This Sunday's NFC Championship Game between the Buccaneers and Eagles will be the last football game played in the NFL's most notorious stadium, The Vet. Why is it notorious? Here's some prime examples (in addition to the ones jtfritz listed above):
- Just last Sunday, during the second quarter of the NFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, a fan somehow made it onto the field completely unnoticed. He strolled over to the Eagles' sideline, picked up a cup of Gatorade, then sat down next to quarterback Donovan McNabb and tried to chitchat by asking
"You from Jersey? I'm from Jersey."
The question, which McNabb was too surprised to answer, cost him $230 in fines and free ride in a paddywagon. I'm sure he thinks it was worth every penny.
- As mentioned above, The Vet's structure is known for its leaky pipes, unreliable heat, and porous concrete (which is why they're closing it down).
It's so bad that one morning a mouse-chasing cat actually fell out of a hole in the ceiling and landed on a coach's desk.
Correction, 1-20-2003: Peter King of Sports Illustrated has a much better scoop on this story:
A cat once used the drop-ceiling above offensive line coach Juan Castillo's stadium office as a litter box -- until the sodden tiles gave way and the feline fell through the ceiling and onto Castillo's desk. The coach used the resulting fouled playbook all season because he thought it was irreplaceable, grossing out his colleagues and players with the stench.
- The cheerleaders' changing room is located next to the players' locker room. During the late 80s and 90s players were known to spy on the lovely ladies through several holes in the dilapidated doors and walls. The secret came out when a group of cheerleaders later filed suit against several players, the Eagles organization, and the NFL. One anonymous player from a visiting team admitted that it was the reason why some guys looked forward to playing at The Vet. Several teams actually circled the trip on their calendar in anticipation.
- A group of season ticket holders in the infamous 700 level section were known to smuggle a keg in for each game in the 80s. They hid it in a wheelchair. That they got shitfaced drunk and contributed to the 700 level's raucous reputation is a given.
- In the early 80s a group of fans attacked and hospitalized the Washington Redskins mascot.
- In 1999, 60,000+ fans cheered audibly when Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin lay prone on the turf, temporally paralyzed. The injury ended his career. In all fairness, Irvin was a loud-mouthed, coke-snorting adulterer, but that's no excuse.
- In 1989 fans bombarded the entire Dallas Cowboys team, including then coach Jimmy Johnson, with an arsenal of snowballs. The new Governor of Pennsylvania, Edward G. Rendell, openly admitted to being there and taking part in the foray. It hasn't hurt his political career in the slightest.
- In November of 1997, after a San Francisco 49ers game in which over 60 fights broke out and a flare was shot off into an empty seating area, the local authorities actually set up a municipal court in the stadium exclusively for Eagles fans. It was aptly called "Eagles Court," and was later moved to a local precinct, where it's still held each and every Sunday, during football season.
Source:
Football's Looniest Stadium Has Its Last Rowdy Hurrah, Jere Longman. New York Times, January 16, 2003