Post by MikeGrim on Oct 27, 2008 22:26:35 GMT -5
Returning to Philly: “Stop Your Whining And Get Over It!”
by: Jeff Bradley
Made yet another trip down to Philly this weekend, only this time, it wasn’t solely to see the Eagles game. It was for a baby shower, to see the Phillies move a step closer to another Philly title, and then watch the Eagles play the Falcons.
The trip down did not contain as much Opie and Anthony, Ron & Fez, or NFL Now as usual as I was not traveling alone this time and spared the others from having to listen to everything I wanted to. So I will spare you from stories about the number of Pink songs and Maroon 5 songs that come on XM30 The Hitlist. But Saturday started with a ride to Cream Ridge, New Jersey where a baby shower was held for me and my wife. We got a lot of gifts, so many so that we were unsure if we would be able to fit them all in the car for the ride home.
Next up, was the Phillies, and game 3 of the World Series against the Rays. Again, won’t go into much detail here as by now people know what happened at the game. But it started about 90 minutes late and not a single fan was unhappy to wait it out. There are many reasons why Philly fans are easily the best in North America, and this game was just one example why. Where else would a stadium be completely full at 1:30am in the rain? In Los Angeles they leave by the 6th inning no matter what. In Tampa they don’t even go to the games unless the Red Sox or Phillies are the opponent. In New York they say they sell out, but the stadiums are hardly ever full.
Game 1 of the Series was a really good baseball game. Game 2 was okay too but I’d say it was below average. Game 3 was right up there with game 1, perhaps better. The only unfortunate part of game 3 was, due to a horrendous call by the umpire at first base, Jamie Moyer was not the winning pitcher of the game. Not that he cares, I am sure, but it would have been nice for him to get a W in his first World Series start. The “Eva” chants were Evan Longoria were VERY loud too, as were the “Garza” chants that seemed to rattle Matt Garza. Some people like to hang on to the “snowballs at Santa” story from 40+ years ago to say Philly fans are terrible. But one, it wasn’t even the real Santa … two, the fake Santa laughed about it and still does to this day, and three, who cares? If you aren’t tough enough to deal with Philly fans, then to quote Brock Lesnar “quit your whining and get over it!” lol …. This game showed what real fans are all about, and it’s not stupid little cowbells, or booing your big name free agent acquisition pitcher on opening day.
The game ended around 2am, which gave little turnaround time for the Eagles/Falcons game at 1pm on Sunday. In the meantime, between the times I left Connecticut, and the time the Eagles game would start at 1pm, the Flyers had beaten the New Jersey Devils in a home and home series, and Penn State football went to Ohio State and beat them as well.
I left for the Eagles game around 10:15am Sunday morning from my parents and got to the venerable Oregon Diner around 10:45am. Before I left, I checked my email and saw that a friend I hadn’t seen in 3+ years had emailed me saying if I was going to the diner he would meet me there and drop off the Phillies stuff he had for me. I emailed him back around 10am saying I got the email late, but would in fact be there if he wanted to swing by.
As I waited, parked across from the ATM again, I listened to the 610 WIP pregame show, which today, was part Eagles and part Phillies. Everyone was psyched after the Phillies win earlier in the morning, and some people even slept over knowing they only had a few hours to go until the Eagles tailgate began.
Some of the topics covered during my brief stay in the car were:
n how the Phillies were in their 4th World Series since 1980, the 2nd highest total in the NL, behind only Atlanta and St. Louis who both have 5. No other team in the NL has been to more than 2 in that time
n how the 76ers have to pick it up for Philly as Philly has a hockey title from the Phantoms, and football from the Soul in the last couple years, so if the Phillies win, the ball falls on the 76ers shoulders to complete the Jeff Bradley Sweep (names after myself for winning fantasy titles in all 4 sports! Haha).
n Eagles coach Andy Reid was going for his 100th coaching victory, just one game after he and Donovan McNabb broke Bill Walsh and Joe Montana’s record for most wins by a coach/QB tandem entering the NFL together, with 76. The thing I found interesting about this stat is that Andy Reid has managed to win 23 games with a backup QB during his career.
n Joe Banner criticizing the Cowboys trade for Roy Williams and saying “well they are still trying to win a playoff game, we have different goals”
n A sign in Tampa during the World Series that said “Only God Saves More Than Brad Lidge”
n How there seemed to be more Phillies fans in Tampa than Rays’ fan (this is explained by the Phillies spring training site being in the area)
As I am waiting in my car I am kind of paying attention to passing cars wondering if my friend got the message in time and will show. I see a car pass in front of me and think that it somewhat looked like him. I pay closer attention to the car as it parks and the guy gets out. I think it could be him but say to myself it isn’t. But …. It is. Wait, it is??? He looks a lot different. I was tipped off he did, but, even expecting it, I was surprised. He is down about 125 pounds since the last time I saw him. We say our hellos and head inside to grab a table for 3, as Tony should be getting there any minute now.
