Pennsylvania is considered one of the most pivotal places in American history, an early stage for revolutionary war heroes like Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, founders of this great Nation. The eastern part of Pennsylvania is simply chock full of National Historic Landmarks and amazing history. Over here in the Pittsburgh area, our history is more of the lunchbox variety than the musket and bayonet history of our eastern brethren. The Pittsburgh area was long an industrial city, for many decades the most important industrial city in the Country. The city was built through the immigration of many different nationalities, all coming together in one area to find work – and they found that work in the Pittsburgh steel industry. The Steel Mills forged a blue-collar approach to living in the western part of the Pennsylvania that has continued to be the calling card of its residents even now; decades after the steel mills shuttered their doors.
Both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have undergone massive changes over the past century, and as we enter 2013 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of the few states in America with two genuine sports cities within its borders. Two cities with very different pasts, but a very similar passion when it comes to their love of their sports teams – occasionally pitted against one another and forever in a battle for the title of best sports city in Pennsylvania.
As someone who has spent most of my life here in Pittsburgh, I fully understand the way sports are a part of our culture here in Western Pennsylvania. I have also been lucky enough to have spent a great deal of time in Philadelphia, commuting back and forth three days a week for over six years in a past career. For half of every year between 2005 and 2011, I basically lived in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, splitting my time almost 50/50 between the two main cities in Pennsylvania. For the first few years, I felt like I was on mars every time my flight touched down in Philadelphia. I was out of sorts, in a strange land. Luckily, I had a number of friends who were in the same boat, and we brought our culture to the new land, including our love for everything black and gold. Desperate to prove to the rabid Philadelphia sports fans that we were the true champion of sports fans in this state, we forced our Terrible Towels into the offices and work areas of the biggest Philly supporters, the life-long Phillies and Eagles fans who believed that they were the top of the mountain in Pennsylvania. In time, we learned to co-exist – and even appreciate the other way of life we had been subjected to.
Going back even further for this fan, my very first experience with the odd animal that is the Philadelphia sports fan was in college. On a small off-campus of the University of Pittsburgh, I met a group of die-hard Philly fans who would become not only friends but pretty close to adopted brothers. We argued daily over the virtues of our homelands, while on neutral territory in tiny Titusville, PA. A mutual respect formed, and over time I allowed myself to learn the history and legacy of Philadelphia – the Broad Street Bullies, the 1980 Phillies, and the long-suffering Eagles fans. In turn, my friends learned all about the Steel Curtain, High School Football as a religion, and the plight of the 1992 National League Championship Series that had left all of us scarred for life (damn you, Francisco Cabrera).
Now that I am an adult – or at least my driver’s license says I am – my experiences with the “other side” have opened my eyes to the reality of the Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia sports war. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Phillies, who won a World Series during my time working in Philly. I even find myself cheering for the Eagles occasionally, unless it directly affects my Steelers. The Philly sports fan is different than the Pittsburgh sports fan in many ways, but ultimately we both live and breathe with the logo on our sleeve.
As this hockey season meanders its ways through the abbreviated schedule, the Penguins vs. Flyers rivalry continues to be the hottest battlefield between our two cities. Hockey fans in Philadelphia are comparable to football fans in Pittsburgh, although the extreme demographics of Philadelphia create pockets of a massive city that could care less about the boys of winter. Philadelphia is a different kind of city than Pittsburgh, much larger and spread out, with certain areas more apt to cheering for the fantastic high school and college basketball scene than the hockey team. While here in Pittsburgh, it is not unrealistic to find rabid Penguins fans on every street in the tri-state area. The division of these fans does nothing to stop the passion that is Flyers hockey for a die-hard fan base. The identity of Philadelphia is as closely tied-into the hardcore fighting style of their Flyers as the identity of Pittsburgh is tied-into the blue-collar approach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is almost uncanny how each city feeds off their respective team, which is why no matter how much Penguins fans consider themselves “great hockey fans”, they have a ways to go before they are able to truly match up with Philadelphia Flyers fans in terms of passion and overall emotional attachment to their team. That isn’t what Penguins fans want to hear, but it is the truth. Hockey is the ruling power in Philadelphia.
On the gridiron, it is the complete opposite. The Philadelphia Eagles have die-hard fans, a sold out stadium each Sunday, and a reputation for being the toughest fans in the league. However, it is Pittsburgh Steelers fans that set the bar for NFL fandom – not only in Pennsylvania, but throughout America. Universally ranked as the best fans in all of sports, Steeler Nation is a tangible entity that touches every corner of the Earth. There is simply no comparison, although the history of each team – six Lombardi trophies to zero Lombardi trophies – obviously has something to do with it. Steelers fans have been raised on the notion that the football world revolves around the Steel City, and they are not too far off in that evaluation. Philadelphia Eagles fans are more of a “what have you done for me lately” fanbase. Yes, there are die-hards, but a bad Eagles season like the one that has just passed will bury the “Birds” deep into the sports section. Philly fans will abandon the Eagles for a season and then come back the next year, ready to go to war. There is no comparison – Steelers fans are better than Eagles fans.
On the baseball diamond, both cities are represented by franchises that have spent the majority of their history under .500. The Pirates have not had a winning season since 1992, and do not appear any closer to making a run in 2013. The Phillies were the franchise who owned the record for consecutive sub-.500 seasons before the Bucs took over that horrific distinction a few years back. The Phillies have had a nice run as of late, winning a World Series in 2008 – the first World Championship for the “City of Brotherly Love” –since the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers brought home the NBA Championship, and for the most part they have been a competitive team for the past decade. The city of Philadelphia bonds around the Phillies, with fans of every denomination breaking out the jerseys and hats each year and filling up the beautiful Citizens Bank Park.
The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to do the same here in Pittsburgh, despite ownership that couldn’t find a winning season if one dropped out of the sky like an ACME anvil in a Road Runner cartoon. The Pirates are as juiced into the local culture as Pierogis and Steak Salads (with fries on them!). Eventually the dark clouds will lift and the Pirates will have a winning season, and I predict that a Pirates World Series championship would be the biggest celebration this city has ever seen. Bigger than the 800,000+ fans that packed the streets of Pittsburgh post Super Bowl XL, and bigger than the Penguins Stanley Cup parade of a few years back. Baseball fans in Pittsburgh have been waiting for a winning season for so long that an entire generation of fans have now grown up and gone off to college without ever experiencing a Pirates season over the .500 clip. That in itself is one amazing statistic. As of now, Philadelphia is the top city in the state in terms of baseball, and until Pirates fans are afforded a decent season by their Battling Buccos, it will remain that way for years to come.
The never-ending feud between our two cities is a subject that brings out emotion in even the most novice of sports fans, but it also gives the citizens of Pennsylvania a dynamic that is unlike that of any other state in the County. Many states have two major cities with professional sports teams, but few have the all-around love and passion of the fans in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
