Bit of a sports rant

[kellinator]

This morning on SportsCenter, I heard an Eagles fan declaring yesterday was the "greatest day in the history of Philadelphia" and exulting that the curse was over.

Ummm... what curse? Is there a curse I don't know about?

Then I check LJ and someone in nbafans is whining that the Suns are cursed. No, they're losing because the MVP (Steve Nash for MVP!! Steve Nash for MVP!!) is out injured. But I digress. What's with all this making up curses just because you can't accept that your team lost?

Yes, I know that Philly sports teams have terrible, terrible luck. But in my opinion, a curse should be, well, a curse. Like, related to something specific. The Curse of the Bambino? That's a curse. The Black Sox Curse? That's a curse. Curse Because We Keep Losing, Dammit? Not so much.

Hey, I know all about losing. I'm a Vandy fan. But we don't lose because of some curse. We lose because we suck.

Comments

[stevietee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, and there's a BRAVES curse, too! That's why they can't win the Series, or even get TO the Series anymore! It's not because at the sight of the post-season they collapse into a bunch of 4 year olds learning tee-ball!

[sallerina.livejournal.com]

kyla (being from boston and being a huge red sox fan) was ranting to me about this exact topic yesterday when we saw a fan in the crowd in philly with a BREAK THE CURSE sign. she had your same point.

i think it's one thing to uniformly, always suck, and another thing to be good enough all season and then choke at the end. maybe it's degrees of losing, and it's easier to accept it when your team constantly loses. when it seems to always lose just at the end... it becomes compelling for a susan lucci-style curse argument to evolve.

not that i'm saying the eagles were cursed. they have, typically, just sucked.

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

Clearly your team was cursed to suck :-)

[xmeout.livejournal.com]

The best curse ever to become a non curse was when Phil Mickelson won his first golf major last year, The Masters...That is the curse lifted to end all curses...Expect for when I get drunk and start cursing that is...

Where the curse stuff comes from

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

Supposedly the Eagles were cursed when Michael Irvin suffered his career-ending injury in the Vet and was booed and cursed by Iggles fans as he laid on the turf. Also, there's a legend that the city was cursed when the city erected a statue to a mythical sports legend (Rocky) instead of a real one many years ago, and it was said that as long as that statue stood, the City of Brotherly Love would never bring home another championship. So there actually is some validity to the curse rhetoric, even though it wasn't as historic or long-lasting as the BoSox or the Cubbies.

Oh, and...

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

This sports year might just be the year to break all "curses". I'd forgot about Mickleson. Although I don't think the Iggles will win the Super Bowl, they did break their NFC Championship losing streak.

I think that Vandy has the Curse of What's-his-name (that guy who Vandy recruited about 10 years ago who was the #1 guy in the nation but Admissions wouldn't let him in, so he went to Kentucky and they won a national title. His name always escapes me.)

[dellaran.livejournal.com]

I think the curse is pretty clear... any team that has fans like the ones in Philadelphia has every reason to consider itself cursed. :)

[misanthropist.livejournal.com]

I hate to say this, but Steve Nash shouldn't be MVP until he learns to play defense. *ducks*

[laurel714.livejournal.com]

Apparently Green Bay has a cursed HAT...

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/sports/4069796/detail.html

[sleepinbeauty.livejournal.com]

That's a good closing line. I suppose suckage could be a curse, too, though. By itself.

[yendi]

Christ. You know, there are thirteen other teams (including the "cursed" Falcons, the "cursed" Chargers, and the "cursed" Bills) who have never won a Super Bowl. There are seven teams, including the Saints and the Lions, who have never even been in the Super Bowl. Calling the Eagles "cursed" implies that someone forgot how to spell "chokers."

And, if that was the greatest day in the history of Philly, I think someone's got to do some reading up on American history.

[jerel.livejournal.com]

I know I joked a lot when the Sox won that they overcame the Curse. But I never believed the Sox were cursed. I just thought they got overconfident and blew it. Or that the other teams wanted it more.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

*snorfle*

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I am amused that she and I had the same thought.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I think you're on to something! ;)

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm... cursing... ;)

Re: Where the curse stuff comes from

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

You are definitely on to something. ;)

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Yeah, his defense sucks, but in terms of the player who is the most valuable to his team, I think the timing of the Suns' losing streak spoke pretty well for that.

Who would you pick?

And is it just me, or has the MVP become sort of an award that gets passed around to the superstar whose "turn" it is? This is one of the reasons I like Nash for it; he's not the superstar, but he brings a lot to his team.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I'm HOWLING!!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Oh believe me, it is. ;)

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Calling the Eagles "cursed" implies that someone forgot how to spell "chokers."

Bwahahahahahahaha. Ha!

And, if that was the greatest day in the history of Philly, I think someone's got to do some reading up on American history.

My sentiments exactly. I was staring at the TV in horror.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

That's very generous of you. I think you guys had a legitimate claim to a curse.

[misanthropist.livejournal.com]

Probably Duncan. Guys like Duncan and Shaq should win iit more, but the people who vote on it get bored with them, I guess.

[laurel714.livejournal.com]

Did you click on the actual auction? If not, then make sure you read all of the Q&A for the auction, and note the name of the winning bidder.

That was some marketing brilliance.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know that Philly sports teams have terrible, terrible luck. But in my opinion, a curse should be, well, a curse. Like, related to something specific.

Living in Philadelphia is specific enough.

Re: Where the curse stuff comes from

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

No, no, the curse started long before the Rocky statue. Also, if the curse was linked to Rocky, it should have started when the statue was removed from in front of the Art Museum steps (on the grounds that it was one ugly mother) and relocated to the Spectrum, where the Sixers and the Flyers play.