2006 Point & Laugh at the taterskins thread

[SD_Eagle5]

Remember this? Link

Here's the transcript from Show 134 of weekly Outside The Lines - Enemy Colors and Addicted to Sports


SUN., OCT. 20, 2002
Host: Bob Ley
Reported by: Mark Schwarz, ESPN and Tom Rinaldi, ESPN.
Guests: Dr. Joel Fish, sports psychologist; Jody McDonald, host, WFAN Radio, New York.




BOB LEY, HOST- October 20, 2002. Fan passion can turn violent. For one fan, wearing a visiting team's jersey nearly got him killed.


ED ALLEN, WORE EAGLES JERSEY TO EAGLES/taterskinS GAME- Apparently, the same guy who knocked me down pretty much grabbed me by the shirt, as I was unconscious, and beat on my face.


BUTCH BUCHANICO, DIRECTOR OF SECURITY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES- You do take some risk, all right, walking into a venue with another team's jersey.


FAN WATCHING HOME VIDEO- Oh, no! Play man-to-man coverage!


LEY- Also this week, the point where a fan crosses over from dedicated to addicted.


CHRIS STOLZE, SPORTS FAN- Sports impacts my entire life.


KRISTAN BUSCH, CHRIS'S GIRLFRIEND- I always felt second to sports.


TOM RINALDI, OUTSIDE THE LINES- Is she second to sports?


STOLZE- At times, yes.


LEY- Today on Outside The Lines - When are fans actually addicted to sports? And the dangers of wearing enemy colors.


If you're a fan, you may find what we're about to report this morning to be disturbing and provocative. And for some, it could raise the question of whether they're watching televised images or looking into a mirror. We begin with an incident that, on its face, seems as if from a distant international dateline. This sort of thing, Americans believe, happens over there at soccer matches. Except the story you will hear this morning, just like this violent moment, occurred at an NFL game. And it can be sparked by a simple jersey.


No piece of sporting apparel is more popular than NFL jerseys. Fans by the authentic version for $250 each and wear them proudly to games, even on the road, even when that jersey represents enemy colors. That decision nearly cost one fan his life. Mark Schwarz has his story.


ALLEN- We had a good time. You know, the game was fun, the Eagles won big and, you know, the night turned bad in a hurry.


MARK SCHWARZ, OUTSIDE THE LINES- Ed Allen can't help but wonder what he could have done differently. Surely none of this would have happened had he not rearranged his morning schedule as a personal trainer in order to attend a Monday Night Football game. Surely he could have prevented it had he not stopped on his way from Philly to D.C. to pick up a new Eagles jersey, something to wear proudly at FedEx Field to show taterskins fans where his heart was.


ALLEN- And we just thought, you know, everybody was going to know we were Eagles fans. You know, that was the point.


SCHWARZ- And maybe, just maybe, had he and his three friends -- Matt Brown, John Chynoweth and Chris Soto -- all wearing Eagles jerseys, not headed for the exit mid-way through the fourth quarter, he could have avoided what they say happened next.


As they started down the exit ramp, Matt lagged behind them. A woman alerted the other three that their friend was surrounded by a group of fans wearing taterskins jerseys.


MATT BROWN, ATTENDED EAGLES/taterskinS GAME WITH ED ALLEN- And one gentleman pushed me, pushed him back, and at that point, just chaos pretty much came about.


JOHN CHYNOWETH, ATTENDED EAGLES/taterskinS GAME WITH ED ALLEN- We all got there and started trying to break things up, and Ed was to my left, and I saw him get tackled from the side and fall over onto his back and basically hit his head, bounced off the ground. It was a pretty hard hit. It kind of sounded like an eggshell breaking.


ALLEN- Apparently, the same guy who knocked me down pretty much grabbed me by the shirt, as I was unconscious, and just beat on my face.

SCHWARZ- Moments later, taterskins fan Carl Sears decided to leave the game with his 14-year-old son.


CARL SEARS, WITNESS- We walked about 50 yards down the ramp, and we came across a guy who was totally flat out and unconscious on the concrete. And I initially thought he was a taterskins fan because he had a basically white jersey, but he was covered in blood. And that's why I thought he was a taterskins fan.


CHYNOWETH- Somebody was holding his neck for him so we could turn him over onto his side because the blood seemed to be running back down his throat, so he was having a hard time breathing at this point.


