But if you insist on encapsulating 100 years of bats, balls, blocks and blitzes, of Bunning, Barkley, Bednarik and the Broad Street Bullies, of the Big Five, Big Bill, boxing and Buddy Ryan, then perhaps it can be done with a single word:
BOO!
Mention Philadelphia sports anywhere in America and what you're likely to hear about are the city's passionate and famously hostile fans. As the 1900s come to a close, across a sports-mad nation, people who don't recall that this was home to two baseball teams until 1955, who know next to nothing about the Eagles' three NFL titles or Jack Ramsay's tenure at St. Joseph's, who think Jumbo Elliott was a Giants lineman, can tell you something about the Philadelphia sports fan.
They recall the snowballs heaved at Santa Claus and Jimmy Johnson, the batteries tossed at J.D. Drew, the mocking cheers directed at Michael Irvin as he lay helpless on the Veterans Stadium turf, the plane hired to drag a "Joe [Kuharich] Must Go" banner around the city, the disorder at Eagles games that prompted the city to establish a court inside the Vet.
And while the Bronx might have its cheer, Philly has its jeer. Fans here boo at the drop of a baseball and have targeted some of the city's greatest athletes: Del Ennis, Mike Schmidt, Wilt Chamberlain, Randall Cunningham.
The boo has become a badge of honor. Outsiders think Philadelphians are overly negative. We consider ourselves knowledgeable and critical. Philadelphians would sooner surrender Tastykakes than be called Pollyannaish.
