I feel like this is an issue worth mentioning. Over at The Good Phight they've been talking about an article that recently appeared in the Inky where a guy named Frank Fitzpatrick says that Philly fans are not the world's greatest fans. In fact he says, "We believe ourselves to be the epitome of loyal, knowledgeable fans, but in truth are famous for embarrassing ourselves."
Then he goes on to list some examples of why...
It's nothing new, Philly fans get crap from the media all the time. But something is going on in the world right now that should maybe give people like Mr Fitzpatrick a little perspective. I'm not sure if all or any of you have followed the goings on in Italian Soccer lately, but long story short there's been riots and violence all over the country at soccer matches that have resulted in the death of two men, one being a police officer. There's some discussion going on about this over at Global Futbol.
My point here is that there is real violence in the sports world. There are fans out there killing people. I'd like the media to remember this the next time they decide to to write a story about how awful Eagles fans are because they booed Santa Claus...
I definetly urge you to check out the blog "Only Time Will Tell" who did a great job of making this point And you thought that Eagles fans were bad.
Update [2007-2-7 16:10:38 by BleedGreen]: I emailed Fitzpatrick my feelings on his about his article. His(and my) response is after the jump...
Fitzpatrick wrote back:
...just because there's murder in the world doesn't mean we can't criticize burglary ...
Okay... I felt the need to respond:
That's just the problem. Violence, racism, and neo nazi-facist behavior(signs, symbols, chants) at these sporting events in Italy is a common occurrence. It's not as if this is some isolated incident. How does some guys in the stand not fully appreciating Bobby Abreu worth writing about when this type of stuff is going on in sport? It's at the least bad timing. I'm not saying fans should be celebrated for not killing cops... but a little perspective would be nice. Italy is not the only place worse is going on. I just find it hard to criticize some fans whining on the radio about McNabb when in Kansas City fans have jumped out of the stands and beaten a coach? When Bears fans brandished signs at the NFC championship game saying they'll "finish what Katrina started."(just one idiot did that, but the same could be said for a lot of the things we get crap for)
It's well within your rights to criticize Philly fans if you feel you want to. However, I just feel that it's right to offer some perspective. Is the wing bowl a silly event? Sure. Is it a bad thing? In light of the other things happening? Not even close. That's all I'm saying here.