The misery ended on October 29, 2008. The longest mathematical title drought in the history of any sports town. Four major professional teams. Twenty-five fruitless seasons for each of them. One hundred, yes, a century's worth of title-free finishes, when you add them all together.
But on the final play of season No. 101, Phillies closer Brad Lidge sunk a devastating slider beneath the helpless swing of lumbering Rays pinch hitter Eric Hinske. And the ensuing image is forever etched in the photographic minds of the long-tortured Philadelphians lucky enough to enjoy it.
We remember Lidge dropping to his knees with Carlos Ruiz darting out to embrace him like a newly married couple. We remember Ryan Howard doing his best Reggie White impression and decking the pile into a boulder-like tumble. We remember Charlie Manuel standing on the podium shouting "This is for Philadelphia," in broken Southern drawl at the top of his lungs.
But this night was about more than a sports-obsessed metropolis winning its first championship in a mathematical century. It represented a symbolic sea change that altered the Philadelphia sporting pecking order for the first time in over a decade.
It wasn’t supposed to be the Phillies that ended our historic run of futility. We weren’t supposed to have images of Lidge falling to his knees or Manuel shouting in broken Southern drawl running like the top play through our internal SportsCenter.
No. This was supposed to be the Eagles. This was supposed to be Andy Reid thanking the Philly fans for sticking by him through his unlikely ascension from unknown Green Bay quarterbacks coach to Super Bowl-winning household commodity. We were supposed to have images of Donovan McNabb wearing his signature white-toothed smile like a dental floss ad as he pumped a triumphant fist beneath a torrential flood of confetti.
This was because it was the Eagles in the early '00s who first broke Philadelphia’s tradition of losing that had taken shape through much of the 1990s (outside of the Flyers, who built a cup contender around Eric Lindros). But Reid, McNabb and company failed to capitalize on their prime years as a championship contender from 2001 to 2004.
The Phillies, on the other hand, capitalized almost immediately after getting over the lengthy playoff hump (in 2007, they won the series in 2008) that had haunted them through a litany of near-misses from 2001 to 2006.
Once they did, the Fightins instantly catapulted themselves into a head-on battle with the Eagles for the role of Philly’s most prominent sporting passion. But the two could have easily coexisted at the top in a city with a decorated hybrid history as both a baseball and football town.
But Eagles management responded to the Phillies championship with the type of petty jealousy usually reserved for 12-year-old schoolgirls. In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 World Series, both the Sixers and Flyers congratulated the Phillies through statements from management and on the jumbotron at an early season game.
Naturally, the public expected the Eagles to soon follow suit. But, outside of a standing ovation for honorary coin-tossers Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell at a mid November Eagles-Giants game (about as indirect of a congratulations as you could possibly display), the statement of good will never came.
It became clear through the talk radio and print media loops that lifelong Bostonites and notorious Red Sox fans Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles owner) and Joe Banner (Team President and Lurie’s childhood friend) were jealous that the perennially back burning Phillies had beaten their Eagles to the championship punch.
When the Eagles fell short again in the NFC Championship Game the following January (for the fourth time in eight years, not including their Super Bowl loss to New England), it became painstakingly clear that the Phillies had finally pushed the Birds from their self-concerting mountaintop.
Another pennant, two more division titles, three ace pitcher acquisitions, and 162 consecutive sellouts later, the Phillies are still king. But in the meantime, the Eagles have broken away from the stale McNabb era and revamped the roster around a slew of exciting offensive speed demons.
With the re-emergence and maturity of vindicated former Falcon Michael Vick, the Eagles have the type of transcendent face they can build a fresh-blooded Super Bowl contender around.
Vick’s dynamic 2010 comeback campaign successfully re-energized an Eagles fan base that had grown tired of the status quo. If they can build off that resurgence, Lurie and Banner may just be able to wrestle their adopted city back from their baseball siblings who took it away from them.
