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PHILADELPHIA - Joe Sampson is from Port Jefferson and Shannon Kelly is from Philadelphia, which on the face of it should be no reason for them not to date, as they have been for the past month.
But things got more complicated Saturday when Sampson surprised Kelly with an elaborate gift:
He bought them tickets in the first row for yesterday's Giants-Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field and in the 22nd row for Game 4 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park.
>> See photos from World Series Game 4
Sampson wore a replica Eli Manning jersey in the afternoon, then put on a Derek Jeter jersey over it for the nightcap, topped by a Yankees cap. Kelly wore a Brian Westbrook jersey for football, then a Phillies sweater and cap.
"Everyone keeps saying to her, 'Why are you with that man?' and heckling me,'' Sampson said as he picked up his baseball tickets, which cost a total of $2,500 on StubHub.
Rather than cower, the couple embraced the situation and their role on a unique day and night in the sprawling south Philadelphia sports complex.
"We're just being all lovey-dovey and kissing and people are just getting sick,'' Kelly said. "They're hating it.''
Even on a normal day, a big game between teams from New York and Philadelphia is a Petri dish of intercity hatred complicated by the intermingling of tribes living in proximity.
So it was Sunday, only more so.
Take Edwin Torres, who grew up in New York but now lives in Atlantic City and who at 9 a.m. was in a parking lot across the street from the Linc wearing a replica Donovan McNabb jersey.
Fair enough. Then he lifted the shirt to reveal the secret underneath: a blue shirt emblazoned with the Yankees' logo.
His brother-in-law, Willie Mahan, grew up in southern New Jersey but said he too is a Yankees fan. And he was wearing a Lawrence Taylor jersey.
Which is a bit awkward, because Willie's wife and Edwin's sister, Emily, was an Eagles cheerleader in the mid-1990s.
"She's home,'' Willie said. "She doesn't want to sit with me. I'll be sleeping in the guest room tonight if the Giants win. No treats.''
Fans of the Eagles and Phillies obviously dominated in the lots and the stands, and they enjoyed early gloating rights when the Eagles blew out the Giants in a game the NFL moved from 4 p.m. to 1 to ease the burden on the area. (And to clear more TV markets for the Vikings-Packers game.)
So most New Yorkers opted for a relatively low profile.
That wasn't an option for the Giants, whose bus took a direct hit from an egg as it drove down a ramp to the stadium, a mighty heave by a fan in the parking lot below.
Win or lose, Philadelphians seemed to embrace the historic nature of the New York vs. Phillly day-night doubleheader, and turn it into an extra-long party against the bullies from the big city up north.
By about 10 a.m., the Eagles' pep band was belting out the theme from "Rocky" and "Eye of the Tiger,'' and fans soaked in being at the center of the universe on a day when all four major American team sports were in action.
"It doesn't get any better than this, does it?'' Mahan said as he stood near the Wilt Chamberlain statue outside Wachovia Center, preparing to tailgate.
Nine hours later, Sampson might not have been so sure.
Moments after saying how much nicer Phillies fans had been to him than Eagles fans were, he encountered a group of six men in Phillies shirts who screamed at him to go back to New York.
And while he was at it, to please stop holding the hand of the attractive young lady wearing the Phillies sweater.
Only they didn't say it quite that politely.
>>INTERACTIVE: Yankees vs. Phillies scouting report
>> COMPLETE COVERAGE: Yankees go for 27th World Series title
>> PHOTOS: Game 4 | Game 3 | Game 2 | Game 1 | Reasons to fear the Phillies
>> BLOGS: Yankees postseason | Ken Davidoff's MLB Insider
>> FUN: SimSeries | Yankee pie chart (walkoff wins) | Tale of Two Cities: NY vs. Philly | Core Four: Who's the best?
>> MORE: World Series pitching capsules | VOTE: Who wins? | Send us your photos
