Phillies Win, Phillies Win, Wow!

Hello Cheryl. Right now I'm watching the noon news on Philadelphia CBS 3 http://cbs3.com/ Phillies World Series gear is flying off the shelves. The excitement is amazing. They are expecting nearly 2 million people for Friday's parade. Wow! I remember when the Atlanta Braves won the World Series. Now I know what it feels like. Thanks for joining in the celebration. Your friend. Lloyd

I couldn't believe Modell's stayed open all night so that all the Phillies championship gear could be sold out. I'm just not that into anything to be going shopping during the night for a souvenir. Yeah - I'm a local.

For those who aren't familiar with the "Curse of William Penn" here is the story. The Curse of William Penn was an alleged curse sometimes used to explain the failure of professional sports teams based in Philadelphia, to win championships since the March 1987 construction of the One Liberty Place skyscraper, which exceeded the height of William Penn's statue atop Philadelphia City Hall. The curse evidently ended on October 29, 2008 when the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series, a year and four months after a William Penn figure was attached on the top of the then-newly constructed Comcast Center, the tallest building in the city. The curse had gained such prominence in Philadelphia that a documentary film by the same name, The Curse of William Penn, was produced about it. Atop Philadelphia City Hall stands a statue of William Penn, the city founder and original proprietor of the then-British colony of Pennsylvania (meaning "Penn's Woods"). For many decades, a "gentlemen's agreement" stated that the Philadelphia Art Commission would approve no building in the city which would rise above this statue. This ended in March 1987, when a modern steel-and-glass skyscraper, One Liberty Place, opened three blocks away. One Liberty Place dwarfs City Hall by 397 feet (121m), rising 945 feet (288m) in height compared to the height of Penn's hat on city hall, 547ft 11-3/4in (167m). The measurement of the height of City Hall is usually rounded to 548 ft, which coincidentally matches the career number of home runs hit by Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt. Its sister skyscraper, Two Liberty Place, at 848 ft (258m), would soon follow. Philadelphia sports teams had just before then enjoyed an enviable run of success: Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies had won the 1980 World Series and the 1983 National League pennant; the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers had won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, and were a regular presence in the finals (to wit, 1976, 1980, 1985, and 1987 as well as 1997); the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles had appeared in Super Bowl XV, losing to the Oakland Raiders; and the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers had won the championship in 1983, as well as making the finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 2001. In fact, before 1980, the Phillies had appeared in only two other World Series, in 1915 and 1950, and the Eagles had won no NFC conference championships since the 1966 agreement that had created the Super Bowl, while the 76ers won NBA titles in both Philadelphia and in their prior incarnation, the Syracuse Nationals. Construction on One Liberty Place began in 1985, two years after the last championship season in Philadelphia. Unlike other "curses" that seem to strike particular teams, such as the Boston Red Sox's Curse of the Bambino, the Chicago White Sox's Curse of the Black Sox (both of which seem to have been lifted), the Detroit Lions' Curse of Bobby Layne and the Chicago Cubs' Curse of the Billy Goat, this curse is said to have struck four professional teams in the same city and is sometimes extended to include other sports. The curse, however, did not seem to affect professional teams outside of the "big four" sports; in fact, professional Lacrosse teams have had tremendous success. The Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (indoor winter league) have won six titles since 1989, and the Philadelphia Barrage of the Major League Lacrosse (outdoor summer league) have won three championships (2004, 2006, and 2007). Additionally, the Philadelphia KiXX of the Major Indoor Soccer League won their league's championship in 2002 and 2007. It did not seem to damage the performance of Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul either, despite several lackluster seasons. In 2008, they won ArenaBowl XXII, clinching their first Arena League title. The curse also did not seem to affect Philadelphia's minor-league hockey franchise, the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms, who won the Calder Cup championship trophy twice since the curse's inception, in both 1998 and 2005 (the latter championship occurring during the NHL Lockout effectively making them the top North American professional hockey team). On June 18, 2007, ironworkers from Local Union 401 helped raise the final beam in the construction of the Comcast Center at 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Philadelphia. The Comcast Center is currently the tallest building in the city at 975 ft (297.2 m). In an attempt to end the curse, workers John Joyce and Dan Ginion attached a small figurine of Billy Penn to the beam, along with the traditional American flag and small evergreen tree.] After the first Billy Penn figurine was stolen, it was replaced with a smaller 4 inch figure. On October 29, 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series in five games against the Tampa Bay Rays. There were fears that Billy Penn had taken his final revenge on October 27, when the fifth game was suspended in the sixth inning due to a rain delay with the game tied at 2-2, and the Phillies leading series 3-1. However, the game resumed on October 29, when the Phillies rebounded with a 4-3 win. With this victory, the curse seems to have been lifted. A parade through Philadelphia on October 31, 2008 celebrated the victory; it was the first ticker-tape parade down Broad Street in Philadelphia since 1985. THANK GOD THE CURSE IS OVER. I'm already looking forward to next year. Lloyd