I ask CK how he lost all the weight and his answer was pretty simple, running on a treadmill and watching what he ate. If only I had that willpower. But I don’t, so ….. I go with the cheese steak Deluxe again. I think of ordering “Pan-cakes” for Tony, to be ready for him when he gets there. Luckily I didn’t as when he arrived he ordered the cheese steak as well.
Tony had driven from Maryland to NJ the day before to drop off his family at the baby shower, then drove back to Maryland that night, and now back to the area for the Eagles game. We both put in a lot of miles for these games! Haha
During lunch I am informed that Gabe Sapolsky had quit his position at Ring of Honor (turns out he was fired) and that the Edison, NJ show only did 250 fans. Wasn’t expecting that at all, but other than the atmosphere of the last show I went to, ROH is pretty boring to me, so the change may actually make it more appealing, we will see.
Lunch at the Oregon ends and we head outside. CK (the shrunken friend) gets me the Phillies stuff he has for me and I toss it in my car before Tony and I start our walk to the stadium.
We are running a little later than usual, but should get to our seats right at kickoff. As we start our walk I notice dogshi& on the ground and watch my feet to make sure I avoid it, but I don’t tell Tony about it! Haha …. As I step over it Tony taps me on the shoulder and says “look at that?”. I ask him if he is referring to the dogshi& and he says no, so I turn around. He points to a statue, about …. 15 feet high or so. On top of the statue is a real life Eagle. Not only is it an Eagle, but it is eating a falcon. Lol …. It freaked me out because it was gross, and it was … well … gross …. and because it was an eagle and a falcon. So let’s keep moving.
As we walk down 7th Street we come to the usual row of cars parked, of other people who are walking to the game to avoid paying $25+ to park. However, on the back of about 15-20 of the cars, we noticed bright yellow stickers that say “TOW” on them. Sucks to be them. Not only is my car parked for free, I have an old homeless lady watching it (she said hello to me today), AND it will be there when I get back, without a “violation” ticket in the windshield I may add.
We make it to the stadium and line up like cattle in the “pat down” line. A guy behind us joins the line, carrying a beer in his hand yelling in distress “MOM!!! MOM?!!?!? MOMMMM!?!?!?!” while looking over everyone toward the front of the lines. Everyone is laughing knowing what is going on. He says “I think that’s my mom up there. I lost her!” as someone asks “Where?”. “Right at the front of the line! I better go help her! MOM?!?!? MOMMM?!!?!?” ….. haha
Make it up to ours seats right after kickoff, only missing one play. Eagles start on defense which means they will get the ball to start the second half. SWEET!!! I always prefer that. Unlike most games, they do not start off fast, which is probably a good sign. They are used to starting fast on the opening drive, then fading after that. Maybe today will be the opposite.
One day after the bad Carl Crawford call at first in the Phillies game, the NFL refs blow that one out of the water by calling a (I am not sure what but think it was unsportsmanlike conduct) penalty on the Eagles for taking down Matt Ryan. It was a sack, and as Ryan was going down he threw the ball away. No flag. Then Ryan stayed down hurt. Then a flag comes in. The “asshole” chants that followed rivaled the “Eva” and “Garza” chants from the night before. Really nothing else to say about that penalty as I have no clue what the ref was thinking. It was equally as bad as the umpire calling strike three on Rocco Baldelli in game 2, only to then appeal to first and change his mind and call it ball 4.
Eagles go into the half with the lead, Andy Reid makes his adjustments, and the Eagles turn things around. Over 200 yards for Brian Westbrook I believe, Kevin Curtis going over the middle in his first game of the year, David Akers actually making field goals, and Stewart Bradley being a monster of a man, and the Eagles come out victorious, 27-14. Eagles 1-0, Penn State 1-0, Flyers 2-0, and Phillies 1-0 so far for the weekend.
The walk back to the cars was very interesting, as the Eagles game was letting out as people were arriving for the Phillies game as well as for The Who concert across the street. I should mention when I was walking to the Eagles game, there were already people sitting outside the gates for the Phillies game, some 7-8 hours before first pitch. Maybe these were some of the people who slept over.
