Posts Tagged ‘Philly fans’

“The Worst Sports Fans in America”: Response to GQ Magazine

Monday, March 21st, 2011

When, in a sane world,  does meanness outweigh violence?  What would you choose; snowballs or arson?  Gentlemen’s Quarterly (more affectionately known as GQ) has once again placed an unflattering light on Philadelphia fans, naming them the worst in America.  I love the byline calling us “The Meanest Fans in America”.  Yet the third worst fans (West Virginia University) have a reputation for setting fires (1,120 blazes 1997-2003, as well as presently setting dumpster fires weekly) and the 13th worst fans (University of Wisconsin) throws bottles at little girls and sexually hazes their marching band.

What is so wrong with being mean?  When did sports become so fluffy?  Basically, you are telling me and my fellow Philadelphia fans that we should pay a small fortune to watch a game without expressing the slightest criticism.  We should just sit there and coddle the egos of millionaire athletes when you can blatantly see they are not doing what they’re getting paid to do?  Is this what you are telling us to do?

This is the rowdiest photo GQ could come up with for the so-called "Worst Sports Fans in America". What a joke!

The first thing that the national media brings up when talking about Philadelphia is that we booed Santa and threw snowballs at him.  Here are some facts that I think you should know before bringing that up yet again:  This incident was over 40 years ago and The Philadelphia Eagles royally stunk.  They were not booing Santa; they were booing the terrible performance by The Eagles.  I was nowhere near being born in 1968, but I’m pretty sure I would have booed Santa too.

Let me give you a little perspective of what goes on in the mind of Philadelphia fans.  We are losing badly, and you want to throw Santa Claus out there to do what?…make us feel better, forget that we are a horrible team?  Surely you jest.  My issue is that the organization at the time thought this would be a good idea.

As for Michael Irvin and his injury, I only have one thing to say.  We didn’t know it would end his career. If we did, we wouldn’t have booed.  We are not that heartless.

“Pukemon” (the vomiting incident) was the act of a young man who was being irresponsible with his alcohol content.  It was crude and disgusting, and I am pretty sure that little girl is scarred for life, but that kid does not represent the fans of Philadelphia.  The taser incident was some young kid trying to get his fifteen minutes of fame, so please don’t go overboard with this one.

I saw some of the other nominees for “worst fans” and I do not believe that we are the worst.  We don’t set fires and we don’t maim or kill.  What sports stadium doesn’t have an occasional fight or two?  The problem with everyone outside of Philadelphia is they don’t understand the intense relationship we have with our sports teams.  We live and die with them, so we expect nothing but the best from them.  Quite frankly, GQ is a white collar magazine and this is a blue collar city.  We don’t sit in a box seat sipping on scotch and smoking a cigar.  We are out in the blistering cold and sweltering heat supporting our teams , hoping they can get us the golden goose.

Instead of sitting on your high horse casting your vote about something you have no idea about, you should get out there with us, sit amongst us and you might find that we aren’t such a bad city of fans after all.

Stephanie C. Curry, Guest Blogger for War Room Sports

Dev of The War Room Talks About “Philly Fans”

Monday, November 1st, 2010

The “McBenching” of Donovan

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Do these comments from Mike Shanahan sound familiar Philly fans???  Does this bring back memories of 2-minute drills past?

“(McNabb’s) still our starter.”

“At the end of the game, with Rex knowing how to run the two-minute offense, I felt with the time (left) and no timeouts, he gave us the best chance to win. The terminology, it puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback.


“Everything is sped up when you don’t have timeouts. It’s gotta come automatic. You gotta call a couple plays at the line. You can’t think, you gotta react.  Donovan understands. I don’t think any quarterback likes it, but you gotta make those tough decisions.”

This “McNabb in the clutch” thing is nothing new to those who have actually watched his career with an analytical eye.  Do you all remember the Eagles’ so-called hurry-up offense in the Superbowl vs the Patriots?  That happened often in Philly but you probably didn’t hear about it until it was on the national stage under the big lights.  Here’s a stat that might interest you:

Since 2005, with 5 minutes or less to go in the game (when the Eagles were either losing by a score or less, or tied), McCan’tGetItDone’s record is 2-12-1.  And this doesn’t even include his brief stint as the Redskins quarterback!!!  For all of the positive stats put out there, this is one of those lines that you NEVER hear about.

***SHAKING OUR HEADS***

 

Aquil “Quil” Bayyan, Paul “PJ” Johnson, and Devin “Dev” McMillan of The War Room, for War Room Sports