The Games Of The Decade: Philly Edition

Practically everyone else is doing something for the decade, so I figured that I would join the party. That and I am bored out of my mind, it's a slow news day (and no, I am not doing a post on Mike Leach and my random out of nowhere not factually based hunch that Craig and Adam James are full of shit) so I need something to stimulate myself (besides watching porn).

So here is what I am doing. Here is an obviously debatable list of what I feel are the top 5 Philly games of the decade and in a later post, I will have the top 5 national games of the decade. Feel free to debate these, disagree with these, dispute these, whatever you want, however, I have thought these out and I am sticking with my guns.

First your Top 5 Philly games of the decade in order from #5 to the game I consider #1 (and really, if you have not figured out what #1 is going to be, then I really do pity you).

5). The Answer Stuns The Lakers - Sticking with the theme of championships, how about the 2000-2001 Philadelphia 76erts? Another game that I remember watching was Game 1 of that series and Iverson's heroics. Do I remember it as vividly as the Flyers games above? No, but gosh darn it, that was one heck of a performance by Iverson and I was truly believing that the Sixers had a chance to win the whole series after that game. Of course, the Lakers ended up winning the next 4 games and the series, but the thrill experienced by stunning the Lakers in LA is something worth remembering. Since then though, it was all downhill for the franchise and right now they are in the dumps and while I am excited that Iverson is back with the team and they have shown a bit of potential, they are by no means an NBA Finals team. After that NBA Finals, I really was never able to fully get back into the Sixers and the NBA in general. If there was one of the major four professional team sports that I could do without, it would without a doubt be the Sixers and NBA basketball in general. College basketball on the other hand, that is something completely different. I think that the college game is 1,000 times better than the professional game, much more exciting and dramatic than the professional game, and more importantly in my view, there is more of a stress on the team aspect where as the NBA nowadays to me is really nothing more than a bunch of guys with talent strutting their stuff and showing off. The focus is all on individual accomplishments and failures and how great Kobe and LeBron are, and after awhile, believe it or not, that gets boring.

4). Penguins and Flyers go 5 overtimes: Mr. Overtime Steve Levy struck again in Pittsburgh. He was there. And 5 overtimes later, Keith Primeau finally scored the game-winning goal sending the Flyers the crucial Game 4 victory that would at the time tie the series after trailing 2-0. My memory of that game: Waking up for school the next morning and having my mom tell me that the Flyers won in 5 OTs. Lucky for me, I taped the game and watched the whole sha-bang from start to finish immediately after I got home. Since then, I have purchased the 10 Greatest Flyers Games DVD which they released 10 of their best games in their entirety on DVD to commemorate their 40th anniversary a few years ago. I have seen the game again and it is just incredible to watch. The Flyers would not look back from that epic win and would win the next 2 defeating the Pens in 6. However, the season would not end well for the Flyers as after leading the Devils 3 games to 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Flyers choked, losing 3 games in a row, the last of which being a game that I experienced first hand. I've told the story numerous times, but I was at that Game 7, perhaps the most infamous Flyers game of the decade. Eric Lindros skated off the ice early in the first period after taking a shoulder from Scott Stevens. That may have been over 9 years ago now but the image I have of seeing Eric Lindros laying there on the ice and the heartbreak that I felt as I watched in person Patrik Elias score the game-winning goal with under 3-minutes to go. After that, I never wanted to touch that game again. I never saw it again until just last week when ESPN Classic showed it as part of their Best of the Decade marathon. And while the ending was not as I would have pleased and while I still felt the heartbreak when that Elias goal went in at the end, I must say that too, was a heck of a hockey game.

3). San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies April 27, 2003 - Wait, what, you ask? My oh my, how soon we forget the only no-hitter thrown by a Phillie this decade. Kevin Millwood has never really amounted to a whole lot in the majors, but that does not take away from the importance and the great individual accomplishment of any no-no, especially when your team has only one in the decade. Sure they were fairly bad, finishing 15 games out of the division, but you never forget the no-hitters, am I right?

2). 2005 NFC Championship Game - It was the day after a foot of snow was just dumped on the city and the 4th year in a row that the Eagles were in an NFC Championship game. They failed the first 3 times. This time they did not. 67,717 braved 17 degree temperatures and a sub-zero windchill to witness a truly great game for the city of Philadelphia. Was it the most dramatic game ever? No. But did it mean a lot for a franchise that just lost 3 straight conference championships? Fuck yeah it did, and it felt damn good in the process. There is nothing like watching a game being played in sub-zero weather than by watching it with your family with the fireplace turned on and cheering as the Eagles stamped a ticket to Jacksonville.

1.5) Stairs rips one into the night - The moment that The Curse of William Penn was broken. The moment that everyone in the city knew that the Phillies were going to win the World Series. The moment that got people to dream and really started believing in this team more than they believed in any Philly team that made a championship this decade. The moment that set up my choice for the #1 Philly Game of the decade.....

1). The Philadelphia Phillies are World Champions of baseball - Duh. Did you really think this was going to be something else. Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. A game that ended over 48 hours after it started. And unlike the Eagles and the Falcons, this game was dramatic, from watching the conditions and the field deteriorate before our very eyes in Part 1 that ended with a back-breaking Tampa RBI to tie the game right before it was called, to the showdown of dramatic plays in part 2 from Utley's great defensive play to Pat Burrell getting what wound up as the game-winning run on base in what would ultimately end up being his last at-bat as a Phillie (Eric Bruntlett ended up pinch-running for Burrell who is no faster than a snail and it was Bruntlett who ultimately scored the winning run). I remember before the game everyone saying that the Rays had all the momentum going into that because of the ending of Game 5 Version 1.0, but heading into Game 5 Version 2.0, I knew one thing that would make a difference and one thing that made me believe that everyone on Around the Horn was more full of shit than normal. The Phillies had 12 outs to play with on offense as opposed to 9 for the Rays. Of course, the Phillies did not need those extra outs in order to win it all, but that was the ultimate advantage in that game, not the fact that Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria got their first hits of the series in that rain soaked Part 1 of the game. And while some people do not like the suspension of the game midway through the game, personally, I do like that it happened that way for one reason and one reason only: you remember it. It was a memorable finish and that second part of the game was some of the most dramatic and exciting baseball that you will ever see, and while my hopes and rooting interests are deeply entwined with a certain winning team of the game, I have to feel that casual baseball fans and sports fans in general enjoyed watching that Game 5. Many people will remember the day the day the Phillies won the 2008 World Series for quite some time.