Broad Street Bully: Orange dad gets medal of velour

Even in the roaring, churning, orange ocean of blissed-out Flyers fans celebrating a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils in Game One of the Stanley Cup semifinals, Greg Kloiber, of Langhorne, caught Broad Street Bully's eye.

Knocked his socks off is more like it.

Wearing a full-length orange velour coat with black-and-white tiger-striped lapels, a matching orange Three Musketeers-style hat,and tiger-striped boots with thick, five-inch heels, and holding a tiger-striped cane, Kloiber was beyond Flyers Fabulous.

He thanked his daughters Amanda, 24, and Kelsey, 20, for "not being ashamed to be seen with me." Ashamed? Kelsey bought him the cane for Christmas.

"Every Christmas," Amanda said, "we ask, 'How can we accessorize dad's Flyers outfit?'?"

"This Christmas," Kelsey said, "black velour pants."

"Or black leather?" Amanda asked. The Kloiber daughters laughed together, eyeing their very orange dad, considering velour vs. leather.

Kloiber said he and a colleague saw the ensemble in 2005, while in New Orleans on business. "When you're walking down Bourbon Street after a few Hurricanes [the drink, not the natural disaster], and your friend says he'll buy you this outfit if you dare wear it to games, you say, 'Sure.' And that's what I did."

Kloiber, a lifelong fan, didn't panic when the Flyers sleepwalked through the first period on Sunday. "They were rusty after being off a week, and I figured that, come second period, they would get their legs back up underneath them again, and [Coach] Laviolette would get them stoked. He did, and they did."

By the time the game went into sudden-death overtime, Kloiber was confident. "The Flyers are a lunch-pail kind of team," he said. "They work hard and they get it done. They were up on their skates in OT and they got it done. I look for them to win the series in five games. If it goes beyond five, they're in trouble."

On the spur of the moment, Kloiber and some fans sitting around him on Sunday planned a road trip together for Game 4 at the Devils' home rink.

Yes, Kloiber told Broad Street Bully, he would dare to wear his cutting-edge outfit to Jersey. "Except the shoes," he said. "It's a hike from the train station to the Devils' hockey rink. I told my wife, Wendy, I give her and any woman credit for wearing high heels. I won't do that in Jersey. Just from walking around here today, my calves are screaming."

GOT STUFF? Got Flyers-fan stories, photos, kids, pets? Send 'em to: bully@phillynews.com.

Email Broad Street Bully at bully@phillynews.com.