Living in this area I often hear a lot of talk about how Philadelphia has the best and most passionate sports fans in the world and that the fans in general are tough on their players only because they want to win. This all may have been true in the past but after the last several weeks and the overall behavior of the Philadelphia fan base I am starting to think quite the opposite. Several weeks ago an overweight drunken fan decided to intentionally throw-up all over a young fan sitting in the next row down from him. Throughout my time as a sports fan that was by far the most repulsive thing I have ever heard taking place at a sporting event. That incident alone is enough to haunt an entire fan-base for years without the incidents that took place in the last several days.

I used to believe, like the rest of this area, that the national media and ESPN had a lot to do with why Philadelphia is largely recognized as one of the most crude, vulgar, and violent fan bases in the country, but I don’t think you can blame anyone but the fans for the reputation at this point. With the recent World Championship for the Phillies, the majority of the “fans” in attendance on a nightly basis are not there to enjoy a baseball game. It has become an event for binge drinking, fighting, and vulgarity for people who couldn’t care less about the game actually taking place on the field.

The Philly fans struck again on Monday night, as a young fan ran on to the field of play and was eventually tasered after eluding security for several minutes. There was nothing too much out of the ordinary, besides the taser, but on Tuesday night while the Phillies own Cole Hamels was in the midst of a complete game shutout with no outs in the 9th inning of a 1-0 ballgame, another fan proceeded to run onto the field again. A fan base that is so intelligent and knowledgeable has a drunken fool running around distracting the Phillies’ starting pitcher as he enters his wind-up to throw the first pitch of the ninth? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me, personally.

The fact of the matter is, this type of behavior comes with the territory of winning, to some degree, but this area has taken it to a whole different level. If you want to go somewhere to get drunk beyond comprehension and make a fool of yourself, stay in your own house. Citizens Bank Park isn’t the place for your ridiculous antics and behavior. It is a place where people are paying money to watch a team play baseball. If you want to call yourself the best fans in the country, maybe you should try acting like it.

Tags: citizens bank park, John Gallante, Phillies Taser, Phillies Taser Fan, Philly Fans, Philly fans out of control, Philly Out of Control, TSP