Philly Phanatics – THE online community for Philly sports fanatics

How low have the standards of Philadelphia sports fans fallen?

This is supposedly the Phillies’ golden era, yet, since their World Series title in 2008, they have gotten worse every year. In 2009 they lost to the Yankees in the World Series. In 2010 they lost to the Giants in the NLCS. In 2011 they lost to the Cardinals in the NLDS.

Some excused this obvious decline by pointing out that the Phillies have been eliminated by the World Series champion each of the last three seasons. Well, what do you have to say for your Phillies this year? Even with an extra wild card berth, they couldn’t make the playoffs; therefore, you can’t say they were eliminated by the champs.

If you take off your blinders and rose-colored glasses, you’ll see that the Phillies are caught in a steady decline. As for that 2008 championship, it was just the second in the Phillies’ 130-year history. Achilles Heel won more titles in my first five years in the business.

The Eagles aren’t any better. They haven’t won an NFL championship in 52 years. The modern glory days of the Eagles consist of reaching the NFC Championship Game a bunch of times and, oh my goodness, actually reaching the Super Bowl!

They are 3-1 this season, but the Greek god of wrestling doesn’t envision much success at the end of this season, even if the Eagles are lucky enough to make the playoffs. A second straight 8-8 season is more likely, although they will probably go 9-7 so the masochistic fans will be forced to endure at least one more season with Andy Reid at the helm.

Unlike the Phillies and Eagles, Achilles Heel is never mediocre.

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HONOR IN N.J. RING: The closest place to see live action this weekend is Saturday at the Rahway Rec Center. The headline match on the Ring of Honor card features Jay Lethal challenging Kevin Steen for the Ring of Honor World Championship.

The tag team titles will also be on the line in a triple threat match, with newly crowned champions Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino defending their championship against Rhett Titus and B.J. Whitmer and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). Haas and Titus lost to Corino and Jacobs in the tag team tournament finals at Death Before Dishonor X on Sept. 15

In yet another tag team match, the Briscoes will battle Ring of Honor Television Champion Adam Cole and Eddie Edwards. By the way, one week later Cole will defend his TV title against Edwards at “Glory by Honor XI.” Team 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews) will make its Ring of Honor debut against the Bravado Brothers.

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SOUTHERN SWING: CHIKARA will make a southern swing through Alabama and North Carolina this weekend.  Mark Angelosetti, winner of the Young Lions Cup, takes on Green Ant in the featured bout Saturday in Piedmont, Ala.

On Sunday in Gibsonville, N.C., The Spectral Envoy, which recently won King of Trios, faces Obariyon, Kodama and Ophidian, The Colony battles F.I.S.T. in another six-man tag team match,  and Mike Quackenbush takes on the Shard in what appears to be a deeper card than the one in Alabama. The next opportunity to see CHIKARA in Philadelphia will be Nov. 30.

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GLORY DAYS: TNA’s “Bound for Glory” is finally starting to take shape. Prior to Thursday night’s Impact Wrestling, four matches were announced for Bound for Glory on Oct. 14, which is a marked improvement over TNA’s lackluster promotion for its last pay-per-view.

TNA World Champion Austin Aries defending his title against Bound for Glory Series winner Jeff Hardy in the main event. The tag team championship is also on the line as Christopher Daniels and Kazarian defend their titles against Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles and the team of Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez.

Other matches include former TNA champion Bobby Roode engaging in a street fight with former partner James Storm. Former MMA fighter King Mo is the special enforcer for the street fight. Why you would need a special enforcer for a street fight, which doesn’t have any rules, is puzzling to me. Miss Tessmacher defends her Knockouts Championship against Tara, and more matches may be added on Impact.

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GLORY DAYS II: Two of the most entertaining performers in WWE these days are two men who had been sent out to pasture: Jim Ross and Paul Heyman. Ross is filling in for Jerry “The King” Lawler as he recovers from a heart attack. Heyman was brought in as Brock Lesnar’s mouthpiece, but he was so good in that role that he has been paired with C.M. Punk, cementing Punk’s heel turn.

Ross and Heyman both know that their job is to get over the wrestlers, not themselves. The WWE should think twice before taking these men off TV in the future.

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MAIN EVENT: WWE got off to a good start with the first episode of Main Event on Ion. The show had a different feel rather than a “more of the same” approach. It didn’t hurt that Sheamus battled C.M. Punk in a champion vs. champion match on the first show. Let’s see if this show, which I’m certain will raise Ion’s ratings, catches on.

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TIME(OUT) IS YOURS: Thank you to Eagles head coach Andy Reid for reminding us why there aren’t any timeouts in professional wrestling.

Imagine the referee saying, “Hey, that wasn’t a pin. Your opponent called timeout before I counted ‘three.’ We’ve got to start the pin attempt again.” It’s as ridiculous as NFL coaches calling timeout just before the ball is snapped…but maybe not as ridiculous as the premise of this cartoon which ran on this site a while back:

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CZW IN PHILLY: Combat Zone Wrestling will hold a pair of television tapings on Oct. 12-13. On Fri., Oct. 12 (7:30 p.m.), CZW will tape a show at the VOGT Rec Center at 6700 Cottage St. in Philadelphia. The next night (7:30 p.m.) CZW will tape a show at the Flyers Skate Zone at 601 Laurel Oak Rd. in Voorhees, N.J.

CZW World Heavyweight Champion Masada meets Necro Butcher in the main event. The Nation of Intoxication’s Danny Havoc and Devon Moore defend the tag team championship against 4Loco’s Azrieal and Bandido Jr.

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LIVING ON THE EDGE: Edge and Tommy Dreamer will be at Dave and Busters on Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. You can get an autograph and have your picture taken with Edge, one of the great tag team and singles wrestlers of the past 25 years, for $100. You can get Dreamer’s autograph and a photo for $25.

Edge has said he will undergo additional neck surgery – a neck injury ended his career – in early November, so there won’t be many public appearances by Edge for a while after this month. I’ll wish a speedy recovery to Edge, one of Achilles Heel’s favorites.

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ODD COUPLE: After last week’s Heel Turns, which focused on tag team wrestling, one loyal reader asked me what type of tag team PhillyPhanatics.com columnist Eric Fisher and guest columnist Loud Marv would make. My answer is they would be dysfunctional and bad. As for their name … how about “The Beat Writers?”

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