I’ve always found it funny when fans of sports teams claim that their city or team has the better fans, or that other teams fans are a bunch of morons/bandwagoneers/thugs, whatever they want to call them. The truth is, every city generally has an equal amount of all of them.
That being said, not every football team felt the need to put a prison inside their new stadium like the Philadelphia Eagles did at Lincoln Financial. The Eagles got rid of their little prison a few years ago after unruly behavior at games improved, but apparently they should have moved it across the street to Citizens Bank. As it turns out, the same folks who booed Santa Claus and threw batteries at J.D. Drew don’t much like families of the opposing teams either.
From the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES:
During Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night, Rays family members and employees say they were harassed and abused by Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park to an unacceptable degree.
Children were cursed at, and one 9-year-old boy had beer poured on him. A Rays family member stayed locked in a bathroom stall because, he said, Phillies fans were banging on the walls and threatening him.
Also, according to a quote from Rays manager Joe Maddon before Game 4 last night, his granddaughter spent her Saturday night getting pelted with mustard packets.
“I think it’s really humorous, actually. Down by the dugout I had a good time with a bunch of guys sitting up in the stands. I was actually giving a guy a hard time for drinking Coors Light in Philadelphia. We went back and forth with that, and I said where’s the Schmidt’s? At least some Rolling Rock. Don’t be going with Coors Light. It’s so unfashionable for a Philly dude. So I was all over him about that, so we had a good time. I mean, the biggest part is my families. If we could do something about that, throwing mustard packs at my granddaughter is not very cool. The other part about it I’m good with. If you want to be vociferous with us, I am fine with that. If you want to have arguments about the Coors Light versus Rolling Rock, I’m good with that, but leave the families alone.”
While I don’t mind when the home fans give visiting fans crap from time to time, why in the hell do Phillies fans have to go after kids? Pouring a beer on, or throwing mustard at children? Seriously? Is that what you have to do to feel like a badass?
I mean, a beer is expensive enough. In these tough economic times you should not be pouring it over anybody’s head, let alone a kid, you should be drinking it. Of course, it’s probably drinking the beers that got us into this mess in the first place. Phillies fans did have to sit around for an extra hour and a half before the start of game three, which gave them plenty of extra time to down the beers.
10:25 am on October 27th, 2008
Damn liberal media!
10:31 am on October 27th, 2008
Stay classy, Philadelphia!
10:33 am on October 27th, 2008
What kind of mustard? That brown, spicy stuff can really sting.
10:33 am on October 27th, 2008
Pfft, amateurs.
10:46 am on October 27th, 2008
Somehow this all doesn't surprise me.
10:47 am on October 27th, 2008
Joe Maddon might not get his World Series ring, but he's spot on about the Coors Light.
10:57 am on October 27th, 2008
If Joe Maddon isn't named manager of the year, something is seriously wrong with MLB.
10:59 am on October 27th, 2008
Q: Why is Coors Light like making love in a canoe?
A: Because both are f***ing close to water.
11:08 am on October 27th, 2008
It's kind of hard to root for a team that has fans attacking kids. What's wrong with these people?
11:16 am on October 27th, 2008
I'm Scared….I know I shouldn't be, but I am.
P.S. Ppprrrrrrrrrr
11:19 am on October 27th, 2008
As usual the Philly fan bashing continues….let it go. Santa Claus was over 30 years ago and JD Drew deserves to get things thrown at him. What about those great LA Dodger fans we heard about in the NLCS acting the same way, or do they get a pass?
11:56 am on October 27th, 2008
Funny, coming from a guy who supports the Dodgers. A team who's fans were blasted in their own local newspapers for being classless during the NLCS.
I was at Game 3 in Philadelphia with at least 10 Rays fans in my section (upper deck). Didnt see anyone even pay them mind once. Guess the boys should have shelled out more money to get them seats down by the rich, non-chalant, light-beer drinking, Phillies fans.
12:07 pm on October 27th, 2008
This rotten drunken behavior is no different than what happens at other pro sporting events that sell alcohol. It happens at Dodgers games. It happens at Jets games. It happens at any outdoor event where beer flows freely.
If you're worried about your kid's safety, take them to a minor league game instead.
12:09 pm on October 27th, 2008
Quit your biatching and go eat some cheesesteaks.
12:15 pm on October 27th, 2008
Wow, what an eye-opening story. Rays fans actually exist!
12:25 pm on October 27th, 2008
Phillies fans would probably say the 9-year-old somehow deserved it.
12:36 pm on October 27th, 2008
So, Red Sox fans would never do this? Or Yankees fans? Or Cubs fans? Or Dodgers fans?
Of course, I'm not defending the Phillies fans' actions. You should be f***ing ashamed of yourselves for treating kids like that. But nowadays this kind of shocking behavior is sadly no longer that shocking.
1:36 pm on October 27th, 2008
I've literally been to over 100 Phillies games over the years and never had a bad experience. Not to say that these things don't happen, because they obviously do, but they happen in every city. People just like to pick on Philly and make their image worse, so any thing they can find they'll run with it.
