Philly, Where I Am From

Philadelphia. To me, the word makes me swell with pride. To those on the outside, it conjures up images of heartless savages who boo Santa and throw food at 9 year-olds. This is my attempt to clear the confusion and maybe convince at least one outsider what we are all about.

The first time that I really felt like it's Philly against the world was when I was in seventh grade. I had traveled to Disney World and Ft. Myers, Florida with my family and, upon arrival in Phildelphia, I overheard a man say, "Aww a four hour layover in Philly? I'd rather have a root canal." At the time, I wasn't exactly on top of my dental terms, but I got the gist of his remark. Within the month, I found out what root canal was and, BAM, I became the "ruthless" Philly phan I am (By the way, having spent an inordinate amount of time in numerous big-city airports globally, Philly's airport is pretty damn nice. Accessible bars, good food, and easy to navigate, I can think of worse places to spend four hours. Ever been to Milan's airport? If not, here's a hint, don't effing go, trust me). Granted, looking back, I had been taught by my father to have a little bit of an excessive passion for my sports teams, however, being young, I thought it was the norm to totally want to jump off a bridge the day after the Eagles lose to the Cowboys. As I grew older, I came to learn that very few other cities lived and died by their teams as did I. I think my understanding of who I am as a Philadelphian became crystal clear during my time at Penn State. There, it became clear to me why I'm so loyal to my city.

I've never found Philadelphia to be an ugly town. Sure, there are areas you wouldn't want to be caught dead in (or if you're caught alive, you'll be found dead), but, overall, the downtown experience is pretty cool. There's rich areas, artsy areas, college areas, etc. All in all, everything you could want is there. Growing up, I thought that being the birthplace of America earned us a free pass nationally. How naive. Upon my arrival at Penn State, I learned that people from Pittsburgh believe, honestly believe,that they matter. And it's not a matter of arguing that the Industrial Revolution blew through the Burgh, but they actually think that people outside of Pennsylvania still think Pittsburgh is a real town. If that's not enough, they really believe that they are on the same level as Philly! Now, I have no problem talkin' trash with a New Yorker or a Bostonite, those are two legit cities, in fact I enjoy it. But nothing, NOTHING, angers me more than a Pittsburghian arguing that his/her city even matters. Have you ever been there? This is my requisite question for those who say, "oh chill out, you're just being an elitist dick". First and foremost, where is your South Street or Northern Liberties, Pittsburgh? Oh yeah, you have nothing like it. That's ok, just show me your suburban areas where I can find good shopping and a decent nightlife. What? You only have bars with deers' heads hanging on the walls and country music playing in the background?? This is Pittsburgh in a nutshell.

Ok, now that I have my hate for Pittsburgh out in the open, I move beyond the borders of the Keystone State. What people don't understand about Philadelphia is that very few of us have been brought up in a situation where our names pay our bills. There aren't many Philly families that carry the same influence as the Vanderbilt's or the Rockefeller's. Philly is blue collar. Respect in Philly is earned, not given based upon a name. We work hard for our money, and we expect our sports teams to do the same. I have brought up in the past that I hated Pat Burrell for makin 15 million and not doing anything productive for the team when it mattered. In New York, he would be a hero for not being Carl Pavano. In Philly, he was vilified for not playing like Aaron Rowand. We're also the same city that gave Allen Iverson all he could handle from a fan perspective. Unfortunately, we have some outsiders that controlled the radio waves and thus drove him out of town, but, can anyone deny that we treated him like a god as fans?? In the end, Philly fans are treated like the scum of the earth. I don't understand how outsiders dont understand that we are just extremely passionate. My Monday or Tuesday is dictated by the Birds. No where else in the nation is that the case. My mood is dictated by the standings. Without a LeBron, my teams depend on my mood. If my team is in the crapper, I'll still go, I'll just complain really loud about how much money it cost me. That's a Philly thing. Give me one other city that gives a crap if their team is under .500. Boston is a bunch of fakers now thanks to their success, New Yorkers base their lives off of conference or league championship series'. Try to get a New York fan to root hard during a regular season game and its like trying to get the Pope to really really care before Lent. Apathetic.

These reasons, plus Philly's respect for the blue collar worker is why we are who we are. No one is going to respect a drunk Santa or a drunk Mormon (Andy Reid). Respect in this city is earned based on merit, and if you don't merit my respect, well, you aren't getting it beacause you've scored or hit or caught or shot well. No. You gotta prove yourself to be a Philadelphian through and through. PHILLY!

PS. If you havent been able to tell, I like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage before bed. That may have skewed some of my perspectives, but definitely not all. If you wanna see more posts, a bottle of scotch or vodka would be appreciated! basically this is a plea for free Johnny Walker!