City of Champions

For the first time since the 1980s, all 4 major sport franchises in Philadelphia have reached their respective championship games in the same decade. The most recent, and most obvious one is the current run the Flyers are on. The Flyers open up their series with the Chicago Blackhawks this Saturday, May 29th at 8pm in Chicago, on NBC. The storyline behind the Flyers epic run to the Cup Finals has been well documented on T.V. and Philadelphia radio stations, such as 610 WIP, where everyone is "Flyered Up". One thing that has many Flyer fans talking "destiny", was the recent release of their documentary "Broad Street Bullies", which recapped the brilliant and fierce run of back to back Stanley Cup Championships for the Flyers in the late 1970s. These back to back Cup Championships were lead by the likes of outstanding goaltender Bernie Parent (no its not pronounced like what you call your mom and dad, there is a French elegance to it), Bill Clemente, Bobby Clarke, and countless other Hall of Famer's. If you haven't watched it yet, stop what you are doing, go to the On Demand Channel, search through HBO Doc's and check it out.

The past 2 years have been dominated by Phillies talk, with their first World Series Title in 2008 since 1980, and a return in 2009 only to lose to the HATED NY Yankees, who bought their 27th Championship. In 1980 the Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-2. You know it must have been a long time ago if they played the Royals because they havent been relevant since I can remember. With the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Roy "Doc" Halladay, Cole Hamels and many others, it looks like the Phillies will be contenders for a World Title for the next few years. We as fans hope this is true because there is nothing like a deep playoff/championship run, the excitement and jubilation that is in the air can not be compared to anything else.

Back in 2004 the Eagles made their lone Super Bowl appearance since 1980, where they lost 27-10, to the then dominant Black Hole's Oakland Raiders, my how the mighty have fallen. In 04, we all remember the triumphant return of Terrell Owens and his 126 yards and 1 TD after fracturing a bone in his shin before the playoffs started. But more significantly, what will be remembered will be Donavon McNabb's infamous vomit scenario before the last drive of the game, where the Eagles had the opportunity to tie or take the lead and possibly win the Birds first Championship since the 1960 Title win against Green Bay 17-13. But back than it wasn't even the Super Bowl, it was just the Football Championship. And with the recent trade of McNabb to divisional rival Washington Redskins, it looks like it could be a while before the Birds make it back to the Playoffs, let alone a Super Bowl appearance.

And finally, back in 2001, the 76ers made their dyanmic run to the NBA Finals to face local star Kobe Bryant and his LA Lakers. The Sixers stole 1 game from the Lakeshow, but lost the series 4-1. This was their first title appearance since 1982-83, where they beat the LA Lakers, with the help of Dr. J, Maurice Cheeks and Moses Malone. The Sixers have the #2 overall pick in this years draft and are looking at Evan Turner out of The Ohio State University, who would be a great help to the rebuilding of this struggling team.