Since I entered college I’ve been fortunate enough to have all three of my favorite teams (Rangers, Mets, and Giants) be division rivals with Philadelphia teams (Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles), so the teams I like are in town fairly often.

While I’ve seen the Mets multiple times in Philadelphia, the Giants come to town only once a year, today the New York Giants vs. the Philadelphia Eagles here in Philadelphia. Now, I’ve been brave enough to wear a Mets shirt to a Phillies game and walk away with only slightly inappropriate names thrown at me, along with a young boy booing me as I waited in line for water ice. But if you wear anything Giants related to an Eagles home game, you must prepare yourself for abuse.

Notable things observed at the game today:

Eagles fans chanting a word similar to “brass pole” to anyone wearing a Giants jersey. This abuse extended to people of all ages, including a mom and two young kids who couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

Also notable was their hatred for any other team, and this ranged beyond football. A man saw my Penn sweatshirt and said “Man, you guys put up a fight against North Carolina.” (Penn played North Carolina in men’s basketball last week, and was crushed 71-106). “I HATE the Tarheels. I was hoping that their plane would crash on the way home and they all would have died.” Wow.

When I got home today, I saw an article in Sports Illustrated on how Philadelphia is the worst town for visiting teams to play in. From Sports Illustrated: “[Philadelphia], says Washington’s Ethan Albright, “is the only place where six-year-olds flip us off and their dads pat their backs to say ‘good job.'”