The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 64 - Sports Fans of Philadelphia

Episode Date: March 8, 2015

Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the notorious fans of Philadelphia.SOURCESTOUR DATESREDBUBBLE MERCHPATREON

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. You are listening to the Dallab! An American History Podcast. Each week I

read a story from American history to, oh by the way I'm Dave Anthony, to my friend Gareth Reynolds. Thank you for calling me a friend who has no idea what the topic is about. Because he is in a box all week long. Yep. And I only let him out to hear these stories. What are these about? Back in your box! I give me my fish heads first. God, do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave, okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to become a tickling clock. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle. And do what? Fray. Hi, Gary. No. I miss you dad, my friend. No. No. Okay, Gary. Any other things you want to tell people? Yep. My name is Gareth. From 1790 to 1800. 1800. 1800. Oh, it's cute. I've been working since 7am. It's now 10. I've been in the box all day waiting.

Philadelphia enjoyed what renowned city historian E. Digby Botzel called Normal Silver Decade. The federal government operated among the cobblestones and row houses along the Delaware River, which was the busiest port of entry in North America. Yeah. Shit was fucking happening for the fill town. Okay. But when the nation's capital was moved to a swamp located between Virginia and Maryland, Philadelphia missed its first opportunity to be the center of power in the nation. That sounds like a real Philadelphia way of looking at it, too. That shit moved to fucking swamp. Shwamp. Better than you. Three decades later, I'm going to tell you, a lot of Philadelphia people are going to be mad at this podcast. Okay. But I think the I think most Philadelphia people

are mad at everything. Yeah, it seems that way. Three decades later, it missed a second chance. President Andrew Jackson closed the powerful US Bank, which was located in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter, the center of the young nation's high finance started migrating to and took up personal residence in New York City. So that was it. Indeed, for generations, Philadelphia was not considered a destination. American journalist and editor H. L. Menken called Philadelphia a quote well lit cemetery. Because for well over a century, the city was run by secular political bosses who never thought outside their appropriate or financial interests. Many city residents were happy to live in the quiet caution of the city's Quaker heritage. Philadelphia was suffocated by the

equality of Quaker philosophy, lawyers and financiers and industrialists in Philadelphia amassed personal wealth and comfort but shun fame and power. While the Kennedys in Boston gave the nation a president and two US senators, Philadelphia has never sent anyone to the White House. I can tell that people won't like this already. And until recently, the city had even produced a governor of Pennsylvania for 100 years. Lacking Washington's power and New York's poll, Philadelphia was left out. When the federal government built I-95 running north and south to connect Florida and Boston, Philadelphia was a detour. In fact, a Russian journalist visiting the Philadelphia Enquirer editorial board years ago marveled at the fact there was no highway linking

Philadelphia to New York directly. There still isn't one. Yeah, fair, fair. Totally fair. I remember thinking that myself. This subtle feeling of an inferiority seemed to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. While New York built skyscrapers, Philadelphia's planners refused for decades to allow a building taller than the cap on Billy Penn's head atop City Hall. Oh boy, that is a dumb policy, huh? Man, you don't even like the idea that you're like, you can't build anything taller is already a bad policy. But then you're like, don't go bigger than the hat. Not the clock tower. Don't go higher than the clock tower. That clock tower is sick though. While New York had Babe Ruth and the Mick and all those World Series titles. What a Philly I have, David.

The Phillies gave way to Pennant. No sports franchise in North America had lost more games during the 20th century than the Phillies. Oh man. The NFL franchise, the Eagles have. I got a good buddy from Philly. Yeah, he's got. And I'm just picturing Burns listening to this right now. It's just being like, God damn son of a bitch. The NFL franchise, the Eagles have never won a Super Bowl. Yeah, but Donovick McMan Barf during one. See, the NBA team, the 76ers have won three championships since they moved to the city in 1863. The last one they won was in 1983. The NHL team, the Flyers, the city's most successful franchise earned the next nickname to the Broad Street bullies in the 70s due to their

use of betting the rules intimidation and fighting to win the terrible behavior of the Philadelphia fans. Really, one could say began in 1949 from all accounts. Well, David, take me there. In August 21, 1949, the Philadelphia Phillies were playing a doubleheader against the New York Giants. The doubleheader is two games played on the same day. The Phillies beat the Giants four to nothing in the first game at Scheibpark. The second game was going okay until the ninth inning. New York got three to two when a Giants player hit a fly ball to center field, and the Philly player seemed to make a shoestring catch. But the umpire rolled it a hit, and the Giants scored another run.

Center fielder would later say it was an obvious catch. The Phillies were furious. Arguments broke out on the field between players and umpires. Meanwhile, in the stands, the fans were completely losing it. You should add that historically, a doubleheader means that there has been a shitload of drinking over about six hours. You're about six hours into a bender. Just a horrible bender. Maybe more, because you've got to think about like the pre-gaming and the in-between time. Yeah, so you're like seven or eight hours into just a fucking, it's just a drink fest. Suddenly, a soda ball came flying out of right field.

