With one chore down, Eagles have a new task in front of them

Their Super Bowl victory a classic, their ensuing parade a breathtaking charm, their fans delighted, their players popular, the Eagles were entitled to one month without being reminded of the next Philadelphia-area sports requirement. Time’s up. Here goes: When … when, actually … will Philadelphia fans be able to celebrate a successfully defended championship? Not for nothing, but any more, Joel Embiid does backto-backs better than Philadelphia major-league championship teams.

No, it’s hardly the Eagles’ fault that the 1984 Sixers were unable to make good on Moses Malone’s classic promise to “repeat and peat and peat.” They were not to blame for the 1981 baseball work stoppage that derailed the 1980 Phillies’ push for an encore.

And they surely weren’t to blame for Ruben Amaro Jr. refusing to include Domonic Brown in a 2009 trade package for Roy Halladay, thus compromising the 2008 Phillies’ chances at a second 2.6-million-fan parade. Yet there the Birds will stand, come the fall, as the next Philadelphia champions challenged to keep a chest puffed out for a 366th day.

Not since the Flyers won in 1974 and again in 1975 has a Philadelphia team been able to prove a championship was more than a one-off. Since then, the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots all have successfully defended championships.

The simple explanation for Philadelphia’s inability to win twice is because it so rarely has won once. But if the 2017-2018 Eagles proved anything, it’s that all slumps end. Until next February, Jeffrey Lurie has the right to make faces at any of his critics. But the man did promise multiple championships. That verbal contract has yet to be honored.

Dynasties aren’t easy. But with a healthy Carson Wentz, a possible sport-changing head coach and proven championship talent, the Eagles are in the position to get one started.

You get those desks designed for you to stand up, not sit down?

After a summer of international play that meant so much to him that it would come with a gritted-teeth blessing of the 76ers, Dario Saric claimed early this season to be tired. And when it began to look that way on the court, there were fair questions about his readiness and, even, his skill.

But he’s doing it again. He’s playing his best in the second half of the season. Last year, Saric roared into the Rookie of the Year competition late. This season, he is emerging as a star. That’s largely because his obsessive after-practice devotion to becoming a more reliable outside shooter has worked. In February, Saric shot 41.2 percent from three-point range, using an elbow-in, proper-follow-through form and intense concentration to become a dangerous stretchfour.

To win an NBA championship, three superstars are a minimum requirement. The Sixers have Embiid and Ben Simmons, who are headed that way. Quietly, gradually, Saric, who can play multiple positions, has splendid court vision and competes with an international-game passion, is on that path too.

I refuse to participate in the Tide-pod eating craze. I’m strictly a Woolite guy.

Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who once was thrown out of the sport for cheating, recently was caught on TV grinning about winning a share of the SEC regular-season championship and dedicating it to Charles Barkley.

Nice season. Except that it began with Pearl’s assistant, Chuck Person, being charged with a spray of felonies in an alleged bribery conspiracy to funnel players to certain agents. And that would be Barkley who has arrogantly said that Auburn allegedly paying Cam Newton $200,000 to play quarterback was “a good investment.”

But Auburn cannot be humiliated. So it honored Barkley with an on-campus statue.

An FBI probe into corruption in college basketball caused some recent concern that it could ruin any rampaging interest in the sport.

Truth is, it should increase interest.

According to Yahoo, Alabama, Duke, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Seton Hall, Texas, USC and Washington were mentioned in the FBI report. Another dozen or so were linked to an agent alleged to have been caught in a wiretap negotiating to gain payments for players. That doesn’t include Louisville, which had a national championship flag dragged down after being found by the NCAA to have lured recruits with strippers and, as such, entered the Pearly gates to the Hall of Disgrace.

But even if none of the allegations are true, at most there are about 30 programs that have been tainted in recent weeks by news reports and FBI links.

For years, easily influenced, too-lazy-to-realize-otherwise, sour cynics have growled that all Division 1 basketball programs are filthy. But by effectively clearing 321 of them, the leaked FBI reports revealed just the opposite. They revealed that there are more shining moments from decent coaches and programs than the handful chosen for that schmaltzy, post-tournament propaganda drop.

And how short-sighted are the Eagles? By winning that last game of theirs, they really messed up their drafting position.

Contact Jack McCaffery @ jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia. com; follow him on Twitter @ JackMcCaffery