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Santa Claus Begs to Differ

Some guy named John Gonzalez wrote an article for "Philadelphia" magazine saying that Boston sports fans have become the most obnoxious in the U.S. How to be a click-whore, John. How to be a wildly inaccurate and incompetent click-whore.

As a former Philly resident, there was only one constant in the sports universe. We were the worst, most obnoxious and borderline sociopathic group of fans in the U.S. and all other known points of physical space. When it comes to people to avoid at a big game, it was Philly first and the rest nowhere. As a trip to the Lincoln Financial Field parking lot before an Eagles game reveals, this is as true today as it was back in my wayward youth, when Philly teams were, with the exception of teams with Wilt Chamberlain on them, always terrible (Such a trip will do more to put you off alcohol than any 12-step program, too).

Everybody's good at something, and Philadelphia excels at fan rabbledom. Always has. Always will. The idea that Boston fans are more obnoxious because they're a little smug because their teams are winning is laughable. "Smug" is not grounds for arrest, and arrests are as much a part of the Philly sports experience as the boo.

Gonzalez may not get out much. My real concern is not for him, as contrarianism is easy to sell to editors, but for the publication he wrote for, which has disgraced its very name.

Whatever happened to local boosterism as a first principle of publishing?Does "Philadelphia" magazine have no civic pride whatsoever? What's next, a "Cheesestakes Suck" piece?

Fellas, nobody's going to want to advertise in a city magazine that says its sports fans AREN'T the worst ones going.

posted by Michael Gee @ 11:16 AM