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?

Phillies' Opening Day Memory: 2002

Allow me to reminisce for a spell.

With the Phillies' opening day less than 3 days away, I'm harkening back to the Phillies' home opener six years ago. Actually I don't think it was the home opener but it was definitely one of the first games of the first home series. Who needs exact details?

Anyway, I don't remember a single moment from the game. It was just another non-descript Phils game from a dull team in unremarkable Veterans Stadium. This was back in the days of Travis Lee, Joe Roa, and yes, Nick Punto. So I do remember that much. But even moreso, I most definitely do remember the weather.

It was NASTY.

It must have been about 30 degrees, and having the pleasure to stand on the frozen concrete of the Vet was nothing short of dismal. The wind whipping around the top of the stadium's bowl in the 500 level didn't help a bit either. I remember my cousin having to go to the bathroom where there was a heat vent and he had to thaw out his feet. Some baseball weather...

On the bright side, I got the tickets for free from the neighborhood bank that I went to every day to take checking deposits for my work downtown. That was nice of them. I think it was Citizens Bank, but even that's a bit fuzzy now.

But the cold is not fuzzy in my memory.

I'm looking forward to attending the Phillies opening day game on Monday but hopefully the weather will be more favorable.

And without a doubt the team will be much better than from the days of yore.

Cris Carter: Hall-Worthy?

In an old Seinfeld episode, the character of Elaine hordes a stash of sponges (the prophylactics, not the dishwashing kind), and quizzes each potential mate to determine whether or not he is sponge-worthy.

Well, a similar process goes on in the world of sports, and this one has to do with making the Hall of Fame in a player's respective sport.

Cris Carter, the famed former Eagles wide receiver is up for nomination this year, which brings the question, "Is he Hall-Worthy?" Let's take a look at some of his highlights, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com and discuss...

*8 Pro Bowl selections and 4 All-Pro selections
*1101 Receptions, placing him second all-time
*13,899 yards all time, ranking him 6th
*130 career receiving TD's, good for second, and sixth all-time for TD's for all wide receivers and running backs
*5 2-point conversions made, ranking him third (okay, not the most important stat, I just thought it was kinda cool!)

So those are Cris Carter's highlights. Based on them, and other stats you can find at the above link, is he Hall-Worthy???

My verdict...

YES! Send him to Akron to the Hall of Fame.

He had a stellar career and deserves to be enshrined. Too bad that most of his career was spent outside of Philly, else we may have seen a Super Bowl, assuming he could have done just as well here as he did in Minnesota.

For the record, Carter, an Ohio State alum, was drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles in 1987, and stayed in Philadelphia on the steely Veterans Stadium turf until 1989. He spent the bulk of his career with the Vikings, and then fizzled out with 5 games in Miami in 2002.

Unfortunately Buddy Ryan let him go, as this statement from Wikipedia reveals:

During training camp in 1990, while coaching the Eagles, Ryan released an up-and-coming young wide receiver named Cris Carter. Ryan subsequently explained to the media that he had cut Carter because Carter "only catches touchdowns" - an explanation for which Ryan was widely ridiculed for several years, especially after Carter was signed by the Minnesota Vikings with whom he almost immediately developed into one of the NFL's premier passcatchers. Years later, however, it was revealed that Carter had had a serious drug problem, and that Ryan had released him from the Eagles to send him a wake-up call. Carter credits Ryan's actions with helping him to turn his life around.

So there you have it. At any rate, good luck on your HoF bid Cris, and you're more than welcome to suit up and try out for the Eagles again this summer...

Sign of the Times: Feeling Nostalgic for Veterans Stadium

So it's April and baseball season is underway. It's around this time every year that I think back to memories of our beloved Veterans Stadium, former home of the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, many brawls, and countless vermin.

But there's one thing in particular that I miss from the Vet days... the fans' creativity. I always looked forward to watching Eagles games and seeing the signs and banners that the fans held up. The signs ranged the whole gamut of feelings and emotions from passion to disgust to sarcasm to insults.

Who can forget the raggedy "Gang Green" signs that hung over the end zone during the Eagles' reign as defensive monsters? Or how about the gigantic stretch of a sign that was posted during the Eagles' dismal offensive years reading: "End Zone This Way -->"?

Sadly, the Eagles have banned this practice and have taken away a lot of the character of the fans, in my humble opinion. Even the atmosphere to me is a lot more sterile. Hopefully fans will find away to get this edginess back some day; but in the meantime, signs or no signs, I'll be happy with just having a winning team out there...

Phun with Numbers: Looking at the Phillies' Attendance Figures

A few curious fun baseball stats to point out to my fellow dedicated and tortured Phillies fans out there...

-In 1980, when the Phillies last sipped from the Stanley Cup (err, raised the Lombardi Trophy, err, sorry, it's been so long I forget what happens when a team wins the World Series), the team averaged 32,736 fans per game in the cavernous Vet Stadium which held over 60k. The team that year also had some of the most talented players this city's ever seen: Rose, Schmidt, Carlton, among others.
-In 1994, AFTER the Phils lost the World Series, the team averaged 38,183 fans per game to watch a comparatively wearier squad whose season got cut short by the infamous strike before the end of the year.

-Apparently Philadelphia is not very nostalgic about its ballparks. In 2003, the Phils attracted only 27,901 per game during the last ever season at the Vet, less than half the capacity. Ditto for the last season at Connie Mack Stadium when the attendance averaged 8,853 compared to a capacity of about 20,000. However in each of the following years, the attendance jumped about 50% and 120% respectively. Out with the old, in with the new!

