http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/their_fans_are_second_rate_so_is_mnrbqD4sqsEKH10TfB3k6H
Frillies are coming to town!
Their fans are second-rate & so is their city
By RICH CALDER, ERIN CALABRESE and JEREMY OLSHAN
Last Updated: 6:56 PM, October 27, 2009
Yankees fans have a message for the Phillies and their hometown: This ain’t Rocky, and the underdog won’t win!
“The Yankees are going to make Philly cream cheese out of them,” a confident Tommy Bayiokos, 44, predicted yesterday in Midtown.
“Philly fans are a bunch of whiners and should learn how to dress. They should try reading GQ.”
Living up to their second-class billing going into the start of the Fall Classic tomorrow, the Phils arrived in New York yesterday — by train.
The less-than-grand entrance triggered a flood of invective from the Yankee faithful.
“GIVE ME your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free” compared to … a cheesesteak.
“Bleacher Bums get a bad rap,” said Tanner McLoud, 42, of Long Island. “But if you’ve ever been to the old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, you’d realize just how much worse Phillies fans are.
“You can’t go to a game without getting booze thrown at you!”
Gotham has been regularly beating the pants off Philly since overtaking the one-horse town as the nation’s economic capital in the early 19th century.
Even Benjamin Franklin, Philly’s patron saint, has been described as “the father of all the Yankees.”
Although Philadelphia doesn’t draw the same ire among New Yorkers as Boston or Los Angeles, it’s mostly because Gothamites consider the city across the Ben Franklin Bridge pretty pathetic, says Bleacher Creature Michael Stewart.
“I don’t have hate for Philly exactly — they are like our redheaded stepchild,” he said.
“It’s like a nothing city. It’s just insignificant in comparison to New York.”
Another Yankee fan, Laura Nidelle, 24, insists the Yuengling-slinging rubes in Philly are uncultured and uninteresting — and go to bed too early.
“I briefly lived in Philadelphia and I couldn’t wait to get out,” the Brooklyn writer said. “Their fans are whiners, the food is lousy and there is nothing to do.
“New York is all about being on top, with no excuses — just like the Yankees.”
And don’t get us started on the cuisine.
Consider Philadelphia’s most famous export — other than Will Smith: overcooked minced-meat sand wiches doused in Cheez Whiz.
“The big meal there is a steak with cheese and onions on a hero, but they don’t even call it a hero. It’s a hoagie. What the hell is a hoagie?” said Ron Montclane, 26.
As far as sports go, sure, the Phillies have won two World Series championships compared with the Yankees’ 26, but far sadder is that no one from Philly cares much.
“Their most famous athlete is Rocky, and he’s fictional,” sneered Alex Rusu, 23, a building superintendent in Gramercy.
And don’t even try to compare the iconic House That Ruth Built with the long-gone Veterans Stadium.
“Their stadium had a jail cell for rowdy fans because they like throwing stuff at people,” said Laura Hall, 35, of The Bronx.
The Phillies’ current home, Citizens Bank Park, is jail-free, but the fans are still thugs, Bombers faithful said.
Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland