The Essence of American Sport: It’s You Philly, Philly.
For Philadelphians Who Want to See True Sports Roots, Look No Further.
Yep, that’s right Philadelphia. Step up and claim your prize.
In the waning moments of the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl celebration, Eagles Center Jason Kelce stepped toward the podium on the Philadelphia Art Museum Steps dressed in a Mummer’s outfit. For the next nearly six minutes, he delivered a blistering speech aided almost certainly by 5% alcohol-by-volume, holding accountable anyone who doubted the Eagles and defending his organization.
He then arrived to speaking about his Head Coach, “Doug Pederson. Who went for it on fourth and down. Fourth and down in the Super Bowl.”
Four days earlier, the Eagles faced fourth and goal from the 3 yard-line up 15–12 with 38 seconds left in the first half of the Super Bowl. Nick Foles walked to the sideline and let Pederson know what play he wanted:
“Philly, Philly?” he asked.
The Eagles then executed a variation of a play that the Patriots ran earlier in the half when Tom Brady dropped the ball. It was a touchdown for the Eagles while Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia hung his head in disbelief.
It seems like a long time ago now.
This year is another anniversary. One Hundred and fifty four years ago, only four years after the end of the conclusion of the American Civil War, Rutgers and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) met 65 miles outside of Philadelphia in New Brunswick, NJ for the first ever recorded intercollegiate football game.
If you had selected any of the players in this game for your fantasy roster, it would admittedly be difficult to keep up with the scoring as onlookers noted that the rugby-like event was full of men running everywhere.
A graduate student painted the scene, and a marker is still in place today claiming that New Brunswick is the birthplace of football.
Speaking of football, here are a couple of other historical milestones, Philly.
The Frankford Athletic Association began 125 years ago this year, and produced the Frankford Yellow Jackets, making them the very possibly third oldest Club Football Team in the country. And of course, your Bert Bell driven Eagles are the eighth oldest team in the NFL.
The first national league baseball game was played in Philadelphia in April of 1876. The Boston Red Caps defeated the Philadelphia Athletics in a game that the Philadelphia Inquirer described, “Great interest was manifested in the result. As it really was the first game of importance played this season.”
Philadelphia also has some significant college basketball history beyond the Big 5. The Palestra (built in 1927) has played host to more regular season and post-season NCAA men’s basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other basketball arena in the US.
Philadelphia is also the only major US city that has the oldest uninterrupted franchise in the Philadelphia Phillies (1883) and the only one where all four major sports franchises advanced to the championship in 1980.
So although no Philadelphia teams advanced to the championship round of the playoffs or win it all this year, always remember that whether it is a question of significant sports historical milestones or the essence of sport itself,
The call will always be Philly, Philly.
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Categorized:More PHL