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.

Yankees fans trapped in Philly face adversity

It’s certainly no picnic for Yankees fans living in Philadelphia during this World Series.

If you’re a regular reader of Public Eyeglass (and I thank you), you know I’m from New Jersey, evidenced by my Springsteen lovefest two weeks ago. I admit to all the haters that yes, I hail from the Garden State and do so proudly.

This fact informs almost everything about me. My tastes in music, movies, pizza crust, bars – and yes, sports – are all remnants of my time growing up a 90-minute train ride from the center of the universe, New York City.

Upon my first New York-Philadelphia sporting event in this fair city of brotherly shove, I had my life threatened – kind of.

It’s late 2006, and I’m at a Rangers-Flyers game at the Wachovia Center. The seats are cheap, but the energy is there. My friend and I, both proudly emblazoned with Rangers logos, become the enemies of our section.

Every time the Rangers scored, the guy next to me impressed his girlfriend by spilling beer on my leg and saying, “Oh, sorry man,” and high-fiving his friend two seats away. I was fine with this. In fact, I kind of thrived on it. I knew what it felt like to be hated for something I had nothing to do with.

The third period ended, and the game was tied. Overtime did nothing. We were prepared for one of the most intense battles in sports, the shootout. In an epic, the Rangers won. We celebrated. We jumped up and down. We found other Rangers fans. I turned around, preparing to exit the arena.

“If this game was at the Spectrum, you’d be dead already,” said the grizzled old man behind me. He stared into my eyes as if it were a bad episode of All My Children.

The Philadelphia-New York rivalry is long and storied, but we’ve entered a new era. For the first time in 60 years, the Yankees are meeting the Phillies in the World Series. To say the least, it’s an interesting time to be me.

I love the Yankees. I spent more time in my youth watching the Yankees than I did playing “Zombies Ate My Neighbors,” which was a lot. I grew up with the great Yankee teams of the ‘90s. I got to watch Tino Martinez blast a grand slam on a cold October night in 1998 against the Padres. I got to watch two perfect games in two consecutive seasons. I got to go to ticker tape parades down the canyon of heroes.

Last year, I understood the years and years of Philadelphia frustration. Yes, I’m glad that my adopted city got a World Series ring. That team deserved it, and heck, this year’s edition is quite the formidable opponent as well. When it comes down to it though, nothing can take my Yankee hat from my head, and you’ll have to pry my 1992 Derek Jeter draft-pick baseball card from my cold, dead hands (or you’d have to be an attractive girl I went to elementary school with who tried to get it from me – it almost worked).

What happens if the Phillies win? I have to sit in my house and watch out the window as this city goes Mardi Gras. Not once, but twice. Now that I live in South Philly, I’ll be able to see the parade from my window. No, I won’t watch the parade. I actually have an appointment to get needles stuck in my eyes that day.

But what if the Yankees win? Do my Yankee-fan roommates and I have our own parade? Do we climb bus stops? No, we sit alone in our house with a beer and celebrate quietly so no one hears. I’ve already been warned by friends and family to not wear my hat on buses or subways.

Above all else though, we’re going to have one hell of a World Series. The drama of the two cities clashing. Ryan Howard versus Mark Teixiera. Pedro Martinez pitching against his old rivals. Shane Victorino in a dress on the New York Post. The story is writing itself one second at a time.

After the Phightin’ Phils won Game 1, Philadelphia media was nothing but one-sided almost as if the team already had the title in the bag. I sat on my couch and watched Fox29’s coverage with “The 5 Most Annoying Things About Yankee Stadium.”

I don’t see the Yankees pre-game show poking fun at the Liberty Bell in the outfield, but then again I wouldn’t see that because I agree with that. It’s like Fox News and it’s viewership – they watch it because it agrees with their sentiments, and they don’t want that to change. That’s how I feel as a Yankee fan in Philadelphia. It’s like I’m public enemy No. 1, but only for a little bit.

Here’s to baseball.

Steve Ciccarelli can be reached at steve.ciccarelli@temple.edu.

Restraining the riots

While the Phillies’ wins in the last two years have rejuvenated the city, fans’ reactions to engage in risky behavior afterward are neither safe nor ideal.

Despite feeling that sport-watching is a lackluster hobby, I was thrilled when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in their second National League Championship Series victory in two years.

But that tiny spark of enthusiasm I had inside me quickly dulled, as soon as I realized that Broad Street was shut down. That planned trip to Melrose Diner at 1501 Snyder Ave. wasn’t going to happen.

After the Phillies won Oct. 21, Andrew Bush of the press office for SEPTA said portions of John F. Kennedy Boulevard and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway were cut off. These blockings are appropriate for events that involve these streets being used as entertainment venues, such as the shows every year on July 4. They are not, however, fair or convenient when you are trying to get from point A to point B and your route is altered because of hundreds of rowdy fans.

