The momentum definitely shifted tonight. Halladay wasn't getting calls on the corners he usually does, and you could tell he was none too pleased. Yes, the bunt call was horrible, but I've reminded several people that calling it foul would have resulted in 1-strike with Halladay still bunting. Hats off to Ryan Madson, the hero on the mound for the Phillies tonight. That 8th inning was gutsy and awesome. Oswalt is undefeated at CBP in his career, and I know he's gotta be ready to make up for Game 4. To be honest I'm more concerned about the potential Game 7 matchup with Cain on the mound, as he confounded Philly in Game 3. One game at a time, though.
I said these exact words to my wife and my friends last night: "We'll know by the third inning who wins. If the Phillies win tonight, they take the series." Now, my predictions are usually awful, but hopefully I'm right on this one. For the first time in this series, the Phillies actually played with some guts last night - not that San Francisco didn't, but the Phillies are finally starting to look like the Phillies.
I wish I could be as confident but with the Phil's offense playing the way it is right now a loss in either game wouldn't shock me. I don't know why the Giants seem to have such patience at the plate and the Phils continue to swing at balls by their ankles. That ump was horrific when it came to pitch calls, he was so incredibly inconsistent. I don't put much merit in "Fox-tracker" but it looked like he called a lot of balls strikes and vice versa. Honestly the biggest play was Werth throwing out Cody Ross (who was an idiot for running with two outs in the first place) but we still lack the fire and emotion of the Giant players. This might be Chase Utley's worst post season series EVER, both defensive and offensive. I'm glad we are going back to Philly let's hope they start playing to their level.
I hope Texas wins. And then I hope Lee matches up against Halladay/Lincecum. The Halladay/Lincecum matchups have disappointed. 6 Runs each, in 2 games? What bums.
Wait your a Yankees and Saints fan? If you are I'll be sure to send you a Lakers jersey, freakin front-runner! I hope the Yanks win so the Phils play during the day tomorrow (god forbid Philly get the Primetime game) It's better for us old folk.
Dear Yankees, Kerry Wood and Nick Swisher were sent to destroy you from the inside. Love, Cubs & White Sox
So wish I were in Arlington tonight! Wow...never said that before. I'm used to the Rangers sucking all of my life
The Giants win the Pennant. The Giants win the Pennant. The Giants win the Pennant. Finally a World Series for the West Coast.
This is why everyone hates Philadelphia: Their fans are cunts. It has nothing to do with their club/franchise. That reminds me, god do I hate the fucking Eagles.
I, for one, am glad to see two new teams in the Series this year. If you asked anyone at the start of the season if they thought the World Series would be the Giants and the Rangers, they'd laugh in your face, and I'd have laughed right along. Who knew?
Yeah because fans in any other East Coast city are any better. Give me a break, and learn to take a joke. The media plays up the vitriol against the Philly fan because it's easy to do and most of the pundits are too lazy to do any research. Until you have lived there and experienced what the fans are all about, try not to just regurgitate what Joe Buck and ESPN spoon feeds you. If all Philly fans are cunts, then any fans born outside of NY, Boston, Chicago, and Philly are pure band wagoners. Clearly the Giants outplayed and out managed the Phils, but no one in the rest of the country is going to tune in to see San Francisco and the Texas. Yankees vs. anybody would be better than that matchup, and Phils vs Yankees would have been a compelling rematch, but both teams aged 5 years in the past 3 weeks.
Sure. Yeah. I'm sure every stadium has it's own court system underneath it, tries to injure opposing team's fan and boos Santa. edit: Wow. It's almost....eerie...how what you wrote sounds like the article I'm about to link you. I'm probably just an angry little man inventing unfair criticism in my mind. So let's let all unrelated events from a sample size of a few Philadelphia fans speak for themselves. Now, remember what you said above. And the article that shows just how disgusting your city really is, all in one place: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.sportspickle.com/news/876/9-terrible-philly-fan-incidents-and-their-harmless-explanations" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sportspickle.com/news/876/9- ... planations</a> I know I didn't do those things. I'll tell you what, if you think any other city is just as bad prove it. Give me a list of events from another team that is as bad as that list. Anything! Even if it's the account of a homeless man who wrote it on the sidewalk in his own shit.
