If you want to submit your story, or someone you know, to be highlighted as KYW Newsradio's Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week, click here.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One of the many words you could use to describe Joel Embiid's game-winning three-pointer from Wednesday night is "dramatic." That’s because sports offer the unpredictable drama that so many of us love, and it’s why some of us watch sporting events on such a frequent basis.
You can include Rodney Boylan of South Jersey as one of those people.
"My entertainment is nothing but sports," Boylan, 55, told KYW Newsradio.
"I don't watch TV much unless there's a ball or a puck. Somebody needs to be keeping score to get my interest."
Boylan, a financial advisor, prefers to do without the off-the-court, field, and ice drama that pops up frequently, such as cases like Ben Simmons and Carson Wentz.
"There was all drama,” Boylan said, “but the wrong drama."
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Boylan is KYW Newsradio's Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week because of his strong dedication to the games.
"I am going to make arrangements around big games,” he said.
Boylan's love of sports began when he was playing Little League Baseball during the Philadelphia sports era of Garry Maddox, Mike Schmidt, and Steve Carlton, as well as Julius Erving and Bobby Clarke, with whom he actually shared a South Jersey town for a very brief time when the Flyers were winning their Stanley Cups.
Boylan said he never got a chance to meet the greatest Flyer of all time, but "in Audubon, New Jersey, everybody around the area gathered in a place on the Blackhorse Pike to see if the team would show up to their typical hangout [Rexy's Bar & Restaurant]."
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As Boylan got older, he gathered the belief that you root for the teams from the town you're from. With his love of live sports, this is a great time of year for Boylan as the Sixers are in the playoffs, the Phillies are in the early weeks of their season and the Flyers, while having an awful year on the ice, are still playing.
"It's 7:30. Let's go. Somebody's on. That's what's going to pop up, and I'm going to flip between games,” Boylan said.
“The worst nights are when the Flyers and Sixers are on both the same night because I know that they're probably both going to be off the next night, so then what do I do? I'm invested like they're a good friend."
Boylan said he doesn't attend the games in person often, but he has before, including with his sons, 22-year-old Ryan and 18-year-old Aaron.
Aaron Boylan told us when his dad is watching games, he can get animated.
"When it'll get close or whatever, when he gets into it, I'll like be in the basement where I am now and I'll hear it from upstairs. He definitely gets into it,” said Aaron Boylan.
"When I'm next to him, I'll be on my phone, and he'll just yell and it'll scare the crap out of me if I'm really close to him."
Since Rodney Boylan is so invested in the games, he had to find a substitute during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when there were very little to no live sports for about four months or so.
He said he and his wife got into Marvel movies, which was their thing during the initial months of the pandemic.
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As far as Rodney Boylan's favorite moment as a Philadelphia sports fan, he knew exactly what it was.
“Brad Lidge. Phillies winning the 2008 World Series."
If you want to submit your story, or someone you know, to be highlighted as KYW Newsradio's Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week, click here.
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