Welcome to “The Big Three-Oh!” I’m turning 30 at the end of July and to celebrate, I am counting down my best/favorite sports moments in my lifetime. If you missed the kickoff post, check it out for the background for the series. Hand up, I once again ran out of time to write #2 on Tuesday the 21st. I’m writing this on the morning of 22nd. If you follow the Thunderblog Instagram, you know what’s coming…
#2 — Super Bowl LII
The Eagles won the Super Bowl. So many things went wrong and so many more could have gone wrong, but the Eagles won Super Bowl LII on February 4th, 2018. Carson Wentz got hurt but the team kept fighting. Big Dick Nick and Big Balls Doug proved the haters wrong. I don’t need to recap the Eagles’ season nor the Super Bowl itself. Here’s my experience:
During the playoffs, Emily and her friends had gone to Garage Fishtown for every game and the Super Bowl was not going to be the exception. We were so afraid of not being able to grab a place for ourselves that we arrived at Garage around noon for a roughly 6 pm kickoff. We kept ourselves entertained watching the Waste Management Phoneix Open and the celebrity bowling tour. Friends of ours were in from out of town so there was catching up to be done. The hours flew by. At one point, I dropped my phone completely blacking my screen out. As much as I wanted to provide coverage from the bar to complement Matty D being in Minneapolis, I could not and the game would have my undivided attention. Looking back, I’m glad it happened. Life has a funny way of making those things work out.
After the game, everyone rushed out of the bar to El. We had to get to Center City. We joined the crowd on Broad Street near City Hall with fireworks blasting into the air from every direction. Jubilee had struck the city and rightfully so. For years, fans of the other NFC East teams would throw the “no Super Bowls” chirp around. As dumb as ring counting gets, having none was a tough pill to swallow and the retort of pre-Super Bowl championships was weak. The Eagles finally had their Super Bowl and it was instantly iconic.
The parade was the following Thursday. I missed the Phillies parade in ’08 because I was at Berkshire so there was no way I was missing this one. Despite my boss messing around with me, I was able to go to the parade. What a day. My friends and I smoked cigars and drank beers down Spring Garden street until our eventual spot at 19th and Callowhill. The party was raging with no sign of slowing down and once the Eagles reached the Art Museum steps, things really cranked up to 11. I always thought it was poetic that the 2017 season effectively started on the steps with the 2017 NFL Draft and ended on the same steps with the Super Bowl parade.
It was pretty clear that Super Bowl LII and the 2008 World Series would be the top two. As hard as it is to split hairs between the two, the World Series gets the edge for #1. I’ll explain why in that post. I don’t how it will be until the third pro sports title I’ll experience, hopefully not nearly another decade.
Today’s Instagram Athelte
Moses Malone comes in as #2. While I never got to see him play, he was a huge part of the other Philly pro sports title on the side of the 2008 Phillies: the 1983 Sixers. The Sixers had made the 1982 Finals only to lose to the Lakers. Malone came to Philly in the offseason and the Sixers won the NBA title in 1983. He tragically passed away a few years ago but I think he’d be happy with the current squad.
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