Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles were going to riot no matter what the outcome of the game.  It is open to speculation whether a defeat would have triggered more violence than a victory. But when the underdog Eagles defeated the Patriots in Minneapolis, it didn’t take long for the City of Brotherly Love to live up to its reputation for fan-thuggery.   

The Philly Police had greased light poles with hydraulic fluid this time, having failed to deter fans from climbing them two weeks ago after their home town heroes won the National Conference championship using mere Crisco. It is unclear how many were deterred from climbing the poles, but enough fans managed to climb of the canopy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel to collapse it.

Warning: colorful language can be heard:

The Ritz canopy has collapsed pic.twitter.com/9LBolLtIPY

— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) February 5, 2018

According to media reports, windows on the luxury hotel were also smashed. Now that’s what I call a good time if you are a moron.  

Some innocent person’s car was also damaged:

#NOW @eagles fans flip a car outside the Bellevue! Come on guys! Celebrate responsibly!!! Police are guarding the car now on its side @PhillyPolice @6abc @Eagles pic.twitter.com/zDYnDwNaVk

— Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) February 5, 2018

I happened to visit Philadelphia the previous weekend, and was well aware of the intense levels of excitement. My speculation is that some of the fervor was related to Philly’s historic inferiority complex that inevitably results when a big city is sandwiched between the nation’s capital and the nation’s biggest city, made all the worse after having owned both titles in the early days of the Republic. Maybe there is an underdog consciousness that suffuses the city. The movie Rocky certainly built on that meme.

But, that said, fans in many cities have been known to riot after major sports victories. Maybe the only difference is that some fans in Philly seem to take pride in it.

So, congratulations to Philadelphia for finally winning a Super Bowl. Now, can we clean up the damage and stop harming strangers?