Tony and I make it back to the car, as I make a point not to make eye contact with the freaky statue of death. He heads back to Maryland again, and I head toward my parents, to pick up gifts and people to take back to CT.
Everything fit in my car, albeit a tight fit, and to CT we go. I listened to some of the Giants/Steelers game along the way, and then the beginning of Game 4 of the World Series when that came on. Listened to some of the Rays pregame show and even they admitted how the fans in Philly are so much better than Tampa fans (not much to live up to), and how they have passion for their teams and are probably the best in baseball. This is true, but they should see the football fans! Lol
The Phillies would go on to win game 4 of the World Series, giving them a 3 to 1 lead in the series. Joe Blanton remains undefeated as a Phillie, and added a home run to boot. He became the first pitcher to homer in the series since 1975. It was only his second hit of the year, continuing the Phillies’ pitchers streak of getting great at-bats from the worst hitters.
That win by the Phillies gave them 2 wins on Sunday, and made the local teams 5-0 for the weekend.
In the aftermath, apparently Joe Maddon accused Joe Blanton of cheating, and then said people were throwing mustard packs at his nephew or some relative, but still thought the Philly fans were amazing (wow, he must not love this so called ‘nephew’ too much then). A Tampa paper wrote an article on Tampa fans locking themselves in bathroom stalls to avoid being harassed by Philly fans, and women being called whores. Funny how no one ever witnesses any of this stuff. Seeing as how the umpire said he checked baseballs for pine tar and found nothing, and mustards packs are not even available in Citizens Bank Park, this is all chalked up to trying to bring people down when you can’t be them. It comes with the territory I guess and is pretty funny. I actually remember being at a Devils/Flyers playoff game in New Jersey one year, when the Flyers beat the Devils, and seeing a Flyers fan in the bathroom being pushed around as he tried to wash his hands, all because he was wearing the jersey of the better, visiting team. And ya know what I did? I laughed and thought it was pretty cool. No one was being punched or shot or anything violent like that. People wear jerseys to get a reaction. If you can’t handle it …. Well, … “stop whing and get over it!!!” .
So everything is going great in the Philly area as of now, which means the Phillies will lose the next 3 games to the Rays, Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb will join Shawn Andrews on the sidelines, and Joe Paterno will die. But it was still a very enjoyable weekend, and pending what happens this week, I may be heading back there during the week. If I do, carltonprescott.com will be the first to hear all about it!
by: Jeff Bradley
Made yet another trip down to Philly this weekend, only this time, it wasn’t solely to see the Eagles game. It was for a baby shower, to see the Phillies move a step closer to another Philly title, and then watch the Eagles play the Falcons.
The trip down did not contain as much Opie and Anthony, Ron & Fez, or NFL Now as usual as I was not traveling alone this time and spared the others from having to listen to everything I wanted to. So I will spare you from stories about the number of Pink songs and Maroon 5 songs that come on XM30 The Hitlist. But Saturday started with a ride to Cream Ridge, New Jersey where a baby shower was held for me and my wife. We got a lot of gifts, so many so that we were unsure if we would be able to fit them all in the car for the ride home.
Next up, was the Phillies, and game 3 of the World Series against the Rays. Again, won’t go into much detail here as by now people know what happened at the game. But it started about 90 minutes late and not a single fan was unhappy to wait it out. There are many reasons why Philly fans are easily the best in North America, and this game was just one example why. Where else would a stadium be completely full at 1:30am in the rain? In Los Angeles they leave by the 6th inning no matter what. In Tampa they don’t even go to the games unless the Red Sox or Phillies are the opponent. In New York they say they sell out, but the stadiums are hardly ever full.
Game 1 of the Series was a really good baseball game. Game 2 was okay too but I’d say it was below average. Game 3 was right up there with game 1, perhaps better. The only unfortunate part of game 3 was, due to a horrendous call by the umpire at first base, Jamie Moyer was not the winning pitcher of the game. Not that he cares, I am sure, but it would have been nice for him to get a W in his first World Series start. The “Eva” chants were Evan Longoria were VERY loud too, as were the “Garza” chants that seemed to rattle Matt Garza. Some people like to hang on to the “snowballs at Santa” story from 40+ years ago to say Philly fans are terrible. But one, it wasn’t even the real Santa … two, the fake Santa laughed about it and still does to this day, and three, who cares? If you aren’t tough enough to deal with Philly fans, then to quote Brock Lesnar “quit your whining and get over it!” lol …. This game showed what real fans are all about, and it’s not stupid little cowbells, or booing your big name free agent acquisition pitcher on opening day.
