10 Classic Philly Sports Games to Watch During the Sports Hiatus
This has been one of the strangest weekends in the history sports, America and the world. The cornonavirus has spread rapidly to the point where the sports world has stopped.
No NBA basketball, no NHL hockey, baseball’s opening day is being pushed back, the XFL is gone, and the NCAA March Madness Tournament is officially canceled. But hey, at least WrestleMania is still happening for now . . .
For many Philly sports fans who surround their lives with sporting events, this situation is highly unusual. There are no new games to watch for the foreseeable future and who knows when they’ll come back. So in the meantime, here are some classic games in Philadelphia sports history for younger fans who may not have seen them or for older fans who want to relive some memories.
And just to get it out of the way, yes Super Bowl LII obviously should be a game every fan should re-watch. But everyone has seen it multiple times already so there’s no need to have it on the list.
Phillies vs. Astros: 1980 NLCS Game 5
https://youtu.be/4OlThPf0FjY
Before they were cheaters, the Houston Astros were in the National League and the Phillies opponents in one of the great League Championship Series ever played. For a Phillies team that had lost in the NLCS three of the past four seasons, the pressure on this team was immense.
Down 5-2 in the 8th inning and up against Nolan Ryan, the Fightins came alive for a 5-run inning. Houston however scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th to even the score at 7-7. Gary Maddox drove in Frank LaCorte for the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and then caught the final out, exorcising the demons of 1964 and the past NLCS losses.
Without this win, the entire franchise may go down in history as a worse version of the Chicago Cubs. Safe to say that this was their biggest in franchise history besides the 1980 and 2008 World Series.
Phillies vs. Braves: 1993 NLCS Game 5
https://youtu.be/hE768wivJoc
Besides the 1980 and 2008 team (and even then they don’t seem as popular) the most popular team in Phillies history is 1993. Full of talented players and wacky personalities who played through the lean years of the late 80s and early 90s, 1993 was the one year everything came together. Their journey to winning the National League East title was overshadowed by the epic National League West between the San Francisco Giants and Atalanta Braves. The Giants won 103 games and the Braves won 104, giving Atlanta the slight edge. In the first year where their pitching staff featured John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, it looked like the Braves were going to cruise past Philadelphia for a third straight World Series berth. Only that didn’t happen.
With the series tied 2-2, the Phillies entered the 9th inning up 3-0 but gave up three runs to tie it. Despite the panic of blowing the 9th inning, Lenny Dykstra homered in the 10th inning to deliver the signature moment of his Phillies career. The Phils hung on and won the series in Game 6 at the Vet in this underrated National League Championship Series.
Flyers vs. Red Army 1976
https://youtu.be/M6AFijbs_yE
Before the Miracle on Ice, the most glorious beatdown of those pesky Soviet Union hockey team was at the hands of Broad Street Bullies. The nastiest and most hated team in the NHL became the good guys for all of North America.
The Russian Hockey team had enough of the Flyers animal-like hitting and decided to leave. but Ed Snider made a slick move telling the Russians that they won’t get paid unless they finish the game.
The Flyers would dominate when they returned to the ice and defeated the Red Army team 4-1. Besides the two Stanley Cup wins, this was the most glorious day in Flyer history.
76ers vs. Celtics: 1982 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7
https://youtu.be/ncy3ehjJYbs
The Sixers franchise won championships in 1955, 1967 and 1983, but the most impressive win in their entire history was Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals in the Boston Garden.
This occurred one year after losing to the Celtics in devastating fashion by blowing a 3-1 lead (Thanks Warriors for taking that label) in the Eastern finals. They were on the verge of doing it AGAIN the next season. Everyone on the planet gave the Sixers zero chance at winning Game 7 in Boston, something no team had ever done before.
That was until . . . Andrew Toney became the Boston Strangler. Toney scored 34 points in a 14 point win over Larry Bird and company in stunning fashion. Hate Boston all you want, but the disappointed fans showed the Sixers respect that night by chanting “Beat LA!” Sadly injuries derailed Toney from a potential Hall of Fame career, but his performance in that series made him a Sixer legend forever.
76ers vs. Bucks: 2001 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7
https://youtu.be/9xnh3v0M0KY
While The Process Era of Sixers basketball still has a lot to give, the 2001 team represents the high point of over 30 years of underwhelming pro basketball in Philadelphia.
Everyone’s seen Game 1 of the NBA Finals and Game 7 against the Toronto Raptors, but what about Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Ray Allen and the Milwaukee Bucks? This back-and-forth series remains the only Eastern Conference Finals the Sixers have played since 1985. In Game 7 both teams hung on before Iverson and friends pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Allen and coach George Karl still bitch about the refereeing of this series, which have some validity considering the officiating at the following season’s Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Kings. But still, who cares?
Eagles vs. Cowboys Week 17, 2008
https://youtu.be/-ULfFwLOZEg
With the Eagles you know the playoff classics and the miracle Giant wins. But how about kicking back watching the one of the most satisfying regular season games in Eagle history?
Beating the Cowboys 17-9 at the Linc last season was wonderful to watch, but what’s better than 44-6? This is the exact kind of game all Eagles fans want when playing Dallas: Complete and utter annihilation.
After an up-and-down regualr season, the stars aligned for this game to become a “Win-and-In” for the playoffs. The pressure was on both teams to take advantage of the opportunity and well…the Cowboys caved into theirs.
It wasn’t known at the time, but this game was Brian Dawkins last home game as an Eagle, a pretty good way to go out. And this was also the last game Terrell Owens played at the Linc and the last of his Cowboy tenure.
Flyers vs. Bruins: 1974 Stanley Cup Finals Game 2
https://youtu.be/-zVzUT7nCLg
When fans think of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals they think of the image of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent holding the cup that has since been immortalized as a bronze statue. The most crucial game of that series however was in Game 2 where the Broad Street Bullies were on the verge of going down 0-2 in the series before Clarke scored the game-winning goal in Overtime.
Flyers history may look completely different if they didn’t win this game.
Eagles vs. Vikings: 2017 NFC Championship Game
https://youtu.be/KbbgQsTbQ9Q
Super Bowl LII is an obvious top pick to watch a game to relive memories. So why not watch the game that preceded it?
Everyone knows how this game goes so I don’t need to write anymore about it. Just remember what you were feeling when Kyle Rudolph scored the first touchdown of the game. What occurred after was probably the exact opposite of what you were fearing.