What Makes A True Fan?

A lof of people criticize Philly fans for booing their home team when they are down and out. They think that whenever a Philly team loses(which happens a lot), the Philly fans just give up on them. I'm here to tell you that this isn't the case. Have you ever heard of tough love? Philadelphia fans will be the first to tell you how they see it, the first to tell you when something needs to be changed. Yeah, Santa did get booed and had snowballs thrown at him back in '68, and recently sarah palin got booed at a Flyers game, but she deserved it.

The Fightin Phils were down 5-3 and the dodgers pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, i started to get a little worried, but i didn't give up. i ended up falling asleep and i wake up to read on my phone that victorino hit a 2-run blast to tie the game in the 9th, and then the 2008 pick-up, matt stairs, hit a 2-run blast in the 9th to give the phils the 7-5 edge over the dodgers. i earned my right to cheer for that win. when they were down and out i didn't turn my tv off, or radio or whatever, no, i kept on watchin, kept having faith in my phillies.

another prime example. bottom of the 6th. manny gets walked and that puts him on first, furcal on second and kemp on third, the bases are loaded. yeah, the phillies bail on the pitcher that got them in that mess, but ryan madson comes in and induces a line drive which turns in to a double play, getting furcal out at 2nd on the tag up. not one point in that inning did i think, "F*kin phillies, messin it up again." no, i thought, "alright. bases loaded, 1 out...lets go madson you can do this." and he did it.

On december 15th, 1968, a crowd of 54,00+ showed up in the snow to watch their Eagles finish off a 2-12 season with a loss to Minnesota. There was supposed to be a christmas parade on the field during halftime but the snowy weather didn't permit this. So, they grabbed a 19-year old fan out of the stands and had him put on a fake beard and santa suit and prance across the field between two rows of cheerleaders. the fans immediate reaction was to boo santa and throw snowballs at him. they didn't do this because of the disappointment factor or because of the fact that he's santa, they saw this santa out on the field as a symbol of the head coach, team owner and recently acquired qb norm snead(whom they traded future Hall of Famer, Sonny Jurgenson to the Redskins for...)

54,000+ fans attending a snowed out game in the middle of december right after their star qb was recently traded...i wouldn't say the fans gave up on their team i'd say they got pissed at the team's staff. There's no giving up on your home/favorite team when they're down and out, how would they have any fans when push comes to shove? when they have their worst year ever and then turn it around the next season to make it to the world series like the rays might do? you gotta fight with your team and defend them every step of the way...thats what makes a true fan.