A Perception of Philadelphia Sports Fans; From The Inside

This past Saturday, I took a ride to visit my parents. The 40 minute ride, spent listening to Sports Talk Radio, was just long enough for me to become even more perplexed at the attitude of the average Philadelphia Sports fan.

Now, before you bash this post. Or lambaste me as an outsider who doesn't understand what it means to be a Philly sports fan (more on that later). Let me give you my credentials, which will validate why I can expound on this subject. I was born and raised in South Philadelphia, mere blocks from the sports complex. I am a lifelong Flyers fan, though I don't have a rooting interest in the other pro sports teams who reside here. I have attended Flyers, Sixers, Eagles, and Phillies games quite frequently throughout my life. I am a proud Philadelphian. Also, I have traveled to many other sporting venues, both famous and infamous, and have seen how the other half lives. Such trips include Wrigley Field, Fenway Park (for Yankees/ Red Sox), Yankee Stadium, The Belle Centre in Montreal, Le Collise in Quebec, the then named Corel Centre in Ottawa, both the Capital Center and Verizon Center in Washington, The Miami Arena in Florida. I have spent significant time in Pittsburgh, Michigan, and New York among other places.

Now that you know about where I'm coming from, let's start start with why I got the idea for this post in the first place. Friday night, Kobe Bryant, supposed Phialdelphia Son, came to Philly with the Lakers for a less than anticipated matchup with the Sixers. Kobe was booed. And the venom had spilled over onto Saturday's air waves. They talked about how Kobe doesn't respect his roots, talked about how he wanted to "rip Philly's heart out" in the 2001 NBA Finals, and my favorite... he was a Mets fan growing up. I took issue with most of these. And came up with a laundry list of things I still don't get about Philly sports fans.

I get the passion. I appreciate the passion. It is better here than in most other sports cities. But it's misplaced... maybe misrepresented. There is a small town atmosphere that hovers over this city. And it leads to an almost single mindedness when it comes to sports. An athlete must be a blue collar type, hard nosed and willing to crash into a wall. That's why Lenny Dykstra and Bobby Clarke are adored here. It's also why athletes with tremendous ability, like Mike Schmidt, are regarded with an air of caution. He (Schmidt) was so good, he made it look easy. Too easy. People say he didn't try hard enough.

Also, if you are from within these city limits, you are expected to carry that passion for Philly wherever you go. And if you don't, you are scorned. And if you aren't from here. People think you should just go away, because you are not one of them and couldn't possibly understand. Meaning, you don't know what you're talking about.

But, the behavior that perplexes me the most is the outrage one receives if someone from Philly is not a fan of one the city's four professional teams. It goes back to that single mindedness that I mentioned earlier. They won't talk about other teams on the airwaves, you're shooed off the air if you even try to bring it up. If you are a fan of another team, you're deamed a fraud, a bandwagon jumper, and your knowledge on the subject of sports will be forever speculated with no real basis.

I can't explain why this attitude persists here. Maybe it's jealousy? Jealousy of more successful cities with more successful franchises. I think it's the losing. Sure, teams win here. But it's in spurts. Glimpses of winning sandwiched between decades of frustration. Whatever the reason, it confounds me. And it will continue to confound me.

-Mike Tursi