Top Teams - THIS TOWN WANTS ITS TITLE

PHILADELPHIA remains a football town and the fans are desperate for the Eagles to win the elusive Lombardi Trophy.

Those conclusions remain clear from the latest survey of sports fans in the Philadelphia area conducted for the Daily News by Temple University's Sport Industry Research Center. The poll was conducted in early August.

If Philadelphia could win only one championship in the next 10 years, 81 percent said most fans would choose the Super Bowl. Additionally, 48 percent said that would be the championship they would most want.

The Phillies finished second among the four major sports teams with 16 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

"It's unimaginable how good [a Super Bowl championship] would be," former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski said. "I think people would probably cry for a day. There's so many loyal Eagle fans. They probably wouldn't be able to believe it themselves. But it would be the largest parade probably in history."

Asked to describe Philadelphia as a sports town, 79 percent said most people would consider this to be a football town. Asked for their personal opinion, 63 percent said Philadelphia is a football town. That is a 7 percent drop from a DN/SIRC survey conducted in March. Thirty-three percent said Philadelphia was a baseball town, up 6 percent from the March survey.

"I really, honestly believe if the Eagles win the Super Bowl, this city's party will show to not only the country, but the world what this means to us," said fan Shaun Young, otherwise known as the North Endzone Nightmare. "Fifty years is a long time. The party that's gonna take place when they win the Super Bowl is gonna be something we will live and love and experience for the rest of our lives."

In that pursuit of a Super Bowl, respondents seemed realistic about the current position of the Eagles, as they begin a new era with a young quarterback in Kevin Kolb and the burgeoning stars on offense. Seven percent said the Eagles will be the city's next championship team, up 2 percent from the March survey.

Asked what a Super Bowl championship would mean, Kolb summed it up in one word: "Everything."

"It's always in the forefront of our mind. I think it's in the forefront of everybody's mind, fans included. Everybody's working their tail off, always thinking about it. We just gotta go get us one."

The Phillies were listed as the next title team by 81 percent, down 8 percent. The Flyers bounced from 5 percent in March to 10 percent in August, coming off their surprising run to the Stanley Cup finals.

Of course, that does not mean the Eagles are not faced with high expectations from their demanding fan base. Fans who identified the Eagles as their favorite Philly team were asked how many games the team will win this season, 97 percent had the team going 8-8 or better. Ten wins was the most popular choice, with 36 percent; followed by nine wins, with 29 percent; and eight wins, with 14 percent.

Fans also have high hopes and expectations for Kolb, entering his first season as a full-time starter in his fourth year with the Eagles. Among those who identified the Eagles as their favorite team in Philly, 19 percent said they were very optimistic about Kolb, 51 percent said they were optimistic, 28 percent were taking a wait-and-see approach, 3 percent were pessimistic and 1 percent were very pessimistic.

The results reflect the responses of 1,576 subscribers to the Philly.com daily sports newsletter in the eight-county region of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania and South Jersey suburbs. Surveys were distributed online to those who lived within the target area and had signed up for the newsletter. Results are representative of the entire group of subscribers within 3 percent plus or minus.