We’re not exactly fans of calling to attention the awful reputation of the Philadelphia sports fan, mostly because that reputation is, generally speaking, complete bullshit. Every town has their idiots, and we’re no different than New York or Boston or Oakland or anywhere else.
We’re not nearly as bad as everybody wants to make us out to be, and we try to defend the collective reputation of Philly fans as often as we can. Part of doing that, however, means putting a spotlight over the idiots that have forced that reputation to become a reality, like these dudes who beat up a bunch of Rangers fans at Geno’s Steaks.
WARNING: This video is extremely graphic. So graphic, in fact, that it was originally pulled from YouTube because it violates their policy on “shocking and disgusting content.”
We’ll assume this second version, via Barstool, will likely get pulled at some point as well. (Not surprisingly, they had a uh, different take of things at that other site. Don’t wade into the comments. Or click the link, for that matter.)
Just absolutely awful and completely embarrassing.
If you didn’t have the stomach to watch, a synopsis: A Flyers fan guy in a Giroux Winter Classic jersey is arguing with a Rangers fan in a Ryan Callahan jersey. The Philly schmuck clearly steps things up, taking off his coat and stepping towards the Ranger fan. He hits him in the face, the Ranger fan fights back, and then some goon in a Jagr jersey steps in and teams up on the guy in the Callahan jersey.
They get him down on the street, everybody is yelling to stop, horns are honking. Another Rangers fan steps in to try and help his friend, but winds up getting jumped by these two idiots too. The guy in the Callahan jersey gets up off the pavement and then, seemingly because these two Flyers fans have tiny balls and feel the need to sucker punch people while in line for cheesesteaks, knocks him to the pavement again with one punch — from behind.
All in all, it looks like three or four people are throwing punches, and it looks to me like two or three Rangers fans are trying to defend themselves. Several people, including one guy in a blank Flyers Winter Classic jersey, look like they’re trying to break things up. The guy in the Jagr jersey and the guy in the Giroux jersey are almost certainly friends, and they should probably not be allowed to procreate. But that’s just my opinion.
What’s the point of posting this, you ask? Well, there’s the hope that maybe somebody was there and can shed some light on the incident, perhaps with the ultimate goal of getting these idiots thrown in jail. Or, perhaps more unlikely, you can recognize a face or a voice or something in the grainy video and come forward.
We say so often that we don’t deserve our reputation as awful monsters moonlighting as sports fans, but when this sort of thing happens, it completely undermines everything we say on the subject. It’s up to us to police this stuff, then.
H/T: The nine of my Facebook friends who posted this video last night
