ABOVE PHOTO: Serena Williams (Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / shutterstock)
By Chris Murray
For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun
When it comes to sports, the year 2015 certainly had its share of exciting moments both on and off the field.
In the City of Brotherly Love, the sports year was awful. Not only did all of the city’s pro sports teams miss the playoffs, the Flyers, Eagles, Sixers and Phillies didn’t come close.
While it made sense that a coach of one of the teams would be fired by the end of the year, few thought it would be Eagles coach Chip Kelly.
But it was. And some fans are still praise dancing in the streets over the news.
The Birds were officially eliminated from the playoffs last Saturday when they lost to the Washington Redskins. Offensive coordinator Pat Shumur was named the interim head coach for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.
The reason for Kelly’s firing comes down to his making some personnel moves that can charitably described as questionable. From releasing DeSean Jackson outright to trading LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for a bag of magic beans to signing running back DeMarco Murray and grossly misusing him, Kelly, who was given the General Manager reigns no matter what he said during Monday’s press conference, made a hot mess of an Eagles team that wasn’t all that bad when he took it over from Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid..
At press time, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was holding a news conference at Lincoln Financial Field. Kelly told ESPN that he’s hoping to catch on with another pro team.
But while the end of the Chip Kelly Era was 2015’s biggest local sports bombshell, it wasn’t the only one.
The Philadelphia Sunday Sun and The Chris Murray Report would like to introduce our Players Of The Year:
Philadelphia Sports Teams of the Year: the football teams from Temple University and the Imhotep Charter School.
The only bright spot for Philadelphia sports above the high school level in 2015 was the Temple University Owls football team. The kids from North Philly finished with a 10-4 record, won the American Athletic Conference’s Eastern Division, a berth in the AAC’s championship game and a bid to the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl.
Temple’s Jahad Thomas in action during an NCAA college football game against Penn State, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The Owls had some big wins along the way including the season-opener over Penn State. Middle linebacker Tyler Matakevich won several awards including the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards. He was also a first-team All-American.
The Panthers of Imhotep Charter School, located in Germantown, became the first city public high school to win a state football title when it defeated Erie Cathedral Prep 40-3 to win the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAA title.
Led by head coach Albie Crosby, the Panthers finished the year undefeated with a 15-0 record. In the win over Erie Cathedral Prep, Mike Waters and Aamir Brown combined to score five touchdowns for the Panthers.
Serena Williams –Female Athlete of the Year
Outside of Philadelphia, Serena Williams was no doubt the Female Athlete of the Year.
The younger of the Williams sisters dominated the tennis world. Dating back to the 2014 U.S. Open, she won four majors in a row. After winning the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, Williams fell short in her bid to win the calendar year Grand-Slam in a stunning upset in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.
Despite the upset, Williams was still the most dominant and compelling figure in the sport in 2015. At 34 years-old Williams is still the No. 1 player in the world. She had 21 Grand-Slam titles and is looking to do more in 2016.
Male Athletes of the Year: African-American Players-University of Missouri Football Team.
Finally, the Male Athletes of the Year are the 30 African-American players of the University of Missouri football team who threatened to boycott a football game to show solidarity with their fellow students protesting campus racism and calling for the president of the University to resign.
The African-American athletes of the Mizzou football team were moved to action by the hunger strike of a fellow African-American student.
What makes this protest unique was that those Black players were able to convince their white teammates and head coach Gary Pinkel to join them in the protest. University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe eventually resigned.
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