Faced with a slow news day, I figured it was time to reach into the mail bag and return to the "Next Question" segment.
This week's question comes from St. Joe's Nick:
I could come up with some smart ass answer about being proud about cornering the market in Triple Crown quality race horses, or being awfully successful at finding players who come up small in big spots. I could also point out that we surely lead the nation in petulant superstars over the past 15 years with Randall, Barkley, Lindros, T.O., A.I., and Pat Burrell.
In all seriousness, all I can really offer is that we should be proud for being the most demanding phan base in the world outside of the English Premiere League. We can sniff out a bum better than any fan base in America. (I wish this ability would rub off on some of our front office people.) We won't accept anything less than a team's best effort when it is apparent they have the talent to compete.
My favorite aspect of a Philly Phan is that we are not trained sheep like fans in the South and Midwest. We don't show up and pay good money to watch a team when the front office isn't putting out the best product possible. When people ask why the Phils and Sixers don't sell out, I usually reply that when the front office makes a commitment to the fans by putting a decent product on the field, we'll make a commitment to them. All one has to do is look at the attendance stats for the Phils after the ownership decided to put some money into the team as opposed to the 80% empty Vet in the late 90's.
As for on the field issues, the pickings are slim, but we can be proud of the Phils. They have four outstanding young players in Howard, Utley, Hamels and J Roll. Plus, I really think Gillick will get a couple more pieces to finally put us in the playoffs next year. I think we should also be proud of the fact that we have the franchise's all time best QB currently under center every Sunday for the Birds. We can be proud of the little things like the heart and determination of A.I. and the prolonged greatness and leadership of Dawk. Even though they didn't result in a championship, we can also be proud of all the playoff appearances over the years by the Birds, Flyers, and Sixers.
I know, I'm not giving you the warm and fuzzies, but we are at an all time low point right now for Philly Sports. Maybe the lowest I can remember for all four teams at once. Maybe we need to hit rock bottom before we can rise to the top. I can't give you any time table for when it will get better, but it has to get better? Right???
Finally, last time I checked, you live in Jersey. You can feel proud of the undefeated State U in New Jersey. There's plenty of room on the band wagon.
This week's question comes from St. Joe's Nick:
WIP has been running a commercial bumper for quite a while with the Rocky theme in the background and a voice over stating “Philly Pride…Philly Passion! Sports Radio 610 WIP.” Am I the only one that has a problem with our “pride” being in a 30-year old fictitious boxer? Isn’t there anything else sports-wise to be proud of in this city? I know we haven’t won anything for about 100 years, but there has to be something other than an old, fake boxer to be proud of. The Rocky cliché has been played out for a long, long, LONG time. It’s irked me for a while. Every time I hear that stupid promo it gets under my skin.Wow...isn't that the $64,000 question in town these days. As you point out, I can't really give you any reason to be proud of any of the particular Philly teams at the moment, other than possibly the Phils. Normally, you can point to at least one Big 5 team to get excited about, but not this year. And you wonder why I'm so gung ho about the dream season my alma mater is having over at RU.
Phan – give me some reason to be proud of Philly sports. I am already proud of the historical value of the city since I am a bit of a history fan, but I am more of a sports fan than anything. I can’t see any reason to be proud of the Eagles, Phillies, or Flyers in the past few years, even despite the Eagles’ Super Bowl run. Something told me that entire season that we would end up disappointed again. The future doesn’t look too great either for our teams.
I could come up with some smart ass answer about being proud about cornering the market in Triple Crown quality race horses, or being awfully successful at finding players who come up small in big spots. I could also point out that we surely lead the nation in petulant superstars over the past 15 years with Randall, Barkley, Lindros, T.O., A.I., and Pat Burrell.
In all seriousness, all I can really offer is that we should be proud for being the most demanding phan base in the world outside of the English Premiere League. We can sniff out a bum better than any fan base in America. (I wish this ability would rub off on some of our front office people.) We won't accept anything less than a team's best effort when it is apparent they have the talent to compete.
My favorite aspect of a Philly Phan is that we are not trained sheep like fans in the South and Midwest. We don't show up and pay good money to watch a team when the front office isn't putting out the best product possible. When people ask why the Phils and Sixers don't sell out, I usually reply that when the front office makes a commitment to the fans by putting a decent product on the field, we'll make a commitment to them. All one has to do is look at the attendance stats for the Phils after the ownership decided to put some money into the team as opposed to the 80% empty Vet in the late 90's.
As for on the field issues, the pickings are slim, but we can be proud of the Phils. They have four outstanding young players in Howard, Utley, Hamels and J Roll. Plus, I really think Gillick will get a couple more pieces to finally put us in the playoffs next year. I think we should also be proud of the fact that we have the franchise's all time best QB currently under center every Sunday for the Birds. We can be proud of the little things like the heart and determination of A.I. and the prolonged greatness and leadership of Dawk. Even though they didn't result in a championship, we can also be proud of all the playoff appearances over the years by the Birds, Flyers, and Sixers.
I know, I'm not giving you the warm and fuzzies, but we are at an all time low point right now for Philly Sports. Maybe the lowest I can remember for all four teams at once. Maybe we need to hit rock bottom before we can rise to the top. I can't give you any time table for when it will get better, but it has to get better? Right???
Finally, last time I checked, you live in Jersey. You can feel proud of the undefeated State U in New Jersey. There's plenty of room on the band wagon.
As for the Rocky thing, I can't agree more. I'm BEYOND tired with this City's fascination with Rocky. I saw a comedy show this summer where Bill Burr ripped our city for, among a multitude of other things, getting so wrapped up in a fictional champion when we had a real live champ in Joe Frazier. Check out this link. You might want to send death threats to this guy after checking it out, but I guess you had to be there to understand why this tirade occurred.
Until we meet again, NEXT QUESTION!
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