Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Who knew that there really was a William Penn curse!

Huh? Well, first I have to say congratulations to the Phillies for winning the World Series. I'm not a baseball fan, and definitely not a Philly fan of any sport, but I am happy for the city and the fact that they finally got their win.

I was out to dinner w/ friends tonight, trying to avoid any place that had the game on, yet we still managed to be at a place where the screaming drowned us out. No clue which inning it was when we left, but the score was 3-4. When I got home, I attempted to watch the Obama "ad" but really wasn't paying much attention.

Then, I hear screaming and then I see random fireworks outside my window. I didn't have to watch the game to know the Phillies won. All I had to do was open my window. The horns have been honking and folks have been running down the Parkway screaming in excitement. I guess they are all heading out to different corners in the city where folks have just flooded the streets. I don't have pictures of that -- I don't live in South Philly or Mayfair -- but I did capture some video of the screaming and honking on the Parkway. Mind you, this time of night is fairly dead on the street and few people are out. Imagine that this is not even close to the noise in the more populated sections of the city!


Oh, so you were probably wondering what the hell I was talking about w/ the curse of William Penn. Well, up until the mid-80's, city hall was the tallest building in Philly. A statue of William Penn sat atop city hall, the looking out over the city of Philadelphia. Soon, however, William Penn was no longer the highest point in Philly once One Liberty Place was built. Since then, if I am correct on the whole legend of the curse, not one Philly team has one a national title. Check out this clip on the curse. Now some have thought this was bullshit. I am one of those since I really don't believe in superstitions (I'm born on October 13 for heaven's sake!). Anyway, things in Philly changed this year with the new Comcast Center which is now the tallest building in the city. A huge to-do was had earlier this year, toward the end of construction. whereby a new William Penn statue was placed at the top of the building, reinstating his view over the city. Many thought that would lift the curse.

Well, it didn't help the Eagles. Nor did it help the Flyers. However, a new sport helped catapult Philly into the national spotlight -- area football. The Philly Soul won the national title. I thought a little about the curse, but not much. I mean this is indoor football, it's not the same thing. Well now it appears that the curse has been lifted. Philly has won a national title for a major sporting event (sorry Jon Bon Jovi).
Congratulations!

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