Imagine the National Uproar if this Happened in Philly

[GannonFan]

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/59407127.html

The Buffalo Bill who choked and fumbled the ball in the Bills/Pats game on Monday night ends up getting his house vandalized that night by irate Bills fans. Strangely, no national editorials asking why Buffalo is such a bad city and filled with obviously horrible fans. Kinda like when Cleveland Browns fans pelted the field and officials with plastic beer bottles at the end of a game that ended in a controversial call. As I remember, Browns fans were lauded for their passion and love of their team. As always, very interesting. xwhistlex

[89Hen]

Don't fight it GF. Embrace the oft misplace hate folks have for Philly fans.

My buddies here in DC always like to talk about how awful the Eagles fans are. Typical convo...


Friend: Nobody is anywhere near as bad as Philly fans.

Me: Agreed. Hey that reminds me... remember that time you threw that guy over the seat for throwing his beer at that woman?

Friend: Yeah, that was hillarious.

Me: Who were the Skins playing that day?

Friend: Uhhh, Giants.

Me: Oh. And remember that time you got in the fight with the guys who wouldn't move out of that woman and daughter's seat?

Friend: Yeah, can't believe those guys.

Me: Who were the Skins playing that day?

Friend: Tampa

Me: Tampa fans were acting like that?

Friends: No, these were Redskins fans.

Me: Oh. And what about that time....

xrolleyesx xcoolx

[GannonFan]

Oh, I agree. As long as people are aware that the silly natural reaction to assume that Philly is the home of the worst sports fans in the world is just a creature of habit and not reality. xthumbsupx

[NHwildEcat]

I have witnessed terrible fans of teams such as the Cubs and Rays...that is all I can think of...other then Red Sox fans...(I am one of them, but I unlike most, care about the game...not the extra BS)

[89Hen]

Oh, I agree. As long as people are aware that the silly natural reaction to assume that Philly is the home of the worst sports fans in the world is just a creature of habit and not reality. xthumbsupx
All goes back to the "santa snowball" incident. Best part about it, is that it was now over 40 years ago and didn't go down like people would have you believe. xlolx

[OSBF]

it is not possible for a fanbase to be less informed, more obtouse, more self righteous, more arrogant, or more generally overall more annoying than cubs fans

[NHwildEcat]

it is not possible for a fanbase to be less informed, more obtouse, more self righteous, more arrogant, or more generally overall more annoying than cubs fans

xlolx I was waiting for you to chime in!!xthumbsupx

[OSBF]

xlolx I was waiting for you to chime in!!xthumbsupx


Seriously, I think the cubs/cards thing is about as heated as red sox/yankees.

The baseball media will try to tell you its a "friendly" rivalvry..........

friendly my arse

[blukeys]

Seriously, I think the cubs/cards thing is about as heated as red sox/yankees.

The baseball media will try to tell you its a "friendly" rivalvry..........

friendly my arse

You are correct that is a heated rivalry that goes back decades. Many years back a Cub's fan wrote a play about the interaction of Cubs' fans in the outfild bleachres during a day game. It was funny but of course the game was between the Cards and Cubs. In the end the Cards win.

[Dukie95]

There would be no uproar if this had happened in Philly. Doesn't this happen after every game? ;)

[NHwildEcat]

Seriously, I think the cubs/cards thing is about as heated as red sox/yankees.

The baseball media will try to tell you its a "friendly" rivalvry..........

friendly my arse

I have a friend who is a National's fan and he has seen both teams play this year and he said he really like how respectful the Cards fans were...and well I witnessed the disrespectful Cubs fans first hand...so that was all I needed to understand!

[ASUG8]

Never been there, but this is some of the stuff much of the country hears about:


•In 1999, fans jeered Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin as he lay on the field for 20 minutes, suffering from a neck injury that ended his career.
•That same year, fans threw D batteries at St. Louis Cardinals outfielder J.D. Drew, who held out for a year after the Phillies drafted him and eventually signed with the Cards instead.
•Matthew Scott, the only person in the United States to have received a hand transplant, was asked by the Phillies to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team's home opener in 1999. The pitch, from his transplanted hand, dribbled over the plate. The fans booed.
•Eagles fans famously blasted Santa Claus with a shower of snowballs at halftime of a game as St. Nick circled helplessly around the field before stadium officials rescued him.

The place was considered so rough that the city opened up a jail — complete with a court and a judge — inside the stadium after a particularly nasty bout of drunkenness and fighting at a Monday night game between the Eagles and 49ers in 1997.

http://www.nestofdeath.com/press/washTimes.html

[GannonFan]

Never been there, but this is some of the stuff much of the country hears about:


•In 1999, fans jeered Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin as he lay on the field for 20 minutes, suffering from a neck injury that ended his career.
•That same year, fans threw D batteries at St. Louis Cardinals outfielder J.D. Drew, who held out for a year after the Phillies drafted him and eventually signed with the Cards instead.
•Matthew Scott, the only person in the United States to have received a hand transplant, was asked by the Phillies to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team's home opener in 1999. The pitch, from his transplanted hand, dribbled over the plate. The fans booed.
•Eagles fans famously blasted Santa Claus with a shower of snowballs at halftime of a game as St. Nick circled helplessly around the field before stadium officials rescued him.

