The Good Phight: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
New Blog: Once A Metro covering Red Bull New York!

Phillies to end the Curse of Billy Penn

Well, we have seen in the past 5 years the Curse of the Bambino broken by the BoSox.  The Curse of the Black Sox was broken in 06. Now the Phillies will break the Curse of Billy Penn. If you all dont know this is the story (thanks to wikipedia for allowig me to plagerize)

The Curse of William Penn is an alleged curse, sometimes used to explain the failure of professional sports teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to win championships since the March 1987 construction of the One Liberty Place skyscraper, which exceeded the height of William Penn's statue atop Philadelphia City Hall.[1] Since then, no Philadelphia major sports team (baseball, football, basketball, or hockey) has won a league championship. The last professional team to win a championship in the four major sports was the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1983 NBA Finals, when they swept the Los Angeles Lakers in four games.

Atop Philadelphia City Hall stands a statue of William Penn, the city founder and original proprietor of the then-British colony of Pennsylvania (meaning "Penn's Woods") [2]. Although this rule was unwritten, the Philadelphia Art Commission would approve no building in the city that was to rise above this statue. This ended in March 1987, when a modern steel-and-glass skyscraper called One Liberty Place opened three blocks away. One Liberty Place dwarfed City Hall by 397 feet (121m), soaring 945 feet (288m) in height compared to City Hall's actual height of 547' 11-3/4" (167m) to the top of Penn's hat, usually rounded off to 548', which coincidentally matches the career number of home runs hit by Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt. Its sister skyscraper, Two Liberty Place, at 848 ft (258m), would soon follow.

Philadelphia sports teams had just before then enjoyed an enviable run of success: Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies had won the 1980 World Series and the 1983 National League pennant; the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers had won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, and were a regular presence in the finals (to wit, 1976, 1980, 1985, and 1987 as well as 1997); the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles had appeared in Super Bowl XV, losing to the Oakland Raiders; and the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers had won the championship in 1983, as well as making the finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 2001.[2] In fact, before 1980, the Phillies had appeared in only two other World Series, in 1915 and 1950, and the Eagles had won no NFC conference championships since the 1966 agreement that had created the Super Bowl, while the 76ers won NBA titles in both Philadelphia and in their prior incarnation, the Syracuse Nationals. Construction on One Liberty Place began in 1985, two years after the last championship season in Philadelphia.

Unlike other "curses" that seem to strike particular teams, such as the Boston Red Sox's Curse of the Bambino, the Chicago White Sox's Curse of the Black Sox (both of which seem to have been lifted), the Detroit Lions' Curse of Bobby Layne and the Chicago Cubs' Curse of the Billy Goat, this evil is said to have struck four professional teams in the same city and is sometimes extended to include other sports.

On June 18, 2007, ironworkers from Local Union 401 helped raise the final beam in the construction of the Comcast Center at 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Blvd. in downtown Philadelphia, which will be the tallest building in the city at 57 stories. In an attempt to end the curse, workers John Joyce and Dan Ginion attached a small figurine of Billy Penn to the beam, along with an American flag and a small tree.

Now the curse is Billy Penn should have no building go over his top hat. With that tiny figurine the top hat is again the tallest thing in the building. So, with Billy Penn being happy the Phils have fate on there side to win the Big One...

GO PHILS!!!

0 recs  |  Comment 6 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

I wasn’t aware that we were on a first name basis with Billy-boy…

Foos for OC in '09!
Send... it... in!

by foos05 on Oct 9, 2008 2:52 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Could you please put in links to some of the things to which you refer in your post?

Thanks.

by phatj on Oct 9, 2008 3:54 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

ha. this guy just doesn’t get it I don’t think.

by FuquaManuel on Oct 9, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If this guy posted in all caps, he’d be awfully close to Jim Thome from The Dugout.

WHAT’S UP GUYS THIS IS JI

JIM THOME

by WholeCamels on Oct 9, 2008 5:05 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Analysis and features focusing on Philadelphia Phillies baseball.
Start posting about the Phillies »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

Cbs_fantasy_baseball_promo

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice
Small
In Defense of Jamie Moyer

Recent FanPosts

Small
Jason Stark and the Doc Deal
Dukes_small
Apparently I won the World Series contest on here
Ashburn_allen_600_small
Best infield ever?
Small
Attending the 3/20 Tigers game
2009_0531hatteras0015_small
Phils vs Yanks Preseason
Small
17-5
Small
Bullpen Banter's Phillies Preview and Top 25 Prospects
Ashburn_allen_600_small
Cole Hamels - What have the Phillies got?

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SPONSORS

SBNation.com Recent Stories

New York Mets starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey, left, Johan Santana, center, and Oliver Perez watch as teammates take part in drills during spring training baseball Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

SB Nation's 2010 MLB Previews: New York Mets, The High Cost Of Low Expectations

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg throws during the second inning of  a spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Tuesday, March 9, 2010 in Viera, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Nationals Send Stephen Strasburg To Double-A Despite Impressive Spring

Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee speaks during a baseball news conference at Safeco Field in Seattle on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. Lee was acquired by the Mariners in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies last December. (AP Photo/John Froschauer) link

Cliff Lee Out With Right Abdominal Strain

More from SBNation.com >


Blog Lords

Wholecamels_small WholeCamels

Boys_small jonk

Dsc04697_small David S. Cohen

Meltingface_small dajafi

Phillyfriar__new2__small PhillyFriar

Associate Blog Lords

Small taco pal

Greg_luzinski_small Wet Luzinski

Blogger Emeritus

Colevatar_small Matt Swartz