The 21st Century So Far: Ranking Each Year of Philly Sports

Published December 30, 2018

And now on to the third and final chapter in this countdown (countup?). We’ve had some lean years so far this century in Philadelphia sports, but here are the seven best years that our local teams have had to offer, as ranked by our panel of experts (me). A recap so far of the years we’ve already covered, starting with the worst…

- 2015: Chip Kelly and Ryne Sandberg’s failures highlight a miserable year

- 2014: Eagles are stuck in neutral, while the rest of the teams aren’t any better

- 2013: Sam Hinkie begins “the process”, no playoff wins for any Philly teams

- 2006: Flyers clean house, Sixers trade Iverson

- 2011: Phillies’ run of dominance ends in spectacular fashion with playoff loss, Howard injury

- 2012: Andy Reid’s final season with Eagles is a disaster, Phillies start downward trend

- 2007: Phils finally get back to playoffs, entice us with future possibilities

- 2016: Wentz and Pederson have uneven results in their first seasons as Eagles QB/coach

- 2003: Eagles lose NFC title game to Tampa, open Lincoln Financial Field the following fall

- 2001: Sixers reach NBA Finals on the back of MVP Iverson before losing to Lakers

- 2017: Eagles steamroll competition but lose Wentz to injury, setting the stage for drama in the new year

- 2004: T.O. comes aboard to lead Eagles to a tremendous season

And now the top seven years, from #7 to #1…

2002

The Narrative: The Eagles come right out of the gate and win two playoff games, surprisingly advancing to the NFC Championship Game. Nobody gives them a chance against the high-powered St. Louis Rams, but the Eagles hang tough before eventually falling 29-24. They would build on their strong playoff showing by going 12-4 in the 2002 regular season.

Positives: Pat Burrell emerges as a legitimate power hitter for the Phillies, clubbing 37 home runs with 116 RBI. Donovan McNabb’s injury during the 2002 regular season seems ominous, but AJ Feeley picks up the slack and is excellent while McNabb recovers. Jeremy Roenick has an entertaining and productive first season with the Flyers; he seems like a natural fit.

Negatives: The Phillies slip to 80 wins. They also part ways with disgruntled third basemen Scott Rolen at the trade deadline, shipping him to St. Louis. The trade itself is a positive because the guy was a cancer to the team, but what they get in return is horrendous. The Flyers have a typically good regular season but then manage just two goals in a five-game first round playoff loss to Ottawa. The Sixers get bounced in the first round.

2000

The Narrative: After three straight horrible seasons, the Eagles come alive in Year 2 of the Donovan McNabb/Andy Reid era. They go 11-5 and go on to win a playoff game. It is a sign of big things to come. The Sixers, firmly entrenched in Allen Iverson’s heyday, also win a playoff round. And the Flyers make a run all the way to the Eastern Conference Final. 

Positives: In addition to good showings in the playoffs by the teams mentioned above, the combo of McNabb and Iverson give the town huge star power. Flyers rookie goaltender Brian Boucher also shows immense potential in his first taste of NHL action. The team wins an epic 5-OT thriller against Pittsburgh in the second round to propel them to a win in the series.

Negatives: The Phillies. In Terry Francona’s fourth and final miserable season managing the team, they win just 65 games. The pitching is especially bad, and longtime ace Curt Schilling is traded during the season. On the Flyers end, their loss in the playoffs is especially painful, as it coincides with Scott Stevens’ infamous headshot on Eric Lindros in Game 7. It is probably the most devastating on-ice moment in the history of the franchise. The Big E would not suit up for the Flyers again. Oh, and GM Bob Clarke makes some less than ideal comments about head coach Roger Nielson’s cancer battle and subsequent leave of absence.

