Finally, after almost three years of COVID, a cure has been discovered right here in Philadelphia. And it has nothing to do with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or hydroxychloroquine or even bleach.
The remedy that has been lying dormant right here all this time has been Philly sports. Three out of four sports teams surveyed recommend it for overcoming COVID -related stress, malaise and melancholy. In a separate made-up survey, nine out of 10 fans leaving Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon had no memory of COVID or lockdowns or even the pandemic. The remaining one in 10 said they …
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Finally, after almost three years of COVID, a cure has been discovered right here in Philadelphia. And it has nothing to do with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or hydroxychloroquine or even bleach.
The remedy that has been lying dormant right here all this time has been Philly sports. Three out of four sports teams surveyed recommend it for overcoming COVID -related stress, malaise and melancholy. In a separate made-up survey, nine out of 10 fans leaving Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon had no memory of COVID or lockdowns or even the pandemic. The remaining one in 10 said they think they heard of COVID, but weren’t really sure what it was and really didn’t give a sh*t because, “The Phils are in the f***ing World Series, man!”
As mentioned, three out of four professional sports teams recommend Philly sports for relief of pandemic-related anxiety and heartache. The Phillies, the Eagles and the Flyers all endorse this course of treatment. The Sixers have found in separate studies that their brand of professional basketball may increase feelings of frustration, disbelief, flop sweat, and shooting pains.
In many ways, Philadelphians have endured a difficult few years. I could list the myriad issues residents dealt with over the stretch, but I won’t. And I don’t want to give any impression that those problems cease to exist because of our sports teams winning ways. But, the electricity and euphoria the city is experiencing right now, mainly because of the Phillies’ Cinderella run to the World Series, gives all of us some exciting medicine to counteract the daily dose of that other stuff we are fed constantly.
In the past couple of weeks, the Eagles handily beat the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” for the whole country to witness, and the Phillies won the National League Championship to secure their spot in the World Series, where it is hoped they will continue Philadelphia’s dominance of Texas teams by defeating the Houston Astros. And the Flyers are unexpectedly good. (4 wins, 2 losses this season, as of press time.) Does life in this city get any better?
Let's hope so. A November parade would be nice. And if that was followed by a February parade, and that was followed by a June parade, why, that would certainly have everyone feeling pretty, pretty good.
The Phillies have certainly captured the heart of the city, and their winning is having a cathartic effect on those of us who live here. They say of troubled locker rooms that "winning is the best sanitizer."
I think the same can be said of Philadelphia. And winning tastes a lot better than bleach.
John Derr
Publisher