I mean, already good. Out of the right field stands, onto the field. Then, from the left field stands, everyone was like, holy shit, did you see that? And then they started winging bottles. Within seconds, the field was being bombarded by glass bottles from everywhere. The crowd of 19,000 went bat shit. Bottles, vegetables, and cans were tossed. Vegetables is the best part for sure. Why, you always hear this. You hit them with the broccoli. But I realized as I was writing this up that it's because they brought all their food to the game. So it was like a guy would just bring like a zucchini and he was going to eat it.

Well, here's probably what it is even more so, though, is that they probably were like, throw the food you want to eat the least, which in an average American diet is anything that grew out of tree. Correct. So crowd of 19,000 was crazy. The players ran for cover in the dugouts. The barrage lasted for 15 minutes. The public address announcer came on to warn fans if the attack did not stop, then the next game would also be forfeited by the Phillies. He was drowned out by booze and catcalls. Yeah, there's just no way they would give a fuck. No, at this point, they don't care. Yeah, it's very short term thinking when you're throwing glass on the field. Yeah, the fans did not stop stop tossing anything they could get their hands

on. Finally, a cheer erupted when an overripe tomato hit chief umpire Al Barlich on the head. That had to be delicious. Seconds later, a bottle whizzed past the neck of umpire Lee Ballafant. What happened to the tomatoes? Barlich signaled a forfeit and the empires ran off the field. After the incident, the state passed a law forbidding fans from bringing soda and beer bottles into stadiums. So what would the so what was it before that though it was just I think I think you just bring whatever you wanted in back then. So now I think it is like when you go to a game now it is nuts to think that there was a time when you literally could just walk in with whatever the fuck you wanted. Fucking insane. Yeah. Because now yeah, there'd be a lot of dead

people. A lot of dead people. Yeah. So yeah, so that that that changed that. Now in 1960, the Phillies brought their first black player to the team. Okay. He was young and he was very good. As a rookie, he batted 318 with 29 home runs, 91 RBIs, 13 triples and 125 runs. I just have a bad feeling. Why? Well, I just feel and I'm probably way off base here part of the pun. But I just feel like the Philly fans aren't going to embrace this guy. Why? Well, I think it's not going to be based on his stats, but the color of his skin. Hold on now. Okay. He led the majors and triples and runs and was the runaway winner for rookie of the year. The next three seasons he was selected to the All-Star team. What's to not like? Again, I think I'm going to go to race. He also struck

out a lot and made a lot of errors. So the fans began booing him right away. In his second season, things turned south fast. Oh boy. Phil's favorite and longtime player, Frank Thomas, taunted Alan by calling him boy and referring to Alan as Muhammad Clay. Oh, that's a teammate. Things boiled over. Is that is that a take on Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali? What's this 1960s? So no. So he just called him Muhammad Clay. Yeah. I don't think I don't think Cassius Clay is around in 1960s. No, really not. No. Things boiled over after Thomas called Alan a nigger SOB at batting practice before a game. Now, it's an interesting time when you can drop the N word and not say son of a bitch. Backwards now. Rightfully so. Alan went after Thomas

and the two fought. Alan with his fists and Thomas with a bat. Oh, Thomas was quickly traded after the fight. Okay. And the fans blamed Alan for the departure of their favorite veteran. Alan described the fans reaction. The next day I stuck my head out of the dugout and I'd never heard such booing. People yelled nigger and go back to South Street with the monkeys. Oh, God. Fans began throwing batteries, pennies, fruit and garbage at him from the stands. This is 1960. Yeah. For the rest of his career in Philadelphia, he was forced to wear a batting helmet in the field to protect himself from the constant projectiles. What the fuck? I'm batteries? Oh, yeah. I guess Philadelphia's renowned for throwing batteries. I know they throw batteries,

but I can't understand how it even how did that like you were just like, well, what are you going to do with them? Take him to the game and throw him at the black. Come on. Hey, this one's out of juice. Come on. Let's bring it to the game batteries. Go to take him to the ball game and throw him at that guy who got rid of our favorite legend. Eventually, Alan broke. He started coming late to games and practices. He started missing flights and showing up drunk out of his mind. Jesus. Well, that's not surprising, right? Well, you think about Jackie Robinson. He really hung in there. He did hang in there. I think he made much of the trips. Yep. In 1969, he held out for 26 games and returned only when

he was promised a trade out of Philadelphia. He said, I can play anywhere first, third left field anywhere but Philadelphia. Well, he was finally traded and ended up being the MVP of the league while playing for Chicago. OK, so there I mean, there shows you how dumb they are. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Congratulations. The man you threw batteries at is the most important player. He's the best player. On December 15th, 1968, the Philadelphia Eagles were playing the Minnesota Vikings at Franklin Field. The Eagles were a terrible football team, having only won two games all season. Even worse, they had they had lost 11 straight, then won two meaningless games, which took them out of the number one draft spot,

