Welcome Back, Philly
Flyers fans chanting “refs, you suck!” during their first game back in the Wells Fargo Center is 100% goosebumps material
Slowly (and we mean slowwwwwly) the good news is trickling in. The city of Chicago just announced that there will be fans in the stands for both the Cubs' and White Sox' Opening Day games. Across the pond, the UK has set May 17th as the return date to sports venues, setting up a potentially raucous, roaring final Premier League weekend. As the vaccination numbers continue to climb and cases continue to fall, things will increasingly begin to look and, more importantly, sound, like normal. But don’t take our word for it, just ask Philadelphia Flyers fans, who returned to the Wells Fargo Arena for the first time in nearly a year this weekend and didn’t miss a single beat. Pump that volume to the rafters, folks.
Yep, that’s exactly what it sounds like; a few thousand Flyers fans chanting “REFS, YOU SUCK!” with the power of millions. To say Flyers fans were in midseason form is a little misleading because, well, it is midseason, but still, you can’t deny the goosebumps-worthiness of this material. The world is simply a far more interesting, melodious place with Philly sports fan in it, and they made that loud and clear almost immediately.
In addition to verbally harassing the officiating crew—the speciality of Philly, cheesesteaks notwithstanding—Flyers fans also booed their own team (who lost back-to-back games in regulation), continually chanted “shoot” on the power play, and gave Oskar Lindblom a standing ovation. All in all, a sonic rollercoaster of a weekend for the Philly Phaithful. No one got pelted with a Duracell, however, so it looks like we’ll have to wait for a full barn and flowing Yuengling before the festivities can truly begin.