philly celebrates

Video:  Philly Phans Phlipped my car, please send money.

Written prior to the start of Game 5:  Beer plus local fans equal more disgrace

On [Saturday], we [Philadelphians] managed to take one of our best sports days ever and spray-paint it with obscenities.

The Flyers beat the Devils on Saturday for a home-and-home sweep of their rivals; No. 3 Penn State knocked off No. 9 Ohio State at Columbus; and the Phillies defeated the Rays in Game 3 of the World Series.

That was the good news, apparently too much good news for the charter members of the Pennsylvania chapter of IDIOTS (Insufferable Drunks Increasingly Overserved at The Stadium).

Here’s what else happened that day:

When a Flyers overtime goal was disallowed, a Wachovia Center genius heaved a stink bomb onto the ice. (Three quick questions: Who sells stink bombs? Who buys them? And who takes them to hockey games?)

In an apparently ongoing effort to change the school’s mascot to the Nitwit Lion, 4,000 people in State College celebrated Penn State’s win by rioting, tearing up street signs and light poles, damaging cars and throwing full beer cans at police.

After the resumed game 5 of the World Series was over at 9:58pm,

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

10:29 PM

Fan Watch: The city erupts

A crowd for people just took over a fire truck at Broad and Walnut. Thousands of people are massing here in Center City. Many are running down Broad Street. Meanwhile, thousands of fans are marching up Broad Street from the stadium area. Around the stadium, multiple small fires are being reported, with lots of bottle throwing and broken glass.

10:44 PM

Violence erupts outside the stadium

Fans outside Citizens Bank Park in Lot M at Pattison Avenue and Darien Street were breaking bottles on cars and attempting to light an SUV on fire 40 minutes after the final pitch in the Phillies first World Series win in 28 years. Police quickly arrived and started to disperse the crowd. The crowd started mixing it up with the police.  By then, the crowd had also completely overturned a green Ford Explorer.

11:06 PM

Fans attack Channel 3 News van

On the 1400 block of JFK Boulevard, out-of-control Phillies fans have overtaken a Channel 3 news van. They’re rocking it, trying to turn it over, according to police. The windows have been broken out of the van. There are also sporadic shots being fired throughout the city, and police are surging toward the areas of the largest crowds. Mayor Nutter, in TV interviews, urged fans to remain calm. “Enjoy it, savor it, but let’s all be respectful to eachother,” Mayor Nutter said.

Meanwhile, at Pattison Avenue and Darien Street outside Citizens Bank Park, a group of youths was fighting police. One of the youths had some blood streaming from his head.

11:11 PM

Rendell appeals for calm

Mayor Rendell, on the phone with Comcast Sportsnet from a campaign stop in Indiana, Pa., appealed for calm in Philly so that the national media will focus on what a great team the Phillies are rather than the bad behavior of the fans.

11:20 PM

Police arrive in riot gear

At 15th and JFK, thousands of people jammed the streets around City Hall, celebrating the Phillies first World Series win in 28 years. Police in riot gear were on hand, trying to force their way into the crowd to establish a presence. But they could not do so. Fans danced and jumped on cars that had been moving, but were slowed to a standstill by the massive crowd. Fans shot fireworks over the crowd, 70 feet up in the air. The mood was festive–and nobody was going anywhere, it was that tightly packed.

11:29 PM

Mayor says “don’t do anything stupid”

Mayor Nutter, in an interview with Channel 3 news, was asked about outbreaks of violence.
“We’ve had a few reports. Some folks are getting a little beyond themselves,” said Nutter, who was sporting a Phillies hat and was interviewed at the stadium. He appealed for calm and said the city needs “people to be responsible.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, and get yourself in trouble,” Nutter said.

11:43 PM

Rowdy at Frankford and Cottman

At Cottman and Frankford Avenues in the Northeast, hundreds and hundreds of people jammed the streets for blocks. The fans were becoming increasinly rowdy throughout the night, and the streets were sticky with beer and bottles and trash. …

Brian Blair, a young man, shirtless, was emblematic of the crowd. He waved his T-shirt wildly over his head. Why? “Because I’m a Phillies fanatic and I’m drunk.”

“We’re so excited we can’t contain our excitement any longer. Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh!” exclaimed another young fan, John Fenninghan.