Let's address these as a group first, starting by thinking about the eras that some of the incidents occurred in. I can't defend the actions of fans during a time of institutionalized racism in the 1960s, but it's also kind of inappropriate to hold the Dick Allen stuff against Philadelphia if you are not going to consider the less than lukewarm reception Jackie Robinson got... well, anywhere (Philly included). So my question is - are any of these events before 1980 even relevant given who the fan base is made up of today? I don't see Philly fans throwing stuff at black players now, do you? Do you see that anywhere now? It's a different era, very hard to criticize or defend those actions after the civil rights movement. Doesn't it seem a little lazy to bring up the Santa Snowballs 40 years later? How about The Snowball Game of the Giants vs. Chargers in 1995 when the Giants had to take out a full page add a San Diego newspaper to apologize on behalf of their fans? Additionally, a little background on the Santa issue in case you are interested. Is this really a big deal now? From "The Great Philadelphia Fan Book" by local radio hosts Anthony Gargano and Glenn Macnow: My point is exactly that this kind of stuff happens everywhere at one point or another, and of course if you look back to 1949 you're going to find some awful stuff. Can I find a similar list for an individual city? No, but similar examples at other cities at one point or another should indicate that the problem isn't unique to Philly. I also want to highlight the guy who puked all over that girl. Horrible. Indefensible. That fucker should be in jail. Rampant fan alcohol abuse happens everywhere, and it sucks. Have you ever been to a Cubs game and hung out around Wrigleyville afterwards? There's not shortage of people puking and public urination. I have nothing on this one other than it represents an extreme example of a problem in sports that I have seen in multiple venues. I also put the Michael Irvin incident in this category, once it was clear he was seriously hurt, there is no defense for cheering there. Other than those carveouts (which I concede are pretty vile), we're dealing with fans throwing stuff in the modern era, the jail, running onto the field, and fans fighting. How about the time those two White Sox fans stormed the field and beat up the Royal's first base coach? Never hear about that anymore. What about Detroit fans literally getting into a nationally televised fistfight with the Indiana Pacers. After throwing beer, mind you. How about Cleveland fans throwing beer bottles onto the field in 2001 in a game against Jacksonville? I remember when this happened it made Sportscenter for one day. <a class="postlink" href="http://bengals.enquirer.com/2001/12/17/ben_browns_coach_hurt_in.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://bengals.enquirer.com/2001/12/17/ ... rt_in.html</a> Google "Fan runs onto field" and enjoy dozens of links of... fans running onto the field in different cities. Is the Philly story special just because the kid was tazed? I'd say that's more of an issue of excessive use of force cause the cop couldn't catch him than any unique to how evil Philly fans are. According to this link, half of all NFL stadiums have jails in them. There is no court in Lincoln Financial Field, it was only in the Vet for a few years. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.nypress.com/article-11041-stadium-justice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nypress.com/article-11041-st ... stice.html</a> There are examples of unruly fan incidents at every major East Coast and Midwest venue that I have ever been to. This includes fistfights at the Meadowlands, Gangbangers threatening opposing at Dodger Stadium, Univ of Pittsburgh fans throwing punches at the opposing team's marching band, etc. Shit like this happens everywhere, only in Philadelphia is it memorialized and drudged up every playoff season.
Oh and while I was looking for an article about fans throwing shit, I found this list of other fan violations... * August 26, 1986: A knife with a five-inch blade was thrown at rookie Wally Joyner of the California Angels after beating the Yankees. Joyner was grazed on the left arm but was not seriously harmed. * September 24, 1999: A fan jumped out of the stands and tackled Astros right fielder Bill Spiers in the bottom of the sixth inning. Spiers had a welt under his left eye, a bloody nose and whiplash. * November 24, 1999: Broncos fans throw snowballs with batteries in them at Raiders. * May 16, 2000: Backup Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter was hit in the head by a fan, who also stole his cap. Kreuter and several Dodgers went into the stands and a brawl followed. * August 29, 2002: In the Majors' final game before the strike deadline, fans threw foul balls back onto the field and chanted "Don't Strike! Don't Strike!'' as the Anaheim Angels beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-1. * September 19, 2002: Kansas City coach Tom Gamboa was attacked by a father and son who came out of the stands at the same stadium, then called Comiskey Park. * April 15, 2003: A fan ran on the field at U.S. Cellular Field and attempted to tackle an umpire during a game between the White Sox and visiting Kansas City. * April 19, 2003: Texas Rangers right fielder Carl Everett was beaned in the back of the head with a cell phone in Oakland. * April 24, 2003: A fan was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct for throwing a cell phone, which hit San Diego Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs, during a Chicago Cubs game. * April --, 2003: A fan almost bit off a police officer's pinkie finger when the officer tried to help Coliseum security break up an argument between fans. * June 10, 2003: One Orioles fan threw cork at Sosa from the stands and another ran onto the field throwing cork at him. * July 8, 2003: An 8-year-old boy at the Oakland Athletics' game against Tampa Bay had burns on one of his legs when another fan tossed a cherry bomb from the upper deck of the Coliseum. * September 