1983.
Almost 25 years ago: that was the last time a team from Philadelphia won a title in any sport. The 1983 Philadelphia 76ers, led by the inseparable duo of Moses Malone and Dr. J, famously responded to Malone’s “fo’, fo’, fo’” challenge by dropping only one game in their playoff run. The 80′s were in full swing, the Sixers were champs, and life was good.
So what happened? Maybe the luck just ran out. Maybe it was the Curse of Billy Penn. Or maybe all of the Philadelphia teams colluded to suck the life out of their fans with an unparalleled run of futility. Whatever the case, things have been bad for quite some time now.
But here’s the crazy thing with Philly fans: instead of locking themselves into a room and wallowing in depression by listening to Jimi Hendrix on a constant loop, they turn out to the ballpark/stadium/arena and lend unyielding positive support to their favorite teams. Okay, that’s not entirely true. We have a reputation (deserved in some respects) for being negative, pessimistic fans, but when you look at the following laundry list of failures and disappointments, can you think about cutting us some slack?
1993 World Series
1996 Stanley Cup Finals
2000 NHL Eastern Conference Finals
2001 NBA Finals
2002 NFC Championship Game
2003 NFC Championship Game
2004 NFC Championship Game
2005 Super Bowl
2007 National League Division Series
It’s so bad that we all jumped on a horse’s bandwagon back in 2004. But Smarty Jones proved he was all-Philly at heart, faltering down the stretch to lose the 2004 Triple Crown to some horse named Birdstone. Birdstone may as well have been named Reality Check, or F*** you Philly, because that’s essentially what happened that day.
And so the wait continues. While New Yorkers experience this…
…we’ll continue to deal with this…
…because that’s our lot in life. It’s not for the faint of heart, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Except, you know, maybe a couple of championships or something.
