In the past several years, Philadelphia Sports has somehow been the best it has ever been, but also the most frustrating it has ever been. Between 2022 and 2023, 3 of our teams played in their respective Championship. The Phillies, Union, and the Eagles. But all 3 lost. The Phillies made it back to the NLCS the next year but blew up spectacularly to let the Diamondbacks go to the World Series. And the Sixers have continued to fail to get out of the second round, but have also played the best Basketball we have seen since AI was here.
It makes it hard to decide how we should feel. On one hand, nearly all of our teams have been competitive every year. They have given us more to cheer for than nearly any generation of Philadelphia sports. But on the other, none of them actually reached the promising land. All of them came up short in increasingly frustrating ways.
So on this Festivus, we have some things to air out. Because we love our teams like family. But with love comes pain. Because no one annoys you more than the people you love. But it is not just the players and teams who I have grievances with because the fanbase is equally annoying at the time. And as Frank Costanza once said, “I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it!”
By the way, credit to Ray Dunne for doing this idea first on air, and inspiring me to turn it into an article. I’m sure now that I have copied his content idea he will have yet another grievance with me. And for those unfamiliar with Festivus, here is a reminder of what we are talking about.
Here are 8 Philadelphia Sports Greivences I need to air this Festivus:
Spared From Grievances: The Flyers
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Who would have thought the Flyers would be the team we have the least grievances with come Festivus? They are playing some great hockey. Will it last? My guess is no. The overall talent is still lacking. But they were not supposed to win this year. They are in a rebuild. So any positives we get on the ice from them is icing on the cake. And John Tortorella has the young team playing great defense, with good goaltending behind it.
I tried, and I can’t think of anything to complain about with them. Danny Brierre and Keith Jones seem to be doing things right, and reports are that they won’t let this early success change their plans to build for the future. Everything is good in Flyers land right now. I have tons of grievances with how things were being handled up until this season, but I can’t blame the new management for that.
Nick Sirianni For His Offensive Scheme
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Brian Johnson has shouldered a lot of blame for how the offense has looked this week. But Nick said it himself, this is his offense and his scheme. Brian Johnson just calls the plays. Sirianni deserves the brunt of the blame for this offense’s struggles. He has steadfastly refused to add motion to the mix, even though all of the elite offenses in the NFL utilize motion heavily. They also utilize slants, RB screens, and curls less than most teams.
Jalen Hurts is being asked to make more difficult throws into tighter windows than any other QB. Nick, and Brian Johnson, need to find a way to make things easier for him.
Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, and Dak Prescott aren’t having great seasons just because they are playing well, but also because they often get to make easy throws. That is not a shot at them, it’s a compliment to the coaches for running a good scheme. You want your QB to be able to make difficult throws, but you don’t want to rely on them making those throws every play. That is not the case for Jalen Hurts right now though. There is too much pressure on him to be perfect, and it is leading to mistakes. A lot of that is on Hurts, but it falls on Nick Sirianni too.
Joel Embiid Coming Up Small In The Playoffs
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Embiid is one of the best players to ever play in Philly, period. He is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, and he is one of the best-scoring big men of all time. But there is one major flaw to his game, and it is the playoffs.
It is not all his fault. In every playoff series, he has been dealing with something. Whether it be a fractured eye, a torn ligament in his hand, a knee injury, or a teammate afraid to shoot a basketball. But eventually, the excuses run out, and he just needs to play better when it counts. Last year’s Celtics series was especially bad when he disappeared late in game 6 and was pretty much a no-show in game 7.
Embiid has somehow come back playing even better this year than he was in his MVP season. But he needs to break the 2nd round curse and do what he is doing now in the playoffs.
Howie Roseman Ignoring Certain Positions In The Draft
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Howie has done a lot of great things in Philly. He is the GM who led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl. He has built great O-Lines and D-Lines. And he has gotten much better at drafting, simply by taking players from winning schools.
But there is still one problem with how he drafts. He has not spent high capital on linebackers, safeties, or corners. And it just so happens those 3 positions are the weakest areas on the team right now. Your D-Line can’t get after the QB if they have no time to. Their cornerbacks are old and have lost a step. Their linebackers just aren’t good enough. This is a problem Howie caused by ignoring those positions for too long. I can’t blame him for the issues on offense. But he needs to get a ton of the blame for how this defense looks.
Trea Turner For Coming Up Short Even After Fans Got Behind Him
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Trea Turner’s first season with the Phillies was a bit of a disaster. The first 4 months were the worst baseball he has played in his career. Then that standing ovation happened. And for a bit, it worked. He was as good as any player in August and September. And he was great in the first two rounds. Then the NLCS came around. He wasn’t just bad against the Diamondbacks, he was kind of embarrassing. He and Nick Castellanos swung at literally everything. The ball could be at his shins, and he was swinging away. He also had one of the worst gloves among Short Stops in the MLB.
The Phillies paid him big money. The fans got behind him more than they have ever gotten behind a struggling player. And he came up incredibly small. This year he needs to be the player that was promised.
Jalen Hurts Not Playing Well Enough
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
I love Hurts. I still think he is a good QB. And I think he is being hampered by the coaching staff. But with all of that said, he has not been good enough. There are too many turnovers, and we continue to see him miss guys being open.
What is even more frustrating is how he says the same crap after every game about needing to live up to the standard, and the rent being due. Which is all fair. But when that continues to be the case, and you don’t get better, eventually that message gets annoying. Stop talking about fixing it, and just fix it. Sirianni is guilty of that as well. Accountability without action is not real accountability. Stop talking about it, and be better. You have the best O-line, and one of the best WR duos, in the NFL. You get paid more than 98% of the NFL. We saw how great you can be last season. Just get back to doing whatever it was you did in 2022.