which would go for the highly coveted OJ Simpson. Two games. Come on, guys, we don't quit on this. Quit on the season. No, seriously, quit on the season, quit on the season. Adding to the anger level at the game was the weather. It had been snowing since the day before and the game temperature was in the low 20s with wind gusts up to 30 miles an hour. But still, 54,000 people shut up to watch their miserable team play in miserable weather. At halftime, the fans were to be treated to a Christmas pageant. Oh, God, while the Eagle at cheerleaders who were dressed up as elves romped on the field accompanied by a 50 piece brass band playing Christmas tunes. Santa was to make his appearance writing around the field. Dave. Huge Christmas float. Dave. Listen, a couple

things. Okay. One, I know this goes bad. Why? Just because it's being brought up. And maybe I have a hint of a memory of this. But two, it's just the idea like that has to be the last time the city tried something sweet at a sporting event. Like because it's set up to be so sweet. It's elves, these cheerleaders are elves. Santa's going to come. But you know that you're dealing with a bunch of people who are fucking freezing, who are drunk as far and are not happy. No, Santa's not happy. Santa's going to become the new outfielder. Well, the Eagle cheerleaders romped on the field. They were accompanied by a 50 piece brass band playing Christmas tunes. Santa was to make his entrance writing around the field on a huge Christmas float featuring an ornate sleigh dragged

by eight life sized fiberglass reindeer. All sounds good. Well, yes. But even before it begun, the halftime show went pear shaped. Oh boy. The float quickly got stuck in the mud meeting Santa had to abandon his sleigh and walk around the stadium on foot. Awkward. And worse, Santa was nowhere to be found. Oh, God. Having been prevented from making it to the stadium due to the weather, or as rumor had it, because he'd gotten too drunk. Jesus Christ. In a panic, the Eagles entertainment director, director Bill Mullen approached a fan sitting in the stands, 20 year old Frank Olivo to fill in a Santa Claus. This is I mean, this is not good. Olivo just happened to have worn a red corduroy Santa suit and a fake beard to the game.

He was given a large sack and told to weave down the field between two columns of eagle lets waving to the crowd as the brass band played. Here comes Santa Claus. Olivo said, quote, that's when the booing started. Oh, God. At first I was scared because it was so loud. But then I figured, Hey, it was just good nature teasing. I'm a Philadelphia fan. I knew what was what. No, you didn't. When Olivo finished his run down Santa Claus Lane, he got into range. He got in. Oh, he got into fan range. A fan in the upper deck through the first snowball. Oh, shit. As Santa hit the south end zone, one turned into 10 snowballs, then into 100 snowballs. Oh, Jesus. Quote, when I hit the end zone and the snowballs started, I was waving my finger

at the crowd saying, you're not getting anything for Christmas, Olivo. You're on the naughty. Oh, my face. Olivo remembers being hit by several dozen snowballs. The Eagles Public Relations director at this time claiming the bad behavior was prompted by Santa's pathetic physical appearance recalled, quote, he was the worst looking Santa I'd ever seen. That is not. Oh, sorry. Bad suit, scraggly beard. I'm not sure whether he was drunk, but he appeared to be. But that's that. That's not why there's no way that the Philadelphia fans grown ups were like, he doesn't pass the competency level for what Santa should look like. They were like, we got standards here in Philly. Yeah. Man trying to be nice. Let's hurt him. Hurt the man being nice.

Hurt the nice man. When I had to do this gig in Philly once where I had to like, I basically be a ref in a fake boxing thing. I'd never been called faggot faster, but I like like it was and it and it again, it wasn't for anything other than just being. I hadn't said a word until they were just shillacking me. Yeah, they're good people. For his part, a little me, a little maintains that he was a terrific Santa, that his suit was actually of quite good quality, that he wasn't drunk and that a lot of people who claim otherwise weren't even there. The entire incident might have been forgotten. If late Sunday night, the local news had not been followed by ABC Weekend Report, a national news show featuring Howard

Cosell with a weekly package of NFL highlights. Oh boy. When the whip round got to Franklin Field, Cosell showed no football. Instead, he aired the pelting of Santa accompanied by his verbiage, shaming the Philadelphia faithful. Can you believe this? These animals. The city of Philadelphia built veteran stadium, which opened in 1971. It was a stadium perfectly fitting the city. From the beginning, the vet was viewed as an unflattering cookie cutter stadium, a multi-purpose concrete bowl devoid of any architectural charm. Like a toilet. Like. The early 70s were a time when the municipal policies of fiscal restraint and urban renewal often resulted in a compromise which served neither purpose. And that's what happened with the vet.

Perfect. Just the meat you want to throw to the vultures. The turf at the stadium was considered terrible at best. Quarterback Ron Ron. Right. So it wasn't grass. No. Quarterback Ron Jorowski. Jorsky. Jorsky. Oh, Jorsky. Yeah. Jaws. Okay. Once said, quote, the turf of the vet is like concrete with a green bed sheet covering it. It's terrible. Veteran stadium had other attributes. The rats running through the team's weight room. The deafening acoustics. The dank cramped locker room. Leaky pipes. A dank arena where a mouse chasing cat once fell through the ceiling onto the desk of an assistant coach.

