Brian Dawkins... A Case Study

So reports are out that Brian Dawkins is shipping off to the Denver Broncos now that the free agency period has begun. While I don't know if these reports are true, this provides an interesting case study in the world of sports.

For starters, I took a look at my Facebook page and at least five people have already commented on this situation via their status. The emotions displayed in these status messages include:

1. anger that the Eagles are letting him go
2. depression that he's leaving
3. thankfulness for his exemplary performance

Yes, Brian Dawkins was/is indeed an amazing football player, possibly one of the best defenders and leaders the Eagles have ever had. And yes, he is a tremendous guy on and off the field, as a leader and motivator for the team and for the community.

But his (potential) departure for another team reflects yet another reason why I don't get too caught up in the nitty gritty of sports any more. I don't feel like I can expend any extra bit of energy on emotionally investing myself in who plays where. Sure there are many admirable qualities to many athletes, Brian Dawkins one of them, but I can't help but remind myself: it's just a game.

There's so much going on in the world that is more important than this kind of stuff, in my mind, than to get all fired up about it. Whatever happens, it's been a great run with Brian Dawkins, now let's move on... shall we?

Oh Well

Well, I stand corrected. Having predicted a playoff victory for the Eagles today, I must say that the Cards are deserving of a Super Bowl berth.

The Cardinals' offense was on a roll, and their defense, though not dominant, held their own. The Eagles gave a good fight, but got outplayed.

Some mysteries from the game:

-What happened to David Akers? He missed a field goal, extra point, and kicked a kick off out of bounds.

-What was Quentin Demps doing out there? He got burned several times and had a ridiculous penalty.

-How was there no pass interference on the Eagles' last pass of the game to Kevin Curtis? Maybe it wasn't a hack job, but seemed noticeable enough that a flag should have been called.

Well, whatever, I'm not going to go all sour grapes up in here. Eagles lost, time to move on.

Today's Battle of the Birds

The soaring Eagles take on the high-flying Cardinals today in the City of Desertly Love to determine which team earns a trip to the Super Bowl. Should be quite a battle as both teams have been hot during the playoffs.

Yesterday I watched the classic movie Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Very apropos to today's game. In the movie, the two "gentlemen bandits" get chased by a squad of hired hitmen, so to speak, who are hot on the trail of the two wanted gunmen. What ensues is an epic chase where the two outlaws try every trick in the book to get away from their followers. Ultimately, they head for the hills to escape capture. I have a feeling that is what today's game will be like. A back and forth chase, where one false move could determine the outcome of the game. And with the backdrop of the Squaw Peak/Piestewa Peak, it's eerie how much the movie and the game could have in common. Well, metaphorically, at least.

That said, I think the favored Eagles do pull it out by less than a TD, 27-24, and wind up flying down to Tampa for a final battle with another bird team... the Baltimore Ravens.

My Outlandish Prediction for Today's Eagles v. Giants Game...

Sav Rocca fumbles a long snap in overtime... BUT recovers the ball, stiff arms 3 players and returns for a TD!!!! EAGLES WIN 6-0!!!!

Get ready for the Thunda from Down Unda!

Ugly Win? I Think Not

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Bob Ford wrote a column entitled "Eagles win ugly, but they win" after the Eagles beat the Vikings yesterday in Minnesota to advance in the playoffs.

In the column, he goes on to say that Donovan McNabb turned the ball over twice, there were times when they should have scored touchdowns instead of field goals, and tackles were missed on defense. Okay... and?

I don't know what better way there is to say this, but when you get to the playoffs, you're playing the cream of the crop in the league. Chances are your opponents are going to come out and play you tough and force things to happen against your team. That's the name of the game. Even though the Eagles weren't "perfect" they showed a solid team effort and stuck with it the whole game. Personally, that's all I can ask of a team. True, in games in the past, the Eagles have collectively dogged it (see: Eagles v. Cincinnati, November 16, 2008). But that didn't happen yesterday, and the word ugly should not play into it.

Sometimes I just get this feeling that if Coach Andy Reid and McNabb don't execute to perfection in a game, so many people in this city get up in arms. And this column is a perfect example of this micromanagement by fans. Like I said to a friend who kept sending me emails during the game, sarcastically pointing out the Eagles' faults... chill out! Enjoy the team, enjoy the game, and if they lose, THEN you can have some concern, especially if they played an ugly game.

Let's just say that if the Eagles can score 26 points in a game, and win by double digits, I'll take that "ugly" win any day of the week.

Clever Television Programming

On one channel sports fans can find the Miami Dolphins playing against the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC playoff Wild Card game.

On another channel, movie buffs can watch Ace Ventura, Pet Detective solve the crime of what happened to the Dolphins' mascot Snowflake, right before a pending Super Bowl game between the Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles.

After the Dolphins' game at 4:30, the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC playoff Wild Card game.

Well played.

Rooting for Oakland Raiders, New York Giants, and Houston Texans, and Other Philly Oddities

Yesterday Philadelphia Eagles fans had the privilege, errr, duty to root for three teams that we normally would have ignored or hated. The Oakland Raiders needed to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to help the Eagles pave the way to earn a playoff berth, which they did (sorry once again Tampa Bay!). Then we needed either the Houston Texans to beat the Chicago Bears (which indeed happened), or the New York Giants-- yes, the Eagles' bitter rivals-- to take down the Minnesota Vikings, which they didn't, but no matter.

The stage was set for the Eagles to have a chance at making the playoffs with a win against the Dallas Cowboys. And the rest is history.

But when, if ever, has the Philly fan had to root for three disparate teams to pull out wins like that? It could prove that yesterday was one of the weirdest and most historical days in Philly sports history. This will especially prove true if the Birds wind up winning the Super Bowl. But let's just root for a first round win by our boys in green before we think that far ahead...

Craving Creativity in Chants and Cheers

Last night I revelled in the revelry that was reveling on the streets of Philadelphia as the Phightin' Phils wrapped up the National League Championship Series by humiliating the Los Angeles Dodgers in stunned Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. It's great to see Philly fans having a good time celebrating the win and I'm glad that there were no reports of people getting hurt, doing stupid stuff, or generally misbehaving. It was a memorable night for Philly.

But I couldn't help but notice how weak we are when it comes to chanting for the team we embrace so strongly. The best that fans can come up with, be it at a game or at the intersection of Frankford and Cottman, is "Let's Go Phillies" (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). Or "Beat L.A." And of course the ever-popular derrogatory yell of "(Fill in an opposing player's or team's name) sucks!" That's basically it. Where's the creativity?

In soccer- (football-) loving nations the world over, each team has its own distinct chants that are belted out, songs that are sung, or rhythms that are pounded out. But for some reason in Philly, like every other American city I suppose, the best we can do is three words at a time and a couple of claps on occasion.

At least in football (American football), the Eagles have a fight song, though that has gotten played out more than any MC Hammer hit ever was, likewise to the "E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!" chant.

Yes Phillies fans and Philly fans in general are passionate about their teams, but I find it hard to believe that we can't raise the bar in terms of creative chant choreographing. And come to think of it, ever since our teams left the Spectrum and Veterans Stadium, the signs have become a lot lamer and less frequent too.

My message in all this to fellow Philly fans is... keep up the intense passion for your teams, but how 'bout we scream out something new for a change?

Former Eagles Coaches Making the News

I recently reported here on this blog about the wealth of former Phillies players and coaches that have gone on to coach elsewhere in the big leagues. Now that trend is shifting to the Eagles as well.

In today's news, you may have heard about Ray Rhodes being scooped up by the Texans to serve as a defensive backs coach, as well as Rex Ryan being signed by the Baltimore Ravens. Okay, so Rex Ryan never coached or played for the Birds, but his dad did, and it's important to note that he'll now be working under former Iggles coach John Harbaugh.

Assistant coaches aside, this (un-updated) list of NFL head coaches shows that quite a few are indeed ex-Eagles, namely:

-Brad Childress (Minnesota), former coach
-Jon Gruden (Tampa Bay), former coach
-Jeff Fisher (Tennessee), former coach
-Emmitt Thomas (Atlanta-- okay, well he was only there temporarily), former coach
-Herm Edwards (Kansas City), former player

Perhaps if I have time I'll dig down deeper to find assistant coaches that were once Eagles, but that could take a lot of time which I don't quite have since there are so many assistants out there!

But all in all, even though the Eagles have been in a slump of late, it shows they must have done something right to have so many alumni in the head coaching ranks.

Good job gents... now do us proud and make your teams lose to us so we can go on and win a Super Bowl, wouldya?

(Thanks to viewimages.com for the photo!)

Cris Carter: Hall-Worthy?

In an old Seinfeld episode, the character of Elaine hordes a stash of sponges (the prophylactics, not the dishwashing kind), and quizzes each potential mate to determine whether or not he is sponge-worthy.

