COLUMN: A Proud and Demanding Breed

fans are often misunderstood and harshly judged by outsiders. In 1990 the Dallas Cowboys, those despised and rivaled Cowboys, traveled East for their annual match up against the Philadelphia Eagles. You can call it what you want, the Snow Bowl, the Bounty Bowl, or even the Buddy Bowl, but it was a day Philadelphia sports fans will remember for years to come. A storm earlier in the week had left enough snow that Veterans Stadium workers could not dispose of it all before the game. In three hours, the Eagles managed to stir a years worth of controversy. There was the "bounty", a claim made by Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson that Eagles coach "Buddy" Ryan told his players to intentionally hurt the Dallas kicker, Luis Zendejas. Then there was the "snow", powdery white projectiles that made the crowd roar whenever they struck something; other fans, the field, the players, the officials, and most memorably, Jimmy Johnson square on the top of the head. As the Eagles walked off the field with a decisive victory, Philadelphia's sports fans had earned themselves a nasty reputation that has stuck to this day. You can't argue that Philly sports fans were all that nice to begin with. Admittedly, we were the city that booed Santa Claus. We were also the city that tormented our own Mike Schmidt, perhaps the best Third Baseman ever to play the game, throughout his entire career. In our defense, we Philly sports fans are continually critical because our sports figures constantly frustrate us. We are as happy as our teams are successful, as critical as our players are foolish, and as proud as the media can be negative. We simply want the "real thing" from our players, nothing fake, glittery, or glamorous. Nor do we want anything half hearted of selfish. All we ask is for an all out effort on the field and nothing too crazy off the field. Yet so often we get neither. The frustration of the Philly sports fan starts at the top of the ladder. This point can be well illustrated by looking at the three most resent owners of the Eagles. Leonard Tose almost had to sell the team to Phoenix to pay off personal debts, Norman Braman in Scrooge-like fashion was so frugal with his many millions of dollars that he drove several all-star players out of town, and now current owner Jeffrey Lurie has us wondering if we will be watching Los Angeles Eagles games by 1998. Further down the ladder we have the players, the real reason why fans come out the ball park . I might have to change the format of this article to a Soap Opera to best describe how they have played with our emotions in recent years. Fortunately Philadelphia athletes have not been involved with the serious crimes which are now headlining both sports sections and crime reports in newspapers across the country, but some have carried the spotlight off the field with them into their personal lives. Shortly after the Flyers gained the rights to budding superstar Eric Lindros, he was reportably charged with pouring a beer on top of a woman in a bar. In 1991 all-star center fielder for the Phillies, Lenny Dykstra, while driving fellow teammate and future all-star Darren Daulton home from a bachelor party, slammed into a tree, injuring both. Most tragically, Philadelphia lost Pelle Lindburg of the Flyers and Jerome Brown of the Eagles in automobile crashes. Both were stars in their respective sports. After Philly sports fans are fed up enough with the players and management, there is still the media to deal with. We Philly fans love to see our teams in the big game , unfortunately it seems the national media never feels the same way. We are a proud city that simply wants respect for its teams where respect is due, but lately the media had tended to get on the bandwagon of the more flashy favorite, and is reluctant to get off. I distinctly remember before the Eagles -- Lions first round playoff game last December, the Eagles were completely overlooked in the pre-game segment about the game, and then when to announcers came on they had nothing better to say than to recommend that the Eagles not bother showing up for the game. The Eagles won the game with ease, going to the locker room at half time leading by more than 30 points. For the rest of the game, Al Michaels, Dan Deirdorf and Frank Gifford acted downright depressed than the Eagles were winning by such a margin, and still found ways to give as much credit as possible to Detroit. We do love to be the underdogs. I would be surprised to ever experience another year like 1993 when the Phillies went to the World Series. The team was an assembly of the cast-offs and rejects of Baseball, nearly every sports writer in America picking them to finish last. What that summer brought was pure magic. The 1993 Phillies proved everyone wrong. Along with their scruffy and untidy appearance, they dominated the National League for the entire season. They were not the most talented team in the league, nor the most powerful. What they had was the heart and desire to win. The tight-knit group of misfits put together the season that would highlight nearly all of their careers, showing relentless drive from the first pitch to the final out every game. In the Playoffs the Phillies dismantled the heavily favored Atlanta Braves in six games only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays in dramatic fashion ending a spectacular run.If you are a true Philly Sports fan, then you have gone through some traumatic times in the last few years, no matter which sport is your favorite. The National Media has labeled Philadelphia one of the worst cities to play in due to the harshness of the crowds who come out to games. Yes, the "boo-birds" do come in flocks to the games, but maybe our short fuse for players with big egos or glamour boy personalities will keep them out of town. It is not perfection we strive for, just a hard working group of players that reflects a hard working city. Like in the case of Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, we proved the cliche that you always hurt the ones you love, but we never hit him with a snowball.