I Don’t Need A Championship To Make Me Happy - Sports Journalists Should Get A Life!
I love sports. I admire sportswriters and broadcasters. But I am tired of writers promoting the concept that people in our region will never be satisfied until there is a championship and parade. That is simply the frustrations of an unhappy sports writing camp coming to roost.
Do you need to have one of our pro teams get to the very top to make you gratified?
Sure. There is no one in this town who would like to see a World Series win, a Stanley Cup, The Super Bowl or the NBA crown like me and the several million of my fellow citizens. That would simply be the “top.” But I resent the implication that because we haven’t one the big one in 24 years, that somehow or other, we as a community, don’t make the grade, and that we are unfulfilled.
That is simply cow chips.
First of all, the sports journalists who “pine” for the big one should get a life, read a book, write a book, or take a look around them to see the brilliant, vibrant landscape of humanity, arts, beauty and great people that we are surrounded by. They should pause to enjoy the great sports accomplishments : four teams in the thick of it - Flyers going so far, Eagles always providing thrills, Phillies getting closer and the surprising 76′ers. Then, they might want to look at the quality of life here, which most of the time is one of the finest in the world. They might even want to consider how the sports fans here are the real champions, not just because of the frustration these writers like to pounce on, but because of the fans continued and fierce loyalty to the teams and the region.
The problem I have with some of the writers is that what they write feeds the insecurity complex that many people have about Philadelphia and the region that is simply not deserved. We are too good in too many ways to be “long suffering” about a lack of championships. These journalists should salute the fans who support our teams. They should also be clear and focused when owners fleece the fans with seat licenses and extras to help finance their enterprises. Let’s face it. The taxpayers paid for part of he new stadiums and paid in other ways. Only Ed Snider financed his own arenas and both of his teams (although now owned by Comcast), treat the fans like royalty. Real royalty. Snider is one of the my sports heroes by the way. So is Bob Clarke, who is a favorite target of some of the self righteous scribes of Philadelphia sports.
So where are the writers when we need them?
I’ll you where. They are in the analysis paralysis of the pitty pot of trying to brand you and I as second class citizens because we don’t have the Cup, The World Series, the NBA trophy, or the Super Bowl,
I’ll tell you. I would rather live in this community than have all the Super Bowl trophies in the world. Being a Philadelphian is being a champion whether we are winners on the field of play or not.
I admire the great sports journalists of our time, but you and I deserve to appreciate what we have, not what we don’t have.
Hello Larry,
you are spot on,the phila sports fans are the real champs,for taking a beating at the ticket counter to buy tickets and the parking lot when they park the car,
the eagles are the worst team as far as treating the fans,talking to the fans at press conference,over price tickets and seat lisense,
the championships will come soon and hopefully it gives the city a moral boost.
Larry,Hillary just beat obama by 35 points tonight,Larry what is wrong with obama why that he can’t put her away?
since april 22 obama has been mediocre at best,is the rev racist still haunting him,he is having a big problem with the important swing states,he has no chance to win without taking Hillary as vp and that will be interesting with Bill and Hillary in the whitehouse,Hillary will play the dick chaney role running the country behind the scenes,and will michelle fall for that Bill Clinton charm,LOLOL.
Hello Larry.the fans are the real champs they jusr don’t quit just like Hillary Clinton.
while the fans are overpaying for tickets,food,parking,seat license,and help pay with taxes,the owners are in private boxes drinking chardonay,leaving in private elevators to the limos,the fans are champions,it’s the owners that do not have the guts to go after the championships.
Larry you’re spot on the writers are in two classes,the writers that are the teams lapdogs and repeat there propaganda on tv and radio and paper,and then the old school writers like bill conlin,stan hochman,elmer smith who are great writers and will point fingers at the owners when they have to.
Larry,
Hillary showed alot of class last night after her 35 point blowout in kentucky
to pay tribute to ted kennedy, before talking about the big victory,to see Bill,Chelsea and Hillary on the stage last night was a picture of America’s real first family.
back to last night this will be a flawed election without michigan and florida votes counted,Larry is it possible for Hillary to run as an independent if the party does not treat her fairly,that would make for an exciting election in the fall.
obama needs Hillary as vp to win and that would be real interesting with Bill and Hill in the whitehouse they would run the country and obama will take credit for it,it’s a can’t lose for obama.
we all know that the a lot of voters are having buyers remorse with obama,he cannot win the big states or the swing states and that is a problem and cannot win without Hillary.
