Villanova’s win is a win for the region
Ho-hum. Another parade in Philadelphia.
So what else is new? The second national championship in three years by the Villanova basketball team was celebrated with a lavish parade in Center City Philadelphia last Thursday. It was the second parade through the streets of Philly in a calendar year that is only slightly more than three months old.
In case you forgot already – amidst the constant stream of revelry – the Super Bowl Champion Eagles sparked a massive celebration in February. Ho-hum. The City of Champions. Slap your face. Dump cold water on your head. Snap out of this destructive line of thought. Never allow winning to become commonplace.
For a cold dose of reality … it was not long ago that Philadelphia was the City of Losers. Here’s a quick recap of Philly futility. The Phillies are the losingest team in sports history. In 2007 they became the first franchise in any sport to lose 10,000 games. Going into this season they still stood atop the world in losses with 10,837.
The Eagles went 58 years between championship seasons – one of the longest droughts in football history.
The Flyers have not hoisted the Stanley Cup in 43 years and the 2006-’07 team holds the dubious distinction of suffering one of the worst falls from grace in sports history. After going 4526-11 the year before, the Flyers fell to 22-48-12 the following year. It was a drop off of 101 points in the standings … a NHL record for futility.
Speaking of futility, the 1972-’73 76ers are the standard bearers. Only six seasons after setting the NBA record for most wins, the team went 9-73 under the forgettable leadership of Coach Roy Rubin.
Now that you have been shocked back into reality, let it be known that an amazing turnaround is possible.
There was an earlier Golden Era of Philadelphia sports … and it sparked a similar golden era of economic development in the area.
After a stretch when all four professional teams were the doormats of their respective sports, the Flyers won backto-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975. It returned a feeling of pride in Philadelphia. Soon after, the Phillies became an elite team and, following a few years of frustrating shortcomings, they won the World Series in 1980. The Eagles reached the Super Bowl for the first time in that same season. And the 76ers won an NBA Championship in 1983.
On the collegiate level, the Penn State football team won National Championships in 1982 and 1986. And Villanova won its first NCAA Championship in basketball in 1985.
The region was rife with pride … and it translated into an economic boom.
Just like the sports franchises, Philadelphia was a dismal place in the 1970s.
In 1950 Philadelphia was a thriving metropolis of 2.1 million people. By 1980, despite the Baby Boom years, that figure had slipped to a little more than 1.6 million, a decline of 20 percent. At the same time the crime rate had risen to among the top of the nation’s big cities.
The regional low point came in 1985 when former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode ended a standoff with the black liberation group MOVE by dropping a bomb that sparked a large fire in a residential area in West Philadelphia. It cast a dark shadow over the region.
But the pride generated by all of the sports championships started to lift the regional economy. There was a restaurant renaissance in Philadelphia, marked by the opening of so many eateries that there were not enough liquor licenses to go around. Thus the birth of the BYOB phenomenon. Fine restaurants continued to open and they encouraged patrons to bring their own adult beverages.
In the 1990s, restaurateur Stephen Starr began opening celebrated restaurants at an amazing pace in Philadelphia. Other upscale operators followed. And so did the people. Young people.
They started moving back into the city … rehabbing old neighborhoods … restoring vitality.
Could the area see another burst of vi-
tality now that winning has become a common occurrence? It is already happening. The renaissance has spread to the suburbs. Old, blue-collar towns have become thriving business centers.
It started with Conshohocken, where real estate values soared. Then it spread to Doylestown, West Chester, Media, Ambler and Phoenixville.
While shopping malls across the country were dying on the vine, the King of Prussia Mall underwent a record expansion. And the area around it is being developed at a dizzying pace. The new Town Center is a shining example of modern business and residential development.
In Philly, championships lead to a champion economy.
Are we giving too much credit to the sports world for the area’s revival?
Hey, this is Philly. There can never be too much emphasis placed on sports.
This is the home of the most passionate, most engaged sports fans in the world. When they are happy … the economy of the area is happy. Just ask the many business owners who have seen an uptick in activity throughout this period of celebration.
Villanova, the Eagles and Villanova again. The town is on a winning roll. Let the successes on the playing field … and on the bottom line … continue. And get ready for the next parade.