If Super Bowl LIX ends in green confetti Sunday night, you can be certain Philadelphians will take to the sky. Explanations for the strange and at times obscene behavior of Philadelphia’s sports fans have long eluded the rest of the world, and the city’s obsession with climbing greased street poles is no different. However, there may just be a method to the city's madness.

Approximately a decade before the first recorded instance of Philly’s celebratory pole climbing, the city’s South 9th Street Italian Market Festival began a grease pole climbing competition in the 1960s. Teams climb atop one another in the hopes of reaching a greased pole’s peak, which is strung with meats, cheeses and gifts for whoever can reach them.