Posted on 01/15/2003 7:14:05 AM PST by dawn53
Philly trip not worth risk, Bucs fans say Eagles fans' reputation for being nasty to the opposition has Bucs fans staying home, hoping for a Super Bowl trip.
Eagle fans are notorious for being nasty to the opposition, referees, even their own cheerleaders.
By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published January 15, 2003
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TAMPA -- Margaret Bowles is a diehard Bucs fan who has missed just one home game in 17 seasons. She makes many of the away games, too, and was at Veterans Stadium two years ago when Tampa Bay and the Philadelphia Eagles met in the playoffs.
It was not, she recalled, the City of Brotherly Love.
Two security guards stationed themselves behind Bowles and her friend, but their presence didn't deter Eagles fans from targeting her black-and-red Buccaneers parka. It was a long afternoon. And the Bucs lost.
"They were just in our face, they would jeer at us, and poke us, and tell us to go home," Bowles said Tuesday after half-heartedly searching the Internet for tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game in Philadelphia. "I vowed I wasn't going to go again."
As hosts, Philadelphia sports fans have, well, outdone themselves. Years of fisticuffs and upturned beers and taunting -- even Santa Claus was bombed with snowballs during a halftime show -- have given them a well-deserved reputation for inhospitality and even violence toward rival fans.
Although the winner of Sunday's game goes to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia fans' boorish reputation is one reason few Bucs fans will trek there this weekend, tour operators and ticket brokers said.
"BucFanTours WILL NOT be doing a game package to Philadelphia. This is sad, but the potential for problems and client injury has our insurance agent lying awake at night!" reads the Web site for BucFanTours, which organized trips to almost every Buccaneers away game this season and already is taking orders for Super Bowl trips to San Diego.
"As much as we want to support our team, the Philadelphia fans just don't get it. It's just a game!!"
Dennis Pfeiffer, the owner of BucFanTours, said he tried to get a large block of tickets for Sunday's game -- "so maybe we'd be like Custer at Little Big Horn" -- but could only find them in twos and threes. He scrapped the trip.
"I just didn't feel comfortable putting two Bucs fans out in a section of Eagles fans," Pfeiffer said.
Clients who have traveled to the Vet for previous games reported being hassled constantly, he said. Plus, Sunday's game is the last for Veterans Stadium, which will be demolished. Pfeiffer feared the fans would be even rowdier than usual.
"These guys are going to have a screwdriver taped to their leg or a tire-iron, and when the game is over, they're going to want to take their seat with (them), because they've been sitting in it for 20 years," Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer's concern doesn't come from soaking up too much sun in Tampa. The fans' lash is legendary. They have thrown snowballs at opposing players, referees -- even their own cheerleaders. They once cheered when Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin suffered a serious neck injury. Fights in the stands are routine.
The Vet even has its own jail and magistrate's court, so arrested fans can be adjudicated without leaving the building. This Sunday, an extra 120 police officers will be posted inside the stadium.
"There's no question, it's 100 percent true," said Ryon Smith, owner of Ticket King of Florida, a Tampa firm that is not sponsoring a trip to Philadelphia, either. "I've been there before, and I wouldn't walk in there with team colors unless I was with half a football team. It's that bad.
"There's nothing wrong with a little good natured ribbing, but it's not even good natured up there. They want to fight and be nasty. Everybody's heard of them booing Santa Claus. Nobody's safe."
American Cruises and Charter of Tampa is offering a one-day, round-trip flight for the game for $389, but as of Tuesday interest was only fair.
"It's a good price, it's just getting our fans to have a little more confidence they'll be safe," said Kim King, who was taking reservations.
"They're not shying away, but they're very jokingly like, 'Do you carry life insurance policies?' "
Ticket brokers also cited other factors contributing to a light Tampa Bay contingent Sunday: Fans didn't know until Sunday afternoon the Bucs were even going, and airfare is expensive on short notice. Tours are tough to organize that quickly, too.
Most fans with the money and the inclination would rather to see if the Bucs make the Super Bowl in sunny San Diego. Then they'll go in droves, brokers said.
And while tickets to Sunday's game are available, they're expensive, typically starting at about $300. Bowles, 50, a Tampa lawyer, found them on eBay, the online auction house, starting at about $400 each, but she decided to keep her vow and avoid Philly.
"That's pretty pricey for a bad experience," she said.
And the next weekend, she's already booked on a flight to California
That's politics. In that case, Philly is far worse than its reputation. If only the mafia would take over the corrupt apparatus and clean it up!
Which means that Tampa fans shouldn't make the trip. 'Nuff said.
If you want friendly fans, come to Cincinnati.I went to the first game at Paul Brown Stadium. My section was 2/3 Browns fans, with a significant portion of the rest Kentucky fans wearing Tim Couch jerseys. >:)
-Eric
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
It VERY true. The same goes for baseball which in most places has more laid-back fans. Not in Philly.
That was one of the shameful incidents I had in mind. It's good to cheer a hard hit (seeing Mike Vick get plastered was sweet, even for a die-hard Hokie like me), but of course the cheering should stop when the trainers come out.
But who knew at the time that Irvin would never play again? And who was cheering when that became apparent, long after the game? Get back to me when you have the poll numbers in hand showing that Eagles fans were pleased about that.
We don't have to have a court in Lambeau field. We don't have to have warnings not to wear opponent's colors to the game. We don't have travel agents refusing to book trips to Green Bay for games.
Face it: Philly fans are the worst in the League.
Earth, the planet where the Bucs can't win the big game. ;^)
Philly fans are Raiders fans without the fancy costumes.
But, face it. The Eagles' fans deserve the sorry reputation they've gotten.
When Irvin had his career ended in that sorry excuse for a stadium, Philly cheered!.
Then by that logic, the Denver fans would be just as bad, correct?
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
When was the last time you were at a Phillies game? Unless the Mets are playing. Then the trouble usually is started by a Mets fan.
When the Phils are playing interleague and the Yankees come in, the place is packed. Everyone talking baseball. No fights, no nothing.
Since 95 there haven't been enough fans in the stands to even start a fight anyway.
Talk about rationalizations! The post game poll showing the Eagle fans level of displeasure? Come on, it's a little late for all that. (And I despise Dallas)
We don't have to have a court in Lambeau field.
I'll take your word for that. However, there are courts and holding cells in Seahawk Stadium, Reliant Stadium, Ford Field, and Gilette Stadium, and it seems to be a trend in newer stadiums.
We may tease folks who show up in opponent's colors for a game, but we don't beat the living crap out of these opponents
Nor do Philadelphia fans. However, wearing opponents colors, roaming the walkways yelling profanities trying to incite the home fans will likely result in getting the crap beat out of you sooner or later.
Trying to generalize the entire fandom of Philadelphia by the actions of a few is about as accurate as me saying that all Green Bay fans will hang their coach's dog if he turns in a 5-7-2 record.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
I think you're missing my point.
Examples of boorish behavior happen EVERYWHERE, however, when they occur in Philadelphia, the preception and media coverage is markedly different.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
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