Sixers have company in Philadelphia sports misery

While 2020 has been terrible for humankind for a multitude of grave, real-world reasons, on a less serious note, this year has been especially unkind to those people rooting for Philadelphia sports franchises. All four major sports teams in the city had reasonable expectations for success at one point before or during the most recent season. The Flyers were shut out in a season-ending Game 7 loss, but can still reasonably claim to have had a promising season. However, the rest of the Philadelphia sports scene is the equivalent of the Springfield Tire Fire, and there’s no shortage of suspects as to who our Krusty the Clown is who started it.

I started thinking about this article when it looked like the Eagles were going to lose to the 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals, but how yesterday’s game concluded was even more fitting. On the Birds’ final possession in overtime, head coach Doug Pederson seemingly lost all faith in Carson Wentz to get another 10-to-15 yards, content to set up for a long field goal to win the game. After some passive play-calling, the Eagles lined up for a 58-yard attempt, but the team was whistled for a false start penalty. Would Pederson have kicker Jake Elliott try a 63-yarder? Would he send the offense out to try and convert a 4th-and-12? No, out came the punting unit to secure the losingest tie you’ve ever seen.

The Eagles are now 0-2-1, and Carson Wentz is routinely making questionable throws and causing people to question whether the 2017 season happened in an alternate universe. Meanwhile, everybody’s favorite well-endowed, Super-Bowl-winning quarterback was back at it again yesterday in his Chicago Bears debut:

The only things the Eagles have going for them right now is the five-year grace period following a title and the fact that the entire NFC East looks poised to lead a parade of misery this season. But things do not look like they are going to get better any time soon.

Then, we move along to the Phillies, who lost seven of their final eight games to fall out of the playoffs. This stat is a couple days old, but I think it nicely encapsulates the Phillies’ season:

The Phillies bullpen finished with a 7.06 ERA, which was superior to the 1936 Athletics (8.26) and 1930 Phillies (7.69), but nobody in the last 80 years. Need another way to think about how bad the bullpen was? Try this out:

Just historical ineptitude. Oh yeah, and pay J.T. Realmuto.

Finally, our Sixers, who were swept by the Celtics, have two of the worst contracts in the league, and a roster that doesn’t complement the two stars they do have. What a mess! And yet, they still haven’t made any changes to the front office that got them into it, while Jimmy Butler has 3:00am-workouted his way to the NBA Finals. The best thing going for the Sixers right now is people forgetting what an absolute trainwreck the organization is because the Eagles and Phillies have stolen the city’s garbage fire thunder in the intervening weeks.

So the question is, which Philadelphia sports team is currently in the worst state of affairs?