Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Curse of William Penn

No professional Philadelphia sports team has won a championship since 1983. There is a myth explaining why we haven’t won since then. It’s called the curse of William Penn. In 1987 One Liberty Place was built higher than City Hall, which is where the statue of William Penn stands. There was a gentleman’s agreement stating that no building in Philadelphia could exceed the height of the statue of William Penn. Before One Liberty Place was built, Philadelphia sports teams were among some of the best. The Phillies won the World Series in 1980. The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975. The Eagles were in Super Bowl XV but lost. And lastly the Sixers won the championship in 1983 against the Lakers, making that the last championship Philadelphia has seen.
Since then, in my life time I have been let down by Philly sports teams multiple times. I have witnessed the Sixers lose to the Lakers in the final round of the championship. Also, the Eagles have let Philly fans down for about six consecutive years. This year the Phillies were supposed to shock us with wins. However, they have disappointed us once again with multiple losses so far. The Flyers were crushed in the Stanley Cup a few years ago and are currently fighting their way to make it to that round once again. We will soon be able to have another reason to justify this curse if the Flyers lose to Pittsburgh during this week. Hopefully this will not be the case and we will make it to the Stanley Cup and win. I would hate to truly believe in the curse because I want to be able to believe in Philadelphia sports teams.

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