There's nothing Philly loves more....

Those who know me know that I really could not care less about sports. I tried to like hockey for cultural reasons when I lived in Finland. It was alright, but it never stuck. I'm sure that AB has recollections of trying to help me understand football during our high school marching band days. I'm sure he'll be the first to agree that I just never really cared enough to learn what "First Down" meant. I've tried to watch the Superbowl a few times, but have found that sports announcers voices tend to lull me into a pleasant sleep. So, as you can imagine, baseball does not interest me at all.

I ran into one of my neighbors while waiting for the subway last night. He introduced me to his girlfriend and said they were going to the game.

"What game?" I said. He looked at me with a slightly horrified expression.

"What game? The Phillies!"

"Oh."

So you see, Reader(s), I just don't care about baseball. There was another game today, in Philadelphia. This time I didn't need to be told. I noticed the people on the train, dressed up in their Phillies best. Turns out today's game was the clincher... The Phils are division champs.

I played a concert today in Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center. Start time was 3:00. Based on what I have observed about Philadelphia, I would not have been surprised if no one showed up. 3:00 was the start time for the Phillies Game. Based on the fact that the Phillies are the losing-est team in the history of sports (with over 10,000 losses!), I never would have guessed they'd get this far. I'm betting I'm not the only one who thought that.

So, we've established that I don't know or care about baseball. But I do care about Philadelphia. And if there is one thing that Philly loves, its when Philly does good. When the score was announced at intermission, the crowd went WILD. I felt like I was actually IN the stadium, not at a pops concert, of all things. After the show, Peter Nero came out and announced that the Phillies had won-- even I was happy. Upon exiting the hall, it was easy to see that the entire city had gone ape-shit.

Philadelphia has problems. Lots of problems. It is has the highest violent crime rate of any city in America. Its so dirty it makes New York City look pristine. The Mayor is useless and the rest of the politicians are pretty corrupt. But what I love about Philadelphia is that it an honest place, with people who love it for its humble "We're not New York!" attitude.

There is an honesty about this city that I love. And there's nothing I like more than seeing everyone in Philly think that this city is as great as I do.