12:00 AM

The mood turns on Broad Street

Shortly before midnight, the celebratory mood on Broad Street just south of City Hall started turning ugly. Unruly, drunk Phillis fans jumped on top of SEPTA bus shelters, overturned huge concrete planters in front of office buildings, and swarmed a city trash truck. One fan swung from a streetside banner before falling. There also seemed to be a small fire on Broad Street, between Chestnut and Walnut.

12:13 AM

Broad and Shunk

At Broad and Shunk, shortly after midnight, thousands of fans packed the streets. About 25 bicycle-mounted police kept watch, even as fans repeatedly threw bottles at them. With every bottle thrown, the police would push out, forming a perimeter with their bicycles, and then break the bottles in the street, so they could no longer be thrown…

Meanwhile, somebody threw a bottle through the front window of the Commerce Bank at Broad and Sansom…

12:23 AM

Chief Ramsey: “Vandalism”

Interviewed by Fox News, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said the night had proceeded about as he had expected, with some vandalism and overturned cars, but no serious injuries. As he spoke, an eyewitness on Broad Street said that unruly fans were starting to loot a Robinsons Luggage store.

“I know we’ve had some vandalism events,” Ramsey said. “So far, I’m not aware of any people being injured. We have had a couple of cars turned over…It’s OK, it’s all right. People are having fun. It’s all right. We’ll be OK…You do the best you can. It’s a big city and there’s a lot of people out here. You do the best you can to contain it. The vast majority of people…are enjoying this great victory.”

12:26 AM

Firefighters hose fans

At broad and walnut around 12:20 a.m., the crowd remains unruly, and firefighters were tussling with civilians in order to get to various trash fires on South Broad. On at least one occasion, firefighters turned a hose on a crowd. At one point, one a couple of dozen people got on one of the trucks and would not get off.

12:34 AM

Looting on Broad Street

The crowd outside Robinson Luggage gets rowdy. (Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer)

The looting on South Broad Street began shortly after midnight. Four men went inside the Robinson Luggage outlet at Broad and Walnut — through a busted glass door — and came out with about half dozen pieces of luggage. The cops immediately responded, but the men were able to run off.

At Cottman and Frankford Avenues, the celebration took a nasty turn about 12:20 a.m. Police begin breaking up the crowd to give firefighters a chance to get to some small blazes, and the people responded by throwing bottles at officers.

12:40 AM

Riot police arrive on Broad Street

Police break things up. (Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer)

At about 12:35 a.m., two school buses full of Philadelphia police in riot gear arrived at Broad and Walnut Streets, organized themselves in formation, and were poised to begin mkaing arrests to control the crowd.
Numerous fans hurled bottles at them.
No rioting had erupted, but the scene was tense.

1:26 AM

Broad and Walnut under control

At 1:20 a.m., police with batons and riot gear began lining the sidewalks and steadily moving the crowd off Broad Street. The resistance seems to have subsided, the fires are out. A couple of cars have been overturned, and Broad Street is littered with glass, newspaper boxes, planters and collapsed bus shelters. About 100 officers were visible on the streets, most in riot gear. The police beat a few people down with batons, but there were no mass arrests.

The police had arrived in a Philadelphia School District bus that the crowd tried to tip over, but the police were able to hold them off. The police were also guarding the Robinson Luggage outlet that had been lootyed earlier in the night.

The intersection with Chestnut Street was the last one cleared. The police were forcing their way through the intersection, where about 200 people remained. They began throwing bottles and cursing at the police.

1:42 AM

A police show of force on Broad Street

By 1:30, police began to move on Broad and Sansom-Walnut, the most troublesome site.
The officers came from three directions, from South Philly, where dozens of officers had assembled at Broad and Washington and moved north; and from both sides of Broad Street.

Along the way, the officers went by Chestnut just west of Broad, where there were  some reports of minor  looting of some of the stores there.

2:04 AM

The great, and unruly, party subsides after 2 a.m.

Just after 2 a.m., the police show of force continued, with officers on motorcycles and horseback clearing the streets around Broad. Initially, the police pushed out fans west and east of Broad, which caused some problems around the periphery for a while after midnight. A dumpster fire errupted at 16th and Walnut shortly before 2 a.m. in front of a Starbucks, but the Fire Department arrived quickly and doused the paper fire.

One eyewitness said the police seemed to have been instructed to respond only to acts of property damage, and violence to others. Officers let fans celebrate, often wildly.

The motorcycle police rode down the sidewalks on Walnut Street, clearing stragglers out. While there were still people screaming and partying in Center City after two, the great celebration was winding down.