The day after: Apologies, invites to dinner, and an offer of a cheesesteak.

I have never received more feedback from a column than I did from Tuesday's commentary after my car was vandalized in the parking lot of the Wachovia Center on Sunday night.

The majority of the 250 - and counting - messages offered apologies for the yahoos who trashed my car and stole my license plate as a souvenir.

I received a dozen invitations to dinner and an offer to deliver the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia to my hotel. I wished I had the time to take up some of the offers to talk hockey over a postgame beer.

As I noted in Tuesday's column, I've made many friends here over the years. I have enjoyed the city's restaurants and bars, its art gallery, and its place in American history.

The messages reinforced my belief that the overwhelming majority of Philadelphia fans are decent people who enjoy rooting for the home team, while respecting the opponents and their fans.

Over the next few days, I will attempt to answer each of the e-mails personally, but, for the time being, suffice it to say I appreciate the comments and I have an apology of my own.

On Tuesday, I made reference to Philadelphia fans booing Santa Claus and pelting him with snowballs at an Eagles game 42 years ago. It's part of the Philly lore but, as many fans pointed out, it was more a question of protesting the Eagles' ownership, and it is ancient history.

But one fan didn't help his case when he said I should have updated my references by using events from earlier this year when a Phillies fan allegedly vomited on an 11-year-old girl or when a student invaded the field and was taken down by a Taser.

But again, as I pointed out Tuesday, every city - including Montreal - has an element that confuses passion for a team with a license to behave badly.

About a quarter of the e-mails weren't sympathetic. Some fell into the blame-the-victim category and suggested that I brought it upon myself by parking my car in a public lot with Quebec plates. It was a tough way to learn why parking lots include the disclaimer "Not responsible for car or its contents," but there should be some assurance that a vehicle is reasonably safe.

There were those who suggested my employer was to blame for making me drive rather than pay for a plane ticket. In fact, I did have an option to fly, but I chose to drive because in this post-9/11 world flying isn't an attractive choice.

Montreal to Philadelphia is a seven-hour drive, door-to-door. The same trip by plane is a minimum five hours if all the connections work, which is a big if in this city. I did fly to Pittsburgh for the last series, and I was fortunate to avoid the delays experienced by many of my colleagues. Most of them resulted from problems in Philadelphia.

When I drive, I don't have to take my shoes off and my titanium knees don't set off alarms.

And most of the time, I don't have to worry about losing my license plate.