Charlotte Writer Rips Philly

So does that make them even, or what? I guess. I don't really care. But after the way some some posters here get their knickers in a twist every time some dumb Philly writer posts a dumb article, kinda funny how quiet they are when a Charlotte writer writes an equally dumb article.

BTW, did u know no dome team has ever won a conference championship layed out of doors? And Payton Manning's QB rating drops to 71 in games played under 40 degrees? Heard it on the radio today. Go Patriots.

--------------------------------------------------


COMMENTARY
Talking trash: Philly started it
TOM SORENSEN
Tom Sorensen

A thing that columnists do before the team from their city plays a big game against the team from another city is trash the city from which the other team comes.

I don't like to trash the other city until I run out of legitimate ideas, however. So I was hoping to save the Trash Philadelphia column until Thursday. But a columnist from Philadelphia, whose Eagles play Carolina for the NFC championship, already has trashed Charlotte. (Full column )

Will Bunch, columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, ripped Charlotte for the same reasons everybody else does. We're bland, we're boring, we've got George Shinn, Rae Carruth and Tammy Faye Bakker, but no soul. "Actually, Shinn is just the latest in a long line of hypocrites to come out of Charlotte and the backward hinterlands that surround it," he writes.

I'd like to be nasty, too. One problem -- I like Philadelphia. Philadelphia is more a collection of neighborhoods than a big city, which ought to mean residents are less likely to feel anonymous and overwhelmed.

While covering the NBA playoffs in Philadelphia a few years ago, I stumbled upon, and later out of, a little neighborhood Italian joint in which everybody not only knew everybody but had grown up with everybody. We were the only outsiders. But instead of resenting us, they invited us into their circle. Good food, cheap wine, great conversation -- that's the Philadelphia experience with which I'm familiar.

Alas, Philadelphia, like most places, is not without flaws. People say the city is dirty.

To check, I went to the archives of Philly.com Monday and typed in CORRUPTION. In the last seven days, the city's two newspapers have run 35 stories that include the word. And it was a slow week.

On Oct. 7, two days after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, the mayor of Philadelphia found a listening device in his office. Who put the device there? The FBI. Why did the FBI put it there? It is investigating allegations of municipal corruption.

In most cities, this would be a huge deal. In Philadelphia, it's like going to the Italian neighborhood restaurant and saying, "Give me the usual." Lawyers are diligently working on the city's defense. Taxpayers are diligently being billed.

Philadelphia's Schuylkill Expressway is the worst road in the United States. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is the country's worst department of transportation. Drive by a crew and you'll see one guy working and 12 guys watching. You know what they call it when 11 guys watch and two guys work? Overtime.

Across the N.J. border from Philadelphia is Camden. If the mayor of Charlotte bet with the mayor of Philadelphia on the outcome of the game, and Charlotte put up a pound of barbecue and the mayor of Philadelphia put up Camden, Charlotte would say, "And what else?"

The next time somebody from Philadelphia rips Charlotte, all you have to do is invoke Derrick Coleman. After a two-season stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Charlotte Hornets signed Coleman in 1999.

Coleman is a tremendous talent, but he's lazy. He is lazier than he is talented. He allowed himself to become so out of shape here that he moved down the court like an ice floe. He divided the team, turning coach against players and management against coach. Finally realizing their mistake, the Hornets tried to shed him. But they were convinced they were stuck.

Inexplicably, Philadelphia agreed to take him. Take him? To acquire Coleman, the 76ers gave up hustling forward George Lynch. The day Coleman left town, two Charlotte Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits went out of business.

The spirit of knowledgeable 76ers' fans bottomed out. But stock for Tastykake, the calorie-laden Philadelphia treats, hit an all-time high. As long as Coleman, the player Charlotte rejected, stays in Philadelphia, Tastykake stock will soar. The 76ers will not.

Philadelphia is the city that, when building a stadium, tells the architect it will require a soft grass field, expansive hallways, plenty of restrooms, a spacious locker room for the home team, a decent locker room for the visitors and a jail.

When fans in other cities complain about an obstructed view, they're talking about a pole or pillar. In Philadelphia, they're talking about bars.

To their credit, Eagle fans stay longer at games at their stadium than Panthers fans do at theirs. But I attribute this to the leg irons.

Originally posted by joe_buck

I'd like to be nasty, too. One problem -- I like Philadelphia. Philadelphia is more a collection of neighborhoods than a big city, which ought to mean residents are less likely to feel anonymous and overwhelmed.

While covering the NBA playoffs in Philadelphia a few years ago, I stumbled upon, and later out of, a little neighborhood Italian joint in which everybody not only knew everybody but had grown up with everybody. We were the only outsiders. But instead of resenting us, they invited us into their circle. Good food, cheap wine, great conversation -- that's the Philadelphia experience with which I'm familiar.

[Chunko]

At least this one's funnier and not as mean-spirited. Or maybe that's just my anti-Philly bias leaking through.

[tampamoney]

It's not that bad.

[PhillyKid]

cool. carolina understands what gamesmanship is.


now this gets interesting.

[PhillyKid]

man...the Philly article thread gets so many negative responses...


and this gets like 3 responses

Well, I don't know ..if its just that the Charlotte writer is just softer or what.. But, his article isn't as.. "hardcore" as Philly's article. I guess this would make them even though, but it does just seem like they're both just writing it, just because they have no better ideas..

[PhillyKid]

Originally posted by joe_buck

Drive by a crew and you'll see one guy working and 12 guys watching. You know what they call it when 11 guys watch and two guys work? Overtime.

THIS IS WHY UNIONS & CITY CONTRACTS ARE SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by PhillyKid
man...the Philly article thread gets so many negative responses...
and this gets like 3 responses

I guess you're oblivious to the fact that not only was the philly one done first, it was done with much more malice and with the clear intent to 'make fun'. This one was done in retaliation and isn't nearly as hateful.

I realize these 'things' are simply considered 'gamesmanship' in philly. But you guys need to realize that not everyone 'thinks' as you do.

[Airborne Eagle]

Meh.

Am I supposed to get hysterical?

I'm an adult, after all.

Originally posted by PantherManz
I guess you're oblivious to the fact that not only was the philly one done first, it was done with much more malice and with the clear intent to 'make fun'. This one was done in retaliation and isn't nearly as hateful.

I realize these 'things' are simply considered 'gamesmanship' in philly. But you guys need to realize that not everyone 'thinks' as you do.

One difference is that the Philly article was written in the city's tabloid trash paper (The Daily News), while the Charlotte article was from the city's serious paper I believe (The Charlotte Observer).

Originally posted by YuenglingLager
One difference is that the Philly article was written in the city's tabloid trash paper (The Daily News), while the Charlotte article was from the city's serious paper I believe (The Charlotte Observer).

No one knew that here till after the word was out.

But then we have many phillians going to our forums bashing us for not 'taking a joke'. Yes some did explain what that newspaper is and that not all phillians are that way. Then others let it be clear, that's the way it is.

Right now at the philly forum it's littered with threads trashing us. Things like that make it rather dificult to think otherwise, wouldn't you say.

Still though, we realize not all are 'that way'.