CAMDEN, N.J. — The city of Philadelphia has some of the most passionate sports fans in the world. They are the definition of “ride-or-die” for their sports teams.
President Daryl Morey has already received a taste of that in his time with the franchise.
The fan base supports all of the city’s major professional sports teams and the excitement buzzing at the moment is focused on Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies and the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles.
The Phillies play their first home playoff game in 11 years on Friday. The Eagles are the last unbeaten team in the NFL, and they face the rival Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. On top of that, the Sixers begin their season on Tuesday with the rival Boston Celtics.
“I’ve been through this before and we’ve all seen where we won all at the same time,” said coach Doc Rivers. “The energy in the city is amazing right now. You walk the streets or drive the streets and you see Phillies jerseys, Sixers jerseys, Eagles jerseys. It’s just fun, but now we just got to keep doing well. That’s the key.”
Rivers also takes some pointers from coaches in other sports. For example, he likes the discipline needed to play football and the execution that is in baseball on a regular basis.
“I take all the time,” said Rivers. “Just little things coaches say after a game. I take the most from football because I just I just respect it. The execution of it. You think about it, 11 guys, and the guy says ‘on three’ and (expletive), you can’t move. It’s just the discipline to play football is absolutely amazing.”
Rivers then expanded into baseball.
“Baseball, their execution, the double plays and the backing up, doing the little things,” he continued. “There was a play the other day where, a Jeter-ish play where the first baseman came all the way to the home plate to back up. They hadn’t done that all year and yet the one time they needed it, he was there. It’s a lot of stuff out of sports. It’s why I love it.”
Tyrese Maxey has constantly supported the other Philadelphia teams, and on Thursday, he was at the opener for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.
“The Union was lit,” said Maxey. “Phillies was lit because I got to throw out the first pitch. The Flyers was lit because it was my first time at a hockey game. The Eagles this Sunday will be pretty lit.”
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It will be up to the Sixers to take the success of the Phillies and the Eagles and take it with them into their season on Tuesday against the Celtics.
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