Its a special time in Philadelphia. 2 hours from now, the championship red pinstripers will be parading down Broad and Market Streets (amongst others) receiving the cheers (and no jeers) of, literally, millions of fans. Its a fantastic day to be a Philly fan. One issue has got me thinking though; the once "woe is me" attitude that has plagued Philly fans, marred them with disgusting losses and extreme futility is now gone. The mantra will change...but the attitude. What's to complaint about now? At this point it doesn't matter, let's just sit back and enjoy the afterglow of a champion.
- Championship Gear and no room for a Second Mortgage. I have many rules about buying gear, but most of them, if not all, generally get broken when a team becomes a champion. I say this like its happened before. Frankly, since 1997, I've purchased numerous "2nd place" items (Conf. Championship gear), but only sparingly, as I didn't find the true value, but still splurged a little. In this case, it seems like the ideal time to splurge and I will buy many things but...with prices like this and an economy like this, you really have to wonder about 25 dollar t-shirts and 110 dollar jerseys.
- Uncle Charlie's "This is for Philadelphia." And with that, Charlie Manuel become an iconic Philadelphia hero, and the owner of a proud spot in the Philadelphia Sports Pantheon. His speech, his passion, his respect for the fans was my first true moment of "We've made it!" But that little diddy of a speech, even slightly incoherent, was one of my favorite moments in sports history for that town.
- Jimmy was Right. After Carlos Beltran's "To Jimmy Rollins, We're the Team to beat." proclaimation earlier this year, Young James responded with his own ridiculous proclaimation...That the Phillies would win 100 games. They won 103 and a title. Touche Jimmy, Touche.
- Parade, Parade, Parade. Its okay to say it. Philadelphia's having a parade today. It's a joyous time and even I'll be enjoying it from afar.
- Charlie, We were Wrong. Especially Eskin. Charlie Manuel have been the subject of much grief in Philadelphia. He's been called stupid, a bumkin and even almost came to blows with Phildelphia sports personality, Howard Eskin. I'm here to officially apologize to Charlie, as even I called for his firing. I was wrong Charlie and I've never been so happy to eat crow in my life.
- Fire up the Hot Stove. 157 days till spring training. This, both literally and figuratively will be the shortest offseason yet. But Free Agency is 15 days away and times are a-changin'.
- The 100 Season Wait is Over. Sure its an overdue title and Philly fans almost claim to deserve it, but they've been held hostage by years of almosts, maybes and lots of bad management. The waits over now and maybe it's time to turn the corner. A whole generation of titleless fans now share the joy that those of the 70s and 80s so fondly remember.
- And the Winner is... Well, Jayson Stark picked the Phils in 6, while Peter Gammons and Jerry Crasnik picked the Phils in 7; all the other ESPN schmucks when Rays in varying degrees with Jim Caple picking a Rays sweet (whoops!). ESPN batted .300 on the call. Sports Illustrated's John Heyman and Albert Chen also picked the Phils in 6 while Tom Verducci and Michael Bamberger had them in 7. No one at SI had the series going in either favor for less than 6 games. SI batted .444 for the Series.
- Enjoy the Day. Much like I've derided by Beantown brethern during their numerous (too numerous, fucking douchebags) parades and championship riots, let's keep the celebrating, clean fun and downright drunken. I agree, I never got why people felt the need to vandalize. Sit back and enjoy it, don't "be a jackass" (thanks Nutter).
- And for today. Here it is. Replays of the 1980 Series, the Parade and Rally and then replays of the 2008 model. Sit back, relax and enjoy.
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