Why Is All This Such A Big Deal To Me?

For those that have not noticed, and by not noticed, I mean, not read anything here yet today, I have done quite a good amount of piling on today. So for those of you wondering why I am seemingly making a bigger deal out of this, the answer is because, frankly for me, it is.

I know the Flyers have only won the Eastern Conference, and not the Stanley Cup (and if you thought today was bad, I would suggest avoiding this place for the next 48 hours should that happen), but the fact remains that this team means more to me than any other sports team.

Consider the following:

• The first sports team (professional and college combined) that I was ever a fan of was the Philadelphia Flyers.
• The first sports memory that I have in my brain is watching a Flyers-Lightning game on PRISM.
• I have been to more Flyers games than Phillies games, Eagles games, and Sixers games combined.
• I would even venture to say that I have been to more Phantoms games than Phillies games, Eagles games, and Sixers games combined.
• In my room, I have framed 8" by 11" photos of Roman Cechmanek, Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Craig MacTavish, Justin Williams, Rod Brind'amour, Simon Gagne, Ron Hextall, Kevin Dineen, Chris Therien, Eric Desjardins, Dave Brown, Luke Richardson, Dan McGillis, and Brian Boucher.
• My biggest sports heartbreak came as Patrik Elias scored the GWG in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals with me sitting less than 100 feet behind the net and Brian Boucher.

Before Gary Bettman was an idiot and the lockout occurred, hockey was my #1 favorite sport. Once the lockout occurred, I needed to find somewhere else to fix my sports need. That's where football comes into play.

While I remember watching some games of the terrible Eagles teams of the late 1990s, the first season I was really a fan of the team and watched every game was in 2000. Now just to put things into perspective here, in September of 2000 I turned 11-years old, so it's not like I am a bandwagoner. But from September 2000 to June 2004, I was mostly just a fan of the Eagles, and not yet a fan of the league. The football games I watched would just be Eagles games and all playoff games. I caught up on the other teams by watching NFL Primetime. Now when the NHL locked out, I needed something to fill that gap. Here comes being a fan of the league and watching other teams and having the Chargers and the Bengals becoming my 2nd and 3rd favorite football teams. It is also through this that I really grew my knowledge about football and how I have come to be able to analyze it better than any sport.

Baseball was always the enigma for me. I loved going to Phillies games, but as much as I loved Harry Kalas, as a kid (and even a young teenager), baseball on TV was too boring for me. Nothing about Harry, but I just enjoyed much quicker games like hockey (and even football). Going to the games at the Vet was much different than watching the Phillies on TV. I wanted to get into it, but I couldn't. I had my favorite players (Mickey Morandini and Mike Lieberthal) and I have autographs from said players, but I could never really get into it on a day-to-day basis. It also did not help that the Phillies of my childhood were beyond awful. You say 1993, I say goo-goo ga-ga being a 3-year old was good times. The only memory I have of 1993 is staring at a calendar that says 1993 on it. That's how I know it is from 1993. That's not to say that I did not follow the team and keep updated on them. As a kid (and even today) I loved reading newspapers. Well I take that back, today I love reading newspapers, back then I just loved staring at all the baseball standings and scores in the sports page. I just could not did not have the patience to watch a full baseball game for most of my childhood. I really only started watching the Phillies on a more consistent basis and following baseball baseball as a sport more around 2006 (again, perspective here, folks, this places me as a high school underclassman). The Phillies were then a young and upcoming team with a lot of promise, and frankly, I had grown the attention span to follow baseball on a more regular basis. I can sit down now and enjoy baseball games on TV. But the attachment I have for the Phillies is nothing like I have for the Flyers. Don't get me wrong, I was beyond ecstatic when they won the championship back in 2008, but I think it is a fair and accurate assessment that at that point, I would have preferred the Flyers or the Eagles to break the curse. It would have made what was a sweet victory (the first major Philadelphia sports championship in my lifetime) that much sweeter.

I tell people today that my three favorite professional teams are the Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies. And that's true. Today, I follow all 3 teams equally and try my best to devote equal attention to them. But at the same time, due to the time I spent with the Flyers as a child when no other sports team warranted such attention, I can't help but feel a greater sense of pride than I did with the Phillies winning the NLCS in 08, World Series in 08, and NLCS in 09.

I only vaguely remember the run in 1997. Maybe it's me blocking out the memories of that sweep over time? I don't know, but off the top of my head I cannot even name the teams they beat that year to get to the finals. I just remember Detroit and I remember ugly sweep and how much I still detest Mike Vernon to this day. That, 2000, 2004 are all with me. The Flyers are going to the Stanley Cup Finals and I am going to remember it this time.

Yeah, I am prideful in this moment. Did I think they could get where they are 2 months ago? No, I did not, but I never gave up on this team. Even when they were down 3-0 to the Bruins, I was going to watch Game 4 regardless, whether it meant a win for pride or a sweep. I was with them to the end. And I am damn proud of them and getting to this point.

But as fun as winning the Eastern Conference is, the job is not over yet. They still have 4 more wins left if they want to win hockey's holy grail.