What?!?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Now, I know that the entertainment business is competitive and, in this era of 872 cable channels and the worldwide web, journalists rely upon shock, exaggeration, and ridiculousness to draw attention and retain viewership.\u00a0 I understand that.\u00a0 And, yes, I understand that journalism is more of a mirror that reflects the sentiment of its readership\/viewership than it is any sort of ethical or righteous vehicle to guide that following.\u00a0 And, I’m certainly not going to make the argument that — like some of the radical news stations attempt to do — it even should<\/em> be a vehicle of that sort.\u00a0 What I don’t understand, however, is why the so-called best journalists in the world are so creatively inept as to always lean on gratuitous slaps at a city, its sports teams, and, most importantly, its extensive fanbase.\u00a0 Honestly, it is just downright lazy.\u00a0<\/p>\n I really don’t mind when I’m sitting at Busch Stadium, with my Phillies hat on, minding my own business, and someone asks me “You’re from Philly?\u00a0 Didn’t you guys throw batteries at Santa Claus?”\u00a0 I usually just laugh and say things like “Don’t believe everything you hear…we only threw snowballs at Santa Claus.\u00a0 The batteries were thrown at J.D. Drew.”\u00a0 But, it’s quite another thing when the national media perpetuates a reputation on a city and its fans that could, without much difficulty, been heaved on at least a dozen other North American cities.\u00a0 Like I said above, it’s lazy, creatively inept, and actually extremely outdated.\u00a0 To steal a joke from Seinfeld<\/em>:\u00a0 It doesn’t offend me as a Philadelphian; it offends me as a\u00a0[quasi-] journalist.\u00a0<\/p>\n Think about this.\u00a0 What are the most commonly cited “atrocities” of the Philadelphia fans?\u00a0<\/p>\n “You Philadelphians boo everybody.\u00a0 You even booed Santa Claus<\/em>.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Do these look like the kind of people who would boo Jolly Ole St. Nick?<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This is, by far, the most common reference to Philadelphia fans and their ruthlessness.\u00a0 But, does anyone ever bother to mention that this occurred in NINETEEN SIXTY-EIGHT?!?\u00a0 And, there was enough of a justification for the fact that Santa was just a proxy for a cheap, soulless owner, who skimped on everything, from the product on the field to the cheap Christmas float run out there that the Santa himself (who was drunk and wearing a jogging suit) actually said<\/a> that he “had no hard feelings” and “thought it was funny.”\u00a0 To recap, the most oft-cited atrocity perpetrated by the Philadelphia fanbase happened 42 years ago, and was actually blown way out of proportion.\u00a0<\/p>\n “You Philadelphians are so classless that you throw batteries at opposing players.”\u00a0 Only in Philly, right? Wrong.<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Chicagoans?\u00a0 A father and son at a White Sox game in 2002 randomly and mercilessly attacked Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa<\/a>.\u00a0 But, no one ever mentions that.\u00a0 Should all German tennis fans be construed as attempted murderers just because one of their own literally<\/em> tried to kill Monica Seles<\/a>?\u00a0 Are all Europeans racist because there have been countless accounts of monkey chants and Nazi salutes<\/a> directed at black soccer players all over Europe?\u00a0\u00a0Now, these may seem like overly dramatic examples of the worst things in the history of sports, and they may be dramatic,\u00a0yes, but\u00a0all of these\u00a0events have occurred since\u00a0<\/em>any Philadelphian has\u00a0thrown a battery.\u00a0\u00a0And, the point is that if you only listened to what was reported, you would think that the dregs of the world hail from Philadelphia simply because some guy vomited on a girl at a Phillies game (again, I am, by no means, making light of that situation, I’m just trying to point out that it’s just as ludicrous to label all Philadelphians hooligans as it would be to label all Germans knife-weilding lunatics.)\u00a0<\/p>\n “You Philadelphians hate your superstars.\u00a0 You booed Donovan McNabb on draft day.” And, when the guys come back, what does Philly do?\u00a0 They boo, right?\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 They give an emotional standing\u00a0ovation to Allen Iverson<\/a>\u00a0on his first game back with the Denver Nuggets.\u00a0 They flood the Linc with #20 jerseys and give a thunderous welcome<\/a> to Brian Dawkins when he returned as a Denver Bronco last season.\u00a0 Pat Burrell received one of the loudest ovations of all<\/a> when he returned (as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays) in 2009 to receive his World Series ring.\u00a0 But, The Sixers aren’t rivals with the Denver Nuggets.\u00a0 The Eagles barely even consider the Denver Broncos, except the once every four years when they play each other in the regular season.\u00a0 The Phillies have no rivalry with the Rays, unless you count the 2008 (and 2010) World Series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Philly rains down praise on the returning star<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And, then there was yesterday.\u00a0 Donovan McNabb (a star-crossed figure in Philadelphia sports lore) returned to Philly yesterday\u00a0wearing the jersey of the passionately hated Washington Redskins, and this is\u00a0what transpired, to quote from the story on ESPN.com<\/a>:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “When McNabb came out as the final Redskin introduced before the game, nearly everyone in the stadium — many wearing No. 5 Eagles jerseys — stood in tribute to the quarterback who led the Eagles to five NFC title games before being traded in April.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This was not a “smattering of boos” or a “mixed reaction.”\u00a0 This was unadulterated appreciation.