I'm pressed for time (headed to a softball tournament in Washington, DC this weekend) so here is a quick summary of some things I was planning to write about…
Drought update: The Phillies' 3-2 win over the LA Dodgers gives them a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. This is the 18th time since the 76ers won the NBA title in May 1983 that a Philadelphia team has gotten to the "final four" in a particular league.
I'm pressed for time (headed to a softball tournament in Washington, DC this weekend) so here is a quick summary of some things I was planning to write about…
Drought update: The Phillies’ 3-2 win over the LA Dodgers gives them a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. This is the 18th time since the 76ers won the NBA title in May 1983 that a Philadelphia team has gotten to the “final four” in a particular league. Of the prior 17, 7 teams made it to the finals before losing. This is the 3rd time in the final four for the Phils; the previous 2 times (1983, 1993) they got to the World Series. By far the most successful (relatively speaking) has been the Flyers, who have 8 semifinal appearances (including last season) and 3 Stanley Cup finals during this time. The Eagles have their 4 NFC title games and 1 Super Bowl appearance. The 76ers have only made it to the final four twice during this span, with one big run to the NBA finals in 2001.
Idiots: Fox analyst Mark Grace in the pre-game show last night warned the Dodgers to beware of the Philadelphia fans because "they throw things at you." You should be so lucky, Mark. And I'm hearing on the radio that Eagle Trent Cole said something critical about the fans, though I can't find out exactly what he said. Considering his subpar performance this year and the team's ugly showing the last two weeks, Trent has other things to worry about.
Phillies vs. Eagles: The scheduling of the Phils-Brewers game on Sunday for the same time as the Redskins-Eagles game, and a post-game Cole Hamels comment that "hopefully (the Phils win over the Brewers will) turn the city red more than it is green," has reignited the debate about whether this is a baseball or a footbal town. It's easy to say that football rules, but it's not entirely accurate. The Eagles game won in the local TV ratings on Sunday but right now the talk on the radio is almost non-stop Phillies. In the day or two after the Eagles' disgusting loss on Sunday, though, it was reversed, despite the Phils' success. A possible explanation comes from WIP radio host Al Morganti, who's commented in the past that talk radio is "the complaint department of life." When things are going badly people want to vent. When things are okay people don't have the same urgency to call. In the end, Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino said it best: "It doesn't matter who wins a championship. I think we're playing for Philadelphia. We're not trying to outdo the Eagles. We're not trying to outdo the 76ers. We're not trying to outdo the Flyers…We're focused on our goal and what we have ahead of us. We're not trying to make this a red town."
Sports film fest: If you want to overdose on sports movies, come to town October 23-26 for the first-ever U.S. Sports Film Festival. Let me guess…lots of showings of "Rocky" and "Invincible"?
