Enough already, the media needs to lay off the Philadelphia fans

February 20, 2006 | By Dennis Bakay | Discuss

Do any of these things sound familiar? They run big-time athletes out of town. They threw snowballs at Santa Claus. Nobody wants to play there because they’ll get booed. They are an unappreciative lot. Veteranís Stadium was the only stadium in the country with a court and jail in it because the Eagles fans were so out of control. They are violent. They are criminals. They are bad fans.

These are some routine insults that are hurled by members of the media throughout the country and even some in Philadelphia. Even some of the Phillies players took shots at the fans last year. Kenny Lofton, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal, and Billy Wagner all had negative things to say about the very people who make them what they are, that is multi-millionaires making money off a game.

If anybody saw the recent ESPN “Outside the Lines” segment on fans around the country, it was basically a propaganda piece demonizing the Philadelphia fans. It was a complete disgrace how they focused entirely on the so-called Santa incident. They also had reporters from OUTSIDE markets who painted the fans with a broad brush as ignorant, malevolent, and villains. They failed to mention the violence that took place in Auburn Hills during the Pistons-Pacers game last November. They failed to mention countless times fans threw bottles on the field at referees during NFL games. Can anyone recall anything of the sort happening at a Philadelphia sporting event in recent memory? Americans love heroes and villains. There is clearly an agenda to make the Philadelphia fans that collective group of villains. And, thatís wrong. It’s a lie and it’s irresponsible reporting.

Many times when there are nationally televised games, the commentators resort to discussing the low-rent myths regarding Philly fans. The Santa Claus snowball incident is often brought up. Philadelphia sports talk radio host, Glen Macnow said in regards to the Santa Claus episode that the half-time incident was the result of frustration caused by the dismantling of a proud franchise. The 19-year old fan was asked to substitute for Santa Claus in a half-time celebration. Macnow said, “Santa was a surrogate that day for Joe Kuharich and Jerry Wolman and Norm Snead. The poor kid just happened to be representing the frustrations.” Even Frank Oliva, the guy who wore the Santa outfit found it amusing. Olivo was quoted in Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano’s book “The Great Philadelphia Fan Book” as saying, “Iím a Philadelphia fan, I knew what was what. I thought it was funny.”

Philadelphia fans are tortured and have every reason to be frustrated.

This is not to say that Philadelphia fans are entirely innocent. Sure there are incidents that occur at games. Iíve seen incidents at Eagles games. I saw a fan of the Carolina Panthers get spit on by Eagles fans after the NFC Championship debacle as he was videotaping a couple upset Eagles fans. Is it right to do something like that? No, but itís to be expected when you compound the years of frustration brought about by a lack of championships. Itís also to be expected when you have a fan of the opposing team rubbing it in. Everybody purges their frustration in different ways. I just chose to sit there in disgust (as did the guys who I went to the game with from work) thinking about what could have been had the Eagles won that game. Thatís my choice as a paying customer. And, thatís somebody elseís choice if they want to boo or lash out on a fan that is rubbing a loss in their face.

It’s been nearly 23 years since a professional sports franchise in Philadelphia has won a title. It will have been over 23 years if the Flyers win a Stanley Cup. If you prorate that over the 4 teams’ seasons, that’s 91 aggregate seasons of losing since the Sixers last won. No other city in the country with 4 franchises possesses this awful distinction. Members of the media throughout the country obviously canít see this fact. They just choose to run with the same myths and paint the Philadelphia fans as villains. They donít experience the frustration like us. We shouldnít expect them to, but they should do their jobs as reporters and research, maybe talk to fans from this market to gain an understanding of that. Itís an abomination that people from the Philadelphia media would dare point a finger at the fans here. Out of all of the fans in this country I put the Philadelphia sports fans far above not only fans of any other American sports franchise, but I would even put them above even the great, loyal fans of the Opie and Anthony radio show on XM satellite radio. Their passion and loyalty is unmatched. Itís been noted recently that fans are turning on the Sixers, which is why they are one of the worst teams in the NBA in terms of attendance. Thatís absurd. The fans are staying away because they know the team has no chance of winning a championship in the foreseeable future. It is a fanís right to respond by staying away if the team is either not committed to winning or can not win any time soon-as is clearly the case with the 76ers.

If anybody remembers 2004 then theyíll understand what Iím saying. In that season we witnessed the Eagles losing to Carolina in the NFC Championship. St. Joeís got beat in the Elite 8 by a buzzer beater by John Lucas Jr. of Oklahoma State. The Flyers got beat by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Smarty Jones blew the final leg of his Triple Crown run losing by half a length. That moment epitomized the collapses in Philadelphia. And, the Phillies completely laid an egg in their first season at Citizenís Bank Park by failing to make any moves at the trade deadline and completely falling apart during a pennant race. 2004 was a disaster for Philadelphia fans. If this happened in any other city theyíd probably riot!

The Philadelphia fans are used to it though. The scar tissue fans in this area have built up is thicker than the skin on a Rhinoceros’s rump. The experience of a Philadelphia fan is one of frustration, anger, happiness (few and far between) and for some of us apathy. The Phillies got to experience fan apathy last year. Now, itís the Sixersí turn. Theyíll brace themselves again for a Flyers Stanley Cup run. They have as good of a chance to win as any other title contender. But, if youíve been a fan of sports in this town like I have since I was a child, then you know you have to take it with a grain of salt. Iím 27 and the Sixers won a championship before I entered Kindergarten. I can wait. I think everybody else can. The feeling of the parade will be that much better when it finally does happen.