I walked home on the beach after tonight's debacle and had a few thoughts.
Everyone knows I'm older than most of you. 45 to be exact. So, for a second, let's think how many seasons I've watched day and night over those years. To be generous and for the sake of clarity I'll say I truly started following the Phillies, Flyers & Eagles on a serious basis when I was eight years old. That means for 37 years I've followed every game either very closely or at least saw the box score on the day after.
37 years times 3 teams - 111 seasons.
I won't even count the Sixers because to do so would be dishonest of me even though I got caught up in the 1983 season just like everyone else did.
111 seasons of sports. ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN.
I've seen exactly 4 wins. FOUR.
To suggest we're cursed doesn't even begin to describe the feelings of hopelessness, despair and outright rage at the thought of following three professional teams for almost four full decades and only getting to cheer four times, two of which came when I was nine & ten years old.
Why do I do it to myself? Why was I cursed to be a Philadelphian? Why couldn't my father have been stationed in New York or Chicago or even Los Angeles when I was born?
Some more math for you...
The Eagles have been to the playoffs 18 times since I was born. ZERO championships. Haha... zero for eighteen? For real?
The Flyers have been to the playoffs 33 times since I was born. TWO championships both of which came when I was in elementary school.
The Phillies have been to the playoffs 11 times since I was born. TWO championships, one of which occurred when I was a freshman in high school.
So a grand total of 62 playoff appearances by my teams with 4 wins or slightly over six percent of the time.
Why do I continue to do this to myself? Why do I continue to follow my teams with an almost zealot-like devotion when they crush my faith so regularly?
This I do NOT understand. It is almost inconceivable to me that the universe is so petty and vindictive that it would not allow at least occasional joy to be had. I mean, every other large city has had dynasties. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston... hell, even San Francisco had the 49ers!
I don't understand why we as fans cannot get a team that consistently pays off for us. Is it the Santa Claus thing? Is it the fact that when the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence they didn't go along with John Adams and abolish slavery forever? Is it an affront to "God" that we first had the idea of combining simple carbs in the form of meat, cheese & bread to create the best (or is it worst?) sandwich every conceived?
WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK IS IT? SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO GET A WINNER IN THIS MOTHERfargER?
theres at least five cities worse than philly...get over it
the difference is that me and you care more about our teams than these other cities
so on second thought.......stay sad
sad doesn't even cover it tonight.
it's a toxic brew of rage, confusion, paranoia, hopelessness & gallows humor that fueled this thread.
i'm telling you, i literally walked half a mile down the beach tonight and the only thought that kept rattling around in my skull was "why us".
im with you...this hurts worse than anything in a long time.....maybe since the tommy hutton game
I'm 25... I've seen one championship in my life... and witnessed nothing else but utter failure....
To top it off.. an annoying girl who roots for the Yankees texted me after the strike out... so in that moment of utter frustration and sadness... I get a stupid farging text from someone who has no emotional investment in their team... farg off.
2008
thats it, thats the list.
thats all well get.
The Giants are a collection of misfits and retards and they beat our squad. The dumb plays and lack of fundamentals reared its head again.
Stings like a motherfarger.
get a grip old weirdo
it's entertainment. a product for sale. a brand the marketers got you to adopt like a farging child. none of it is fundamentally more valuable than keeping up on society gossip.
laundry
Like the other youngins...2008. Thats all I got.
22 years of loving all of these teams. Probably 14-16 of actually knowing what was going on......so 15x3=45 seasons...1 championship.
1 win in 22 years.
blah.
I got laid after the game, so that took some of the sting out of it. This morning sucked, though.
I remind you all over and over savor what we got. All I could think of last night was that image of choke just standing there, the pause than the called strike three. I still have visions of Harold Carmichael's illegal procedure call that nullified a td in SB XV that would have changed the game. Still have visions of George McGinnis' shot attempt bouncing off the rim in game 6 of the NBA Championship against Portland in 1977. Black Friday. I could go on.
