"Our Tailgating Days are Done" - The F Lot Crew Decides to Disband
Most news stories crest at the 72 hour mark, and that’s exactly what happened with the ‘Mike Scott vs. F Lot Crew’ saga that began on Sunday and dominated Philly headlines for the next three days.
We now know that the ‘F Lot Crew’ is history. They have tailgated their last tailgate. The ceremonial coffin will be wrapped up and returned to wherever it came from.
Tuesday, “microphone guy,” who we’ll refer to as the leader of the group, called the Mike Missanelli show and spent 13 minutes talking about Sunday’s fracas. He confirmed that there was racist language used during the altercation, but did not specify what word was said, when it was said, or who specifically said it. He explained that everybody involved was embarrassed by their behavior and added that he and his guys tried to contact the Sixers to apologize to Scott for their behavior.
The crew began drinking at 5 a.m. that morning, which would be eight hours prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff against the Redskins. Mic guy also disputed the legitimacy of an Instagram post made by one of his guys, Henry, a post that referred to Mike Scott as a “huge asshole” and a “crybaby bitch.”
He then went on to tell Mikey Miss that they will no longer be at any Eagles games, saying this:
Microphone guy: Monday, yesterday, we all spoke and our tailgating days are done. We broke up our crew. I’ve gone so far as to give up my tickets for the rest of the year. And if it’s an issue I plan on not renewing, because this is an embarrassment to the fan base, the city, the team, both teams. Everyone involved, everyone involved has to handle this their own way and we’ve all set plans in motion to handle this and end this right here, right now. Like I said, we tried to reach out to the Sixers and Mike Scott, maybe you can help us do that. No one feels, and I understand earlier somebody called in and talked about hiring lawyers, nobody is hiring lawyers –
Missanelli: Alright listen, Ed, it sounds like you made a terrible mistake and that your heart is in the right place and you’re trying to make amends and I’m sorry this has had a negative impact on your life. But I think in a way you needed some clarity in your life on this. Because it sounded like the behavior of somebody of who was really hurting inside. I don’t know if that’s true or not and I should play amateur psychologist, but when you act that way, something inside is disturbing you.
Microphone guy: I don’t know if I would agree to that but there’s definitely something wrong and we’re gonna do everything we all have to do to rectify it and make sure it never happens again.
Missanelli: Okay. And does your wife believe that?
Mic guy: I hope she does.
Missanelli: Right now you’re trying to gain her acceptance also.
Mic guy: I’m trying to gain everybody’s trust and acceptance back. It’s gonna be a long process. I understand that and everyone involved understands that. Everyone involved has friends and family walking away from them. All of us.
Alright.
I’d say it’s up to these guys’ employers and spouses to decide where to go from here. Using racist language is, of course, inexcusable, but we don’t know which guy is responsible for that. We don’t have that evidence in a video or audio recording and we don’t know the extent of the melee involvement beyond the handful of guys who got physical with Scott. Earlier photos of the tailgate show 14 people there, a group of 11 white guys, one white woman, and two black guys, but 14 people definitely were not part of the donnybrook. That’s why I think a Twitter pile-on and blanket call for all of these people to be fired seems irresponsible, since we’d need to sort out who is specifically responsible for what happened.
You can listen to the entire audio here. 97.5 doesn’t do embeds, so you have to click that link and go to their site and then you can go through the interview.