Philly trip not worth risk, Bucs fans say

Eagles fans' reputation for being nasty to the opposition has Bucs fans staying home, hoping for a Super Bowl trip.

[AP photo] Eagle fans are notorious for being nasty to the opposition, referees, even their own cheerleaders.

By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 15, 2003

TAMPA -- Margaret Bowles is a diehard Bucs fan who has missed just one home game in 17 seasons. She makes many of the away games, too, and was at Veterans Stadium two years ago when Tampa Bay and the Philadelphia Eagles met in the playoffs.

It was not, she recalled, the City of Brotherly Love.

Two security guards stationed themselves behind Bowles and her friend, but their presence didn't deter Eagles fans from targeting her black-and-red Buccaneers parka. It was a long afternoon. And the Bucs lost.

"They were just in our face, they would jeer at us, and poke us, and tell us to go home," Bowles said Tuesday after half-heartedly searching the Internet for tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game in Philadelphia. "I vowed I wasn't going to go again."

As hosts, Philadelphia sports fans have, well, outdone themselves. Years of fisticuffs and upturned beers and taunting -- even Santa Claus was bombed with snowballs during a halftime show -- have given them a well-deserved reputation for inhospitality and even violence toward rival fans.

Although the winner of Sunday's game goes to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia fans' boorish reputation is one reason few Bucs fans will trek there this weekend, tour operators and ticket brokers said.

"BucFanTours WILL NOT be doing a game package to Philadelphia. This is sad, but the potential for problems and client injury has our insurance agent lying awake at night!" reads the Web site for BucFanTours, which organized trips to almost every Buccaneers away game this season and already is taking orders for Super Bowl trips to San Diego.

"As much as we want to support our team, the Philadelphia fans just don't get it. It's just a game!!"

Dennis Pfeiffer, the owner of BucFanTours, said he tried to get a large block of tickets for Sunday's game -- "so maybe we'd be like Custer at Little Big Horn" -- but could only find them in twos and threes. He scrapped the trip.

"I just didn't feel comfortable putting two Bucs fans out in a section of Eagles fans," Pfeiffer said.

Clients who have traveled to the Vet for previous games reported being hassled constantly, he said. Plus, Sunday's game is the last for Veterans Stadium, which will be demolished. Pfeiffer feared the fans would be even rowdier than usual.

"These guys are going to have a screwdriver taped to their leg or a tire-iron, and when the game is over, they're going to want to take their seat with (them), because they've been sitting in it for 20 years," Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer's concern doesn't come from soaking up too much sun in Tampa. The fans' lash is legendary. They have thrown snowballs at opposing players, referees -- even their own cheerleaders. They once cheered when Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin suffered a serious neck injury. Fights in the stands are routine.

The Vet even has its own jail and magistrate's court, so arrested fans can be adjudicated without leaving the building. This Sunday, an extra 120 police officers will be posted inside the stadium.

"There's no question, it's 100 percent true," said Ryon Smith, owner of Ticket King of Florida, a Tampa firm that is not sponsoring a trip to Philadelphia, either. "I've been there before, and I wouldn't walk in there with team colors unless I was with half a football team. It's that bad.

"There's nothing wrong with a little good natured ribbing, but it's not even good natured up there. They want to fight and be nasty. Everybody's heard of them booing Santa Claus. Nobody's safe."

American Cruises and Charter of Tampa is offering a one-day, round-trip flight for the game for $389, but as of Tuesday interest was only fair.

"It's a good price, it's just getting our fans to have a little more confidence they'll be safe," said Kim King, who was taking reservations.

"They're not shying away, but they're very jokingly like, 'Do you carry life insurance policies?' "

Ticket brokers also cited other factors contributing to a light Tampa Bay contingent Sunday: Fans didn't know until Sunday afternoon the Bucs were even going, and airfare is expensive on short notice. Tours are tough to organize that quickly, too.

Most fans with the money and the inclination would rather to see if the Bucs make the Super Bowl in sunny San Diego. Then they'll go in droves, brokers said.

And while tickets to Sunday's game are available, they're expensive, typically starting at about $300. Bowles, 50, a Tampa lawyer, found them on eBay, the online auction house, starting at about $400 each, but she decided to keep her vow and avoid Philly.

"That's pretty pricey for a bad experience," she said.

And the next weekend, she's already booked on a flight to California.

-- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.