From Sports Illustrated, for cryin' out loud ..."Ever since they booed Santa Claus, Philadelphia fans have had a reputation as the nastiest in all of sports."
From Answers.com ...
"The incident occurred in 1968. The Eagles were having a miserable season under Joe Kuharich, who may have been the most disliked coach in team history. The team started off the season 0-11 (back then they played 14 games), but the lone bright spot was that the team would be in position to select O.J. Simpson with the first overall pick in the 1969 draft. The Eagles then went on a two-game winning streak and lost out on the first pick. So even when they won, they lost."
"The Santa Claus incident occurred during halftime of the last game of the season, a game in which the Eagles were defeated by the Vikings. Back then, the regular season ended before Christmas, so they had a show at halftime. An older person was supposed to be Santa but he didn't show up (or was too sick or drunk depending on which version of the story you hear). In his place, they found a guy in the stands who had come to the game dressed in a Santa suit. He was young, skinny guy who didn't look the part. There have been accounts of the person being drunk, but it's unclear whether that's ever been verified."
"The fan reaction was a combination of a poor portrayal of Santa, frustration with coach Kuharich (who was fired after the '68 season) and the team. Philadelphia had become a football wasteland at the time. Between 1962 and 1977, the Eagles had exactly one winning season. On this day, fans took their frustration out on Santa."
1 comment:
There should be a new dictionary definition for "nihilism"...booing Santa Claus!
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