September 25, 2006
Giants Fans Continue To Prove They're Stupidest In Nation
 |
Today's Daily Pennsylvanian contains the easiest of all opinion columns: Fans of [x] are worse than any other fan! The [x] in this case is none other than fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, who are by far the most popular [x] in America, leading "all Philadelphia sports fans" and "soccer hooligans" by slim margins.
Sharon Udasin, a Giants (who else) fan, writes about how "when I arrived at Penn and absorbed the local football atmosphere, I saw the reality of the violence that is notorious among Eagles fans. Such crimes and misconduct are childish and dangerous and certainly do not belong among responsible, working adults." Indeed!
Udasin doesn't touch on (thankfully) the throwing-snowballs-at-Santa-Claus at Franklin Field, but she does interview her friends and a police officer as well as write about Michael Irvin:
Both [Jim] Goldblum and College senior Mike Zubrow attended the infamous Eagles vs. Cowboys game in 1999, in which Dallas wide receiver Michael Irvin suffered a career-ending injury. Although Irvin was clearly immobilized, Eagles fans continued to cheer rowdily - Zubrow's season tickets have been passed down for generations, yet he noted that he was "ashamed" of his fellow fans' reactions and decided not to partake in this blatant disrespect. [...]
Both Goldblum and Zubrow witnessed several fights at last weekend's game against the Giants, and, in one instance, two Eagles fans were actually hitting each other. At stadiums across the country, I've seen fans that are just as passionate for their teams, but I rarely see them funnel that passion into violence.
Oh, man, I know, just when have any fans gotten into fights in places other than Philadelphia? I sure can't think of any. Perhaps Arlen Specter (of course) can:
"It is not hard to find incidents of unruly fans which are not representative of the people of the cities in which they live," Specter continues. "For example, there is the famous 'snowball game' of December 23, 1995 in which Giants fans threw both snow and ice balls at San Diego Charger fans and players, one of which knocked the San Diego equipment manager unconscious. More than 200 fans were ejected and over 75 season tickets revoked. The New York Giants then ran an ad in San Diego papers apologizing."
But, hey, a few fans booed Michael Irvin, people! It's so much worse than knocking out an equipment manager!
Ugh. Columns like this make me want to put on a Donovan McNabb jersey and throw footballs at Giants fans like Udasin's head. (Or, more likely, her feet. Bada-bing!)
Sharon Udasin | Eagles and violence: a pair for life [Daily Pennsylvanian]
Violence in sports - Fan violence [Wikipedia]
Specter Defends Philadelphia And The Eagles [Specter.Senate.gov]
Posted by D-Mac on September 25, 2006 01:45 PM
Posted to Daily Pennsylvanian
, Eagles
, Penn
, Philadelphia Fans
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3222
Comments
I will happily admit that I was at Irvin's last game...and, yes, I cheered. Cheered loudly, in fact. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it.
Posted by: JC at September 25, 2006 02:52 PM
The column is also..hmm, what's the word, hypocritical? or just lame?, considering the whining about noise that the Giants did prior to the Seahawks game this past weekend. See this Seattle Times story.
Posted by: Carmen at September 25, 2006 04:01 PM
I resent the implication that Philadelphians are violent. Why, we've only killed 289 people. That's barely an average of one person per day!
Still, if Eagles fans were truly violent, then there would have been mass homicide at the game during Week 2 when the Eagles blew a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter. Then when Eli Manning placed that overtime pass right into Plaxico Burress' hands for the win, that should have been enough to drive the whole stadium into a rage. Yet the truth is, if you stomp on a Philly fan long enough, you can crush any enthusiasm out of them. They can barely lift their heads, let alone fight. It works year after year. This article is just b.s.
Besides, any fanbase who's chant - E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES - incorporates teamwork AND education is not to be so easily discounted. Perhaps if other fans had spelling contests, we would be a better people.
Posted by: ChrisV82 at September 26, 2006 10:25 AM
gotta question for you, if Philly fans aren't violent, why is there a jail in the stadium and plain clothed police officers patrolling the stands
Posted by: Mike at October 6, 2006 10:49 PM
I'm a "civilized" Philadelphian who's lived in a lot of places and wants the city to get back into it's global weight class, but I don't understand why so many of us hate this stereotype.
I love it. It pays in life to have people assume you're tougher and crazier than you actually are just because you can't pronounce "water" without a 'd'.
Posted by: gst at January 5, 2007 09:13 AM
There's really no defending Philly fans. The best you can say is that it is not all of us and ya, they are very loud.
"Enrico": You are not ashamed at loudly cheering what could very well have been the paralysis of a human being??? Wow. Get a life.
I think it was Tiki Barber that pointed out that the fans were so obnoxious and mean-spirited that it was a motivator. I mean, if your life revolves around being a jerk at the local stadium every weekend, a loss must really burn.
Posted by: Jim C. at January 5, 2007 03:27 PM
If that makes me a bad person, then so be it.
Yes, it does indeed make you are worthless human being.
Posted by: Joe at February 4, 2007 01:42 PM
A Giants fan AND a Penn Student.
Posted by: enrico at September 25, 2006 02:16 PM