Honestly, where do I even begin? What did the city of Philadelphia do to deserve this? Our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution here, doesn’t that deserve some kind of good karma? Other major markets seem to win championships like clockwork. Look at New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Pittsburgh; it seems like every other year they’re hoisting a trophy. In the meantime, Philadelphia has won only one trophy over the past thirty plus years, the 2008 World Series. I’m almost twenty seven years old and consider myself lucky to have lived through the most successful era of Philadelphia Eagles’ history, arguably the most successful of Philadelphia Phillies’ history and seeing the Flyers make the playoffs almost every season. However, after all of that, all I’m left with is one trophy, and lots and lots of heartache. This week alone, we had to add Kimmo Timmonen and Andre Iguodala to the list of former Philadelphia sports figures who went on to win titles somewhere else. Not only that, but Iguodala, who’s been an average player his whole career, won the NBA Finals MVP Award! Go ahead, add those two to the list of people who left and won titles along with Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Justin Williams, Curt Schilling, Dick Vermeil, Reggie White, Hunter Pence, etc.
I think the thing that hurts the most is how our teams and organizations seem to lose games, or mismanage talent, in the most emotionally devastating way possible. For instance, take the 2011 NLDS Game 5. Roy Halladay, the 2010 reigning CY Young winner, throws eight innings of brilliant, one-run baseball. As we all know, the Phillies go on to lose that game 1-0. Not only do they lose the game, but Ryan Howard essentially ends his career as a productive power hitter by tearing his achilles tendon on the final at bat of the game. Little did we know that we had also essentially seen the end of Roy Halladay as we knew him. He had an average 2012 season going 11-8, but basically fell off the map in 2013 and never returned to form. So yes, they lost a game 5 in the NLCS, but ended up losing much, much more.
As I said before, I’m almost twenty seven years old, but can’t remember a sadder, more miserable time being a Philadelphia sports fan (relating to all four teams at the same time). So what I’ve done here is examine each organization’s situation, identified the problem, and outlined the best and worst case scenarios.
Philadelphia Phillies
Problems: It’s a shame I have three other teams to get to, because we could list problems for days with this organization.
–Who is in charge? It seems like interim President Pat Gillick is in charge, but who knows. Ruben Amaro Jr. is still acting GM, but what are his responsibilities? This team has no timetable as to when they might be able to contend again, but they have to recoup some talent when they inevitably trade Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon this year. Who is pulling the trigger on these deals? Oh wait, there’s more. This problem extends past the Front Office. In last night’s 19-3 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles, the Phillies couldn’t even figure out how to do a pitching change. That’s right, the bullpen phone was off the hook and they couldn’t figure out a way to contact the bullpen in order to get another relief pitcher to warm up. In an age of cell phones, texting, email, and social media, the Phillies couldn’t figure out how to relay a message 400 feet to their bullpen during a baseball game.
–Scouting/Development: Think fast! When is the last time the Phillies developed an above average outfield prospect who has played steadily in the big leagues? The only viable answer is Pat Burrell. How about that. And that was in the year 2000, fifteen years ago!
–Unfriendly Contracts/No Trade Clauses: Among other things Ruben did to hamstring this team, he handed out insanely lucrative deals to players and included a lot of “no trade clauses”. So basically, players can veto trades to most teams if they’re not interested in going there. Combine big salary numbers and “no trade clauses” and you’ve got very limited wiggle room in trade options.
–Losing the Fanbase: I was only going to list three problems for each organization, but this can’t be ignored. A few weeks ago Ruben Amaro Jr. lashed out at the fans, basically calling them uneducated idiots. Pile that on top of the fact that the Phillies lost by two touchdowns and a safety last night (19-3) and I think Ruben has to be fired to show some sense of direction and appease a very upset fanbase.
Worst Case Scenario: The Phillies bring in a “friend” of David Montgomery and things around the organization remain status quo. The only way to reinvigorate this organization and fanbase is to make smart and bold decisions.
Best Cast Scenario: Easier said than done here, but I’ll give it a shot. The one thing the Phillies have going for them is they’ve got money. We need John Middleton to somehow wrestle the majority ownership from the rest of the Phillies’ ownership group. He revamps the organization from top to bottom, rides out another year or two of bad contracts and starts to build around a young core of promising prospects in the minors. Once they come up and establish themselves, he supplements them with a couple of big ticket free agents, and hopefully the Phillies are back in business.
Philadelphia Flyers
Problems: I’m admittedly no hockey expert, so I’ll keep this one a bit shorter, but there are certain things that any sports fan can see.
–Culture Change: Now to be fair, I think Ron Hextall is in here and has already started this culture revamp. He let go of a former Flyer when he fired Craig Berube and brought in a college coach in Dave Hakstol. However, doing things by the “Ed Snyder way” over the past 30 years, has gotten us into a tough spot and a lot of work still needs to be done.
–Talent Evaluation: I’m curious as to what hardcore Flyer fans think about this because I feel like every season, I hear how we’ve got great young players who are going to take the next step. Sure, certain players have developed into very nice pieces in Voracek, Giroux, and Simmonds. However, it seems like the guys we don’t hold onto long enough flourish elsewhere, yet guys we do hang onto, never quite blossom.
