Not much going on these days if youre a Philly sports fan.

Sixers have had perhaps the

worst start totheseasoninfranchisehistory,theEagleshaventliveduptopreseasonhype
following Chip Kellys offseason moves, Phillies and Flyers are both going through some
restructuring. That being said, Im hardly a Phillyfan,theyaredivision rivalstomyCowboys
sothere'sthat.

Theres a bright spot in all of this though. And nope it isnt Kobes bittersweet homecoming
(much respect to Lakers legend and Philly native). It's all everyones talking about. Creed.
The movie. Apollo creed, the titular character in the
Rocky movie franchise has his own
show. Well not really, but rather a look at his otherwise unrevealed legacy (a son fathered
from a previous relationship). For those who are probably new to the Rocky franchise, it's
basically boxing. Glorified boxing. When it was released in 1976, it claimed 3 Oscars,
catapulted Stallone into Hollywood grade A status and it's endearing narrative of the
American dream rags to riches story liftedthespiritsofthePhiladelphiacommunity.Rocky
is considered to be culturally significant to the development of Philadelphia and the iconic
steps at the Museum of artstillremainsahotlyrequestedfavouriteamongstvisitingtourists.
Rocky Balboa became part of Phillys history and Stallone despite not being a professional
boxer was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. I think that pretty much sums up the
franchisesimpactonsportsandparticularlyboxing.

With history out of the way, let's talk a bit about the movie. The narrative is still the same.
Typical underdog storyline, gets motivated, lucks out and scores a major fight(iknowmany
hate to include luck in a underdog fightstory,butrealitybites).IdoubttheresmuchinsightI
can offer tothestoryline,Wikipediadoes itjusticeenough.Iwouldliketotalkmoreaboutmy
thoughts on the movie. One thing I noticed about
Creedwas itswillingnesstodistanceitself
from it's predecessors. That itself is symbolic.
Creed in the movie is Adonis Creed,the love
child of Apollo Creed (the original character andRockysrivalturnedfriendinthefranchise).
Adonis is also desperately trying to shed the name of his famous father and walk his own
footsteps. But the real gem is doing it in a respectful way. It's the same tactic and film
making techniques (or cinematography or whatever term aficionados call it) that young
director Ryan Coogler employed to pay homage to the franchise and still carve out it's own
footprintamongstthatwelltroddenpath.Thatinitselfisnteasy.

Ask Steph curry, who currently leads the Warriors on a 200 perfect season start and who
also won the NBA championships last year and clinchedtheMVPtrophy. SonofDellCurry,
also a famed NBA player for the Hornets, Steph has hadtheloomingshadowof hisfather's
legacy cast overhead since he entered the pros and gained traction with the Warriors.Alot
has been said about his development, his environment and how they have made him the
playerthatheisnow.EvenStephsadmitsthat,butnoonecandenyjusthowexceptionalhis
work ethic, leadership and ability has been on the court. Steph has been trying tomake his
own name and I think while he has struggled and continued to face criticism, he has been
able to do it. Adonis in the movie is shown to rebel against the label that is stereotyped on
him but eventually learns to reconcile his family name and dons the red and blue shorts of
hisfatherforhisboutattheendofthemovie.

Not only that, the filmmaking subtlyacknowledgestheRockysfranchiseinit'sheartthrough

the use of excellent thematic music, scored by the brilliant Ludwig Goransson that does a

marvellous take on the famous Apollo creed theme from Bill Conti of the original franchise.
Music is a defining part of the franchise and it's nice to seethegreateffectithadoncertain
scenes. Anyone remembers the Balboas run in the streets of Philly? MichaelB Jordanand
a gang of street kids also did a perfect rendition of their own in
Creed
. Nice to see the film
also taking cues of development in Philly, giving accord to parkour and bikes in that scene.
The soundtrack also bleeds funk and souland rapwhichisrepresentativeofPhillysdiverse
music scene. Lord knows/Fighting stronger in itself is montage worthy. You get serious
chills and it's adrenaline and pump inducing. Tupac, Meek Mill, Jhene Aiko, Nas and The
Rootsgetthemselvesonboardwiththesoundtrack.

Props to the producers and writers for the evolution of Rockys themes. Admittedly I did
mention before that the narrative hardly changes (you cant stray too far from a successful
model), but I think the themes havesomehowblendedverywellinthechronologicalcontext
of society. Let me explain. Rocky Balboa is a source of inspiration, amotivationalfigureyet
almost human because the brutal sport that is boxing only goes to show that everyone
bleeds the same. And as Stallone famously put it this time in
Creed time is undefeated.
Remember all the motivational scenes, how about the scene of It aint abouthowhardyou
hit! from
Rocky Balboa (2006)? From
Rocky
I to
Rocky
Balboa,
it has transitioned from
Balboa being a fighter whose presence and training tenacity has been the source of
inspiration, to his philosophy as a trainer and a mentor that shows how far the series has
come. In the later installments, the focus is about relationships. How the relationships have
come to define and continue to definethosearound Balboa.AdonisrelationshipwithBalboa
is succinctly echoed by Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious franchise: Family. The fight goes
beyond the ring,whereBalboa hastocontend withanewopponentincancer.Thepresence
of Adonis creed in this movie gives Balboa another reason to lace uptheproverbial gloves.
In
Creed
, the ending isnothingnew.AdonisdoesnotwinbutyetasannouncerJimLampley
puts it Conlan won the fight, but Creed won the night. Yet again it goes to show that
winning isnt everything (I really truly believe that) and that you can still win withoutwinning
the trophy. I mean metaphorically (likewinningthewarbutlosingthebattle).Youdontneed
the medal or trophy to show that you have won. Winning is progressive and is constantly
demonstratedamongsttheRockyfranchiseasoneofitskeypremises.

One last minor shoutout to the filmmakers, it is no surprise that throughout the franchises
historytostayauthentictoboxingthattheychosereallifeprofessionalboxersforopponents.
From Tommy Morrison to Tarver to Tony Bellew in
Creed
, I believe the franchise has done
their part to introduce us to these boxers and give the non boxingfanssomething tolookat
other than bandwagon hype ofMayweatherandPacquiao.Boxingseemstobegettingmore
reps lately in part due to the former, but not to mention Holly Holms KO of Rousey in UFC
as well as Deontay Wilders phenomenal record. Looks like the future bodes well for the
sport.

On a side note, a few days ago I read about the concept of agile branding from a report
released by Landor. They termed it the agile paradox of trying to stay relevant vs. being
true to brand integrity and identity. If I may be so bold as to connect the dots, I think Team
Creed finds itself in a similar situation. It has to my knowledge done a wonderful job of
balancing the two.Ilookforwardtonextiterationofthefranchise.Creeds involvementisstill
alwaysabonus.IhopeyouguysenjoythemovieasmuchasIdid.