The Triangle

Issue date: 10/17/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Melissa Cell

Media Credit: Melissa Cell

It was the type of thing you see in really cheesy sports movies. A small town that hasn't won a championship in 40 years puts together a string of playoff victories against all odds, wins the national title and a bunch of fans run (or walk) to the nearest popular landmark to celebrate.

Oct. 15 wasn't quite like that storyline, but a very similar situation happened as the Philadelphia Phillies clinched a berth in the Fall Classic - and Drexel students responded in a very unlikely manner.

What happened that evening and early Oct. 16 was something I never witnessed in my entire life, and I might not get to witness it ever again. No, Philadelphia is not a small town, it actually won a championship (only) 25 years ago and we didn't even win the World Series (as of now). Nevertheless, that Oct. 15 night was the perfect night to potentially setup a name for one the cheesiest sports movies of all time - The Walk to City Hall.

As Carlos Ruiz caught the final out in Game 5 of the NLCS, I celebrated with my brothers at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house on Fraternity Row. As we jumped on each other and screamed out Phillies chants, we decided to take our chants outside, where it was surprisingly quiet. We were literally the only people outside celebrating the Phillies NLCS win - but that lasted for maybe about 40 seconds.

As if it were out of that corny sports movie, some fraternity and sorority members rushed out of their houses on 34th and Race, and some appeared out of nowhere from the direction of 34th and Powelton. It didn't matter what Fraternity or Sorority you were in. In actuality, it didn't even matter if you were a part of Greek Life because before you knew it, there were hundreds of random Drexel students taking over Fraternity Row in celebration of the Phillies winning the National League Pennant.

The scene was quite majestic as Drexel students let out a roar of happiness and displayed their pride in numerous ways:

Students held up a picture of a young Rocky wearing a Phillies jersey; there were firecrackers in the middle of the street that almost burnt down the Pike and ASA houses; a student stood on top of that large construction vehicle (for lack of a better word) behind the fences protecting the new dorm, before public safety came and told him to step down; ridiculous chants about the Mets, Red Sox and Rays were chanted (but I'm not allowed to mention them in the newspaper) and there were hundreds of cars that tried passing through 34th Street without running over students before police were forced to block off the street to avoid any possible injuries.

But that was just the beginning.

As some of my AEPi brothers were standing near the police cars on the corner of 34th and Race, a few of them once again mentioned we should go to City Hall because there would probably be a huge celebration. After a few minutes of contemplating, I mentioned to one of them that we should probably start a "City Hall" chant so that they could possibly join us. I didn't expect there to be such a large following.

As my friend Brandon Miller and I led what we later found out was a pack of hundreds of Drexel students, I thought to myself that it seemed like a dream, but a dream that was too good to make up. I didn't know that when we made a left onto Lancaster Walk that people would follow us. And I definitely didn't think that when we reached the end of Lancaster Walk, we would be able to turn around only to see what looked like an endless line of people. Some were wearing their Phillies gear, some wore Drexel shirts, but one thing was for certain: This incredible group of people was going to walk with us to City Hall.

The loud Phillies chants resonated throughout Center City as some people who didn't go to Drexel and were walking toward the direction of Drexel's campus decided to turn around and join the massive mob. Cab drivers were giving free rides to people headed to City Hall, cars slowed down to give us high-fives and cops blocked off all the streets and followed us from 32nd to 15th streets. It felt like we Drexel students were taking over Philadelphia. The Drexel Phillies mob didn't just give firefighters (who were sitting in their fire engines) high-fives. Some students also gave the bums hugs (the bums didn't have televisions, but somehow still knew about the Phillies' success).

It was one of those sights you don't forget.

Rival fraternities and sororities were celebrating as one Greek Life. The rich people were hugging the poor and the homeless. The criminals (I'm sure there were a few somewhere in the pack) were hugging the cops.

As the front of the pack was just about a block away from City Hall, we ran the rest of the way without looking at both sides of the street because we knew the cops were taking care of us by shutting everything down, just like the Phillies were taking care of Philadelphia.

When we reached City Hall, there were Phillies chants, "Mets suck" chants and Shane Victorino chants, among others. But as much as I love the Phillies, there was one chant that gave me goosebumps more than any other.

"Let's go Drexel!"

It may have been inevitable considering when we got to City Hall, we were the only people on the side of City Hall closest to the campus. Nonetheless, it was a sign that for that night, at least, City Hall belonged to us. There were no Penn, Temple or Villanova chants. Tonight was about more than the Phillies making the World Series. It was also about a community often depicted as one with little school pride that came together during a monumental time in Philadelphia sports history. Yes, Drexel obviously lacks a college football and baseball team, but there's no way an outsider would have been able to tell.

The best part of my experience of walking to City Hall as one group may have been that people were still talking about it the next day and seeing some Facebook statuses that stated things such as, "I love City Hall!!" or "I'll never forget last nights celebration when the cops closed off the streets!"

Thank you to the students who came out to City Hall and made last night one of the most memorable sports moments of my life. Honestly, I'd love to hear what you thought it was like to walk with hundreds of Drexel students, since everyone's experience was different. Also, thank you to the cops who shut down part of 34th Street and escorted with several vehicles on our walk to 15th Street. It made the story sound much cooler.

It's astonishing that this happened and it wasn't even for a championship win! I can't even imagine what it would be like if the Phillies WON the World Series. Maybe next time instead of walking to City Hall, we'll walk to Broad Street, but with a couple thousand more students.

Whatever happens, there's one thing for certain: This is no cheesy movie. It's what happens when Drexel students are given a chance to display their pride.

Let's just hope there's a sequel in two weeks.

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