SEPTA strike keeps some Game 6 watchers home

With SEPTA on strike, many of Phillies’ faithful were forced to abandon their usual sports bars and watch Game 6 of the World Series from their living rooms Wednesday night.

Popular spots for game-watching around the city were virtually unreachable for Temple students who rely on the subway and buses.

Tim Brodwater, a senior journalism and theater major, watched the game from his Kardon apartment with a few friends.

“I’m pretty annoyed that I can’t go out into Center City tonight,” he said. “I was looking forward to having a few drinks, but I don’t really have money for a cab home from the bars so I’m staying in.”

Brodwater tried to see the silver lining. “At least SEPTA waited until the games were back in New York to have a strike,” he said.

After making a comeback in Game 5 and moving on back to the Bronx, Phillies fans were hopeful for another win. The Phillies tried to overcome the Yankees commanding lead and take it to Game 7, but just couldn’t hack it last night.

Ryan Howard, who was holding the record for most strike outs in the post-season (13 in all), redeemed himself with a two-run homer during the sixth inning. Hearing fellow fans’ cheers in neighboring apartments through a wall or open window served as part of the charm of watching the game from home.

The cheers turned to sighs of disappointment when the Phillies fell to the Yankees. Shane Victorino got the third out in the top of the ninth and New York became the 2009 World Series Champs for the first time in nine years, and the 27th time in the team’s history.

Sadly, many fans stranded at home, like Brodwater, couldn’t even order a double whiskey to console them after the 7 to 3 loss.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.eduS.

Game 5 and mystery Phillies liquor shots please crowds at South Street bar

Part five of a multi-part series.

Many fans watching World Series Game 5 at the bar North on Monday night were skeptical at first, in part due to the Phillies’ performance in Game 4.
“Word on the street is the Yankees are going to let us win this game so they can beat us in their own state,” said Donnie Biresch, a sophomore Temple student.
Biresch’s conspiracy theory didn’t stop him from accepting the free celebratory “Phillies shot” North granted its game watchers during the seventh inning. North’s Phillies shot ingredients are unknown, but it was red, potent and crowd-pleasing.
The 222 South Street establishment is co-owned by Phillies fan Ben Reiter, originally from Long Island.
“There is a direct correlation between how much money the bar makes and how much I like the Phillies,” he said of his fandom.
“This is the kick-start I needed, the Phillies and Halloween.”
The token die-hard fans were in attendance at North, as well. One of them, decked out in Phillies garb, said he came all the way from Wisconsin to watch his favorite team.
The bar was filled with cheers and high fives when – thanks to Cliff Lee – the Yankees came up short in the ninth.
As Biresch predicted, the Phillies took Game Five, 8 to 6, and the Series makes its way back to New York for Game Six on Wednesday night.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.

Local South Philly bar offers comfort to Phillies fans young and old

Part four of a multi-part series.

Renowned sports bar and restaurant Chickie’s and Pete’s gets all the hype when it comes to watching the Phillies, especially given its proximity to Citizen’s Bank Park. But the mandatory $30 gift card purchase required to enter during Sunday night’s World Series Game 4 disheartened many potential patrons. Lucky for them, Philadium Tavern is off-the-beaten path and located only a block away.
Fred Falcone is a Philadelphia native, Philadium regular and Phillies fan “since forever.” He said he doesn’t need all the frills of Chickie’s and Pete’s, just give him the game and he’s happy.
“I’m very loyal and enthusiastic,” he said. “I believe they can win, even if they have to win three in a row, I believe in them.”
There was a mixed crowd of young and old at the tavern for Game 4, but everyone got excited about the game. Falcone sarcastically refers to all Yankees hitters as “Babe Ruth,” and when Feliz hit the game-tying homer in the eighth inning, the cheers were as noisy as they would be in a bar twice as big.
Jamie Donaghue, an architect and Temple graduate student, was a Philadium first-timer tonight and followed suit with Falcone’s positive outlook, despite the current standings.
“I was in New York for three days and it was horrible to watch the last two losses. I was so ready to razz Yankees fans but I had nothing. I’m optimistic about the Phillies. They have been good the past couple years so you have to expect them to win,” he said.
Not everyone shared the hopeful sentiment.
“We’re a little nervous,” said South Jersey resident and frequent Philadium visitor Cindy Jones. “If they don’t take this game, they don’t stand a chance.”
Regardless of Raul Ibanez’s performance, Jones said he’s her favorite Phillie because “he’s hot.”
Game coverage suggesting that there’s no hope for the Phils disappointed Falcone.
“I hate when people give in to that,” he said.
It appeared many at the bar lost their faith in the home team after the Yankees scored three runs in the ninth, closing their tabs and walking out before the Phillies got up to bat.
The pressure is on both teams for what could be the fifth of seven or last game of the World Series depending on Monday night’s outcome.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.

Phillies’ tough Game 3 loss doesn’t phase Halloween partiers

Part three of a multi-part series.

