The Devil in the Details: A Trip to a Flyers Game
We ventured down to Philadelphia to attend a Flyers game at the Wells Fargo Center recently. I learned a little history, current sports events, the latest technological innovations, and myself. It was an absolute blast, despite the disappointing final score for Philadelphia.
It had been a while since I went to a national hockey game, so my sister informed me of a new bag rule: only small, clear bags were permitted in the stadium. The facility did offer free lockers at each entrance for use if someone needs it, but I made sure to put some essentials in a small clear bag before we headed to the stadium. When I went to Target to procure one, I also found a sale on a lovely orange and black plaid shirt for the game.
Michael and I looked sporty but casual, as we piled into my father’s car to head to a restaurant called Chickie’s and Pete’s in South Philly. It is a sports bar and restaurant created in 1977, with a long history of hosting sports commentators, players, political dignitaries, and loyal Philadelphia sports fans. The owners, Peter and Henrietta Ciarrocchi, started the place after purchasing an old taproom in Mayfair. Pete Ciarrocchi had always been friends “with both jocks and rockers”, as their website states. Starting a sports bar that would soon to be well-known to the area, especially with the invention of their famous Crab Fries recipe, was perfect for the Philadelphia sports culture and music atmosphere.
We actually ate there after the Flyers game because we went there to hop on their branded taxicab. It is a free service that encourages less car traffic to attend Philly sports games by offering a cab from their South Philly location. The atmosphere and camaraderie on the taxicab (more of a small bus) was invigorating. With the sociability of my dad, we had some interesting discussions with other fans about the past Flyers losses, potential coaching and player changes needed, and some tragic history of a former player.
The player in the discussion was Pelle Lindbergh, a rising star in the 1980’s that used his goalie skills to propel the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1985. His life and career were tragically cut short when he, under the influence of alcohol, drove his car into a wall, mere months before he was engaged to be married at the age of 26. The dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol are certainly well-known nowadays, but the drive to impose harsher penalties for the practice began to stir in that time. With the prevalence of taxicabs, both hailed physically and digitally, no one should be driving after drinking. Glad Chickie’s and Pete’s has a free taxicab to help assist with stadium parking and help reduce drunk driving in the city.
Once we arrived and walked from the bus stop to the stadium, I marveled at the line of statutes of Philly athletes along its perimeter. One of the statues depicted Wilt Chamberlain, an NBA player that played on the Philly team (named Philadelphia Warriors, at the time) back in 1959. He holds 72 NBA records that he achieved throughout his career. But as I found out from a cursory look at his history, he was only a part of two winning NBA championships. Based on comments from Rick Barry’s memoir, “He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly ... When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesn't want the ball, he doesn't want any part of the pressure.”
The pressure of basketball games can be incredibly intense, as I knew from being involved in middle school basketball teams. It not only continued the increase in my unregulated anxiety growing up but led to a hand injury from an unexpected pass in a summer league. I can definitely relate to Wilt Chamberlain’s anxieties of the mounting pressure in the final moments of a high-stakes NBA game. His statue, created to memorialize his achievements, includes the quote “The worth of a man is measure by the size of his heart” along with a depiction of his older self, knelt down with a younger version of himself bursting above to dunk a basketball. It is a powerful image of the true strength of his character and his goliath height.
When we entered the stadium, we ventured to a small area to listen to a sales pitch about the team’s season ticket packages. While my dad successfully dodged the expense of getting a season ticket package, it led to some free drinks and photos with two former Philadelphia Flyers players: Mark Recchi and Scott Hartnell.
Mark Recchi was on the Flyers back in 1992, though his long career spans six other teams. He is currently the assistant coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, though he was briefly the assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils between 2020-2022. While I obviously did not recognize him (as I was very young when he was a player), I do remember his name, vaguely. My dad had season tickets to the Flyers throughout the 80’s and 90’s. My parents even spent some nights at Kaminski’s, a bar in Cherry Hill, NJ, that was frequented by the players after practices. Watching my dad show his enthusiasm as he talked with Mark Recchi was inspiring, as I delved into learning more about him after the game. Recchi’s career spanned 23 years, with three Stanley Cup wins and an induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.
Scott Hartnell’s career is more recent, as he just retired from the NHL in 2018 after a 17-year career that spanned not only the Flyers but the Nashville Predators and the Columbus Blue Jackets. While he hadn’t been on a Stanley Cup winning team, he had a national hockey career that imbued laughter and joy to the games. He is currently a studio analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia and occasionally fills in as commentator for Flyers broadcasts.
After the star-studded photo and the sales pitch, we ventured to our seats on the second level. The Wells Fargo Arena is massive, with a huge jumbotron in the center and lots of seats surrounding the rink. As the clock ticked closer to game time, a large counter appeared on the screens above. When it got to zero, the lights cut to black. We were then treated to a masterful technologically sophisticated experience with lights, projection systems, videos, sounds, and stage craft.
