[Dion]

Philadelphia's nickname may be "The City of Brotherly Love," but sports fans in that metropolis are notorious for a lack of fraternal affection: According to reputation, Philadelphia fans love a winner (who doesn't?) but will mercilessly turn on any players or team that don't live up to expectations, no matter how brilliant their past performances. No single image sums up that reputation more succinctly than the claim (as expressed in the examples cited above) that fans in Philadelphia once booed and pelted with snowballs that most inoffensive, beloved, and benevolent of figures, Santa Claus himself. The claim is true, although the potentially mitigating circumstances under which the incident occurred typically go unmentioned.

Fans in Philadelphia once booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/chris...iladelphia.asp

"That's when the booing started. At first, I was scared because it was so loud. But then I figured, hey, it was just good-natured teasing. I'm a Philadelphia fan, I knew what was what. I thought it was funny."

When Olivo finished his run down Santa Claus Lane, he got into range. A fan in the upper deck threw the first snowball. As Santa hit the south end zone, one turned into ten, then into 100.

"When I hit the end zone, and the snowballs started, I was waving my finger at the crowd, saying 'You're not getting anything for Christmas,'" Olivo recalled.

"Oh, I got pelted," Olivo says. He remembers being hit by several dozen snowballs, which suggests that many of the upper-deck denizens were more accurate passers than [the Eagles' quarterback]. "I didn't mind," he says. "I started kibitzing with some of the people throwing the snowballs."

Still, he had his limits. "When I finished, Mr. Mullen asked if I wanted to do it again the next year," Olivo says. "I told him, 'No way. If it doesn't snow, they'll probably throw beer bottles."