2005

The Narrative: The Eagles finally get back to the Super Bowl, winning the NFC title on their fourth try with a victory over the Falcons. The whole 2004 season, the Eagles had run roughshod over the league, but as the calendar turned to the new year, all anyone was wondering was “How are they going to blow it this year”? But they don’t. At least, not until the Super Bowl itself. In an agonizingly close game, the Eagles lose to the Patriots by a field goal. “The Curse of Billy Penn” continues, going strong into its third decade by that point.

Positives: Under new manager Charlie Manuel, the Phillies miss out on the wild card by a single game, but Chase Utley establishes himself as a stud and Ryan Howard wins NL Rookie of the Year honors. Over a decade after being dealt away in the Eric Lindros trade, Peter Forsberg dons a Flyers uniform for the first time following an entire season cancelled by the NHL lockout. When healthy, he is dominant. The Flyers also see a pair of promising rookies debut in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.

Negatives: The Eagles are victims of a Super Bowl hangover during their 2005 regular season and fall off a cliff, going 6-10. Donovan McNabb gets hurt, giving way to Mike McMahon, who is terrible. Terrell Owens gets booted off the team for his increasingly ridiculous behavior. A middling Sixers team loses in the first round of the playoffs.

2009

The Narrative: Seeking to become repeat champions, the Phillies make their way back to the playoffs and then have an easy time reaching the World Series again. Deadline acquisition/new ace Cliff Lee dazzles in a Game 1 victory at Yankee Stadium, and it seems like the Phillies are going to roll. But only Lee and Chase Utley seem like they have come to play, and the Phillies are beaten by the Yankees in six games. They don’t get any timely hitting, and the bullpen lets them down. Suddenly, the good feelings of 2008 seem a world away.

Positives: The Eagles win a pair of road playoff games before falling to a very good Arizona team in the NFC Championship Game. The surprise run seems to breathe new life into the team, and they make the playoffs again following the 2009 regular season. The Flyers make a big offseason move by bringing in defenseman Chris Pronger. A few months after the World Series disappointment, the Phillies trade for Toronto ace Roy Halladay, although they do trade away Lee on the same day for some reason.

Negatives: Shortly after the baseball season begins, Harry Kalas passes away, leaving a void in the fanbase that had grown up and learned baseball by listening to him. A solid season by the Flyers ends poorly in a first-round playoff loss to the Penguins, who add insult to injury by going on to win the Stanley Cup. Trying to force a decisive Game 7, the Flyers blow a 3-0 lead at home in Game 6. The Sixers finish right at .500 and lose in six games in the first round for what feels like about the 50th season in a row.

2010

The Narrative: After an up-and-down regular season, the Flyers sneak into the playoffs in their final game by beating the Rangers in a shootout. But they don’t stop there. They win in the first round. But then they drop the first three games to Boston to fall into an impossible hole. Yet, in a comeback for the ages, they reel off four straight wins (including a 4-3 win in Game 7 after they trailed 3-0) to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They win that round, too, and move on to the Stanley Cup Final to face the Blackhawks. But after a hard-fought series, the clock strikes midnight and the Flyers fall short of the Cup when Patrick Kane scores an awful goal in overtime of Game 6 that nobody realizes went in. Typical Flyers stuff, you know. Also, the Flyers had missed out on picking Kane first overall three years earlier when Chicago won the draft lottery over them. Uggggggh.

Positives: The Phillies post the best record in all of baseball with 97 wins. Roy Halladay has a season for the ages, throwing a perfect game during the regular season and then a no-hitter in the playoffs. He appropriately wins the Cy Young.

Negatives: The Eagles lose in Dallas twice before 2010 is ten days old. First, they drop a Week 17 game that costs them the division, then they get smoked the following week in a first-round playoff game. The aggregate score of the two games is 58-14. It doesn’t get much worse. A crappy end to what had been a good season until then. The Phillies, meanwhile, can’t make a third straight World Series appearance, dropping the NLCS to the Giants. I get to see the final game in person. It was terrible. The Sixers are garbage. 

