It was the best of times in Philly sports. It was the worst of times in Philly sports.
The NBA Draft and the NFL season have typically existed on two different tracks in my mind. The draft meant summers figuring out what international second-round picks Sam Hinkie was going to scoop up. The NFL season meant falls at the Linc.
With them now happening simultaneously, it's impossible to understate how much the Sixers and Eagles have changed in my mind in not just the last several weeks, but the last several days.
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Sunday's Eagles loss in the Meadowlands broke me. I know other fans have checked out. I get it. You don't own the Eagles anything, but for both work reasons and because of my own deranged psyche, I still breathe it daily. It's become a chore though. Do I really want to watch the Eagles this week in Cleveland? No, I'd rather binge Buffy the Vampire Slayer, take a post-lunch nap or watch, ya know, a football game with two good teams.
I'm resigned to the fact that Howie Roseman-Doug Pederson-Carson Wentz triptych needs to end. My dream of Wentz hoisting the Super Bowl MVP trophy no longer exists in the rational world. I've reached the acceptance stage of my Eagles fan grief.
The Sixers were that chore for me during the drawn-out end to this past season. I knew they were toast come the playoffs. I knew it before we even reached pandemic bubble mode. It was death by a thousand cuts and I was just begging for mercy.
That's flipped for me.
NBA
The Sixers hired Doc Rivers. They hired Daryl Morey. Al Horford is gone. The sweet-shooting Seth Curry is here. Morey drafted my favorite prospect in the entire draft in the MCU-loving Tyrese Maxey.
I just need the Eagles season to be over with for my own well-being. I can't get enough of the Sixers right now though and am itching for the first game of the year. A tale of two teams.
Look at the Phillies. President Andy MacPhail is in lame duck situation. Maybe fate swings and Theo Epstein becomes their Morey, but for time being, I worry they're once again wasting a heavy-hitting cast of position players with poor pitching. I so desperately want to watch good baseball. It even goes for the Flyers too, who followed up a thrilling regular season run with a tepid offseason.
The answer to winning over the city is ultimately simple: have a person calling the shots that knows what they're doing. The Sixers have possible the best in the sport in that regard. The Flyers exist in limbo with Chuck Fletcher. The Eagles and Phillies are rudderless ships in the Schuylkill River.