As much as I love Philly, I'll be the first to admit that we have an inferiority complex. We're jealous of all the attention that New york, Boston and DC get. Besides that, we hadn't won anything in a long time. A loooong time. Philly fans are decidedly NOT hopeful fans. We are cynical. We expect the worst...always. Something will go wrong. We know it. And in 25 years none of our teams have proven us wrong. And I hate to say it, but this lack of faith has extended to our personal lives. Whenever shit goes wrong for me I rationalize it with something like 'well of course that would happen.... I am a Philly fan.' Our bitterness had managed to purvey every aspect of our lives, casting a veritable gloom over this fine city. We had no hope. We were a city of losers. This was our destiny and we had accepted it. Did we enjoy always losing? Fuck no. But we were resigned to it. In Philly, losing wasn't just an option.... it was a way of life.
That all changed last Wednesday. The Phillies put an end to the drought, pushing away the pall the was suffocating the city. The joyous exuberance I beheld last Wednesday was nothing I have ever witnessed before. It was just truly fucking awesome. High-fiving everybody in site. Random strangers picking me up while I yelled like a fool. Everyone hooting and hollering. People running into the streets to high-five cabbies. Cars honking with their passengers hanging out of every window and sun roof and screaming like they were on a roller coaster. Grown men hugging each other. People literally dancing in the streets; jumping around like the rabid balls of emotion that they were. Then the whole crowd ran towards City Hall and congregated on Broad Street. It was revelry beyond explanation. A giant mass of people yelling their asses off, jumping up and down, and chanting "let's go Phillies!!" The amount of good vibes in the air was unfathomable. I'll never see my city more united. People with little in common all joined together by a singular happiness. Even as we left Broad Street and walked back to West Philly, the amount of people on the streets and the number of cars that would honk once they saw our Philies red was really fucking cool. Is there a better feeling then yelling in unison with people in a moving car as they go speeding by you?
If you're not from Philly it's hard to explain what this means to the city, what it means to the fans. I've been waiting for this moment for all of my life, and it's a feeling that I will have forever. For the record, I didn't cry, but everytime I hear Harry Kalas' final call I definitely get a bit misty-eyed. The true enormity of the Phils accomplishment didn't really hit me until yesterday. I turned on the flyers game and they were down 5-3 heading into the third. They ended up losing to the Oilers 5-4. But after the game, rather than yelling and cursing at the TV while I questioned the talent and sexuality of the team, I simply sat back on my couch, clapped my hands a couple times, and uttered 'it's alright...you'll get em next time.' That is most definitely not what you would expect from a Philly fan. The Phillies did more than give us a world title. In a city that expects the worst, in a time when shit seems to be going worse and worse, the Phillies did what no one else could.... they gave us hope.
So a thought on the celebrating that took place after we won:
While we were down at Borad Street everybody was cool for the most part. Yeah, you had some people on top of traffic signals and others jumping up and down on an awning, and a few people were tearing branches off trees and shit, but all things considered it was nothing too bad. Nothing compared to what was expected. When I got back home, however, I turned on the news and they were talking about the fires and destruction that had taken place pretty much exactly where I had been at. People broke into a luggage store and flipped cars. It's a shame that though the majority of people were well-behaved a few dumb asses will once again give Phily fans a bad name. And really, a luggage store? Not jewelery, or electronics, but....luggage? Only in Philly can we not even pillage a store correctly. Honestly though, the whole 'we won so let's destroy our city!' phenomenon has never made sense to me. I love this fucking city. If you didn't love it, why would you be rooting for the Phils in the first place? So after they win it, we're gonna tear our city down? Huh? How exactly does that make sense? If we wanna destroy Tampa, or Boston or New York, I can understand that. 'We won so suck it'. But why are we destroying our own city? Winning a championship should give you some pride in your city. It makes you wanna walk up to random people and go 'my city is better than yours motherfucker!!,' it shouldn't make you wanna tear your city down. So people, stop this bullshit. Think before you act. I'm all for celebrating til I collapse from exhaustion, but there's no need to burn, loot, and otherwise harm this great city.
Here's a few pictures from all the post-victory craziness:
Masses of People on Broad Street
Fans Celebrate in Front of City Hall
Guy on Top of a Traffic Light
On an Awning at Broad Street
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