SEARS- It appeared to me that his head had been smashed on the concrete because his head was completely split open. He was covered in blood. And I really did -- I was fearful that it could have been a brain hemorrhage, or I was concerned for his very life.


SCHWARZ- Allen suffered several fractures to his face, requiring three hours of facial reconstructive surgery. Two titanium plates were inserted below his eyes, and his broken jaw was wired shut. Since the incident, Allen has lost 20 pounds and endured short-term memory loss. Dr. Eric Marchant, who performed the surgery, says that with just a few more punches, Allen's injuries could have been even worse.

DR. ERIC MARCHANT, PERFORMED RECONSTRUCTIVE FACIAL SURGERY ON ED ALLEN- And anything could have happened. I mean, he could have been more seriously injured -- I mean, serious brain damage, more than just a concussion but permanent brain injury, death.


SCHWARZ- Allen's mother, Pat, was forced to feed her 26-year-old son baby food. She maintains Ed did nothing wrong. He simply wore an Eagles jersey to a taterskins game in Washington.

PAT ALLEN, ED ALLEN'S MOTHER- Why wouldn't he wear the team that he loves? That's what he's loved since he's a little boy. He's a Philadelphia sports fan all the way

Yup, Skins fans sure do have a right to talk. 4 on 1 and beating an already uncounscious man is mighty brave.

[MDS]

That entire story was obviously fabricated. Nothing bad ever happens at FedEx.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Exactly. Those innocent Skins fans were just minding their business and were walking out after another Eagles asswhuppin and that drunk, stoner loser Eagle fan tripped over his own feet.

[PhillyGirl]

I just pointed and went to laugh....but I puked instead.

Hypocrites make me ill.

[rjs246]

Has anyone considered the fact that Dan Snyder may simply say F you to the salary cap and accept any fines/penalties that the league hands out. It sounds as though it will be extremely difficult for them to conform to the cap this season. It's not like the league would disqualify them from playing and snyder seems like enough of an ass to do something like that.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Has anyone considered the fact that Dan Snyder may simply say F you to the salary cap and accept any fines/penalties that the league hands out. It sounds as though it will be extremely difficult for them to conform to the cap this season. It's not like the league would disqualify them from playing and snyder seems like enough of an ass to do something like that.

Thought about it, but after looking into it a bit, technically there is now way he could go Yankees style. In short, the league has to approve any contract that is proposed, and if it violates that teams cap, it's automatically rejected. So, the taterskins are pretty much guaranteed to have a very bland offseason, especially without a CBA being done. 

[rjs246]

Makes sense. Thanks. BTW, as much as I would love to screw the Skins I really want the CBA to get done.

[SD_Eagle5]

Has anyone considered the fact that Dan Snyder may simply say F you to the salary cap and accept any fines/penalties that the league hands out. It sounds as though it will be extremely difficult for them to conform to the cap this season. It's not like the league would disqualify them from playing and snyder seems like enough of an ass to do something like that.

The NFL will start farging with their draft picks if they don't conform to their cap standards. So the Skins have to either:
A)Cut a shteinload of players and restructure a bunch more to fit under the cap

or

B)Stay the way they are and have the NFL strip their draft.

Either way, they're farged.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Makes sense. Thanks. BTW, as much as I would love to screw the Skins I really want the CBA to get done.

That's the beautiful thing. Either way they are pretty farged. If the CBA gets done, they don't have enough money to sign any decent FA, possibly only some scrubs for depth. They also may not have enough money without major restructuring (not gonna happen, most of their players have already restructured before..several times) and cuts to sign their draft picks. Down here on some of Danny's paid for radio and TV shows are half-heartedly claiming that the strategy all along when they traded away their first round pick in 06 last year for Campbell, was because they wouldn't be able to take the added cap hit from a first round pick this year. 

Without the CBA though, the Skins would be absolutely devastated. While it will suck for every team, the Skins just so happen to be one of the teams it will suck most for.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

The panic begins, and it was worth the wait....

[qwert246]

I am seriously embarassed for you.

[phattymatty]

It's true, all of the experts are wrong, but these random skins fans are right.  they're going to have to cut like 5 players who would have been cut anyway, and thats it.

[PhillyGirl]

So they are embarrassed by the one Skins fan who seems to actually have a semi grip on reality?

Interesting, yet not surprising.

[qwert246]

Lets see what actually happens.  Lots can change before 3/3.

[MDS]

Oh man, I can't wait to see what ES is like if this goes down.