Last night, the Eagles reminded Philadelphia sports fans, how lucky we are to have the Phillies. Between April and the present day I have watched the Phillies, and not once did my blood boil, not once did I scream at my TV or punch a pillow, an excellent Saturday in Philly sports was not enough to calm me during last night’s Eagles game.
“CHALLENGE THE INTERCEPTION! WHAT THE (EXPLETIVE) ARE YOU DOING? THE SCREEN DID NOT WORK ON SECOND DOWN, WHY ARE YOU DOING IT ON THIRD!” “I AM DONE WITH THIS TEAM!”
It was only one early season Eagles game, yet there I was a typical angry Philadelphia sports fan. The question I ask myself is should I get worked up over the Eagles this early? Should I be thankful for the decade of winning from Andy Reid instead of despising him and give him a pass?
As much as I want to appreciate what Andy Reid has accomplished over the past decade, I can’t because he hasn’t led my beloved Eagled to a Super Bowl title. Year after year it is the same exact storyline with the Eagles, talented team poor clock management, missed used challenges, and poor late game play calling with no explanation as to why after the game.
Even with some of the most exciting players in the history of the team, the Eagles are somehow boring. I know I shouldn’t compare the Eagles and Phillies and in reality they are apples and oranges, but I can’t help it. Watching the Phillies dominate baseball the way they have this season showed me as a fan what a true dominate dream team does in a sport. It seems every time the Phillies are presented with a challenge they exceed our expectations as a fan whether it is going 9-1 on a West Coast road trip or taking 6 of 7 from the two top teams in the National League, not named the Phillies. Those factors combined with a recent championship win make it impossible to get easily angered by one or two bad Phillies games.
The Eagles have the exact opposite dynamic from the Phillies. They are becoming boring because they are the same story every year, they remind me of the TV show Entourage, an awesome show back in 2004, but by 2011 it is the same story every season and it is time to cancel the show and begin something new.
Maybe like Entourage 2011 should be the final season for the Andy Reid in Philadelphia story. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had a talented team back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, they had a really good coach too in Tony Dungy, but Dungy’s Bucs became a broken record consistently making the playoffs and losing. The Bucs fired Dungy, brought in Jon Gruden and won the Super Bowl the very next season. Dungy was a good coach, he ultimately won a Super Bowl, Dungy just wasn’t the right coach for that Bucs team. Maybe that is what is going on with Andy Reid. Maybe the national guys are right; Andy Reid could win a Super Bowl as a coach, but not in Philadelphia.
Andy Reid has been close to winning since 2001, yet ten years later he has yet to do it. This weekend was the perfect example of why the Eagles are becoming the same song on loop. The Temple Owls have been able to build a football program capable of competing with Penn State, and the Phillies turned a team that played in front of an empty stadium into a team that has sold out 200 straight regular season games in route to its 5th straight NL East crown. These events in Philadelphia sports have all occurred since Andy Reid appeared in his first NFC Championship game.
Am I over re acting after ONE Eagles loss? Definitely, but after 10 plus seasons of the exact same coaching mistakes it becomes very frustrating to watch as a fan. Andy Reid killed the buzz on what should have been on awesome weekend in Philadelphia sports.
Since I have seen this story of the Eagles before, I know they will put a nice run together after this Atlanta Falcons loss and be a favorite to win the NFC come playoff time, but the story will end with a playoff loss that includes all the mistakes the fans witnessed in last night’s loss to the Falcons.
Shutup Jerry. Crying like a little girl. This isn’t like any Eagles team we have ever had. Once they gel, they will own.
wow jerry, you just wrote for legions of once passionate eagles fans, u have guts to write on behalf of the truth, this eagles team is an act set up for failure as you have eloquently stated, go phillies, screw reid
Amen brother. I didn’t even get mad last night because I already knew what was going to happen. This team needs a change. We are the Stockton and Malone Utah Jazz of the NFL. Always good, never good enough. Being an Eagles fan is like being married to Ike Turner, sure there are good times, but they always end with a punch to the gut…
thats funny as hell baseball can replace football turn on any sports talk right now and all you will hear is when is vick coming back eagles…… not no damn baseball they only watch baseball here in philly when football isnt on and 95% of the phillies fans are fake anyway where were they all at in the 90’s when they were losing as i remember the vet was very empty oh “except those 6 fans in the stands with wolf mask on doing the wolf pack dance” yeah the good old days dont you love’em now a days they sell out every game when they are getting there charlie sheen on and “winning” everybody loves them fake as hell.
