Ad Disclosure
France and Iraq Fans Had the Friendliest and Most Respectful Rocky Statue Gathering
By Matt Schultz
Published:
France and Iraq are set to play in Philly on Monday night (barring a storm delay), and fans of both countries gathered at the Art Museum steps this weekend for the kindest, politest, and most civilized impromptu rally that’s ever occurred:
What a video. Incredible. I’ve truly never seen anything like it. France and Iraq fans packed into the same area and there’s no fighting or yelling or negative vibes anywhere to be found. As far as the eye can see, it’s just people very slowly waving flags at each other, jumping up and down in a respectful manner, and expressing their very congenial excitement. They’re not even being loud! They’re cheering at a polite indoor volume! Both fanbases seem kind of happy the other fanbase is there! It seems borderline not real. This looks like a commercial’s version of what World Cup fans look like. Lays-commercial-ass cheering. It’s awesome –
Also think it’s worth noting that nobody’s putting anything on the Rocky statue. Gotta wonder if if one fanbase was about to throw a jersey on him, and then the other fanbase gently explained that it might not be a great idea because of a possible curse, and then the first fanbase extended a heartfelt handshake, wished them and their families good health, then went back to slowly waving their flags. This is probably what happened.
I was thinking for a long while about why this video is so affecting, and then it hit me: it’s the exact opposite of how we just watched Knicks fans act for a month straight. Every day of the NBA playoffs, I would wake up and look at my phone and see a baker’s dozen new videos of Knicks fans beating the shit out of opposing fans, or other Knicks fans, or jumping J.R. Smith, or frightening Jay-Z, or punching each other in their massive, twerking asses, or worse. They were menaces. They terrorized everyone and everything. They turned the entire experience into a nightmare.
These France and Iraq fans are not that. These guys are showing us how nice sports can be. No need to be loud. No need to fight. No need to punch huge asses. The World Cup is for everyone. All-sized asses are welcome.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com