2008

The Narrative: Philadelphia has its champion as the Phillies break through to give the city its first title in a quarter of a century thanks to the big bats of Howard and Utley, the playoff heroics of Cole Hamels, and Brad Lidge shutting the door in the 9th inning all season long to solidify an excellent bullpen. The Phils win a tight NL East race during the regular season and then go 11-3 in playoff series wins over the Brewers, Dodgers and Rays en route to immortality. For many fans of the city, it is their first taste of glory.

Positives: Despite an uneven regular season, the Eagles go into Dallas in Week 17 and blitz the Cowboys 44-6 to snatch a wild card spot away from their rivals. The Flyers return to relevance by making a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Budding star Mike Richards and marquis free agent signing Danny Briere lead the way.

Negatives: That Flyers’ playoff run ends at the hands of the Penguins, marking the beginning of a long stretch where the team would take a backseat to Sidney Crosby and its cross-state rivals. The 76ers are sub-.500 but still make the playoffs in the awful Eastern Conference, losing to Detroit in the first round.

2018

The Narrative: In an occurrence you may have heard a bit about by now, the Eagles win the Super Bowl. It is the moment that loyal Birds fans had been waiting generations for, and that WIP’s frequent, flip-flopping callers had been waiting two weeks for. Nick Foles is Super Bowl MVP as he outduels the GOAT Tom Brady, coach Doug Pederson is a genius, and center Jason Kelce achieves deity status with his costume and speech at the parade. It is truly the zenith of being a Philadelphia sports fan, and the goodwill that accompanies it throughout the Delaware Valley could never been ruined, not even in a sports year that prominently features Gabe Kapler.

Positives: Villanova’s men again survive March Madness, winning their second NCAA title in three seasons. The Sixers improve by leaps and bounds as Sam Hinkie’s “process” finally starts to bear fruit. They make the second round of the playoffs. Aaron Nola has a Cy Young-caliber season for the Phillies. The Flyers make a late run to secure a playoff spot.

Negatives: The Flyers can’t keep the puck out of their net in said playoffs, losing in the first round to the Penguins. Shortly into the next season, they fire GM Ron Hextall and coach Dave Hakstol as a state of confusion surrounds the franchise. Brian Colangelo tries to torpedo the 76ers with that whole Twitter fiasco. And it becomes readily apparent that Markelle Fultz is a huge mistake. Also, Gabe Kapler happened.

That wraps it up for this series on PhillySportsComplex, and for our content this year. Much more to come in 2019! Keep reading. Please!

Published December 22, 2018

As we speed towards the end of this year, it’s time to look back. Not just on the past 12 months, but much further back. Now 19 years into this century, we can say that we have enough of a sample size to start drawing some conclusions and making comparisons.

The goal of this three-part series is to examine each year in terms of the Philadelphia sports landscape and rank just how good or bad it was for the teams and, by extension and more importantly, the fans.

And remember, we are looking at the CALENDAR YEAR, which makes things kind of weird with regard to NFL playoff games that occur in a different year than the regular season that preceded them. You’ve been warned, but you’ll get the hang of it.

Would this series of articles make more sense next year as we end the decade and have a nice round 20-year sample to deal with? Yes, absolutely. But we’re doing it now, so too bad. Off we go, and we are starting from the bottom…

2015

The Narrative: Entering Year Three of the Reign of Chip Kelly, who now has assumed absolute control over everything, the Eagles are still expected to be a contender. Kelly trades away LeSean McCoy in the spring as he constructs his roster exactly how he wants it. That same day, the Eagles acquire Sam Bradford to be their quarterback, sending Nick Foles to the Rams in the process. The team also makes a surprise move to bring in the NFL’s leading rusher, DeMarco Murray, prying him away from the Cowboys. Everything blows up in Kelly’s face and the Eagles stink up the joint. With the team 6-9 and about to finish its miserable season, Jeff Lurie tries to restore some sanity to the organization by firing Kelly.