The place was considered so rough that the city opened up a jail — complete with a court and a judge — inside the stadium after a particularly nasty bout of drunkenness and fighting at a Monday night game between the Eagles and 49ers in 1997.

http://www.nestofdeath.com/press/washTimes.html

And that's the thing, people not in the know just circulating and recycling these stories with no context. That Santa Claus thing is so blown out of proportion (and the real story is so tame) that you can almost discredit anyone if they bring up that story!

But it's still cool that we boo JD Drew whenever he comes up to bat in Philly, which is pretty rare. I mean, that was a decade ago and he's still hated. Gotta love it!

[Hoyadestroya85]

I think it's ridiculous that I go to the Villanova Temple game wearing a Giants hat and a couple of temple/eagles fans try to pick a fight with me, screaming all sorts of obscenities. Same thing happened when i wore a mets hat to a Billy Joel and Elton John concert. New York fans aren't perfect, but you can't get much worse than booing a guy with a neck injury that as far as anyone in the stands knew could have been life threatening. The jail cell in the basement of the vet along with the judge to go along with it is the token sign of why Philly fans are the most annoying and violent fans. There would be national uproar if the McKelvin incident happened anywhere.. i'd rather have them put up for sale signs in the lawn, that's classier.

[93henfan]

I think it's ridiculous that I go to the Villanova Temple game wearing a Giants hat and a couple of temple/eagles fans try to pick a fight with me, screaming all sorts of obscenities. Same thing happened when i wore a mets hat to a Billy Joel and Elton John concert. New York fans aren't perfect, but you can't get much worse than booing a guy with a neck injury that as far as anyone in the stands knew could have been life threatening. The jail cell in the basement of the vet along with the judge to go along with it is the token sign of why Philly fans are the most annoying and violent fans. There would be national uproar if the McKelvin incident happened anywhere.. i'd rather have them put up for sale signs in the lawn, that's classier.

The low point for Philly sports fans (which you highlighted with the jail at The Vet comment) was the behavior of Eagles fans during the Rich Kotite era. As GF pointed out, context is helpful. You came off of an era of tremendous underachievement under Buddy Ryan, when the team had one of the best defenses in NFL history (White, Brown, Simmons, Joyner, Allen, Waters, et al), and an owner in Norman Braman (famous for making players buy their own socks) who infuriated the fanbase and fired Buddy in favor of Kotite (a guy who once wrote his playchart in washable ink on a whiteboard before a game and the well-forecast rain washed away all his plays in the first half). The decision to add the jail was made after a MNF game vs the 49ers in the mid-90s where several fights and/or crowd reactions to fights were seen and noted on national TV, capped by someone firing a flare from a flare gun across the stadium.

If you've been to an Eagles game lately, those scenes are gone with the wind. The security is tight, to say the least, and they have priced a lot of the troublesome crowd out with PSLs, high ticket prices, and the like. It's a pretty family-safe atmosphere these days, IMHO. Different owner, different stadium, different crowd, winning team (regular season and playoffs).

[YoUDeeMan]

If you've been to an Eagles game lately, those scenes are gone with the wind. The security is tight, to say the least, and they have priced a lot of the troublesome crowd out with PSLs, high ticket prices, and the like. It's a pretty family-safe atmosphere these days, IMHO. Different owner, different stadium, different crowd, winning team (regular season and playoffs).


Pricing out the poor people has reduced violence and induced a family friendly environment? xeyebrowx

Damn, where's the Poli-board when you need it? xlolx

[MR. CHICKEN]

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[MR. CHICKEN]

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[gmoney55]

The low point for Philly sports fans (which you highlighted with the jail at The Vet comment) was the behavior of Eagles fans during the Rich Kotite era. As GF pointed out, context is helpful. You came off of an era of tremendous underachievement under Buddy Ryan, when the team had one of the best defenses in NFL history (White, Brown, Simmons, Joyner, Allen, Waters, et al), and an owner in Norman Braman (famous for making players buy their own socks) who infuriated the fanbase and fired Buddy in favor of Kotite (a guy who once wrote his playchart in washable ink on a whiteboard before a game and the well-forecast rain washed away all his plays in the first half). The decision to add the jail was made after a MNF game vs the 49ers in the mid-90s where several fights and/or crowd reactions to fights were seen and noted on national TV, capped by someone firing a flare from a flare gun across the stadium.

If you've been to an Eagles game lately, those scenes are gone with the wind. The security is tight, to say the least, and they have priced a lot of the troublesome crowd out with PSLs, high ticket prices, and the like. It's a pretty family-safe atmosphere these days, IMHO. Different owner, different stadium, different crowd, winning team (regular season and playoffs).

Has the atmosphere just shifted to the Phillies games though? I brought my parents and they were taken back by the behavior in the stands for a baseball game (and it wasn't against the Mets). There was the beating death this year too.

