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I wrote this letter to Jason Mulgrew from jasonmulgrew.com. He is an avid Eagles fan, and a very funny writer and wrote this on his website:

"The Eagles signing of Asante Samuel is an unequivocal and absolute fucking disgrace. It's not even that the contract is gaudy, - even though it is, but at least it's somewhat close to market value - but to give almost $60 million to a cornerback when they have more pressing needs is majorly, majorly upsetting to me. And while he's had a good career, he was DOGGED in the Super Bowl and will forever be remembered as the guy who got beat on one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history. Bottom line: it was man-on-man, Samuel on Tyree, and if makes that play, the game is over and New England wins (well, it would have been 4th and 5, but still). Also, if he had made that pick on other play, NE would have won. TWICE, in the sport's biggest game, he had the opportunity to SECURE THE CHAMPIONSHIP - AND HE BLEW IT. And the Eagles just gave him $60 million. What the fuck.

Enjoy your $60 mil, dickhead. And welcome to Philadelphia.

(I am so enraged right now that my weekend is in danger of being ruined. Seriously.)

(Also, and I'm not saying anything that hasn't been covered in the press ad nauseum, but did the SB teach us nothing if not that the key to a successful pass defense is a successful rush? And look how much Clements and Lewis helped SF's secondary this year - oh wait, they didn't at all. Jesus Christ. The only hope I have is that Asante gives the d-line an extra half-second to get to the QB and thus get the sack, but c'mon. I am SO SO angry right now. I can't stop TYPING IN CAPS. Damn it.)

(Finally, I dare anyone to defend this move to me. It is indefensible. Sorry, there are two ways it's defensible: 1) If this somehow springs us to sign playmakers on the offensive side of the ball; 2) If someone comes to my house and blows me twice a day, every day, that Asante Samuel is an Eagle. If one of these two things happen, I might be ok with this signing. Might.)"

This is my email response below:

Before Asante was signed, I would say these are our (I use "our" when referring to the Eagles) needs, in priority to draft needs:

1. Offensive lineman. Runyan and Thomas are fucking ancient (but still workhorses) and Shawn Andrews can't do it alone. Winston Justice got owned last year (I actually think we gotta give a rookie a break in that situation it would be like you playing point guard against Iverson), and McNabb ended up on his back more times last year than Lindsay Lohan. If McNabb doesn't have protection, how the fuck is he going to throw the ball? Everyone whines about getting a WR, but McNabb NEEDS TIME TO THROW. Look at Eli. He sucks moose cock and has all day to sit in the pocket, type out a email, then throw blind Hail Mary's that Toomer catches for a 28 yard gain. So my #1 pick in the draft is an offensive linemen. Not a sexy pick, not anything that the yahoo armchair coaches from philadelphiaeagles.com would want, but it's what I would pick (depending on what drops).

2. We have no depth in our secondary. Lito is always injured for at least 3 games a year. Dawk is 35, and doesn't have the bounce back like he did at 25. Sean Constandine is great if he was on fucking Oakland or Arizona, but for an Eagles safety, he's average at best. Sheldon Brown is good, solid, but I have seen him get burned A LOT, especially in the Red Zone where he just can't match up on those jump balls to Plaxico or Owens. Ok, so that's our secondary, along with WILLIAM JAMES, JOSELIO HANSON (nickel corner) and J.R. REED (safety, kick off returner). It was sad to see who we were putting on the field last year. We absolutely needed more depth here, especially after Lito and Dawk were both off the field our secondary was woefully average.

3. Defensive Linemen - our ends are Abiamiri, Thomas & Cole (Howard and Kearse excluded b/c they are goners). Tackles Patterson, Bunkley, Van Oelhoff (should I bother including Reagor or Ramsey?). Wow, really fucking impressive list of names there, right? Our "stud" was Cole who had 12.5 sacks...after him was a huge drop off Thomas with 5. As a comparison Osi had 13 sacks, Tuck has 10 sacks, Strahan had 9 sacks...That's three Giants with a combined 32 sacks for the year. Our entire team registered around 30 sacks. We gotta get help here for Cole. We tried with the big splashy signing of Kearse and Howard which should have made us a MONSTER line, but we sucked. We absolutely need more talent here because repeat after me: DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

4. WR - I think we had good WRs, but with #1 it was even worse when McNabb is harried and hurried. Everyone talks about "This is Reggie Brown's 3rd year so he's going to EXPLODE." Well, he didn't. Maybe year 4 can be better, who knows? We have capable WRs, but we don't have someone to stretch the field. We don't have a guy who is big and can jump up and bring down a "jump ball" kind of pass like Plax or Owens. Also sort of included in WRs are our TEs - imagine if the birds had Jason Witten to pass to? Holy shit that would be fucking amazing. Bottom line is that I agree that we can use help, but I really put this at #3 of our pressing needs.

I think with #2 and #4 it would be great to get help in the form of someone who is a kick or punt returner and also plays in extended situations (like at nickel or dime packages).

Ok, now lets look at Asante.

He's basically a healthy version of Lito. Now lets remember even before we got Asante we had Mr. Crybaby (Lito) saying how he wasn't paid enough. He's always due to be hurt in the season, yet he cries he isn't getting paid enough. Ummmmm, what?

So what's our choices. Pay Lito to shut him up and hope that he doesn't continue to get hurt. Or pay Asante, who will come here, all happy, play good enough (he isn't a shut down corner, but he's solid, depenable and HAPPY WITH HIS PAYCHECK....and oh, yea - can play in 16 games a season!). Then we have Lito.

Ok, Lito has basically made it known that he doesn't like his paycheck. Now that it's public you know that the Philadelphia media or ESPN Eagles haters won't let this die. They will repeat ad nauseum about how Lito is unhappy and analyze every burp, hiccup and fart from Lito for the next 3 years to gauge his unhappiness. Look at the Owens, Iverson, Barkley history as good examples how the media helped the Drama Queens to blow everything up and ran our stars out of town. Lito is gone if the right offer is out there. Or maybe the Eagles keep him a year. If Lito could shut up, or we paid him, imagine this secondary:

Left Corner: Asante Samuel
Right Corner: Lito Sheppard
Strong Safety: Brian Dawkins
Free Safety: Sheldon Brown or Constandine
Nickel: Sheldon Brown or Hanson
Dime: Hanson?

Bottom line is that is much, much, much more impressive and much deeper depth if Lito comes up lame in a game. Or you package Lito with your #1 draft pick and move up in the draft and pick something. Here's the two picks i'd grab with my #1 pick (and also assuming that Lito is gone).

1. I'd grab an offensive linemen like I wrote before. Someone who you can make the future tandem of Shawn Andrews & "Future 2008 Draft Pick" who will replace Runyan and Tre (now William) Thomas. Groom the kid as a guard like Andrews for now, figure that Justice will get better and you have a fairly good looking offensive line.

2. I'd make a strong play to snap up Leodis McKelvin. Here's what Mel Kiper wrote:
"Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy (5-10 1/2, 185) Not only is McKelvin a very good cover man with superior recovery ability (he runs in the 4.38 range) and the aggressiveness to get the job done in run support, he also has made a name for himself as the top return man in the entire nation. He has stood out this season in games against the likes of Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma State and Georgia. With his speed and versatility, McKelvin will bring great value to a football team."

