Well, I guess major props to us.
After spending hours and hours laboring over how to seed the 40 teams we placed on our March Madness, best team ever in Philadelphia bracket, the four No. 1 seeds have advanced to a straight chalk Final Four.
And, as a testament to the four-for-four fans who comprise a large share of our loyal readers, one version of the Sixers, Flyers, Phillies and Eagles will do battle in our final two matchups.
So which is the best team ever? Will recency bias lift the 2017 Super Bowl champion Eagles to victory? Will the first title team in the modern era, the 1973-74 Flyers win it old school? Will the Phillies first World Series team from 1980 find a way to pull off an upset? Or will the 1982-83 Sixers solidify itself as the most elite team to ever play in this fair city?
It's your call.
We'll share some fact and some of our thoughts below before you can cast your vote.
No. 1. 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers
RECORD: 50-16-12 | ACCOMPLISHMENTS: WON STANLEY CUP | TOP PLAYERS: BOBBY CLARKE (87 P), RICK MACLEISH (77 P), BERNIE PARENT (.932 S%, .189 GAA) | COACH: FRED SHERO
VS.
No. 1: 2017 Philadelphia Eagles
RECORD: 13-3 | ACCOMPLISHMENTS: WON SUPER BOWL LIV | TOP PLAYERS: CARSON WENTZ (33 TD, 7 INT), ZACH ERTZ (842 Y), FLETCHER COX (PRO BOWL), MALCOLM JENKINS (PRO BOWL) | COACH: DOUG PEDERSON
Staff thoughts...
Evan Macy: Flyers. How do you measure best team? The Eagles were underdogs who shocked everyone — Tom Brady and the Patriots in particular — en route to the Birds' first Super Bowl. The Flyers were the Broad Street Bullies and set what would eventually prove to be an impossible standard for the franchise going forward. In a historical lens, the Flyers Stanley Cup was more consequential, but only by a hair. If the Eagles win here (as I expect them to) I will not be disappointed.
Shamus Clancy: Eagles. Nothing has mattered more in Philadelphia sports before the 2017 Eagles and nothing will matter more ever again. Perhaps the 1974 Flyers changed what it was like to be a Philadelphia sports franchise, but the '17 Eagles changed what it's like to be a Philadelphian.
Nick Tricome: Flyers. Look, I can go on for hours about how tough a call this is. Both teams perfectly embody what Philadelphia is, and the '17 Eagles...honestly, I still have days where I have to process that the Eagles ACTUALLY WON THE SUPER BOWL. But what I keep coming back to with the Flyers is that things were fundamentally different after the Broad Street Bullies showed up. They weren't just tough, they weren't just mean. Fred Shero had them playing a different style of hockey that the NHL was totally unprepared for. They won the Stanley Cup, forced an entire league to adapt to them, and sold the entire city on a sport that, before then, struggled to gain a foothold.
Jimmy Kempski: Eagles. I wasn't alive when the intimidating Flyers were in their heyday, so if some of you old heads disagree with my Eagles vote here, I won't argue. But I think we undersell sometimes how good the 2017 Eagles really were. We think of them as "underdogs," but if you take out a meaningless Week 17 game after they clinched the 1 seed, this team went 16-2. There was a stretch during the middle part of the season from Week 5 to Week 12 when they outscored their opponents 248-99, and it became clear that something really special was happening. After they lost the likely league MVP for the season, they instantly went from overwhelming favorites to those lovable underdogs, which almost made their postseason run all the more impressive. Oh, and the fact that they also just happened to knock off the best player in NFL history, against a team that probably cheated in the Eagles' and Patri*ts' first Super Bowl matchup, made it all the more satisfying.
Time to vote:
No. 1: 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers
RECORD: 65-17 | ACCOMPLISHMENTS: WON NBA CHAMPIONSHIP WITH JUST ONE LOSS IN POSTSEASON | TOP PLAYERS: MOSES MALONE (NBA MVP, 24.5 PPG, 15.3 RPG), JULIUS ERVING (21.4 PPG), ANDREW TONEY (19.7 PPG), MAURICE CHEEKS (12.5 PPG, 6.9 APG) | COACH: BILLY CUNNINGHAM (HOF)
VS.
No. 1. 1980 Philadelphia Phillies
RECORD: 91-70 | ACCOMPLISHMENTS: WON WORLD SERIES | TOP PLAYERS: MIKE SCHMIDT (.286, 48 HR, 157 RBI), STEVE CARLTON (24-9, 2.34 ERA), TUG MCGRAW (20 SV, 1.46 ERA) | MANAGER: DALLAS GREEN
Staff thoughts...
Evan Macy: Sixers. If I had to guess, I would expect the 1980 Phils to get the fewest votes of these four teams. They had some of the most enduring stars in the city's history, but 91 wins... meh. The 1983 Sixers were one of the best teams of all time and they lost just one single game in the entire postseason. They are also, top to bottom, one of the most formidable rosters in the history of sport.
Shamus Clancy: Sixers. Doc. Big Mo. Little Mo. The Boston Strangler. They destroyed everyone and swept a team that had two of the four-best players to ever pick up a basketball in the NBA Finals. I'm also going to use this occasion to bang the drum that Bobby Jones is the most underrated player in the history of the league and would be even better as a small-ball defender in today's game.
Nick Tricome: Sixers. When we were organizing this bracket, they were an obvious favorite to make it to the end. A 65-17 record, an NBA title, Moses Malone as league MVP, and just a lost shy of that "fo-fo-fo" playoff sweep. Dominant is almost an understatement with this group.
Jimmy Kempski: Sixers. As Evan noted, they only lost one game in the playoffs. They swept a pair of big-market teams like the Knicks and (of course) the Lakers in the finals. But it was their confidence that was so impressive, with Moses Malone (almost) calling his shot with his "fo-fo-fo" prediction. They were a juggernaut, with talent and swagger.
Time to vote:
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