February 2005 Archives

This blog first started with the idea that I would make an Eagles website for fans living in Hoboken. Then, I just canned that idea because I barely have enough time coming up with creative ideas for my blog.

After living in Hoboken the last 10 years, and being an Eagles fan, I used to spend my days at The Farside bar, watching the game with the regulars. Since I was behind enemy lines, my game was usually with no sound - and I had to endure years of a crappy Eagles team and the ridicule that came with it.

About two years ago when I was bartending at Dipper's, I was always thinking about making it a "Eagles Bar", but never went through with it. I seriously never thought we would get that many people into the bar, and I didn't think the owners would like that so much since he was a Redskins fan.

Last summer I told a friend of mine about my ideas, and it turned out that McMahons Brownstone would be a good fit for the idea that I had: Find a bar that was willing to show the Eagles games with sound (instead of the Giants or Jets) and make it an "Eagles Bar". Organize a bunch of people, get them to one bar in town & take over the place with a sea of Eagles green. The idea morphed from an "Eagles Bar" into trying to promote an "Eagles Club" (and not necessarily tied down to the Brownstone - we did Monday Night Football at different bars).

I am starting to think i'm the new jinx of jinxes.

I went to watch the Sixers vs Knicks last night, after Kathy (whom I met from the Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken) scored free tickets to the game.

I told her during the game that my current record, over the last 2 years of watching any Philadelphia sporting event (live) is (0-8).

0-8. Think about that. Everytime in the last 8 games of any team I wanted to watch win - they lost. Here is a recap, from memory...

Sixers at Knicks (2005) - Sixers lose.
Eagles vs Pats (2005) - Eagles lose.
Phillies at Mets (2004) - Phillies lose.
Flyers at Devils (2003) - Flyers lose.
Eagles vs Pats (2003) - Eagles lose.
Eagles vs Tampa Bay (2002) - Eagles lose.
Flyers at Devils (2002) - Flyers lose.
Phillies at Mets (2002) - Phillies lose.

My last victory that I remember? In 2001 I was at Eagles at Giants, where they won 10 to 9.

Suffice to say Kathy has now banned me from watching any more games with her. She accused me of jinxing the Smarty Jones loss at Belmont last year.

I have to get out of this funk. Even BEFORE my losing streak I have a tremendous amount of losses under my belt when I watch sporting events in person. I can honestly say that in watching about 20 events I think I saw my teams win about 5-7 games.

Remember when Eagles played Cardinals in 2001? The Eagles are winning the game, and its the 4th quarter and Plummer with no timeouts waltzes down the field and wins the game. Yep, I was there.

Phillies played the Yankees a few years ago - I was there to watch the humiliation.

I only sat down this morning trying to think back to all the games I have attended and how many of them have been losses.

This is horrible. Of course if any New York fans would like to give me more free tickets to bring the curse with them in person - I will be happy to oblige.

Got this picture forwarded to me...Welcome to New York, Eli. Lookin' sharp, pal.

We have all been there, buddy. Wrecked after a night of boozing. Of course the only difference is that we THOUGHT the girl we took home was as hot as yours.

I expect to see this same dazed and confused expression in years to come after my Philadelphia Eagles lay out a few hits on Future Mr. Hall of Shamer Eli Manning.

Thanks for the laughs, Eli.

Even more laughs coming up when I watch the Giants give up their first round draft pick to the Chargers for this guy.

Please, make me laugh and lets hear your own caption for this picture.

It started so innocently.

I was 11 years old, living in my suburban world of Richboro in the development of Tanyard Farms.

It was a quiet indian summer night, and word got to my brother and I that Paul was 'up to something' - which usually meant that we were going to pull some kind of prank.

Our pranks were so common that i'm amazed that my neighbors put up with it, but then again we were fairly good at not getting caught.

We used to have pranks on our sleepouts during that summer, but this one would end up differently.

Kevin and I showed up under the weeping willow tree on the backend of Steve T's house, around 7pm. Every property in our old development were interconnected, Steve T's house borders about 5 backyards, because of the position of his house on a cul-de-sac allowed for multiple neighbors to border his backyard.

A new family had moved into our development, a young father and mother along with their baby. They mostly kept to themselves, and weren't part of the "original families" that comprised the people who were the first time homeowners of the Toll Brothers homes.

This made them an outsider, and fair game to our pranks.

Paul was there with Steve T and with Steve B, one of those kind of kids who's career goals was to be a roadie with AC/DC. Steve B was the kind of kid who was shaving at 13, and always had a pack of Marlboro Reds on him. It was Steve B who was the first kid that taught me how to smoke a cigarette - only a few months before this.

"The timebomb is set.", Paul said.

"Timebomb?", I asked.

"Yea, take a lit cigarette, put a fuse from pack of firecrackers at the end of the cigarette, and put it by the back door. Once the cigarette burns down to the fuse...BOOM!", said a smirking Paul.

We waited a bit in silence under the weeping willow. Waiting for the firecrackers to explode, try to see if we get a reaction from the house and running off. Time passed slowly. Eventually we became anxious.

