Flyers

The Flyers Want You to COME CELEBRATE THE BULLIES!

By Kyle Scott

Published: Nov 5th, 2013 · 11:30 AM EST

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Email from reader Matt:

Kyle,

Season ticket holders got this email yesterday. I am not going to get into if I agree or disagree with what was said over the weekend by you, other bloggers or sports casters about the Ray Emery fight or continued culture of the 70’s bullies, but I think everyone in their 20’s and 30’s can agree on is we are pretty tired of that being our only rallying point. I am proud to say my family has been ticket holders since the days of the Spectrum, but now that the younger generation is starting to buy more tickets and has more influence, something has to change. I still remember being at so many deflating playoff games and at Stanley cup games (including the game loss to the Blackhawks) and nothing sucks more than us continuing down that path and hanging onto those 70’s bullies. Maybe having Ron Hextall here, who did help rebuild the Kings into a Cup team is a step in the right direction. Yet until those big changes happen, the younger generation is just going to get more and more restless and frustrated at this continued belief in a past we do not remember and can hardly embrace.

Could not agree more with Matt.* To me, as a 30-year-old, Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, hell, even Brent Fedyk, mean more than a bunch of guys I’ve seen in documentaries and read about in books. Don’t get me wrong, the history of any team should be celebrated. I thought the Alumni Game was every bit as good as the Winter Classic, because it was surreal seeing Parent and Clarke on the same ice as Lindros and LeClair. I had never seen those other guys suit up in person. But the Flyers have to realize that the people who care and salivate over the Bullies are disappearing every day. No other local team does this sort of thing to the degree the Flyers do. The Phillies have replaced 1980 with 1993 and, now, 2008. The Eagles have replaced 1980 with Donovan McNabb, Brian Dawkins and Brian Westbrook. The Sixers have replaced Dr. J with Allen Iverson. But the Flyers just keep trotting out the Bullies. And never mind the fact that they’re doing so with the Red Sox personal house band. Yuck.

*It’s for charity, yeah. But it’s not just about this one event. It’s a culture thing.