Sorry, but Philadelphia is a better American sports city than Boston
Is it possible to correctly rank the best sports cities in the country? Of course not. But if you try, I will read your ranking, and let you know where you made your mistakes.
This week, Forbes released its first-ever ranking of the best sports cities in America, a 20-city list that includes places like Tampa Bay and Phoenix, for whatever reason.
The list gives Philadelphia its due respect as one of the country’s elite sports cities, but by placing Philly at No. 2, one spot behind Boston of all cities, Forbes has made a huge mistake.
Forbes says its rankings have some scientific methodology that accounts for television ratings, stadium attendance, merchandise sales, and social media reach. But you can’t just measure volume; you have to measure quality.
Boston Sports Twitter (mainly talking about chowder) is mild compared to Philly Sports Twitter (— Jon (@jewjon) January 22, 2018">remember this?) The Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl parade saw 12 people get arrested, compared to just two at the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII parade – who says Philly fans are unruly? And nothing in the Boston sports oeuvre – definitely not the friggin’ Dropkick Murphys – compares to a crowd at the Linc singing “Fly Eagles Fly”.
I don’t want to hear about New England’s multiple Super Bowls, or the Red Sox’ weird ballpark with the big ol’ wall, or the very overrated court on which the Celtics play. I will instead remind you which quarterback caught the ball, and which city has Joel Embiid, and then I will direct you to this Bruins highlight, which I feel encapsulates Boston vs. Philly quite nicely:
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2020Pure filth from Brad Marchand 😂 pic.twitter.com/UoT2bzdRyl
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly)
Pure filth from Brad Marchand 😂 pic.twitter.com/UoT2bzdRyl
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 14, 2020
Philadelphia is a better sports city, full stop, and I will not be hearing any dissenters.
I will, however, give Forbes some credit for this blurb in their ranking, in which they basically declare Philly the best non-cheating sports city in America:
No. 2 on the Forbes list, Philadelphia, still hasn’t lived down Eagles fans’ furious snowball attack on Santa Claus, and the accompanying thunderous boos, a half-century ago. But Philadelphians at least get to bask in that runner-up status without their teams being tainted by cheating scandals.
Just ask NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank about all that Boston cheating.
Ultimately, sports are nearing their respective comebacks, and we’re all just excited to watch our favorite players after a four-month pause. It’s going to be cool to see fanbases from across the country come together and celebrate the return.
…but Philly is still better than Boston.
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.
