Obsessive Fandom
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Obsessive Fandom
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Thinking a lot about obsessive fandom today, for a couple reasons. One is this report from High&Inside about Montreal Gazette writer Pat Hickey's car being vandalized during or after Game 1 of the Canadiens-Flyers series. Really not cool. Though Pat -- a very decent guy I knew back in my days as a hockey scribe -- thankfully is being very cool about it, not piling on to the "Philly fans are pigs" bandwagon. He knows this kind of stuff, sadly, can happen anywhere.
Serendipitously, today also is the publication date for a book about being an Eagles fan, called "Bury Me In My Jersey, A Memoir of My Father, Football and Philly," by Roxborough native, LaSalle grad and Temple lecturer Tom McAllister. It's an interesting book, but one that sometimes is as painful to read as it must have been to write.
Despite his academic background, which includes the incredibly presitigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, McAllister is the sort of Eagles fan who ... well, let's just go to McAllister's narration of his behavior at the end of a loss to Jacksonville at the Linc in 2006. Keep in mind while reading it that this is the first game his fiancee has attended as she attempts to decipher the rituals of Eagles fandom.
"As the Eagles strolled complacently off the field at the final whistle, I kicked the seat in front of me repeatedly until the cupholder snapped off and sprayed cracked plastic over the people in front of me. (A guy dressed as) Elvis yelled at me to settle down and I flipped him off. LauraBeth grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the concourse, shaking her head. We filed out of the stadium in silence."
That might not have been as cringeworthy as the scene set the previous year, at an Eagles win in Kansas City, when McAllister taunted and then smacked the foam hat off a Chiefs fan, and expressed puzzlement over the midwesterners' attempts to make him feel welcome.
The redeeming feature here is that the book is an attempt to come to grips with that behavior, by a man who has come to understand how childish and silly it was, some of it fueled by the death from cancer of his Eagles-obsessed father.
On the final page, McAllister writes: "Rather than handling my problems myself, I've been looking for the Eagles to solve them, to help me cope. My football obsession may have b rought me closer toDad, but now it is driving me further from the man he wanted me to be. I've used football as an excuse for immaturity, used it as a mask when I was afraid, hid myself from the real world."
The folks over at Igglesblog have an interview with McAllister today that is illuminating.
Just goes to show that the 700 level wasn't just WIP callers and drunk white trash— kim batiste fan
Really interesting take on fan behavior. Love that last paragraph. Still no excuse for puke boy at the Phillies game though.— Hamlin
is being very cool about it, not piling on to the "Philly fans are pigs" bandwagon... ummm, no. your good buddy hickey wrote an article blasting philly fans for roughing up his car. this only days after montreal fans roughed up numerous cars, store fronts, etc. he spends one sentence scolding montreal before spending 3 paragraphs on how philadelphians take it too far... hyprocritical much?- kim batiste fan- how do you figure? This guy is from Roxborough- a big check in the white trash column and a LaSalle Grad- he might as well went to University of Phoenix. Sounds like white trash to me.— phila215
- Les - two comments to make here. [1] Kicking an empty chair is hardly cringeworthy, and neither is flipping off a guy dressed as Elvis. You leave your house looking like Elvis, you have to expect a middle finger or two. [2] It should be against the law to wear a foam hat, even in a city as bland as Kansas City.— Big Game
Comment removed.- @Big Game. I know you don't know it, but the reason you can't see a problem with behavior like breaking a chair or flipping off someone trying to get you to calm down is because you're part of the problem.— Falkirk
- Just another in a long line of examples that Eagles fans are pathetic sheep.— UncleEddie
- Uhhh Les, did you even read Hickey's article? He most definitely took some cheap shots. Of course the people who trashed his car are absolute morons, but I'd hate to see what he would have wrote if he wasn't being "cool" about it.— ForWhoForWhat?
- Falkirk - nobody is condoning it, but the word "cringeworthy" is a bit much. It's hardly comparable to puking on a little girl.— LeChance
- UncleEddie- don't lump us all together- eagles season ticket holder, been in the family since the 50's and we have great people around us. The thing to note is this joker isn't a season ticket holder, hes your typical "fan" who needs to get his experience of 1 game per year in by being be as obnoxious as possible because he paid $400 for 1 seat on stubhub.— phila215
Montreal's fans rioted and looted the damn city and he's whining about his car getting torn up?!!- i enjoy tormenting other cities...why? because they torment us. u may say that they arent as extreme as us philadelphians, but i say they just arent as good at it as us the second that guy gets a new car im gona re-flip that jawn— Anything_Philly_is4me
- @Falkirk - Bingo.
- Uncle Eddie: another in a long line of Wham fans making comments on this site— EGLSFAN