The game ended around 2am, which gave little turnaround time for the Eagles/Falcons game at 1pm on Sunday. In the meantime, between the times I left Connecticut, and the time the Eagles game would start at 1pm, the Flyers had beaten the New Jersey Devils in a home and home series, and Penn State football went to Ohio State and beat them as well.
I left for the Eagles game around 10:15am Sunday morning from my parents and got to the venerable Oregon Diner around 10:45am. Before I left, I checked my email and saw that a friend I hadn’t seen in 3+ years had emailed me saying if I was going to the diner he would meet me there and drop off the Phillies stuff he had for me. I emailed him back around 10am saying I got the email late, but would in fact be there if he wanted to swing by.
As I waited, parked across from the ATM again, I listened to the 610 WIP pregame show, which today, was part Eagles and part Phillies. Everyone was psyched after the Phillies win earlier in the morning, and some people even slept over knowing they only had a few hours to go until the Eagles tailgate began.
Some of the topics covered during my brief stay in the car were:
n how the Phillies were in their 4th World Series since 1980, the 2nd highest total in the NL, behind only Atlanta and St. Louis who both have 5. No other team in the NL has been to more than 2 in that time
n how the 76ers have to pick it up for Philly as Philly has a hockey title from the Phantoms, and football from the Soul in the last couple years, so if the Phillies win, the ball falls on the 76ers shoulders to complete the Jeff Bradley Sweep (names after myself for winning fantasy titles in all 4 sports! Haha).
n Eagles coach Andy Reid was going for his 100th coaching victory, just one game after he and Donovan McNabb broke Bill Walsh and Joe Montana’s record for most wins by a coach/QB tandem entering the NFL together, with 76. The thing I found interesting about this stat is that Andy Reid has managed to win 23 games with a backup QB during his career.
n Joe Banner criticizing the Cowboys trade for Roy Williams and saying “well they are still trying to win a playoff game, we have different goals”
n A sign in Tampa during the World Series that said “Only God Saves More Than Brad Lidge”
n How there seemed to be more Phillies fans in Tampa than Rays’ fan (this is explained by the Phillies spring training site being in the area)
As I am waiting in my car I am kind of paying attention to passing cars wondering if my friend got the message in time and will show. I see a car pass in front of me and think that it somewhat looked like him. I pay closer attention to the car as it parks and the guy gets out. I think it could be him but say to myself it isn’t. But …. It is. Wait, it is??? He looks a lot different. I was tipped off he did, but, even expecting it, I was surprised. He is down about 125 pounds since the last time I saw him. We say our hellos and head inside to grab a table for 3, as Tony should be getting there any minute now.
I ask CK how he lost all the weight and his answer was pretty simple, running on a treadmill and watching what he ate. If only I had that willpower. But I don’t, so ….. I go with the cheese steak Deluxe again. I think of ordering “Pan-cakes” for Tony, to be ready for him when he gets there. Luckily I didn’t as when he arrived he ordered the cheese steak as well.
Tony had driven from Maryland to NJ the day before to drop off his family at the baby shower, then drove back to Maryland that night, and now back to the area for the Eagles game. We both put in a lot of miles for these games! Haha
During lunch I am informed that Gabe Sapolsky had quit his position at Ring of Honor (turns out he was fired) and that the Edison, NJ show only did 250 fans. Wasn’t expecting that at all, but other than the atmosphere of the last show I went to, ROH is pretty boring to me, so the change may actually make it more appealing, we will see.
Lunch at the Oregon ends and we head outside. CK (the shrunken friend) gets me the Phillies stuff he has for me and I toss it in my car before Tony and I start our walk to the stadium.
We are running a little later than usual, but should get to our seats right at kickoff. As we start our walk I notice dogshi& on the ground and watch my feet to make sure I avoid it, but I don’t tell Tony about it! Haha …. As I step over it Tony taps me on the shoulder and says “look at that?”. I ask him if he is referring to the dogshi& and he says no, so I turn around. He points to a statue, about …. 15 feet high or so. On top of the statue is a real life Eagle. Not only is it an Eagle, but it is eating a falcon. Lol …. It freaked me out because it was gross, and it was … well … gross …. and because it was an eagle and a falcon. So let’s keep moving.
As we walk down 7th Street we come to the usual row of cars parked, of other people who are walking to the game to avoid paying $25+ to park. However, on the back of about 15-20 of the cars, we noticed bright yellow stickers that say “TOW” on them. Sucks to be them. Not only is my car parked for free, I have an old homeless lady watching it (she said hello to me today), AND it will be there when I get back, without a “violation” ticket in the windshield I may add.