I mean, what the fuck? A mouse chasing cat fell on the desk? Are you fucking kidding me? Yeah. Down is up in this place. Mice are chasing fucking cats. Mouse chasing cat. It is a mouse chasing cat. A mouse chasing cat. No, no, the cat is chasing the mouse. Oh, are you sure? Yeah, it's a mouse chasing cat. So the cat is running after the mouse. A mouse chase. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Am I crazy to think I could go both ways on that? The way it was written, I could have written it better. Because when I'm picturing it's like one of those little rats from the Princess Bride in the weird forest. It's not one of those. Okay, landing on a desk. There was unreliable heat, slow elevators. A peephole where the visiting

players looked into the dressing room of the Eagles cheerleaders. Okay, I'll devil's advocate this one. Why did the home team not have this pinhole? I think probably just weren't next to the cheerleaders locker room. I mean, if look, if I guess you could put that in there as a distraction, but still. An odor that former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt once described as cat stink. I think we all know kind of what that means. It may have been due to all the stray cats living in the stadium that ate the rats. This is not a professional stadium. And they brought because they had such a rodent problem that they just decided to bring in cats. Who is solving problems for the fucking city of Philadelphia? Santa doesn't show up,

you pick a waste of dude from the stands in Corderoi. You got a rat problem, just fill the stadium with cats. They may as well just change every sport team to like the Philadelphia rats. When John Gruden became the Eagles offensive coordinator in 1995, he wondered aloud why there were so many cats. He recently recalled, quote, I was told the cats were there to get rid of the rats. Suddenly, I love the cats. But then you're going to be, I mean, honestly, like, then like, well, now we need dogs. Like how fucking it's like Australia. They're just they're probably different things to get rid of different things. Yeah. They're overrun by. Yeah. So but at the end of the day, you're like, well,

well, we should have probably just gotten an exterminator. The crown jewel of the monstrosity was the 700 level and its horrific occupants. The 700 level lied at the very top of the stadium and was compromised of the worst and therefore the cheapest seats in the stadium. The men and women were also notoriously the most wild crazy and worst fans in the NFL. Okay. Jerry Longman described the 700 level as having a reputation for, quote, hostile taunting, fighting public urination and general strangeness. General general strangeness is a worry. The name 700 level has been an inspiration for websites relating to Philadelphia sports, as well as weekly letters to the editor section in the Sunday sports pages of the Philadelphia

Enquirer. So they had an area that was so horrific. And yet they embraced it. Yeah. And that's what they call the letters to the to the sports pages. But that that is kind of a way in a way like a little bit like the epitome of that city is they embrace the like and that happens a lot of times with sports where you embrace like the people who are like, you're a shitty fan. You're like, no, I'm the shittiest fan. No, correct yourself. You're not getting this at all. Correct your behavior, sir. At a game in the early 1900s, a fan named Jeanette Miller sat in section 730, removed her shoes. Okay, so let's just let's just isolate that part. Okay. So a woman came to a game, removed her shoes, football game or we're not sure sure football game or or I assume it's

in the 1900s. In the 1980s. Oh, 1980s. Sorry. I thought I'd make more sense. Yeah. But in the 1980s, she came and sat down her seat and took her shoes off in the stadium. Yep. Like a fucking crazy person. Sure. And soon soon noticed that the guy in front of her was sucking her left big toe. Now that is a very huge leap. Who who she had friends a few section over a few sections over who attended games with a keg strategically hidden beneath a wheelchair. This is next level. This is like the goonies grew up and went to the Eagles game. Who doesn't search the wheelchair? Well, I mean, exactly. Just lift up the blanket. Just bringing a gurney like just with a with a fucking wet bar underneath it. My grandma's very sick. I'm so sick. Fucking keg. Yeah, a keg under

a wheelchair in a wheelchair in the 80s. Holy shit. Kind of makes me miss the 80s. Oh, God. A makeshift municipal court known as Eagles Court was set up in the basement of the stadium in November 1997 after a game against San Francisco in which about 60 fights broke out. A seasoned ticket holder broken ankle trying to rescue a friend and a flare gun was fired into seats. So they had to open a judicial arm of the stadium. Yeah. And people are also firing flares of people. The first fan to be taken before the judge was a man who obviously was a judge. Yeah, they had a judge in the basement and they had a makeshift. Was it just like the judge didn't show up so they found a guy who was dressed like a judge in the stands? No, no, it's a real judge.