While Philly fans will always root just as passionately for both of their favorite teams, the subtle popularity rivalry between the two will always exist. Here are five things that need to happen if the Eagles are going to win back some brotherly love.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/740768-eagles-vs-phillies-5-ways-the-eagles-can-win-back-the-city
But on the final play of season No. 101, Phillies closer Brad Lidge sunk a devastating slider beneath the helpless swing of lumbering Rays pinch hitter Eric Hinske. And the ensuing image is forever etched in the photographic minds of the long-tortured Philadelphians lucky enough to enjoy it.
We remember Lidge dropping to his knees with Carlos Ruiz darting out to embrace him like a newly married couple. We remember Ryan Howard doing his best Reggie White impression and decking the pile into a boulder-like tumble. We remember Charlie Manuel standing on the podium shouting "This is for Philadelphia," in broken Southern drawl at the top of his lungs.
But this night was about more than a sports-obsessed metropolis winning its first championship in a mathematical century. It represented a symbolic sea change that altered the Philadelphia sporting pecking order for the first time in over a decade.
It wasn’t supposed to be the Phillies that ended our historic run of futility. We weren’t supposed to have images of Lidge falling to his knees or Manuel shouting in broken Southern drawl running like the top play through our internal SportsCenter.
No. This was supposed to be the Eagles. This was supposed to be Andy Reid thanking the Philly fans for sticking by him through his unlikely ascension from unknown Green Bay quarterbacks coach to Super Bowl-winning household commodity. We were supposed to have images of Donovan McNabb wearing his signature white-toothed smile like a dental floss ad as he pumped a triumphant fist beneath a torrential flood of confetti.
This was because it was the Eagles in the early '00s who first broke Philadelphia’s tradition of losing that had taken shape through much of the 1990s (outside of the Flyers, who built a cup contender around Eric Lindros). But Reid, McNabb and company failed to capitalize on their prime years as a championship contender from 2001 to 2004.
The Phillies, on the other hand, capitalized almost immediately after getting over the lengthy playoff hump (in 2007, they won the series in 2008) that had haunted them through a litany of near-misses from 2001 to 2006.
Once they did, the Fightins instantly catapulted themselves into a head-on battle with the Eagles for the role of Philly’s most prominent sporting passion. But the two could have easily coexisted at the top in a city with a decorated hybrid history as both a baseball and football town.
But Eagles management responded to the Phillies championship with the type of petty jealousy usually reserved for 12-year-old schoolgirls. In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 World Series, both the Sixers and Flyers congratulated the Phillies through statements from management and on the jumbotron at an early season game.
Naturally, the public expected the Eagles to soon follow suit. But, outside of a standing ovation for honorary coin-tossers Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell at a mid November Eagles-Giants game (about as indirect of a congratulations as you could possibly display), the statement of good will never came.
It became clear through the talk radio and print media loops that lifelong Bostonites and notorious Red Sox fans Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles owner) and Joe Banner (Team President and Lurie’s childhood friend) were jealous that the perennially back burning Phillies had beaten their Eagles to the championship punch.
When the Eagles fell short again in the NFC Championship Game the following January (for the fourth time in eight years, not including their Super Bowl loss to New England), it became painstakingly clear that the Phillies had finally pushed the Birds from their self-concerting mountaintop.
Another pennant, two more division titles, three ace pitcher acquisitions, and 162 consecutive sellouts later, the Phillies are still king. But in the meantime, the Eagles have broken away from the stale McNabb era and revamped the roster around a slew of exciting offensive speed demons.
With the re-emergence and maturity of vindicated former Falcon Michael Vick, the Eagles have the type of transcendent face they can build a fresh-blooded Super Bowl contender around.
Vick’s dynamic 2010 comeback campaign successfully re-energized an Eagles fan base that had grown tired of the status quo. If they can build off that resurgence, Lurie and Banner may just be able to wrestle their adopted city back from their baseball siblings who took it away from them.
While Philly fans will always root just as passionately for both of their favorite teams, the subtle popularity rivalry between the two will always exist. Here are five things that need to happen if the Eagles are going to win back some brotherly love.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/740768-eagles-vs-phillies-5-ways-the-eagles-can-win-back-the-city
