the winner, via the Eagles' Twitter

the winner, via the Eagles’ Twitter

[May I recommend listening to Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball while reading this post?]

Every year I do a Top 10 Philly Sports Moments of the Year post, in which I roll out, from 10 to 1, the… top 10 Philly sports moments of the year.

Problem this year: there aren’t 10.

There might not even be five.

The Flyers and Sixers didn’t play a meaningful game all year. Neither did the Phillies. And the Eagles only started doing so in November.

So, we’ll do it live:

10) Eagles beat the Redskins on Monday Night Football

Chip Kelly’s first game and the first legitimate reason to be excited about Philly sports since the Flyers were in the playoffs in 2012.

9) NA

8) NA

7) NA

6) NA

5) NA

4) Eagles crush the Bears before heading into the final week against Dallas

Even this was a mostly meaningless game, but it cemented what we were starting to feel about this team– that they are scary good and insanely likable. We’re from Philadelphia and we fight.

3) Brandon Boykin’s interception to clinch the NFC East

It’s the first time in nearly two years that I recall jumping out of my seat and screaming in weird ecstasy about a major Philly sports moment. Really, think of the last time there was a play that actually impacted the course of a season. You’ve got to go back to:

2) The Southwest Philly Floater

This was number one until three weeks ago. Shoutout to my Mom and my cousin Bern.

1) Snow Bowl

This, not the Cowboys game, will be the one you remember 10 years from now. Major snowstorm hits right at game-time, appears to endanger the entire season. The Eagles look finished and then EXPLODE for 28 fourth quarter points and LeSean McCoy sets an Eagles single-game rushing record… in the snow. Merry Christmas, Philadelphia.

Athlete of the Year: LeSean McCoy

Not sure you can even make an argument here. He was the best player for the best team in the city.

Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly

First year as an NFL head coach– wins the division, has leading passer and rusher in league. Yeah, he’s for real.

Douchebag Media Member of the Year: Randy Miller

Oh boy, was this a tough one. The Core 4, as a whole, might take it. But Miller defending Bryz and then bashing him the minute he got cut was one of the most pathetic things I’ve seen from a sportswriter, perhaps ever.

Special runner-up: Flyers beat writers complaining about Instagram.

Most Awkward Moment of the Year: Paul Holmgren has no time for Michael Barkann’s antics

Holmgren_joke

Lowest Point of the Year: Charlie Manuel gets fired

Probably the saddest you felt about the state of the Phillies was when Ruben Amaro threw Charlie under a bus in a fucking-a-beach-ball firing.

Best Drunk Athlete Encounter: These guys bumped into Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee in Center City

Boner of the Year: Our new logo

CrossingBroadlogo

Quote of the Year: “We’re from Philadelphia and we fight.”

This will be on his statue when the Eagles win the Super Bowl. [It’s also on a t-shirt.]

Hottest Significant Other of the Year: Cody Asche’s girlfriend, Angie

Delicious.

We look forward to seeing more of her in 2014.

Biggest Dick-Punch of the Year: Shane Victorino Hits Grand Slam to Send Red Sox to World Series

Twitter Fight of the Year: LeSean McCoy and his baby mama

Not even close.

Biggest Storyline of the Year: Chip Kelly

Did Chip Kelly do something unconventional today? He did.

Our top ten most-viewed posts of the year. Keep in mind, these are not necessarily the most popular stories or most meaningful ones. These are usually the things that get linked to or searched for from the outside, not the ones that our most frequent readers, who check the home page multiple times per day, remember the most.

10) Philadelphia Ruined Miley Cyrus

Leave it to Miley to kick off our Top 10.

9) Here’s What Just Happened on WIP

The post explaining why Glen Macnow left the WIP Afternoon Show and that Rob Ellis would be taking his spot.

8) This Alex Ovechkin GIF Wins Today

No idea.

7) Riley Cooper was Made Aware of Video Before Its Release

First of many Riley posts.

6) Did You See Riley Cooper “Fighting” at the Kenny Chesney Concert?

Our post from the day after the concert, two months before the infamous video release.

5) LeSean McCoy Had Some Epic Baby Mama Drama on Saturday Night

LeSean McCoy and his baby mama go at it, hard and nastily, on Twitter. LeSean McCoy being the best running back in the NFL has evaporated this from my memory, oddly enough.

4) Lil Snupe, Meek Mill’s 18-Year-Old Protege Who Caused DeSean Jackson to Lose $10,000 in a Rap Battle, is Rumored to Have Been Killed Over a Dice Game

Respect.

3) Boston Running Updates

Our running commentary from the final manhunt and standoff of the Boston Marathon Bombing coverage. I went almost 24 hours with no sleep, listening to police scanners and following updates on Twitter. This was my favorite post of the year– there was a satisfying calm when Jafar was caught, bloodied, in a boat.

2) Go Screw, Boston

Oddly, two of the top three posts had to do with Boston. This screed, which I almost didn’t write because I thought it was hacky, wound up going viral in Boston during the World Series. Most of the feedback was positive, believe it or not.

1) Here’s Video of Riley Cooper Saying He Will Fight Every [N-word] at the Kenny Chesney Concert

Needless to say, this wasn’t even close. You could’ve split the visits on this one and wound up with the number one, two and four posts of the year. Still, season status: not ruined.

Final stats (for advertisers who may want to throw us money in the New Year):

11.8 million page views

7.6 million visits

2.5 million unique visitors

Google estimates a 60-40 male-female breakdown and that the largest group of visitors (33%) fell between the ages of 25-34. The next two highest: 18-24 (27%) and 35-44 (15%).

The most popular country of origin, besides the US and Canada, was the UK– with 20k visits. We had one visit from Tajikistan.

The most popular browser is Safari (which includes IOS), then Chrome, then IE, then Firefox. Shoutout to the 2,000 visits from folks using IE 6.0!

My favorite network referrals? The 5,104 visits from the overlords at NBC Universal. The 4,007 visits from the Department of Homeland Security. The 3,772 visits from Google Inc. The 514 visits from Apple Inc. The 477 visits from the United States Senate. The 233 visits from the Central Intelligence Agency. The 96 visits from the New York Times Company. The two visits from the William J. Clinton Foundation. The two visits from the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The one visit from the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. The one visit from the Houses of Parliament. And the 35 visits from the Executive Office of the President (that’s the West Wing).

Let’s do some silly, 2014.