They had a real judge. Okay. They had an actual judge who went down to the and sat there and did it. Whose wife was like, bullshit. If you want to see another woman, go ahead. He's like, no, I swear to God, I'm a judge on Sundays. I'm a judge in the bottom of the stadium. Okay. Fuck you, Frank. Don't fuck yourself. Don't fuck yourself, Frank. If you don't want to be with me. Frank. The first fan to be taken before the judge was a man who obviously was intoxicated and he proceeded to throw up all of the judges makeshift bench first guy ever. My only dream is that that was in response to how do you play? Quote, guys in bright green, day glow robes and silver hair. That's not the typical courtroom

you're used to in the city said municipal judge, Seamus P. McCaffrey, who presided over Eagles Court. Eagles Court. The penalties for crime forced offenders to give up season tickets, pay $400 fines and sit in jail for the rest of the game. I mean, honestly, could you be dealing with more adult toddlers? This is adult time out. I love it. That's exactly what it is. Yeah, it's adult time out. Yeah, they took away the toys and you can't play anymore. I can't see the fourth quarter. No, you can't see the fourth quarter because you stabbed a man. You licked a woman's toe. I was there. She took off her shoe. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Let her just take off her shoe without eating it? So NFL player Michael Strahan said, quote,

it's the only place where the bus pulls up outside the stadium before the game and you get the grandfather, the grandmother, the grandkids and the kids and everybody's flipping you off. Oh, it's almost nice in a way. Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins says he'll never forget the Monday Night Game when a bottle rocket soared out of the stands. Wow. That is like, it's just some stuff that you would never think you would want to do, let alone do. Why would you ever want to do that? Bring a bottle rocket. January 6, 1972. Hockey, the St. Louis Blues were playing the Philadelphia Flyers. This was during the period when the Philadelphia NHL franchise were known was known for aggression and fighting. After the second play period, the players headed into the locker

room. St. Louis Blues coach Al Abour, our bore, A-R-B-O-U-R, our bore, our bar, very Canadian, went over to referee John Ashley to complain about a call. As the two spoke, a Flyers fan, poured deer. Pour. I'm going to say that again. As the two spoke, a Flyers fan poured beer down Arbore's back. When was this? 1972. It's so great. Soon other fans followed by throwing trash and then taking swings at Arbore. Oh my God. It's incensed at the treatment their coach was getting. Several Blues players took off in the direction of the ramp and started to swing their sticks and climb into the stands to fight the fans. Not a good idea. The Philadelphia cops at the arena quickly got involved. In a good way. The notorious Philadelphia police were all too

happy to use their nightsticks on the Blues players. Jesus. Beating them back into their locker room. So, who do we root for? Who's our hero? So they didn't stop the fans. No. They just attacked the players of the other team. They created a new sect of attacking. They were now to go to the locker room. A filly newsman who rushed over to the scene, asked the nearby cop what was going on. Quote, it's the St. Louis Blues against the cops and we're winning. I mean, you know what? That is a city that deserves time out. Blues coach Al Arbore received a gash needing 10 stitches and Blues player John Arbore needed 40 stitches. They were also among the four Blues who were arrested following the game.

Bayle was set at 500 and they weren't released from the police station until their barrel was played at, was paid at five in the morning by the Flyers owner. Wow. To the Flyers owner, bail them out. I like that. They had an arraignment the next month. Stay classy guys. Yeah. Yeah. They had an arraignment the next month when they came to visit the Flyers again, but all charges were dropped. After the 25 minute melee, the Blues, seemingly inspired, came out in the third period and scored three and answered goals to win three to two. After the game, Blues owner was furious, saying that was the worst case of police brutality I've ever seen or heard about. Isn't it fitting that the Blues came and won? Yeah, of course.

They lose their shit, they get distracted and then their team loses and then they're like, why? Why weren't we rewarded? Remarkably, the win would be the Blues' last one in Philadelphia until the 1980s. The Flyers would go 31, 0 and 3 against the Blues over the next 16 seasons as a spectrum, finally losing again in November of 1988. In 1989, the Eagles and Cowboys had a heated rivalry. Rumors swirled that the Eagles had taken out bounties on certain players. The teams were both playing for a playoff spot or maybe it was the Cowboys that had taken out. Anyway, the teams were both playing for a playoff spot. The commissioner of the league brought a ton of NFL security to the game. They stood outside Eagles owner Norm Bramman's box where

the commissioner watched. They guarded the Cowboys locker room and the tunnels leading to it. But none of it mattered. Whoa. Because of the snow. Okay. A snowfall earlier that week hadn't been entirely cleared from the stadium. Okay. Seeing that snow, said Chris Cardi, an Eagles player, I knew that wasn't a good sign. Sure enough, the snowballs began raining down on the field. The snowy barrage became so intense in the second half that the Eagles cheerleaders had to leave the field for their own safety. For the idea that because the cheerleaders are there to just kind of make the men be like a little more docile and still they're like, we're going to get hurt.

They're hurting us. A large group of Dallas fans were evacuated from field level seats. Evacuated. Evacuated. Strong term. Like what didn't even happen in Katrina. Strong term. Most of the snowballs were directed at the Dallas coaches and players. Although one identified flying object struck an official back judge Al Jury in the head and knocked him down in the first half. A number of Dallas players said, let's leave the field. Let's get out of here. Said Larry Wansley, a former FBI agent who coordinates security on the Cowboys bench each week. I never saw anything like it. And I'm in the FBI. And I work for the Federal Bureau. The fans weren't just throwing snowballs. A lot of them were ice balls. I was going to say.

