Sports Suffering Cities (updated thru '19 Washington Nationals)

[rjs246]

I don't really see Richards having the same kind of offensive career that Brind'Amour has had, but otherwise I agree with you completely.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Also, he's not nearly as ugly as Rod is yet.

UGLY ROD

[rjs246]

I don't know about that. Richards ain't exactly pretty.

[Seabiscuit36]

I don't really see Richards having the same kind of offensive career that Brind'Amour has had, but otherwise I agree with you completely.

i agree, and the NHL is a completely different game when Rod was in his prime.  I hated the trade when it happened, it had to happen since Lindros decided to lay the wood to Rod's wife, but the return for the first 2 seasons sucked.  Finally Primeau had a good playoffs, then basically became a coconut. 

[Seabiscuit36]

I don't know about that. Richards ain't exactly pretty.

my wife would disagree with you

[ice grillin you]

then again she married you

[SunMo]

[ice grillin you]

[Seabiscuit36]

then again she married you

hey, i got lucky

[Rome]

you're right about the point totals not being similar because the era's are completely different.  when brind'amour was scoring 90-95 points, other guys in the nhl were scoring 150 in a season.  richards will likely attain a similar number of points compared to other top 2nd line centers just like brind'amour did in his era, though.

[Seabiscuit36]

http://www.delcotimes.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily;jsessionid=NT9KL2XFJyQmPwc9QCDmyfvsx1yGsGd1651qn71m4GpPs4GYqNmR!-129032730?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FDCT%2FSports&r21.content=%2FDCT%2FSports%2FHeadlineList_Story_2100626

Thursday, May 29, 2008 

Posted on Thu, May 29, 2008  Zoom +  |  Zoom - 
Generation Gap: 25 reasons why we can't win 
Through a 100-season drought, Philly has had a wealth of losers 
By Anthony J. SanFilippo asanfilippo@delcotimes.com 
There have been hundreds of athletes who have graced --- or disgraced --- the Philadelphia sports world as Phillies, Eagles, Flyers or Sixers.

Many of their bosses and people both paid and paying to watch them have done the same.

When a city fails to win a championship for 100 consecutive seasons as Philadelphia has now, part of the healing process includes laying blame. There are a lot of players, coaches, managers, executives and general dopes to share in that.

Here are the 25 individuals or groups of people most responsible for the 25-year championship drought in Philadelphia:

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25. Lance Parrish: The ultimate when it comes to lousy free agent acquisitions by Philadelphia teams. In 1987, he was supposed to make the heart of the Phillies' lineup deadly. He did. Deadly to watch, that is.

24. Peter Forsberg: The Flyers let him get away as part of the Eric Lindros trade. He won a pair of Stanley Cups with Colorado, then returned to Philly a shell of his former best-player-in-the-world persona, complete with a laundry list of injuries. For one final blow, he returned to the Avalanche instead of the Flyers in 2008.

23. Freddie Mitchell: Supposed to be the answer to the Eagles' never-ending ball-catching shortcomings. He turned out to be a self-promoting, untalented dweeb.

22. Roman Cechmanek: Often brilliant in the regular season, a mental midget once the chips were down in the playoffs. The Flyers had a few talented teams in front of him, but could never win because of the goalie's fragile ego.

21. Derrick Coleman: The Sixers tried countless times to find a second banana to Allen Iverson. Of all those failures, no one set the club back more than D.C.

20. Allen Iverson: As bad a running mate as Coleman was, Iverson was a bad superstar. Exhilarating to watch and certainly one of the greatest under-6 footers in NBA history, but a team guy he wasn't.

19. Angelo Cataldi: Why a hyperventilating, sensitivity challenged talk show host? Because if there's anything he's good at, it's perpetuating angst. He turned griping about losing sports teams into an art form for a demographic that wouldn't know Howard Pyle from Gomer Pyle. Oh, and don't forget his busload of drunken Eagles draftniks booing Donovan McNabb.

18. Charles Barkley: A true pioneer in the art of spitting into a crowd. Also popularized demanding trades just because his team stinks.

17. J.D. Drew: One of the most hyped draft picks in Phillies history, he never played a game with them. While refusing to sign here, Drew and agent Scott Boras (pronounce that any way you wish) made the Phillies appear to be the least desirable franchise in pro sports.

No one bothered to ask if they were wrong.

16. Scott Rolen: If he only had a little patience, he could have been part of one of the best infields in Phillies history. Instead, Rolen was another guy who never understood Philadelphia and forced a trade.

The search for his replacement is still on.

15. Curt Schilling: Of all the superstar trades that netted Philadelphia nothing, the Schill switch hurt the most. They were just starting to get competitive again when he moved on to Arizona to win a World Series.