4 straight playoff appearances, 4 straight NL East titles, 2 WS, 1 world championship in 4 years is monumental for this franchise. Trust me, I know how pissed, hurt, angry, sick to your gut you all are. Enjoy 2008 because you never know when we will ever have that feeling again.
Quote from: Don Ho on October 24, 2010, 01:01:40 PM
I still have visions of Harold Carmichael's illegal procedure call that nullified a td in SB XV that would have changed the game.
no
mine:
Phillies = 1984 (27 seasons)
Eagles = 1987 (23 seasons, not counting this one)
Sixers = 1991 (19 seasons, not counting this one)
Flyers = 1992 (18 seasons, not counting this one)
so I've seen 1 championship in 87 seasons
Quote from: SD on October 24, 2010, 12:46:04 PM
I got laid after the game, so that took some of the sting out of it. This morning sucked, though.
Why, was she still there when you woke up?
She ate the last burrito
Quote from: ice grillin you on October 25, 2010, 10:56:06 AM
Quote from: Don Ho on October 24, 2010, 01:01:40 PM
I still have visions of Harold Carmichael's illegal procedure call that nullified a td in SB XV that would have changed the game.
no
Well, I did leave out Jaws 3 ints to the same player and Vermeil's atrocious coaching.
Quote from: Diomedes on October 24, 2010, 08:48:55 AM
get a grip old weirdo
it's entertainment. a product for sale. a brand the marketers got you to adopt like a farging child. none of it is fundamentally more valuable than keeping up on society gossip.
laundry
cyborg?
Rollerball (1975 version)
That is a classic and should not have been re-made.
GOAT
(http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BODEwNzM1Njk5M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTYzNTU2._V1._SX450_SY331_.jpg)
FAIL
(http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/mgm/rollerball/_group_photos/chris_klein1.jpg)
Oh yeah. James Caan at his best. Never saw the remake but I have heard it was lame.
Didn't it have LL Cool J?
Yes.
the sequel was an abomination. the original is beyond awesome.
Has there ever been a good remake? I can't think of one.
Good job Rome, you got my mind off the bums.
Ocean's Eleven was pretty good. And I knew Rome would be all about the original Rollerball. He probably told chicks he was Jimmy Caan to get laid.
fargin a, moonpie.
5 championships in my lifetime but what kills you as a fan here is the amount of times the teams of this city have made it to the finals and lost, too many times in a choking fashion.
Quote from: Don Ho on October 25, 2010, 05:54:53 PM
Has there ever been a good remake? I can't think of one.
Good job Rome, you got my mind off the bums.
It starts and ends with Dawn of the Dead
theres other remakes of more modern movies that trump the original but the remake of pretty much any movie made before 1970 is always better
scarface and cape fear probably being the two best
Quote from: ice grillin you on October 26, 2010, 09:42:43 AM
the remake of pretty much any movie made before 1970 is always better
haha... you're ridiculous.
Phillies have been to 9 NLCS since 1970. 5 trips to the WS, 2 world championships. Ok, can live with that.
Birds 6 NFCCG, 2 trips to Super Bowl, 0 championships. Fail. No relief in sight.
don't worry don, reid is going to work on that and get better.
I may be dead by than.
Unless your favorite hobby is Russian roulette, you should be in good enough shape to outlive Reid, Don.
On the other hand, watching the Phils, Eagles, and Flyers feels like playing Russian roulette most of the time. Watching the Sixers feels like watching NewsHour on PBS.
Quote from: QB Eagles on October 26, 2010, 08:46:29 PM
Unless your favorite hobby is Russian roulette, you should be in good enough shape to outlive Reid, Don.
On the other hand, watching the Phils, Eagles, and Flyers feels like playing Russian roulette most of the time. Watching the Sixers feels like watching NewsHour on PBS.
:-D You must mean BBC World News.