Penton: Happy days for Philly sports fans
By Bruce Penton
It’s a great year to be a sports fan in Philadelphia.
Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia has been home in recent years to some of the most inept and unluckiest sports teams among the professional circuits, but this year has been like Christmas and the Fourth of July rolled into one. If winning truly makes one happy, then Philadelphians are among the most joyous people on earth.
Let’s start with the Phillies. A perennial afterthought in the tough National League East (behind the Mets and Braves), the Phillies barely scraped into the playoffs this year, via the wildcard route, even though they finished 11 games behind the Braves during the regular season. But after Canadian manager Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi in mid-season after the team’s slow start, the Bryce Harper-led Phillies got hot, squeaking into the playoffs as a wildcard entry, sidelining St. Louis Cardinals, the Braves and then San Diego en route to the World Series, which they last won in 2008.
On the gridiron, the Philadelphia Eagles were the last undefeated team in the National Football League, thanks to the guidance of second-year manager Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Eagles won seven in a row to start the season and are the gambling world’s top pick to win the Super Bowl in February.
Philadelphia and its basketball 76ers are in the upper echelon of the NBA and even though the team got off to a slow start, any roster featuring James Harden and Joel Embiid is bound to contend. Philly fans expect no less. On the ice, the Flyers are off to a decent start under new coach John Tortorella, losing only two of their first eight games. And on the soccer pitch, the Philadelphia Union won the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference championship and will play L.A. for the title.
But it’s the Phillies and Eagles that are causing Philadelphia fans to go ga-ga. One city hasn’t had this much sports success since the 2013-19 period, when the Patriots won three Super Bowls, the Red Sox took two World Series titles and the Bruins advanced to a pair of Stanley Cup finals, leaving Massachusetts sports fans to think winning was more of an expectation than something a team had to earn.
For Philly sports fans, the recent success has been a major change to their psyche. Known for being the most critical fans in North America (they booed Santa Claus one year; a Sports Illustrated writer once said Philly fans were likely to boo blind kids at an Easter egg hunt), there have been nothing but cheers and whoops of delight in Philly this year.
Dan Gartland of SI:AM, recalling the aftermath of the incident where pitcher Joe Niekro was caught with an emery board in his pocket, and was suspected of using it to doctor the baseball: “He was (later) a guest on Late Night with David Letterman, where he appeared wearing a tool belt loaded with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos, including a belt sander.”
Comedy guy Steve Burgess of Vancouver, on the pain of love for the Canucks: “They get in your blood, and then it’s blood poisoning.”
Eamon Lynch of GolfWeek, analyzing the first season of the LIV golf tour: “The worldwide viewing audience for LIV events is often comparable to the number of Super Bowl viewers who might die of natural causes before the halftime show.”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “A man in Minnesota broke the U.S. record by growing a 2,560-pound pumpkin. This is believed to be the biggest gourd since Barry Bonds’ post-PED head swelled up like a threatened pufferfish.”
RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “Houston coach Lovie Smith told a Texas radio show that he is building the Texans football team based on a specific plan. If memory serves, so was the Titanic.”
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:” If you predicted before the NFL season that the only Week 8 matchup pairing winning teams would be the Seahawks and Giants, step forward and claim your prize. And slip us the next winning Powerball numbers while you’re at it.”
Perry again: “Northwestern freshman Michael Cole couldn’t find a taker for one of the $8.50 tickets he bought to the Oct. 26, 1984 Chicago Bulls game, so he kept it. And finally sold it this year — for $468,000. Seems there’s still a market for the NBA debut of Michael Jordan.”
Jack Finarelli of sportscurmudgeon.com, on the recent Broncos-Jaguars game in London: “The people in the UK have lost their queen and their prime minister in the last two months; the pound sterling has tanked to its lowest level since WWII; and now the NFL sends them that game? Haven’t those people suffered enough?”
Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, to reporters, after saying he needs just two weeks to teach players his 2-3 zone: “I can probably teach it to you guys in three weeks.”
Headline at the onion.com: “Bucs’ Protection Scheme Involves O-Line Asking Defence To Go Easy On Tom Brady While He’s Going Through Some Stuff”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca