Saying Goodbye To the Greatest

#20 will always be speacial

The year is 2001 and the Eagles are playing great behind the inspired play of Donovan McNabb and a tough  defense.  I am a freshman in college and I have a tough choice to make.  A fellow Eagles fan who lives across the hall has said we need to get jerseys for the play-offs.  I agree, but who do we get.  Another friend on the floor is from South Carolina and a big Clemson fan.  He urges us to Clemson Alum Brian Dawkins.  I like the pick because it isn't obvious like McNabb.  Dawkins is a hard-hitting, passionate leader of a solid defense.  He is a spiritual man who likes laying out recievers, but doesn't swear.  When other players are dropping N-bombs he uses "Cats".  I am in and the order is placed.  This becomes the first jersey I have ever purchased for myself and as of this season I will never wear it again.  Its unsigned, but up on a wall in my fan cave.  It is special, just like the man himself.  (I invited Brian for the retirement ceremony, but he couldn't make it to my basement)

On Monday morning after a particularly frustrating Eagles loss E-Gal has a missed call from her Dad.  I look at my phone and I have one too.  "I hope everything is ok," say E-Gal.  She calls him and I call voicemail.  "Hey Mike, its Rich.  I have tickets for the game this weekend for you, Ashley and Britta (E-Gal's younger sister).  I am ecstatic. The Sunday night game against the Giants is when the Eagles are retiring #20 and I am going.  

The year is 2008 and the Eagles are about to make a run.  I am sitting with E-Gal and her father at a bar near our old house.  With losses by Chicago and Tampa Bay the winner of the Eagles and Cowboys will move on to the playoffs.  Brian Dawkins comes out of the tunnel in his usual scary as hell manner and I've got a feeling.  The Cowboys are driving and Romo has dropped back for a pass.  Dawk has him in his sights and...FUMBLE.  The ball is picked up by Chris Clemmons and returned for a touchdown.  I nearly flip the table jumping up.  Later in the same game the Cowboys are driving again and Marion Barber is running towards the end zone.  #20 has him and causes another fumble for another touchdown.  The Eagles are going to playoffs.  

They make it to their last NFC Championship game and lose to Kurt Warner who has just a little more magic than my Birds.  I'm broken and the news isn't going to get any better in the off-season.  

It's a cold winter and I just found out that Brian Dawkins has been released by the Eagles.  They let a man with 37 INTs, 21 Sacks and the heart of Philly go.  I will never understand this.  Brian goes on to play a few more years with Denver and makes All-Pro in 2009.  That's Brian.  

You NEVER doubted if #20 cared

For the first time I really hate Eagles management.  Others had railed on them, but I saw the success and I bought into the plan.  Not this time.  Brian was more than a position and more than a hit on the salary cap.  He was one of the most beloved players Philly has ever seen.  He stays on the team until HE decides.  End of discussion.  

It is April 23rd, 2012 and Brian Dawkins has tweeted that he is retiring from the NFL.  The Eagles know what they have to do and five days later Brian is signing a one day contract with the Eagles so he can officially retire with the team he loved so much.  As an added bonus they are retiring #20 so one else will wear HIS number again.  

I don't know if the Eagles will win the Super Bowl this year.  The way they are playing I would say no, but they have the talent.  What they don't have is a solid free safety.  They haven't had one since Dawkins and nothing in the cards says that will change this year.  He was one of a kind and the front office found out last season how important leadership is in the locker room and on the field.  We were lucky to have him as long as we did.  

I keep coming back to the decision to order that jersey.  I think the reason he resonated with me so much is because he was the only player I KNEW cared just as much as I did.  McNabb was a great Eagle; best quarterback we ever had, but losses or dumb plays never seemed to bother him as much as they did me.  My mother would interject that it is just a game, but DAD knows better.  They are our players.  We cheer for them and we occasionally jeer, but they need to know how important they are to us.  Brian gave it his all each game.  He is just as remarkable off the field with his charity work and always tried to give Philly as much as they gave him.  I'll always appreciate that.  I'll see #20 on Sunday, though I will be wearing #25.  His jersey is still framed and remembered.  And Brian, you are always welcome to come over for a game with me and E-Gal.  We can scream at the Birds together; for better or worse. 