I completely agree here and Eagles get to cover two key needs: Depth on the secondary and much needed help in our return game. Imagine the Birds with a speedy kick returner that can actually *GASP* return a kickoff for a TD? When's the last time you saw that? Was it Westbrook like 4 years ago? I would absolutely get rid of Lito, see about packaging a deal to move up to the #12 spot and grabbing this kid. You have a new fresh talent to groom in nickel situations (which replaces Hanson) and our return game (which replaces Reed). Also you get to cut Reno Mahe who is taking up room on our bench because he's the only idiot who has sure hands but concrete legs.

Asante was a good pick up, especially when you take it into consideration of where the Eagles have the most pressing needs & the new "Lito Drama" that we just don't need to distract us. I know everyone is foaming at the mouth for a WR, and I certainly think if at the #2 pick there's something to snap up, i'd say go for it. I don't see any first round WRs that really impress the hell out of me. Some look VERY GOOD, but there's not a WR that if the Eagles move up in the draft that i'd pick over Leodis McKelvin (only because he fills two huge needs for the birds - depth in our secondary and a kick returner).

Thoughts?

This is one of those kind of videos that make me cringe to watch it. The team wearing Michael Jackson-esque "Thriller" leather outfit or Cosby-sweaters. Randall is the only one who looks semi-normal in his Miami Vice Don Johnson suit. I never knew our team made a crappy rap song, but it was for charity and I guess that's a good thing. I felt bad watching Luis Zendejas (the kicker of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1988) try to rap.

If you all remember, this rap was before The Fog Bowl, which was easily my first memory growing up of watching a terrible loss by our sports teams in Philly I remember being 16 at the time, this was a bitter loss just before New Year's Eve.

Thanks to Kathleen for the forward!

Over the last three days I have heard from various Giant fans about how happy they were on Sunday that they dominated the Eagles.

I have heard from various fans. Some are more rational about how they won, some are completely irrational. The rational fans I talk to agree about certain key reasons why they won, noting that the Giants anemic offense was just enough to win. The irrational fans see the game in a different light, as if they won 36-3, not 16-3. I note that the Eagles had something like double digit penalties that game, along with the 12 sacks. I think if anything I take away is that the Eagles weren't prepared and that falls on the shoulders of Andy Reid.

Here's a few thoughts I had about Sunday...

• We didn't have Brian Westbrook, which allows your defense to be more aggressive and he is our #1 pass blocker. Did you see Reno Mahe get run over by your defense in blitzes? Reno is a guy who we picked up as a free agent for special teams, and simply was out matched.
• Add to that Winston Justice was replacing our pro-bowl OT William Thomas (formerly Tre Thomas). I'm not taking away from what Osi did, but you have to consider that Justice was also not ready for this. I blame Andy Reid for not adjusting for the mauling going on there, but it wasn't just Osi who was sacking McNabb.
• Two key pro-bowlers missing on our offense helped the Giants defense play very well and aggressive. Again, not to take away from the Giants defense, but I think it would have been a completely different offense if we had our players in there and healthy.
• What was Eli's numbers? 14 for 26, 135 yards 1 TD, 1 int. Ward rushed for 80 yards on 19 attempts.
• Pro-bowl Dawkins out, Pro-Bowl Lito Sheppard out, we have 2 of 4 starters in the secondary out. We still limited the Giants to 16 points, and we couldn't have been as aggressive as we wanted to be with those two starters out. William James had a key pass interference penalty on the 3 yard line that killed us.
• Giants offense did just enough to win the game, especially the special teams work by Feagles to pin us twice on the 5 yard line. We had two Pro-Bowl starters out on defense, and that was a key issue for the Eagles. Eli did his old "just enough to win" passing and i'm still not impressed with him. He should have picked us apart, and he didn't.

To the Giant fans, hey, congrats. You won a good game, and deserved to win. But I think this would have been a completely different game if we didn't have 5 of our Pro Bowl players benched due to injuries. Next game at the Linc, I think if we have all our players back and you have your players, it will be a different story.

As one person wrote this week, "It was a tough game, I felt like I was a Giants fan."

Lots of people have been emailing me for updates on the Eagles Club. To manage it more efficiently, I created an Eagles Group. You can invite your friends, talk about the Eagles and get all your information there for the season at Mulligan's bar.

I also added to the sidebar, the link to our group, and the ability to join the club.

Subscribe to Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken

Email:

Visit this group

I hope to see everyone out this year. Mulligan's has been taking a lot of steps to make the club even better, and I think everyone will like the changes in store. If there is any suggestions or questions you have, feel free to email me, and I will see what we can do!

Yep. That's my draft grade. I was tempted to give them a "D", but allow me to explain.

If you know me, you know i'm a huge AR supporter. I love Andy. I really do. I think he is a good coach, and exactly the kind of coach Philadelphia needs. Philly is a tough town, and you need a guy who doesn't say very much to the media. You need a guy who makes the decisions, bad or good, and doesn't back down from them. You need a guy who produces, consistently, and AR has produced (our record really says it all).

With that being said, i'm very unhappy about the draft.

Now, I will be first to admit that I don't watch a tremendous amount of college football. I see highlights and I do read up on scouting reports for 1st round selections for the draft, but that's about it. So take my rant with a grain of salt. I am no more of an expert than most of the Eagle fans out there. But I will rant anyhow, because, well, that's what I do.

I think we all can agree that the first selection for the Eagles is something that is bothering about 90% of the fans out there. I went to the Eagles message board and basically wrote I was embarassed to be an Eagles fan (at 3am on a Saturday after bartending).

Maybe I overreacted, but - COME ON.

The first pick was a quarterback?

Look, i'm with ya on the whole McNabb thing. His injuries have been strange. Quirky. I really don't see him as damaged goods, just a guy with incredibly back luck. I think he could be a superbowl QB, and is just one game away from going from Peyton Manning Curse to Peyton Manning Blessing.

I don't know squat about Kolb. But I do know that when just about every pundit says, "What were the Eagles thinking..." that more than likely the Eagles just screwed the pooch on that pick. Could we all be wrong in 3 years when he is the starter or traded away for another 2nd round pick? Maybe. I'm sure it would be awesome to be wrong here, but maybe i'm short sighted. My main three needs were: safety, cornerback and running back for our first three picks.

Next pick was Victor Abiamiri in the second round. Ok, a defensive end. Again, not really impressed here with a DE pick. I know the whole "Pick the best player possible" theory, and I do, in a way, agree with it, but i'd still be looking for other help here. I'm still scracthing my head.

3rd round pick was Stewart Bradley, a linebacker. Ok, I'm down with that. We do need to start thinking about replacing Trotter and Jones asap. Trotter has maybe a year left in the tank, in my opinion. Dhiani Jones should be off the team very soon. With Gocong back from his injury last year, it is really like we have two new draft picks at LB to compete during the offseason. Overload, for sure.

The second 3rd round pick was Tony Hunt. Again, don't really know Tony Hunt, but I do know that RB is a position we need help at. Kudos to that pick, if he works out. We definitely needed insurance for Buckhalter, and someone who can pound the ball. I love watching Westbrook fly over the tackles and into the end zone, but we have to protect someone like Westbrook from wearing down by getting a big back to smash into the end zone and run the clock late in the games.