Some of them had rocks inside. I was also going to assume that there might be some battery snow. They were more like ice grenades. We were very lucky that someone wasn't seriously hurt. The snowballs came down throughout the second half, splattering around the Dallas players feet and whizzing past their ears. During one time out, the Cowboys offense dodged snowballs in the end zone while the public address system played winter wonderland. I don't know who's the worst. I think the person playing that honestly is the worst. Well, he's one of them bleeding in the winter wonderland. I'm just bleeding in the winter wonderland. Several Eagles players tried to call off the bombing waving their arms toward the sands

as if to say please calm down. But it had little effect. Yeah, but that's exactly what they don't understand. Yeah, is that there there's no voice of reason. No, there's no reason at all. It's just like when the cops decided to beat up the Blues players. Yeah, there's no there's no thinking. No, there's just there's just let's do this. Let's go. The snowballs kept coming from both the lower and upper decks. The Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson was escorted on and off the field by two Philadelphia police officers. It proved to be a good idea as the officers used their arms to shield the coach on his dash to the tunnel after the game. One officer was struck in the face by a snowball and shaken up. But he was reported okay after some minor treatment by trainers.

quote said one player. Most of the guys were drenched when they got in here. Some people were dumping everything on us beer, soda, ice, you name it. Who started throwing the snowballs isn't known. But one man did admit to betting another fan $20 that he couldn't hit the field with a snowball. The man who made that bet was Ed Randell at the time an ex district attorney. I was just about to see also admitted throwing snowballs. He went on to become the mayor of Philadelphia and then the governor of the state of Pennsylvania. Yep. Probably helped get him elected. Yes. Yeah. Yes. The 1997 baseball draft the Philadelphia Phillies drafted a player named JD Drew with the second pick. Drew's agent had worn any team drafting him that drew would not

take less than $10 million as a signing bonus. But the Phillies had no plan to pay an unproven player this amount of money. They just assumed he'd signed. So Drew refused to sign as he said he would and then he signed up to play for an amateur team. They lost their player. Really? The next year he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals which meant he would be coming to play in Philadelphia. Oh Jesus. Philly fans welcome Drew back by throwing a barrage of D batteries at him. D batteries the square motherfucking painful motherfuck. Why the fuck do you exist battery? What the fuck happened with every other battery that all of a sudden now we got a like there better to throw a D. Yeah. No. Definitely the best

to throw. Why? Why? They only exist to hurt. The game was delayed for roughly 10 minutes after debris landed near Drew in center field. Drew was pulled off the field by his manager for his own safety. On March 5th 2001 when Drew was finally retiring Philadelphia Enquirer sportswriter TJ Furman suggested that his readers quote show their love for Red Sox outfielder JD Drew who may retire at the end of the season. You'll get one more chance to let JD know how you feel about him when the Sox come to town on June 28th. Get your D cells ready. Oh that's 2011. That's crazy. In another wonderful moment draft moment the Philadelphia Eagles selected Donovan McNabb with the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft. Of course the draft taking place in front of a

live audience met McNabb was greeted with a chorus of booze because the Philadelphia fans who were in attendance wanted the Eagles to draft Texas running back Ricky Williams. That's the best. It's like it's the guys. He's like a second pick. He's an awesome player and he's like all right. And they're like very fucking suck. Yeah. Welcome to Philadelphia. You piece of shit. Well and at least now their negativity has like crossed through the boundary of racism because both those players are black. They actually had a preference that they did. It really was just anything that they wanted the pothead. It was going to quit football. They wanted to boo. They wanted to boo. During his time in Philadelphia McNabb led

the Eagles to four consecutive NFL East Division championships five NFC championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in which the Eagles were defeated. He won the 2004 AP offensive player of the year award and is the Eagles all-time leader in career wins past attempts past completions passing yards and passing touchdowns. McNabb was said to never have forgiven the fans for the booing he received. They really booed him. Could have thrown batteries. During the early 2000s the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs began to form a rivalry. The Flyers had noted tough guys but Toronto had the toughest guy of them all Ty Domey. On March 29th 2001 Domey met the fans of Philadelphia. During the game Ty Domey tried to fight with a flyer and earned himself a two

minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fans were upset with Domey and they decided to start throwing things at him in the penalty box. Domey warned them to stop. Oh boy. They didn't. After a while Domey had had enough. He picked up a water bottle and squirted a few of the fans over the glass partition. Chris Falcone a 36 year old concrete worker from Havertown Pennsylvania was extremely upset with Domey's squirt. Yeah it's very offensive. And lunged at him. Oh boy. He climbed atop the glass and tried to swing at Domey. Then the glass separating him from the most brutal enforcer in the NHL collapsed. Boy. Pandanone, pandemonium ensued. Falcone and Domey fought in the penalty box before linesman Kevin Collins stepped in. Jesus Christ. Falcone was

arrested and cited and taken away to get stitches. Taken to Philadelphia Eagle Jail. But today he is a living legend in Philadelphia. No matter how old you are you still remember the game vividly. The Flyers may not have won the contest but you can bet someone will bring up quote that time the fan got into a fight with Ty Domey. And isn't that in essence why they are the way they are? Isn't it because it almost is like you can create a satisfactory memory out of just being violent and you don't need to lean on a win? Like that's what they're saying that what matters most is how they lost. That hasn't happened to me since I was 15 years old in junior hockey. It was a mascot Domey said. Hey that's old time hockey it was perfect. Well his statement also crazy.

