What you're witnessing here is history, or at least revisionist history. To paraphrase the great Jack Edwards:
A couple of hours before Game 2 between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins, a bunch of rowdy Comcast employees and Flyers supporters charged out of some Philadelphia bars, went down to the dock and dumped the "Boston tea" into the not-very-salty Delaware River. And in doing that, it struck a chord, that rings true even today: That when confronted with a 1-0 series deficit, shameless publicity stunts are not only the right thing to do — it can be a heck of a lot of a fun.
The stunt took place on the deck of the Moshulu, a historic seafaring vessel-turned-Four Diamond winning restaurant in Penn's Landing. Flyers blog Crossing Broad wonders if mocking a cherished moment in American history is all that smart considering current events, and broke down the stunt thusly:
Rebels demanding freedom : rallying cry for soon-to-be-formed nation, including Philadelphia :: Flyers fans tossing some faux Boston Tea in muddy river : Bostonians being owned by our offensive mockery of their heroism
Yeah that will show them, those damn Patriots.
Hey, if nothing else, it appears the Philadelphia Tea Party ended before Michelle Bachman showed up with a Power Point presentation on the federal debt. Which means we all win.
The Flyers' mockery of Boston wasn't contained to the shores of the Delaware. Here are the two T-shirts created for Games 1 and 2 in Philly, with the design on the right being given out tonight:
The first shirt probably isn't going to be a collector's item after the Flyers were stuffed in a barrel and tossed overboard in Game 1; the second evokes a Bostonian colloquialism in a comedic concept that's about as cutting edge as Jimmy Fallon dropping a Nomar Garciaparra reference on 'SNL' -- in 2002. Even if, you know, it captures the Flyers fan aesthetic rather deftly.
What's so disheartening about these Boston-inspired hijinks is that Flyers fans are much, much, much funnier and more caustic than a faux tea party and a couple of future dust rags would give them credit for being. Witness Flyers Goal Scored By making the obvious Nomar joke and then killing it with the Boston quips. Witness the subtle celebrity look-a-like angle from Broad Street Hockey. Leave the driving to them!