Yeah, I have some family in Philadelphia and I have to travel out there on business fairly often as well. I have spent a fair amount of time out there over the years and I really like them and I think they are somewhat misunderstood.
As a rule, Philadelphian’s aren’t mean and nasty, as per their reputation. They're just completely cuckoo bananas. They are very emotional and nutty and they tend to overshare and it’s only natural that all of that emotion will spill over to their sports teams. Also, Philly is a very close-knit community for such a large city. For better or worse, there’s really no place quite like it. Personally, I like it a lot but I also understand why it’s not for everyone.
I particularly love South Philadelphia. It’s a little bit like Bloomfield on steroids and it’s just a great place to hang out. It’s an awesome place to people watch and it’s just a wild ride all the time. I tend to make friends every time I go out there. I really connect with Philadelphians. I can’t really explain why because I am actually pretty chill guy. However, they always really liked me, and I like them too.
However, you have to understand that they really do have a chip on their shoulder about being the “other” major northeastern city after New York, Boston and Washington DC. That annoys them to no end and causes them to act insanely.
They always feel like the world is out to get them – that’s a fundamental part of being a Philadelphian. Everyone’s always conspiring to screw you over. Who knows why? It probably goes back to colonial times. However, it’s definitely a part of their cultural DNA.
I have a T-shirt that I wear around the house that’s in the Phillies’ font and it just says, “Ill.” It is a black T-shirt with red writing and white trim. I love that shirt because it perfectly captures the Philadelphia mentality of, “It’s us against the world, so the world can kiss our asses because were tougher than they are anyhow.”
And that gets us to the root of the problem with the Philadelphia fandom thing. Not only are they not embarrassed by their boorish fan behavior, they actually take pride in it. They think that proves that they are legitimate diehards whereas all of the fans of all the other teams are nothing but front running poseurs.
That my friends is the real problem here.
Conversely, the rest of the world sees that continued jackassery as proof that they are a bunch of idiots who can’t or won’t behave civilly under any circumstances. That causes the rest of the country to root against them, which only for furthers their pre-existing belief that everyone hates them and is out to get them anyway.
Philadelphians just fundamentally see the world through a very different prism than everyone else, which is why this issue has only worsened over the years and why it will continue to worsen until someone gets really hurt. Then, they will blame Gary Bettman for failing to step in sooner and stop those animals from behaving like animals.
