This is nuts.
Would you do this if your fave team was going to the Superbowl, World Series?
Would you go to the see the championship if it was your team? If so, what you be willing to spend on it?
Eagles fans homing in on Super Bowl
February 2, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- Kevin P. O'Donoghue is going to the Super Bowl. When he gets back, he'll worry about the house he mortgaged to watch his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
He's not alone. Some championship-deprived Philadelphians are so desperate to get down to Jacksonville, Fla., for the big game Sunday against the New England Patriots that they're borrowing against their homes to pay for the tickets.
O'Donoghue, who was 11 the last time the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, promised himself he would be there if they ever made it again -- no matter what it took. After the Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in 24 years, O'Donoghue told his wife, ''I don't care if we have to mortgage our house, I'm going.''
So O'Donoghue paid $4,000 for a Super Bowl package that includes round-trip airfare, a four-night hotel stay and one ticket to the game. To pay for it, he applied for a home-equity line of credit, a way of borrowing money that required him to put up his house as collateral.
''Sometimes the [credit] cards are maxed out, and you gotta do what you gotta do,'' said O'Donoghue, an account executive from Glen Mills, Pa.
Mortgage bankers in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey say that Eagles fans have been inquiring about refinancing mortgages or taking out home-equity loans or lines of credit to pay for what O'Donoghue called ''the chance of a lifetime.''
Denny Shestack, the owner of the company that approved O'Donoghue's line of credit, said he doesn't fault Eagles fans for splurging.
''I'd argue it's a better investment than a flat-screen TV,'' said Shestack, an Eagles fan who has been to six of the last eight Super Bowls and is going to this one.
O'Donoghue said it's worth it.
''I can't wait,'' he said. ''It feels like Christmas Eve.''
AP
4 comments:
I WISH I had the lack of conscience to do something that irresponsible.
I live in philly. I totally believe this. These people are nuts with Iggles fever.
And of course, it got this guy his 15 minutes.
If I were his wife, I'd have his nuts in a sling.
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Go Pats! I love them but wouldn't spend that much money.
Definitely a nominee for Tank MacNamara's "Sports Jerk of the Year".
At least, if he'd bought the TV, he'd have something left to enjoy.
Wonder if he thinks it's worthwhile now?
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