After 25 years of blown dreams, close calls, not quites, and disastrous hopes. After 25 years of never winning (except in fictional Sylvester Stallone movies), Philadelphia is the center of the world.

TWENTY
FIVE
YEARS.

This year's Phillies didn't just bring home a championship, they brought home hope. If presidential campaigns haven't convinced you that 2008 is the year for "change" and "hope," perhaps these ballplayers from the city that liberty built are an even better example.

How's that Sam Cooke song go? "It's been a long time coming, oh-whoa, but I know a change is gonna come." Of course it would be ignorant to even compare the magnitude of African-American oppression and the civil rights movement--which "A Change Is Gonna Come" is about--to the past quarter century struggle of Philadelphia sports teams, but the uplifting theme of the song carries to any burden that felt too heavy to bare at one point or another. And every Philadelphia athlete and fan has felt that way these past few years, until today. It's been a long, long time coming. But boy does it make the victory taste sweet.

And for a personal added bonus, I used to love a girl who lives in Tampa. This makes us even!

MP3 Ben Sollee - A Change Is Gonna Come (a most excellent Sam Cooke cover)
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MP3 Robbie Robb - In Time
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AND! For readers who loathe when I get all cheery-eyed over these things, here's a more realistic read of what this championship means for Philly.