–Worst Case Scenario: Snyder gets too involved and doesn’t let Hextall really do it “his way” and the Flyers get stuck in the same rut they have been in for the past thirty plus years.
–Best Case Scenario: Hextall builds this team with his vision and upgrades the roster with personnel better suited for the modern game of hockey. The team is built on speed, quickness, and skill, not size, strength, and force. If it’s done this way, I can see the Flyers competing within a few years.
Philadelphia 76ers
Problems: Depending on which school of thought you’re in with Sam Hinkie, this could go a million different ways, but here’s the way I see it.
–Tanking: I’ll be the first to say it, I’m all on board with the plan of tanking. However, up until this point, we’re not even sure what we have to show for
tanking two straight seasons. It seems like most 76er fans are on board with this plan because it’s a different approach then we’ve seen in the past and most people know, in the NBA, you need to be very bad, before you get very good.
–Health: Sure, this could be said in any situation, with any team. But the 76ers are different in the fact that they’ve rolled the dice on injured players like Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, both thought to be the best prospect in their prospective drafts, but both come with medical concerns. Noel has panned out thus far, looking healthy and productive in his first full season, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting. Embiid is a different story. Reports broke over the weekend that his foot isn’t healing as quickly as doctors would like to see and he could possibly be facing another surgery. We’re also hearing it might be nothing, so who knows at this point. But if Embiid never gets healthy and never becomes a superstar, the plan is set back at least a year, maybe two.
–Timeline: The 76ers have seemed to be adamant about not giving a timeline regarding when they expect to compete on a serious level. I said before that most of the fanbase is on board with this, but how long will their patience last? They’ve traded Michael Carter-Williams for additional picks and stockpiled assets, but have yet to show a ton of results. Sooner or later, these assets need to turn into productive players and a winning team, otherwise, patience will run out.
Worst Case Scenario: Joel Embiid never gets healthy and has a short, injury plagued career and the 76ers wasted a number three overall pick. The 76ers don’t somehow get D’Angelo Russell, or a star in this year’s draft and they ask the fans to stay patient.
Best Case Scenario: Embiid’s foot is ok and this was simply precautionary. The 76ers draft D’Angelo Russell and next season have a young core to build around with Noel, Embiid, and Russell, with Dario Saric waiting in the wings over in Turkey. After a season of growing pains, Saric makes his way over, accompanied by some free agent signings, and the 76ers are for real.
Philadelphia Eagles
Problems: This is the most interesting team to me by far; every time we think we know what Chip Kelly is up to, he flips the script and keeps us on our toes.
–Sam Bradford’s Knees: To put it mildly, Chip has a ton of confidence in himself, his scheme, and his program. He’s brought Bradford in and obviously believe he can keep him healthy. Chip Kelly is in year three and is heading for his third different start at quarterback on opening day, that’s not exactly the model for success in today’s NFL. Bradford’s arm talent has really never been in question, but his health has ALWAYS been in question. If Bradford stays healthy, I expect lofty numbers and a successful Eagles football team, but that’s a big “if”.
–Kelly’s Lack of Front Office Experience: Coach Chip Kelly has proven, to a degree, that he knows what he’s doing on Sundays, but we’re not sure what we have in Chip Kelly, the GM. In his first full season as Eagles’ GM, he took a 10-6 team and completely revamped the roster. He traded away starting quarterback, Nick Foles. He traded away starting running back and franchise leading rusher in LeSean McCoy. Lastly, he allowed Pro Bowl wide receiver, Jeremy Maclin, to leave for big money in Kansas City. He also went out and added the NFL rushing champion in Demarco Murray, former Defensive Rookie of the Year in Kiko Alonso, and a big money free agent in Byron Maxwell, to help address the weak secondary.
But just when you think the craziness is over after the free agency period and NFL Draft, he releases two time Pro Bowl guard, Evan Mathis. Kelly said this was to grant Evan Mathis his wish and because Kelly has full confidence in all his possible position replacements. Let’s hope he’s right.
–Is Culture Enough to Win Games? This isn’t college, you’re dealing with professional athletes. So far, it seems that if you’ve not 100% bought into Chip Kelly’s culture, you’re out of here. However, some of the greatest players in NFL history may not have been the greatest “culture” guys, but sometimes talent outweighs other things. I don’t know how realistic it is to have 53 “boy scouts” on a roster, but Chip sure seems like he’s going to try.
Worst Case Scenario: Bradford’s knees don’t hold up, we go through a couple of 8-8 seasons with Sanchez, and Chip decides he’s had enough and leaves. But he doesn’t go back to college, he takes his talents to Nashville where he reunites with his former quarterback Marcus Mariota and wins multiple Super Bowls for the Titans.
Best Case Scenario: Bradford becomes the “Franchise Quarterback” that everyone thought he would become out of the University of Oklahoma and stabilizes the Eagles quarterback position for the next decade. Chip surrounds him with more pieces and the Eagles win their first ever Lombardi Trophy!
Well, if you’re an optimist, you probably think we’ll see at least six or seven championships before the year 2020! However, if you’re a typical Philadelphia fan, you’re thinking the worst and are probably concerned that you’ll never see another championship as long as you’re alive. Realistically, I think we end up somewhere in the middle and we’ll see a few parades before the year 2020. But as of today, while I sit and lament the state of my Philadelphia sports teams, championships seem like a distant, distant dream.
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