Well, it is obvious now, in that way hindsight is just as reliable as prediction is faulty, that the two long-awaited championship parades of Philadelphia’s recent sporting history were destined to have Charlie Manuel and Doug Pederson riding on the prow of the great ships that navigated the teeming, delirious sea of Broad Street.
The Phillies’ route in 2008 went south to the stadium, and the Eagles will be moving in the other direction on Thursday before taking a turn and heading toward the iconic, and somewhat overused, steps of the Art Museum. The paths are different, but the celebration of victory after decades of denial is pretty much the same, and both came with Everyman as unheralded captain of the journey.