Philly phollies

Those of you that know me, or have listened to me over the years, know that I am a Philadelphia sports fan. There, I've admitted it yet again. I feel like I'm introducing myself at a Philly fan support group. Yep, being a Philly sports fan requires support, and a little therapy wouldn't hurt.

The video at the top of this post is a pretty accurate assessment of what it's like to be a fan of Philly sports.

Watch the video, then you'll understand why I laugh at Cubs fans, for example, that cry the blues about not having won a world series since 1908. Sure, that's a long time. But, the odds are that if you are a Cubs fan, then you also root for the Bulls (six titles in the 90's), or the Bears (Super Bowl XX winner), or the Blackhawks (ok, bad example).

The point being, at least one of the Chicago teams has been able to come through with a title for you in the past few decades. Even the White Sox should qualify for Cubs fans, to a certain extent. As frustrating as it may have been to watch the Sox win the series in 2005, at least they gave you a chance to watch a Chicago baseball team win a title, get a parade through the streets of Chicago, and then woefully underachieve the following year.

For us Philly fans, we've gone 23 years without one of the four major sports teams winning a championship. And to make matters worse, they've come very, very close to winning at least one, in several sports.

Since the last title (the 1983 76ers), Philadelphia has been in title games or championship finals seven times, and won zero titles. The Flyers are 0-3, the Phillies are 0-2, and the Eagles and 76ers are each 0-1.

Usually, they come up short due to their own ineptitude, but other times it's something more...a dramatic homerun, a freak injury, a quarterback throwing up in the huddle, a goalie being killed in a car crash, things like that.

Oh so close, yet oh so far.

The current state of Philly pro sports? Well, the Eagles, who have been one of the top NFL teams this decade, are for the second straight year, dealing with a season ending injury to their quarterback (who also was throwing up in the huddle in a game this season -- the game they lost on a last second 62-yard field goal). So, safe to say I don't hold out a lot of hope for their chances.

The Flyers, another team that has been a Stanley Cup contender for the better part of ten straight years, are horrible. The worst team in their conference, 2nd worst team in the sport. Even the Blackhawks are laughing at them.

The 76ers have won just five games and are about to trade their only good player, most likely for another team's garbage.

At least the Phillies appear headed in the right direction, and they just picked up White Sox starter Freddy Garcia in a trade for a couple of minor league pitchers. I'm trying not to get too excited about Garcia helping the Phils' pitching staff though, because I'm sure by mid-June he will have blown out his arm, or suffered some intestinal injury after eating a cheesesteak too fast. It's bound to happen.

Oh well, I've been following them too long to stop now. As soon as I'd abandon them, they'd win. It's hopeless.

So don't fret Chicago fans, things may be a bit bleak in Cubdom, Hawkland, etc., but at least you have some of those other titles to fall back on. It's been a whole generation since the last Philly pro sports title. Just watch the video and see what I've been going through.

I hope you like it. I sure didn't.