To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t the foggiest idea what to expect when I arrived at Tampa on Thursday morning.  I did know that getting the win in Game 1 would be huge.  Even if the Rays fans were 1/50th as obnoxious as we are, us well-traveled Philadelphians could at least use the “We’re up one game to zip, asshole.” crutch.

Well little did I know, we didn’t have to shit talk our way (Philadelphia’s specialty, btw) out of one verbal altercation.  In fact, I couldn’t even bring myself to hate those fuckers.  They were so friggin nice it was infuriating.

After we got off the flight, we headed straight for breakfast.  While leaving one of the nine-hundred Cracker Barrell locations in the Tampa/St. Pete area, some guy spotted our Phillies gear:  “You fellas go to the game last night?  You really got us good!” the Rays fan said, “I think we may have a little something for you tonight, though”  I looked at the guy like he was setting me up for a “Now go fuck yourself” quip, but left us with, “Well anyway, good luck tonight — hope you fellas enjoy yourselves.”

I was stunned.  Did he just… wish us luck?  It was one of those rare moments where I was practically left speechless.  I figured he was the exception, but as it turned out — EVERYBODY DOWN THERE WAS THE SAME WAY.  Cordial, polite, respectful — basically, the complete opposite of us.

So we hopped back in our rented SUV to go check in to our hotel.  While my three buddies who I went with got some shut-eye, I headed out to lunch and a few beers with a famous Yahoo! blogger.  Upon my return, the boys were showered and well-rested ready to enjoy a day of drinking, debauchery, and top it off with a Phillies World Series game.  Pretty much the description of my perfect day.

Some locals informed us that Ferg’s Sports Bar was the way to go.  Good food, cheap beer, and a literal stones throw away from The Trop.  We settled in around 4:00.  At that time, there were only a few Phillies fans and hundreds of blue faux-hawked gentleman in Rays jerseys.  They would approach our table a couple at a time, asking if we were from the area, tell us how good we played the previous night, before clicking our beer bottles for luck and returning to their seats.  Again, not a taunt, a loud “BOOOOOO!” as they walked by, or even a screw-face glare in our direction.  It was almost like they were just there for a party and if the Rays happened to eek out a victory, it’d be a bonus.

Here is my favorite shot of the weekend.  A perplexed me wondering why two grown men with face paint were so eager to get their picture taken with a Phillies fan:

In a way I was envious of the fans down there. I mean, if the Rays do win, they would probably celebrate for a couple days and forget all about it. It was apparent that — unlike myself — their lives wouldn’t change a bit with “World Series Champs” next to their team’s name. I’m not saying that they don’t deserve it, I’m just saying they wouldn’t appreciate it like we would.  On the other hand, I like being the kind of fan that I am.  It will just make it that much more fulfilling when we finally do win something.

Anyways, after finishing off about 25 buckets of beer (for a cool 20 bucks, you get to make your own variety bucket of five bottles and ice; which we would fill with a smattering of Heineken, Corona, Sam Adams & Yuengling) we made the trek to The Trop where Phillies fans were not only plentiful, but LOUD.  Here is a sample of what I witnessed:

Greatest video ever?  Greatest video ever.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.  The actual game paled in comparison to the pre-game celebration.  I was rooting (and hoping) for a Philbo’s win up until the ninth inning, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Still, our fanbase represented nicely, we did what we needed — which is take one game in Tampa — and in about an hour, I’m set to begin Game 3’s preparation (drinking) all over again.  Weather permitting, that is.

I still have much more to get to, but I wanted this up before Game 3.  Tomorrow morning I’ll have a second post on my Tampa trip, but that one will include a helluva lot less words, and a bunch more pictures.

Until then…

LET’S GO PHIL-LIES! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)

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