Metro Phillies World Series package: Fans in the wrong city and best bars

As I normally do for a story, last Monday I publicized on Twitter and Facebook and my instant-message status and through e-mail that I needed sources for a story for Metro, the free daily newspaper with editions in Philadelphia, New York City and Boston.

Looking for Yankee fans living in Philly and Phillies fans living in NYC for a story. Who can help me out? [Source]

Just a few hours later, after wading through the responses, I had more than a dozen examples and more trickling in.

Last Wednesday, the day that the Phillies would win the first game of the World Series against the New York Yankees, I had a small package on the rivalry’s fandom, highlighted by small profiles of three fans in each city that cheered for the opposing team.

Like pictured above, see how the print version looked in Philadelphia and in New York. As always, below some background and extras that weren’t fit to print.

ONE PHILLIES FAN IN NEW YORK CITY

I had a longer conversation with Andrew Goldstein, a supervising writer at Spike TV who grew up in Bucks County, outside Philadelphia, but now lives in Manhattan. He turned out to have graduated from the same university as I did and worked at The Temple News.

During that conversation, he shared some gems aplenty that didn’t have a place in my structured clip:

• “Everyone knows my Philly-sports allegiance, so I end every e-mail to an old boss — who is a huge Mets fan – with “go Phils!” just to piss him off.”
• “I posted a Facebook update after the Yanks blew game five: ‘not everyone can close it out in five like the world champs.’ I got like 20 replies. So yeah, I’m just as much of an instigator as Mets/Yanks fans.”
• “I used to call [Philly sports talk radio station WIP] 610 as a kid with an assumed name and age. I was Earl from Ridley just to talk Phils and Eagles. Other kids dated, I sat home and chatted with Rob Charry.
• “There’s a Philly bar called Wogies in NYC with more than a passable cheesesteak. It’s this tiny joint and was just impossible to get into last year during the World Series. [My friends and I] ended up across the street in a bar that became the overflow Wogies-Phils crew bar. We watched every game there. Cut to after the Phils win, we trash this guy’s bar. I say to the owner, ‘dude, so sorry for you bar, you’ve been so nice to us all week.’ He says, “Are you kidding me? You just paid my rent for three months. I’m a Phils fan for life.’ We may opt for apartment veiwage in all honesty due to that reason.

ONE YANKEES FAN IN PHILADELPHIA

I found Eric Walklet, a Bucks County software developer originally from Connecticut, through a friend, whose friend is Walklet’s girlfriend. Some of his stuff that didn’t get in:

• “I’d also love to put a Yankees license plate frame or bumper sticker on my car, but I’m afraid I’ll park it in Center City and come back to see it on cinder blocks.”
• “But I’m not very aggressive about it like some New York fans, so I think I’ve avoided the worst of it. No bar fights or broken noses.”