Eagles predominate airwaves now because 1 they are a train wreck with the its 100 million quarterback who has a career completion % well below average, a turn over machine, dumb ass ignorant fool who still can’t figure out even basic blitz packages and 2 because the phillies are in a lull right now, wait until playoffs heat up with phils, it will be back burner again for birds
Gloomy can you read? The article clearly states how the Vet was empty in the 90’s and uses that to prove his point that the Eagles are boring because they have been stuck in the same spot since those days for the Phillies, and how the Phillies have become a better product while the Eagles remained Status Quo under andy….SMH!
I do miss the good ol days when I can get tickets to a Phils game for 10 bucks. Even at CBP. I remember going to see Dontrelle Willis vs. Vincente Padilla and we rocked Dontrelle that day….back when he was an Ace. Ahhh, the good ol days, such a short time ago but such a long time ago.
So Jerry, you expected a perfect season – no injuries, no bad calls, no bad bounces, dropped passes, or plays that don’t work and result in long runs in the wrong direction? Think you should (a) just watch the Phillies (b) stop posting here – at least until you understand the nature of being an NFL fan of ANY team!
Thirteen seasons of more of the same, players come and go, potential hall of fame career players under his watch, different coaches, fans, even stadium, but the one constant, immutable large factor, figuratively and literally remains, the bumbling, arrogant, inventor of innovative football, draft small players, injured, out of position players, old players, washed up players, pay a quarterback 100 million, in a passing, blitz happy league but he can’t protect the football, cant read the blitz, better with his legs than his arm, brain, takes more hits in one game than Brady an entire season, and promote an ineffective offensive line coach to head your defense with no, zero, zip, nada, experience as a defensive coach, then, you will figure out why we, the Philadelphia faithful, have mailed in this season, one and done in playoffs, all salute the great Andy Reid, amen.
We will see who is more popular, when the Phillies are going down Broad St. in another parade & the Birds are 4-5 by then! You guys are Reid & Birds apologists! They are not winning $#!t until Reid is fired! Go Phillies! Go Flyers!
Jake, way to go! Keep preaching, maybe it will finally sink in & get through the thick fat, in the heads of the nit wit, excuse making, delusional, apologists on here!
They way the Phils have played lately, there may not be any parade down Broad Street for a while … Bats are going cold, Bullpen has tired arms.. They have a week to get the mojo back and get fined-tuned but sometimes I rather see a team fight and claw all the way to the end of the Season to make it for the playoffs for the Phils have had it on cruise control for a little while, now it’s time to take it up another notch.. Anything less than a World Series Apperance is a huge disappointment so now it’s time to play some Phils Ball
No excuses! That interception that hit the ground should have been seen and the challenge should have been made! No matter what happens or who gets injured this team by all means necessary MUST BE PREPARED FOR SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL!!!!! No more excuses! After 13 seasons i don’t want to hear it. That kid Kafka threw a beautiful ball and you tell me you were calling it scared? GET IT TOGETHER BIG RED!!!! YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! This loss could come back to haunt us in playoffs with tie breakers and all! LETS GO!!!!! E A G L E S EAGLES!!!!!!!
Pman, first off, they have nothing to play for and they are a little banged up. With homefield locked up, they have 10 useless games. Bastardo does look tired, so now is the time to rest him.
And this season, every time they have had a big series, they have come up huge.
this is exactly what I hate about this city… why cant you be a fan of both? why do you only have to be a fan of a team that is winning? if the phillies were 60-90 would any of you people still be watching ? People cry out loud that philly is a passionate sports city, the hell it is… the majority of the phillies fans that go to games now became fans 4 years ago. If you told them david bell hit for the cycle, they would have no idea who that even is. The eagles lost a game, to a team that is on their same level, who plays great football at home, and just suffered a blowout loss. O no, they lost…. the packers AGAIN, started 3-3, and did not even win their division and won the superbowl, do you think the idiots in green bay last year were like “eh, at lesat the brewers are playing??” If none of you idiots figured out that the NFL is decided in the last 6-8 weeks of a season, then you should never watch football.
I wish this city had less bandwagon jumpers, and more people that actually enjoyed the sport, the teams, and the players… and werent so enamored with winning that they stop paying attention to teams because they are not winning. Part of the fun of being a fan is watching a team get better, not abandoning them when they arent playing their best.
One day they will fire andy reid, and one day they will hire a guy that will come in, clean house, and make this team truly stink for 5 years… and all you bastards will ask for reid back, and then they will stop selling out games… and I will be able to get the season tickets I have been waiting to get, and for that I will thank you. Until then, watch both teams, like both teams, dont scream out how you hate the teams, and then when they win you are the number 1 fan.
Live and die with both teams.