With Halloween and Game 3 of the World Series falling on the same night, Saturday proved to be horrifying for more reasons than one — for most it was the blood-smeared zombies skulking around the city, and for the remaining few it was the Phillies’ crushing second defeat in the Series.
Many college students opted to follow the game from a house party rather than the usual bar or pub so as to celebrate the holiday in costume with friends.
At one such party in University City, students from both Temple and Drexel came with the intention of watching or listening to the game while drinking and dancing.
Unfortunately most were easily deterred – come 1 a.m. no one knew the final score of the baseball game.
“Let me call my dad and find out,” said one Temple partier.
Upon confirming the Yankees 8-5 victory over the Phillies, there was a moment of silence to recognize the loss.
On the other side of town, South Street was still packed with pirates and Lady Gagas until after 3 a.m. Here, too, few seemed affected by the Phillies loss.
At Lorenzo’s Pizza, one overzealous Yankees fan began a “Let’s go Yankees” chant. Surprisingly, only one person came the Phillies’ defense and shouted back, the rest were unfazed, more concerned with consuming their pizza.
It seemed as though this Halloween, the candy, costumes and games trumped fan-hood, for Philadelphia’s twenty-somethings, at least.
Phillies fans have another chance to get their act together in time to cheer on their team for Sunday night’s Game Four.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.

Yankees fans outnumber Phils supporters in near-campus bar for Game 2

Part two of a multi-part series.

Main Campus appeared empty Thursday night, likely because everyone was indoors watching Game 2 of the World Series.
However, on the west side of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Pub Webb was bustling with activity. The year-old bar turned out to be a safe-haven for misfit Yankee fans stuck in the wrong city.
Fans wearing both Phillies red and Yankees blue looked evenly matched by the door, but after venturing inside further, dozens more Yankee supporters were discovered.
The large group of said Yankee fans congregated in the back of the bar, loudly cheering on their team — A major behavioral difference compared to the modest Yankee fans witnessed during Game One.
Erika Sutliff, a junior advertising major, didn’t wear any Yankees garb, but said she was proud of her favorite team nonetheless.
“I am not intimidated. I love Philly, but when it comes to the World Series, I’m going for the Yankees. I will be out for every single game,” she said.
Pub Webb is a lifesaver for Yankee fans like Aaron Sheppard, who want to take part in the festivities while avoiding the hometown heat.
Sheppard, a chef at South Street restaurant Supper, only moved to Philly in September, but has already felt they city’s renowned “hospitality.”
“Today I was shopping at The Gallery for a new Yankees hat and a man walked up to me and asked me if I really wanted the Yankees to win. When I said ‘yes’ he pretended to shoot me with a hand pistol like six times,” he said.
Many of the patrons showing Yankee pride are out-of-state Temple students happy to root for their home team.
“My driver’s license says New York and I can’t switch teams at least until my license says PA,” said Jimmy Jones, a native of Queens, New York who graduated from Temple last May.
“[The Yankees] have 26 World Series wins. The city of Philadelphia has history, and they have history, too,” he said.
At one point, the nearly outnumbered Phils fans banded together to chant, “[Expletive] the Yankees!”
But Jones didn’t let it phase him.
“I love it. Next week when we win they’ll all be at home feeling sick,” he said.
And many Phils fans may just have been under-the-weather tonight, as the Yankees took Game 2, 3-1, leaving the series tied 1-1 for the teams to come home to Philadelphia for their Halloween-night matchup.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.

Temple students, Phils fans out in full force to watch team’s blowout Game 1 win

Part one in a multi-story series.

Game one of the World Series kicked off Wednesday night, and Phillies fans were out in full force despite Mother Nature’s attempts to rain out the game.

Fox and Hound, one of Center City’s biggest sports bars, served as a perfect scene to take in game one.

By the bottom of the sixth inning, a mob of game-watchers already crowded the bar and began spilling out the door of the popular watering hole onto the corner of 15th and Spruce streets, as a brawl between a male Yankees fan and a gaggle of female Phillies fans was broken up inside the bar.

“The only difference between watching the game in New York and watching the game here is the number of people who get punched in the face,” said Phillies fan Jimmy Farrell.

A FOX-affiliate reporter in New York said Philadelphia’s only well-known athlete was Rocky, and he’s fictional.

“That insult is based on the presumption that the people of Philadelphia would take it as an insult,” Farrell said.

Clearly, participating in the series festivities is not for the faint of heart, even with Fox and Hound’s injury-preventative steps, such as only serving drinks in plastic cups and bottles.

Lifelong Phillies followers weren’t going to give up that easily. Alex Frigoletto, a senior marketing major at Temple, said following Philly sports is how she was raised.

“There’s a photo of me as an infant with a Phillies hat on, and another wearing Eagles stuff,” he said.

Surviving the upcoming week’s mania isn’t what Frigoletto is worried about, though. She said it’s her wallet.

“I’ll go out every night if my finances allow it,” she said.

Senior Ben Levy is proof that there’s no excuse to stay home on game night.

“I never come out, except now because we’re in the World Series.”

That sentiment goes for Yankees fans as well. Believe it or not there was a small group of Yankee lovers sitting at the bar. While they kept to themselves, many Phils fans couldn’t help but chuck drinks and trash at them.
Michelle Provencher can be reached at michelle.provencher@temple.edu.