FTFY.
Uh oh. Looks like JR’s been drinking again. I don’t see any mention in his ravings about Oregon or of the fact that, according to the rules Hillary previously agreed to before she realized she’s losing by them, she’s lost the race.
The Macbeths of the Democratic Party are on their way out.
If people want to criticize Philadelphia, they should point to the murder rate, the police brutality, the shocking and filthy disgrace that is SEPTA (aside from Larry’s vaunted R5 main line line), and the fact that sports fans here throw Duracells, among other things, at players. They shouldn’t criticize Philadelphia because none of the major franchises can bring home the bacon, even though many do provide entertaining products from time to time.
And the city wage tax. I forgot that people should feel sorry for us because of the city wage tax.
Just shoot me the day my life depends on sports teams winning anything,especially tax supported teams.Having said that,I wouldn’t mind seeing the occasional Cup here.But Larry,quality of life ? Here in Killadelphia ? Filthydelphia ? This place is a step ahead of third world cities.Ignorant people who’s time is always more important than yours,whose time is more important than your safety.Red lights are really nothing more than a suggestion,stop signs are a joke,cross walks are an after thought.Sorry but the whole quality of life thing escapes me.
YAP, try taking the R5 out to the Main Line. And the KYW studios. That’s the Philadelphia Larry’s talking about.
Larry,they are right the crime and QOL issue is the most important,and i think john street was a big part of the decline of the city.
also the influx of people that donot speak english and want turn phila. into there homeland does not help.
a sports championship will lift the spirits some but so will a crack down on QOL issues.
Careful, JR, your racist attitudes are spreading beyond the scope officially sanctioned by Hillary. Also, she supports the people who don’t speak English and depends on their votes. That’s a pretty lame thing to blame quality of life issues on.
JR, would you take a championship if it was won by a Phillies or Flyers team that had a number of non-English speakers on it?
leo-
1-you are a sexist and a closet racist and very Anti-American.
2-i can careless if the teams win a championship,it’s good for the city but does not matter to me,a safe/clean city is just as good as a championship.
3-i care if people cannot speak english,most of all the people under sixty years old,if they do not want to learn to speak english and follow the QOL rules then return to the homeland.
4-’Hillary supports people that don’t speak english’and barry obama supports muslims, who cares.
JR, you’re foaming again, buddy. “QOL rules”? Have fun at Geno’s, if they serve dogs.
JR
1-Not True
2-True
3-Reading your posts, I think you should back off of hammering ANYONE’S mastery (or lack) of the English language!!!!!!
A lot of Spanish speakers are from Puerto Rico. That’s an American territory. They spend dollars, don’t need passports to travel here, and vote in the election. Hillary will be courting them shortly.
4-Most of the Muslims in this country are Americans. It is a widespread group with a large following (born and raised in the U.S.)
*5 - Your work spans the entire day here.
You need to get some sleep.
Philly fans are passionate and forever optimistic despite years of teams underachieving.
The press is tired of years of mismanagement and misopportunities. Can’t blame them.
JR, do you have a picture of Hillary in your bathroom?
JR, I know that Hillary is the Great Pennsylvania Hunter aka Annie Oakley but when did she gets involved with Philly team sports?
Larry,
While growing up in Philadelphia during the Seventies and Eighties, I too felt some of that regional ‘inferiority complex’; not just from the lack of sports championships but also from a near absense of anything that represented Philadelphia in popular entertainment media.
Sure, there were the Rocky films (my high school was in Rocky III…GO RAIL SPLITTERS!!!), several local musical acts and of course our colonial/historical identity. But let’s face it, being sandwiched between New York and Washington D.C., Philadelphia often gets overlooked nationally in terms of ‘glitz’.
But let’s sing some of Philly’s praises shall we:
While I no longer live in the Delaware Valley, I continually root for all my Philly teams in my home in suburban Atlanta. I have a co-worker who does the same, he’s from Chester. And let me tell you, the Atlanta and similarly transplanted New York fans wished we’d shut-up…we are constantly IN THEIR FACES!!!
Notwithstanding some of the more boorish and/or criminally orientated behavior, Philly sports fans are considered nationwide as the most passionate and loyal…I’m very proud of that. Atlanta fans are the MOST PHONEY BANDWAGONEERS in all of sportsdom. Let them loose a star player (Mike Vick, Atlanta Falcons) or have ‘too many’ first round post season appearences, but no further progression (Atlanta Braves), and behold the windswepted empty seats and deafening sound of crickets!
