Phillies' Loss At Arizona May Just Mean More Games In Philadelphia - The Capital Of The Sports World This Weekend ... Again

This weekend, the citizens of Philadelphia might even cheer Santa Claus.

Jolly St. Nick was actually booed and had to dodge snowballs at halftime of a Philadelphia Eagles game on Dec. 15, 1968, at Franklin Field in West Philly. In the throes of a 2-11 season and tied with Minnesota 7-7, Eagles fans voiced their frustration about their sixth losing campaign in seven years since winning the NFL championship in 1960.

But this weekend, they would probably cheer a Disney character as well. Once they recover from that 6-5 loss at Arizona on Friday night. The Diamondbacks scored three in the eighth for their second straight win to tie the National League Championship Series at 2-2.

Phillies 2 NLCS Wins From Another World Series

The Phillies are still just two wins away from their second straight World Series.

Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies' home, in front of the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field with Wells Fargo Center, home of the 76ers and Flyers (right) in Philadelphia. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Game five will be Saturday (8 p.m., TBS). Game six and game seven - if necessary - will be back in Philly at Citizens Bank Park on Monday and Tuesday.

This weekend is more than just Philly, though. No. 7 Penn State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten), which is located three hours away, will play at No. 3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) on Saturday (Noon, FOX).

Philadelphia's Phillies And Eagles Both Rolling

And on Sunday, the NFC East leading Philadelphia Eagles (5-1) host the AFC East leading Miami Dolphins (5-1) at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Also Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) play at the Los Angeles Rams (3-3) in an undercard at 4 p.m. on FOX.

Such a confluence of major sports also happened at about this time last year with the Phillies in the World Series, the Eagles at 7-0, the Flyers at 5-2-1 and the Major League Soccer Philadelphia Union in the MLS championship game.

"In Praise of Philadelphia, Sudden Paradise of Sports" screamed a headline in the Wall Street Journal.

"Philadelphia is the sports capital of the universe," said the story.

Eagles Reached The Super Bowl Last Season

Well, the Phillies lost the World Series in six games to the Houston Astros, who won twice in Philly. The Eagles finished 14-3 and reached the Super Bowl, but lost 38-35 to Kansas City. The Flyers finished 31-38-13 and 18-18-5 at home and did not make the playoffs. And the Union lost that championship game to Los Angeles. But what an October and November!

The Phillies still look like they could return to the World Series as they are 6-0 at home with clearly the loudest fans. Just listen to the television.

"The energy in that stadium - holy crap," former Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling said on his OutKick show this week. "It's going to be tough (for Arizona) to win there. The crowd is going to give them April strength and freshness in October. There's an advantage to that."

Schilling helped lead the 1993 Phillies to the World Series before losing to Toronto in six games. He also led the Arizona Diamondbacks to the World Series title in 2001, splitting MVP honors with Randy Johnson.

Bryce Harper Can't Get Enough Of Philadelphia

In superstar first baseman Bryce Harper, Philadelphia has its own spokesperson. And he's actually from Las Vegas.

"I love this place,” he said after the Phillies beat the Braves during their divison series. "Flat out, I love this place. There’s nothing like coming into the Bank and playing in front of these fans. Blue-collar mentality, tough, fighting every single day. I get chills, man. I get so fired up. Man, I love this place!"

More love to come ... or hate, depending on what happens.