Eagles didn't have a 4th rounder, and honestly, talking about picks from the 5th through the 7th is usually stupid. Yes, the rare gem can emerge from there, but these are probably all going to be more special team picks for the next year and one or two could possibly become a starter. Who that is will be a crap shoot. I'd like to see free safety CJ Gaddis work out, but do you really think a 5th round pick is going to replace Dawkins?

But only time can tell about a draft. In two years we can rate a draft. Which is why we now can rate the Eagles 2005 draft.

Mike Patterson? Reggie Brown? Matt McCoy? Ryan Moats? Sean Considine? Todd Herremans? Trent Cole?

Should all be familiar names, because they are all fairly active for the team for greater or lesser degrees. Mike Patterson inked a 7 year 32M extension Nov 2, 2006, so you know the team loves this guy. Trent Cole signed a 5 year extension only four days later. Reggie Brown we got because of that trade to Miami for AJ Feeley, and he's our #1 WR. Ryan Moats will probably get traded soon. Sean Considine and Todd Herremans are starters. Matt McCoy is probably not going to make the cut with Gocong and Stewart Bradley battling for a spot.

If you ask me the 2005 draft was solid, maybe a few exceptions there, but we have a bunch of starters in those picks. Maybe a bit of trust is needed with the organization. In two years we may look back and say, "Wow, they did a great job."

But until that happens, I still give them a C.

I just got this over email...

Team owner Jeffery Lurie had put together the perfect team for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The only thing missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the
colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't
find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl victory.

One night while watching CNN, he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan.
In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghani soldier with
a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a window
from 80 yards away. He then threw another from 50 yards down a chimney,
and finally hit a passing car going 80 miles per hour.

"I've got to get this guy!" Lurie said to himself "He has the perfect arm!"

He brings the young Afghan to the States and teaches him the great game
of football ...sure enough the Eagles go on to win the Super Bowl. The
young Afghan is hailed as a hero of football, and when the coach asks
him what he wants, all the young man wants to do is call his mother.

"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!"

"I don't want to talk to you," the old Muslim woman says. "You deserted
us. You are not my son."

"Mother, I don't think you understand," pleads the son, "I've just won
the greatest sporting event in the world!"

"No! Let me tell you," his mother retorts, "At this very moment there
are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your
two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I
have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!"

Well, well, well.

If you are a die hard, like me, and have been watching the Eagles, I bet you have some raised eyebrows today.

Before I delve into the trade, lets go over the people we lost this season:

1. Michael Lewis: Farewell Mike, we hardly knew ya. I'd say that this was a loss for the team, but certainly his production waned in the last year. Part of me thinks that his production waned because the coaches put in other players over him to give them playing time, rather than his skill. That's just my opinion.

2. Rod Hood: I'll miss Rod. I liked him. Sort of like Al Harris but without all the penalty flags around him. He wanted his shot to be a #1, and he can't languish on the Eagles hoping that someone gets injured for his chance.

3. Shawn Barber: I'm still angry he turned us down to go to Kansas City 3 years ago. He should have stayed. He's old, and I don't care that he left.

4. Jeff Garcia: Look, I think Jeff far exceeded anyone's expectations, including myself. I don't think anyone expected he would be such a tremendous player and leader to get us into the 2nd round of the playoffs and nearly upsetting the Saints. As Caesarion learned from Octavius, there can be only one Caesar. I don't think it would have been very good for the Eagles to have Garcia on the bench if McNabb was having a bad game. Imagine the fans & the press in Philly the day after a disasterous loss to the Cowboys or Giants? It would be "Put in Garcia!" headlines. I think Jeff did a great job, and I think everyone in Philly thanks him for it. But that aside, McNabb is our quarterback and will be for the next 4 years, at least, if not longer, before his performance would really be questioned. Look at Peyton Manning as an example. Colts were a good teams, always in contention, for years. He couldn't get over that hump (thanks, in part, to New England). Now that he finally did it, he's the golden child in Indy. McNabb has the same demons to exorcize, but his issue is injury. I'm all for Jeff going to another team and wish him well.

5. Darwin Walker: Hate to see him go, but he basically became expendable with Reagor signed and the chance to snap up TKO.

Here's what I see with notable re-signs and new players:

1. Montae Reagor: I can't say I know who he was on the Colts. He has 162 tackles and 16 sacks in 8 NFL seasons. 2 sacks a season on average? Meh. Also his eye injury isn't thrilling me much. At 6'3 and 280 pounds he needs a few more cheesesteaks in him to crack 300 pounds. We need a fat boy in the middle.

2. Kevin Curtis: Lots of people speculating that he is just as good as Donte' Stallworth, when they look at the stats. I know a few Rams fans who also said they really liked the kid. Considering the Eagles spent $32 million on the guy, I have a strong feeling they did their homework here. For the West Coast offense, I think he will be a good fit. Give me someone who can run crisp routes and have good hands. Just don't give me Na Brown.

3. Takeo Spikes: When he was a free agent 2 years ago, I was hoping the Eagles would try to pick him up. He went to the Bills and had 2 pro-bowl seasons before he injured his achilles in 2005. In 2006 he started off a bust rusty and tweaked his hamstring, missing 4 games. By the end of the season, he was looking very good, but it will be hard to tell how he plays for the Eagles. Personally, i'm cautiously optimistic. I think with Jim Johnson unleashing him on a downhill attack, TKO will be the kind of linebacker that can freak out offenses. I fully expect that Takeo will be replacing Dhani Jones. I expect the starting three to be Trotter, Spikes and Gathier, which I think will be our best linebacking core in the last 5 years.

Ze Draft!

Here's the positions we still need to address for the draft...

1. Secondary: I'd throw a first round pick here. Get me a safety or corner. Why? Well, for one, Dawkins isn't getting any younger. I love Dawk and would clone him to make an army of superheroes for our team, but we can't do that....yet. We seriously need to get depth in our secondary with Lewis and Hood gone. I'd also use a 4th or 5th round pick on a defensive back, too. We should get some compensation picks to use in the 4th round for losing Hood or Lewis.

2. Wide Receiver: Yes, I know we need a WR. This year is a great year for WR, from what the experts say. The problem I have is that it is really a crapshoot with WR. Look at Fast Freddie. Where's he now? I'd spend a 2nd rounder on that position.

3. Linebacker: Sure, we got Takeo. We have McCoy and Gathier in the wings. I still say get another LB, because Trotter is getting long in the teeth, and we will need to address this eventually. If Trotter left tomorrow who would be our linebackers? Takeo, Gathier and...? McCoy? Gathier? Both are questionable, and you gotta have depth there.

4. Quarterback: Sorry, Holcomb doesn't get me that excited. Get a QB in the mix with a later pick.

5. Offensive Line: Worth a mid round pick because Runyan and Thomas are both getting old. I know it sounds like a broken record, but we have a lot of older key players that are an injury away from leaving us with a huge gaping hole. Runyan or Thomas gets injured, i'd slide Andrews out from guard to tackle and plug in Winston Justice as a guard. You are going to want to have depth here, and worth a 4th round pick on this.

6. Running back: Buck is back, but a late draft pick should be set aside for running back. Someone big and quick, used to relieve Buck or for goal line situations. I can see this being used by the 3rd or 4th round.

