Phair-weather phans?

From McNabb to Smarty Jones to the Phils: when do fans turn ugly, and why?

By Michael Lello
Philly EDGE Correspondent

Ryan Howard and Chase Utley wave to their adoring fans crammed on the city sidewalks as the float makes its way down Broad Street. Brett Myers pumps his fist and Pat Burrell shares a laugh with Jimmy Rollins as the teammates brush confetti from their smiling faces. 

The Phillies have won the 2007 World Series and all is right on this blustery October day in the city known as much for its sports fans as its teams.
While this scene may seem straight from a Hollywood script to scores of long-suffering Philadelphia fans, with this year’s team as talented as any the Phils have fielded in years, it's not out of the question.
On the other hand, for every reason fans have to be confident, history tells them otherwise: no major professional sports team from Philadelphia has won a championship since 1983, when the 76ers captured the NBA title.  
As Comcast.net sports editor Vito Forlenza puts it:  “The Philadelphia sports fan is very angry and sick of losing.”
Adding to the frustration, the major franchises have teased their fans with near-misses, as recently as the Eagles’ four straight NFC championship appearances and a Super Bowl berth following the 2004 season.

The Phillies have finished in third place or better in the National League East, but missed out on the playoffs, in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.The Phils also made it to the 1993 World Series, their most recent post-season appearance, where they fell to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 76ers earned a trip to the NBA finals in 2000-01 but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Flyers lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1985, 1987 and 1997 and made it to their conference finals in 1989, 1995, 2000 and 2004.
But, what if one of these teams does the unthinkable and wins it all? If the fantasy parade scenario above becomes a reality, will fans have anything left to lament?

McNabb: Hero Or Goat?

If Philadelphia fans in general are known for their passion, then Eagles fans in particular are known for their furor. 

They’ve done everything from boo the selection of eventual Super Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb (fans still insist they simply wanted running back Ricky Williams instead) to cheer the serious injury of then-Cowboys star Michael Irvin during a game at the Vet.
McNabb’s relationship with Philly fans has been particularly bizarre.

After his initial rough welcome, fans warmed to his exciting style, especially after he led the team to the Super Bowl. Some revisionist historian fans will now tell you that the Eagles made it to the big game despite McNabb, however.

For whatever reason, the distrust of the quarterback from Syracuse University was always bubbling beneath the surface, and it came out in full force during the 2006 season when backup Jeff Garcia rallied the Eagles to a playoff berth after McNabb’s season-ending injury against Tennessee.
The back-and-forth feeling about the signal caller is simply a quarterback thing, not a McNabb thing, or a Philly thing, theorizes “Big Daddy” Graham (www.bigdaddygraham.com), a WIP-AM (610) sports talk host and comedian, as well as the author, along with Glenn Macnow, of The Great Book Of Philadelphia Sports Lists.
“People have a quick trigger with quarterbacks, period,” Graham says. “High school, pro, college, any city in the world that has football. When I started going to West Catholic High School games, people bitched about the quarterback all the time.”
“He was booed by a small group of individuals on draft day, and that’s unfortunate,” adds Dick Jerardi, longtime Philadelphia Daily News columnist, sportswriter and contributor to Comcast’s Daily News Live TV program.

“It’s a mystery. Maybe he happens to be one of the lead players in a city that just hasn’t been able to win anything. He’s a pretty easy target. If you just look at it objectively, he’s done far more good than bad.”
Jerardi says Philadelphia fans are no different than fans in similar markets that take sports seriously, but adds that if McNabb played in Green Bay: “He’d be looked at very differently than in Philadelphia. I think that’s fair to say.”

A Horse Of A Different Color

While many observers insist Philadelphia fans are no different than say, New York or Boston fans, there are some interesting quirks.

New York and Boston fans have had reason to celebrate at least one of their team’s successes during the past 20 years. And unlike some fan bases that have suffered, or even embraced, losing (see: Cubs fans), Philadelphia fans, for more than two decades, have had tastes of glory only to have it cruelly yanked away.
This has led to some curious coping mechanisms.