Falcone was treated by medical personnel and did not go to the hospital. Fans in the stands have been known to brawl with each other at Eagles games. During one game against the Washington Redskins a fight broke out and one fan was being kicked on the ground. That's when a police officer stepped in and decided to let loose with his pepper spray. Oh good always good. The spray drifted onto the field during the muddy night game the most watched game of the week. Cooling fans on the field pulled the pepper spray residue behind the Eagles bench and Philadelphia players scattered onto the field to avoid the spray. Jesus. Players and fans in the stands on that side of the stadium held their noses and covered their eyes as a national

audience watched on TV. Watched as a cop. A cop. A trained officer. He sprayed a guy who was getting kicked. Sprayed into the wind on a like. The game was laid for eight minutes until officials decided it was safe to play. Until officials decided it was okay to blink again. The fillings have a mascot called the Philly Fanatic. So he's this giant green thing. Right he's a big weird Marston looking thing right. He's got like a big head and a big stomach. He's a brown. On February 6 2004 the Fanatic was at a charity auction of memorabilia at Veterans Stadium when tragedy struck. Jesus. Philly mascot Tom Burgion was was was performing during the auction. He said he took off the head in a first aid room in a restricted area off the main concourse during

a break around 6 30 p.m. When he returned 45 minutes later the head was gone. The theft was caught on tape by the center's security cameras who filmed a man trying to conceal the head between his bright yellow ski coat. And this head is huge. It's gigantic. Okay. There's a back door to that room and he entered the room and exited that way. Burgion later said security never saw him. Witnesses came forward saying they saw the man place the head in the trunk of his car. Oh wow. The Phillies delayed reporting the missing head believing it had been taken as a prank and would be returned. Wrong. But after it didn't turn up for several days Burgion went to the police. The police announced to the public that the Fanatic's head had been stolen. Burgion

was seized with emails besieged with emails and phone calls from people outraged that the head had been taken. During the police interview process a sergeant said Burgion was asked to describe the missing item. Quote he starts saying it's green and it's two and a half feet tall and it has a snout and a party favor for a tongue. And I'm thinking to myself do we need to ask him to describe the Philly head. No. It's the craziest head you'll see. And it's green. Wait. You said party favor for a tongue. Yeah. It's got a party favor tongue and its head is made of sort of a neon streamer. Just picture a crazy fucking thing. A five thousand dollar reward was offered by Gary Barbera Automotive Group in Philadelphia. The Phillies won't offer a fucking reward.

And that was then publicized by Howard Stern. Eleven days after the theft Bernard Bechtel called radio station W. Y. S. P. F. M. Bechtel 37 first told disc jockey Tommy Conwell over the phone that his son had found the headpiece while sledding. But when he arrived at the rate. Do we want to. Well I mean he was just sledding and he came across the head. Obviously that's total bullshit. But when he arrived. You can come up with such a better scenario. It's the worst scenario I've ever heard. My son found it while he was sledding. Number one you've already brought your son in the shower. I was in a donut shop and it was just sitting on the donuts. It was in my drawer. It fell out of a car. My kid bought this. When he arrived at the radio station Tuesday

to claim the money he said he recovered it from two 13 year olds who were running down a ramp at the Wachovia Center. Bechtel also didn't want to tell the disc jockey his name. Cool. Well that's probably going to be easy to get a check. So I just want the five grand because I got the head but I can't tell you who he is. I got the head. Come on. So what is the head. Come on. What you got. No more questions. What you got for me. No more batteries. My name don't mean shit. He did say he was from was the tough one. Con show Hawkin which he mispronounced. Oh good. So you should know the name of the place. Yeah for sure. It's not hard. You're from there. It's near. You already know you're going in with the idea that you said you found a big head while

sledding. Shouldn't you pick a place that you know how to pronounce. Yeah. There's got to be like a Smithville or something. I'm from Kashongan. I'm shot. I'm from Chicago. Boygs. You know the sea place. Yeah. Anyway where's my five thousand dollars for this sledding head. Soon for Philadelphia police officers arrived. They had received a phone tip minutes before that the fanatics head was in the radio station building quote that Philly fanatic must be a lucky guy. I was seven blocks away said Sergeant Stephen Belio. Officers escorted Bechtel out of the building and Sergeant Belio retrieved the furry squiggly eyed head which was stashed under the station's studio board. We got a real big trash bag and we transported it back to south division the sergeant