With a good draft, I think the Eagles are going to be in great shape next year, but there are notable question marks that could make things hard on us. The number one question mark will be McNabb. Personally, since I know a thing about leg injuries, I think its very hard to be 100% before year one. I think when September rolls around, he will be about 85%. He will be able to run on it, but won't be quite as fast. Realistically it won't be until 2008 that he is 100%. Fortunately, he is a QB. Which is good, in my opinion versus being in a position that is so dependant upon speed (like WR or RB). I think he will be able to move around, in the pocket and won't have major issues throwing the ball. Just have to design lots of plays that allow him to quickly dump the ball and avoid getting hit.

Our run defense looks a lot better, and our pass rush is going to be extremely better with The Freak back. Lots of us forget that last season we basically played without our best defensive lineman. Also I expect next season to be a make or break season for Broderick Bunkley. Will he be another McDougle? God I hope not. The kid needs to spend the entire offeseason just working on technique. I think he can be very good if he gets the right training.

With the current off-season moves by the front office, i'm fairly satisfied that the Eagles addressed the LB, WR and DT situation, which gives us depth at key positions that we really needed help at. I'm looking forward to the draft, and just waiting for that first minicamp!!

Congratulations to the Saints.

It was a fun night, even in a loss, and I feel nothing to be ashamed about (I write this as I post pictures of me in an Eagles helmet...). The Eagles played a great game, had some costly penalties that changed the outcome considerably. I'm just amazed at the crowd we got at Mulligan's - the bouncers told me we had 158 Eagle fans and 2 Saints fans. Wow.

I absolutely thought we were going to win that game. I have no real game changing reasons why we lost, I think Reggie Bush did an incredible job and Deuce McAllister simply ran all over us. The defense did the best it could, but certainly we hurt without Lito.

No one expected the Eagles to even get this far. We beat the Cowboys on Christmas Day. We beat the Giants in the playoffs. We put a scare into New Orleans and lost by 3. To me, that just proves that the window ISN'T closing on the Eagles and they, even without McNabb and Jevon Kearse, are a team to be reckoned with.

I uploaded all the pictures from last night. I hope you enjoy them, and hope to see everyone at the bar next season in August for the pre-season 2007 Eagles.

This made me chuckle...

http://www.wmmr.com/upload/eagles_in_new_orleans.mp3

Work Safe. I'm reading the message board on the Eagles site and a few rabid Saints fans are there and posting like they "deserve" to win because of Katrinia. That's silly. Some even wrote how the "refs will be on our side, too" - rather than hoping for a fair game they want the refs to be more sympathetic towards their team and help them win?

Seriously, I don't get people sometimes.

I'm looking forward to Saturday night. Win or lose, i'm really just happy we beat the Giants. I could not have taken an entire off season working and living in Hoboken and having those fans try to rub it in my face. If we lose next week, I still walk away amazed at what a great season our birds have been having. If we win, its another notch in our belt - another Divisional Championship appearance - and that is when I get REALLY excited to be one game away from a Super Bowl.

Right now i'm not thinking Super Bowl. Looking forward to a fun, feisty crowd at Mulligan's on Sunday. From what I was told by my friends, Mulligan's was insane on Sunday. I can't wait to bring my camera and take some pictures of the fans and the bar.

What an incredible season.

Up and downs. Pitfalls and peaks. A stunning comeback of a team reminiscent of 2002, when our Eagles were led by AJ Feeley to the playoffs.

Now the birds have the Giants this weekend, on Sunday at 4:30pm.

Here's my thoughts on that. First, I think the Giants are a dangerous team. I respect many of their players, and think that in many ways the Giants and Eagles are two very similiar teams, on paper. I think the coaching is completely different. Reid isn't a taskmaster, he has a quiet calm about him. I like that a lot. There is only so long that a coach/parent/teacher/commander can yell at a subordinate until it falls on deaf ears.

Aside from that I think this weekend is anybody's guess. In the last two matchups, I think the Eagles have looked good. I think the Giants win in September was a fluke, more based on stupidity by the Eagles than the Giants beating them outright. I think the recent win by the Eagles in December, the game was a close contest. Eagles didn't make as many bone headed mistakes, and shored up a run defense by playing Tiki very tough.

This weekend has to be the same. Box in Tiki. Force Manning to thow the ball and beat our secondary with his arm. I have no doubt that Manning COULD do that. Plaxico is enormous, i'd just practice about 3 different plays to maximize his height advantage against the birds. Get Shockey the ball across the middle about 10 times in the game - I don't understand why he isn't used more. Eagles would have it much more rough if they did this.

Birds just have to play the same ball they have been playing. I see nothing wrong with our offense. They score points on the ground and in the air. Its a good 50/50 mix of football. I'm all for some trick plays, too. One play i'd like to see is the fake FG that the birds did on 10/15/00 against the Cardinals. It is the play where the holder takes the snap on a FG, flips it behind his shoulder to the kicker, who is already running for the first down. Akers did this play before (albeit with Koy Detmer as the placekicker), but it might be too risky for a playoff game. Who knows?

This is a "Devil You Know". We play the Giants twice a year, and anything can happen when division rivals meet. Barring any major injuries this week or during the game, I think we should be able to dismantle the Giants. A good lesson to learn is the game vs the Falcons - with our system of play, our coaching and using our backup players we still beat a first team offense. That's a very good sign of talented depth to a team. Even if someone gets hurt we have players ready to step in and step up.

Prediction this weekend is that you are going to have an angry, loud crowd at the Linc. Manning and company are going to have a very hard time establishing a rythym. Birds should do what they need to do to win and Eagles sail to a victory 31-23.

My buddy Joe asked me this question last week, via the commentary. I didn't answer it and waited for the Eagles to play the Cowboys before I answered.

I can tell you that as a Philly fan, a fan of any team in Philadelphia, that we never expect our teams to win. Joe isn't on my email list, the email list for the Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken, but if he was, he would have heard me say a lot of times: "The Eagles SHOULD win this game". I think I wrote it when we played four teams this season: Houston, 49ers, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.

At the time I felt that they were "winnable" games. The Eagles were playing good football and on both sides of the ball had the better chance to pull out a victory. As you well know, the birds went 2-2 in those matchups and in my humble opinion should have won all 4.

There are other teams and games, that I felt that they were overmatched. Last week against the Giants, I felt that the Giants were going to beat us. I told plenty of people this and didn't go into the game expecting a win. I was fully expecting our run defense to get destroyed by Tiki and Co.

Imagine my surprise when our run defense shut New York down. I was at Mulligans cheering louder than ever before watching our birds rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of a failed season into a soaring bird of an epic story. This week was much of the same. I thought the Giants game was a bit flukey. I thought "Ok, they had one nice game, but this week we will see the "Real Philly Team".

As any Philly fan can tell you, our teams love to rip our hearts out. Give you some hope, give you something to look foward to, a smidgeon of interest, fanning the flames until they smother it down with a swift smack. Sometimes it is with key injuries or with a collapse of whatever offense they were cobbling together, when the poor playing or terrible professionalism rears its ugly head.

It is 8pm on a Monday night and the Eagles soundly trounced the Cowboys on national television, when most pundits were crowing for a Cowboy victory. Me? I had a quiet optimism. Much like I didn't want to be the Jinx of Jinxes, I just kept my mouth shut. Hopeful, but still expecting the Real Philly Team to show up Monday.