1:46 pm on October 27th, 2008
If I was that 9-year-old kid, I would have kept my mouth open while being doused with beer.
2:19 pm on October 27th, 2008
OMG– the santa 'episode' was a zillion years ago. and they didn't throw snowballs at him because he was santa– it was because he was a skinny, skanky, drunk santa. phils fans are no worse than any others in other cities. i go to phils games when the mets play, and the mets fans scare me more. i won't go to ny for fear i'll get mugged. too bad. would like to see the new mets house.
2:22 pm on October 27th, 2008
I am sure that the facts of the nine yr old were way overstated. I seriously doubt someone poured a beer on a kids head and nothing happened to them. Probably a little got spilled, which happens EVERYWHERE, and then the eventual over-reaction ensues.
3:09 pm on October 27th, 2008
"As usual the Philly fan bashing continues….let it go. Santa Claus was over 30 years ago and JD Drew deserves to get things thrown at him. What about those great LA Dodger fans we heard about in the NLCS acting the same way, or do they get a pass?"
No, we would never cover the antics of Dodgers fans, no way.
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/la-dodger-fans-are-developing-a-bad-reputation-20442
3:25 pm on October 27th, 2008
Philly fans have to be the most disrespectful fans out there. As a matter of fact I wouldn't even call them "fans" . They have to learn how to cheer for their team without degrading others and let the game speak for itself. I especially dislike how they right away point to other cities such as Boston, New York, and Los Angeles and try to dismiss their actions by stating that other cities do the same. Very, very childish….grow up Philly
3:42 pm on October 27th, 2008
That prison was in the Vet, not in the Linc.
3:45 pm on October 27th, 2008
Beer can easily turn a passionate fan into a belligerent fan no matter what colors they are wearing. The Philly fan stereotype is only perpetuated because people are looking for this sort of behavior.
3:56 pm on October 27th, 2008
If I lived in Philly I'd be a miserable old cooont too…and I am sure that kid was wearing some Ray Hawk and minding his own buisness.
4:10 pm on October 27th, 2008
Pouring beer on a 9-year old? That's a good time. Don't bring your kid to a stadium where the fans have a reputation for being nasty.
4:14 pm on October 27th, 2008
Dang shame…too bad living in Philly makes you a horrible, horrible person unable to let others enjoy life. But again…if I lived there…sheesh…I'd be bitter and nasty too.
4:31 pm on October 27th, 2008
This is also the same city where fans cheered when Michael Irvin was hit hard & had to be carried off the field in a stretcher.
4:42 pm on October 27th, 2008
Charlie Manuel's mom is looking down from heaven, wagging her finger in disapproval.
4:59 pm on October 27th, 2008
And in true Philly fashion, she was using her middle finger.
6:08 pm on October 27th, 2008
If I hear the Rocky theme one more time during a telecast, I'm going to throw beer & mustard packets at Joe Buck & Tim McCarver
6:24 pm on October 27th, 2008
Please do some basic fact checking. They don't even HAVE mustard packets at CPB (the ballpark went green so these are in dispensers that are bolted to the concession stands) – so Maddon is a liar and owes an apology to the city of Philadelphia. (In addition to being too old for a mohawk and a man who is dating a woman too young for him. Cool guy!) I guess it's easier to make press (and the press loves Maddon –smooch smooch) by trashing a city and its fans than making excuses for your ballplayers or your coaching. Go Phillies!
6:25 pm on October 27th, 2008
Rod:
Do you really need any excuse to throw stuff at Buck & McCarver?
6:29 pm on October 27th, 2008
Maddon's scoring with a chick much younger than him? I respect the guy even more now.
6:31 pm on October 27th, 2008
meg:
How do you know those mustard packets weren't smuggled in? Probably sneaked in by folks who had no patience for the condiment line.
6:36 pm on October 27th, 2008
Or the packets were purposefully snuck in specifically to throw at Maddon's granddaughter.
6:40 pm on October 27th, 2008
No ketchup?
6:49 pm on October 27th, 2008
I've seen worse at Mets & Yanks games. Far, far, far, far worse. And half the time, I wasn't even doing any of it.
7:57 pm on October 27th, 2008
That's what happens when your reputation preceeds you. If it was the other way around - Rays fans pouring beer on 9-year-old Phillies fans - other fans would have a hard time believing it.
10:43 pm on October 27th, 2008
Too bad the kid didn't get his beer bath tonight, since the rain would have just washed it off.
11:02 pm on October 27th, 2008
Maybe all this rain will clean up the Phillies fans' act.
11:19 pm on October 27th, 2008
I do remember seeing a shirt during game 1 or 2 that clearly read "Phuck Filly". So don't think Rays fans are all innocent & polite do-gooders, either.
11:00 am on October 28th, 2008
Wow Phillies fans, what class!!! No wonder you haven't been successful in winning a championship in ANY sport for so long!!! ITS CALLED BAD KARMA!!! If you do win the series, can't wait to see you make fools of yourselves on national tv, burning your city down in celebration of winning.