01.14.07
The Hit
Can watching this video over and over again salve the pain of a tough playoff loss?
Well . . . maybe just a little bit.
Philadelphia Eagles
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10.16.06
The Swiftboating of an American Soldier
I spent this past weekend buried in an avalanche of student papers (I’m still picking a few dangling modifiers out of my hair). When I did take a break to watch some Eagles football, my enjoyment was marred not only by the inability of the Eagles coaching staff to count to twelve, but also by a number of Republican attack ads.
More than one of them came from the campaign of Mike Fitzpatrick, a loathsome Bucks-county congressman trying to hold on to his seat against the wildy popular campaign of Patrick Murphy. Faced with increasingly disturbing poll numbers, Fitzpatrick has taken the ultimate low road: he has attempted to “swiftboat” Patrick Murphy’s military service.
Have they no shame?
Don’t answer that.
Patrick is not one to take such insults lying down. On his blog, he responds:
There is nothing that I hold more pride in than my service to our country. From the halls of West Point to the streets of Baghdad, I served honorably, and my record reflects my service. There is camaraderie among veterans - we understand that everyone who wears the uniform of the United States military has sacrificed, some much more so than others. That is why I was so shocked that Congressman Fitzpatrick, who never wore a military uniform, would hold a press conference to question my service.
Murphy’s campaign has just released a new commercial that manages to convey Patrick’s positive, winning attitude, while also condemning Fitzpatrick’s slimy tactics:
(via Brendan)
As John Kerry, who knows a thing or two about swiftboating, said when he defended Murphy against these charges:
I won’t stand for the “swift boating” of Patrick Murphy. It disgusts me that a congressman who has never worn the uniform of our country stands there in silence as a veteran home from Iraq has his service disparaged. . . . What is it these Republicans who never served have against Democrats who did? . . . .
You know why Mike Fitzpatrick is engaged in the lowest form of smear and fear politics? Because he’s afraid of actually debating Patrick Murphy about the disastrous war in Iraq. He’s afraid to debate a veteran who lives and breathes the concerns of our troops, not the empty slogans of an Administration that sent our brave troops to war without body armor. He’s terrified of actually leveling with the American people about the way the administration misled America into war, and admitting their stay the course slogans just guarantee more Americans die for a stand still and lose strategy.
It’s time to kick out of office the kind of lowlifes who smear the honor of our nation’s soldiers. You can help by donating to Patrick Murphy’s campaign today. Or, if you’re low on cash, donate your time.
Previously: Patrick Murphy: my kind of peeps.
10.16.06
Ouch
Andy Reid impersonator on Philadelphia’s 610 WIP this morning, commenting on yesterday’s Eagles loss to the Saints:
There hasn’t been a worse display of time management in New Orleans since FEMA’s performance after Hurricane Katrina last year.
10.09.06
Reason to Believe
“I’m starting to get concerned,” the radio host said during his euphoric postgame Eagles report. He had that feeling again, the one that had proved so dangerous to so many Philadelphia sports fans over the years: the feeling of hope.
Fans celebrate Lito Sheppard’s endzone interception (Jerry Lodigruss/Inquirer)You couldn’t help but feel optimistic after the Eagles beat the Cowboys today by a score of 38-24. But this is Philadelphia, the city in which bad things happen to good teams, time and time again. The one Eagles loss this season — a devastating fall to the Giants, whom they had outplayed for three out of four quarters — reinforced the sense here that no lead was safe; even a sure victory could be snatched away at a moment’s notice.
09.18.06
ABC: Always Be Closing
“There are, uh, uchhmm, some strategical things I should have done different.”
– Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid, after yesterday’s ridiculous loss to the Giants
I’m sick and tired of Andy Reid’s muffled throat-clearings and half-swallowed phrases. The Eagles looked like a Super Bowl contender for three out of four quarters yesterday. They need a coach who will show them how to finish.
‘Cause coffee’s for closers only.
“Get mad, you sonuvabitches, GET MAD!!!!”
UPDATE: The BM Rant has a nice recap, if you can stand to read it.
09.18.05
Eagles - 49ers Open Thread
Live blogging the game . . . add your own observations in comments.
09.13.05
Ugh
That was one ugly defeat for the Eagles last night. They were lucky not to have lost by more than they did.
Read the rest of this entry »
08.27.05
Get Behind Me Satan
It was only a pre-season game, and one against the Cincinnati Bengals at that, but the Eagles looked very, very good last night.
