7 February 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From the desert to the city of brotherly love. Chiefs fans will be everywhere. But there’s nothing like being in enemy territory.
“I may live in Philadelphia but I’m a Chiefs fan all the way,” said Dr. Jules Lipoff, who lives in Philadelphia.
From our backyard to 1,100 plus miles northeast, Chiefs Kingdom reigns supreme. Lipoff was raised in Kansas City for almost his entire childhood. He refuses to forget his roots and does not hesitate to show where his loyalties lie.
“Usually, I wear my Chiefs gear around different parts of Philadelphia, and no one really pays any attention to it. This week I feel like I’m getting a couple of looks like hmm what’s off with that guy,” Lipoff said.
Lipoff also wrote a column in the Philadelphia inquirer about just how being a Chiefs fan has made him a better doctor.
“I could always spark a conversation by saying you know I’m a Chiefs fan and we have Andy Reid in common. I’ve been able to connect with patients using sports,” he said.
There just so happens to be a safe space for Chiefs fans in South Philly. Big Charlie’s Saloon, where they take dedication to the Chiefs to the next level.
“The die-hard, the passion that we have for the Chiefs same way as the Eagles fans have for their Eagles,” Michael Puggi said, who is a Chiefs fan and works at the bar.
It started more than 50 years ago when the owner won a bet in Super Bowl IV. That turned his family into Chiefs fans. All she wrote from there.
“This is an Eagle town, but this is a Chiefs bar, it’s a corner, it’s our thing. They have ‘well it’s a Philly thing, well what we have, ‘it’s our thing’” Puggi said. “It’s family and friends it’s close knit. We don’t give problems, we don’t have problems, we respect everyone, everyone should respect us.”
Game on. It’s safe to say the city of brotherly love, loves and represents the kingdom well.
“To all the fans in Kansas City, Arrowhead East is ready to rock, we’re going to bring it home,” Puggi said. “Go Chiefs!”
Sadly, Big Charlie Saloon’s will be closed on Sunday because so many Chiefs fans in Philadelphia wanted to go to the bar that they did not want to have to turn anybody away.
Lipoff will host his own Super Bowl party as tradition. He says he will be catering in Kansas City Joe’s Bar-B-Q.