The curse of Billy Penn over?

by JasonB on Jun 19, 2007 1:50 PM EDT in News Comment 1 comment

You vindictive bastard!

Things seem to be coming together for the Eagles this year...

If you aren't familiar with the curse of Billy Penn here's a quick synapses...

The Curse of William Penn is an alleged curse, sometimes used to explain the failure of professional sports teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to win championships since the March 1987 addition of the One Liberty Place skyscraper, which exceeded the height of William Penn's statue atop Philadelphia City Hall. Since then, no Philadelphia major sports team (baseball, football, basketball, or hockey) has won a league championship.

Essentially, the curse of Billy Penn is our curse of the Bambino, Curse of the Billy Goat, ect.

Thanks to the new Comcast Center, the curse may be coming to an end.

Keeping alive a centuries-old tradition - with a Philadelphia twist - a beam was hoisted to the highest point of Comcast Center today, topping off Philadelphia's new tallest skyscraper.

There was a small tree at one end of the beam, which had been signed by workers and those gathered for the ceremony, and an American flag at the other.

Between them was a statue of William Penn, the city's founder. There is a myth that Philadelphia's sports teams will not win a championship as long as a building "rises above Billy Penn" on City Hall, said Bill Hankowsky, chief executive officer of Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern company that is building Comcast Center.

He was referring to the controversy two decades ago when One Liberty Place, also built by Liberty, became the first to break that barrier.

"We don't believe in the myth, but to be safe we've added the statue of Billy Penn," Hankowsky said.

Are you happy Billy? Now give us our title already!

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OT

It's all over for Mike Bartrum. In 7 years with the Eagles he's been one of the foundation guys, doing a little known job consistently well. Now he's retiring due to the neck injury he sustained last season.

With 6 TD's on only 11 career receptions, there should be some kind of invented controversy on sports radio, with spit spraying on the microphone while people yell, "Why the heck didn't Andy Reid call more red zone plays for Bartrum?" That would be a tribute, sort of - like the Eagles version of a Viking funeral.

The career obituary for our favorite long-snapper is here.

by Dire Radiant on Jun 20, 2007 6:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs