Boston roadtrip

I was in Boston the other weekend for the Phillies-Red Sox series at Fenway. There were a tremendous number of Philly fans in attendance for the 3 games. In particular, the Saturday game must have had 4-5,000 Philly fans in the stands.

Much to the annoyance and bewilderment of Boston fans, the first "E-A-G-L-E-S" chant began in the second inning and didn't let up for the rest of the game. Boston fans were simply baffled by this initially and not sure how to respond. Sure, the Pats won the Super Bowl, but it's not like they're rivals with the Eagles. They were also unsure about this since it was, after all, a baseball game in the middle of June. In fact, Red Sox fans seemed a bit reluctant to call attention to this situation since Boston has a worse record of ineptitude in America's pasttime than the Fightin' Phils. Hey, at least we've won a World Series in the last fifty years!

Many Boston fans settled on taunting red-clad Philly fans with a common jeer to the effect that "TO is going to be a disaster for the Eagles." I was simply astounded at the number of people, both Red Sox/Pats and Phillies/Eagles fans, that made reference to TO and/or had an opinion on his play for the upcoming season. Everyone, literally, was talking about him. Poor Jevon Kearse. He got a signing bonus three times as large as Owens', but it's like he's the forgotten free agent acquisition.

Finally, I was struck by the similarities between Boston and Philly fans. Both passionately root for their teams, both drink staggering quantities of beer, and each has a pessimistically fateful outlook for the prospects of their teams. The Pats' super bowl is too much for many to handle. As a friend of mine in Boston observed, "Boston fans aren't happy unless they're miserable." A similar case could be made for Philly.

BTW, major props to the guy masquerading as Smarty Jones in the Phillies powder blue throwback unis and a black horse head. What a terrific getup.