When the Phillies won the World Series Oct. 29, 2008, an intense wave of happiness and joy swept through Philadelphia and its neighboring counties. Fans cheered, yelled, celebrated with drinks and proceeded to march to City Hall. It was at this point that things went sour.

That wave of happiness and joy was followed almost immediately by a wave of off-the-wall behavior. Cars were flipped, fires were started, and Phillies fans generally acted like barbarians as they formed a sea of red and white T-shirts on a path to City Hall.

This kind of celebration leaves me wondering what happened to the good old days of pouring Gatorade all over yourself and your friends when the home team won a game. Apparently, they’re long gone, since celebrating victories seems now to be all about the thrill of risky behavior.

“Risk-taking has two faces,” said Frank Farley, a psychology professor and former president of the American Psychological Association. “The negative shows itself in terms of criminal rule-breaking of civil life, such as tearing things down or setting things on fire.”

Farley, whose expertise is in risk-taking, said the positive face of risks include creativity, great accomplishment and inventiveness.

But Phillies fans are far from wearing the positive face of risk-taking.

Megan McEachin, a junior political science major and Phillies fan for two years and counting, recalls the riot last year. She described it as the “most insane time of my life.”

“I didn’t destroy anything, but I was there, and I left before the cops were [forced to take action],” she said. “It was very fun, but if I had to pay for the wreckage, then seeing random people pulling off bus stop overheads and hanging from posts would make me try and stop it, too.”

The Phillies victory two weeks ago and the ensuing chaos were nowhere near as bad as the incident last year. Blocking off Broad Street was probably a reason for this, though the blockage didn’t necessarily stop fans – especially Temple students – from trying to make their way to City Hall or gather on North Broad Street for a miniature celebration.

I know last year’s car-flipping, fire-starting celebration was primarily a result of the excitement of a 28-year wait for a World Series win. Adrenaline kicks in, and before you know it, you’re engaging in risky behavior because of the thrill and the rush.

But taking risks, regardless of adrenaline, is not conducive to your public record.

“If you take risks out in public, such as tearing a sign, police could catch you,” Farley said. “Your whole career could be impacted by something you did in an impulsive moment.”

While this is very true, the more important thing to remember is that this behavior endangers others. Philadelphia is already labeled as one of the nation’s most dangerous cities. Instead of having a round of beers at the bar or returning to our old Gatorade-pouring ways, fans that participate in these riots only add to the list of reasons why.

While this behavior goes on in other cities as well, this year we should try to have our (hopefully) celebratory fun in a more traditional, civilized way.

Joshua Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.

TTN Video: Temple fans weigh in on World Series

Video by Justin Fortmeier

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.

Repeat?

As the Phillies head to their second World Series appearance in as many years, Temple and Philadelphia Police announce a zero-tolerance policy.

Rob Lipson, a self-proclaimed Phillies fan, said he’s watched YouTube videos showing much worse celebratory damage than Philadelphia saw following last year’s World Series win.

“I’ve seen kids from other cities,” the senior history major said. “It was nothing in Philly.”

On Oct. 16, nearly a week before the Phillies clinched the National League Championship Series win, Temple Police issued a statement to all students that they and Philadelphia Police would be enforcing a zero-tolerance policy at Phillies-win celebrations to “prevent injuries and damages.”

In boldface font, the e-mail read, “Most importantly, Philadelphia Police will not allow anyone to march to City Hall.”

Last year, Center City near City Hall experienced looting, broken windows, downed streetlight poles and other forms of vandalism.

“Things that would normally be ignored will not this year,” Campus Safety Services Executive Director Carl Bittenbender said. “The Philadelphia Police do not want people to march. If students march in the street, [they] will most likely be arrested.”

Bittenbender said the police want students to have fun but to party safely, adding that Main Campus had very few problems last year, save a few damaged cars when the Phillies won the National League Championship Series.

Philadelphia Police Department spokeswoman Officer Jillian Russell confirmed that the Philadelphia Police will be employing a zero-tolerance policy citywide, but declined to comment further.

When the Phillies won the NLCS last week, students gathered outside on Liacouras Walk, and people celebrated on South Broad Street with no reported incidents.

“Honestly, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” junior psychology major Todd Parham said of the police’s zero-tolerance policy, citing that the city doesn’t have much money to repair anything that may be damaged by rowdy, celebrating crowds.

But, Parham said, the celebrations could boost the morale of the city.

“It’s good for the city,” the Philadelphia-born student said. “It’s normally very depressing here. People need all the fun they can have.”

Morgan Zalot can be reached at morgan.zalot@temple.edu.

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