I have never been to another city quite like Philadelphia when it comes to sports. We may only have eight championship titles among the histories of our four major teams, but we love them so fiercely that it doesn't matter.
Sure, it's awesome to win a championship, but when cities like Boston have 38? Where's the fun and the excitement in winning if it happens all the time? No shade, but cheating and getting away with it shouldn't make any sports fans proud...
Philly sports fans can, and always have been able to, take pride in their teams' integrity, and celebrate a mutual love of the game. Being a fan of a Philly team is unlikely any other feeling, and we are all Philly fans for life.
People who aren't Philly sports fans see us as aggressive and rude, and they say that we're the biggest assholes in sports.
But, they've never taken to the streets like we did after our first Lombardi trophy, or even after the 2018 NFC Championship game. They've never run from Temple University to City Hall, high on adrenaline, excitement, and pure elation. They've never packed themselves on the BSL to get to a game, shoulder to shoulder with fellow diehard fans.
They've never gone to a first EVER Super Bowl parade, ran home, changed out of an Eagles jersey and into a Flyers one, and got right back on the subway for a Flyers game. They've never done the Eagles chant in every public place for literally months straight.
Flyers fans haven't seen a Stanley Cup in 45 years. Before SB LII, Eagles fans had never seen a Lombardi. For Phillies fans, it's been 11 years, and for Sixers fans, it's been nearly 40. What I mean to say is, we've stood by our teams through good times, and bad. We stayed when they were in last place, and we celebrated when they were in first.
True Philly sports fans don't leave a game until it's over, no matter what. I've been to a Phillies game where they lost to the Nationals in 17 innings, and there was a 14th inning stretch. I've been to Flyers game and I've seen them get absolutely demolished on more than one occasion.
We stay because they are our players, our teams. Win or lose, they are OURS, and we take pride in rooting for them until the very last buzzer, no matter what the scoreboard says.
There is no feeling like watching Tom Brady get sacked and knowing the Birds just won their first Super Bowl. There is no feeling like watching Carter Hart make history with an 8-game win streak as a 20-year-old. There is no feeling like trusting the process and knowing that now it's paying off.
We celebrate wins like we've never seen our teams win before. It doesn't matter if it's the middle of the regular season, the goal horn sounds just as sweet.
Together, we hate Sidney Crosby and Tom Brady.
We hate the Mets, we hate the Penguins, we hate the Rangers, we hate the Celtics, we hate the Patriots, we hate the Cowboys, we hate the Giants. Doesn't matter who's on the team, if it's a team we hate, we hate the players too.
We will wait outside in the cold at City Hall or the Art Museum for eight or more hours just to see Doug Pederson and the Lombardi Trophy. We would do anything for our players, and if you cross us or insult our teams? Watch out, because we'll come from you.
Together we are die-hard Philly sports fans. We're from Philly, fuckin' Philly, no one likes us, and we don't care. We love our players, we love our teams, we love the game, and nothing is better than being a true Philly sports fan.
