Philly sports in 2021.
The next golden era. (#Day47)
Last summer, the Philadelphia Phillies endured through their worst season since 1969. Not really though — the late 90’s in Veterans Stadium were similarly slow and bad. Winning mattered little; the Phillies were viewed as and were a small market team, similarly to the Philadelphia Union.
The 2000’s (2001–2011, specifically) was, by Philly’s standards, a great decade for our 4 children sports teams.
Our distant nephew/cousin, the Union, even made the MLS playoffs in 2011! The Philadelphia Soul won an Arena Bowl in 2008, the same year that our beloved Charlie Manuel led Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series (after game 6 was nearly rained out, in pure Philly fashion). Additionally, the Phantoms, who rocked the Spectrum all throughout the 90's/2000's, won the 2005 Calder Cup during the lockout.
Currently, Philly teams stink. Everyone pokes fun at and disrespects the Sixers rebuilding strategy, the Phillies this, the Eagles that. Maybe the 2018 Flyers have some hope.
The thing is though, in 2021, the outlook is bright. It’ll be 2001 with Iverson and 2004 with McNabb all over again. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to experience some more Patrick Lalime or Dominek Hashek heartbreakers.
Maybe, due to their new television deal with Comcast (who are building the 2 tallest buildings in this city), the Phillies will have an insane amount of cash to spend on players, even as early as the 2017 season. Their plethora of young talent and cash in pocket once Ryan Howard gets into the Phillies Hall of Fame next year should propel them similarly to what the Cubs are doing in 2014–2016.
Here’s an outlook for the five predominant professional sports teams, in Philly, in 2021:
- The Philadelphia Eagles: It’s 2021, and the Eagles’ young core has united. Backed by Quarterback Sam Bradford, the Eagles have retooled the team to become a dominant force. Coach Peterson brought back “old school” Eagles football — defense first, creativity on offense last. Malcolm Jenkins, Brandon Graham, and Jabril Peppers have given the team a defense reminiscent of Buddy Ryan or Brian Dawkins. They’ve gone 10–6, 11–5, or 12–4 for years now and can’t seem to get through the NFC Championship game and into the elusive Super Bowl.
- The Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers are coming off of their first Stanley Cup victory since 1975 after they won back-to-back Championships in 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. Their team, anchored by Shane Gostisbehere, Travis Sanheim, a legendary Claude Giroux, and an aging Jacub Voracek, are the modern age Broad Street Bullies (with some speed trickled in). They had to use 2 goaltenders per year in each cup run, but it was acceptable.
- The Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers plan has clearly paid off. They’re the Vegas favorites to win this year’s NBA Finals. They’ve made it to the NBA Finals once, in 2019, but lost to the dynastic San Francisco Warriors. Steph Curry is rumored to want to play with Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jalil Okafor. Thankfully, coach Kobe Bryant should be able to convince “the Messi of Basketball” to swing over to Philly next summer.
- The Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies have become the Red Sox of the National League. Win one year, flounder the next. All of a sudden, GM Matt Klentak is signing players from Japan, just because of the statistical advantages around slap hitters and sidearm throwers. The young Phillies had gone to the 2017 World Series in a complete surprise, yet lost to the Montreal Senators on a walk off balk, similarly to what went down in 1993. Let’s not talk about it…
- The Philadelphia Union: The Union, now owned by Comcast, are a force to be reckon with. GM and Coach Earnie Stewart has implemented a breathtaking 4–3–3 system, similarly to how FC Barcelona and West Ham intend to play. In a nod to the Washington Diplomats signing of Johan Cruyff, the Union went out and signed then 35 year old Arjen Robben in 2019. The addition of Mesut Ozil in 2020 has put the Union atop MLS. They’re still waiting for an MLS Cup, but winning the 2016, 2019, and 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups has provided plenty of parades. Sebastian Le Toux scores goals off the bench in heaps, and PPL* Park is sold out every Saturday night. Chester’s waterfront starts to develop. Lot A is paved now, too.
See you on Broad Street after the Eagles win the Super Bowl in January, 2022.
Can you even imagine what that would look like???
