Anniversaries

Yesterday, October 19, was the 28th anniversary of the greatest day in Philadelphia sports history.

On that day in 1980, the Eagles beat the Cowboys at The Vet 17-10, attended by two of the three co-authors of this blog, if I recall correctly.

On the way home, we had the Phillies' game on the radio, listening to Game 5 of the World Series. Having taken a 2-0 lead in the Series, the Phils allowed the Royals back in it, and were in danger of losing Game 5 until late inning heroics by Del Unser. We got home in time to watch Del scorch a double past Willie Mays Aikens into the right field corner, and Mike Schmidt to score all the way from first. Later on, Manny Trillo drilled a shot off of Dan Quisenberry's (RIP) leg, scoring Unser with the go ahead run. Tug McGraw (RIP) struck out former Phillie Jose Cardenal to end the game after walking the bases loaded.

That night, the Flyers beat the rival Canadiens, 2-1. It was an early season game, and lacked the intensity and importance of the two earlier games, but it capped off a perfect day.

Two days later, the Phillies closed out the Royals to take their (so far) only World Series title ever. Two weeks later, Ron Reagan was elected.

The Flyers of 1980 have a connection to today's Flyers and contemporary politics, as Ed Snider was then and remains the team owner, and he has acted as a patron of Sarah Palin, hosting her on visits to Philly, incuding one where she appeared on-ice to participate in the "Greatest Hockey Mom" recognition ceremony and to drop the ceremonial first puck.

So, let's go Phillies, let's go Flyers, and let's go McCain-Palin!

PS: My older sister made a contribution on October 19, 1998: her son Gregory. I spoke with Greg last night to wish him a happy birthday.