I wish we could give the death penalty to the people who do this sort of thing.

at least we can break a title drought without anyone getting shot and killed.



i'd like to hear boston try to claim that.

They should have sharp-shooters stationed all over the city so they can pick these turds off.

Excellent...America's answer to English football hooliganism

It never ceases to amaze me how people choose to celebrate something positive.

This is the equivalent to that old footage of Hussain and his crowd firing off shotguns in the air after they originally invaded Kuwait...what a way to celebrate.

Its always nice when you can draw comparisons with behavioral patterns in the 3rd world.

It will be annoying having to listen to the media drone on about this behavior as if it is unique to Philadelphians and Philadelphians alone. Lots of people just lack common sense and decency, and it has nothing to do with where they live or what sports teams they root for... even the Red Sox.

even the Red Sox

Whoa, now you just hold on there partner! Now you are picking on my...oh wait, you're right some Sox fans do act like crap.

Good point, Crashburn. Its a numbers game isn't it? tens of thousands mostly young people, mix in alcohol and drugs...yep, I'd throw the number at 3-5% who will act like idiots. Can we get tangotiger, Neyer or someone at BP to do a study on this?

Excellent...America's answer to English football hooliganism

What English team is the equivalent of the Phillies? Wolverhampton?

What English team is the equivalent of the Phillies? Wolverhampton?

Don't really know mate, I'm an Aussie. If I had to guess I'd say the newly promoted Hull or Middlesborough(there always seems to be some quasi-nazi guys there that cause alot of mischief)

Even money these fools couldn't fill in 1/8th of the Phillies lineup card.

this would never have happened if baseball had a salary cap.

don't mind me, just channeling old school btf.

The Guardian's US sports blogger Lawrence Donegan compares Phillies vs. Rays to Everton vs. Stoke City. That sounds just about exactly right to me. Everton is a big-market team that has hardly ever (ever?) won it all in 120 years, is motivated by resentment of Liverpool FC, and for the last decade has been consistently in the top half of the Premier League but without any real feeling that they would win the whole league.

Man United - Yankees
Liverpool - Dodgers? Giants?
Arsenal - Cardinals (consistent excellence, somewhat lower budget)
Chelsea - Red Sox (dominant only recently)
Newcastle - Cubs
Middlesbrough - White Sox ("quasi-nazi guys that cause a lot of mischief"? sounds about right)
Everton - Phillies
Man City - Angels?
Spurs - Mets
Bolton - A's
Portsmouth - Brewers
Aston Villa - Twins (consistent success, very low budget, extremely boring)
Birmingham City - Expos
Reading - Royals
Hull - Rays (at the moment)
Wigan - Marlins (near-total lack of fans, sudden appearances among the elite followed by sudden disappearances)
Wolverhampton - Orioles

Wow, Crispix, nice work. Arsenal--lower budget--are you kidding me? I think they'd probably sit 3rd or 4th payroll.

But I am concerned about your social life, do you need to get out more ;-)

"It will be annoying having to listen to the media drone on about this behavior as if it is unique to Philadelphians and Philadelphians alone."

Well, if the good people of Philadelphia don't want to be stereotyped, then maybe they shouldn't flip cars and tear down street signs and light things on fire.

It's crazy, but it just might work.

Wigan - Marlins (near-total lack of fans, sudden appearances among the elite followed by sudden disappearances)

Except that Wigan succeeds basically because one rich guy throws a lot of money at the club. While the Marlins have a history of rich guys throwing no money at the club (and taking as much as possible from everyone else). The Marlins are like Wigan in the evil Star Trek universe where everyone has goatees.

Spurs - Mets

Hmm, I've heard a Chelsea fan who frequents Primer make this comparison based on how their respective fans behave. Basically, he thinks Spurs fans are just like the Mets fans around here.

Speaking of the Spurs, why do they always suck? My girl is a Spurs fan so I've adopted them as my EPL team, but I don't think I'm cut out for it. They annoy me to no end. The only thing that keeps me on is the team is used as a backdrop in a John McGahern novel which is damn cool by my standards.

Wow, Crispix, nice work. Arsenal--lower budget--are you kidding me?

Arsenal are lower budget than their main rivals. Arsenal are very good at doing well with young players, they have an entertaining style of play and tend not to have many stars. And the ones that are stars have risen to the top at Arsenal. They tend to sell off their best players and make a nice profit on it and those players invariably start playing much worse. I'm not sure there has been one player who's left Wenger's Arsenal to play better elsewhere. They always have a replacement too who's ready or nearly ready to step up. When he buys players, Wenger often changes their positions usually with great success, like Henry and Toure. Each first team player has a direct replacement on the bench or in the reserves.

However, Arsenal's problem is that they haven't won anything for a while. This could be because of their selling-on policy, because their players lack experience at the highest level or because they have a French captain who looks for reasons to moan (Henry - Champs Lge final, Gallas - on several occasions).

Who does that compare with? I don't see a direct comparison in baseball.

The lovable Cubbies have to be West Ham. Old fashioned and many people's second team. They play an entertaining style and never win. Ah, bless 'em.

Hmm, I've heard a Chelsea fan who frequents Primer make this comparison based on how their respective fans behave. Basically, he thinks Spurs fans are just like the Mets fans around here.

I wonder who that could be.

Birmingham City - Expos

Is Birmingham City extinct? And what English team is the equivalent of the Washington Nationals? (I realize that's a damning statement, but...)

Also, I believe the British "Fever Pitch" was based on Arsenal, so wouldn't that make the Gunners the Red Sox of English soccer? (Or should the U.S. film have been about the Cardinals?)

Well, if the good people of Philadelphia don't want to be stereotyped, then maybe they shouldn't flip cars and tear down street signs and light things on fire.

It's crazy, but it just might work.

True story, the only other time I've ever seen this happen (flipping cars) was at some wild campus party about 15-20 years ago when I was a college student ... in Philadelphia.

What, exactly, did that car do to them?

[edit: nevermind]

Is Birmingham City extinct? And what English team is the equivalent of the Washington Nationals? (I realize that's a damning statement, but...)

That would have made more sense when I had Aston Villa as the Blue Jays...
Birmingham City isn't extinct, they just got demoted a few years ago.

The real equivalent of the Expos is Wimbledon FC, the only (?) team in the English Football League ever to be moved from one city to another. And in fact, both Wimbledon and the Expos may have had their best season ever in 1994.

Wimbledon is now Milton Keynes, so I guess that would be the equivalent of the Nationals.