Philadelphia fans have not danced in the winner’s circle since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983, and the million dollar question answered by 100 West Chester students was, “Who will end this terrible streak?” Sixty percent picked the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup and who could blame them? The Flyers headed into the season as a Stanley Cup contender after adding all-star free-agent Peter Forsberg in the offseason. This type of move brings to mind the 1983 76ers acquisition of center Moses Malone as the final key ingredient to the championship team. Despite being plagued by injuries, the Orange and Black have clinched a playoff spot once again and are looking to make a strong playoff push.
Other students decided on the Flyers by process of elimination.
“The Flyers will do it because the other three major sports teams are on the decline,” said Kristy DiFilippo.
Despite not being a professional sport, the Big Five college basketball teams were grouped together and received 15 percent of the votes. With Fran Dunphy taking the coaching reigns from Hall of Famer John Chaney, the Temple basketball program should receive an overhaul that will produce successful teams in the near future. That combined with a healthy Curtis Sumpter joining an experienced Villanova team next year will make things interesting come March.
Had the poll been taken last year, one might expect the Eagles as the resounding favorite, but after falling short in the Super Bowl and coming off a bad year, confidence in the Birds has dwindled. Only 11 percent of students picked the Eagles to win first, but those that did were quick to defend their choice.
“I’ll have to go with the Eagles because outside of last year’s disaster, they’re always in the hunt and that organization just knows what it is doing,” said Joe Gaudio.
Several students even suggested that none of the teams will ever win a championship, and while it appears extreme, the city has yet to prove them wrong.
“Philadelphia has a statue of Rocky – a fictional boxer – and even he didn’t win in the first movie,” said a student who chose to remain anonymous.
Attempts to explain reasons for this losing streak range from the logical to the absurd.
Similar to the “Curse of the Bambino,” which blamed the Boston Red Sox baseball franchise’s failure to capture a World Series in over 83 years on the trading of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, Philadelphia is currently under the lesser-known “Curse of Billy Penn.”
A statue of William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia, sits atop City Hall. It was tradition that no building in the city should ever rise above the statue, but in March 1987, a glass skyscraper known as One Liberty Place was opened three blocks from the statue, towering 397 feet higher.
Boston fans are spoiled by comparison. The Celtics won eight championships in a row in the 1960s and a couple in the 1980s as well, often beating the 76ers along the way, and the Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years. While the Babe’s curse affects only baseball, Penn’s is like a cancer.
Following the opening of One Liberty Place, Philadelphia’s teams began a series of heartbreaking failures to win a championship. The Flyers have lost in the Stanley Cup finals in 1987 and 1997, the Phillies lost the 1993 World Series, the 76ers lost the 2001 NBA Finals and the Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX. Even the failure of Smarty Jones to complete the Triple Crown has been attributed to Penn.
The curse does not affect Philadelphia’s minor league hockey team, the Phantoms, who have won the AHL’s Calder Cup in 1998 and 2005.
Phantom Champions are all they are to West Chester students, however.
“I know they had a parade for the Phantoms, but I don’t know anybody who went,” said Mike Flynn.
A more logical approach would suggest that Philadelphia sports teams simply run into superior opponents in championship contests.
For instance, the 2001 76ers were defeated by “The Kobe/Shaq era” Lakers that had torn through opponents, winning an NBA playoff record 15 of 16 games en route to their second of three consecutive NBA titles. The Eagles lost to the New England Patriots dynasty and even the Villanova Wildcats fell in the last two NCAA tournaments to the eventual champions, with North Carolina going on to win in 2005 and then Florida this year.
American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.”
Philadelphia fans are sick of enjoying themselves.