"Furey - go check out the timebomb.", Paul said, "It may have gone out. Just relight the cigarette if it went out.", and he handed me a lighter.

Now, this is one of those things that happen to kids all the time - peer pressure. I was 11. The other kids, Paul, Steve B and my brother were older. I, of course, wanted to prove myself to the older kids. Plus, I thought I was all sort of cool now that I knew how to smoke a cigarette.

After a moment of hesitation, I hopped the fence and in the twilight of a September dusk, I crept along the fence lined backyard. I approached the single family house, with its white aluminum siding, with a good deal of nervousness. I did see a light on, but didn't see anyone looking out the windows. They probably were watching Family Feud.

I got to the backdoor, which had a small concrete patio. To the side, off the patio, but under the kitchen window was a gas grill. I saw the timebomb, on the concrete and it looked like it may have gone out. I got closer and looked at the cigarette and the fireworks. I noticed that - no it didn't go out...why look...

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!!!!

The entire pack of firecrackers went off in my face.

I have always been a dreamer. I remember nights as a child, staring at the ceiling and just THINKING. I would say strange things to my mother, for a child my age, like talking about God or why things the way they are (she would always tell me later in life about how wild it was to have a 6 year old saying things like, "Maybe God isn't an actual person, maybe he is in the trees and the plants and the stars...")

Anyhow, I have random thoughts all the time. I wonder about a lot of things, but like any Aquarius type - I don't seek the answers to fruition - I simply like to wonder...here are a few tidbits of the randomness...

-Cuba. I was thinking about Cuba the other night when I took my roommates to La Isla on 1st and Washington (mmmmm...Cuban Sandwiches) the other night. I was thinking that its an island about the size of Florida. Its located probably in the most perfect part of the equator for sun-worshippers, and about a 3 hour flight from New York city and Castro is 79 years old this August. All I know is that when Castro dies, i'm making pals with my Cuban-American friends and going to buy real estate in Cuba. Talk about untapped paradise. Think about it. Its a freaking island (hello, beachfront everywhere!), and the development of Cuba basically stopped in the 60's. Imagine when Castro dies - how long does the communism last? A year? Two? Eventually that island is going to be like a scene from Far and Away when everyone is going bonkers on the horses for the land grab. I'm telling ya - get a $50,000 loan and grab a parcel of land. In 30 years (after Castro dies) it will be your cheap retirement home.

-What's up with the Pope? The guy looks like he is about as lucid as Andy Reid walking by a McDonalds. I'm thinking that its time to put the Pope into pasture, and let his final years be peaceful - get a newer, younger Pope to revitalize the church. I can't be the only non-practicing Catholic who thinks that enough is enough.

-I have been passively searching for a condo, letting the agents bounce different ideas off me. The bottom line is that the market is white hot in Hoboken and to get something I like i'm going to be so screwed. Greenspan says "there isn't inflation". Yet, there is. Think about it - if I saved, say, $100,000 (I don't have this, its only a theory) for the last 3 years - would that buying power of $100,000 be the same today that it would be 3 years ago? In the housing market, no. So that just steams me to watch the prices off the charts. Funny thing about inflation - you can still get a BMW for $35,000 today as you could have gotten the same car 3 years ago. Maybe I should just do what other yuppie Hobokenites do - rent, buy luxury items and go into debt. All my past roommates are looking so smart for jumping ship and buying when they did. Like I wrote before, I know as soon as I buy a place the entire market will go "poof". Mark my words, i'm like the kiss of death when it comes to financial timing.

I was thinking this weekend about what kind of qualities in a girl I'd like as a girlfriend.

I know the first thing is she needs to have a sense of humor, one that enjoys me making her laugh. As I get older...

...It was my birthday on Saturday (hello, 33 - or as my brother said "A third of the way to 99")...

I realize that there are two kinds of people in "my world". Those that get my sense of humor and those that don't. The people that do basically think i'm hilarious and (nearly) everything I do can make them laugh. I love that. I guessing being the last born child has wired me into a mentality of "I need to entertain people".

I mean, come on, look at this blog. It's a brain dump of things about Hoboken, the Eagles and me.

The other kind of people are those that simply find me unfunny and not very amusing. I find that I graviate towards people who I can make laugh, and those that enjoy being "the audience". There is a girl who works at Club H, that without fail, will laugh at everything I say. Even when I approach her at the counter, know she sees me and i'll watch this sly grin creep across her face, while she is working with another customer, because I know she finds me funny - On the flip side, I absolutely look forward to seeing her because I know that she is going to laugh at my jokes and I find her terribly attractive.

What is my type? Well, aside from the audience complex that I seemed to have formed, here is a quick list of things that get my attention...aside from the pure physical aspect of attraction...

Jacksonville Landing - right by the waters edge in downtown Jacksonville. It was a nippy 40 degrees that night - we should have just played the Super Bowl in Philadelphia, instead.

This picture is deceptive. My room actually looks fairly nice in the photo. It wasn't this good.

I'm back.

