People! How about some love for the 76ers? You know. You remember. The Sixers! Wilt, Dr. J, Moses, Sir Charles, A.I. The Sixers! Not ringing a bell? OK, remember 1983? 1967? 2001? All those classic series against the Celtics? No? Nothing? “We owe you one”? “Fo fo fo”? Anyone? Well, I didn’t want to do this, but… Shawn Bradley? Sharone Wright? Coming back to you now? Yeah, there you go. The Sixers. Philly’s Other Team™!
The Sixers have played three games already. They’re 1-2. Did you know that? They opened in Toronto on Halloween – did you see it? No? Were you out trick or treating? Or were you reading up on the Eagles/Cowboys match-up, tinkering with your fantasy football team, and coming up with new ways to say “Well, the Rockies were just the better team” to yourself? Probably. Why can’t the Sixers get any love?
Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks thinking about how he might have more success in Philly if he was a water boy for the Flyers.
The Eagles, their impending, horrific downslide notwithstanding, pretty much own this town, to the extent that (little known fact) they have the legal right to take your stuff if they feel like it, without fear of reprisal. The Flyers’ following remains one of the strongest outside of Canada. And our collective soft spot for the Phillies is the only thing that has kept us from running them out of town on the proverbial rail. Kind of like how you can never quite bring yourself to throw your deadbeat brother out of the apartment, even though he’s unemployed, never pays his half of the rent, and stays up until 4:30 a.m. every night doing crosswords and watching Three’s Company on Nick at Nite.
But the Sixers have always been the least popular team in town. At the moment, it’s no mystery why this is so: they aren’t very good. In fact, there’s a good chance that they’re terrible. Many experts put them at under 30 wins this year. Some even call them the worst in the East. Absolutely nobody is brave or crazy enough to talk playoffs or even suggest that the Sixers might possibly conceive of doing a little playoff flirting. Which is understandable, because they are, as previously noted, not good. One of their pickups this offseason was Reggie Evans – no, you’ve never heard of him, and although the man can definitely rebound (one of the Sixers’ most dire needs in recent years), his shooting is so bad it makes one nostalgic for the scoring touch of a Brian Skinner or Michael Bradley. The Sixers are at least a year away from being even vaguely competitive, and maybe three or more years away from not being an easy punch line for basketball writers. So, you’re excused if you haven’t ordered those season tickets yet.
Indeed, maybe every city with at least four teams has one team and/or sport that isn’t quite as popular as the others. For example, in Boston, fans are currently so obsessed with the tradition and Garnett-havingness of the Celtics; the all-pervasive, inescapable, coast-to-coast media empire that used to be a baseball team known as the Red Sox; and the unchecked, monstrous cruelty of the Patriots. They probably don’t have too much time these days for the Bruins.
But it seems like it shouldn’t be that simple. Philly loves sports and it loves basketball and prides itself on being knowledgeable about both. So why have the Sixers always taken that back seat? Allen Iverson, one of the most interesting, exciting, astonishing talents to ever play the game, was here for 10 years. And sometimes it seems like the 2000-01 season, the Sixers only trip to the Finals with A.I., was the only time that anyone noticed. The rest of the time was just trade rumors, controversies about practice, and run-ins with assorted coaches. “Iverson Fatigue” was keeping fans away from the games, the Philly Inquirer theorized a few years ago. How could anyone be fatigued by that guy? He was amazing. And yet the Sixers’ attendance has been among the worst in the league the last few years – what are we, the Atlanta Hawks?
So maybe it’s Iverson, or the lack thereof. Or maybe it’s Billy King, who’s made just enough dumb moves to make you think that he wandered in off the street, was handed the job, and has just been too polite to point out the mistake (the man can really wear a suit though – you’ve got to give him that). Maybe the NBA in general has alienated everybody – declining TV ratings, crooked refs, dreadfully dull Finals, and the Charlotte Bobcats will do that. Maybe Philly fans can only handle three teams’ worth of heartbreak at a time (which really doesn’t bode well for the MLS team we might get someday).
Or maybe I was right the first time: they’re terrible. Yeah, I probably haven’t been fair – I know we love our Sixers. 1983, 2001, Dr. J, A.I – all those memories will come flooding back, just as soon as we have a team worth watching. Philly needs a good Sixers team – not the mess we have now – and the Wachovia Center will be packed again.
Until then, just the Sixers diehards will show up this year, cheering on Calvin Booth and Louis Amundson, killing time until spring training. Hey, it could be worse. Trust me, it beats watching Kevin Kolb lose to the Seahawks.
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