Eagles pizza offer triggers a Christmas Day Twitter smackdown

Ah, Christmas in Philly.

All is calm.

All is bright.

And on Twitter, a pizza debate breaks out.

CNN's Jake Tapper – a Philly native and still an enthusiastic supporter of the local sports teams – started it by offering his two cents on a pizza offer affiliated with the Eagles, who play the Oakland Raiders tonight. A victory would guarantee home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Tapper, who grew up in Queen Village in Philadelphia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, took issue with such an endorsement in a "city steeped in delicious and authentic pizza."

On a morning when many households were consumed with gift exchanges, holiday meal preparations and teeth-gnashing in preparation of family gatherings, plenty of people apparently found time to be on Twitter and to weigh in with their own thoughts about Philly pizza. By 10:50 a.m., Tapper's objection had been liked 1,220 times, retweeted 139 times and had attracted 128 comments.

Many agreed with his perspective.

"Authentic Italian-American pizza from local small business available every other block from Rittenhouse to the edges of the burbs," wrote @WestofPhilly. "In addition to being digestively non-toxic, it actually tastes great."

Some responses were downright brutal, with @JoeO62 perhaps among the tamest.

Some expressed themselves with Saturday Night Live clips.

At least one person wondered who eats pizza on such a holiday.

"It's Christmas Day, whose gonna order pizza when there's a mountain of food in the kitchen?" asked @WriteChrisD.

Still others couldn't believe today was the day for such a discussion.

There was no immediate response from Papa John's Philly or the Eagles.

The latter clearly has more important things to concentrate on today – winning and thus getting this city of foodies closer to the granddaddy of eating fests: the Super Bowl.