The state of Philadelphia sports under the microscope

The last time I posted I had talked with Chris Therien about the Flyers upcoming season and was putting my hope in the fact that maybe the Flyers would be the one Philly sports team worth counting on for some consistently good results.  What a difference two weeks makes.  This morning the Flyers fired head coach Peter Laviolette.  Twitter blew up and the tweet I kept on seeing was “Chip Kelly now the longest tenured coach in Philadelphia,” or some variation of that.  In less than a year Philadelphia has now seen every major sports team part ways with its coach, so there’s no time like the present to take a look at where we are.

I’ll start with the Flyers because Laviolette’s firing is what sparked this post.  It’s hard to really be optimistic about the hockey team.  While it’s only been three games a lot of the stuff that we saw last year which led to the Flyers missing the playoffs, has came back as a reason for the Flyers 0-3 start. 

                                                                                     Gene J. Puskar
Laviolette (right) is out and Craig Berube takes over as Flyers head coach.

Lack of goal scoring is the biggest reason they are where they are right now.  Three goals in three games won’t cut it.  I asked Therien when we talked about goal scoring and how important it will be given the uncertainty of the defense and goaltending, and right now it’s the downfall of the team. Goaltending has been pretty good actually and the defense hasn’t been terrible.  The Flyers have been outshot in three games 93-73 which has led to them being outscored 9-3 in the three losses.  For a team that relies so heavily on scoring goals, that’s not going to get it done.  Steve Mason and Ray Emery have held their own but it’s unfair to expect either one to be Bernie Parent, which is what you’re asking for when you only getting one goal a game.

It’s hard to say what happens next for the Flyers.  Maybe Craig Berube, a guy who’s been with the organization for quite a while can light a fire under them and they get play some inspired hockey.  But what’s a little unsettling about the Flyers is that they don’t seem to have a long term plan.  It’s one thing to miss the playoffs back-to-back years but carry some positives moving forward.  If the Flyers are to miss the playoffs again this season, it’ll be hard to pull any positives away because it will have been two straight down years which they failed to live up to expectations and there will be more problems than hopes for optimism, which explains why Paul Holmgren may be on the hot seat.

                                          Associated Press
Chip Kelly's Eagles are tied for first place
in the NFC East through five weeks.

On to the Eagles, who right now thanks for the mediocrity of the NFC East are in a first place tie in the division with the Dallas Cowboys.  I wrote in August expressing optimism for the Chip Kelly era in Philadelphia.  At 2-3 thus far with both wins in the division and all three losses out of the conference and some very winnable games on the horizon, the Eagles might be Philadelphia’s best hope right now.  But last week after losing 52-20 to Denver it seemed like it was going to be a long season and the Flyers would be the saving grace to what was otherwise a bleak outlook on Philadelphia sports.

While a lot can change in a week, there is some hope for the Eagles.  The quarterback situation is a little hairy right now with Michael Vick’s hamstring injury in yesterday’s win over the Giants as conversation about Vick or Nick Foles has came back again as it was the hot topic of discussion throughout training camp.  While neither one may be the answer long term the innovative mind of Chip Kelly should keep the Eagles afloat in the future, and if the Eagles are able to win the NFC East this year, then the first year of the Chip Kelly era should be viewed as an overwhelming success, regardless of how bad the rest of the division is.

                                                                Sixers.debats-sports.com
Brett Brown and the 76ers open the season on October 30th
hosting the two-time defending NBA Champion Miami Heat.

I want to save a lot of my Sixers thoughts for a couple weeks as the regular season opener gets closer and closer but to sum up, general manager Sam Hinkie blew it up this summer and the direction seems to be the right one under head coach Brett Brown.

The Phillies are similar to the Flyers in my opinion.  The last two seasons the Phillies have entered thinking they are a playoff team and severely underachieved which led to Charlie Manuel’s firing in August.  Ruben Amaro Jr. could be, and probably should be, next as the Phillies failures the last two seasons can be viewed as a reflection on him as much as anyone else much like the finger can be pointed at Holmgren for the Flyers struggles.  While Ryne Sandberg’s winning percentage was a little bit better than Manuel’s in 2013, the Phillies problems go beyond the manager.  An aging nucleus continues to get older and health has been an issue with the Phillies as well.   I’m not really sure Paul Holmgren has a long term plan for the Flyers, and I don’t think Ruben Amaro has one for the Phillies either, which is why it wouldn’t surprise me if either one was fired.

                                                                                   Matt Rourke
The future holds lots of question marks for Amaro and the Phillies.

To sum it all up, times have certainly changed.  From 2007-2011 we had five years where seeing all four teams in the playoffs was normal.  Now, in this time of turnover, while some of the teams are in better shape than others, and though there are some positive signs despite four new head coaches in less than a year, it’s hard to really project and know what to expect.   Might as well hang in there, since that’s what we’re used to right?


Photos:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/flyers-vs-penguins-april/collection_f1e087a0-810f-11e1-979c-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.app.com/viewart/20131011/NJSPORTS031001/310110136/Chip-Kelly-Greg-Schiano

http://sixers.debats-sports.com/la-premiere-semaine-de-brett-brown/

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2012/07/philadelphia_phillies_could_be.html