The Philly dynasty busters

[Procus]

Championship teams in major league sports have been few and far between in Philadelphia.  The last team that could be called a "dynasty" in Philly arguably were the Eagles of the late 40's, and I'm not sure they had a long enough run to enter dynasty territory.  Before that, the A's of the late 20's and early 30's.  I can think of a few cases where Philly championship teams jettisoned a longer run which could have resulted in a dynasty - including the two mentioned above.  Consider:

1.  1929-31 A's - three straight world series, A's won the first two, lost the last one 4-3.  Connie Mack then broke up the club to raise money.  The franchise in Philly never recovered.

2.  1947-49 Eagles - three straight championship games, Eagles win the last two.  So what happens?  After a fluke 6-6 season in 1950, new ownership fires the genius head coach.  Franchise was never the same, and although there was that championship with Van Brocklin in 1960, for the most part, Eagles teams were bad through the late 70's until Vermeil was hired.  If Greasy Neale stays, who knows what the team could have accomplished.

3.  1976-1980 Phillies - what a great run during that era.  First place finishes, and bomb outs in the NLCS.  Wasn't until 1980 that the Phils win their first championship.  Next year is a strike shortened year and owner Ruly Carpenter is disgusted enough to sell the team to a group headed up by Bill Giles and demote Paul Owens who built the powerhouse.  The franchise wins a couple of pennants in 83 and 93, but mostly reverts to its losing ways until Pat Gillick is brought on.

4.  1976-83 Sixers - the Sixers were always that one player away, until Moses Malone brought them to the promised land.  The team had a great run, several appearances in the finals, but couldn't seem to be able to win a championship.  During the interim, Fitz Dixon sells out to Nutri Systems founder Harold Katz, and the team wins it all.  But Katz goes on an ego trip and slowly starts breaking up the team.  It would continue to win games for some, but never be as good as those years from 76-83.

5.  2008-2012 Phillies - they win two consecutive pennants and a WS, but Pat Gillick retires and the team for some reason decides to elevate Ruben Amaro instead of bringing in a more experienced replacement.   The farm system is sucked dry, and the team has been in a long drought.

6.  2017 Eagles - riding a SB Championship followed by a playoff run - both using the arm of Nick Foles - the team jettisons Foles and signs a broken down Wentz to a mega deal.  Several star players are rewarded after the fact with fat contracts for past performance that count against the cap in the future.  Imagine the return if the team trades Wentz following the SB victory.  Who knows what kind of run the Eagles could have had with the increase in talent, especially factoring in the extra cap space from not being saddled with the Wentz contract and dead cap hit.  Let's hope the maneuvers made the offseason keep the team on the right track.

[vsptroops]

The Flyers teams of the mid 70's were pretty damn good. Back to back champs in 74-75 and lost to Montreal in 76 which prevented the threepeat. They had a great run from about 73 to 89 where the bottom fell out until they got Lindros. Heck, in 80 they had the 35 game unbeaten streak but lost to the Islanders in the finals. Lost to the Oilers dynasty in 85 and took it to a game 7 in 87. Now look at this dreck franchise.