Positives: Cole Hamels throws a no-hitter in his final start as a Phillie before he gets traded. That’s just the kind of year it is; we can’t have anything nice.

Negatives: The Phillies are an unmitigated disaster, losing 99 games to finish with the worst record in baseball. Ryne Sandberg quits mid-season, and the team fires Ruben Amaro Jr. in the season’s final month (which is actually a positive). The team trades Chase Utley. The 76ers finish up an awful regular season by losing 10 straight games, then begin the next regular season with 18 consecutive losses. The team goes 17-69 in the calendar year of 2015. The Flyers don’t even come close to a playoff spot, and they bring in Dave Hakstol as head coach in the offseason.

2014

The Narrative: The Eagles enter Year Two of the Chip Kelly era, and they are an impressive 9-3 as the calendar turns to December. But they lose three straight games and are eliminated from the playoff mix, even with a 9-6 record at that point. They finish 10-6, but miss the playoffs. It is a year of stagnation when much, much more from the team and its coach was expected.

Positives: Michael Carter-Williams wins NBA Rookie of the Year. The Sixers get Joel Embiid in the NBA draft, although that one takes several years to pay off. 

Negatives: Way back in January, Year One of Chip Kelly’s reign ends meekly as the Eagles lose at home in the playoffs against New Orleans. In the offseason, they (Chip) cut DeSean Jackson for no good reason. The Sixers stink on the actual hardwood, winning just 19 games. The Flyers rebound from their typical bad start to the season to make the playoffs, but they lose a 7-gamer to the Rangers. The Phillies post the same 73-89 record that they did the previous season as Ryne Sandberg struggles to find his footing as a major league manager.

2013

The Narrative: With the stale voice of Andy Reid gone, the Eagles hire shiny new toy Chip Kelly to lead them to the promised land. The team’s exciting play produces mostly good results, as they win the NFC East by going 10-6. 

Positives: The Eagles’ offense is off the charts. Nick Foles has an incredible year in place of an injured Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson has the best season of his career, and LeSean McCoy leads the league in rushing.

Negatives: The Phillies suffer through a disastrous 73-win season. Charlie Manuel loses his job, and (in a move that looked good at the time), the team promotes manager-in-waiting Ryne Sandberg. In a lockout-shortened NHL season, the Flyers never get off the ground, missing the playoffs. The following regular season, coach Peter Laviolette gets canned after just three games. The Sixers also miss the playoffs, and then they hire Sam Hinkie. The tanking begins.

2006

The Narrative: With Donovan McNabb injured (again) and the Eagles looking dead at 5-6, Jeff Garcia leads them on a miraculous run to end the season. The Eagles win five straight games, including a 23-7 win in Dallas on Christmas Day to finish 10-6 and take the NFC East. Brian Westbrook fully emerges as the team’s ultimate weapon on offense.

Positives: Ryan Howard blasts a team record 58 home runs and knocks in 149 runs to go along with a .313 batting average en route to winning NL MVP honors. Aaron Rowand puts his face through a wall to earn eternal street cred in Philly. Cole Hamels debuts. The Phillies fall just short of the playoffs again, but sure look good doing it.

Negatives: The Flyers lose in the first round of the 2006 playoffs despite Peter Forsberg’s best efforts. Then, when the following season starts, they win just one of their first eight games and clean house, firing GM Bob Clarke and head coach Ken Hitchcock to go along with a slew of roster moves. That season would go on to be nothing short of a total trainwreck. New coach Mo Cheeks can’t get the Sixers to the playoffs. The 76ers also part ways with Allen Iverson, trading him to Denver in December.

2011

The Narrative: With a stout rotation following the reacquisition of Cliff Lee, the Phillies are easily the best team in baseball as they win 102 games. But they run into the troublesome Cardinals in the first round, where they are given all they can handle. In the deciding fifth game, Roy Halladay is on the wrong end of a 1-0 pitchers’ duel, and the dream comes to a crushing end when Ryan Howard’s Achilles tendon explodes as he tries to run to first base. The season ends. The Phillies’ run of division titles ends. Howard’s productive years end. A franchise-shattering finish to what looked like it was going to be a championship season.

