The Heartbreak Kid

Philadelphia Sports Teams: # Years Since Last Championship

I admit it... I'm a sports junkie. The only people in the blog world that I know of who are probably more of a sports junkie than I am would be Eb the Celeb and 12Kyle. I'm from Philadelphia, PA so, you know that I am a frustrated sports fan. The 76ers, Eagles, Phillies, and even the Flyers have broken my heart year after year after year and still, like the faithful lover I am, I still court them with unrequited love once a new season begins. Why do I do this? Well, why do people stay in toxic relationships with people they and everybody else knows is no good. It's simple... memories.

You see, I remember when the Phillies won their one and only World Series in 1980. I was just old enough to drink (21 or 22 years old) and I celebrated far away in my college town with some fellow Philadelphians by drinking all the beer that I could (and stay conscious) and yelling to the top of my lungs in jubilation that night.

I remember some three years later when the Philadelphia 76ers finally got over the hump and handed those Los Angelas Lakers a damn good thrashing in a four game sweep. I was 25 years old and, along with a couple of friends, we went running down Broad Street in Philly with brooms (same as everybody in sight) yelling "Sweep... Sweep... Sweep!" Black people, white People, old people, gay people, straight people, guys, girls, etc. were winking, beeping the horns of their cars, and yelling. It was like Christmas in May. People who you didn't even know were hugging you and jumping up and down. For that one special night, people really put their differences aside and became one. I'm sure that happened in Boston this summer when the Celtics gave another group of Lakers (who probably were in diapers back then) another damn good thrashing. That was the last championship this city has seen and it was 25 years ago.

The city went crazy in the year 2000 when Allen Iverson and his 76ers went up against and won the first game against those same Lakers. I even got my first look at superstar-to-be Beyonce (Destiny's Child came here to sing at the half-time show) and alas... we got spanked the next four games. I had to watch Philadelphia homeboy Kobe Bryant and his Los Angelas Lakers celebrate on our home court and I cried like a baby.

In 2005, the Eagles went to the Super Bowl. My wife and I and a lot of our friends were over someone's house watching the game and they were barbecuing (I kid you not). It was February, they had the grill set up in the backyard, and was barbecuing chicken and ribs and shuttling them inside to be added to plates of potato salad and baked beans. The beer and soda was flowing and somebody even brought a bottle of champagne.

You know what happened don't you? T.O. showed up and played an incredible game. Love him or hate him, the man is a fantastic athlete. Yes, EB... he is... even if he is a Cowboy now. Yes, I said it-lolol! Donavan Mcnabb had an upset stomach and vomited during a time out, which ended our chance of winning the Super Bowl. The Mighty Patriots rolled on until the New York Giants surprised everybody and pulled off an unlikely upset last year (big ups to the Giants).

Neither the Eagles, Flyers, or Sixers have shown any promise of going past the first round of any playoff series they've been in since then. I didn't get too excited this year when the Sixers made it to the playoffs. I knew that they weren't going to get past Detroit. If, by some miracle, they had gotten past Detroit, there was no way they were going to stop Boston... there just wasn't enough fire power.

The Phillies have now advanced to the NLCS championships against the Los Angeles Dodgers. By the time you read this, I will know if I should get excited about a Philadelphia sports team again or if, once again, my heart will be broken. I'm a loyal and faithful lover, if nothing else.

Footnote: The Phillies beat the Dodgers 3-2... True love endures after all!