Claus when he threw snowballs at the Easter Bunny...or something like that.
Not lovable, just losers.
That may be hard for my Philadelphia sports fan brethren to digest, but damn it if it's not the truth. I've been heartbroken by these teams time and time again, putting so much time and energy into them only to watch them fail. I swear them off, say I'm not doing it anymore. And yet, by each opening day or season kickoff, I'm all in again. Maybe that makes me insane.
Or maybe the insane part is, I still expect championships. Every season, every year. I believe Roger Goodell will hand the Lombardi Trophy to Carson Wentz one of these years. I feel like the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons 76ers will win multiple NBA titles. I think the Phillies have the type of prospects in the farm system to reclaim their seat atop the baseball world.
And you better believe I can see Claude Giroux lifting the Stanley Cup over his head. Then we can wear "City of Champions" patches on our jerseys.