14. Buddy Ryan: Beloved by fans because of his candor. Beloved by his defense because he made them look so good. But when it came to the offense, he never put Randall Cunningham in a comfortable place, never found a real running back and had absolutely no idea from one series to the next what would or wouldn't work.

13. Rich Kotite (a.k.a. Richie the K): Improved the offense, but was constantly out-coached by his peers. The most damning scenario of all came one rainy day in Dallas when he went for a two-point conversion down by 11 points, and it failed. He should have kicked the extra point, but didn't. He blamed the decision on a misreading of his conversion chart that had the ink run in the rain. ... OK?

12. Bob Clarke: No, no, no ... not to be confused with Bobby Clarke, the local legend. This Clarke was an alter ego general manager who never was able to assemble a complete team built to do what he had done, win a Stanley Cup.

11. Reggie White: No player crushed the hopes and dreams of Eagles fans more than the Minister of Defense. The most dominant defensive player in Eagles history, and one of the greatest of all-time in the NFL, White bolted from the Eagles in 1993 heading for Green Bay. He was the first superstar in the NFL to switch teams via free agency, and his defection led to similar moves by other members of that great Eagles defense.

10. Philadelphia Sports Fans: They should share in the responsibility of losing, thanks to their utter impatience. Great fans. Intelligent fans. Passionate fans.

And all too often too quick to bury current athletes with the weight of the sins of their predecessors.

9. Eric Lindros (and Family): The poster children of unfulfilled expectations. Lindros was supposed to bring not one, but several Stanley Cups to Philadelphia. He only reached the finals once. And while he was sensational in the early part of his career, even winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP, his health started to become a problem. Concussions were all too common and led to bitterness between himself, his family, and the Flyers franchise. The divorce was as ugly as they come.

8. Mitch Williams: The Phillies closer in 1993, he blew a 14-9 lead in Game 4 of the World Series, allowing Toronto to win 15-14 and take a 3-1 lead. Then in Game 6, with the Phillies clinging to a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth, he walked a batter and ultimately gave up a series-losing three-run homer to Joe Carter.

Hard to believe, Harry.

7. Jim Fregosi: As much as Williams broke the hearts of Phillies fans in 1993, Fregosi was the worst offender for his bullpen mismanagement. Why not leave Roger Mason in?

If Williams had a dead arm, why use him at all?

But Fregosi answered in his own way, such as publicly (but not for the record) suggesting that the residents of South Philadelphia were largely in-bred.

6. Donovan McNabb: If he were cheered on that draft day instead of booed by Team Cataldi, would he still feel so underappreciated?

His clouded vision of this town has driven him to be a failure at the most inopportune times.

5. Jeffrey Lurie: Two little words, and a lifetime of ridicule. But, that's what happened at Eagles training camp in 2003, when fresh off a horrendous loss the previous January in the NFC championship, Lurie declared his Eagles were the "gold standard" by which every other NFL team needed to measure themselves.

Just to reflect, the Eagles have zero championships in his 14 seasons as owner.

4. Ed Wade: See him on the street or at an airport and he seems like the nicest guy in the world. Hear his plight and you might find it in your heart to feel bad for the guy. Root for the Phillies, the team he generally mismanaged for seven seasons, and you wish you were his boss a long time ago.

3. Harold Katz: Dismantled one of the best franchises in NBA history. Following their 1983 championship, the Sixers had stunning defeats in 1984 and 1986 to heavy underdogs New Jersey and Milwaukee, respectively, sandwiched around a conference finals loss to Boston in '85.

In a pair of pitiful moves, Katz traded Moses Malone, Terry Catledge the rights to Brad Daugherty and picks for Jeff Ruland, Cliff Robinson and Roy Hinson.

The self-evisceration was complete.

2. Andy Reid: The most successful coach in Eagles history is also their most frustrating and disappointing field general. His smug approach to the game and air of superiority combine to form one huge Achilles' heel. Reid turned the Eagles from a debacle to a contender in just two seasons, but when it comes to getting over the top, he overlooks glaring weaknesses in personnel.

Think again, Arrogant Andy.

1. Bill Giles/David Montgomery/the "Gang of Six" silent partners: Add them all up and you have the people who own, operate and run the Phillies ... better known for some 20 years as the residents of the island of misfits.

They are in a sport without a salary cap. So they have their own. With policies such as that, these guys are the gold standard of championship droughts.

Norman Braman not being on here is a joke 

[ice grillin you]

about 60 hrs until the 25 year aniversary

[Seabiscuit36]

yay, we having a parade?

[MDS]

Will we ever see this again?

[Phanatic]

We need one of these again...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPYJodKri9c