To the editor:
Last semester on the opinion page, Anthony Ruebsam tried to prove that St. Louisans, although nice people, are nonetheless “diehard sports fans.”
My problem with his article has nothing to do with the point he tried to prove, but rather with the fact that he victimized Philadelphia. He specifically mentioned my city twice in the article without singling out any other cities. I don’t see how proving his point that St Louisans are diehard sports fans in any way required him to criticize Philadelphia.
In Mr. Ruebsam’s first unwarranted reference to Philadelphia, he asked, “Why do St. Louis players always talk about how great the fans are? Why don’t Philadelphia [players] do the same?” I’d like to enlighten Mr. Ruebsam to the fact that Philadelphia athletes do love our city. Allen Iverson has called our fans the best in the world. Jeremy Roenick was overjoyed to come to Philadelphia and quickly became enthusiastic about the Philadelphia mindset. Donovan McNabb thanks us all the time and genuinely adores our city even though he spent a lot of time proving himself. Even when Charles Barkley was traded to Phoenix, he kept his family and his home in Philadelphia and continued to love its people.
Our athletes understand that we are honest and real. If we’re upset, they know it. And when our athletes get our applause, they know they’ve earned it. Being fake doesn’t get you anywhere in Philly. Just because St. Louisans may have a different attitude towards sports does not make either approach wrong, just different.
Mr. Ruebsam explained that his readers are jealous: “Jealous over the fact that you don’t live in a city with three playoff contenders.” Actually, Mr. Ruebsam, I am from a city with three playoff contenders. I’m also from a city with all four professional sports. How’s your basketball team these days?
If Philadelphia is such a terrible sports town, then why are the Philadelphia Phillies, formed in 1883, the oldest continuous single-name, single-city franchise in all of professional sports? Why have the Sixers been in Philadelphia for 39 years? Why have the Eagles and the Flyers both been there ever since they were formed in 1933 and 1966 respectively? If our fans are so terrible and despised, why are we able to support our teams for so long? It’s certainly not Veterans Stadium that’s kept the Eagles and Phillies in town. And it’s not because of our exorbitant amounts of championships either. It’s because our fans can and do support our sports teams and keep them in town year after year.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that St Louis isn’t a great sports town. I can honestly respect anyone who is really hardcore about their teams, especially their home teams. I may declare you my mortal enemy if your football team happens to be playing my Eagles that Sunday. I may tell you that you’re mentally deficient if you have any sort of affinity towards the New Jersey Devils or the Dallas Cowboys, but somewhere underneath, it’s all in fun. What would be the point if we all liked the same team? Any true fan understands that.
And this, Mr. Ruebsam, is precisely why I couldn’t respect your article. In order to try and prove the legitimacy of your city, you attempted to step on and insult mine. That’s not cool. If you want me to respect you as a sports fan, you need to show me the same respect.
Elle Stewart
Class of 2005
Arts & Science