Positives: The Flyers win their division and come back to beat Buffalo in a 7-game first round playoff series. The Sixers finish at .500 and make the playoffs, which qualifies as a big positive during this time in their history.

Negatives: On the heels of a 10-6 regular season and NFC East crown, the Eagles lose at home to Green Bay in the first round of the playoffs. In the 2011 regular season, they go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. Once the Flyers get into the second round, the wheels fall off and they are swept by Boston. That offseason, the team goes crazy, trading away Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. They get good pieces in return, but the moves are all basically done so that the team can clear cap space in order to sign Ilya Bryzgalov. It would be a mistake of epic proportions. Chris Pronger takes a stick to the eye and never plays again.

2012

The Narrative: Entering his fourteenth season as Eagles head coach, Andy Reid seems tired, his time in town nearing its end. Tragically, his son passes away during Eagles training camp. The team seems to rally around its beleaguered head coach as they start the year 3-1, but the good feelings don’t last. They endure a disastrous 8-game losing streak and finish off the year at 4-12. Reid is fired on New Year’s Eve, and an era of Eagles football is over.

Positives: In a lockout-shortened NBA season, the Sixers make the playoffs and then win a round when the Bulls’ best player gets hurt. They take the Celtics to Game 7 in the second round before they are eliminated. The Flyers score a first round playoff victory over the hated Penguins before falling to New Jersey in the second round.

Negatives: The Phillies’ slide begins. As Ryan Howard misses half the season (a remnant of his season-ending Achilles injury the previous October), the offense packs little punch. Roy Halladay even looks mortal. Hunter Pence, the team’s big trade acquisition just one year before, is flipped at the deadline to the Giants, who go on to win the World Series. The Phillies finish at .500, and their run of five straight division titles/playoff appearances is over. 

There will be a couple “year-end lists” on this site (we like lists) as we careen towards the end of 2018, so let’s now take a closer look at some people that stood out this year. And by “stood out”, I don’t mean in a good way.

Whether they played lousy or coached lousy, served as a source of embarrassment because of their constant injuries or simply made a boob of themselves, these are the ten people that I believe encompass the worst of 2018 in Philadelphia sports. 

Thanks to the good vibes surrounding a Super Bowl victory, there wasn’t as much vitriol to draw on this year as compared to the way it normally would be in a typical Philadelphia sports year. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to go easy on certain people. So let’s dish out the year-end disdain…

10. Scott Kingery – The Phillies’ much-ballyhooed prospect signed a six-year contract (plus three option years) in March, BEFORE he ever took the field in an MLB game. The team was clearly expecting big things, and they took a calculated risk to lock him up long-term before he cost them an arm and a leg down the road. It’s a move that very well may pay off down the road. But Kingery’s first season, to put it mildly, did not go as planned. He finished with a WAR (wins above replacement, but you already knew that) of -1.4, which was easily the worst on a team that was riddled with holes. In 147 games played, he finished with a measly 8 home runs and 35 RBI, a far cry from the potential he had shown in the minors in 2017. To be fair, the Phillies did shift him away from his natural second base position for most of the season, basically expecting him to learn how to play shortstop in the majors on the fly. That kind of thing is never conducive to success for a young player. But Kingery did show some brief flashes, and hopes are still high enough within the team and fanbase that he can become a building block despite his struggles so far. In 2018, though, he was undeniably poor.