We make it to the stadium and line up like cattle in the “pat down” line. A guy behind us joins the line, carrying a beer in his hand yelling in distress “MOM!!! MOM?!!?!? MOMMMM!?!?!?!” while looking over everyone toward the front of the lines. Everyone is laughing knowing what is going on. He says “I think that’s my mom up there. I lost her!” as someone asks “Where?”. “Right at the front of the line! I better go help her! MOM?!?!? MOMMM?!!?!?” ….. haha
Make it up to ours seats right after kickoff, only missing one play. Eagles start on defense which means they will get the ball to start the second half. SWEET!!! I always prefer that. Unlike most games, they do not start off fast, which is probably a good sign. They are used to starting fast on the opening drive, then fading after that. Maybe today will be the opposite.
One day after the bad Carl Crawford call at first in the Phillies game, the NFL refs blow that one out of the water by calling a (I am not sure what but think it was unsportsmanlike conduct) penalty on the Eagles for taking down Matt Ryan. It was a sack, and as Ryan was going down he threw the ball away. No flag. Then Ryan stayed down hurt. Then a flag comes in. The “asshole” chants that followed rivaled the “Eva” and “Garza” chants from the night before. Really nothing else to say about that penalty as I have no clue what the ref was thinking. It was equally as bad as the umpire calling strike three on Rocco Baldelli in game 2, only to then appeal to first and change his mind and call it ball 4.
Eagles go into the half with the lead, Andy Reid makes his adjustments, and the Eagles turn things around. Over 200 yards for Brian Westbrook I believe, Kevin Curtis going over the middle in his first game of the year, David Akers actually making field goals, and Stewart Bradley being a monster of a man, and the Eagles come out victorious, 27-14. Eagles 1-0, Penn State 1-0, Flyers 2-0, and Phillies 1-0 so far for the weekend.
The walk back to the cars was very interesting, as the Eagles game was letting out as people were arriving for the Phillies game as well as for The Who concert across the street. I should mention when I was walking to the Eagles game, there were already people sitting outside the gates for the Phillies game, some 7-8 hours before first pitch. Maybe these were some of the people who slept over.
Tony and I make it back to the car, as I make a point not to make eye contact with the freaky statue of death. He heads back to Maryland again, and I head toward my parents, to pick up gifts and people to take back to CT.
Everything fit in my car, albeit a tight fit, and to CT we go. I listened to some of the Giants/Steelers game along the way, and then the beginning of Game 4 of the World Series when that came on. Listened to some of the Rays pregame show and even they admitted how the fans in Philly are so much better than Tampa fans (not much to live up to), and how they have passion for their teams and are probably the best in baseball. This is true, but they should see the football fans! Lol
The Phillies would go on to win game 4 of the World Series, giving them a 3 to 1 lead in the series. Joe Blanton remains undefeated as a Phillie, and added a home run to boot. He became the first pitcher to homer in the series since 1975. It was only his second hit of the year, continuing the Phillies’ pitchers streak of getting great at-bats from the worst hitters.
That win by the Phillies gave them 2 wins on Sunday, and made the local teams 5-0 for the weekend.
In the aftermath, apparently Joe Maddon accused Joe Blanton of cheating, and then said people were throwing mustard packs at his nephew or some relative, but still thought the Philly fans were amazing (wow, he must not love this so called ‘nephew’ too much then). A Tampa paper wrote an article on Tampa fans locking themselves in bathroom stalls to avoid being harassed by Philly fans, and women being called whores. Funny how no one ever witnesses any of this stuff. Seeing as how the umpire said he checked baseballs for pine tar and found nothing, and mustards packs are not even available in Citizens Bank Park, this is all chalked up to trying to bring people down when you can’t be them. It comes with the territory I guess and is pretty funny. I actually remember being at a Devils/Flyers playoff game in New Jersey one year, when the Flyers beat the Devils, and seeing a Flyers fan in the bathroom being pushed around as he tried to wash his hands, all because he was wearing the jersey of the better, visiting team. And ya know what I did? I laughed and thought it was pretty cool. No one was being punched or shot or anything violent like that. People wear jerseys to get a reaction. If you can’t handle it …. Well, … “stop whing and get over it!!!” .
So everything is going great in the Philly area as of now, which means the Phillies will lose the next 3 games to the Rays, Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb will join Shawn Andrews on the sidelines, and Joe Paterno will die. But it was still a very enjoyable weekend, and pending what happens this week, I may be heading back there during the week. If I do, carltonprescott.com will be the first to hear all about it!