A 64-yard touchdown pass was a nice way for T.O. to begin breaking the ice with Eagles fans, who have frozen him out of their hearts after tumultuous off-season. As Inquirer columnist Phil Sheriden wrote, “Philadelphians will boo a lot of things, but an Eagles touchdown is not and never will be one of them.”
Opinions of T.O. have gotten so low around here that when I saw this guy walking around in South Philly, I thought his t-shirt was about T.O.:
It turns out that the Satan in question was not T.O., but rather a hockey player named Miroslav Satan. Eagles fans may be saying F.U.T.O., but they haven’t consigned him to hell. . . yet. He’s an insane, ego-maniacal jerk, but the man can play football.
I had been worried about the Eagles because I thought that injuries, contract disputes, and off-season antics would have a divisive effect on the locker-room. But the Eagles were all business on the field. The defense was strong, and will be the emotional center of the team this year. The rookies look promising, and Greg Lewis’ one-handed TD catch was a thing of beauty.
With the rest of the conference looking weak, I’m beginning to be hopeful again.
As for T.O., Eagles fans may be willing to forgive the poor devil if he can put his mischief (and his agent) behind him.
04.17.05
Carried Away
Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens is acting like an idiot, demanding a restructured contract, threatening to hold out if he doesn’t get it, crying on national television about not making enough money to feed his family , and ripping Quarterback Donovan McNabb to boot. Yes, if the last week has shown us anything about T.O., it’s that he knows how to ruin a good thing. We should have known that there was a reason the Niners and their fans wanted this tremendous athlete out of San Francisco.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that before Owens signed with Philly last year, the NFL Players Association advised him that the contract contained language deemed unfavorable to Owens’ interests. According to an association source who spoke to the Post, Owens rejected the advice of union officials at the time.
And that is exactly the point that Eagles fans have been making over the last week: T.O. decided to sign the contract, and now he has to honor it. His remarks about feeding his family rubbed salt in the eye of the average working man or woman of this city; his ill-advised reference to Donovan McNabb as the “guy who got tired in the Super Bowl” rubbed salt in the eye of the teammate he most needs on his side.
But if T.O. is acting as if he’s one feather short of a full wing, so are the Eagles fans who have called local sports radio station WIP to say that T.O. should be cut. Fans say that they’re disgusted by T.O.’s selfishness, put off by his greediness, and disappointed by his diss of Donovan McNabb. I’ve heard fans say that they want to burn the T.O. jerseys that they own, that they want him out of here, and that the Eagles should trade him before he causes any more problems.
To be fair, the fans who have called WIP to say that T.O. should be traded or cut are in the minority; a far more widespread reaction, one shared by many hosts on the station, has been that the Eagles should neither give him more money nor cut him, but should let him go after this season, before significant bonuses kick in next year. Most have agreed that T.O. has irreparably damaged his relationship with the city.
The entire hullabaloo should have been a tempest in a teapot, but now it is threatening to damage the Eagles’ long-term future.
While I think that T.O. is absolutely wrong in this situation, the vehemence with which Philly fans have turned on him has surprised me. But maybe it shouldn’t: in the three and a half years since I have lived in Philly, I have seen sports fans turn on Allen Iverson, Donovan McNabb, Jim Thome, and now, Terrell Owens. Having listened to countless fans berate and belittle Donovan in previous seasons, I find it a little ironic that they so strongly defend his honor now. I’m sure that were he to have a sub-par season next year, he would be back on the chopping block.
The superstar turn that surprised me most was Jim Thome. Here is a guy who is all good-natured, country-boy wholesomeness, a slugger who hits home runs the natural way in an age when every other power hitter is looked upon with suspicion. But after Thome failed to become a leader in the clubhouse during the disappointing second half of last season, Philly fans began to turn on him.
I’m most galled by the reaction to the T.O. controversy, though, when I try to square this city’s oft-stated desire for a championship with the urge to trample on T.O. This moment, I believe, is a signal moment in the Eagles franchise. It has been a very long time since the team has been this good, this close to winning it all. T.O. is an important reason why they were as good as they were last year. And his heroic effort during last year’s Super Bowl — a time when, yes, he put the team before himself by risking his future and playing in a game that doctors had advised him to sit out — needs to be taken into account.
I’m not saying that T.O. is right, or that his idiotic and abrasive actions should be overlooked. And I recognize that the reason this controversy has received so much press has everything to do with the loudmouth agent he selected to represent him.
But I believe a city needs to stand by its superstars. It doesn’t need to coddle them — the Eagles should not give T.O. what he wants — but it does need to support them.
