Philadelphia Sports Fans' Bad Reputation is Unwarranted

In Game 3 of the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, Philadelphia Flyers fans, after spending the majority of the game watching their team get drubbed by the Washington Capitals, threw bracelets used to commemorate their late owner Ed Snider, who died two weeks ago, onto the ice, not only delaying play, but also forcing the Flyers to take a penalty that worsened the beating.

It was a deplorable and ugly scene that can't be explained or excused. It was one of the most embarrassing moments in Philadelphia history, and it is sure to stick to Philly fans for the next 20 years or so. But should it?

Full disclosure, I am a Flyers fan. But that is the only Philadelphia team that I root for. In fact, I despise the other three major sports franchises. With that being said, the aftermath of such an incident annoyed me. My Twitter timeline was filled with "That's just typical of Philly fans," or " What do you expect? They threw snowballs at Santa." First off, people love to attach the incident to anything Philly related because it's incredibly easy. What people don't understand is the background behind it. If you went through what the Eagles went through that year, you'd be tempted to pelt "Santa" with snowballs. But I digress.

An act of solidarity between rivals

The bracelet incident will never be forgotten, and it will be used as fodder to describe the unrelenting anger that Philly fans possess toward their sports teams. Hell, the Santa incident happened in 1968, and it is still brought up today.

Philly fans can be irrational, unforgiving and extremely temperamental, but to me, that's just their extreme passion leaking out. Philly fans live and die with each one of their sports teams. If the Eagles play poorly, they let them hear it. And you know what? That's their rights as fans. These aren't the corporate fans that fill Yankee Stadium or Madison Square Garden. And they certainly are not the front-running fan base of their cross-state counterparts.

Through the good times and bad, Philly fans will support their teams. When things are going well, there aren't many places you'd rather be playing than in Philadelphia. If you're playing poorly, well, that's a completely different story.

Philadelphia is sandwiched in between New York and Washington, D.C. It's a working class city that pours its hard-earned money into their sports teams. So if they don't feel like they are getting their money's worth, then nobody will be spared from criticism. What happened in Philadelphia during Game 3 was a perfect storm.

Add in alcohol, throwable objects and a beating from their Eastern Conference rival after such a promising start, and there was bound to be chaos. This is no excuse for their behavior, but what went on here isn't really different than any other fan base. Some knuckleheads in the stands felt like expressing their anger in an inappropriate way, and because it was in Philly on the day Ed Snider was being commemorated, it blew up and spawned your typical Philly criticism.

But let me point you to some examples of fans doing something very similar. Here's Atlanta going crazy by throwing beer bottles on the field after a controversial infield fly rule. How about when Cleveland fans pelted players and the officials with beer bottles? Do I really need to mention the Malice at the Palace?

This happens all the time, but those fan bases mentioned don't get nearly the kind of negative publicity that Philly gets. Is it fair? I don't really think so, but the reputation is there, and when these sorts of incidents happen, they feed right into that reputation.

Deep down, I think athletes would love to play in front of the rabid Philadelphia fan base because, if nothing else, they'll keep you humble. But if you succeed in Philly and just happen to win a championship, you'll be immortalized. Just ask the "Broad Street Bullies." Regardless of your feelings toward the city, it's this sort of unapologetic passion and desire to see their teams win that makes Philly such a special place to play.