The Flyers are hosting the Bruins tonight in their second-to-last home game of the season, and it’s been just eight days since bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon rocked that city.
We give Boston a lot of shit. Their hockey team is about as hatable as they come, their fans are arrogant and obnoxious, their accents are hilarious. But it’s not hard to see the kinship we have with Boston, too. Our team — at least historically — is about as hatable as it gets, we can be pretty obnoxious as sports fans, we’ve certainly been arrogant in our history and we have pretty funny accents too. (Maybe not quite as funny, though.)
If there’s one city in America to which you could closely compare Philadelphia, Boston is probably it. The history, the general blue-collar attitude of its people, the close parallel between the identity of the city and the identity of its sport teams. Philly’s a great city. Boston’s a great city. And before tonight’s game, that’s the message we sent:
And of course, God Bless America:
We love you, Boston. (But your hockey team still sucks.)