On the screen was a moving video of the Flyer’s mascot, Gritty, dressed in Rocky Balboa attire, geared up for a fight. As the Rocky theme started to build its crescendo, Gritty arrived on the ice and skated from one end to the other. But it was more epic than expected, as video projections made it appear that the ice was breaking as he skated, with the rink being “rebuilt” as the Art Museum steps. For those that don’t know, the Philadelphia Art Museum is featured in an iconic moment during the Rocky franchise.
When Gritty reached the center of the rink, the projections changed the image again, showing a small boxing arena in the center. Through the crowd’s jeers in the audience, a New Jersey Devils player skates out to meet gritty in the center, wearing boxing gloves and ready for a fight. Gritty won, of course, to imbue excitement with all the Flyers fans in the stadium. Over the next several minutes, we were treated to a montage of fast-paced Flyers replays, incredible heart-pounding music, and dazzling projection effects. It was unbelievable, to say the least.
After the preshow, the game started. The stadium was abuzz with excitement, mixed with frustration, as the NJ Devils scored two goals in the first two periods. The first goal was shot by Cody Glass, a newly traded player from the Pittsburgh Penguins. From a Marc Ciampa article about the game on NewJerseyDevils.com, “[Cody] Glass continued his strong debut, scoring the game’s first goal with about nine minutes to go in the first. He ripped a shot from the high slot past a screened Fedotov [Flyer’s goalie] to make it 1-0.” It seemed like the game was going to become a shut out until Jamie Drysdale scores a breakaway goal in the final four minutes. But it was not enough to overcome the deficit, especially as Dawson Mercer from the Devils scored an empty net goal in the last 18 seconds of the game.
The experience throughout was enjoyable, regardless of the outcome. Michael and I learned that Insomnia Cookies, a favorite of ours, was in the stadium. Prices were bigger than normal, but the cookies were delicious. And I continued my abstinence from alcohol by drinking a Sam Adams “Just the Haze” non-alcoholic beer, which was cheaper than the tallboys of Bud Light for $16 each. I had reached a milestone recently on my sober journey: five months. And I am really enjoying the mental clarity so far.
My personal enjoyment of the game was reinvigorated, as the work I have been doing to imbue mental clarity with meditation and sobriety allowed me to fully be present. For decades, I was unable to fully pay attention, especially in a stadium full of distractions. It was certainly eye-opening and fantastic to be able to enjoy the game without anxious and distracting thoughts to pull my attention away.
During one of the breaks between periods, I walked along the hallways, admiring a detail of the stadium that I barely registered before: city names of surrounding areas to the stadium. Some of the names spanned well beyond Philadelphia to the South Jersey shore, like Sea Isle City and Wildwood. It was lovely to witness, and I am glad that the designers of the stadium thought it was a good idea to share the hundreds of cities and towns that travel here to see Philly sports games.
Back to the game, a buzzer sounded moments after the final goal from Dawson Mercer of the NJ Devils, signaling the end. And the quick enforcement of security to make sure everyone exited in a timely manner was expected, as there was an NBA game within a couple hours. Though, as I learned, the Philadelphia Sixers current performance is abysmal, leading to crazy drops in ticket prices. The seats where we sat for the Flyers game could be snatched up for the Sixers game with prices as low as $5. Maybe for next time when we are down in the area.
We headed back to the Chickie’s and Pete’s taxicab parking spot by the stadium, planning to enjoy an early dinner. Michael and I shared a plate of delicious nachos with a small plate of their famous Crab Fries. The nachos we ordered were part of a non-profit donation partnership with the Brian Dawkin’s Impact Foundation. Brian Dawkin’s was a Philadelphia Eagles safety from 1996-2008, eventually landing him in the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame. His non-profit does a lot of things, but what caught my curiosity was their Cerebral Wellness & Enrichment Programs. Working with EverFi, they created courses for students in Kindergarten through High School to teach about mental health in the greater Philadelphia area. As someone who recently underwent a mental health breakdown, this is exceptionally fantastic. I wished that this course was available to me when I was in school; it would have transformed my life. Glad that Brian Dawkin’s is using his sports fame to transform the lives of countless people.
Near the end of the dinner, we noticed that a college basketball game between Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies was heading to Overtime. While none of us had any skin in the game (none of us have gone to those schools), it was rather exciting and kept our attention until the final buzzer when Oregon was victorious. It was an excellent way to show just how much the excitement of sport brings people together.
And for Flyers fans, the fact that we still get excited for games even when they haven’t won a Stanley Cup Final in over 50 years, shows the power of sports and connection. Even with a four-game deficit, maybe the Flyers will take the team to the finals this year and break a 50-year championship slump. At least Philly sports fans had an Eagles championship win recently to tide them over.
