The Great Santa Snowball Debacle of 1968

Franklin Field in Philly
The subject of debate:
Did the Eagles' fans boo Santa
Because they thought that he was drunk?
Because his costume was in tatters?
Or because the team just stunk?
The coach was Joe Kuharich
He clearly had to go
The homemade banners hanging up
They all were saying so
They hung him from the flagpole
In effigy that day
An airplane pulled a sign
That told him where to go away
It was the last game of the season
The team would finish 2 and 12
The snow was really falling
The cheerleaders dressed like elves
Norm Snead threw interceptions
The runners gained no ground
If it wasn’t for the booing
There wouldn’t have been a sound
The gun went off at halftime
But the field had too much snow
To go on with the regularly
Scheduled halftime show
The guy who would play Santa
Never even left his house
He’d phoned a little earlier
To say that he could not get out
And there was Frank Olivo
A 19 year old fan
In his Uncle Charlie’s Santa suit
With a fake beard in the stands
Did someone from the Eagles
Come & promise him applause?
If he’d just run out on the field
While the band played «Here Comes Santa Claus.»
There probably was some drinking
If you measured the whole scene
There were the usual bare chested guys
With faces painted green
By the time our Frank Olivo
Had hit the end zone running
The first of what would be a couple hundred
Snowballs started coming
One knocked off his glasses
One knocked of his beard
A couple of them made his
Phony eyebrows disappear
He gave the crowd the finger
And stood there like a giant
«You'll all get nothing for Christmas»
He yelled out in defiance
In the safety of the tunnel
He scooped snow out of his ears
The Eagles marketing director
Asked if he’d come back the next year
Frank Olivo answered
«No, I don’t think so
Because next year it might be bottles
If there isn’t any snow»