More Philly Absurdity – Billy Joel Concert
By Mike Silva ~ August 1st, 2009. Filed under: Sports Entertainment.
via Eddie Kranepool Society and Can’t Stop the Bleeding
Perhaps overstating the current state of the Phillies vs Mets rivalry, the Phillies and Billy Joel are nonetheless taking no chances of provoking any overeager or fighting drunk Phillies fans during his appearances with Elton John at Citizens Bank Park. from Philly.com
In a bid to keep the peace at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies wanted to cloak or replace the 16-by-16-foot Mets banner at the top of the set decoration at the Billy Joel/Elton John concerts tonight and Saturday.
Alas, they could not find anything suitable.
Joel will wear a Phillies jacket for at least part of the show and will make some sort of joking reference to the Mets and their 10-games-back status
My colleague Bob Ford and I hear that the Phillies had reached out to the “Face 2 Face” concert to express concern about Joel’s New York-theme set.
It’s not that the Phils are worried about any kind of baseball rivalry, we hear; they just don’t want some yahoo having too much to drink and throwing something at it or starting a fight. The Mets banner was visible at recent shows at Nationals Ballpark and Wrigley Field.
Perhaps Joel will sing “Philadelphia State of Mind,” as well.
Another example of the small minded “second city mentality” in Philadelphia. When will they realize we don’t care about them, their city, or their sports? As I said in a recent article “Stay Classy Philadelphia”.
I will continue to “watchdog” this pathetic fan base and their poor behavior.
August 1st, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Mike
Perhaps stating the obvious …. nevertheless, based upon pure commonsense, do you have a choice in whether you care about Philly sports when your football and baseball teams continue to come in 2nd to Philadelphia? How can you not care unless you don’t want to win/finish first in your respective divisions. So if you don’t care about Philly sports how will your Mets win a World Series? Will you just ignore them when they show up? Will you not play in their sandbox like a 5 year old?
August 1st, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Stating the obvious, explain how saying NY’ers “don’t care about Philly” prevents the Mets from winning a world series? Ignore them when they show up? Do you not understand what he is trying to say? Your logic makes very little sense. Your comments back up exactly what Mike is saying. We don’t care about Philly, we don’t think about your little city. We don’t have an inferiority complex like you guys do. Yes the Phillies have gotten the best of the Mets the last few years. Well a few years of being better in baseball, doesn’t change the fact that as New Yorkers, the city of Philly and the people don’t really have any impact on our lives. We don’t care. The point being you do. That’s why a concert with a New York banner attached causes people in Philly to be worried that someone from Philly is going to do something stupid in a drunken state because that’s the inferiority complex at work. In NY, you don’t register in our lives…you aren’t important enough. No matter what the sports teams do. Get it now?
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 am
…”Another example of the small minded “second city mentality” in Philadelphia. When will they realize we don’t care about them, their city, or their sports? As I said in a recent article “Stay Classy Philadelphia”.
“…..
The fact you even wrote this article shows you do care.
August 2nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Apparently New Yorkers are more obsessed with the rivalry than is Philadelphia. Jealousy is a sad thing to behold — especially when nobody else cares.
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I was at Saturday’s concert… No Mets banner… No Phillies jacket by Joel — although his New Jersey drummer wore a Phillies Home jersey and red Cap all concert, and Billy put on the Cap for the fans to cheer.
I attended the Last Play at Shea last July and there were drunks in both parks — only the beer in Philly was of better quality and selection, so there may have been more sold — No NYC hate last night. I love Billy and his NYC mentality is one of his charms. Why the return hate, and for a city you don’t care about?
All the reports are greatly incorrect… All falsehoods to smear a city that loves Joel, and that Billy’s loves in return. BTW, isn’t Billy a Yankees fan? I thought that was the case, no?
Get over the inferiority complex about a city you deem inferior. If your sports teams can’t win on the playing field, don’t try to push us down because you have more transplants and are the number on town in America. Go seek out London and Tokyo and other cities larger than NY, you won’t even have to lose to them in sports.
Where’s the love, NYC? Where’s the class that you are known to have? (Sarcasm, BTW). It was all about a concert, why make it a chance to take peoples off of a team that specializes in choke jobs? There was no hate in Philly Saturday, and I felt none towards NYC until I was provoked after reading this today.
Stay Classy as always Great City of transplants. You rock!, yeah, right.
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 pm
“I will continue to “watchdog” this pathetic fan base and their poor behavior.”
Wow-that sounds like someone who “cares”.
I too was at the concert last night in Citizens Bank Park. No Mets banner and no NYC/Mets hate. Probably because we don’t care.
Get over yourself New York….
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
I was at the first concert on Thursday @ CBP and there was no mention of the Phillies that night either. His banner did have a little Mets logo on it and no one seemed to care.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Much ado about nothing, I suppose… When there is no news, some people feel that they must make up news.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:09 pm
During one of the songs they showed clips on the videoboard, including one of Mike Piazza…the CBP fans were not pleased about that.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Hey Foe-was there mass rioting and general unruliness at the sight of MP?
August 6th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
The Mike Piazza clip was part of Zanzabar, a song that had many baseball references… There were many players from many teams; Piazza was just the initial one, by happenstance. There were no remarks as the Piazza portion was only a couple seconds, and the fans were too into the song to really care. — If there were any boos, IMO, it would be in jest… just as it would be in NYC if Pat Burrell were in a clip, or if the clip of Pete Rose was him in a Phillies uniform rather than the Reds one — Look, Billy is from NY, he has every right to include whomever he wants in the video clips behind his music… Again much ado about noting; another non-news item… What’s the next? This is getting somewhat silly… music and Billy Joel should be the great uniter, coming in second for two years shouldn’t cause this much venom, should it?