April 18, 2008

Cease and Desist

A funny backdrop to the Flyers-Capitals playoff series: a brouhaha involving the Washington Post, a court order and the sensitive hearts of Philly fans.

Mike Wise of the Washington Post wrote a column the other day ripping both the Flyers' aggressive/violent style of play and the similar ethos among their fans, saying, among other things:

20,000 people in fluorescent orange howled for their World Extreme Cagefighters, and a crowd in the upper bowl chanted vulgarities at Ovechkin that went beyond the bounds of loutish fan behavior. As the frothing masses left the arena, they felt good about the bull being struck and killed -- checking the multi-generational Russian wizards Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov into humility as much as the boards...The Caps' postseason slogan: "Rock The Red." The Flyers? "Vengeance Now," which comes across as less of a slogan and more of a sequel to Charles Bronson's "Death Wish."

The Capitals didn't come out as Eastern Conference foes; they entered the playing surface like Russell Crowe entered the Coliseum in "Gladiator." Flyer fans didn't want to beat Washington as much as see Ovechkin bludgeoned, his teammates emasculated.

Wise also called Flyers tough guy/"Kidd Chris" regular Riley Cote a "stumpy rogue," and said of the Flyers that "They flat-out market and sell violence here, sanctioned, unbridled assaults disguised as sport."

When Philadelphia fans hear this sort of thing they... get bitter, and cling to the Flyers and, uh, never mind. But the Flyers' organization decided to harness the situation to their advantage and distribute copies of the column to arriving fans. But the Post- both citing intellectual property and, probably, avoidance of a riot- kiboshed the idea, obtaining a cease-and-desist order. But the damage was done, and the Flyers won in double overtime to take a 3-1 series lead.

Of course, when it comes to the WaPo, this wasn't nearly as much of an outrage as the firing of Christmas Ape.

Posted by Stephen Silver at April 18, 2008 04:13 PM
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