Philadelphia

[ice grillin you]

Morning Bytes: Philly is more than its sports teams
By Frank Fitzpatrick

Inquirer Sports Columnist

Tastykake sold. Ac-a-me markets on the ropes. No wonder we love sports so much in Philadelphia. They're practically all that's left of our city.

As time and inevitability chew away at Philadelphia's distinctiveness, our most stable and recognizable institutions are our sports franchises. What other connective civic tissue is there as elastic and powerful as the 128-year-old Phillies? Or the 88-year-old Eagles?

Increasingly, being a Philadelphian means going to Citizens Bank Park or Lincoln Financial Field to cheer and boo.

Think about it. Besides our allegiance to the Phillies and Eagles, what is there that defines us as Philadelphians?

Comcast? Our Colonial-era past? South Philly sandwiches?

Traveling around the country, I'm always struck by how closely the nation's perception of Philadelphia is tied to sports. Tell someone you're from Philly, and you invariably get one - or some combination - of these three responses: great sports city, tough fans, cheesesteaks.

It's as if our city's long and fascinating history has been buried beneath the Phillies, foulmouthed fans, and fried onions.

Nobody mentions Boathouse Row. Nobody asks about Carpenters Hall. Thomas Eakins, Louis Kahn, Alexander Calder, and Mary Cassatt aren't the Four Aces anyone wants to talk about.

Growing up I recall hearing proudly that we were the City of Homes, the City of Neighborhoods, the Workshop of the Nation, the Cradle of Liberty. Now we're the Best Sports City in America, The City with the Best and Worst Fans.

There's nothing wrong with that. But surely we can be something more, something better.

I love my hometown and its sports teams. Without the former's passion for the latter, I can assure you a lot of tuition bills mailed to our house would have gone unpaid. Sports have been a constant comfort, though an all-too-frequent irritation as well.

But I wonder if we aren't selling ourselves short by limiting our collective civic pride to Rocky, Ryan, Reid, and red pinstripes? What about Philadelphia in all its other manifestations? Can we be just as passionate about its history? Its uniqueness? Its problems?

What suburban fan who goes to Citizens Bank Park or Lincoln Financial Field doesn't identify himself or herself as a Philadelphian?

We revel in that identity when we - all right, when you - wear it on some item of sports clothing, but disdain or ignore it when the same name is followed by "school district," "budget deficit," or "crime rate."

And yet we greet like J.D. Drew any notion that suggests Philadelphia and its suburbs are one region, and would all be better off if each supported the other financially, culturally, spiritually.

We're Philadelphians when it suits our purposes. We love the victory parades and walk-off wins, the tailgating and ballgame bonding. Not so much the crumbling infrastructure, the gun violence, the messed-up schools.

Maybe if we devoted a fraction of our sports passion to those problems, maybe if we cared just a little more about a city that is so much more than sports, we sports fans might feel as good about Philadelphia and ourselves as we do on opening day.

In the meantime, go out and buy a Tastykake Chocolate Junior and a Lancaster Brand ham.

[SD]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110425_City_s_black_residents_now_top_all_groups.html?page=1&c=y

[General_Failure]

Like most things on the internet, the comments are a delight to read.

[Diomedes]

Close enough to Philly, especially with the "good riddance" thread buried somewhere behind the first page:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/DC-One-Dead-in-Baton-and-Knife-Battle-121025388.html

[PhillyPhreak54]

http://deadspin.com/#!5799581

the video skips over dude getting knocked out but nothing says tough like 4-on-1

[phillymic2000]

It kind of looks like a CF online party after someone doesn't agree with the status quo.

[General_Failure]

Cry more.

[Diomedes]

videos like this one nauseate me.  f'n pigs, exterminate them

[phillymic2000]

I would GF, but I might get banned

[phillymic2000]

Again that is.

[Sgt PSN]

http://deadspin.com/#!5799581

the video skips over dude getting knocked out but nothing says tough like 4-on-1

2 of them got caught, but still looking for the guy who threw the punch

[ice grillin you]

no they got the guy who thru the punch...thats the russo kid who is pictured

[SD]

some asshat drove a dump truck hauling a back hoe into an overpass on the Blvd. this morning. Traffic was backed up for 3 or 4 miles as Cops stood around with their thumbs on their ass. From what I've heard it's still backed up pretty bad. Why not deflate the tires and get the thing rollin.

[Sgt PSN]

no they got the guy who thru the punch...thats the russo kid who is pictured

Ha...yeah.  For whatever reason, when I read the end of the article and it said one of the suspects was wearing a black t-shirt and light colored pants, I was thinking it was the dude in the video that threw the punch. 

[Sgt PSN]

Sad, tragic and weird story about a guy who watched his foster mom kill his kid brother back in the 60's.

For some reason I have a hard time being completely sympathetic for this guy.  Something about him makes him a little less endearing. But it's still a very sad story about a major screw up by the city, justice system and the foster system.