REBECCA ROBERTS, host:
While I was in Philly, a cold wind of anticipation blew me down to Drury Street. The oldest pub in Center City is McGillin's, and it's a mecca for sports fans. Now, Philadelphia fans have a reputation. Last fall, my colleague Andrea Seabrook spoke with one just before the World Series.
Unidentified Man: No matter what happens, in the back of your mind is the feeling that things are going to go wrong, that they can't go right, that the team somehow will always let you down.
ROBERTS: But the Phillies won the World Series, and Philadelphia went crazy. The City of Brotherly Love was like Times Square at New Year's except better because people were surprised at midnight. Now, the Philadelphia Eagles are one game away from the Super Bowl. If they beat the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow, they advance to the title game and a chance to bring home the city's first-ever Lombardi trophy.
But Eagles fans are still Eagles fans. Chuck Stanley and Eric Grigg produce a weekly podcast called "Eagles Fancast." They met me at the bar in McGillin's, and both these guys actually think the Eagles will win on Sunday.
Mr. ERIC GRIGG (Podcaster, Eagles Fancast): Yeah, this is Eric. There is - right now, there is no doubt in my mind that they'd win this game, really isn't.
ROBERTS: All right, that is uncharacteristically optimistic for Eagles fans.
Mr. GRIGG: Yes and no. Eagles fans are die-hard, absolutely, but one of the traits about Eagles fans is, is when the coaches or players don't perform to where we think they should, we let them know.
ROBERTS: With the Eagles, it's not that the fans believe the team will fail. What they believe in is negative reinforcement. Eric teaches this important skill to his kids.
Mr. GRIGG: Our seats are in the visitors section. So I will say, OK, now, in a couple of minutes, the other team is going to come out. The first thing that you have to do is boo at the top of your lungs - and this was when they were 6. I started teaching them then. You boo the visiting team. And I also tell them, when they would ask, well, you know, is that the ones who we boo? I'm like, well, if the Eagles are playing crappy, we're going to boo them, too.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. GRIGG: So there is no sparing them. I mean, it is what it is. We expect them to play hard and to perform well, and if they're not performing well, and they're not trying hard, they're going to get booed.
ROBERTS: And in Philadelphia, the hometown fans even boo each other.
Mr. GRIGG: At halftime of the Eagles games at home, they have - a local sporting good store will trot out three people from the stadium who's attending the game, trying to kick, like, a 20-yard field goal. If they miss, I boo, the whole stadium boos. These are people who are just plucked out of the stands. They probably had 10 beers in them, if not more, you know. You know, they got construction boots on and they got a jersey on, and they're out there trying to kick a field goal, and if they miss, we boo the crap out of them.
ROBERTS: But let's be clear, the right, the responsibility to boo the Eagles rests exclusively with Eagles fans. Visiting fans engage in that kind of behavior at their own risk.
Mr. GRIGG: The first thing we do when we sit down is, we'll do a full 360 in the seat, and we will look for the other people, the fans of the other people, so we know where to direct the venom, so.
ROBERTS: And is it just venom or you also, you know, pouring beer on them?
Mr. GRIGG: No, no, no. I would never, I would never pour my beer on anyone. It's too valuable.
ROBERTS: Right, it's like an $8 beer.
Mr. GRIGG: Why would I throw it on someone?
ROBERTS: Yeah. And then there's Andy Reid. He's the Eagles head coach, a position no one would have envied a few months ago.
Mr. GRIGG: Well, a couple episodes ago in our podcast, we were, I think, all unanimous in calling for his head. We were completely fed up with how the offense was being run, and there was certainly a growing sentiment that he needed to go, that he had run his course. It had been 10 years. Obviously, they went on this run, and now, he could probably run for mayor.
ROBERTS: Eric goes on to point out that Philly fans don't really connect with Reid. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve like beloved, past Eagles coach, Dick Vermeil. But there is one thing about football season in Philly that will outlast any coach.
Unidentified Men: (Singing) Fly Eagles, fly, on the road to victory. Fight, Eagles fight...
ROBERTS: The Eagles play the Cardinals in Arizona tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning on Weekend Edition, you can hear from Cardinals fans. Sunday's second game pits the Baltimore Ravens against the Pittsburg Steelers, which could set up an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl.
Unidentified Men: E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!