I wrote weeks ago that Garcia wasn't going to be the answer at quarterback. Boy, was I wrong. I think it says volumes about the Philadelphia Eagles. McNabb is a good quarterback, but he isn't the reason why the Eagles soar. They have key players on every facet of the offense and defense that step up and make our team look good. Westbrook, Dawkins, Sheppard, Andrews. Now Garcia can add his name to that list because, quite simply, he is playing some great football.

Eagles are in the playoffs. When McNabb went down weeks ago, I was fully expecting another 6-10 season. I was getting text messages from my friends some offering condolences, and some barbed heckles. One friend of mine, who will remain nameless, had a friendly wager with me at the beginning of the season. I said that the Eagles would end up with a better regular season record than the Giants. I felt like Eli stunk, and their team would be 8-8, and I felt that Eagles could beat that. Everyone was healthy and TO was gone.

Once McNabb went down, well, that friend of mine had his way with me. Heckles and taunts via text messaging. Plenty of advice on paying him and how to pay him. I kept my mouth shut. I didn't expect the Eagles to play as well as they did and didn't expect the Giants to implode. I already felt me losing some weight to my pocket.

I guess it is "Merry Christmas" in more ways that one today. I get bragging rights, a win of a wager and the fact our Eagles are headed into the playoffs. If they keep playing the same football they have been playing the last two weeks there is no reason why they can't beat anyone in the NFC. Mark my words - the Eagles are playing the kind of football that takes you to the Super Bowl.

The season isn't over for our birds, but I have to say that last Sunday was such an exciting game to watch. Ups and downs. Turnovers and offensive battles. The bar had a modest crowd of about 40 people at kickoff, and the energy level was amped.

There was even a Giant fan or two in the back bar and I was a bit unhappy about that. A few people emailed me asking if they could bring a Giants fan to the bar, and I suggested they just sit in the front bar, to avoid any problems. I have no personal problem with opposing fans coming to the bar, but do they REALLY need to sit in a crowd of Eagle fans?

I remember at one point I was cheering so much that I got dizzy. Also remember jumping up and down with the crowd that was left by the end of the game (right after the Cole interception for a TD) and got klunked in the head by someone's elbow. It didn't matter I was on cloud 9.

Yesterday at work and online I had a lot of payback. I tried to remain "somewhat" civil about it, but I was absolutely savoring this win. I said at the beginning of the season that, to me, the Giants were an 8-8 team and the Eagles were a 10-6 team. I even put a few friendly wagers to back my words up. I remember when the Giants were 6-2 my roommate Matt laying into me relentlessly about how great the Giants were and crowing over and over. Oh, I was steamed. I told him a simple rule, "Never talk trash until the season is over."

I stuck by my rule. Even with this win, I just felt like it was an early Christmas present. Win or lose next week against the Cowboys, you can't take this win away from us. Hey, if we beat the Cowboys - that's another present. If we make the post-season it is present number three.

With the Eagles who knows what will happen. I am just happy that after McNabb went down that we have responded as true professionals and can win as a team.

I remember when I approached Paul about having the Eagles club at Mulligan's. I told him that i'd probably be able to get about 60-80 people at his bar a week.

Paul was very nice about it and said the number of people didn't matter. He was fine if I brought in 5 or 500, he was happy to host the club.

I went on, telling Paul, that every season, for the last 3 seasons, we had a sharp decline in people coming out to the bars when December hit, for various reasons. Its colder, and people don't like going out to bars in the cold. The holiday season takes it toll on our attendance. So do injuries, and if the team plays poorly.

This season was much like last season. We had 80 people in the bar for the first 5 games, then about 60 in the bar for the next couple, and with a McNabb injury & some bad losses, some people figured that watching the game at home was better than at the bar. To me, the club is more than just watching the football game. It is being social. Meeting new people and cheering or nursing our wounds together.

But I will tell you what. I watched the Carolina game with a handful of fans on Monday night. We sang when the Eagles scored each touchdown, and were jeered by Jets fans and other Eagles haters each time. I kept my mouth shut. By the time the game ended I had only five Eagle fans left in the bar and the haters all were long gone. It could have been the most fun I had watching a game of this season, even with such a small gathering of local fans.

Thom and Kathleen, you two shouldn't have left early!

I hope to see a few people who still believe next Sunday. We got the Redskins to take care of before our big showdown with the Giants. Stay tuned people, we aren't out of this yet.

Of the many things in life I have learned, it is that being a Philadelphia sports fan is all about disappointment.

Yes, we had our years to celebrate...the last celebration I remember was at 11 years old, in 1983.

Otherwise, we seriously have a "lost generation" of fans. Sure, other franchises can point to longer draughts for a championship, like the Chicago Cubs. But i'm talking about an entire generation of fans in a city that has 4 major sports teams and haven't had a reason to cheer in 23 years.

Its always something as the reason why we are "thisclose" to doing well, only to have it ripped out from under us. Should I start listing all the tragedies over the years? Injuries, deaths, strikes, prima donnas and bad fortune boil down to years of angst and disgust.

Bad fortune struck this year, and we lose Donovan McNabb. 3rd time in 5 years we lose our franchise quarterback to injury. Certainly a case can be made for backup quarterbacks who step up when the starter goes down and becomes the next star that takes the team to the next level.

Jeff Garcia isn't that guy.

A.J. Feely was that guy in 2003 and even took an Eagles team to the playoffs when we lost McNabb.

My take is give Jeff Garcia his chance this week against the Colts, and the following week against Carolina. See how he does. If we lose both, switch in A.J. Feely for the rest of the season. We didn't sign Jeff Garcia to hold a clipboard, and he should get 2 games to prove himself.

For me, certainly this really makes the Eagle season a near fatality and the thought of playoffs a sad joke. But the difference between me and other Eagle fans is that i'll still watch my birds, good or bad. I'm not the guy who walks out of the bar in disgust when they play badly. Sure, I won't be happy about it. But for good or bad i'm still proud to be an Eagle fan, if a bit saddened that our starting quarterback is injured until next season.

It's like seeing all those Rutger fans. You know when they are 9-0, EVERYONE was a Rutger fan. They would be walking down the street with their Red shirts, with tags still attached from the Modell's store that they bought it from an hour ago. Where were those fans last year? Or the year before? I heard stories that people at Rutgers could get school credit for attending games when their team was playing poorly. I give props to those Rutger fans who sat in the stadium and watched a bad team play football.

Because i'm that kind of fan, too. For better or worse, i'll keep coming back every year to watch my boys in green and support them when they are up or down.

But, hey, that's just me.

Here are some pics I have taken from Mulligan's bar this year:

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/philly2hoboken/Eagles%202006/.

Thanks for coming out this year and I hope to see you all soon.

This is what I wish I had to report if I had a time travelling machine...

Washington: Lots of Eagle drama on this rainy day. Boo-birds are out in full force. 1st quarter it looks like Clinton Portis is going to kill us, running for 2 TDs and 54 yards. But hold on. Eagles, down 14-3, start to claw back, starting with a bomb to Hank Baskett for a 61 yard TD catch (I think, it was hard to remember but it was nice he was in single coverage) to go into the half 14-10. McNabb and Westy take the lead in the 3rd, and the Eagles don't look back. Final score 14-31.

Eagles are 5-4 and play the Titans.

Tenn: Vince Young is coming along, winning against Houston and squeaking past Jacksonville. They are 4-5 and have a chip on their shoulder. That chip gets knocked the f-out by our bliztes. Vince gets sacked 5 times in the first half alone. Eagles dominate and cruise to a 24-10 victory, with McNabb racking up 300 yards again in the air. Now Eagles are 6-4.

