If you’re a music fan in Philadelphia, odds are you’ve heard of Maxx Stoyanoff-Williams. Perhaps not by that name, however. You might have known him as Madd when he was a member of the Goats in the early 1990s, or perhaps more recently as the frontman of the incredible group Black Landlord. It was while he was a member of the Goats, touring overseas, that his favorite sports memory took place. This is a pretty great story. This is Part 3 of our Philly Sports Memories Series. The first two are below, and we’ve got several more great ones on the way.
What is my favorite Philly sports memory? Was it watching number 45 pat his leg and throw his hands in the air after he threw the last pitch in 1980? Was it watching Mo in the final seconds slam dunk (sort of) in LA as we won the NBA Championship in 1984? Maybe it was the most recent event, with Brad Lidge and the Phillies bringing home the title in 2008? They were all great memories. Or do I still live with the heartache that was the Flyers in the 90’s? Maybe it was the “fog bowl”, when Mother Nature denied Philly a chance at the title? The answer to the question is none of the above.
My favorite memory is the Phillies National League Championship Series of ’93, one that I wasn’t even in the country to witness firsthand. I was on tour for the playoffs that season, traveling through Europe with my band playing rock star. Lucky for me I had my mom. Armed with my tour schedule and a list of fax numbers she kept my entire band and me hot with Phillies fever! We were on the road in a different foreign country and or city every day. There was no Internet access for us in Wuppertal, Germany or Marseille, France in 1993. No one could stream highlights of the games on their phone in Brussels or their laptop in Amsterdam. We had my mom, and she had access to a Xerox and fax machine. We didn’t really have many opportunities to phone home and get updates on the Phillies quest for the pennant as we were broke and per diems were low. So it was beyond amazing when we received the first of many Daily News articles complete with front and back page photos. She would also send the Inquirer’s sports pages to complement the coverage.
After each fax arrived, it was neatly folded and tucked into a manila envelope with my name written on it in large letters, “MAXX,” by each venue’s manager. We would then take turns reading the articles and reliving each moment just as if we were at the Vet holding our breath with every pitch. It was immediately after that when my mother was decreed the “coolest mom ever” by not only my band but by the other American band we were touring with. (She would eventually be the person that mailed me VCR tapes of the Eagles and Sixers, while I was working on a record in Brazil for three months. Oh, and she had to have those tapes converted so that they could be viewed in proper format.) There was so much anticipation as we would arrive at a new venue or in a new city during those days. Normally the first question you ask when you arrive at a new venue or club is, “Where’s the good bathroom?” Now we asked, “Is there a fax for Maxx?” Reading those faxes made us feel like we were in Philly. So when we received the fax after game 6, we went nuts! We beat the Braves! We finally beat the Braves! We were in the World Series, and I was on my way home, hoping to watch the Phillies win the World Series.
PART ONE: Phillies Nation writer Nick Staskin talks about his favorite memory.
PART TWO: CSN’s John Finger recalls a few of his favorites.
