Joey Hess
Associate Sports Editor

All the buzz surrounding Philadelphia sports leaves one question.

Is Philadelphia the new title town?

Absolutely.

Philadelphia is coming off a Super Bowl championship and a NCAA Men’s Basketball title. To add to the recent success, the Sixers are playing their best basketball in almost ten years.

The Flyers have also fought their way back into the playoffs thanks to a huge surge from captain Claude Giroux.

The Phillies are also back on the rise with new manager Gabe Kapler and a wave of young talent to surely help them climb the standings quickly.

The Eagles are recovering from a long-overdue Super Bowl Championship. The 2017-18 season was a year to remember for the Birds. New additions such as Jay Ajayi, Alshon Jeffrey, Torrey Smith, and Derek Barnett are a huge reason why the Eagles are back on top.

Carson Wentz had an MVP season before suffering a season-ending injury. This was just a minor speed bump for Philly once they realized the caliber of talent they had backing him up.

Nick Foles stepped in late into the season and picked up right where Wentz left off. The Eagles were unstoppable this season and they have no intention on slowing down in the near future. This team will be something special and will surely be one of the best teams in football for many years.

The 76ers are back on the rise and are not showing any signs of slowing down. They just clinched their first playoff berth since 2012 and hold a strong argument for Eastern Conference Champions.

Young talents such as Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz are set to be the core of this team heading into the future. Simmonds is heading into the playoffs as a hopeful candidate for rookie of the year.

Should these three stay healthy, they will have one of the best teams in professional basketball for a long time.

The Flyers finished the regular season third place in the Metropolitan division and will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Battle of Pennsylvania is the best rivalry in all of ice hockey and is sure to be an interesting series.

Claude Giroux’s 102-point season is a huge reason as to why the Flyers are back in the postseason. Many young players such as Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Koneckny, Ivan Provorov, Nolan Patrick, and Oksar Lindblom have the potential to carry the team in the future and hopefully build a dynasty for many years to come.

Finally, the Phillies are showing major potential to become contenders again. The Phillies have one of the best young hitters in the game in Rhys Hoskins, his rookie season put him in the spotlight when he became the fastest player in MLB history to 17 home runs. Hoskins just began the 2018 season and is already the league leader in batting average, and has the third best slugging percentage.

Rookie Scott Kingery is an early prediction for Rookie of the Year. He put up impressing numbers in the minor leagues and will continue to produce in the Majors for sure. Veteran additions of Jake Arrieta and Carlos Santana are players that could bring this team back to the postseason quicker than most people think. They both have years of experience and will serve as a mentor for the young guys.

Mikael Franco is also one of the most stand-out players early on in 2018. He is currently tied for second among RBI leaders but is only one back of the top spot.

If these players produce early on and continue to play at this level, baseball fans will surely be shocked with this young team in Philadelphia.

After many years of struggle with sports in Philadelphia, this is quite the time to be a Philly fan.

There will be many more championships to come in this city and they will come far sooner than many people intended.