As the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs prepare to do battle in Super Bowl LVII, the sporting mediasphere (not a word) is being flooded with the latest hot takes and predictions, some good, many bad.
While Minnesotans spend yet another Super Bowl watching anyone but the Vikings, the New York Times has been reflecting on plucky Philadelphia’s rotten sporting history, and how their luck has recently been changing.
“A proud city long accustomed to excruciating defeat for its sports teams, resigned to the notion that success is only disaster that hasn’t happened yet, finds itself basking in a relatively rare period of hopeful achievement.”
That’s Philadelphia. The city that won the Super Bowl in 2018, the World Series in 2008 (and reached in 2009 and 2022), and the NCAA Basketball Championship (Villanova) in 2016 and 2018.
The city whose football team smashed the Vikings 38-7 on the way to that 2018 win.
The article tries to portray the City of Brotherly Love as the home to perennial disappointment, citing the fact that the Phillies are “the losingest franchise” in professional sports, while the 76ers and Flyers haven’t won an NBA Championship or Stanley Cup for 40 and 48 years respectively.
Yeah…at least they’ve won them though.
Meanwhile, here are Minnesota fans looking at Philadelphia’s history of “failure”:
We’re not saying Philly’s previously disastrous sporting performances isn’t worthy of mention, we’d just rather object to the characterization of a city that seemingly stands apart when it comes to passionate yet downtrodden fans.
Pathetic as it may be, this is all we have. Longest streak without a men’s championship. False dawn after false dawn. Gary Anderson. Blair Walsh. BountyGate. Kobe in ’04. The Ducks in ’03. The Yankees for eternity.
