Phillies Fans Leave Your Jerseys Home

What would it take to attend an Eagles, Phillies or Flyers game and become so frustrated by the teams’ play that you would rip the jersey off your back and throw it on the ice or field?

For Maple Leafs fans, it took 48 years (since 1967) without a Stanley Cup plus recently losing five straight. Some fans had bags over their faces with the words “uncoachable,” “over paid,” and “bums” written on them.

Then, there were the four jersey tossers. Three of the four were ticketed for being pushed to their breaking point of paying good money for a terrible product and then throwing their jerseys to the ice. The fines are about $125 and the perpetrators were suspended from the arena for a year. That’s probably doing them a favor.

This wasn’t the first jersey tossing event in Toronto. Back in November, after a 9-2 loss, jerseys hit the ice.

This week, like back in November, the players responded angrily towards the fans calling them names like classless and disrespectful. Nazem Kadri responded with  “I don’t how that happens, what security or the ushers are doing… It seems like we’re giving the guy an extra couple minutes to flip everybody off and to mock our real fans.”

Yo dude, how about you worry about the play on the ice that is driving the Leafs fans to act like this? This isn’t Philadelphia. You know how bad you have to anger a Canadian so he’ll act out like this? 48 years bad.

I’ve seen beers thrown in anger. I’ve heard about batteries thrown in anger. I’ve never witnessed someone just ripping off their jersey. It’s Canada, so instead of beers, snowballs, or batteries, they throw clothing.  I guess a player or ref could trip over the jerseys, but they weren’t in the areas where the action was and these guy aren’t amateur skaters.

Disgruntled fans have limited methods of getting their point across to the players and the management. If you’ve been to Toronto or Montreal, you know the reality of these fans not coming to the game is zero. It’s just the way of life there. So, they can call into talk radio stations. The press can rip the team. But, players and management can ignore talk radio and the press.  They can’t ignore the jerseys on the ice. It’s embarrassing for the players and management. It’s a reality check to them. It’s on TV. Everybody sees it. Get over it and play better. Look in the mirror and ask yourselves what is this organization doing to cause this reaction?

I’d think long and hard about tossing my Phillies, Flyers or Eagles jersey onto the ice or field. They’re expensive and that’s without the 20% sales tax up in Canada.

The way the Phillies are shaping up this year, I think I’m better off leaving my jersey at home. I don’t even want the temptation. However, I wouldn’t be shocked if one ends up on the field of Citizens Bank Park.

That’s not a challenge or dare. That’s just me seeing an ownership that doesn’t seem to be listening to it’s fan base and they’re frustrated. Granted, there was a World Series 7 long years ago, but Phillies fans are angry. A 10-1 loss to the Nationals on a hot August day with the Phillies 20 games out just might put someone over the jersey-tossing edge.

PSA: PHILLIES FANS, LEAVE YOUR JERSEYS HOME.