Philly headed for a quarter of a century without a title

	Donovan McNabb's season-ending injury is just the latest blow to Philadelphia fans. Al Bello/Getty Images

I passed through Philadelphia this past holiday weekend and saw a city in full sports mourning, still gurgling air bubbles over the loss of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. People haven't just given up on the season, but also on the foreseeable future. McNabb is only 30 and certainly capable of recovery from his ACL injury, but the talk was all about drafting a new quarterback and starting over.

"Do you think Andy Reid will be back?" one stranger asked me about the coach who was won more playoff games than anyone in franchise history. The bottom line of the injury was this: the locals were confident that at some point in his career, McNabb was going to bring home a Super Bowl trophy. Now they aren't so sure anymore.

Which means, to step back and look at the big picture, Philadelphia's Drive for 25 can crank into full gear. As has been well told, no Philadelphia team has won a championship in any major sport since 1983, when the Sixers swept the Lakers for the NBA title. This stretch is unprecedented. Other cities, to be sure, have had seen their share of futility -- Cleveland, Buffalo, San Diego -- but those cities don't have four major sports teams. Philadelphia has the Eagles, Sixers, Phillies, and Flyers representing them in competition, and for 23 years now, they've come home with bubkis.

If there's no victory parade in that town soon, expect another kind of parade in 2008 -- one of news stories commemorating a quarter century of futility.

During that time some teams have come close: the Phillies looked like they were on their way in 1993 until reliever Mitch Williams threw it all away. The Sixers made a valiant run behind Allen Iverson in 2001, but in the Finals they had to face Shaq and Kobe, back when those two were getting along. Eric Lindros had hockey fans excited once upon a time.

And of course McNabb and the Eagles went to the Super Bowl two seasons ago, but he was left gasping for air against the Patriots.

McNabb could still come back next year and be perfectly fine, but try telling it to anyone in Philadelphia. Now the more pressing question is: Who else besides the Eagles might break the pattern? The Flyers and Sixers don't exactly do much to raise one's level of optimism. The Phillies, with National League MVP Ryan Howard and a couple other nice pieces of bedrock in Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, hold out some hope. Just don't look too hard at the pitching staff. No pressure, Cole Hamels. No pressure at all.

Maybe McNabb can heal in time. Maybe he'll come back better than ever.

Or here's another promising angle: have hockey decommissioned as a major sport. Then Cleveland will be on the hook too.

This week I like

• Vince Young's performance this past Sunday against the Giants. I had picked him as my SI.com Sportsman of the Year a few weeks ago, based solely on his performance in the Rose Bowl, but he looks like he's getting a handle on the pro game pretty darn quick. What I really like is that his coaches are letting him play: they're not afraid to let him be a college-style double threat with the run and the pass. This guy may be the player everyone hoped Mike Vick would be.

• New York Post headline on Monday regarding the Giants' Mathias Kiwanuka not finishing his sack of Vince Young: Tackling Dummy.

• Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. With an angel of death (played by Virginia Madsen) hovering, it feels like Altman knew it might be his last movie. This movie is not his greatest work, but it's fun, unusually tender-hearted for him, and a sweet note for Altman to go out on.