For one, a case can be made that the most universally beloved athlete in the city is not even real:  Rocky Balboa, the fictional everyman boxer that managed to capture the blue-collar work ethic and rough-and-tumble competitiveness of Philadelphia better than any flesh-and-blood athlete.

Also, the lack of a championship has taken such a toll on the fans’ psyches that many have lowered the bar to expect futility, even in the face of imminent success.
“I think one of the major differences between New York fans and Philly fans is, Phillies fans, especially, are always expecting the worst and feeling they’re being slighted,” says Forlenza, who previously worked in New York for Fox Sports.com and the Associated Press. “They expect them to fall out (of contention); for national fans to say negative things about the city, and for players to diss them. I think it’s one of those things. Fans don’t want to be crushed too much, so they lower their expectations.”
In 2004, even a non-human got the Philadelphia treatment.

Smarty Jones, the colt that captured the attention of regional and national fans alike, won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Forlenza went to Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, the horse’s home track, to interview fans.
“After he won the Preakness, people said, ‘There’s no way he wins the Triple Crown, he’s from Philadelphia.’”
Smarty Jones lost the final leg of the series, the Belmont Stakes.

Shut Up And Play

Philadelphia fans are undisputedly tough. But is Philly the toughest major city to play in?
“I don’t think Philadelphia fans are unique,” Jerardi says. “I really don’t see that. Each individual player would look at it somewhat differently. I always thought, for the most part, it's about who’s going to pay them the most.”

Billy Wagner would disagree.
The former Phillies closer, currently with the Mets, has not been shy in expressing his feelings about Citizens Bank Park fans.

Most recently, he told Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jim Salisbury:  "It's just a tough environment. ... That team's biggest challenge will be playing at home. Their personnel is great, but it's a tough city to play in. They can't get off to a bad start."
Wagner continued: "People there expect you to perform, and when you do perform, they're still on your ass. In Philly, you can't have a good enough year. It's different in other places. In Philly, you should never give up a run or you should hit a home run every time up. When you're booing Mike Schmidt -- come on," he said to Salisbury.
Wagner believes that if his former teammates get off to a slow start this season, fans will predictably turn on them. Some observers think the fans would have every right.
“It’s a long, long season,” says Graham. “If they start off 0-5, Phillies fans will be extremely unhappy.”
Graham says that years of bumbling have made it difficult for fans to get behind the Phillies without some trepidation.

“The Phillies blow….they just have,” he says.

Some players take the catcalls too seriously, Forlenza says.
“Fans go to games, and they want to have fun,” he says. “There’s a reason games are at night and on weekends. You work all week, and the Phillies are getting beaten by 10 runs, and it’s no fun. I think sometimes players need to realize that. As we all know, these athletes can be a little too sensitive sometimes. You need to know where the fans are coming from. (Players) don’t know what it’s like to get by on $40,000 or $30,000 a year.”
Of course, fans feel differently about particular players. This treatment is often driven more by perception than reality.
“Look at a guy like (Phillies centerfielder) Aaron Rowand,” points out Rick Monterosso, 26, of Manayunk.

“He broke his nose catching a fly ball. He’s a guy people know gives maximum effort because of that play. Yet you look at his numbers, he hit .260. If he strikes out or grounds out into a double play, he’s not going to get booed. …But when Pat Burrell strikes out, everyone gets on him.”
Why?
“(Burrell’s) like a pretty boy who looks like he doesn’t give a shit,” Monterosso says. “He personifies the party-boy attitude.  He’s that late-night partier, yet he doesn’t perform in the clutch. It looks like he’s putting out half-effort.”
You can make a convincing argument that the reasons Philadelphia fans have earned such a negative national image is that they have been forced to endure more losing and frustration than most major markets.
“Do I think there are stereotypes? For sure, that it’s the toughest group out there,” Jerardi says. “There are incidents in other cities. Do I think it’s a meek bunch? No.
“I guess the only way to find out is if someone does win something.”