By Ben Shapiro, News Editor

Three of the 29 sports equinoxes in history occurred this year, with at least one Philadelphia team competing in each event. 

A rare occurrence in which the “Big Four” leagues — the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — compete on the same day, this year’s sports equinoxes gave Philadelphia sports fans much to look forward to within the past month. 

While the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers are not having the seasons fans may have hoped for, the Phillies and Eagles performed and continue to perform exceptionally well. In addition, the Union played a historic season.

For the first time since 2009, the Phillies played in the World Series. Although they lost 4-2, the team created a sense of city pride that sports fans can only match to the Philadelphia Eagles’ win in the 2018 Super Bowl. World Series tickets for Citizens Bank Park sold for an average of $2,829 per seat.

As of Nov. 19, the Eagles are currently positioned first in the NFC East with a record of 8-1, continuing Philadelphia’s city pride post-baseball season.

Junior Aria Azad attended both an Eagles and Philadelphia Union game earlier this year and remembers the exhilarating climates of the games.

“Both stadiums were raging with (the) demand that we were gonna win. When we scored a goal or a touchdown, all the fans got up yelling and screaming, and they played their anthem when they scored. It was really something special to just be there with our friends and family throughout Philadelphia,” Azad said.

Azad is a striker on Conestoga’s varsity boys’ soccer team and considers himself a big fan of the Philadelphia Union. He remembers playing a district playoff game at the same time as a Union championship game. During both games, he felt immense pride for both his soccer team and Philadelphia’s.

“It was our own thing with ’Stoga because we had our district game right when the Union had their championship game,” Azad said. “It was just really cool to have our own city team playing in a big championship, and we were relating to that. It was really cool to have them playing while we were playing and to look up to them.”

The Union played in the Major League Soccer Cup for the first time in the team’s history on Nov. 5. Despite losing to the Los Angeles Football Club, the team’s attendance at the game set a Philadelphia record.

Now that the baseball and soccer seasons are over, Philadelphia sports fans are focusing their attention on the Flyers, Eagles and 76ers. All three seasons continue into the new year.

“They (the Phillies and the Union) had a good run,” Azad said. “It was kind of tragic what happened in both places, but hopefully, the Eagles can take the win for the Super Bowl because they’re doing really well right now.”

Ben Shapiro can be reached at [email protected].