Saturday night, I had the extreme pleasure of representing HuskerLocker fans at Game Three of the World Series, between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.

It began with a 1 hour, 31 minute rain delay. My husband, a Philadelphian, and I stood underneath a sheltered walkway, crammed up against thousands of other fans. And nobody was going anywhere. It was cold. It was wet. But it was the World Series.

Born a Husker, I have now married into Philadelphia’s sports scene and I find myself wondering if a Husker fan can find a place among the Phanatics.

Philadelphia is a town that’s proud of its blue-collar demographic, its steakhouse restaurant scene and its infamous “atty-tood.” Philadelphian’s themselves, are the ones that grumble about “Filth-adelphia” and “The City of Brotherly Shove.” But you’ll notice that they complain with both a tinge of disgust and a hint of pride.

And before you jump to conclusions, it turns out there are more connections between the Phillies and the Huskers than just the team colors.

It starts with Grover Cleveland Alexander, who was born in Nebraska and became a star pitcher for the Phillies in 1910. The block letter “P” from the 1915 season uniform was retired in 2001 in his honor. And even Ogden Nash, the witty poet, wrote him a tribute that’s worth a quick Google search.

And of course there’s the Phllies favorite Ritchie Ashburn, from Tilden, Nebraska. He was one of the famous “Whiz Kids,” a lineup of young players, brought up through the Phillies' farm system. As an expert centerfielder, the Phillies have named centerfield Ashburn Alley. His .308 lifetime batting average helped lead the team to the 1950 World Series where the Yankees took the trophy.

It was a long road to that World Series. The Phillies franchise saw only one World Series championship in its first 125 years. And it wasn’t until after a run for three straight division titles from 1976 to 1978, that the Phillies won the World Series in 1980. With the failed 1993 bid for the championship, Saturday’s Game 3 marks the first World Series game in Philadelphia in 15 years.

But these fans were ready to wait a little longer still—until the rain passed.

And it was worth the wait.

Carlos Ruiz hit a home run in the second inning. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit back to back homers. So the Phils entered the 7th inning with a 4-1 lead over the Rays.

During those first six innings, I had a lot of time to think about how a Husker fan might reconcile becoming a Phillies fan.

“We want to be a part of the community as much as we can, but does that mean that we have to take on a love for Philly sports?” Bobby Kolb asked.

He and his wife Rachel recently moved to Philadelphia, too. He grew up in Illinois and she’s a Husker. They’ve run into the same predicament I have.

Looking around at the fans, there are a few questions about reputation that bubble to the surface. Philadelphia fans cannot be painted with a single brush, but it is fair to say that, generally speaking, they’re a rough crowd. For every scruffy, cheese-steak eating, Rocky-aspiring tough-guy there’s an arugula-eating, latte-drinking “Philadelphia Lawyer”. They both love their Philadelphia teams. And none of them try to hide their amusement when recalling an Easter egg hunt for players’ children, when the fans booed the kids who didn't find any eggs.

So now the question becomes: Is this a community I really want to participate in?

At one point during Saturday's game, my husband started booing with the rest of the crowd. Very confused, I asked why everyone was booing. He said, “I have no idea. We’re in Philadelphia.”

I grew up in Husker country, where booing was frowned upon, where the opposing team always got a standing ovation and where excessive celebration was a cardinal sin. These core Husker values are completely foreign to Philadelphia fans. Whenever I ask Philadelphians about their reputation, they shrug it off with a half smile--a little false disgust and little pride.

But it’s my theory that this pride may just be misplaced, because Philadelphia does have reason to be proud of its sports history. You only need a short list of its sports heroes to prove it: Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, Vince Papale, Ron Jaworski, Billie Jean King, Julius Erving (Dr. J) and Mike Schmidt. There really is a lot to be proud of.

“I still pull for [the Cubs],” Kolb said. “But I think that I can follow a team like the Phillies. They don't really have a superstar player—just a bunch of guys that are scrappy and play hard. I like that in a baseball team.”

But as Kolb and I sat cheering for a scrappy team that plays hard, the local fans sat nervously, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it turns out they were right.

The trouble began in the seventh inning.

Carl Crawford, LF for the Rays, hit a slow roller down the first-base line. Jamie Moyer, starting pitcher for the Phillies, dove, fielded the ball with his glove and flipped it to Howard in one swift motion.

The umpire couldn’t see Howard bare hand the ball, so he called Crawford safe. The missed call was obvious to the fans in the stadium. And the subsequent scored runs were devastating to the crowd—particularly since no runs would have scored, if the umpire hadn’t blown the call.

But instead, it was 4-3.

Then, in the eighth, Ruiz’s throwing error to third base let the tying run score. And in the bottom of the inning Jason Werth, RF for the Phillies, was picked off second just before Howard struck out.

The life was sucked out of the stadium.

The fan on our left said, “This is absolutely unbelievable.”

And the fan sitting on our right said, “No. This is 100% believable.”

My husband said, “That’s the worst part.”

And suddenly I began to understand the plight of the Philadelphia sports fan.

Recently, Philadelphia teams have performed well. But they are still plagued by missed championships and devastating moments of failure at crucial junctures. You can hardly blame them when they don’t show unfettered optimism. Philadelphia is a city with one of the longest championship droughts in major sports. Here are their most recent championships:

1960 Philadelphia Eagles (football)
1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers (hockey)
1980 Philadelphia Phillies (baseball)
1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers (basketball)

On one hand, Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation for being rude and crude, but you cannot deny they are also avidly devoted—in good times and in bad. At any given moment, they can recite for you exactly how many championships were lost, and when and where. And you can see that clearly, they are partly disgusted but partly proud of their struggle.

Then the magic happened.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Rays loaded the bases and Ruiz took the plate. With a 5-man infield, Ruiz bobbled a 60-foot infield hit down the third-base line and brought home the winning run.

Up in the satnds, a fan returned to his seat near me and said, “I was just up there hugging complete strangers!”

And I thought, Maybe deep, deep down Phillies fans really are Huskers at heart.

Then a fan from a few rows down said, “We’ll be sending you back up there in a minute!”

And I thought, Maybe not.

But I have to admit, I do find myself looking back on that eighth inning with utter exasperation, although in the end I was really quite elated by their win.

And so, it is with a tinge of disgust and a hint of pride that I admit I am, after all, both a Husker and a Phillies fan.

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