NFL Playoffs

[TitanTiger 21,237]

I'm still in mourning. I can't believe the Titans blew that game. We should have won. And I'm still a bit ticked by the phantom holding call on Zach Pillar. That was not a "take down" just because the guy falls while Pillar is blocking him.

But, that's not what lost the game. Other dumb penalties and wasted chances in the red zone did it. And in spite of all that, if Bennett makes that catch, we are at least going to overtime.

ARRRRGH!

[PenguinAUB 0]

colts vs eagles would be a great superbowl.

but i think pats will take down colts

any predicitons?

[Guest AuNuma1]

Colts are one of the best road teams...Colts by 7.

[TitanTiger 21,237]

I predict that the Patriots once again find a way to win and make everyone scratch their heads and ask...how do they do it? I'll tell you how...they make just enough plays and they make a lot less mistakes than you do.

[PenguinAUB 0]

lots of trash talking between philly and charlotte

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/football/7704997.htm

Rowdy tales stalk Philly fans

Should Panthers faithful dress incognito?

SCOTT DODD

Staff Writer

MICHAEL WIRTZ - Philadelphia Inquirer

Don Wilson from North Philadelphia bares his chest and screams for the home team.

• CHARTER: Panthers to charter 2nd flight.

• ROAD TRIP! Travel tips for the Do-It-Yourselfer.

Darryl Harris, Philadelphia native, now living in Charlotte, once worked as a security guard in the infamous 700 level of old Veterans Stadium.

And he has a warning for all Panthers fans considering a trip to the NFC Championship this weekend: STAY AWAY!

"That's one game you do not want to go to," Harris said. "Philadelphia is friendly, but they are die-hard fans. I've seen them spitting, throwing beer, water, batteries. Don't go into their stadium with another team's jersey. They will not allow that."

Ha, ha. He's kidding, right? This Eagles fan thing -- all that stuff about cursing, pouring beer on their opponents' fans and beating up the other team's mascot -- it's just a myth, right?

Right?

We did some research:

• Anthony Gargano, a Philly sportswriter and radio host who co-wrote "The Great Philadelphia Fan Book," assures us that it's an exaggeration.

Well, mostly.

"Like any legend, there's always a degree of truth to it," Gargano said. "Fans in any Northeast city are rabid. I don't think it's a coincidence that your most rabid fans are in the places that have the most history with their teams."

So how does Philly compare?

"Philadelphia has gotten a bad rap, and some fans revel in it. It can be a little rowdy. I think you can wear your team's colors, but just make sure you make friends right away."

Doesn't sound too bad. We Charlotteans are mostly a polite bunch, anyway. So tell us about old Veterans Stadium.

"The Vet was like the third ring of hell," Gargano said, describing a Redskins fan who wore a pricey headdress into the stands and was beaten up, with all his feathers stripped bare. "Heads would roll."

Uh, so it must be better at the Linc, right? (That's Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles moved this season.)

"It's somewhat tamer," he said. "But this city is really starved for a championship. If they lose, it could get really nasty."

• The stories are true, true, true says Betty Rake of Chicago. She's a Packers fan. She went to last weekend's game, which the Eagles won in overtime. She says she was cursed at, told to leave town, and pushed by a man who told her, "No Green Bay scum." She met fellow fans who were pelted with garbage.

"I didn't think it could be that bad, but it's true," said Rake, 50, a Wisconsin native. "I pity the fans from Charlotte who go there."

She went to the game with a friend. They bought tickets on eBay, in the lower deck, at the corner of an end zone. She wore a Green Bay jacket, her friend had on a Packers sweatshirt. "No cheeseheads, because we didn't want to provoke anybody."

So when did the taunting start?

"Walking through the parking lot to the stadium, we were sworn at and told to go home," Rake said. "As soon as we sat down, everybody started chanting `a--hole' and pointing at us."

It lasted the whole game. Security didn't do a thing, she said.

"I go to games at Soldiers Field -- Packers, Bears, one of the biggest rivalries there is. I've been to Minnesota. Yeah, they're yelling at us, but it's nothing like this."

• It's not that bad, says Chris Shallow, an Eagles season-ticket holder in the upper deck for seven years at the Vet and Linc.

"I have never witnessed a fight anywhere near my section," Shallow said in an e-mail.

So it's all just media hype?

"Every year me and my friends go on an Eagles road trip. We have been to Denver, Washington, New Orleans, Seattle, and Miami. Every year we have been taunted, attacked, or have had beer thrown at us, without us provoking. So I know this stuff doesn't only happen here in Philly."

• It is pretty bad, says Joe Gindhart, a Philadelphia ex-patriate now in Charlotte who's dying for a decent hoagie.

"They're rougher than most crowds in general," he said. "It's not everybody, but there's a higher percentage of idiots who cross the line."

Cross the line? Like, how?

"Beating up people goes a little too far."

• Tampa took the reputation seriously. Last year, when the Buccaneers faced the Eagles in the NFC Championship, some Florida tour operators decided to stay away.

"It's 100 percent true," ticket broker Ryon Smith told the St. Petersburg Times last year. "I've been there before, and I wouldn't walk in there with team colors unless I was with half a football team. It's that bad."

Some Panthers fans have been a little concerned when they called Broach Sports Tours in Charlotte to book trips to this weekend's game, said owner Tom Broach. They wonder whether it's safe to wear Panthers gear.

What do you tell them?

"If you are tentative, don't wear your Panthers colors and logos," Broach said. "Just wear a generic coat and enjoy the game."

• Leslie Matz, the Panthers entertainment director and cheerleading coordinator, worked for the Eagles for 11 years. She stuck up for fans of her old team.

"They're fiercely loyal and passionate," she said. "That can sometimes translate into being very ... very ... I'm trying to think of the right word."

Matz said she never saw any violent incidents while she was in Philadelphia. But Panthers employees have been asking her whether it's safe to wear their Carolina apparel to the game.

"I say, wear your Panthers apparel with pride, and have a great time," Matz said. "And I certainly hope we win."

• Finally, we checked with the Eagles front office.

"I think it's quite blown out of proportion," said spokesman Ron Howard. "There are incidents at every stadium in the country."

Have things changed with the move?

It's roughly the same crowd, Howard said, because almost all the Vet season ticket holders made the transition to the Linc.

The biggest sign of reform: Eagles Court, which operated in the stadium basement to dole out fines to unruly fans, was disbanded in December, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The court saw a sharp drop in cases after the move to the Linc, which features an enhanced video security system, extra guards and more bathrooms.

• So what's the verdict? We go back to Harris, the old Vet security guard, for the last word.

He remembers working an Eagles-Cowboys game in the early 1990s. Guards told visiting Dallas fans to take their jerseys off if they wanted to survive.

"They said they couldn't be responsible," he said.

His advice to Panthers fans heading to Philly this weekend:

"They are taking their life into their own hands."