The word “Philadelphia” is derived from two Greek words – philos (loving) and adelphos (brother). Thus, Philadelphia is known as the city of “brotherly love”.
There are twelve U.S. cities with four major professional sports – Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Washington, and, dare I say, Philadelphia. With the Eagles losing again this past Sunday and falling to 1-3, it could be argued that the four Philadelphia teams have carried their moniker, “The City of Brotherly Love”, just a bit too far.
I will start with the hapless Philadelphia 76ers. During the 2014-15 season, they lost a franchise record and tied an NBA record by losing 26 games in a row! They finished the season with a 19-63 record. The following year, the 76ers started the season 0-17 and were within one game of the worst start in NBA history. It appears that this upcoming season which is right around the corner will be much like the last two. You would think that their NBA opponents just “love” coming to Philadelphia, because they are pretty much guaranteed a win.
Did you know that the Flyers are second only to the Montreal Canadiens in all-time points percentage, have the most appearances in the conference finals of all the expansion teams, and are second all-time in playoff appearances by expansion teams. Sounds great, right? They have now missed the playoffs in two of the last three years, despite winning 98 games, losing 80. By Philadelphia standards, however, not making the playoffs is unacceptable for this franchise and certainly unacceptable for the Broad Street fan base. Only a Stanley Cup would satisfy the rabid Philadelphia hockey fan. But in early 2015 forecasts, the Flyers are picked in the bottom half of the Metropolitan Division. That would mean they miss the playoffs again.
Then, there is the Philadelphia Phillies. They just wrapped up a 63-99 season. In 2013 and 2014, they lost 178 games (89 in each season). The Phillies have not been over .500 now since 2011. This year, they resembled a minor league team for almost the entire season. Baseball is a long season and the Phillies died a slow, painful death this year and there is little hope that they will be much better in 2016.
That leaves the Philadelphia Eagles. They are 1-3, 0-2 in the NFC East, and 0-3 in the NFC. Only the Detroit Lions have a worst record. And if you watched the first half on Sunday against Washington, you had to wonder whether this team even belongs in the NFL. Then, they play a good second half only to lose at the end. There were more injuries again (three defensive starters, two offensive tackles), an offense that was so bad that they had seven possessions under 1:30, a defense so tired they could not stop the Washington Redskins from scoring a touchdown at the end, and sideline clock management that made Andy Reid look like a Swiss watchmaker. Their only saving grace, at the moment, is they play in the NFC East where everyone (but the Eagles) is 2-2.
I do not think when the founding fathers nicknamed the city they were thinking of the future professional sports teams that would occupy the boundaries. But right now, those four teams show a great deal of “love” but it is primarily towards their opponents. In fact, the other nickname for Philadelphia is “The City That Loves You Back”. And their professional sports teams have been doing a bit too much of that for much too long.
Ironically, it seems they love everyone but their own fan base.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- NFL football started their televised games at 9:30am in the morning and finished up at 11:45pm – 14 hours and 15 minutes of actual on-air games. Add the “pre-game-athons” and it is all-football, all the time! Just the way the NFL Goliath likes it.
- There are almost as many Steelers fans in the Lehigh Valley as there are Eagles fans. They had to be sick on Thursday when they outplayed their arch-rival Baltimore Ravens in almost every category and lost! This may be a game they look back on later in the season as a crushing defeat.
- After Pittsburgh’s Josh Scobee missed two field goals on Thursday night (and was subsequently fired), 11 field goals were missed during the afternoon games on Sunday and many were potential game-winners. Could it be that moving the extra-point distance back has put a little more pressure on these kicks and the kickers are not relaxed on any kick? Extra-points used to be good practice for field goals. Now they take just as much concentration (especially when the kicker could be fired on Monday).
- Who do you like right now to win the Super Bowl – New England or Green Bay?
- Good tripleheader high school football action this weekend on RCN-TV. Friday, Liberty hosts Parkland and Easton visits Whitehall. Saturday afternoon, Nazareth will travel to Central Catholic. Every game has post season ramifications.
NFL PICKS LAST WEEK – 10-5; OVERALL 40-23 (63%)
NFL PICKS (WEEK FIVE)
INDIANAPOLIS
KANSAS CITY
TAMPA BAY
BUFFALO
BALTIMORE
ATLANTA
PHILADELPHIA
GREEN BAY
CINCINNATI
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