Sometimes its not easy being a Philadelphia sports fan. It’s never easy being a Philadelphia sports fan in the city of Pittsburgh. I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, as close to the suburbs while still being considered in the city limits as you get. At age eight, our family moved ten minutes to the other side of the Welcome to Philadelphia sign entering the suburban upper-middle class community of Huntingdon Valley.
After high school graduation, I wanted to go to school as far away as possible, while still living in the state to get good financial aid. I choose the University of Pittsburgh. Moving from the east coast to the east with no coast was a big change for me, geographically and culturally. Before moving out to Pittsburgh, I really didn’t know anything about Pittsburgh sports teams. I had no animosity towards the Steelers when they played the Eagles. Of course, I wanted the Eagles to win but it was just another game to me. They were just another opponent. Growing up a Philadelphia fan, we have never liked the Giants, Cowboys and Redskins. These three teams have always been bitter rivals of the Eagles playing them in the NFC East twice a year. In Philadelphia, there has never been hatred for the Steelers because they are in the AFC.
When I moved to Pittsburgh, I quickly realized the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, and even the Sixers (Pittsburgh has no professional basketball team) were despised with a passion. My first thought was that Pittsburgh fans hated every team in every sport spread around equally. I was wrong. Some days at Pitt, I wished to be a New England Patriots or Denver Broncos fan. The stares I got for wearing a ten dollar Eagles hat or a Flyers jersey from my friends 1998 Bar-Mitzvah with my last name printed on the back was verging on hostile.
Before this story goes further, let me just say I love living in Pittsburgh. Now, up to this point this statement might seem contradictory. I have been a resident here now for six years. The last two years since I graduated, I have lived in the Southside which has been great. It has everything a 23 year old would want with bars, restaurants, shopping, grocery stores, and a movie theatre. That’s why this is hard to write. However, on the cusp of my Flyers reaching the Stanley Cup and the anger Pittsburgh fans have displayed to Philadelphia on the radio and to me at work propelled me to write about it.
What Pittsburgh fans don’t understand is that Philadelphia is not that different when it comes to our sports teams. We both expect our teams to play hard and fight to the end. We expect our teams to win, and if you’re not giving 100 % as a player, you will hear it from the fans. Both cities are hard-working, blue-collar towns. It’s tough when even saying the word Philly in Pittsburgh is grounds for alienation and isolation. Pittsburgh fans love to say, “Why do you live here if you don’t like the Steelers and Penguins?” No question could be more narrow-minded and immature. People from Philly are here for school, work, and many other reasons. It’s an uncomfortable feeling when you’re afraid to walk your dog at night wearing a Flyers or Eagles jersey. The fear of getting verbally abused and physically abused supporting Philadelphia sports in constantly on my mind.
Every time I go home to Philly for a long weekend, I see Steelers fans wearing their gear at the gym, in the supermarket, and at the local Starbucks. No one cares. No Eagles fan walks up to a Steelers fan while their ordering their mochaccino and verbally abuses them. It just doesn’t happen. It could be that people in Philly have more going on then just their sports teams. I really don’t know. I do know that Philly fans are passionate. Someone can be passionate about their city and sports teams and respectful of other people at the same time. Is it fair that if you’re from Philadelphia and reside in Pittsburgh a stigma automatically comes with that even if you’re not into sports? I love Pittsburgh, but it would be nice if Pittsburgh loved people from Philly back.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
DOES CHARACTER MATTER IN SPORTS?
Does Character matter? As long as their have been professional sports, there has been this question. Does an owner build a franchise with a player that has questionable character issues and tremendous natural ability or a player who is a role model for the community, but still needs to be groomed for the professional ranks. A pertinent example of this was a few weeks ago during the 2010 NFL Draft. Everybody knew the story about Tim Tebow; the national championships at Florida, the Heisman on his mantel. He’s done it all at the college level, but his mechanics and unorthodox style have always begged the question: Can Tim Tebow be a starting quarterback in the NFL. The coach of the Denver broncos Josh McDaniel’s thinks he can.
“With the 25th pick in the NFL draft, the Denver broncos select Tim Tebow, quarterback out of the university of Florida”. When Commissioner Roger Goodell said those words, the hundreds packed in at Madison square garden and the millions of viewers at home were stunned. More shocking than the Broncos picking Tim Tebow in the first round is that they already had Kyle Orten and newly acquired Brady Quinn from Cleveland. League sources said that Tebow was picked by the Broncos because of a fifteen minute meeting between McDaniel’s and the two-time national champion. What was said in McDaniel’s office we might never know, but what we do know is Tebow must have made one hell of an impression. An impression so mesmerizing that with two other quarterbacks already on his roster and defensive needs, the second year head coach went with a side-arm slingling, run-first, three to four year project. Coach McDaniel’s saw something you can’t teach; intangibles and character. Tebow possesses a willingness to do whatever it takes to get better.
