Joseph Price, an emeritus professor of religious studies at Whittier College (a Chicago Bears fan) agrees that this is the work of sports. They shape the establishment of a distinct identity and also promote community bonding.
Sometimes the best bonding involves a gentle troll. Franciscan sister Martha Pooler, 86, a South Philly native, recalls tossing an Eagles shirt over a three-dimensional cutout of (then) local New England Patriots icon Tom Brady when she was principal at Our Lady of the Assumption in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.
For all their devotion, the nuns don’t believe God is going to intervene decisively for one side or another. “I think he intervenes for both of them, and gives them both the grace to do the best they can”, said Sr. Maryann Graham, 77, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Said Sr. Maryann Swarek, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, “You pray that they win the game, hope that they can go on to the next game, and that nobody gets hurt.”
If the Eagles lose, Pooler, said she would be disappointed, “but I’ve been disappointed a lot of times in my life,” she said. “This is only a game.”
Does that mean she’s not praying for a win? “Oh, I always pray for them to win,” she said.
Others do more than pray: at Camilla Hall, the nursing home on the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary campus in Malvern, Pennsylvania, Sr. Peter Therese Mariani is running the Super Bowl betting pool (for very modest stakes).
Being a Philadelphia fan has sometimes been an occasion for sin for some: Known for their enthusiasm and ebullience as well as their faithfulness in good times and bad (the team didn’t win the Super Bowl until 2018), the city’s stadiums can be daunting for out-of-town teams and fans. Win or lose, their behavior toward even their own is notorious.
Boyle blames a minority — “the crazies who take everything to extremes.”
“I prefer to call it passion,” said Fagan.
Sr. John Christi D’Alessandro, an 84-year-old IHM sister, sees only the good. “I think Philadelphia fans are probably the loudest and the most joyful fans in the stadium,” she said.
The only thing that will taint their joy on Sunday, Pooler said, would be that former Eagles head coach Andy Reid is now coaching the rival Chiefs. “For a lot of Eagles fans who love Andy, it’s just going to be a bittersweet win.”
Because, she said, they are going to win.
This article originally appeared here.