Well, a similar process goes on in the world of sports, and this one has to do with making the Hall of Fame in a player's respective sport.

Cris Carter, the famed former Eagles wide receiver is up for nomination this year, which brings the question, "Is he Hall-Worthy?" Let's take a look at some of his highlights, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com and discuss...

*8 Pro Bowl selections and 4 All-Pro selections
*1101 Receptions, placing him second all-time
*13,899 yards all time, ranking him 6th
*130 career receiving TD's, good for second, and sixth all-time for TD's for all wide receivers and running backs
*5 2-point conversions made, ranking him third (okay, not the most important stat, I just thought it was kinda cool!)

So those are Cris Carter's highlights. Based on them, and other stats you can find at the above link, is he Hall-Worthy???

My verdict...

YES! Send him to Akron to the Hall of Fame.

He had a stellar career and deserves to be enshrined. Too bad that most of his career was spent outside of Philly, else we may have seen a Super Bowl, assuming he could have done just as well here as he did in Minnesota.

For the record, Carter, an Ohio State alum, was drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles in 1987, and stayed in Philadelphia on the steely Veterans Stadium turf until 1989. He spent the bulk of his career with the Vikings, and then fizzled out with 5 games in Miami in 2002.

Unfortunately Buddy Ryan let him go, as this statement from Wikipedia reveals:

During training camp in 1990, while coaching the Eagles, Ryan released an up-and-coming young wide receiver named Cris Carter. Ryan subsequently explained to the media that he had cut Carter because Carter "only catches touchdowns" - an explanation for which Ryan was widely ridiculed for several years, especially after Carter was signed by the Minnesota Vikings with whom he almost immediately developed into one of the NFL's premier passcatchers. Years later, however, it was revealed that Carter had had a serious drug problem, and that Ryan had released him from the Eagles to send him a wake-up call. Carter credits Ryan's actions with helping him to turn his life around.

So there you have it. At any rate, good luck on your HoF bid Cris, and you're more than welcome to suit up and try out for the Eagles again this summer...

Eagles Throwback Jerseys: Which One Would You Choose?

At Modell's the other day, I peered up at a wall of throwback Eagles jerseys. I was looking to spend my gift card and I wanted an Eagles jersey since I didn't own one, and didn't particularly feel like getting a current player, for no other reason than pretty much every Iggles fan has a Westbrook, McNabb, Dawkins, or other familiar player's uniform. So the throwbacks caught my eye but I had a decision to make on which player to spring for. The choices were:

Harold Carmichael (#17)
Randall Cunningham (#12)
Keith Jackson (#88)
Ron Jaworski (#7)
Vince Papale (#83)
Mike Quick (#82)
Reggie White (#92)

For any Eagles fan, this is a tough call!

Quite honestly, on any given day I might have chosen a different one depending on my mood. I must have been in a hungry mood that day because I wound up going with the "Jaws" jersey. In reality, it was a very close call for me, with each player having a different selling point. Cunningham was silky smooth and wore my favorite number, Vince Papale was gritty and a unique star (though I was too young to see him play), Reggie was a legend, and so on and so forth. Once you get thinking about it, it gets pretty tough!

So I ask you... what throwback Eagles jersey would you have chosen?

An Eagles Analysis from a Different Point of View

Please pardon me as I stray away from my normal undertaking of digging up Philly sports minutiae, but I just had to jot my thoughts down on the 2007 Eagles.

I saw two amazing stats that were pretty much buried deep in the Philly Inquirer, one from today one from the weekend. Before you read what I'm going to report, you need to essentially drop any knowledge you have about the Eagles... forget any opinions you have about the coaches and players, and just take in the stats for what they are:

1. The Eagles had the HARDEST strength of schedule in the ENTIRE NFL. Teams that the Eagles played won 56% of their games. The next closest team was Washington. Meanwhile out of all the playoff teams other than Washington, the next highest percentage was 51%.... and most of the playoff teams had much easier schedules. That definitely makes a HUGE difference over the course of the season.

2. The Eagles were one of only FOUR teams to be in the top 10 for both offensive yards gained and defensive yards allowed. Patriots, Dallas, and Indy were the other 3 teams. If that company doesn't amaze you then I don't know what does.

So all in all, I think we can all agree that the Eagles should have had a better record this year, but unfortunately a few costly mistakes and poor executions and coaching decisions when needed killed this team. But I think that on the whole this team's still on the right track, despite the flukiness of this past year. If they can fill in a few key positions, watch out in '08.

