Illustration by Gluekit. Crowd courtesy of Alex Subers; Logo, Widowmaker and Genji courtesy of Comcast Spectacor/Philadelphia Fusion
What happens when a sports-obsessed city gets a new team?
I covered the Philadelphia Fusion premiere in the Overwatch League for Philadelphia Magazine where hundreds of people celebrated nerdom that bordered on football-like hysteria.
The energy coursed like a wave through the crowd as it let out a collective victory scream. The 450 or so people packed into the University City bar cheered as the Philadelphia squad clinched a win in its first game. On TVs mounted above the bar, one of our top players had leapt a long arc into the air through a barrage of neon-colored gunfire, landed behind the opponents’ line, and exploded in a flash of white. High fives were given, and beer was spilled — at least for a few moments. Then the next game started, and the chanting began: “DE-fense,” stomp-stomp, “DE-fense.” Someone nearby surveyed the scene: “This is surreal.”