We’re not. It seems that way because that is the mythology of Philly sports. Like any mythology, it’s based on stories of incidents that are retold often and incorrectly. Santa Claus… Chucking batteries… The “jail” in Veteran Stadium… These s…

Shannon, thank you for taking the time to answer this question. However, you are one of the many people who like to regurgitate a story (Santa Clause) that you don’t know much about. I encourage you to read this story from NBC about what really happen…

Are you so ignorant that you don’t realize that the media is based out of NY and would never actually report poorly on NY? NY, LA, Boston, and Chicago are never going to get a bad rap from ESPN or other national news media because they are their headquarters. I’ve gone to NY games and seen some horrible things, 250 people were arrested on opening day in LA…these things aren’t going to be reported though. It’s chic to report about anything that happens in Philly. I still don’t understand why the kid getting tazed for running on the field is such big news considering fans run on the field everywhere in the country. He didn’t do anything hundreds of other fans haven’t done, but because a cop tazed him it’s a bad show on our fans? If he hadn’t been tazed it’s not even news. But it’s Philly so ESPN blew it up.

Should we bring up the Pittsburgh fan who killed his gf’s puppy for barking during a Steelers’ game? ESPN wouldn’t even report on Roethlisberger because of their relationship with the Steelers until national pressure from other media sites forced them to do so, so there’s no way they’ll report on the fanbase.

In Philly we get demonized for giving our teams a hard time, in NY it’s galvanized as a “Bronx Cheer.”

However while attending games, I’ve noticed one major difference between fans of other teams and a lot of Phillies fans. John Smoltz summed it up the other night during the Rangers/Yankees broadcast and it wasn’t about the Phillies. He recounted his time warming up in Yankee Stadium and being heckled by Yankees fans. He referred to it as “the best professional heckling” he’d ever encountered. They had even known about and commented on his accordian playing. He said he found a lot of it pretty funny.

It may be part of the defensive nature of Philadelphians as retold in this post, but many Phillies fans just lack the humor and creativity that other fan bases use to exhibit their “fandom”. As an example, the signs held during Lincecum’s start weren’t funny. They were juvenile and obnoxious reinforcing the stereotype. If Phillies fans give a cr*p about their reputations (which they may not), more humor and less hostility might serve them well.

But Raiders fans are the exact opposite. Hostile, vicious, painted, angry, loud and rabid. Go to a Raiders game and you’ll never complain about Phillies or Borg fans again. Never. Mark my words: one day you’ll read about a chain saw fight in the stands at a Raiders game. Question: how did chain saws get into the stadium? Answer: they’re on sale at the concession stands. As long as Al Davis is the owner, it could happen.

And the worst thing I said about the team is they’re choking. OH NO, HOW DARE I??

Now, when the Feelies, Mutts or the Borg are in town, the attendance at Joeprodolsharklife Stadium swells into the mid to high 20 thousands with fans of the visiting team. Then, when someone in the stands behaves like an asshole, the probability that he’s a Mutts, Borg or Feelies fan is exponentially greater than that he might be a loosely amalgamated smear of Feesh Fan protoplasm. Any way you slice it, Feesh fans just don’t make the cut. Frustrating.

Yes, the Philadelphia fans have a bad reputation which is constantly dragged out when there is some lazy reporter/columnist/blogger who needs to meet a deadline and doesn’t have time or the ability to actually think of something interesting, relevant or even true. I know this fanbase has a bad reputation–whether deserved or not. I don’t embrace it, but I also hate it. Do I want my kid to grow up thinking that he will draw scorn from scumbags like nps just for the simple reason that he’s from here and roots for his teams? Hell no. But there are more important things in life and it isn’t worth my time, energy or effort to refute and try to change the minds of idiots like this one, who wouldn’t be able to figure out that not every fan in a fanbase is like the jagoff who puked on a kid, or ran onto the field, or threw snowballs at some drunk schmuck impersonating a children’s icon while drunk. nps6724, you’re an ignorant, idiotic jackass.

The stadium was chanting “OD, OD, OD” to the tune of “Ole, ole, ole” the entire game.

I consider this part of the charm of Philadelphia fandom, though I could see why reasonable people would disagree. There is also a larger issue of “East Coast” (really the Northeast) fans versus other parts of the country. Generally speaking, The Situation style behavior would get you laughed at too much in other parts of the country for anyone to consider doing it. Not that it isn’t laughed at in the Northeast, too, but there are more people who would consider it acceptable. I think a lot of the hate on Phillies fans is really about this kind of behavior. When people get drunk and do stupid things elsewhere, they do so in a little less showboat style.

It’s absolutely true that there is some really abhorrent behavior at Phillies games. Dollar Dog Night, for whatever reason, is especially so. You could rename it “Fight Night in the Right Field Upper Deck”. I would say, though, that generally, the fans have gotten better over the past 15 years or so. There’s been more of a crackdown on unruly fans, and the ticket prices have become prohibitive for people looking to just come to a midsummer came to fuck around .