It's a Philly Thing

For a long time in my life, I was not a sports fan. I played baseball and basketball because my friends played, but that was about it. If a game was on the TV I would either ignore it or change the channel. This is actually an impressive feat, considering that my family are huge Philadelphia sports fans. My dad grew up in South Philly and my mom is from Delco and they both were and continue to be huge fans of their teams. A trait that got passed down to my brother, but for a long time was not with me.

The first basketball game I remember caring about was a 76ers game in 2018. My mom was having friends over at the house so my dad decided to take my brother and I out to dinner. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings where we watched the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers play the rising Philadelphia 76ers who were at the moment led by Ben Simmons. My phone was dead so I had nothing to do except watch the game and ask questions about it. My dad was delighted to answer any questions I had, while my brother just wanted to watch the game. I spent the rest of the season watching games with my brother and have watched nearly every game since.

The first baseball game I remember being excited for was the Phillies’ Opening Day game in 2019. My aunt is the biggest phillies fan I know, so she gets tickets to opening day every year for our family. But a couple days before the game, a friend of mine, who was a huge baseball fan, was telling me about a player the Phillies just acquired, Bryce Harper. He went on to tell me about how he was such an amazing player in Washington, and that he got a ton of money with the Phillies to play here. So my expectations for the game were very high. I knew no other players besides Bryce Harper, so when Andrew McCutchen was the first Phillie to come up to the plate that game and after two pitches he hit a homerun, my mind was blown. If this guy I’ve never heard of can hit a homerun at his first at bat, then what is Bryce going to do. He got out. My brother who knew more about baseball than me, knew that you can’t hit a homerun at every at bat. I did not know this, so as I started watching more and more baseball games from that point onward, I assumed for a couple months that Bryce was overrated and that McCutchen was one of the best players ever.

Unlike basketball and baseball, I didn’t watch a game to become a fan of football. Instead, I became a fan after we drafted a new quarterback in Jalen Hurts. The Eagles won their first Super Bowl in 2017, which was before I started caring about sports, but during this time I was aware that the quarterback that won us that Super Bowl was Nick Foles, who was a backup to our starting quarterback, Carson Wentz. So my understanding of the situation was, our backup won us a Super Bowl, while our starter watched, so therefore our backup is better. When I found out that Wentz was going to continue starting, I was confused why the Eagles would do that. So when the Eagles drafted a new quarterback in 2020, I decided that I was going to be this new quarterback’s biggest fan. I then spent the next season again interrogating my dad about a game I knew nothing about.

Now all of this on its own isn’t much. I started watching sports right before the Philadelphia teams got good. So what? The thing is, becoming a sports fan has really benefited me. Before, I would sit in class with kids who were talking about the NFL or something, and I wouldn’t know what they were talking about, but after, I not only understood but I was able to contribute. Becoming a sports fan has allowed me to create friendships with a ton of new people. It’s also allowed me to become closer with my family. We now all watch games together when we’re able, and we also plan trips to go to games in person. It’s also easier to fill awkward silences because we can just talk about whatever game just ended.

Being a sports fan also just helps fill my time. If I ever get bored, odds are there’s a game of something on a channel somewhere. If there’s no game on, then there’s guaranteed to be some highlight reel I haven’t watched yet. I don’t know where I would be academically if I wasn’t able to study with Joel Embiid highlights on in the background. And with recent sports related games like the Immaculate Grid, it is very easy to keep myself entertained whenever I get bored. There's also the added benefit of getting to go to games when I'm able.

I’m also in an interesting position as far as sports fandom goes, because I’m not just a fan of individual sports, but I’m also a fan of Philadelphia sports (if it wasn’t obvious already). In the world of sports, Philly fans have a pretty rough reputation. Philly fans infamously threw batteries at Santa Claus during a game and there’s a common joke that win or lose the fans are going to destroy the city. But being a part of this community of fans, I can say that the reputation is pretty deceitful. Just because Philly fans boo our own teams, doesn’t mean we hate them. It just means that we care way more than any other fan. 

Most fans seem to be content with mediocrity. Their team could lose fifty games in a row, and no one will care. If a Philly team plays poorly for five minutes they will boo. It’s that passion that creates the reputation of Philly fans being mean, and Philadelphia being a tough city to play in. Put simply, the fans want to watch their team win games and championships, so many of us take issue when players, coaches, or owners don’t put in their best effort towards winning. It’s why the city and its fans have such a deep appreciation for players that “get it.”

Jalen Hurts has a million quotes, but two of my favorites are “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” and “Money is nice, championships are better.” Quotes like these are why Jalen Hurts gets it. Bryce Harper getting thrown out of a regular season game because he disagreed with a bad call, is why he gets it. Joel Embiid putting his body on the line, by pushing himself through injuries to try and play in the playoffs is why he gets it. These three in particular showcase that if you want to win, then Philadelphia is the easiest city to play for.

This kind of mindset has rubbed off on me in my personal life too. Now I try to bring my best effort to everything I do. I'd like to think I would still do this without sports being such a big part of my life now, but I'll never really know. What I do know is that I am exceptionally lucky to be a sports fan, in a family of sports fans, rooting for the city with the best fans on earth.