May 18, 2016
You can call it a sea of change, a changing of the guard, generation next, or just a bold step into the future. Whatever words you choose, whatever expression you prefer, and whatever your attachment is to things of the past, there is no getting around the fact that there’s a simultaneous shift underway – and all four Philadelphia sports franchises are about to take their collective first steps into what should be very bright futures.
Granted, the world of pro sports is all about moving on quickly. A generation to a professional sports team is rarely longer than seven years, but to have an entire roster of teams making that move at the same time is truly rare – yet that’s just what is taking place in Philadelphia.
The local sports landscape shifted noticeably on Tuesday night when the Philadelphia 76ers finally “won” the NBA Draft Lottery. After a few painful years of tearing down the previous mess, Sixers coach Brett Brown was left holding the golden ticket and the Sixers now own the first pick in the NBA Draft.
Meanwhile, while Sixers fans were celebrating near the Wells Fargo Center, the Phillies future continued to brighten across the street where Tommy Joseph hit his first major league home run. By the end of that game, the Phillies had another strong pitching performance from Vince Velasquez and another win, as their improbable success continued to stretch toward Memorial Day.
There were those who thought the Phils would be basically cooked by Easter Sunday – before the season even started – and figured they would certainly be gone from the public’s eye by the Kentucky Derby.
Instead, they remain one of the lead horses in the National League and there are already clamors for some of the highly regarded kids to join the team this season.
Not enough of a bright future?
Well, the hopes of the next great quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles got underway in south Philadelphia where Carson Wentz began his workouts and the voices now resonate from sea to shining sea that the time for the Eagles to use their rookie will be sooner rather than later.
In another awkward moment for quarterback Sam Bradford, he was doing a pretty good imitation of walking the plank as he headed for the microphone to finally speak to the fans through the media in an attempt to explain his decision to ask for a trade. It didn’t do much good, and Bradford is now stuck in the unenviable position of having to play way above expectations — or be viewed as nothing more than a roadblock to Wentz.
Look at it this way:
If you compare Bradford’s contribution to the local sports scene to that of Ryan Howard, it would be like comparing Secretariat to a carousel horse. Except for his dopey demands, Bradford has made zero impact.
Howard? All he has done is help provide a World Series championship while securing a spot as one of the city’s most compelling sports figures over a long period of time. He is a lock for the Phillies Wall of Fame, and he has never really said anything to upset the fans or his teammates.
Yet, the fans now look at Howard as a relic from the past, blocking the progress of a player such as Joseph. It was nice while it lasted, but it's time to move on, and when a team gets into winning mode with young players, the tide quickly sweeps away ineffective veterans – even those with resumes like Ryan Howard or Carlos Ruiz.
The fourth player in this grand slam of teams with eyes to a brighter future are the Flyers, a team that surprised many by making the playoffs in their first year under coach Dave Hakstol, who was hired straight out of college hockey at North Dakota. The Flyers are banking on a defenseman, Shayne Gostisbehere, and a depth chart filled with young defensemen who are the envy of NHL general managers.
All of this was sort of in place before the Sixers won the lottery, but there was something about Brown standing there with the winning ticket that made it all seem more real.
Now, the Sixers can truly go about building a winner, and the conversation has already begun as to whether the club should draft Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons. It is a far nicer problem to have than what has recently faced the Sixers, and it now appears that you can hear the sounds of something building, rather than something being torn down.
There are those who will see the shadow of former general manager Sam Hinkie in the background, and Hinkie did most of the demolition work on the team, but he decided to resign rather than take a less powerful role in the organization. Truth be told, it takes one set of tools to demolish something and another set to rebuild.
Thus, Bryan Colangelo will attempt to fit the pieces together in order to first make the Sixers a competitive NBA team and then an eventual champion.
It might never happen, but from the four corners of Philadelphia’s sports universe, there is a whole lot of hope for a bright future.