20, 2003: A Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot shot a Dodgers fan. "Apparently we have multiple suspects who are Giants fans who got into an argument with a Dodger fan," Officer Adriana Sanchez, a police spokeswoman said. * December 24, 2003: Two fans at an Islanders game, dressed up as Santa Claus due to a promotion which invited fans to dress up as Santa Claus for free admission to the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, were permitted to parade across the ice between periods, along with the almost one thousand other Santa-fans. The two removed their red jackets to reveal jerseys of the rival Rangers, and were knocked to the ice and had their shirts ripped off by Islanders fans. * September 11, 2005: Baltimore Ravens fans cheer quarterback Kyle Boller reeling in pain due to a hyper-extended left toe, after being tackled by Larry Triplett. * September 15, 2005: Ohio State tight end Ryan Hamby received hate letters since dropping a sure touchdown pass during the Buckeyes' loss to Texas. * September 22, 2005: Several Giants fans spewed New Orleans Saints fans with taunts about Hurricane Katrina during a game at Giants Stadium. "Where's your swimmies? I hope you have your swimmies!" one fan asked a New Orleans resident. "You deserve what you got," another said. "New Orleans people are stupid." * October 16, 2005: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox fumbled a snap, threw three interceptions, including one in overtime that was returned for a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fans subsequently threw trash on his lawn. * October 25, 2005: Houston Astro Craig Biggios wife Patty was slapped by a White Sox fan after Scott Podsednik hit a game-winning homerun. * March 22, 2006: Philadelphia Flyer R.J. Umberger was hit from behind and spent considerable time on the ice before getting to his feet and skating off under his own power while being booed by New York Rangers fans.
I noticed you didn't link a source. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Oh, here it is: <a class="postlink" href="http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=444461" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/in ... pic=444461</a> Another Philly fan, just like you, on a forum just like this doing the same song and dance. BUT that guy didn't link a source either... Well the list had to have come from somewhere, right?* I don't know. I guess no one else does either. I have a feeling it's credible anyways though. Crazy fans compiling lists like that always are. But you're right. I did say any accounts, even if it was written in shit. I just didn't know how much you would embrace that statement. So I'll cede my point. I gave you the terms and you produced the results. You win. But, Philadelphia fans are still the worst. I think secretly you know that. The media spin excuse is ridiculous. Every jackass and conspiracy theorist with a cause makes the claim. ESPN didn't just one day throw a dart at a map and decide to bashing Philadelphia or whatever that thing you said above was. The media only reports on a story. But the incidents they report on represent the larger picture. Which is that Philadelphia fans are bitterness and obnoxiousness's red headed step child. They can't stand to lose; When they end up losing they act out in immature and disgusting ways. *Aside from another Philadelphia fan on one of the free crappy web page things akin to a LiveJournal who had a partial list and the same rantings. edit: This has pretty much come down to just you and me arguing the same thing back and forth. And I'm kinda hungover for that. and I need a lot more sleep than I got. And this is going nowhere. So you can make your point and I'm sure it'll be a good one to the people who agree with you. Everyone who agrees with me will say the same thing over here. But that's pretty much all it's come down to at this point. So you can make your next point, I'm not trying to take that away from you or anything. But after that I just want it to be over so I'm not going to post about it anymore and take some aspirin and go back to bed.
Eh I'm not going to get into a fight with you here, I'm a reasonable guy. Clearly we disagree, and we aren't going to change our minds, I just gave you exactly what you told me I needed to give you to make a good point. I left the link out cause it was from some blog I never heard of instead of a news story like the other ones I gave you. Anywhere here was the link, I can only assume this is just as reliable as the Sports Pickle you gave me, but don't feel like doing the research on each result. I thought the ones I linked to specifically made my point pretty well. <a class="postlink" href="http://baerwcb.tripod.com/Binder/phans.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://baerwcb.tripod.com/Binder/phans.html</a> I think your criticism that we act out in bad ways when we lose is true, I just think its true everywhere. I would argue that the redeemable trait of the Philly fan is the loyalty, and the sense of civic allegiance to the teams. Philly fans travel extraordinarily well, they filled the Vet when the Eagles sucked, even the Flyers have had a really loyal fanbase after not having won since the 70s. The passion and aggression is the flip side of the loyalty. I don't think there is a conspiracy theory against Philly fans, I just think it is easy, and it fits an accepted schema, so there is no incentive to highlight the good things - like the support the Phillies have had, the 1 million plus people who went to the parade, the standing ovation McNabb got when he came back as a Redskin, etc. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy, I'm not saying that the media has a grudge against Philly, I'm just saying it's easier to perpetuate the reputation than it is to give it a fresh look every once in awhile. Laziness, not maliciousness is the problem with the media (I'd say this about political coverage too). I think a lot in Philly sports has changed for the better since the new stadiums were built, and the Phillies won in 2008.