The Loop
The 9 most Philly sports moments in ‘It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia’
On Wednesday, 'It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia', a debauched snapshot of humanity’s arm pit drunk on rum ham and Invigaron, made TV history, with FXX confirming a record-breaking 15th season for the iconic sitcom. The renewal made the one-time upstart show on a one-time upstart network the longest running live-action comedy in American television and was confirmation of what 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' has been trying to teach us all along: Change isn’t the only constant, assholes are. And speaking of assholes, in celebration of Alway Sunny’s milestone moment, we decided to compile and rank the the most Philly show’s most Philly sports moments. So get your batteries ready, put on your nasty gray sweatsuit on and come sliding in with your spikes up. Winning pretty is overrated anyway.
9.) “The Gang Gives Back” (S2, E6)
The gang are sentenced to community service for arson (don’t ask), which just so happens to include a stint coaching youth basketball teams at a local rec center. It doesn’t take long for them to establish their own, uh, process.
8.) “The Gang Beats Boggs” (S10, E1)
The gang attempt to eclipse Wade Boggs’ landmark achievement of drinking 70 beers during a single cross-country flight. Charlie eats an entire rotisserie chicken. Dee pretty much dies. Wade Boggs stars as Wade Boggs.
7.) “Charlie’s Home Alone” (S13, E8)
The first part of Always Sunny’s two-part Birds Bowl extravaganza finds Charlie home alone, riffing on the John Hughes’ Christmas classic with some help from Jason Kelce and Beau Allen. He ends up bleeding out in his own bear trap, as you probably already guessed.
6.) “Mac’s Big Break” (S6, E4)
Mac wins a radio contest, correctly guessing the Philadelphia Flyer’s highest single-season goalscorer as Reggie Leach. His prize? He gets to take a shot from center ice in front of the entire Wells Fargo Center. There’s a training montage set to “Push It to the Limit.” The term “jabroni” is invented. Mac falls on his face, knocks himself out cold, and Charlies takes the shot for him, missing horribly. It's a veritable Always Sunny greatest hits collection.
5.) “The World Series Defense” (S5, E6)
The gang recounts the events of the night of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series to a judge in hopes of getting out of over $1,000 in parking fines. More importantly, Mac shares a love letter to Chase Utley with Dee. It has stickers on it and sets up a long-running fixation with the Phillies' former second baseman that eventually spilled over into real life.
4.) “Hundred Dollar Baby” (S2, E5)
A homage to both ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Rocky IV’, because there’s no prouder Philadelphia tradition than punching each other in the head. Charlie also gets addicted to steroids in what should have probably been an Emmy award-winning arc.
3.) “The Gang Wins the Big Game” (S13, E9)
If you really think about it, the Eagles winning the Super Bowl with a backup quarterback nicknamed for his mythically large sex organ on a trick play while city officials greased the lightpoles with Crisco to keep people from plunging to their death in celebration is pretty much an Always Sunny script on its own. The writers smartly recognized this, actually sending the gang to the Big Game for this 'Inception'-esque blend of reality and unreality.
2.) “The Gang Get Stranded in the Woods” (S6, E11)
Chase Utley returns, this time with Ryan Howard in tow. Charlie and Dennis con their way into a charity auction with the Phillies duo and so begins one of the greatest music montages in sitcom history, with the Boss’ “Glory Days” providing the soundtrack for Charlie and Dennis’ descent into pants-soiling drunkenness while Utley and Howard look on apalled or transfixed or some combination thereof.
1.) “The Gang Gets Invincible” (S3, E2)
The gang tries out for the Philadelphia Eagles, Tony Danza/Marky Mark style. Green Man makes his debut. Frank trips balls. The McPoyle’s lurk. Dennis compares himself to Jerry Rice and Donovan McNabb guest stars (sort of.) If an alien landed on earth and needed a crash course in the last century of American pop culture in order to effectively blend in at the water cooler, this would be the Always Sunny episode you would show them.