Unfortunately the Inquirer sports writers tend to focus on the same issues of "we need another wide receiver" (true, but so do most teams), or "we need to run the ball with Westbrook more" (debatable, since if he runs the ball 20-25 times a game he's a lot more likely to get injured or worn down during the course of the season and ultimately shortening his career), or "McNabb/Reid/fill-in-the-blank must go (or must stay, depending on the time of year)". While they do make good points, it gets pretty tiresome reading the same basic commentary over and over and over. Though he's not perfect, I generally trust Andy Reid and his decisions and I think it's a waste of time to second-guess every single one that he makes. Move on with life!

That's all I wanted to say. Happy New Year's y'all!

Sign of the Times: Feeling Nostalgic for Veterans Stadium

So it's April and baseball season is underway. It's around this time every year that I think back to memories of our beloved Veterans Stadium, former home of the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, many brawls, and countless vermin.

But there's one thing in particular that I miss from the Vet days... the fans' creativity. I always looked forward to watching Eagles games and seeing the signs and banners that the fans held up. The signs ranged the whole gamut of feelings and emotions from passion to disgust to sarcasm to insults.

Who can forget the raggedy "Gang Green" signs that hung over the end zone during the Eagles' reign as defensive monsters? Or how about the gigantic stretch of a sign that was posted during the Eagles' dismal offensive years reading: "End Zone This Way -->"?

Sadly, the Eagles have banned this practice and have taken away a lot of the character of the fans, in my humble opinion. Even the atmosphere to me is a lot more sterile. Hopefully fans will find away to get this edginess back some day; but in the meantime, signs or no signs, I'll be happy with just having a winning team out there...

Philly Sports Phun Phacts

For the 06-07 season, the Eagles have won 11 games (including a playoff
game), the Flyers have won 11 games, and the Sixers have won 11 games.
Combined together, that's
33 wins.  (I'm good at math.)

By the end of the year, the total number of games played between the
three teams (assuming the Sixers & Flyers miss the playoffs) will be 182
games played.  Combined, these teams could easily win fewer games than
the Phillies could win for the regular season.  I would have to think
this is pretty much unprecedented in Philly history.

Estimates:

11 wins for Birds.
22 wins for Sixers
22 wins for Flyers
=55 wins total in 184 games.... Yikes!

Maybe the Phils can even double that number.  Time will tell...

Izel Jenkins: A "Toast-able" Character from Eagles Past

Yesterday I reveled in yet another Eagles' victory, this time over the dismal Atlanta Falcons. I was thrilled by the win and their claiming of the NFC East crown. But I couldn't get past the name "Jenkins" that I saw on a Falcon's jersey. This jersey belonged to Michael Jenkins, a number 3 receiver, but I was brought back to the "glory days" of Eagles football in the early 90's when the team was lead by its formidable "Gang Green" defense, which included cornerback Izel Jenkins.

Drafted in the 11th round in 1988 out of NC State, Jenkins played side by side with the likes of Eric Allen, Andre Watters, Wes Hopkins, Reggie White, Jerome Brown, and more. However, Jenkins has gone down in history as being "Toast"-- as in, frequently getting burnt, as this blunt Wikipedia reference page puts it. I've also heard "Human Crouton", but that's besides the point.

Any Eagles fan of Buddy Ryan/Rich Kotite era will recall Izel Jenkins' presence on the field. If ever there was a deep completion by the opposing team, he was generally considered to be at fault for bad coverage. He had a poor reputation with the media and the fans, but perhaps this was unjustified, as this article from the Eagles' website points out. Maybe he was unfairly picked on by the media and fans because he played opposite of Eric Allen who played lockdown defense, thus causing opposing teams' offenses to throw to the other side. Or maybe he came back from a hamstring injury too early, as the aforementioned article reveals. Or maybe it was the coaches' fault for coming up with incomplete defensive schemes. Well, you get the picture.

Not being a coach, nor having the luxury of viewing tapes from these games, I am not in a position to say whether he truly deserved the reputation of getting frequently burnt, so I'll leave that up to you to decide. Whatever the case, #46 will go down in Philly history as one of the many memorable characters on that truly memorable team. That's a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view. But maybe with the New Year having arrived, we should let bygones be bygones and cheer on Izel's son, Izel Jenkins III, who is now a Wofford Terrier. Who knows-- he could one day be the toast of the town...