Phoenixville native Kevin Negandhi, an anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter, is forever a champion of his hometown sports teams, although many of his peers in the national media adhere to the stereotype of overzealous Philadelphia fans, writes Keith Groller for the Allentown Morning Call.

Some of the 41-year-old Negandhi’s earliest sports memories came while sitting in the 700 level at Veterans Stadium.

“I hate the perception,” he said. “It drives me nuts. I try to make sure that we change that viewpoint on a national scale. Obviously, there are certain instances I can’t do anything about. When it comes to defending the snowballs, the batteries, the Taser event, every now then you’ll have something where you just go ‘Oh boy.’

“But there is a minimal percentage of (bad fans) that’s common in every fan base. Unfortunately, there are broad brushes that are painted and people don’t want to investigate or look deeper than the stereotype and sometimes Philly fans can also perpetuate the myth, which also drives me nuts.”

Negandhi, a Temple graduate, has been with ESPN for 10 years and recently signed a multi-year contract extension.

“I take great pride in the fact that if there’s something breaking in the world of sports, it’s still in the DNA of so many fans to turn to SportsCenter,” he said. “That’s what we do. It’s what we do best. It’s still part of our DNA.”

Click here to read more about ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi in the Allentown Morning Call.