For those of you who believe the only two curses in professional sports belong to the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, then think again. The only difference is this curse does not plague just one team, but rather, an entire city.
Since 1983, the city of Philadelphia has not called themselves champions in any of the four major sports- baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Some believe it not to be a curse, but rather a complete, utter failure by a city of teams. However, other’s view it as the Curse of William Penn. Yes, the same William Penn who founded the great state of Pennsylvania.
Prior to 1987, Penn’s statue atop Philadelphia City Hall was the highest point in the City of Brotherly Love. Then, in March of 1987, the One Liberty Place skyscraper was constructed, and became the first of many other buildings to exceed the statue of Penn. Thus, causing Mr. Penn to become irate with the city and leading him to haunt Philadelphia professional sports teams. Since the addition of One Liberty Place, Philly has witnessed failures after “oh-so-close” failures on the diamond, the ice, the hardwood, and the field.
Let’s start with the Phillies. In 1993, the Phightin’ Phils made their first World Series appearance since 1983. In the 9th inning of game six, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams gave up a game-winning and series-clinching homerun to Joe Carter, which will forever go down as one of the most spectacular homeruns in Major League Baseball history and meanwhile, one of the most heart-dropping plays in Philly fans’ history.
After 1993, the Phillies experienced seven straight losing seasons and have yet to make it to the postseason. The last few seasons, the Phils have came out of the gates slow but finished strong, just to fall a couple games short of the Wild Card.
Next, there is the Flyers. Since March of 1987, the Flyers have came close to winning the Stanley Cup twice, but ended up coming up short. In 1987, they lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals four games to three, and in 1997, ended up getting swept by the Detroit Red Wings.
In 2000, after leading the New Jersey Devils three games to one in the Eastern Conference Finals, managed to lose three straight games which heightened the city’s label as a failure.
The Flyers, a usually respectable team, which competes every year in the Eastern Conference, ended the 2006-2007 season with a 22-48-12 record, and did not qualify for the postseason.
The next disappointment among Philly sports is the 76ers. The Sixers are the last major sports team from Philly to bring home a championship. In 1983, they swept the Los Angeles Lakers four games to zero to crown themselves champions of the basketball world.
Since 1983, the Sixers have managed to get back to the NBA Finals only once, that being in 2001. After a promising Game 1 victory in Los Angeles, the more dominant Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, ran off four straight victories to send the Sixers and their fans home falling just short yet again.
Since their 2001 appearance in the NBA Finals, the Sixers have made the playoffs three times, failing to even make the Eastern Conference Finals each of those times. Midway though the 2006-2007 season, the Sixers lost their superstar and future Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson to a midseason trade with the Denver Nuggets, and finished the season a miserable 35-47.
Finally, and perhaps the biggest disappointment among Philadelphia teams, is the Eagles.
From 1987-2000, the Eagles had experienced moderate success, but had failed to ever make it to the NFC Chamionship game. Although, from 2001-2003, the Eagles managed to pull off one of the most notorious accomplishments in NFL history, losing three straight conference championship games, two of which being at home. For some reason, once the Eagles got to this stage of the playoffs, they would embarrass themselves by putting up one of their worst performances of the season.
But there were high hopes in Philly entering the 2004 season with the addition of star wide receiver Terrell Owens. They finished the season 13-3, first in the conference, but had to win it without TO, who injured his ankle in early December.
Despite playing without Owens, the Eagles cruised through the NFC playoffs, and were determined to beat the New England Patriots to end this hated curse.
However, all did not go as planned. Although TO returned for the Super Bowl, the Eagles lost 24-21. Quarterback Donovan McNabb, who threw only eight interceptions during the regular season, tossed three picks and was sick with the flu during their last offensive drive.
In each of the last two seasons, McNabb has suffered season ending injuries and the Eagles have failed to make it back to even the conference title game.
The Curse of William Penn has also seemed to effect horseracing. In 2006, the Philadelphia-based horse, Barbaro, was the heavy favorite capture the triple crown until he suffered a fractured right hind leg injury during the Preakness. This injury not only resulted in the end of his career, but also his life.
Even Rocky Balboa, a fictional Philadelphian boxer created by Sylvester Stallone, failed to win his match in the most famous movie of the Rocky series; the original. The sad part is Stallone had complete control over the script.
Philadelphia cannot even win when they control their own destiny.
After reading this, if you still do not believe there is a curse lurking among the professional sports teams of Philadelphia, then hopefully, at least you can sympathize with loyal, and sometimes hateful, Philadelphia fans.