[gmoney55]

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/59407127.html

The Buffalo Bill who choked and fumbled the ball in the Bills/Pats game on Monday night ends up getting his house vandalized that night by irate Bills fans. Strangely, no national editorials asking why Buffalo is such a bad city and filled with obviously horrible fans. Kinda like when Cleveland Browns fans pelted the field and officials with plastic beer bottles at the end of a game that ended in a controversial call. As I remember, Browns fans were lauded for their passion and love of their team. As always, very interesting. xwhistlex

Maybe there would be an editorial if someone was beaten to death outside of a Bills game.

[813Jag]

I have witnessed terrible fans of teams such as the Cubs and Rays...that is all I can think of...other then Red Sox fans...(I am one of them, but I unlike most, care about the game...not the extra BS)
Where did you see those at? Because there aren't many around here. xlolx

[NHwildEcat]

Where did you see those at? Because there aren't many around here. xlolx

I was down at the Trop, earlier this season...when the Rays were beating the Sox on a nightly basis. Just saw a lot of classless fans, which I honestly think was caused by one winning season. People got a taste of winning and they lost their self respect and started acting like asses.

Oh, and those cowbells really piss me off! xrotatehx

[GannonFan]

Maybe there would be an editorial if someone was beaten to death outside of a Bills game.

Hard to say - a person got murdered in Dodger Stadium this year and no editorial was written. Odd, don't you think?

[813Jag]

I was down at the Trop, earlier this season...when the Rays were beating the Sox on a nightly basis. Just saw a lot of classless fans, which I honestly think was caused by one winning season. People got a taste of winning and they lost their self respect and started acting like asses.

Oh, and those cowbells really piss me off! xrotatehx
That's just the atmosphere when Boston and New York come to town. There's so many people from those areas here, it's likely to have an effect on the crowd.

[NHwildEcat]

That's just the atmosphere when Boston and New York come to town. There's so many people from those areas here, it's likely to have an effect on the crowd.

I'll take your word for it. I did enjoy my time there though...I have to say they would be crazy to play baseball outside in that area...way too hot for the fans (and players I am sure). I didn't even feel like I was indoors!

[93henfan]

Maybe there would be an editorial if someone was beaten to death outside of a Bills game.

What GF said plus I'll add that the incident was between two groups of Phillies fans (no opposition involved) that were completely tanked and someone accidentally bumped into someone and spilled a beer. Two of the three guys arrested had prior assault and battery-type records. That incident really had little to do with Philly sports and or stadium security. It could have very well turned out the same at a bar in Northeast Philly. It just so happened to occur in a bar in South Philly that happened to be attached to CBP.

[GannonFan]

What GF said plus I'll add that the incident was between two groups of Phillies fans (no opposition involved) that were completely tanked and someone accidentally bumped into someone and spilled a beer. Two of the three guys arrested had prior assault and battery-type records. That incident really had little to do with Philly sports and or stadium security. It could have very well turned out the same at a bar in Northeast Philly. It just so happened to occur in a bar in South Philly that happened to be attached to CBP.

Those darn details really take away from just blinding condemning all Philadelphia sports fans. Of course, the national media doesn't really delve into details. I'm sure the lead sentence to an out of town newspaper article on this story went something like "From the town that threw snowballs at Santa Claus...". It's easier to write stories when you don't have to think one iota about them. xoopsx

[bluehenbillk]

Mike Missanelli did a great job defending Philly's reputation that incidents like the one's that happen in Philly DO actually happen elsewhere to much less fanfare. Did a great job of taking ESPN tool Rick Bayless to school on the air, Bayless confessed he hadn't even been to a game in Philly in a decade or more.....

BTW, Gannon Fan & I were at that Birds/49ers game with the flare being shot across the stadium. If you think Eagles games are bad, try an Eagles game on Monday Night....

[GannonFan]

Mike Missanelli did a great job defending Philly's reputation that incidents like the one's that happen in Philly DO actually happen elsewhere to much less fanfare. Did a great job of taking ESPN tool Rick Bayless to school on the air, Bayless confessed he hadn't even been to a game in Philly in a decade or more.....

BTW, Gannon Fan & I were at that Birds/49ers game with the flare being shot across the stadium. If you think Eagles games are bad, try an Eagles game on Monday Night....

I thought that Niners game was tame compared to a Sunday night game at the Vet. We were at an Eagles/Broncos game on a Sunday night back then and Strawbridges (a department store for those unfamiliar) had run a promotional contest where the winners got to have their wedding nuptials on the field at halftime. Why anyone would think having a wedding, at the 50 yard line of the Vet, after letting people drink really the whole day (some people on Mondays have to work so they don't drink all day before a Monday nighter) is a good idea is beyond me. Well, the bride and her bridesmaids were a little on the chunky side, and during the vow where the minister asks the groom for better or for worse, the whole crowd was yelling "No, no, don't do it" and then, when he said "I do" the place couldn't have booed him any louder than it did. Fantastic entertainment.

(*for those non-Philly people who are appalled by the booing in this case, the groom actually looked happy when the placed booed and motioned with his arms to do it louder, so some booing can be well-natured. Of course, I don't remember the bride looking pleased. ;) ).

[813Jag]

None of the Philly stories bother me, I've seen worse at Mumford on a Saturday Night.