Flyers Fans Hurt the Reputation of Philadelphia…Again

The bruise is darkening on the latest black eye that the reputation of Philadelphia sports fans got Monday night.

It was a self-inflicted wound, too.

Fans upset that the Flyers were losing 5-1 to the Capitals began throwing opaque wristbands that were part of a pregame light show onto the ice.

They were warned. They were penalized…which brought cheers. The Flyers were scored on again. Now fans are feeling the wrath of national columnists that rarely need an excuse to take shots at Philadelphia. Now they have new ammunition.

One particularly out-of-context headline among the low-hanging fruit Tuesday suggested that the fans threw the wristbands “at Ed Snider’s ghost.”

Truthfully, the wristbands had nothing to do with Snider or the pregame tribute the fallen chairman received, but it still helps set the fan base’s reputation back a couple decades.

“I don’t want to say anything to offend people,” Jake Voracek said Tuesday. “There was 19,000 people and what, 200 people threw the bracelets? It’s a pretty good ratio.”

The Flyers are being careful not to offend their fans, but they’d be well within their rights to disown those who threw a giveaway item on the ice. But for the record, the Flyers estimate it was half of Voracek’s estimate, and is it really a good ratio?