\u00a0 Yet, this sentiment is buried in the ESPN game story and probably won’t even be mentioned on SportsCenter, unless it’s in “shock” of the class of Philadelphia.\u00a0 All the front pages continue to talk about is booing Santa Claus in 1968.\u00a0 Compare all of these aforementioned\u00a0examples of Philadelphia treating its returning players to the way Red Sox fans treat Wade Boggs, Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, or Roger Clemens.\u00a0 Do we even need to talk about the way the Packers treat Brett Favre or how the Giants fans welcomed back Tiki Barber this weekend<\/a>?\u00a0 Hell, just look at the letter written by Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert to LeBron James<\/a> this summer, which was supposed to — and probably did — represent the thoughts of the majority of his fanbase.\u00a0 Will anyone chastise Cavs fans for the ruthless treatment that they are bound to give to James upon his return in a Heat uniform?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 And, why, because we feel sorry for them with the way LeBron handled it?\u00a0 Because they haven’t had a title since 1964?\u00a0\u00a0Imagine if that was Philly.\u00a0 Would anyone feel bad for Philly fans or, more likely,\u00a0would all the stories be about how LeBron should be worried about his safety and other comments by “experts” about the actions of the fans in welcoming him back will “define a city’s reputation” (as Trent Dilfer said on NFL Live<\/a>\u00a0this week about McNabb’s upcoming return)?\u00a0<\/p>\n Okay, I’ve gone off on quite a tangent (I guess I had a lot to get off my chest), and I really don’t want to be seen as whining about how my city is viewed by the rest of the country because, quite frankly, I couldn’t care any less about the national perceptions of Philadelphia.\u00a0 Yes, there is an inherent inferiority complex living between New York and DC, but we’ve dealt with that and are quite content with where we are as a city — and more importantly, as people.\u00a0\u00a0We are currently enjoying the best baseball team in the history of the National League, including an end to the 100-season title drought of a proud sports city, so it’s hard to complain right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n Passionate? Absolutely. Classless? Only if you believe everything you read.<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the end, I do understand what’s going on with Philly’s reputation.\u00a0 [There was a jail in Veterans Stadium — which, by the way,\u00a0has ben a parking lot since 2004.]\u00a0 But, what I Just Don’t Get<\/em> is why the national media is so inept and lazy that they have to keep going to the well with gratuitous slaps at a city’s fanbase when the overwhelming <\/em>evidence is that Philadelphians actually exude an incredible amount of compassion, acceptance, and gratitude (to go along with an over-abundance of passion) towards its sports teams and all professional athletes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The first-place Phillies have sold out every single one of the last 123 home games.\u00a0 The first-place Tampa Bay Rays drew 12,000 fans to a September pennant-race game against the second-place Yankees.\u00a0 I’m pretty sure\u00a0that, for 123\u00a0straight game nights, 45,000 Philadelphians have bought tickets to Citizens’ Bank Park for reasons other than\u00a0their love of\u00a0booing or their uncontrollable desire to throw batteries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, I was in St. Louis last week for a business trip.\u00a0 Returning to my hotel room after a long day of site visits and business meetings, I did what any of us would do at that point, I flipped … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/i\/magazine\/new\/eagles_fans2.jpg\" "\\"Philly")
\n<\/em>Let’s be clear here — there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for doing anything that jeopardizes the safety of any player on any team.\u00a0 Health and safety are, obviously, far more important than any result of any sporting event.\u00a0 And, yes, it was reported that two fans threw batteries at J.D. Drew<\/a>\u00a0on the night he first returned to Philadelphia.\u00a0 Now, like I said, there is no excuse for this behavior whatsoever, but should the actions of two fans really dictate how we judge an entire fanbase?\u00a0 If so, how do we feel about Cubs fans whose brethren\u00a0throw beers at players<\/a> during games or ostracize fellow fans <\/a>for “interfering” in the game?\u00a0 How do we feel about Islander fans whose compatriots decide it’s a good idea to boo the Canadian national anthem<\/a>?\u00a0 Not the equalivalent of throwing batteries?\u00a0 Okay, well, do we think that all Pistons fans should compromise their reputation because some Detroit natives like to brawl with NBA players<\/a>?\u00a0 Yeah, but that wasn’t an unprovoked attack on a defenseless player.\u00a0 Good point.\u00a0 I guess Philadelphians are the types of people that attack defenseless people.\u00a0 By that logic, why aren’t\u00a0there gratuitous slaps at\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images.usatoday.com\/sports\/_sphotos\/2002-09-20-gamboa-inside.jpg\" "\\"Tom")
\n<\/em>Okay, another reference to something that happened last century<\/em>, but let’s address it nonetheless, since it comes up CONSTANTLY.\u00a0 The thirty guys (inspired by a ridiculous shock jock radio host) who painted their faces and drove to New York to boo McNabb are about as representative of the Philadelphia fan base as Jimmy Fallon is a representative of Red Sox Nation.\u00a0 But, I understand the accusations.\u00a0 I mean Philadelphia did run Scott Rolen out of town, and he has caught on with another team and showed what an incredible person he was.\u00a0 Oh wait, no, he’s had squabbles with every team he’s played on and every manager that has coached him.\u00a0 He has been run out of town by the “hard core” fans Toronto and Saint Louis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/photo\/2008\/0319\/nba_g_iverson_580.jpg\" "\\"Allen")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/dcsportsbog\/eaglesfan.jpg\" "\\"Philly")