With March Madness over and baseball, glorious baseball just kicking off another wonderful summer of joy and excitement, I am given naturally to pondering the Eagles. No, not Donovan McNabb and his arrival in my back yard with the Skins; I feel the Eagles didn’t do right by him in hanging him out to dry for so long but overall everyone is more or less a winner. But that’s neither here nor there. My thoughts are even further off the current events mark. I got to talking about sports fans with my buddy Fast Ryan when I found myself defending the Philadelphia Eagles faithful against the accusation that they are the worst fans on earth. First of all, even if they are very bad fans (a notion I will soon dispute) we should all be able to agree that the worst fans, speaking generally, are all Florida sports fans. That goes for Gators, Seminoles, Rays, Jags, or whoever else. No fans are more belligerent when on top, or invisible when struggling. Their lack of grace after a win is matched only by their immediate abandonment after a loss (often well before the contest is actually decided.) When your baseball team makes the playoffs and the Jumbotron is showing messages like “when there are two strikes on an opposing batter, stand up and cheer!” you know you have problems. I got to see a lot of amazing sporting events while I was at FSU, but I was often heartbroken by constant displays of disloyalty and aloofness, especially from the paying customers in the stands. And if you doubt this, think about all the obnoxious gators you know right now, wherever you live. Did you know where any of those people went to college five years ago, before the Tebow/ Donovan Era? Of course you didn’t.
That established, I will now defend the Eagles fans. Of course they are obnoxious, of course they are insufferable, and of course they boo everything. But, unlike Florida fans and every other group of rooters with no spine, they have passion. Unconditional, perhaps irrational love of their team. It’s that love that makes them not only defensible, it might put them in the running for some of the best fans in sports. Isn’t that the greatest mark of a fan base? Sure, being knowledgeable is nice and sportsmanship is usually a good thing, but nothing tops a town and people that reach cult-like levels in their adoration.
It’s sometimes possible to confuse some Philly fan antics with a fair-weather nature or inherent impatience. When I was a lad I lived in Montgomery County, PA and personally saw a couple games in the Rodney Pete- Randall Cunningham Era, where each incomplete pass would lead to chanting of the name of whichever quarterback was on the bench. More often than not this chanting would be acknowledged by the coaching staff in the form of a substitution, and soon the roles of goat and potential savior would be reversed. I also watched as they booed both a wedding and a very good boys' choir at halftime (though it should be noted that the bride was kinda fat and, if you don’t already know, the infamous Santa was drunk). For you Seminoles, this would smack of the Weatherford/ Lee drama of 2006, where fans and coaches combined to destroy a season and two young men’s psyches. But there was a difference; take it from someone who witnessed both. In Tallahassee, the boos were laced with venom, as well as a true ignorant belief that switching QBs would actually bring positive results. In Philadelphia, it was a cry of distress. They didn’t think any good could come of a change, they just didn’t know what else to do. I have likened Eagles fans to Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. They have been through a lot, are in a lot of pain, have had their hearts broken, but still only want the best for those they love. They will do crazy things for them, things that don’t seem to make a lot of sense to the outside world, but nonetheless they are driven by a pure passion that few can even understand.
I also think that as a fan base you need an edge like that to set you apart in the debate for best fans, and the Eagles fans have it in spades. Who really thinks that the blindly loyal Cubs fans are the best in baseball? Anyone who can take a crushing loss with a shrug and an “oh well” like, say the touted Indians fans in 2007, can’t really be in the Best Fan Conversation. You are looking more for the Boston Bruins fans, who will come in droves for a last place team, know the game, dole out plenty of shit, and step it up a notch for the big rivalries and key games. I might be biased, but they get my vote, by the way. Notre Dame football and Tobacco Road basketball fans are pretty good, but college fans are a different animal, and for every Cameron Crazy there is a limp-dick Gator, so I won’t even go there (not to mention my personal experience is limited).
The point is that Eagles are blessed with fans that love them. These fans are flawed; they’re drunk, they’re surly, they’re rude and they’re oftentimes jackasses. But every one of these foibles is a product of undying passion for their team, and so for them they ought be forgiven. The only real difference between Eagles fans and Travis Bickle is that while Bickle was ultimately revered for his violence and insanity Philadelphia’s loyal followers are reviled. I wonder about a society that will celebrate a murderer and condemn some fans who boo Santa. Just sayin’.
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