Indy: The Colts are 9-1, after losing to the Pats on Nov 5th, but they beat Buffalo and Dallas. Philly comes to town and they are already ready to get into double digit wins. Petyon uses a great audible mix & run package to destroy us in the first half up 28-0. Its horrible. Eagle fans are booing and during halftime the analysts consider the game over. It could be called the "Game That Changed History" when the birds come out throwing, like they always do. A nice pass interference call on the first play sets up a 30 yard TD run by Westbrook. Next series has the colts out after 6 plays, and the Eagles score again - down 28-14. Peyton tries and aerial attack and gets intercepted by Dawkins who runs for a 39 yard return. Its 21-28 and the mid fourth quarter. Eagles stall a bit but do get 3 points with an Akers 47 yard field goal. 24-28. A fumble recovery on the kickoff and the Eagles feel that momentum change, but can't score again. They get 3. 27-28. Peyton isn't done and rolls down the field for his own 34 yard FG. They get to 27-31. Buckhalter comes up huge. You don't think there is gas in his tank until he rumbles a 43 yard bolt down up the middle, shedding two tackles and stiff arming the strong safety until he is run down by the free safety (he was fast, just not that fast). Eagles are on the 10, there are 46 second on the clock and the Colts are pumped. 1st play is a knocked down pass to LJ Smith. Second play is a Westbrook scamper for 4 yards, with even McNabb trying to block for him. Third play it is 6th and Goal. Buckhalter in. Buckhalter gets the ball, flips it back to McNabb, McNabb rolls out, fakes the pass to the end zone and barrels in for his own TD. The place goes BALLISTIC. Fans screaming and jumping up and down. Time expires off the clock after Akers boots the TD. Eagles are 7-4 and everyone in ESPN-land who wrote off the Eagles are preparing some crow pie.

Carolina: People are talking about an "emotional let down" if the Eagles can't get it together for Carolina. It is a Monday night game, and the hype is HUGE. Carolina has been playing great football the last few weeks beating Tampa, Rams and Washington - off their own bye week they are 7-4 now also. This could be the division decided right here. The game is actually a bore. McNabb and Co don't do very much the first half, scoring 3 points. Carolina scored 6. For all the hype before this game, it was BORING. We get a TD in the late 3rd quarter and hold on to win 10-6. McNabb throws for about 180 yards and 1 TD. Westbrook is held to 36 yards. A lot of 3 and outs on either side and a battle of field position. Oh, interestingly enough we catch, with Pakisatan's help, Osama Bin Laden this night, so a lot of people are happy about that.

Washington: We are 8-4. We go into Redskin country and its a bloodbath. Eagles get the lead early and never look back (which is helpful in stoppin Clinton Portis in being effective). McNabb throws for 400 yards and 5 TDs. Greg Lewis is the man today, with 175 yards and 3 TDs alone. Westbrook has a great day, 121 yards rushing, and 1 TD. Eagles are 9-4 and then comes the greatest game of the season:

New York Giants.

You heard it here first from your future time traveller. This game was awesome. First off, the Giants lost a few games game, but still doing good. Houston (loss), Chicago (loss), Jacksonvile (win), Tennessee (win), Dallas (win) and Carolina (loss). They are 8-5 and comping at the bit to beat the Birds. The game is mayhem. Eagles play a solid game, but the Giants are swarming them. McNabb is sacked 3 times in the 1st quarter. Eagles offense is sputtering. Eli, with thanks to good field positions on those sacks, manages 10 points in the first half. Eagles are blanked. Word has it that from the locker room, Andy Ried took a chair and threw it across the room in anger, which is very unlike him. He has a half-time pep talk out of a Notre Dame movie talking about character, fight the good fight and this is your entire season, blah, blah, blah. The Eagles repond with some good news and bad (sort of). I never like to see players get hurt, but Eli's leg bent very awkward on a sack by Trent Cole. Eli is taken off the field. Sorry Giants fans, he is done for the year. Eagles take advantage of this and win 14-10 in a hard-fought, smash mouth ending.

Merry Christmas! Its Dallas. Ho ho ho. Terrell Owens hosts the Eagles and Romo gives a gift of 0 TDs in the first half. McNabb and company play great, maybe they have some extra pickle juice from 2003. Westbrook has a great day, rushing for 108 yards, catching for 71 and 2 TDs. Buckhalter also is impressive for 76 yards. McNabb is good enough, 256 yards, 1 TD (Westy) and 1 interception return for a TD. Final score 17-7.

Atlanta comes up for the New Year and the Eagles play 8 in the box, forcing Vick to throw and making sure he has no room to run. Falcons have a miserable 7-8 record at this point and are already out of playoff contention. It is a cold, snowy day at the Linc. Hank Baskett and Reggie Brown get 2 TDs each. Westbrook is contained for only 71 yards on 15 carries. We get a scare when McNabb gets a late 2nd quarter hit that he looks like he got his hand stepped on. He appears to be ok, but they put in Garcia just in case. Eagles cruise to a win and finish the season 12-4, winning the NFC East.

Unfortunately the Bears win the conference with a perfect season (16-0).

I was going to write this on Karen's blog, but I figured i'd just post it here for all to see:

As a long suffering fan of another team, The Philadelphia Eagles, I feel your pain for being villified as a fan.

Two very different teams, with two very different reasons for hating, but we still have to bear the burden of rooting for the team we love.

I won't get into a Philadelphia rant here about how a few bad apples make the 99% of the normal fans look like idiots, I will get into a semi-rant about why, I hate the Yankees and don't cry for their fans.

First, I don't hate the Yankee fans. I think your passion is great.

Second, I have no hatred towards the organization itself, I think Steinbrenner is simply doing everything in his power to make your team contenders.

I don't like the baseball system, and no salary cap. Yes, we can go into the adage "You can't buy championships". Once again, it was proven this year by the Yankees.

Yes, we have had seen certain teams rise to win Championships (Marlins, Diamondbacks) - but how many can keep that together with the current system? When a small-market team raises a great player from their farm system, they can never keep those players due to the big payday lure of larger-market teams, like the Yankees.

How can you blame the Marlins for having "cheap" owners? Do you really compare the earning potentional of small market teams to the Yankees? Do you think that in a city like Miami, which has a population of about 1 million people that can even generate the same revenue as New York City? We are talking about millions and millions of fans and the money that they pay to watch their favorite team.

No, I know, it isn't your fault. I know you are going to say "We didn't make the rules!"

But you know why I like football better? Because of the salary cap. My Eagles have done a fantastic job of finding good talent (ok, lets not talk about TO), diamonds in the rough, and cobbling together a couple of "A" players surrounded by a decent amount of "B" players.

I think the same would make baseball a great sport of, instead of one or two powerhouse All-Star teams, you were to spread that talent out amongst the other teams.

Really you have a two tier system in baseball right now. You have certain teams that most years will field a good competitive team that will be in a *position* to make it to the post season.

Again, is that the fault of the Yankees, their fans, or the players?

No.

I think its an extremely poor arguement to use the tired "But when the Yankees come to town ticket sales go up!"

Of course the sales go up. The Yankees basically have an all-star team. From top to bottom, they have an incredible amount of talent. Of course people want to see that, much like people in the world want to see Team USA basketball get knocked off by another country. Much like we savored beating the Soviet Union hockey team in 1980.

