Last night I caught up with some friends to watch the second half of the Philadelphia Eagles play Atlanta. The bar we went to was known as an “Eagles” bar, and for my non-American readers, they carry quite a reputation. Think of Collingwood, or Rangers. They’re loud, passionate, and don’t take kindly to being beaten.
The bar we went to was packed to the rafters with people in all out Eagles gear. They had the kit, the hats, I’m pretty sure one guy even had face paint. May I remind you, this is round two. On a Monday. In Denver.
With 45 seconds to go, the Eagles were up 15-10, and the place was going off. My friend, let’s call him Jon (as that’s his name), was going nuts for it, and leading the cheer squad. Fortunately, it was one of the easier chats: E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! What a time to be alive.
But 45 seconds is still 45 seconds, and it turns out that’s all you Atlanta needed to score a touchdown and win the game. As they scored, the entire bar went dead silent. Well, almost. One brave, brave man stood up on a chair and started screaming “Atlanta for life baby, all you bitch ass Philly fans can suck my dick”. What a time to be alive, although perhaps not for long for this particular individual.
This man then proceeded to walk up and and down the bar cheering for Atlanta, when some corn fed white boy tried to step up to him, and at this point, I thought it would erupt.
What happened next was incredible. All these drunken Phillies fans, pissed off that they had lost, essentially defused the situation immediately, and everyone went back to their normal lives.
Europeans often accuse Americans of being uncivilised, but had this occurred in Europe, that man would be lucky to be alive.