Even with winning national championships and a Heisman trophy, Tebow is willing to admit he still has plenty of work to do to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. He’s humble and hungry to improve. Even when John Gruden grilled him on his playing style during a SportsCenter draft special, Tebow didn’t falter. He responded with yes sirs and did everything that was asked of him during Gruden’s drills. This display of respect alone showed how different a breed of football player this young man is and now people were starting to understand why McDaniel’s had to take Tebow. Today more than ever with twitter feeds and facebook, scandals of professional athletes no matter how small spread across the social media landscape like wildfire. Blemishes are almost expected for most athletes in the sports world. Blemishes don’t exist for Tebow. He hasn’t been corrupted by the money and fame that comes with the NFL job to this point and it doesn’t seem like that day will ever come to pass. He treats the NFL as an opportunity to give back.
Most avid sports fans watching the draft thought Jimmy Clausen’s name was going to be called on the first day of the draft and definitely ahead of Tim Tebow. As the first day of the draft came to an end, the quarterback from Florida went ahead of the one from Notre Dame. Clausen has plenty of talent, arguably a lot more than Tebow. He ran an offense at Notre Dame very similar to an NFL style. His numbers this past season, 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions were unmatched in college football. So why did Clausen’s stock drop? Scouts said character issues. Clausen was projected by most to be a top ten pick in the draft. He went 48th.
On the field, Clausen didn’t always demonstrate leadership intangibles that a starting collegiate quarterback needs to possess and a few off the field incidents cost him. On June 23, 2007, Clausen was cited for illegal transportation of alcohol in South Bend, Indiana. He was driving someone who was of legal drinking age to a liquor store to buy alcohol. Then, on November 22, 2009, Clausen was involved in an altercation outside of a South Bend pub. It was reported that upon his departure, Clausen was punched in the face outside of the pub. A later report of this incident indicated that the other subject involved in this incident allegedly shoved Clausen's girlfriend. It was reported that Clausen then shoved the subject away prior to Clausen being punched. These altercations, seemingly small, cost Clausen life changing top ten pick money. He will have to start from the bottom up in the NFL, having to work everyday to improve his reputation and to become a leader in the eyes of the players and coaches in Carolina.
Character matters.
“With the 25th pick in the NFL draft, the Denver broncos select Tim Tebow, quarterback out of the university of Florida”. When Commissioner Roger Goodell said those words, the hundreds packed in at Madison square garden and the millions of viewers at home were stunned. More shocking than the Broncos picking Tim Tebow in the first round is that they already had Kyle Orten and newly acquired Brady Quinn from Cleveland. League sources said that Tebow was picked by the Broncos because of a fifteen minute meeting between McDaniel’s and the two-time national champion. What was said in McDaniel’s office we might never know, but what we do know is Tebow must have made one hell of an impression. An impression so mesmerizing that with two other quarterbacks already on his roster and defensive needs, the second year head coach went with a side-arm slingling, run-first, three to four year project. Coach McDaniel’s saw something you can’t teach; intangibles and character. Tebow possesses a willingness to do whatever it takes to get better.
Even with winning national championships and a Heisman trophy, Tebow is willing to admit he still has plenty of work to do to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. He’s humble and hungry to improve. Even when John Gruden grilled him on his playing style during a SportsCenter draft special, Tebow didn’t falter. He responded with yes sirs and did everything that was asked of him during Gruden’s drills. This display of respect alone showed how different a breed of football player this young man is and now people were starting to understand why McDaniel’s had to take Tebow. Today more than ever with twitter feeds and facebook, scandals of professional athletes no matter how small spread across the social media landscape like wildfire. Blemishes are almost expected for most athletes in the sports world. Blemishes don’t exist for Tebow. He hasn’t been corrupted by the money and fame that comes with the NFL job to this point and it doesn’t seem like that day will ever come to pass. He treats the NFL as an opportunity to give back.
Most avid sports fans watching the draft thought Jimmy Clausen’s name was going to be called on the first day of the draft and definitely ahead of Tim Tebow. As the first day of the draft came to an end, the quarterback from Florida went ahead of the one from Notre Dame. Clausen has plenty of talent, arguably a lot more than Tebow. He ran an offense at Notre Dame very similar to an NFL style. His numbers this past season, 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions were unmatched in college football. So why did Clausen’s stock drop? Scouts said character issues. Clausen was projected by most to be a top ten pick in the draft. He went 48th.
On the field, Clausen didn’t always demonstrate leadership intangibles that a starting collegiate quarterback needs to possess and a few off the field incidents cost him. On June 23, 2007, Clausen was cited for illegal transportation of alcohol in South Bend, Indiana. He was driving someone who was of legal drinking age to a liquor store to buy alcohol. Then, on November 22, 2009, Clausen was involved in an altercation outside of a South Bend pub. It was reported that upon his departure, Clausen was punched in the face outside of the pub. A later report of this incident indicated that the other subject involved in this incident allegedly shoved Clausen's girlfriend. It was reported that Clausen then shoved the subject away prior to Clausen being punched. These altercations, seemingly small, cost Clausen life changing top ten pick money. He will have to start from the bottom up in the NFL, having to work everyday to improve his reputation and to become a leader in the eyes of the players and coaches in Carolina.
Character matters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)