It's a classic case of trying to beat the bullies.

Look, I feel for you as a fan, but most Yankee fans don't see the big picture of baseball. To them they just point at dollar signs and attendance when the rest of us simply want a fair system, much like the NFL.

The system works great for the NFL. Players get paid, owners get money, fans get to see bottom barrel teams rise to the top (Bengals, anyone?). If a organization plays their cards right you can find your team in the mix of a playoff race every year, barring major injuries or player squabbles (Eagles). Or you can also be an NFL team that keeps trying to buy championships and failing (Redskins, Raiders).

I'm a Phillies fan. It's been 26 years since we had a championship, so I can't say we are "long suffering". I certainly can't say it's the fault of anyone but the organization for our woes. Fortunately in the last 4 years I do like the direction our team is headed, and being able to identify young talent (Utley, Rollins, Howard) and shedding expensive players of questionable team value to salary ratio (Abreu, Thome).

I have heard the responses plenty of times from my other Yankee fans. The say the same things "It isn't our fault" or "Baseball is making money, why change it?"

Again, not looking at the "big picture" of why fans like myself hate the Yankees. They simply represent everything that is wrong with baseball, from those fans who are continually disappointed with their own teams. One way, in our minds, to fix that would simply be spreading the talent out by creating a salary cap. Seems like it would be fair to everyone, to get the good players on multiple teams, rather than just a few "haves" and many, many "have-nots".

Case in point: Where do you think Zito will be playing next year? My guess is in pinstripes.

This is a must-listen to any Philadelphia fan, absolutely hilarious:

http://www.wmmr.com/upload/jaxon/budlight1.mp3

Thanks to Mel for the email!

I sat down at Mulligan's bar, ready for a good football game on Sunday. We had a decent, crowd of about 40 people at the bar. I didn't expect a tremendous showing since the game was on national TV and a few of our friends would be going to the home game.

In walks an older couple, who look to both be in their 50's. They walk around the bar a bit, and seem a bit out of place. I ask, "Are you Eagle fans?"

The gentleman scrunches up his face and makes a "Psstch" sound, like air blown out of a tire. "Eagles? No way! Giants!"

I jokingly tell him and his girlfriend that they are in the wrong bar, that this is the Eagles bar.

They basically pooh-poohed my suggestion to change bars and they seemed harmless. Of course they sit down at the bar right next to me, and are mostly very nice to everyone around the bar, so i'm thinking its no big deal. They cheer a bit when the Giants do good but also come off as not very knowledgable about the Giants. They know about four players - Shockey, Manning, Barber, and Strahan. They are homers, born and raised in New Jersey. They didn't know much about the Eagles. They asked me about some of the players and we joked a bit with each other during the first half.

They asked me about the Eagles fans and I went to tell them how the football is more than just a game to the fans. Its a sense of identification. Around here people enjoy football, but its not the game for a Philly fan. We love football much like Yankee fans love baseball. Losing a game is not just watching a team lose, but can sour the mood for most fans for days. Winning a game can be like a natural high. Compound that with living in Hoboken and working in New York City - any time we play any New York team we really want to win. They are interested about what I have to say, we talk a bit more and one Eagle fan remarked next to me, "They seem nice enough." I reply back, "Yea, that's because we are winning the game."

The bar is having a great time for the better part of the game. The Eagles looking great, we are cheering with every score, and doing our normal chanting and singing. Its the Eagles bar, I explain to the Giants fans, we come here as an oasis from the other bars in town. We celebrate in our victories and console in our losses.

The fourth quarter arrives and the game slowly starts to change. Our once dominate team looks like a deer caught in headlights. My once quiet Giant fans become rambunctions and loud. I can feel my blood start to boil, and i'm just watching the game get from bad to worse. I listen to their comments next to me, and its simply irritating. If I wanted to be next to Giant fans I could choose about 57 other bars in Hoboken. I get enough grief listening to every co-worker come up to me with a jab about Eagles football during the week.

The game goes into overtime and the couple next to me are drunk and happy with glee. The fans in the bar are subdued, but not quiet. We can feel another monumental collapse coming. When you are a Philly fan, you can see these things coming. Someone commented to me in overtime that I looked like I was angry. Hell yes, I was angry. Not only was my team losing, but I have to sit next to two Giant fans for the entire game.

The game ends with the Giants beating the Eagles in overtime, after coming back from 21 points down. The Giant fans are cheering, clapping and making obnoxious hoots and hollers. It was only the two of them. The other assorted 40 people are Eagle fans. The Eagles fans are quiet and saying their goodbyes to each other and the two Giants fans still continue clapping and high fiving - for a long enough period of time that it starts to go from them being happy to them being obnoxious. I had few drinks in me by the end of the game, and simply couldn't stand listening to it anymore. I turn to them and say, "OK, you had your fun, now get the fuck out of the bar."

They both are wide eyed with shock and their jaws drop open in mute surprise.

I can't say this was my finest moment, but I was upset not only for me, but also for the other Eagle fans who had to listen to these two nimrods.

I continue my rant with the vitriol of anyone who sat in the 700 Level, "This is an Eagles bar. You wanna watch the Giants game? Go to another fucking bar. You got your win, congrats, just don't sit here and rub it in our faces. Everyone here are Eagle fans, I told you that when you sat down and still wanted to watch the game here.", I gestured to everyone around the room, "You had to watch the game HERE. You couldn't go to the room on the other side of the bar or another bar in town. No, you HAD to watch it amongst the Eagle fans and when you won - you had to whoop it up and make us all feel lousy even after we feel bad enough for losing the game."

The woman shot back, "Oh, you are just a sore loser."

I reply, "Nah, that's not it. I take my wins and leave it at that. There is a fine line between good natured heckling and rubbing it in someone's face. You are simply throwing salt on our wound and enjoying it."

She countered, "The rest of you were clapping and cheering earlier, when the Giants were losing, how is this different?"

I replied, "This is the EAGLES BAR. I told you that when you sat down. Everyone here is an Eagles fan except for you two. We come to one bar for that reason, it is a haven from the rest of the rude and obnoxious Giant fans."

The manager of the bar, Jim, who was bartending, and incidently a Jets fan, was watching this had come around before I started my tirade. He approached us both and put his hand on her shoulder, saying that he agreed with me. He said that he also felt that they crossed the line from cheering to making the people there feel bad over the loss. I'm guessing that Mulligan's may have some experience in passionate fans having to nurse a loss amongst opposing fans. I thanked Jim and ended my conversation with the two Giant fans, turning my attention to saying good-bye to friends and watching the closing interviews on the TV.

I'm not proud about what I said to them, I might have been a bit rougher in the wake of the loss. But I do write, warts and all, what happened. I know that some people are going to read this and not understand how someone can get so upset "over just a game". I think the only people who could understand are people from Philadelphia or true Boston Red Sox fans. It was a bitter, ugly defeat. It's not like we are talking about a loss to the Bengals. It was the Giants. At Philadelphia. After a game where for the first 3 quarters we looked like a Super Bowl team. The Eagles sacked Eli Manning 8 times. I was already looking foward to going to work for that week. It was going to be great to read perrenial nay-sayers about the Eagles, like Cris Collinsworth and Deion Sanders, have to praise our Birds. I could already see us being 4-0 and headed to the Dallas game with a chip on our shoulder.

