Philadelphia, Massachusetts

Long before I tried to make an artificial, online connection between the Red Sox and Phillies, I thought there were strong similarities between the Philadelphia and Boston fan bases. Each is deep-rooted and extremely passionate despite a long (at the time) championship drought.

But in recent years, Boston has become title town: the Red Sox and Patriots have won multiple titles, and the Celtics have a chance to repeat this year.

But if you think the Eagles have a fighting chance to win the Super Bowl as a No. 6 seed, then Philadelphia, a city famous for its losing sports teams until the 2008 Phillies, could supplant Boston as home of the hardware.

And these thoughts aren't coming from a blogger trying to drum up business - they're from the Philadelphia Inquirer's Phil Sheridan, who turned a curtain-opening column on the Eagles' first playoff game against the Vikings into a SoxandPhils tome:

That team was uniquely qualified to win the city's first major championship in a quarter-century. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels have exactly the right qualities to succeed in this very tough sports town. Their chemistry is similar to that of the Patriots and Red Sox teams that overcame the pressure of playing in Boston to win multiple championships in the 2000s.

He even says that if by some miracle the Eagles get past the Giants (fat chance) and go all the way, the Phillies should get some credit:

The Eagles, for all their success in the middle of the decade, never quite had that air about them. Indeed, their four brushes with a championship from 2001 through 2004 (culminating with the Super Bowl appearance in early 2005) became sand in the mouths of drought-stricken Philadelphia sports fans. The closer the Eagles got without breaking through, the more desperate the city felt.

That pressure is off now. The city is relaxing and smoking a metaphorical cigarette after the World Series win. These Eagles are fortunate to be in the playoffs and, at the same time, capable of beating everyone they might face in the NFC. It's a perfect setup.

Then, as Sheridan writes, we will be left pondering the question: "Philadelphia as Boston?"

Bonus points: Sheridan gets extra credit for weaving in an Elvis reference in his second graf.

Football: Since I've already broken Christine's plea for no-football, might as well start doing the picks. I'm having a hard time feeling games this year and got both of yesterday's games wrong. I'll go with the Eagles and Ravens today.