http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/94001159.html
Reporter had tough time in Philly
By Pat Hickey
THE (MONTREAL) GAZETTE
PHILADELPHIA – This is supposed to be the City of Brotherly Love, but the citizenry has strayed from the ideals espoused by its founder, William Penn.
Over the years, the city’s sports fans have earned a reputation as boorish fanatics. These are the folks who booed Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs at an Eagles game.
“Why do people keep bringing that up?” asked John Monaghan, who was dispensing drinks Sunday night at Kelly Monaghan’s in neighbouring Essington.
Probably because some Philadelphia fans – not unlike fans in other cities, including Montreal – have never learned that there’s a fine line between supporting a team and criminal behaviour.
I was disgusted by the latest riot in Montreal following a Canadiens’ victory over Pittsburgh. While Premier Jean Charest assured us that the miscreants weren’t Canadiens’ fans, former colleague Michael Farber asked the question: “Who do they root for? Are they Penguins’ fans? Colorado fans?”
There was certainly an element which took advantage of an opportunity to do some after-hours shopping at the SAQ and Foot Locker, but I saw dozens of photographs in which the out-of-control revelers were wearing Canadiens jersey. And, while the team won’t admit, the decision not to show the first two games of the Philadelphia series on the series on the giant screen at the Bell Centre, was made with an eye toward avoiding more trouble.
There were several incidents at Game 1 of the Flyers-Canadiens series here Sunday night. I saw fans in Canadiens jerseys heckled, which is fair game. I also saw several of them being bumped around, which isn’t acceptable.
Some vandals pulled the plug on a pregame telecast by Radio-Canada and another Canadian TV crew was harassed.
I found myself the unwanted centre of attraction when I went to my car after the game. One tire was flat, the bug deflector had been ripped from the hood, a hubcap had been snapped in two and the trunk and roof of the car were littered with beer cans. The windows were covered with beer and soda.
These were minor inconveniences. I bought a new tire and took a run through a car wash. And when you have 565,000 kilometres on a 1999 Honda Accord, you don’t worry about a bug deflector.
But my biggest concern was that some yahoo tore off my license plate. I spent three hours Monday, shuttling between police stations before I was able to fill out a report on the theft. I’m hoping that the report will help me clear customs Wednesday.
The attitude of some Philly fans – I have a lot of friends in the city and made some new ones on this trip – was in stark contrast to the fans in Washington and Pittsburgh, who were gracious throughout the first two rounds of the series and far more civil than the Montreal fans who booed the U.S. anthem.
Prior to Game 1, the Flyers passed out T-shirts with the legend: Relentless in the pursuit of history.
Relentless in the pursuit of idiocy would be a better slogan for a city whose history includes abusing Santa Claus.
Subhuman piece of shit is what Philadelphia truly are. Excuse my french too, but man they are jealous! Sure their team, is steam rolling the Habs. But c’mon why do they hate this man so much? He didn’t do anything to them! Oh yeah thats right, he’s from Canada and reports for the Canadiens. Oh such class demonstrated right there. The Philadelphia fanbase, wants this whole “Feel sorry for us, and blame the victim because we’re victims mentality.” I think I HATE Flyers fans worse than the Eagles fans in that city. That organization feeds off those idiots and seems to do well. They blame Montreal for the rioting. But yet they had to riot quite hard themselves when the Phillies won. At least millions of dollars in property damage.
@Jack
Oh, come on. After a sports victory championship who hasn’t rioted? It seems to be quite a common occurance not unique to Philadelphia or Montreal. Make no mistake, Philly fans are quite awful.
“After a sports victory championship who hasn’t rioted?”
In NYC there’s a parade and celebration but no riots. Of course rioting is not unique to Philly or Montreal but it’s certainly not the norm.
Give me a damm break the City of Brotherly BS, Philly has won 3 NBA titles, 2 Stanley cups, 3 NFL championships, & 2 FREAKIN world series, and yet they never shut the hell up!! Is that how to celebrate, rioting, fighting, running of the big stinking mouth!!! That is all these idiots are good for!!! Like I said before, 2 world series wins & it fells like the the country is being envaded by the damm “red coats” again!!! Anymore Bandwagoners want to jump on, hey got a better idea since BP has changed the Company name maybe Boston & Philthies can riot over that new logo (BP) Bandwagon Phans “we blow sh!t up”!!
I live in south Jersey and I am a Giants/Yankees fan and I can tell you that the fans of Philadelphia sports teams are absolutely hands down the worst fans of anywhere, EVER!!! They are obnoxious and rude whether their teams win or loose! The disgusting behavior exhibited in Philly has spread to my beloved south Jersey! Not only can’t I go to bars to watch games, but I can no longer drive down the street on game days sporting car flags and of course wearing the appropriate jersey, due to spitting foul mouthed Philly fans. I’ve been to many games in NY venues and only ever encounter problems with those from Philly! I’m not glorifying the NY fans because of course there are those who also get out of control, but it seems far more prevalent in philly fans!! Honestly philly, keep your nasty self loathing attitudes to your dirty, disgusting confines known as Filthadelphia!
Fan is short for fanatic. Here is a definition from dictionary.com:
fanatic — noun
1. a person whose enthusiasm or zeal for something is extreme or beyond normal limits.
Word Origin & History
fanatic – 1520s, “insane person,” from L. fanaticus “mad, enthusiastic, inspired by a god,” originally, “pertaining to a temple.”
Flyers Fans. Insane person? Check! Inspired by a god? Flyers fans think their players are better than the rest without knowing the game at all. Check! Pertaining to a temple? Spectrum, a temple? Really? Check!
Flyers fans say “offsides” instead of offside (which demonstrates lack of savvy about the sport). The orange beasts in the stands chant “Ref you suck” thinking that it will help the Flyers. They yell “Go back to Québec you f$%*ing Frenchman to the Canadiens players when there are more Quebecois on the Flyers than the Habs. They boo the Canadian anthem when most of their team hails from the Great White North. They chant “USA USA” when only TWO, yup, TWO players are American (there are more Russians than there are Americans now). What other proof does one need to see that Flyers fans are complete idiots?
Hmmm. Let’s vandalize an innocent man’s car. Maybe that will exhibit to everyone that Philly is the city of brotherly love. And that Flyers fans are indeed – fanatics.
Is the NHL nuts? IS Gary Bettman really that dumb? Philly will host the Winter Classic in an outdoor match against the New York Rangers on January 2, 2012. If it snows, Flyers fans WILL throw them at Rangers fans. If the Flyers begin to lose, they will act like animals even more.
I am a pure hockey fan who loves the game. But I can’t stand the Flyers organization, its fans, and the fact that Comcast supports them.
City of Brotherly Love? Not on January 2nd. Mark my words.