Craving Creativity in Chants and Cheers

Last night I revelled in the revelry that was reveling on the streets of Philadelphia as the Phightin' Phils wrapped up the National League Championship Series by humiliating the Los Angeles Dodgers in stunned Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. It's great to see Philly fans having a good time celebrating the win and I'm glad that there were no reports of people getting hurt, doing stupid stuff, or generally misbehaving. It was a memorable night for Philly.

But I couldn't help but notice how weak we are when it comes to chanting for the team we embrace so strongly. The best that fans can come up with, be it at a game or at the intersection of Frankford and Cottman, is "Let's Go Phillies" (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). Or "Beat L.A." And of course the ever-popular derrogatory yell of "(Fill in an opposing player's or team's name) sucks!" That's basically it. Where's the creativity?

In soccer- (football-) loving nations the world over, each team has its own distinct chants that are belted out, songs that are sung, or rhythms that are pounded out. But for some reason in Philly, like every other American city I suppose, the best we can do is three words at a time and a couple of claps on occasion.

At least in football (American football), the Eagles have a fight song, though that has gotten played out more than any MC Hammer hit ever was, likewise to the "E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!" chant.

Yes Phillies fans and Philly fans in general are passionate about their teams, but I find it hard to believe that we can't raise the bar in terms of creative chant choreographing. And come to think of it, ever since our teams left the Spectrum and Veterans Stadium, the signs have become a lot lamer and less frequent too.

My message in all this to fellow Philly fans is... keep up the intense passion for your teams, but how 'bout we scream out something new for a change?

Thanks for the Memories, Mellanby!

Well Flyers fans, our old buddy Scott Mellanby is hanging up the skates. He called it quits after 21 years of mucking and grinding, six of those years in the vaunted Spectrum of yesteryear. At age 40, Mr. Mellanby put in a solid career and had some memorable highlights, namely:

-364 goals, 476 assists, for 840 total points, and 2,479 minutes in the penalty box (that's almost 2 day's worth of penalties!) as a tough "never quit" right winger
-Made two trips to the Stanley Cup (one for the Flyers, one for the Panthers), though he never won it, honored as team captain, and earned an All-Star Game appearance; unfortunately he ended his career with the third most games played without winning the Cup, according to his Wikipedia entry
-A run in with a rat: He splattered a rat with his stick when it ran across the locker room, thus prompting his hometown Panthers fans to pelt the ice with rubber rats whenever he put the biscuit in the basket
-Founded Athletes Against Autism Foundation, to help fund research to cure Autism

Mellanby had a good run and played for one of the more exciting eras of Flyers hockey, from 1986-91.