Sports with Bob McFlurry
What a bunch of crybabies Philadelphia sports fans are. Oh, the Eagles have never won a Super Bowl, the Flyers haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1975, the Sixers haven’t gotten it done since 1983 and minus the Phillies breaking a miraculous curse in 2008, their only World Series win was in 1980. It’s like Philly fans are so masochistic that they love to be hurt, we actually brag about it.
Yes there was 25 years between Championships in Philadelphia but that didn’t mean there weren’t teams to root for. Yes you can give me the whole, “Of the cities with the four major sports teams, Philadelphia ranks last in Championships” crap but it’s still a whole lot better than being in Cleveland or Kansas City. And of the teams with four major sports teams I think we’ve had it a lot better than Phoenix, Minneapolis and Washington D.C.
If you rank a season Quality by the team making it to either the Championship game or the Conference Finals then the landscape changes a bit.
We’ll start our time line in the year 1980:
1980:
76ers lost to the Lakers in the NBA Finals 4 games to 2.
Flyers lost to the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 2
Eagles lost the Raiders in the Super Bowl 27-10
Phillies Win the World Series over the Royals 4 game to 2
1982:
76ers lost the NBA Championship to the Lakers 4 games to 2
1983:
Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series 4 games to 1
76ers Won the NBA Championship over the Lakers 4-0
1984:
Flyers lost to the Oilers 4-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals
1986:
Flyers lost to the Oilers 4-3 in the Stanley Cup Finals
1988:
Flyers lost to the Canadiens 4 games to 2 in the Wales Conference Finals
1993:
Phillies lost to the Blue Jays in the World Series 4-2
1994:
Flyers lost to the Devils in the Conference Finals
1996:
Flyers lost to the Red Wings 4-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals
2000:
Flyers lost to the Devils in Eastern Conference Finals 4-3
2001:
76ers lost to the Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals
Eagles lost to the Rams in the NFC Championship game 29-24
2002:
Eagles lost to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship 27-10
2003:
Eagles lost to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship 27-10
2004:
Flyers lost to the Lightning in Eastern Conference Finals to 4-3
Eagles lose to the Patriots in the Super Bowl 24-21
2007:
Flyers lost to the Penguins in the Easter Conference Finals 4 games to 1
2008:
Eagles lost to the Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game 32-25
Phillies Win the World Series over Rays 4 games to 1
2009:
Phillies lost to the Yankees in the World Series 4 games to 2
Totals:
Eagles: 2 Super Bowl appearances and 6 Conference Championship appearances. 16 Playoff appearances.
Phillies: 2 World Series Championships, 5 World Series Appearances and 5 National League Championship appearances. 7 Playoff appearances total.
Flyers: 4 Stanley Cup Finals trips, 8 Conference Championship appearances. 22 Playoff appearances.
Sixers: 1 NBA Championship, 4 Finals appearances, 4 Eastern Conference Championships. 18 Playoff appearances.
You don’t have to label a season a success if the team doesn’t win their respective sports’ championship that year and to a certain degree I get that logic. However, there have been plenty of years either collectively or individually that professional Philadelphia sports franchises got your heart racing during playoff time. That you lived and died by that team, that you and the city pulled for them.
If you ask me the 2002 NFC Championship loss to Tampa Bay was one of the absolute worst feelings I’ve ever had in my life. I swore off the Eagles and the next year my heart was in it again for another run. I guess my point here is that Philadelphia fans, for all their complaining and whining have it pretty good I think. Lito Sheppard was recently quoted to say that he thought Philly fans were “spoiled” by the decade of success the Eagles had and I’d have to agree with him. It’s not that easy to win a Championship in any sport even when you do have great players. I’ll settle for 3 Championships in 30 years and revel in the the enjoyment the next time one comes around.
Any playoff game is just another reason to get drunk and hang out with your friends so look on the bright side people, at least we’re not in Cleveland.