City of Champions?

By John McMullen

I am proclaiming the so-called Philadelphia drought over. OK...more like pretending.

Call it reverse psychology.

Let’s all quit complaining, enjoy our very own back-to-back Home Run Derby champs and pretend it‘s a significant accomplishment.

Sure, the Phillies have disappointed us all but thanks to Ryan Howard and Bobby Abreu; we are unbeatable in the derby baby!

When Howard bested the Mets’ David Wright to give the Fightins their second long ball winner in as many summers Monday night, he certainly overstated its impact.

“That’ll give the fans in Philly something to cheer about,” Howard told the assembled media. Of course Ryan is either nuts or he just doesn’t understand the city he plays in. Winning a ludicrous TV spectacle hardly makes up for the fact that Pat Gillick has cobbled together a donkey of a team.

Or does it?

Maybe if we pretend, the worm will turn.

Heck, if Howard’s derby win doesn’t do it for you, perhaps you can rejoice in the fact that the WWE and ECW championships changed hands on back-to-back nights (July 3-4) at the Wachovia Center right here in Philly.

Maybe, just maybe if we pretend these things are significant accomplishments, the dark entity that hovers over our city’s sports teams will return to where it belongs -- Cleveland.

-You can reach John McMullen at jmcmullen1@comcast.net or john@phillysportsline.com.


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Copyright 2006 The Phanatic