It strikes me that when Jason Giambi played his first game at Yankee stadium this year, the first game he played after admitting that he took steroids, he received a standing ovation from Yankee fans. After all he had been through, Yankee fans stood by their player. For the record, I don’t like Giambi and don’t think he should have received a standing O. As Joel Sherman has written in the New York Post, Giambi should have received neither boos nor applause, but silence.
And that, I propose, is exactly what Terrell Owens should be hearing from Philly fans right now.
Let him work out his contract with the Eagles in silence. Because we just may need those T.O. jerseys on Sunday, February 5, 2006.
04.05.05
I’m a Yankees Fan . . . So Sue Me
I might as well get this out there on Opening Day: I’m a Yankees Fan.
Yes, I root for a team that many people consider the embodiment of sports evil, the team that many credit with ruining parity in baseball, the team that rational adults everywhere love to hate.
I make no apologies for my team allegiances, but I will provide some explanations, especially in light of the Philly-based identity of this blog:
I’m a life-long, third-generation Yankee fan. Though I now live in Philly, I was born in New York City and grew up in its suburbs.
People forget that growing up a Yankees fan is not all wine and roses. My formative years of Yankee fandom were the 80s and early 90s, when the Yankees were terrible (cue violins). Don Mattingly, my favorite Yankee, the guy whose rookie card I worked and saved so long to buy, never got close to a championship, and in fact made only one playoff appearance between 1984 and 1995. Plenty of other great players on other great teams never got close to a championship, either, but Mattingly’s plight was particularly cruel — he joined the Yankees soon after the winning stopped, and left the team right before the winning started again.
Now, though I hate the Red Sox with all of my might, and disdain the Mets for being the perennial losers that they are, I consider myself to be a relatively reasonable Yankee fan. I don’t, for instance, like many of the recent free agents they have signed: as far as I am concerned, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, and Randy Johnson are not true Yankees. They’re hired guns, and in some cases, artificially endowed hired guns.
Only one recent addition to the team is, in my opinion, a true Yankee: Hideki Matsui. He plays the game with honor and dignity, and shows respect for his teammates and his team’s history.
The other true Yankees on the current team are all guys from 1996: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, and Tino Martinez. What separates all of them is their dedication to team play over individual stats. They never create distractions; they always put the team first.
In saying that, I am echoing comments made by the arch-enemy, Curt Shilling, after last season’s ALCS debacle. I don’t mind doing so — he was right.
What was notable about the late 90s Yankee teams — and I have found agreement on this point even from people who hate the Yankees — is that they embodied team play. The guys who came through for that team over the years — players like Scott Brosius, Paul O’Neill, and Jim Leyritz — were not stars . They were pieces of the puzzle, keeping their heads down and working hard. And how could anyone not like Paul O’Neill — a guy who was tougher on himself than the fans could ever be. What intensity!
I sometimes find it a little hard to root for the rotisserie collection of players that Steinbrenner has assembled in recent years. As Derek Jeter said last year in response to a reporter who pointed out that the Yankees had been a clutch team in recent postseasons, “It’s not the same team. It’s not the same team.”
I’m not going to talk much about last year’s ALCS; it’s still too painful. I can still hear Chris Russo’s crowing laughter echoing in my ears. I would say that last night’s win against the Red Sox was a start towards making things right, but the truth is that that series loss was of epic, historic proportions, and it’s something that the 2004 Yankees will never live down.
“OK, OK,” I hear you saying — “you’re a Yankees fan. But where do you get off rooting for the EAGLES?! That proves beyond a reasonable doubt that you’re a fair-weather fan.”
Well, no. The fact is that as unbelievable as it sounds for a red-blooded American male, I wasn’t that into football when I was growing up. When I arrived in Philly three and a half years ago, I didn’t have any team allegiances to speak of. My Dad rooted for both the Giants and the Jets, if that gives you any indication of where I’m coming from. My introduction to Eagles fanship — which turned out to be an introduction to the city itself — came as I listened to callers on WIP after the Eagles lost to the Buccaneers a few years ago. It was like an on-air morgue. I grew to understand what it meant to be a Philadelphia sports fan by listening to them, and to my friends, talk about the loss. In the process, I grew to love the team and in the past few seasons, to become an Eagles fan myself. And at crunch time this year, I found myself throwing up right alongside Donovan McNabb. You give your heart to a team once, and only once. For better or worse, I’m now an Eagles fan. But I don’t pretend to be anything more than what I am, which is a recent, though enthusiastic, convert to the fold.
As for the Phillies, well, they’re in the National League, so I can root for them until they face the the Yankees in the World Series. Given the Phils’ starting rotation, that’s not likely to happen anytime soon, even if true Phillies fans think otherwise.