Sports in Atlanta is a social event when it’s fashionable. Sports in Philly, well let’s just say when the Eagles play in the dead of winter, body paint (in Green and Black of course!) is a favorite ‘fashion’ accessory!
I miss my hometown very, very much and this West Oak Lane by way of Richard Allen Projects in North Philly kid gets back as often as he can. High crime? Yes, it breaks my heart to constantly see and read the news about my city. But I am not ashamed of Philly…no way. Philadelphians…urban and suburban…are
the greatest people on Earth.
How do I know?
Ask one.
Larry, looks you you threw everyone a curve on this topic. (pun intended)
Better change blog before you lose your following.
Philadelpia is a great city with a well desreved inferiority complex, and the focus on anger over losing sports teams is just another way to express our inferiority. Sadly, eight years of John Street set us back quite a bit. But we’ve always been in the shadow of NYC, Washington DC and Boston, so its tough. If this exact same city were in anther part of the country with less competition people would hold it in higher regard.
We as Philadelphian’s need to be more optimistic and take on some of the NYC yes we can attitude. Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Phila suburbs, and the next 20 in NYC, slowly I came to the relaization that Philadelphia is truely inferior, and sadly that’s why the best and brightest college students migrate elsewhere after getting an outstanding educaion in Phila. Larry, we’re a city of losers; you, me, and the others who write on this blog are great examples of how far down this city has fallen!
Wow George, I really don’t know how to reply to your entry. It’s safe to say you consider yourself bright, in which I have no reason to believe otherwise, but you also lump yourself and the rest of us as “losers”.
Look, there’s no doubt that Philadelphia has a boat load of social, economic, racial and other problems. What I, Larry (by the fact he LEFT NYC so he can RETURN to Philly) and a whole lot of residents and ex-residents see in this town and themselves, is an indomitable spirit that only someone from this area really understands.
George, you mentioned that you now reside in New York, right? You, I and the thousands of ex-Philly residents have our own reasons for leaving and staying where we are,(although personally, I routinely entertain the notion of returning) you, George, find yourself reading and commenting on what is really a local area blog.
I’m not trying to place you in a ‘gotcha’ moment…I’m just saying that even though our hometown has blemishes…not the prettiest/most handsome, we can’t REALLY resist being part of what happens here.
Yeah, we may have family that still reside here, but that really doesn’t matter. We can phone or email them 24 hours a day. But, blogging about a town some of us haven’t called home in decades…well, I believe says alot about where we stand.
Marcanthony, I’ll never deny my Philadelpia roots, and always try to “represent” in NYC. But as time goes by snd the facts of Philadelpia add up it’s really hard to defend it’s problems versus other citys that have succesfully defeated such problems. Thanks for your thoughtful response, but I believe we have a rightful inferiory complex that goes way beyond the fact that our sports teams lose in the final measure.
While I disagree with your opinion George, I really do respect it and find truth in it. But are you sure other cities are truly successfull? New York was in the news again recently about the police excessive force trial verdict dealing with the young man who died in a hail of gunfire, hours from his marriage.
Atlanta police recently tried some rougue police officers that burst in on a 90 plus year old women with a illegally aquired ‘no knock’ search warrant…they shot her to her death. They thought her house was the house of some drug dealers…then tried to cover it up.
I don’t have to remind you about the police beatings in Philly that made national news a couple of weeks ago.
Don’t misunderstand, I’m not bashing the police, hell a cop saved me from a good ol’ fashioned ass-whuppin’ from my mom back in the seventies when he caught me and my cousins trespassing in this abandoned road-salt storage facility. Well I should say caught me…I was the youngest…and slowest!
My cousins left me in the dust!
The officer took me home, I was crying like a baby…I didn’t know who/what to fear more…mom or jail.
I think mom won that ‘contest’! He gave me a stern lecture and let me go a few doors away from my apartment.
But my point is this, the above situations take root from the same problems regardless of city: poverty, poor or incompetent social services, political corruption, criminal behavior both civilian and official, etc.
But hey, I’m glad to hear you still represent! Well have a good day, I’m going to finish listening to my Grover Washington selection on my laptop, “Let It Flow, (for Dr.J)!”
We don’t need no stinking champions!
Did you ever think that maybe if we had better Head Coaches and Managers we’d do better?