"I played the game the way the fans would have played it if they had the chance."

Those Are The Ones That Hurt Most

Is it time to give up on this man?

There are no words to describe the game last Sunday and the fact that it is Thursday and I am finally writing this post should be an indication of just how bad I felt about that game.  Anyway here are some words to describe the game. (Direct contradiction, I know)  I had a bad omen so I missed the first half to play in my soccer game.  We won 8-0 which means we outscored the Eagles.

When I got home E-Gal said, "You don't want to see this."  I should have just left.  With under a minute to go in the first half the Eagles were driving and in the red-zone.  As I watched E-Gal and our friend Emily recanted that turnovers once again played a major role in our teams destruction.  It was 17-0 and the Arizona Cardinals were beating us like they weren't from the NFC West (I understand the West is much better than it was a few years ago, but I still view them as a terrible division for some reason)  Hope lay on Michael Vick leading a two minute drive for a TD.  Something he had done three times in the first two games.  The Birds couldn't put it in the end-zone and with 6 seconds left I said aloud, "Kick the field goal.  Get the points.  Go into the locker room down 14."  Andy Reid decision was to go for it.  The Result......

Fumble!!!

Vick fumbles and the Cardinals run it back for a TD.  24-0 going into the half.  That was it.  Game over.

Yes, it was a west coast loss to a team that beat the Patriots in Foxborough for a team that had been living dangerously for two weeks.  The D shut them down in the second half which is always a positive sign.  We are still 2-1,  have a chance to beat the Giants to go 3-1 and be up on a division rival.  What kills me though is how everyone and their mother (even mine) can see when we are going to lose a game.  LeSean McCoy is an All-Pro quality running back ran the ball 5 times in the FIRST HALF.  He touched the ball 13 times the whole game.  When he touches the ball 20 or more times the Eagles are undefeated!  Andy Reid doesn't adjust and the Eagles lose.  I know it will be hard for Lurie to let Reid go because he has been so much to the franchise, but a few years ago I resigned myself to the fact that Reid will not get us a Super Bowl.  There will be highs and more lows, but the ultimate goal will remain out of reach as long as this man is coaching our team.  

Look, I bear him no ill will.  He has made the Eagle relevant for over a decade and I recognize that other teams would kill for the years he has given us, but if a few blow outs and a playoff berth is all you can give, then move on to another challenge and give someone else the keys.

Other notes: Sandy is stealing people on Sundays to watch at his place which incidentally used to be my place.  Clearly he is taking the fantasy loss more maliciously than I thought.

We're Going To Lose, And We're Going To Lose Huge

That is the diagnosis of Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men" when he realizes they can put on a show, but are simply outclassed by the evidence.  That is how I felt going into week 2.  The Ravens were going to kills the Eagles.  Vick would play sloppy and cause the offense to sputter.  The D wouldn't be able to control Flacco who would capitalize on turnovers and before you knew it, the Birds would be blown out of their own home opener.

Much of what I thought would happen did.  Red zone turnovers (the second worse kind after game and season ending turnovers) were a problem from the start.  The Ravens looked strong and bounced on a TERRIBLE Vick decision to stop a promising drive cold and going into the half down 17-7 made it feel like the Ravens were going to open it up in the 3rd.

These plucky Birds, buoyed by a stout 3rd quarter from their D to close the gap and snag a win from a very good opponent at home.

Jumbled thoughts - I have drafted Celek in all previous fantasy years or at least bid on him because I thought he would be a premier TE each year.  While he hasn't been the beast I thought he would be he has always been our solid #1.  Now it looks like the first year I balk at getting him could be him monster year.  Good for Brent.

Run the ball - I know we are 2-0 and I should just sit back, but good lord, Andy you have one of the best backs in the league and a QB prone to INTs right now.  Maybe you make a little adjustment.

