Philly Continues its Winning Ways

This topic has been tossing around in my noggin' over the past couple of days (esp. more so as the Phillies moved on to the National League Championship Series) and I was putting the wraps on it this morning when I saw this from Lew. It further captures the essence of what's going through my mind. Is Philly becoming a (more) winning city/region? The Flyers continue to improve, the Sixers might be doing the same, the Eagles are so-so, and the Phillies are going to prove that they're one of the best teams in the post-season playoffs this year. College teams are representin' too. The Soul won their championship this year, though I'm not sure if anyone noticed...they did have a parade. In recent years, there have been horses and boxers (the fighters, not the dog breed) who have brought acclaim to their hometown, but I now I'm getting a little crazy from the altitude. From a beer perspective (at least as it relates to baseball), Tampa Bay? Boston? Los Angeles? Well, I won't diss Boston too badly, but Tampa or LA? (These are the other three of the 'final four' teams in Major League Baseball this year, in case you aren't following along.) Not by a long shot. They can't even hold a lit candle to Philly's and its region's beer scene. We proved it last year with Philly Beer Week and have been putting plenty of planning hours into making PBW 2009 (new website) even better. The multi-faceted pervasiveness of better beer across the Philadelphia region is proof-positive that no where in this country is great beer more accessible in greater quantities. I've got my Phillies lid and rally towel with me here in Colorado as I and other Philly beer cognoscenti will leave a very strong reminder on the Denver crowd (we're not a bashful bunch). Now, it's time to get on with GABF and see how much new hardware the area brewers bring home with them this year. I'm predicting big things for both the Philly-area brewers and their baseball team this year.