-The Phils' first year of averaging over 10,000 people per game came in 1946, after WWII, when about 13,401 people came per game. Prior to that, the team's highest average attendance came in 1916 with 6,524 folks per game.

-Lastly, the Phils have had two years of 3,000,000 fans: 1993 and 2004. The Yankees, for comparison, have had 8 years in a row up through last season of 3,000,000+ fans. But I guess it helps being located in a city that has 6 times as many people in it than Philly has. But sheesh, every Yankees game should be sold out with 8 million people hanging around the city every day!

Another Veterans Stadium Memory...

In 1991 or '92, I went to a game with my parents and two of my cousins at the Vet. It was Phils v. Cards. We sat in the right field seats, 10 or 20 rows up from the wall. There was a fairly good crowd on hand, and the vintage Phillies fans were in attendance, of course yelling smack at the Cards' rightfielder whenever he came out on defense.

For a couple of innings, one guy in particular, probably hopped up on liquid courage, kept a steady stream of trashtalking going.

"Hey, Jose-- you're a bum!"

"Hey, Jose-- nice strikeout!"

"Hey, Jose-- go back to Saint Louie!"

This went on for a couple of innings. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then, in the middle of the game, I guess the guy got flustered that Jose wasn't acknowledging his taunts, and-- I'm actually chuckling out loud already as I think back-- this fan busts out with:

"Hey, Jose-- what's your last name?"

(Note: I was an avid baseball fan at my young age and I knew very well that the player's first name was Felix and his last name was emblazoned on the back of his jersey, facing our section's direction most of the time.)

But without missing a beat, another guy from a few rows back hears the trashtalker's question and replies out loud with (again, I'm laughing)...

"Hey! Isn't that Jose Snyder?!"

I heard this and I was practically crying! Right along with everybody else! The timing was perfect and the name was right out of a movie. It reminded me of the movie Naked Gun, when the fan yells out, "Hey, it's Enrico Pallazzo!"

So anyway, the rest of the game, what do we hear from the taunting fan?

"Hey Snyder-- you suck!"

That's vintage Vet Stadium verbiage folks.

Philly Fan Memory: Zorro Comes to Veterans Stadium!

Back in the mid- to late- 90s, I attended a Phillies' home opener with a group of friends. Being cheap and/or broke, we splurged for seats way up in the 700 level, roughly a mile away from the field, but in the lower part of the level, maybe a row up from the walkway that wrapped all the way around the gigantic bowl that was known as Veterans Stadium.

So during the early part of the game, maybe the 1st or 2nd inning, a couple friends and I noticed a dude walking towards us that looked like Zorro-- he was lean, had all black on with a black bandana, black boots, and a black jacket, the whole 9 yards. We were quite impressed with his appearance. Needless to say, we gave him a round of applause when he passed us and considered ourselves lucky to have seen him... what a gutsy thing to do... dress like Zorro and walk out into public, a baseball game no less, and not feel petrified by all of the eyes on you.

The next inning or so, we hear a random smattering of applause from a few sections down. I looked over and... it was Zorro passing by once again and his uniform had caught on with other fans as well! We gave him another cheer. And we cheered louder each successive time he passed by. He just kept walking by himself around the entire rim of the stadium all by himself, didn't acknowledge anybody or seem to pay attention to the game. No apparent reason, he just walked.

Well, I couldn't tell you anything else about that game some 10 years or so later, but that Zorro guy has stuck in my mind till this day. Great way to make a first impression!

1988 Phillies: Bottom of the Barrel

There is a certain ebb and flow in the success of sports teams that always intrigues me. The Phillies of the 1980s epitomize the extremes of good and bad. The 1980 squad, led by Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Steve Carlton, and a range of other high quality athletes, reeled in a World Series trophy and gave much reason for optimism that the team would continue its winning ways through many years.

Well, that didn't quite happen.

Though 1983 brought another push for the pennant as the team reached the World Series again but lost to Cal Ripken's Baltimore Orioles, the end of the decade didn't go as planned for the Phightin's.

Indeed, 1988 was the low point of the Phils' decade-long roller coaster ride at Veterans Stadium.

Here are some ugly details from that year of drudgery:

• Final record of 65-96, led by Lee Elia and later John Vukovich
  
• Finished last place in East Division, and the only team that was worse was Atlanta at 54-106 (okay, that's a really bad record, but at least they made a comeback and were on fire in the '90s and '00s)
• 35.5 games behind the Mets in the East Division
• Highest batting average for any of the regular starters was earned by Milt Thompson at .288
• Kevin Gross laid claim to the team's "ace" with a 12-14 record, 3.69 ERA and 162 K's
• As a team, the only categories where the Phils were ranked in the top 3 in the NL were for offensive strikeouts (3rd), and pitching losses (2nd). That's a powerhouse team right there, alright. On the bright side, they did finish 4th in doubles. (Crowd goes wild.)
  
• Some of the vintage "Obscure Philly" names on the team were: Luis Aguayo, Al Pardo, Don Carman, Bob Sebra, Jeff Calhoun, Todd Frowirth, Steve Jeltz, and Salome Barojas. If those names don't bring goodsebumps to a Philly sports fan's skin, then you aren't a true Philly sports fan! (If the names Salome Barojas or Todd Frowirth don't get you pumped up for Phillies baseball, then surely you must be dead.) I grew up hearing those names and have fond memories of watching their ineptitude night in and night out. If you didn't suffer through this miserable year like many of us, you sure missed out!
  

So there you have it. More than you ever wanted to know about those Phightless Phils of 1988. Hope you enjoyed this first post, please leave your comments below about memories, other facts, or other fodder. If you'd like to post in the future, please let me know by emailing me at ffats166(at)hotmail.com. See you next time Philly fans!