Ray Rice is my fantasy RB which always poses problems for even the most loyal fan.  He had 20pts without scoring any on the Eagles.  In the words of Selena Myers. "Ray Rice is Nice".  Feel free to drop 3TDs on the Pats Sunday night.

I was playing Sandy in fantasy and won because of the solid play of Darren Sproles and Demaryius Thomas and also because Sandy's team rolled over.

E-Gal is worried that the addition of the deep-fryer and the Eagles style of winning games might give us both heart attacks.  She is probably right.

DAD was torn between the Eagles winning and his new home town of Towson (near Baltimore) not burning to the ground with a Ravens loss.  DAD insists that the Ravens fans are more fanatic that other bases he has seen.  I argue that he was living in a small town in up-state NY for most of my life and rarely saw a major metropolitan area get pumped for a local NFL franchise.  That being said, until RGIII DC was barely recognizable as a "Skins" town so maybe he is onto something.  Regardless he was pumped to be 2-0 for the first time since the "year".

Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals on Sunday with a full viewing party in the Fan Cave.  Could 3-0 be in reach?

Thoughts on Week 1 or Ugly with a Capital "UG"

Week one is in the books and it could not have gone much differently than I expected. The Eagles opened on the road against the Cleveland Browns who were starting a rookie QB and a rookie RB. The offense looked pretty solid in preseason albeit with Vick playing only 12 snaps and getting hurt twice. The afternoon was set to be a success. E-Gal and Sandy were down to watch with Sandy's girlfriend and a few other friends as the afternoon went on. The Man Cave was in all its glory complete with 3 new gnomes and 2 new jerseys. Obviously this game would be a cake walk. I flip my Eagles coin and received the ominous sign of "loss". "oh well," I thought. "We got this. It is the Browns!" Here is Vick's line from the game 317 YDS, 2 TD, 4 INT 4INTs!!!!! Are you kidding me? This from a guy who all offseason said he was going to be more careful with the ball?! Since you may have not watched the game let me tell you that could have easily been 6 interceptions. This was the lousy game for Vick and I am astounded they won. He played brilliantly for all of 4 minutes. The last two minutes of the first half and the game saw him throw two touchdowns. Other than that, pretty much crap-tastic.

Sandy and E-Gal were also pretty dumbfounded we won that game. 1-0 to start the season is better than 0-1, but the Birds have a lot to work on.

The Eagles Defense allowed 9 points on 3 field goals and had to cope with 5 turnovers from the offense. They responded with 4 picks of their own and 2 sacks. I expect the sacks to climb quickly this season. 

Other thoughts from Week 1:
RG III's career is already giving me fits.

The 49ers are for real

The Jets have an offense after all and their defense is still quite good.

Finally, David Akers was one of my favorite players from the McNabb era. I recall thinking anytime the Eagles crossed the 50 yd line that they were now in "Aker's range". I was saddened to see him get cut as he was dealing with financial uncertainty and a cancer diagnosis for his young daughter. A two years later and his is a pro-bowl caliber kicker with a new contract on a super bowl quality team. Oh, he also just tied the NFL record for longest field goal with 63 yds. A great accomplishment for a great Eagle.

I am an Eagles fan. I have been for as long as I can remember. The Eagles are a professional football team and amateur destroyer of souls. As I live in the District of Columbia my outlets for my Eagles fandom pretty much revolve around Sundays in my Man Cave and one away game at Fed-Ex Field each year. This blog is meant to be another outlet for a displaced sports fan to vent about a team he loves to be angry with. The Characters you will need to know:

1) "The E-Gal" She is my fiance and an Eagles fan. Not necessarily in that order.

2) "DAD" He is the one that made me the monster I am today. Had I loved a team based on geography at the time I would be a Bills fan, which is actually worse.

3) "Sandy" He is a buddy that watches games with me. He isthe tyrannical commissioner of my fantasy football league and the smuggest liberal I know. Great fan, terrible politics.


I hope you enjoy.