9. Michal Neuvirth – Somebody had to take the fall and represent the Flyers’ goaltending as a group, so it might as well be this guy. And the thing is, he has actually had pretty good results when he’s played this calendar year. But therein lies the problem…Neuvirth is perhaps the most injury prone athlete we’ve seen in this town for years. And this is a guy who just turned 30 years old back in March. Staying healthy enough to help your team win games is a key part of athletic endeavors, and Neuvirth comes up woefully short in that area. We suspected it all along, but in 2018 especially, he proved himself incapable of helping the Flyers because he simply can’t stay on the ice. He also got bombed for 7 goals in a game in the playoffs last spring with the Flyers facing elimination, so that was a terrible end to the season. He’s followed that up this season by playing in just two games so far (again, injuries), during which he’s allowed 9 goals in 4 periods played. The rest of the Flyers’ sucky goaltending crew deserves to be here too, but if I have to choose just one person to be emblematic of their collective failure, it’s Neuvirth.

8. Carlos Santana – What if I told you that a player hit .249 and averaged 24 home runs and 81 RBI in his first seven full MLB seasons, at which point said player went to a new team and hit .229 there with 24 home runs and 86 RBI? You’d say he’s pretty consistent and that the new team got what they expected, right? If so, then why all the hate for Carlos Santana, the Phillies’ now dearly departed (traded, not dead) first baseman? First, as usual, it’s about money. Santana got a 3-year, $60 million deal from the team, so expectations were immediately established. Never mind that the guy was 31 years old and clearly wasn’t going to turn into something he wasn’t already. Fans were also baffled about why the Phillies felt the need to go out and sign a first baseman when it appeared that they were already set at that position for years to come with Rhys Hoskins. Well, in a fatal misstep by the Phils, they figured they could hide Hoskins in the outfield and that he would be at least a competent fielder. He wasn’t, and the Phillies effectively got weaker at two positions by signing Santana. And this is saying nothing of the fact that Santana seemed more content to keep the bat on his shoulder and take walks than to actually swing it and drive in runs like a middle-of-the-order hitter should be doing. All in all, it was just a poor fit from the start, and both parties will be better off now that he’s gone.

7. Andrew MacDonald – It’s not just the Flyers’ goaltending that deserves to get hammered for the team’s playoff flameout last season and horrid start to the current campaign. Once again, there is a lot of blame to pass around, but if one player can be selected to represent the Flyers’ defensemen, it has to be MacDonald. As we all know, he has been an albatross for years, a slow and ineffective defender that doesn’t bring much to the table when he’s playing while simultaneously carrying an awful contract that even dearly departed GM Ron Hextall (fired, not dead) could rid the team of. He seems to drag down whatever other defenseman he’s paired with, and he’s routinely seen standing by himself not tying anyone up whenever the other team scores. That’s a big generalization, but I really do feel like I see it every game. Other Flyers blueliners like Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov seem to have taken a step back this season for some unknown reason, and that is certainly not helping the team’s performance as it slogs through a forgettable year. But a boat anchor like MacDonald offers no hope for the present or future, and he’s STILL under contract for another season after this one. UGGGGGGGGGGH.

6. Bryan Colangelo – Boy, this was really stupid. Just as THE PROCESS seemed to finally be working, the Sixers’ collar-popping GM found himself embroiled in a Twitter scandal where accounts linked to him were found to be posting internal information and making less than flattering comments about some players. The organization itself came off looking foolish during this time period as well, as they dragged their feet on the “investigation” into things and seemed completely at a loss about what to do. Finally, after nine days of this garbage (which felt like about six months), Colangelo resigned his post. In the process, he threw his wife under the bus for posting the information without his knowledge, claiming innocence of any actual wrongdoing himself. Good luck in divorce court, Bryan. To top it all off, this was right as the 76ers were entering their most important offseason in years, one that could help them take the final step from “up and coming team” to “legitimate contender” if the right draft and free agency moves were made. Instead, Colangelo screwed that all up and the team crapped the bed over the summer as it struck out on LeBron and others. Getting Jimmy Butler earlier this season has definitely helped right the ship, but Colangelo steered it into some unnecessary troubled waters with his senselessness and ignorance.