said heroes Philly mascot Tom Begoyne got his costumes head back. The fanatic is intact. It still smells so we know it's his buddy. Pick a better quote. Bechtel was charged with receiving stolen property burglary theft and trespassing. The husband and father of two was said to have been very remorseful. I'm sure he said he couldn't help himself because of seeing the memorabilia. He was placed on two years probation and ordered to perform a hundred hours of community service. But will he throw batteries again. April 2010 at a Philly's game 21 year old Matthew Clemens of Cherry Hill, New Jersey was sitting with a friend behind off duty Eastern police captain Michael Vangelo and his daughters age 15 and 11. The two men were cursing up a storm

and spitting with some of their saliva hitting one of Vangelo's daughters. The police captain was not amused. Vangelo complained to security and Clemens friend was ejected. A little while later Clemens who was still sitting in his seat answered his cell phone saying quote I need to do what I need to do. Not good. I'm going to get sick. What. He then stuck his fingers down his throat. No no Dave Dave no. And vomited on the Vangelo and his family. No. What. Those are things that those just based on common decency you don't expect someone to go that far. I need to do what I need to do and then he fucking bulimiaed everywhere. Vangelo said he tried to push his children safely behind him and Clemens punched him in the face. While barfing?

Yeah four or five fans in the next session then rushed to help. They held Clemens until police arrived and someone did punch Clemens in the face as he tried to break free and an officer was also hit with vomit. Clemens mugshot showed him with one black eye. Clemens was arrested. He was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and related offenses for the incident. And inventing a new misdemeanor. He was given a thirty six thousand dollar bail. Oh my god. In court he admitted to purposefully throwing up on the family but told the judge he was sorry for his actions. Who gives a fuck? How do you do that? How do you say yes I threw up on them but I'm really sorry about it. I feel real bad. You know what? You know you do things and then you're

like I shouldn't have done that. Fool me once. Are you ever with a judge? Have you ever thrown up on somebody's? Yeah. You feel bad right afterward. I was so nauseous from eating my fingers sir. The judge did not believe Clemens was sincere. He was sentenced to three months in jail, two years probation and 50 hours of community service. Bangelo said his daughter hasn't talked about what happened that night and doesn't want to go back to Citizens Bank Park. That all makes a lot of sense. I think it's our last one. October 2014. Oh recent. Sunny Forrest Jr. a Vietnam vet and street musician is known for playing music outside of Philly's and Eagles game. Sunny also has only one leg. Could have been in general. It's a call ahead. It's a call ahead. It's a call ahead.

Forrest Jr. who began using a motorized wheelchair after losing his leg said he had taken off his prosthetic leg during his performance. It was probably bothering him. Okay so I. Okay go ahead. His leg. I mean someone takes his fucking leg. Well it's like taking off your shoes I guess. It's like taking off a mascot head. Except the man needs it to fucking survive. He was packing up his car to get going when a group of people danced around him. As he continued to sing Forrest Jr. said he was then approached by a woman in her 20s who was wearing Eagles gear. She jumped in my lap Forrest Jr. said she gripped my leg and I didn't even know it. I looked down and she took my leg then she disappeared. What the fuck.

A young lady came up and snatched my leg off my chair and took off. Forrest Jr. filed the police report and police searched for clues. On Monday around 1 a.m. the subway conductor found the prosthetic leg on a train at the other end of the Broad Street line. She didn't even give a fuck. And then contacted police. She didn't even give a fuck. She just took a guy's leg for nothing. She didn't like. Took off and left it on the subway. Like how do you not even at least put it on a shelf and be like I took a guy's leg. Like at least then you give it some sort of like there's at least some sort of justice to the whole thing. Have some pride in your leg fevery. Yeah. You don't take a leg just for the sake of taking a leg. You don't take a leg and go.

I'm gonna stick a carrying it. I'm gonna leave it on a train. Fuck it. Police reached out to Forrest Jr. to return the leg reunited with his leg. Forrest Jr. said he doesn't wish for the woman who snagged his leg to go to jail. He wants her to get help. Unfortunately they don't have a rehab for that. Quote somebody needs to talk to her. She don't need to go to jail. The true fair investigators said that appeared in total three women took part in the leg heist. The leg heist. What a great city. That's only some of the Philadelphia fan stories that I could have just kept going on. What a great town. What must you think when you get traded there as an athlete even now. You must be like I hope I'm fucking good. The Phillies were good for a little while

and now they're bad again. Yeah. You know I've never been to a game there but I've always I was always I could have gone to an Eagles game once and I was too scared. I've been to an Eagles game. You've been to the stadium. I did. I had this gig for a while where I had to go to Philly and like do shit at like sporting events and that's where I was refing this thing and then I also had to do some stuff outside of an Eagles playoff game. Oh my god. Yeah. And I'm not kidding. I mean it was just like it didn't matter. It didn't matter. There was no like you couldn't win and it was almost liberating. It was almost like you're like I can't it's not me. It's them because the second you start anything all they want to do is hurt. Oh my god. It's terrifying. All right. All right

Philly. God bless. There you go. God bless. 76. God bless y'all. Don't tread on me. All right.