Wow, you know a lot more about it than I do! Here's something I heard on gameday, I'm just copy and pasting it from Wikipedia because they know more about it than I do: Comcast Center is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The building officially opened for business on June 8, 2008, and its primary tenant is Comcast. On June 18, 2007, it became the tallest building in Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in an official topping-out ceremony led by then Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. When the final beam in the construction was raised on June 18, ironworkers of Local Union 401 attached a small figurine of William Penn to the beam in homage to the statue atop Philadelphia City Hall, in an attempt to break the curse of William Penn.[1][2] The Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers went on to make the playoffs in 2007. The Phillies would go on to win the 2008 World Series the following season, ending the long championship drought in Philadelphia. So it looks like the original curse still holds!! Philadelphia just finally appeased him!

Everything you wrote is factual. I usually don't believe in these types of things, but this one seems authentic. Let's see how the Eagles, Flyers and Sixers do this year. Then we'll be able to see if the "curse" is finally broken. By the way, the Eagles crushed the Seahawks today. Lloyd

You are certainly correct about Ruiz and Feliz and others playing a big part in their world series victory two years ago. The Phillies are still the team in Philly right now and am so ready to see them again this year and another trip to the World Series and hopefully another parade. We came up a little short this past season but am feeling confident that we will be World Champs again this year. I think the new additions this year will help us and an improved Hamels and Lidge and now Halladay. Hopefully the Eagles will bring us a title home this year and maybe even the Flyers.

It sure has been a long time. But the wait was worth it. I feel so happy for Charlie Manuel. He is now an official Philadelphian. You mentioned Howard and Hamels, but everyone played a part in this accomplishment. How about Ruis and Feliz? Who would have ever thunk it? Things are really looking up now and I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles are next in line. Thank you very much. Lloyd

Thank you very much. It's sure exciting here in the Delaware Valley. Over 2 million people showed up for the parade yesterday. Can't wait til next year to see if we can repeat. Watch the parade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K78QF48plM&feature=channel Lloyd

I don't think the fans rep will improve either. The national media can't seem to get over what happened in the past at the former Veterans Stadium. The game that got rained out should have been called way earlier. It was if the umpired wanted the game to be tied up before they called it. Fortunately the umpires decision didn't affect the play of the Phillies and they were able to finish the job. Join the celebration: http://cbs3.com/local/Philadelphia.Phillies.Tampa.2.852050.html Lloyd

I also thought that the bright lights of the World Series would get to the Rays. The fact that the Phillies won 4 out of the 5 games prove that I was right. The Rays have a bright future and I really don't want to see them against the Phillies in the World Series next year. Lloyd

It's great living in the Philadelphia area at this time. Everything is wonderful. And how about this great weather? Everything just seems to be falling into place for us. You are so right. The city is definately on the upswing. I'm going to miss going there and working for the Obama campaign. I've never had a problem there. Have you ever been to Chickiees and Petes? It's my favorite place to go near the stadiums. Go Phillies. Lloyd

Yes we won the "BIG ONE" and it feels so good. The critics can focus on the negative, but it's all positive here. Over two million "well behaved" fans showed up for the parade yesterday. Check it out. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/sports/baseball/01parade.html?em Lloyd

Tell your husband I said hello. I hope he was rooting for the Phillies. We really needed to break this dreadful curse of Billy Penn. It feels so good right now. Lloyd