Curse of Billy Penn
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The origin of the Curse of Billy Penn started after Penn founded the British Colony of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. In 1871, paying homage to its founder (Penn), the city of Philadelphia constructed the world’s tallest masonry building, “Philadelphia City Hall,” designed by John McArthur Jr., of Scotland. Sculptor Alexander Milne Calder designed the 27 ton statue of Penn that rests atop the hall. Local Legend has it that Calder intended to have the statue fact the south so that its face would be covered by the sun for most of the day, however the residents of the north side bribed him in order to have the statue face them. The more likely version suggests that the statue was set to face the Penn Treaty Park to commemorate the spot where Penn signed a peace treaty with a local Native Tribe.
Part of the construction featured a gentleman’s agreement with the city maintaining that no building would ever be built higher, however in 1987, the largest building in the city, One Liberty Place, opened and the agreement was broken. Two Liberty Place was opened shortly after, ensuring that the curse would always be fully intact. Prior to construction, Philadelphia teams had mild success. The Phillies had recently won their only World Series Title in 1980 and a more recent National League Pennant in 1983, The Flyers had won back to back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 and had been to numerous other NHL finals, the 76ers had recently won a championship in 1983 and were also a regular player in the post season, and the Philadelphia Eagles, who hadn’t won any type of championship since 1960 (NFL title in 1960), went to its first Super Bowl in 1980.
[edit] Team Results
While the curse’s inception didn’t occur until 1987, Philadelphia hasn’t seen a major championship since 1983 (76ers). As a result of the course, Philadelphia has experience numerous instances of pain, however few were extremely dramatic (ergo Bill Buckner, Bucky Dent, Steve Bartman). Since 1983, The Flyers have been to the Cup Finals twice and the Eastern Conference Finals 4 times, with the 2000 incarnation perhaps being the most memorable. The 76ers visiting the NBA Finals once in 2001 and witnessed a gutsy performance by Allen Iverson in game one, however the Lakers went on to win 4 straight to clinch the first of three straight titles. The Phillies continued to be about par for their course (i.e. losing), except for the magical year of 1993, where the Phillies were lead by the likes of Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and eventual World Series hero Curt Schilling (who would at least break one curse). However, the championship was not meant to be as Mitch Williams proceeded to serve up a gofer ball to Joe Carter in game six in Toronto, which ended their bid. Finally, the Eagles, who used former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator and inventor of the 46 defense Buddy Ryan to resurrect their franchise, earned 3 straight playoff berths starting in 1988, however Ryan’s weakness bled through, as their inept offense, led by their only offensive weapon Randall Cunningham failed to get them further. However, that team did feature significant weapons such as famous defensive end Reggie White, the late Jerome Brown and Clyde Simmons. Ryan’s feud with ownership (confrontational attitude, incidents such as the bounty bowl and feuds with Jimmy Johnson, as well as his inability and unwillingness to draft offensive players led to his firing in 1991. The team then hired Rich Kotite, who lead the Ryan built team to the divisional playoffs in 1993 (the first playoff win for the team since 1980’s Super Bowl trip), however Kotite was unable to duplicate that effort, resulting in two middling seasons in which Kotite lost his last 7 games and infamously “misread the chart,” resulting in a failed try by the Eagles to run a 2 point conversion. Ray Rhodes rebuilt the team and returned to the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, however the Eagles were unable to pass the Divisional round. Finally, at the turn of the millennium, Coach Andy Reid rebuilt the franchise from the ground up, namely drafting Donovan McNabb in 1999 to famous boos led by Philadelphia personality Angelo Cataldi. The following seasons Reid and McNabb led the team to the playoffs losing in the divisional round, however the next 4 trips resulting in NFC Championship, however only the fourth, in 2004 led them to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the New England Patriots with McNabb supposedly being tired in the last 5 minutes of the game and Terrell Owens returning from a broken leg. The eagles were then a victim of both the Madden Curse and the Post Super Bowl Hangover, by having only the second losing season of the Reid era. They would return to the playoffs in 2006. The curse also spread to Philadelphia sports heroes including: Smarty Jones, Barbaro, St. Joseph’s University, Villanova and Temple, however the curse hasn’t spread to minor sports as the Philadelphia Phantoms has won the Calder Cup twice since 1998 (also 2005), the Philadelphia Kixx (2001, 2007) and the Philadelphia Wings, who have won 6 titles since 1989.
[edit] Curse Alteration
As a result of Curt Schilling and the infamous bloody sock that helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2004 World Series, Philadelphia and other cursed cities now apparently have an option or method to end a curse. Rumor has it, an incident of “first blood” such as that of Schilling could end the curse. Detractors have suggested that the deaths of Pelle Lindbergh and Jerome Brown would suggest otherwise, however supports suggest that the death of Lindbergh occur during construction of One Liberty Place and the death of Brown which was only the beginning of a downward spiral under Rich Kotite. Both of these deaths were also the result of automobile accidents while Barbaro’s death occur “in game.”
