Flyers

Flyers Chirp Back at Sixers President Over “Blue Collar Hockey” Comment

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 12th, 2020 · 2:39 PM EST

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I just dumped 1,500 words into a story about Chris Heck’s CONTROVERSIAL comments about “blue collar” Philadelphia.

To recap, here’s the specific quote from a recent article about the Sixers’ new black uniforms that has everybody bent out of shape:

“The whole blue collar thing is meant to be positive — I hear it all the time too. We actually don’t use the term “Philly,” (in lettering) because we think it’s lazy and undersells the city, and sometimes I think “blue collar” does the same thing. We refer to it as “New Philadelphia.” Blue collar’s important for the city, but it’s not the only component. New Philadelphia is about the arts, it’s about culture, it’s about education, it’s about diversity. We like that narrative more than the blue collar hockey thing. Which isn’t a slight on it, but we think we’re more than blue collar.”

Of course hockey fans were going to take umbrage with that, even though he literally said it’s not “a slight,” and sure enough, here come the Flyers:

𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲- "𝘈 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨." pic.twitter.com/YnJ9QdPq5i

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 12, 2020

Right, so the funny thing here is that the Sixers are tenants in the Wells Fargo Center, which is owned by Comcast, which owns the hockey team.

Awkward? Probably not. Just some good natured fun here. Heck is right that we’ve evolved from the tired “blue collar” cliche and that a new Philadelphia does exist. To repeat his words, “Blue collar’s important for the city, but it’s not the only component.”

Fact check: 100% true.