• March 28, 2024

Do The Phillies Now Own The City Of Philadelphia?

Do you buy Philly.com’s poll of Philly sports fans which has the Phillies beating the Eagles in terms of popularity by a 54 to 30 margin?

I think the Phillies have closed much of the gap on the Eagles but a poll which would tell us that they nearly double the popularity of the Birds is over the top, as far as I’m concerned.

The Eagles did hurt themselves in terms of popularity when they let popular Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins leave for Denver for a better contract, then later on in the off season they spent millions signing “the then radioactive” Michael Vick, who had spent a couple years in jail for running a dogfighting ring.

I do think the Phillies have benefitted from the fact that they won a World Series championship shortly after they put this team together.¬† Nobody has had the time to focus on them when they weren’t champions.

The Eagles did the worst thing you can do nowadays in professional sports, get close.  The team that loses the Super Bowl is considered the biggest loser because they lost on the biggest stage and in front of the biggest audience.

Nobody talks much about the bad teams, but a team that’s always getting close like the Eagles will get the “fine tooth comb” treatment, especially in a city like Philadelphia.

Winning a Super Bowl championship will alleviate this problem, but if the Phillies win another one this year and the Eagles stink up the joint next season,  the study might wind up being right.

GCOBB

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runtheball09
runtheball09
May 5, 2010 6:48 am

Mcnabb, Westbrook and Dawkins? Yes I believe it

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 5, 2010 6:55 am

That spread is way to far apart.. 54% to 30%.. No way..
I do think the Phillies has promoted their team and the sport of baseball better that the Eagles have
ove rthe last few years and the daily sell-outs at CItizens proves that Delaware-Valley just loves it ‘s
Phiting Phil’s and it’s players,coaches and Stadium..
Phialdelphia is still “Blue-Collar type of town and it’s fans will supoprt teams who heustle,try hard and don’t give excuses when they fall short.. A big growth of the popularity for the the Phillies has how Manager C Manuel handles the team and the media as opposed to how AR has handled things over the last few years… Sometimes AR comes across as a little arrogant, or aloof and talks in circles where C Manuel is going to tell it like it is….

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
May 5, 2010 7:01 am

Paulman really hits the point in that the Phils are accessible to most people in Philly. From Charlie on the down the players are likeable, they work hard and they take responsibility. Eagles are the opposite. Reid is never straightforward, they always go against the grain and the players/organization snipe at each other all the time through the media.

It doesn’t hurt that they won a WS either.

phillywill
phillywill
May 5, 2010 7:12 am

yea i agree with runtheball like yeah this is a phils town who the hell r these eagles. paulman is like howard eskin its like he is on eagles payroll ur speaking out ur love for the eagles not the city’s. And andy reid is trying very hard 2 win the people this yr very very hard if yall cant c that omg wtf

JoePa89
JoePa89
May 5, 2010 7:44 am

I would disagree. The poll was taken when the Phillies were in first place and the Eagles are in the off season. I’m not saying it’s going to happen but if the Eagles go into Mid October playing San Fran Sunday night with one loss and just beating Washington and the Phillies are playing Cardinals in the division series I would wager the same poll would overwhelmingly be in favor of the Eagles.

birdpoop
birdpoop
May 5, 2010 7:56 am

Who in their right mind would rout for a team like the Eagles that are not commited to winning ,just spending enough to have a upove average team ,to keep the seats filled ,the merchandise being sold ,the tv revenue keep coming in ,etc.

The Silencer
The Silencer
May 5, 2010 8:34 am

Its come down to personal preference. I’m an all Philly sports fan, but the Eagles are special to me so I go with Eagles..u don’t hear people saying I bleed red..and for the most part Eagles offseason has clearly been the topic of discussion on here and most Philly blogs..So instead of talking about the concerns with our phillies bullpen , there are stupid garbage articles on here like criticizing our NUMBER ONE receiver DeSean “The Silcencer” Jackson.

phillywill
phillywill
May 5, 2010 8:42 am

hit the nail on the head silencer they do just enuf its awful this yr’s just enuf was making a certain portion of ppl in the city happy so let the qb go it wasnt a decision made 2 win a sb just 2 keep selling tix its horrible and i bleed red and white silencer phitans sixers redskins