What can I say? We lost. There isn't anything else that can be said, but here are my random thoughts on everything this weekend:

-The Eagles should have won. The Eagles could have won. The Eagles didn't win. The majority of blame must rest on DMac's shoulders. I'm sorry to say that, for whatever reasons - it was his performance which largely contributed to the loss. He had some crucial interceptions that were HIS FAULT, and not the tremendous skill of the Patriots secondary. The one he threw into double coverage towards Westbrook I could have intercepted.

-Jacksonville is an interesting dilemma. Its a second rate town, but it really tried to be first rate. The people of Jacksonville were wonderful - extremely friendly and accomodating. They have more "Waffle Houses" down there than we have pigeons in New York. It should be called Waffleville. Or JacksonHouse. Wacksonvilouse.

-But, on the other hand, the price gouging was sad. I went to eat with 3 friends at a Sabarro. We had about 10 slices of pizza ($4 each), and each got a beer ($8 each). Do the math.

-The taxi situation got better when taxi drivers started to come from out of the city & state (one I met was from Atlanta) to "help". They were absolutely raping customers with their prices. I paid $40 to get from Jax to my hotel room after the game, which was a 20 minute drive. I had no choice - it was 3am, I was drunk and there wasn't any public transportation I could have used. I figured, how many times have I paid $30-40 for a taxi ride from Manhattan to Hoboken?

-My hotel room was, on a scale of 1-10, about a 3. This was a dive of a motel that tried really, really hard to spruce itself up for the Super Bowl. They installed new carpet and new curtains - but that couldn't hide the fact that this place wasn't worth more than $100 a night. Super Bowl price? $300 a night (4 night minimum stay). I compared notes with everyone else in town and very few nice hotels exist in the city. Like I said before, this is a second rate town.

-My seats were ridiculously great. I was sitting field level, with a great view of the action. The (active) crowd was about 65% Eagle fans and 35% Patriot fans - the active crowd comprised about 70% of the people at the game. The "inactive crowd", the media types or old people who sit on their hands the entire game was about 30% of the people there. It kind of drove me nuts when you looked around and knew that there were some people here who really didn't appreciate what they were experiencing - those rich, old bastards who just sat there and didn't clap very much.

-Back to the Eagle to Patriot ratio - we owned that town. The night before the game Jacksonville landing had to be about 80% Eagle fans by my estimates. It was basically like being in Philly - we were razzing their fans the whole weekend. Of course they got to laugh last - after the game. I went to Jacksonville Landing after the game and got drunk with Eagle fans (we were all wearing our jerseys proudly in a sea of Pat fans). I looked around and watched the Pats fans party and just kept thinking - "They really didn't know how to party...." - I would guess that there were like 800-1,000 Pats fans at the Landing (near the main stage). If the Eagles won, I would guarantee that there would have been about 5,000-8,000 Eagle fans going bonkers.

-I got to meet Martin Brodeur at Twisted Martini near the Landing on Friday night. He was hanging out with some friends of Matt and he was very approachable and friendly. My first words were (I was smiling when I said it) "Martin - i'll admit i'm a huge Flyers fan and I hate you." He laughed and I added,"The Devils wouldn't be half the team they were in the last number of years if they didn't have you as a goalie." He thanked me back and I got a picture with him along with an autograph for Fireman Joe. I limited my ass kissing to that moment.

-Kathy emailed me this joke...McDonalds announced a new sandwich. It is called the "McNabb." After you pay for it, the clerk either throws it on the floor two feet away from you, or into the hands of the guy behind you in line.

It's Groundhog Day!

Phil and I are a bit alike, I think. Two, single bachelors living in an urban jungle. Being very irritated when we are slumbering and someone wakes us up. My hair is as nearly as thick as fur, which Big Jack, regular barfly from the Midtown Triangle, told me once. This guy in the hat kind of looks like Jack, actually...

So I got that goin' for me.

Six more weeks of winter. That isn't so bad, considering that winter technically started about 2 weeks ago - it was 66 degrees one day during the first week in January!

It seems like every year has been the same winter for me - at least with the Eagles.

They have a tremendous regular season, I get very excited for the post season and i'm let down.

I'm hoping this will not be another winter of our discontent.

The trip to Jacksonville is coming up. I'm really not as jazzed about it as I thought I would be. Don't get me wrong - i'm very excited for the game, but I think what is irritating me is that i'm not looking forward to going to JACKSONVILLE itself.

Everything I heard about the city makes it sound like some backwater town. Now, i'm sure with about 200,000 new visitors it should get somewhat more interesting - but I have already heard horror stories from the media who have been down there since Monday.

Different kind of tales, from overpriced hotels to expensive taxi rides to a sub-standard feeling from the media that this city isn't quite "Super Bowl Material". Give me San Diego, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Tampa - even Dallas!

Jacksonville?

I guess it could be worse, next year the Super Bowl is in Detroit! Who the hell wants to be in that city during the dead of winter?

I leave on Friday...returning Monday...hopefully I will snap a bunch of pictures...