No City In America Is As Addicted To Tanking Than Philadelphia
There was a time when we were all young, dumb, and naive. We convinced ourselves that there would be a "roaring 20's" in the city of Philadelphia. That all 4 major teams in the city would all be kicking the shit out of everybody in their path to winning championship after championship after championship.
The Eagles have held up their end of the bargain. No doubt about that. The Phillies have been losers lately, but they at least made a World Series appearance a couple years ago.
But something sinister is taking place within the walls of the Wells Fargo Center. Something has taken hold of the teams that play in that godforsaken building, and refuses to let them out of their grips. It's taken everything from them, yet it still wants more. That thing is addiction, and it's an addiction to tanking.
When the NBA and NHL Draft Lotteries take place next month, the Sixers will have the 5th best odds in the NBA and the Flyers will have the 4th best odds in the NHL to land the #1 picks. The Sixers found their way to the basement of the league after shutting down Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey for the year at different moments throughout the season. The Flyers managed to end up with the 4th best odds in the draft lottery by losing quite literally the most important game of the season last night to Buffalo.
The Sharks, Blackhawks, and Predators were all 3 of the worst hockey teams in human existence this year. Nobody was going to be able to keep pace with those 3 absolutely dog shit teams. The rest of the league was in a battle for that coveted 29th place finish. The Flyers and Sabres were neck and neck. Fortunately, the Flyers were able to pull off a massive loss in regulation last night to secure that 4th spot in the draft lottery, and the regulation win dropped the Sabres down to 7th.
So now the Flyers have a 9.5% chance of winning the number 1 pick. There's not a clear cut 1st overall prospect in the NHL this year the same way Cooper Flagg is already a lock to be the first name taken in the NBA, but it still opens up every option for them. The Sixers then have a 10.5% chance of winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. It's still highly unlikely, but there's at least a chance of both these sorry ass losers having the 1st overall picks in June.
Now here's the interesting thing--the Flyers were in the Stanley Cup Final in 1997 when the building was originally called the CoreStates Center. The Sixers were then in the NBA Finals in 2001 when the building was called the First Union Center. The Flyers were back in the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 when the building was called the Wachovia Center.
Wells Fargo took over the naming rights after that 2010. And ever since it's been called the Wells Fargo Center, neither team has even made it to a conference finals appearance. But the Wells Fargo Center is set to get a new name in August once the naming rights deal runs up. It's been 15 years of piss and shit, but maybe this will be a curse that is finally getting lifted. If both teams end up getting the 1st overall pick AND the building gets a new name? Maybe there's a chance the roaring 20s just come towards the end of the decade.