Not trying to piss anyone off with this, just thought it was relevant to go back and update the record after the Birds lost Super Bowl 57. Thanks to reader Eric for sending over the championship game/series list since the Sixers won it all in 1983:

  • Eagles 1-2 (lost Super Bowls 39 and 57, won Super Bowl 52)
  • Phillies 1-4 (lost 1983 World Series, lost 1993 World Series, won 2008 World Series, lost 2009 World Series, lost 2022 World Series)
  • Flyers 0-4 (lost Stanley Cup Finals in 1985, 1987, 1997, and 2010)
  • Sixers 0-1 (lost 2001 NBA Finals)
  • Union 0-1 (lost 2022 MLS Cup)

So local pro teams have had 12 chances to win titles and have succeeded twice. If you want to extend it a bit further, the Union are also 0-3 in the U.S. Open Cup Final, so there were three more chances to win trophies and we ended up on the losing end instead. Even Smarty Jones choked. Couldn’t get it done.

We do have Wings and Soul championships, though one team went away twice before coming back and other eventually was folded. If you keep it to the “four majors” we’re 2-11 and if you add the Union as the 5th team we’re 2-12 or 2-15, depending on how you look at it. You can add the Villanova championships of course, and extend this to college sports, but the average Temple/St. Joe’s/La Salle/Penn/PSU alumnus likely does not celebrate those and wasn’t on Market Street for the parade.

Ultimately, we still kind of suck. Awesome time for Philly sports, but we’re 0-3 in trying to win it all over the last four months. The Phillies and Union were not favored in the World Series or MLS Cup, but the Phils blew a 2-1 series lead and the U were up late in the game. The Eagles had a 10-point halftime lead. Fuckin brutal.