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
May 5, 2010 9:23 am

I think this town will always be a football 1st town but the obviously the reason more people follow the Phillies now is because they are winning. But what that means to me is that a lot of the people are “fair-weather” fans and not real fans because now they are really following them. Baseball can easily be followed by the casual fan and kids more than football. For instance you have a bunch of teenage girls that will wear Philly gear and not watch a game all year long except the ones they go to. These are not real fans. These are people that just all of a sudden became fans when they started winning. As stated earlier, the fact that the faces of the Eagles for the last decade are gone as well contributes a little as people will find it harder to identify with the team than previously. In the end I’ll always see this as a football town when the Eagles are winning and when they are losing. Just listen to the radio and see that people want to talk about the Eagles all year round.

phillywill
phillywill
May 5, 2010 9:27 am

u say football town but really its basketball a couple kids may play ftball in highschool but philly a bball town every basketball court is crowded when the weather is nice u dont see any1 ona football field maybe a few drunks playing softball but thats it we may watch football cause our bball team sucks but its a bbal town by far

mjacobs45
mjacobs45
May 5, 2010 10:04 am

It’s a football town and always will be. The poll was taken in March which and the Phils are coming off two great seasons. Re-take the poll if/when the Eagles beat the Cowboys….or when Donovan (and his parents) come back to town. Baseball is a nice pastime…..football is religion.

phillywill
phillywill
May 5, 2010 10:46 am

no1 plays football

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
May 5, 2010 12:05 pm

Polls, Polls, Polls
1 Poll I read recently said Paulman was a good reporter and knowledgeable 81% Yes -19 % No,
In another Poll, Paulman was the biggest idiot this side of the Mississippi 79% Yes – 20% most likely and 1 % thought I was pertty normal (vote casted by my Mother)
The point I am trying to make is that Polls are meaningless,(as are most of my postings) Sport fans are going to support their teams and especially when they are playing well.Football will always have more passionate fans for there is only 1 game a week to get worked up about, all day tailagtes, betting on football pools,going to football parites or the local corner Bar to watch the games with friends..It’s the comrarderie as much as it is the game where Baseball has 162 games and more laid back (until the playoff push at the end of the season comes)
If the Eagles were to win a Super Bowl, they would be King of Philly, but right now I would have to say it belongs to the Phillies about 55% to 44 % until Football season starts then closer to 50/50 %
depending if the Phillies are playoff bound..

True_Eagles_Fan
True_Eagles_Fan
May 5, 2010 12:44 pm

Phillywill when they say its a Eagles or Phillies town it means everywhere the fan base extends outside the city. If you want to talk about people playing sports look at the fields from april till september you got little leagues going all spring and summer and adult softball going through the same. So just because a few people play bball it dont make it a bball city. In Jersey and North and South of the City Baseball is KING

True_Eagles_Fan
True_Eagles_Fan
May 5, 2010 12:45 pm

N and S meaning in Pa

drummerwinslow
drummerwinslow
May 5, 2010 1:53 pm

I believe it’s still a football town, but as the saying goes, “Everybody loves a winner.”

I’m not a baseball fan and have never been. I find the game boring. However, because we have a top team, I watch whenever I can.

In terms of attendance, I believe baseball will always be No. 1 because it’s a spring/summer sport, it’s cheaper than football and because of the number of games played.

With that said, if the Eagles ever won the Superbowl, the celebration would probably dwarf the Phillies World Series’.

I find it amazing how quickly and abruptly this “baseball town” changed. Like I said, I’m not a fan, but from reading the newspapers and blogs and from listening to the radio, I thought Charlie Manuel was not only the worst manager in baseball, but also one of the dumbest human beings who ever tried to articulate the English language.

He was absolutely vilified. I felt sorry for him because the barrage of criticism was constant and personal. The same holds true for some of the players, i.e., Pat the Bat and even Ryan Howard. Now, we have all this “love” for our team.

Honestly, McNabb was treated similarly. I wonder if things would have been different if had he won a title. By the way, wasn’t there some talk about trading Ryan Howard this year?

I’ve always felt we treated our athletes too hard. I mean, the idea is to cheer our teams onto wins/championships. I feel like we’re sometimes counter-productive in terms of reaching that goal. I’m not saying athletes shouldn’t be criticized, but we sometimes go way past criticism. A great majority of people outside of Philly believe the same. Perhaps, the nation is wrong, and Philly fans are right.

midnightgreen85
midnightgreen85
May 6, 2010 6:01 am

if they took this poll during the football season (even in the overlap between MLB and NFL), the numbers would be completely different..