Phillies season 10

[Mad-Lad]

when you start taking advice from a 22 year old you'll be labeled a "sucker".

[Rome]

22

LOL.  I have flip flops that are older than you.

See me when you're 40 and have suffered a bit more.

I'm not even a Phillies fan. So I haven't suffered. You may think you deserve merit for sticking with the team, when in reality you are just a sucker. They are walking all over you. I wouldn't even bring it up, but you sound pretty angry. When are you going to stand up for yourself? At 40 years old all this stress can't be good for you. You are getting up there in age my man.

As much fun as it would be to reply to the various non sequiturs above, I simply don't have the interest at this point.

I'm out...

[WEST is GOD]

when you start taking advice from a 22 year old you'll be labeled a "sucker".

You should feel fortunate to get advice from me. I don't give it out often. Meanwhile the proof is in the pudding. 13 years of no playoffs and counting... 

[Geowhizzer]

The reason I ask is mostly a matter of perspective.

Avenger says that those that continue to support the Phils are "as bad as the owners."  I'm in my mid-30s, and one of my favorite childhood memories is of watching the Phils beat the Royals in the 1980 World Series with my grandmother (the only other baseball fan in my family, she loved Manny Trillo).  I was nine that year, and still had the naiveté to believe that happened every year.  Here I am, 25 years later, still trying to recapture those precious but fleeting moments of unadulterated, unbridled joy that accompanies your favorite sports team win the ultimate championship (I can remember the Sixers in 1983, but my basketball fandom is not nearly as deep as football, baseball and hockey).  Heck, that's probably why I work on a website on the 1980 Phils.  Getting older, but not wanting to grow up. 

That team entrenched me into a life-long love of Philadelphia Sports, along with the fact that all four major sports teams in Philadelphia all played for their league's championship in a year's span, including the Eagles in Super Bowl XV.  It's not always easy being a fan of the Phillies- or the Eagles for that matter (Two words:  Rich Kotite.  Two more: Norman Braman.).  But, to steal a parable from the Bible (and my apologies if it sounds sacriligious):  As the deer pants for the water, so the souls of the Philadelphia sports fan longs for it's team, and for that elusive championship.

It's been 22 years for the Sixers.
It's been 25 for the Phils.
It's been 30 for the Flyers.
It's been 45 for the Eagles.

I was too young to remember the Flyers' Cup runs.  I have not seen an Eagles NFL championship in my lifetime.  However, I shall continue to support my teams until the Lord decides to call me home one day.  And I am trying to teach my son (while living in Florida) the trials and the benefits of following the teams from Philadelphia.

I cannot speak for anyone else here.  MDS wasn't born when the Sixers won in 83.  A few of the posters here are my age or thereabouts, and they may have personal recollections of the "Glory Year" of the Phils.  For me, the Phils are a symbol of a simpler time of my life, when the stars seemed within reach.  They remind me of my Grandma yelling at Mike Schmidt to "Hit the ball, you simple sonofabitch" in true Philadelphia fashion.  They remind me of watching the parade during school in Honey Brook, PA with my 3rd Grade teacher, Mrs. Hornberger,who just recently passed away.  The Phils started a lifelong love of baseball, and in sports in general, in that magical year of 1980, when what had for nearly a century seemed impossible became reality, even if for just one summer.

[Don Ho]

22

In my best Sgt. Barnes voice "Pain?  Whatcha all know bout' pain?"

[Geowhizzer]

By the way, Lad, who did the Phils play in the 1980 NLCS? 

[Don Ho]

By the way, Lad, who did the Phils play in the 1980 NLCS? 

C'mon Geo give him a hint, c'mon, c'mon.

[WEST is GOD]

The main thing with the Phillies is so much more than the losing. It's how they lose, it's the excuses, it's the bad decisions, it's the bad attitudes, it's the collapses, it's the lack of deadline movies, and other things. At least the other teams make the playoffs. The first step is getting to the playoffs and then it's a new ball game. The Phillies haven't been there in 12 going on 13 years. How many professional sports teams out there haven't made the playoffs in 13 years? Not many.

The Eagles have never won a Superbowl, but they care about winning, they embrace the fans, they make the playoffs every year, they don't make excuses, and they always step up when it counts. I get on them for being cheap sometimes, but usually their moves turn out to be right. Even when the Phillies spend their decisions are always wrong.

The Sixers haven't won a title lately, but second closest of our major sports teams of winning one lately. Billy King while making some bad moves, he is never afraid to pull the trigger on a deal. They are great with the fans, they are dedicated to winning, even if sometimes they make some bad moves along the way. They don't make excuses as an organization either. Jim O'brien is there a year, and makes the playoffs? GONE. Sixers don't farg around.

The Flyers went out and had the best offseason of any team. They contend every year. They care about the fans. They always make moves to try to improve the team. They hired a championship winning coach. They cut ties with a successful coach in Barber. Again, not afraid to try to win. Not afraid to step on some toes.

I don't like baseball much to begin with, but to me the bottom line is if a team is going to just completely disrespect it's fans then you shouldn't respect them. Maybe it's different for me because I consider baseball a boring sport for the most part. It's all about perspective like you said. I'm not one that likes to be pushed around, and I feel the Phillies do that. That is why I stopped being a fan of them about 3 years ago. I might root for them again if they make some major changes, but if they sold the team I wouldn't even care all that much. Just not a big baseball fan.

[Don Ho]

Geo:

Talking about the glory years, 1980/81 season every Philadelphis team made it to it's respective championship.  You know who were the only ones to win.

[MDS]

Yea thats right, I haven't won anything. You don't see me being a bitch and avoiding the Phillies just because they're an awful franchise. I was born into it, I'm stuck with these losers. Gotta play the hand your dealt.

[Mad-Lad]

By the way, Lad, who did the Phils play in the 1980 NLCS? 

that would be a lot more painful if the Astros were 2.5 games back of the Phillies in the Wild Card race.

[BigEd76]

 

[BigEd76]

Enjoy 

[Geowhizzer]

By the way, Lad, who did the Phils play in the 1980 NLCS? 

that would be a lot more painful if the Astros were 2.5 games back of the Phillies in the Wild Card race.

That would be a lot more painful if I didn't have a memory of at least ONE World Series championship to remember. 

Never mind that it was one in 120+ years...  

[Rome]

Well, not only do I remember the Phillies lone world championship; I was there to experience it.  I was at the Vet with my brother, my sister and my brother in law when Tugger struck out Willie Wilson to win the whole enchilada and although it's been 25 years, it's a feeling that I'll never forget.

I cheer for the team because they're my team.  Sure, I get furious when they lose.  Yes, I'm farging angry that we have to sit here year after year watching them lose.  I'm pissed off that we have cheapskate owners, inept management, and gutless players (not all, but enough) who couldn't care less about the fans who pay their salaries.  I'm enraged that decade after decade passes without us being able to experience the thrill of ultimate victory as fans.

But I ask you: What the farg am I supposed to do?  Turning my back on the franchise because they're losing or inept simply isn't in my character.  I'm going to cheer for whomever wears the uniform because I wear the uniform too.  I buy the tickets, I wear the various hats, I wear my Phillies jersey and curse at them when they come up short but I also scream my voice raw when they win big.  That's what being a fan is all about.

If you don't agree, that's fine.  Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.  With that said, my opinion is, you don't turn your back on your team when they lose. 

Come February when pitchers and catchers report, I'll be looking forward to seeing the Phils season start up again.  Why, you might ask?   Because I'm a fan.  I've been one all my life and will be one until the day they dump my ashes into the ocean in Sea Isle.