As passionate sports fans, we often find that our emotional well-being is just a little too tightly connected to the fate that befalls our favorite team(s). When they win, food tastes better. The sky is bluer. Beer tastes colder.

When they lose, the opposite takes effect. The food never satisfies your hunger. It rains all the time. The beer is skunked.

While rational thinking human beings should theoretically allow themselves to place sporting events in context–in other words, limiting the highs and mitigating the lows–being a sports fan grants us the rare opportunity to be irrational, largely without repercussions (though don’t tell this to your family and close friends). In what other context is it OK not to shave for two months because Ron Hextall has a playoff save percentage of .945? Could we really refuse to sit at a certain cubicle at work because the Eagles lose every time we sit there on a Friday before a game? Have you ever arrived at the parking lot of a family function 6 hours in advance with your chest painted and proceeded to slug a dozen cans of PBR?

For those of us who had yet to witness a championship, getting our first taste of winning was a justification of sorts for the patience we’ve shown over the years in our town and our teams. It was a wonderful reinvigoration to a fanbase grown tired of failed promises and unrealized expectations. The Phillies World Series title was nothing short of a cathartic experience, cleansing all the negative energy that had surrounded the team and Philadelphia sports in the 25 years since we could claim a championship and make it our own.

What’s interesting is that the Phillies were the team to break the drought.

The Phils’ historical futility has been well documented. Between 1994 and 2006 they had zero playoff appearances and finished on average, 19.5 games out of first place each season. Many summers the mere thought of playing .500 baseball–or god forbid contending for the postseason!–would have sent Phils fans into a tizzy.

And yet across the street lies the home of the “Gold Standard”. Over that same stretch, the Eagles reached the playoffs eight times, including four trips to the NFC championship game and one Super Bowl appearance. Though they failed to win the big one, it’s fair to say the team was consistently in the running year in and year out for a very extended period of time.

This got me wondering.

Would you rather have your favorite team win one championship in a 10-year period otherwise filled with losing or spend the same period consistently winning everything but the last game of the season?

My assumption would be that Philadelphians would lean toward the former considering the recent developments in our sporting culture. However, there are many variables to the question that make it far from cut and dry. It’s easy to look back at the Phillies’ World Series victory and conveniently forget the mountain of (painful) losses endured on the way to the top. Conversely, it’s easy to be angry with the Eagles for losing four of five trips to the NFC Championship game while ignoring the fact that more Sundays than not they came out on top, often in convincing fashion.

In a nutshell, hindsight is 20-20. But if you were given the choice and knew full well in advance of the above scenario, would you still choose one good year in a decade of futility? I’m curious to know what the Philly Phaithful thinks…please leave comments below!

P.S. We’ve extended the “Because it’s still better than Jose Mesa” sale–20% off all Brad Lidge products–through the all-star break. Pick up a shirt and look good when he turns it around for good!