This article is the equivalent of saying becuase my son got a C on his math test I am glad I have my daughter – BS – I don’t need to check, change or modify my fandom of the Phillies or the Eagles or the Flyers ( sorry, I am just no that into hoops) based upon what the other teams do – All three will win the cup/SB/WS –
What is it about complaining about everything on the Eagles that makes some of you guys feel better? I just don’t get it – My wife isn’t perfect – but I love her, my kids aren’t perfect (well, my youngest daughter is just about), but I love them, my dog isn’t perfect – but he rocks, what is EVER perfect – the Eagles/phillies/flyers aren’t perfect but this is what makes us fans – crazy, rabid, our team is gonna win it all don’t even think about coming into our house and thinking you are going to win fans –
and Pman, they are beat, exhausted, and tired… the phils will be rotating players in and out. While the cards are playing for a wild card spot. There is no need to try and find reasons to worry about the team that you picked to finish 2nd.. and now has the best record in baseball.
well said navy, well said.
this article is the usual whiny divisive Philadelphia crap…. I guess when the Phillies lose a game, you’ll be glad to have the Eagles again… *smh*
The Eagles are the most hyped up exciting team in the NFL, yet this guy is telling me they are boring? lol….
This is why people get sick and tired of some philadelphia fans…. the whining attitude is pathetic…
The Eagles record is 1-1… Unless you expected an undefeated season (which is unrealistic) then you shouldnt already be whining about how the Eagles always let you down…
The Phillies are great, much respect to that organization, but it typical Philadelphia zero sum logic that says you to jump back and forth or that cant like and appreciate both teams at the same time
All I am saying is that many opf the Phils will be rested and hopefully rejuvenated for the Playoffs, but how many times in recent years where a team goes on cruise control to rest players then has a hard time getting that intensity or timing back..
How many times has this happened in Football (Colts come to mind)
in Baseball it’s happened to the Yankees,Cubs, the Braves where they cruised to the playoffs and took it easy and then never got it back and we all know how hitting is contagious through-out a line-up and hopefully the Phils don’t miss a beat and come out smoking…
I agree, but a lot of those cases were just resting just to rest, and was not due to an insane schedule. Being that their only day off was turned in to a double header, you have to give your guys a break. I agree that it can happen, but I think that charlie will rest them early in this week, and have the starters play the last couple games of the year
rasheed – AMEN BRAVO
What’s happening with the PHils lately,
Sinec they kicked the Braves/Brewers’ butts a couple weeks back, they have been listless, unable to hit or get many runs… They are 4-8 since that nice run and are only 12-10 in the month of September..
Victorino & Utley have lost about .15 pts of their Batting Average’s ..
Phiils now rank 11th in Runs and 17th in Batting Average and 16th in Slugging % in all of MLB..
Stutes,Bastardo and Madson have all struggled over the last monthThe have a week or so to get it straightened out and yes, these games down the stretch really don’ tmean much, but how many games have the blown and lost in the 8th & 9t hInnings over the last month where they were lights out all season and come playoff time, these great Starters are not going to be pitching complete games every time out and this Bullpen needs to tighten it up and soon… (Lidge has actually pitched well since his return, Worley and Kendrick will also be in Bullpen)
Schiller, your alive!
Zoltek i’m a fan of all 4 teams. Don’t take comments & criticism as non-fandom, because you would be sadly mistaken. No one is above criticism, no matter who you are. Some of us choose to be critical & some of us choose to be stepfords, but we all are fans & love our teams. So get your information right. I’m not a bangwagon jumper that only routes for the winning teams. As Jake knows I ripped the colon out of Amaro in the first half of the season & then ate crow on here after the Pence trade. When i’m wrong, i’m wrong. Hey if, & this is a very huge if, the Birds turn it around & make a boob out of me & i’m wrong i’ll come on here & apologize to all of the apologists. Guarantee it!
O I dont see anything wrong with criticizing, and not calling anyone out on here… I just hear a lot of this crap all the time, and it just frustrates me.
Noone ever seems happy with any team, unless they are winning every game.
zoltek – yeah, that’s the point – it’s not wrong to criticize the team, the coach, the front office or another post or poster. It is wrong to criticize unfairly or just stupidly. “the Eagles don’t run the ball enough”. Or “Andy Reid divulges too much information at press conferences and doesn’t accept enough of the blame himself” – those are examples of crappy criticism. Or “shane victorino is the problem with stopping the tight end and big runs up the middle”.
There’s such a thing as dumb/invalid criticism. And a LOT of it is on this site on a regular basis.
DD – Yep, sometimes work or travel make it that I don’t post everyday. Big woop – it don’t mean nothing.
Yeah, I think there’s 1 billion different ways to be a fan and any talk of ‘true, real, or better’ fan is utter bullshit.
That doesn’t mean you don’t say or post a lot of over the top, irrational, or plain dumb stuff.