Why does Philadelphia grease the poles? How it started and became a tradition when Eagles win
Every sporting city has its share of traditions. Some are weirder than others. For Philadelphia, the weirdest thing – and perhaps most necessary – is greasing the bars.
The city was forced to lubricate its lampposts ahead of the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl 52 five years ago, and the Eagles’ return to the NFL’s biggest stage means more hydraulic fluid should be deployed ahead of Sunday.
Winning isn’t such an unfamiliar feeling for Eagles fans this time, but it doesn’t matter to Philadelphia fans. They will celebrate and salute the moment when their Eagles bring another championship back to the city of brotherly love.
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As the Eagles prepare to battle the Chiefs for a championship in Arizona, here’s what you need to know about why the Philadelphia bars are getting greased.
Why is Philadelphia lubricating the bars?
Simply put, major sporting events lead to intense emotions. Regardless of whether the result is a win or a loss, the size of a Super Bowl can cause fans to do bizarre things. In the case of Philadelphia fans, that sometimes means climbing lampposts.
Fans perched on poles 20 feet above a crowd have produced some of the best moments of championship celebrations over the years, but there’s an obvious reason cities try to prevent it.
Fans can be seriously injured falling off a lamppost and the large crowd below would make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get to an injured person. The city of Philadelphia prefers to keep the celebration grounded, which makes sense.
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To be fair, climbing the bars isn’t just for Philadelphia fans. Some Red Sox fans climbed lampposts in Boston after the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series. One fan was even arrested for turning off the light when he got upstairs.
Smearing the bars became a story in 2018 when the Eagles drove past the Vikings in the NFC Championship game and eventually upset the Patriots in Super Bowl 52.
City prepared accordingly, using Crisco before the NFC Championship game and then switching to hydraulic fluid before the Super Bowl. Some fans still made it onto the lampposts.
Fans climbed the poles again last October after the Phillies bought their ticket to the World Series. City greased the bars in anticipation, but it didn’t keep everyone grounded.
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The celebration will be in full force in downtown Philadelphia if the Eagles prevail over the Chiefs, and the city could use some of October’s lessons to better lubricate the bars this time.
Eagles fans are expected to be heavily represented in the Phoenix area at Super Bowl 57, so city officials in Phoenix and Glendale may also want to keep an eye out for pole climbers.