Now we are 1-1. Could we afford losing? Sure. I don't know if we could afford such a disasterous loss, however. It was a demoralizing defeat, but also a good lesson learned. When you have your foot on the enemy's throat, you have got to put him away.

Another lesson learned?

Never watch the game with strangers who are opposing fans again.

New Eagles team.

New Eagles bar.

New and old Eagles fans.

Week 1 was both nervewracking and exciting, with the anticpation of so many things for me. Some of my thoughts about the Eagles: How will the Eagles respond without T.O.? Will Andy Reid shake off the losses of last season with an opening victory? How will McNabb look after his surgery? Will Buckhalter be healthy to make a difference?

I also had some misgivings about my Eagles club. Will people show up to the first game at the new bar? Will everything go smoothly? Will everyone be happy?

I can say that my fears were allayed by halftime, when it appeared that everything was moving along just fine, both with the Eagles team and our club here in Hoboken. I did an informal head-count during halftime and I counted 70 fans on our side of the bar. I was especially happy with this because it was a locally televised game, and I know some people would stay home rather than go to a bar to watch the game. Next time we do a group picture I will make sure we make an announcement a bit louder to get people who were on the other side of the bar into the picture, too.

Paul, Jim and Sara at Mulligan's were extremely accomodating to us, and a special thanks to them for their hard work.

Also a big thanks to Steve Galletta, the sales representative of Anheuser-Busch, who connected us with Mulligan's. We had the Bud-Light girls on hand this weekend giving out two footballs in a raffle to the Eagles fans at the bar. Remember that every Eagle game, Mulligan's has buckets of Bud Light beer, 4 for $10, and drafts of Bud Light for $2, pitchers of Bud Light for $9, along with other specials for our fans.

I hope to see everyone next weekend, when it is Giants vs Eagles. It was great to see some old faces and meet some new people this weekend. If I don't know you, please don't be a stranger and come up and say hello.

You can see all the photos here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ya2ohxq.2z0dfs3a&x=0&y=nbaqv7

Oh, I spoke to Paul. He expects to have more seating in the forthcoming weeks.

I have off from work tomorrow and off all next week. Posting might be very light.

Meeting the owner of Mulligan's tonight to talk about food and drink specials at the bar. We spoke over the phone yesterday and he was very excited about getting The Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken for next season. He already had people coming up to him saying, "I heard that the Eagles Club is going to be here next year". He was shocked how quickly word got around Hoboken.

I hope to have a nice draft special and a buffalo wings special (since they are near and dear to my heart). I will keep everyone informed.

First Eagles meeting is in 10 days on Sept 10th at 1pm! Like I have been warning people for the last 2 years: Get there early if you want a seat (I'd recommend 45 minutes early). Last year, at Dipper's, we had 90 people in the bar for Week 1. I have no idea how many people will come this year (I have about 200 people on the email list). If we have 20 people or 100 people, it doesn't matter. Just be ready to sing "Fly Eagles Fly" with every touchdown.

You will find me there, wearing my Westbrook Villanova Jersey. Gotta represent my alma mater and The Main Line.

If you haven't gotten the email from me it means you aren't on my email list anymore (I deleted it by accident and had to rebuild it!). So email me at philly2hoboken@gmail.com to get back on the list!

If you didn't get the email - this year we were fortunate enough to have Mulligan's Bar host the Eagles Club for 2006.

I liked my rotating bar idea, but this was too good to turn down. Mulligan's has a back bar area with 6 flat screen TVs, a full bar, plenty of seating, a nice boxy layout, kitchen and the volume will be at full tilt. I spoke to the manager, Jim, and he says there will be beer and food specials for the Eagle fans.

In a perfect world, i'd love a bar in midtown like this, but sadly, I couldn't get any of the midtown bars to commit to having us for the season. I think this is the best solution out there, and I look forward to seeing everyone this year.

Here is the Eagles Schedule, I hope to see everyone on Sept 10th!

2006 Schedule / Results
-----------------------
Sep 10 - at Houston, 1:00 PM
Sep 17 - vs. NY Giants, 1:00 PM
Sep 24 - at San Francisco, 4:15 PM
Oct 2 - vs. Green Bay, 8:30 PM
Oct 8 - vs. Dallas, 4:15 PM
Oct 15 - at New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Oct 22 - at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Oct 29 - vs. Jacksonville, 1:00 PM
Nov 7 - Open
Nov 12 - vs. Washington, 1:00 PM
Nov 19 - vs. Tennessee, 1:00 PM
Nov 26 - at Indianapolis, 1:00 PM
Dec 4 - vs. Carolina, 8:30 PM
Dec 10 - at Washington, 1:00 PM
Dec 17 - at NY Giants, 1:00 PM
Dec 25 - at Dallas, 5:00 PM
Dec 31 - vs. Atlanta, 1:00 PM

Mulligans Irish pub
Address - 159 1st St, Hoboken, New Jersey ( NJ ) 07030-3543
Telephone - (201) 876-4101

I have been working on the schedule for the last two days.

I have been keeping in mind the Giants games, Jets games and "special" Eagles games when crafting it. Added some new bars to my list (Nine, for example) who really want the Eagles club to stop at their bar on a Sunday.

I'm mostly done the list, just need to get the approval from a few more bar owners to make sure they are ok with this, but everyone I spoke to seemed really enthusiatic about us stopping by for one Sunday. Its sort of like having relatives come visit: "Sure come on down! Just don't stay more than 3 days!"

I updated the list here (and on the entry from Monday). Again, its not official, but at least you can get an idea what i'm thinking. Only 4 bars we visit more than once.

Sep 10 - at Houston, 1:00 PM (Farside)
Sep 17 - vs. NY Giants, 1:00 PM (Black Bear)
Sep 24 - at San Francisco, 4:15 PM (10th and Willow)
Oct 2 - vs. Green Bay, 8:30 PM (MNF - Mikie Squared)
Oct 8 - vs. Dallas, 4:15 PM (Scotland Yard)
Oct 15 - at New Orleans, 1:00 PM (Nine)
Oct 22 - at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM (Liberty Bar)
Oct 29 - vs. Jacksonville, 1:00 PM (Willie McBrides)
Nov 7 - Open
Nov 12 - vs. Washington, 1:00 PM (McMahon's Brownstone)
Nov 19 - vs. Tennessee, 1:00 PM (Trinity)
Nov 26 - at Indianapolis, 1:00 PM (Scotland Yard)
Dec 4 - vs. Carolina, 8:30 PM (MNF - Mikie Squared)
Dec 10 - at Washington, 1:00 PM (10th and Willow)
Dec 17 - at NY Giants, 1:00 PM (Farside)
Dec 25 - at Dallas, 5:00 PM (No meeting - Merry Christmas!)
Dec 31 - vs. Atlanta, 1:00 PM (No meeting - Happy New Year!)

philly2hoboken@gmail.comSaturday night at the bar was somewhat good night. One nice woman came into the bar and asked if I was "Phil". I looked at her quizzically, repeating "Phil?", and she said "You know, the website!". I told her, no, "It's FUREY. Not Phil."

I think she was trying to say PHILL (Like in Philadelphia), but forgot the important "EEEEE" at the end. If she said that I would have immediately known what she was talking about. Her name was Judy and she runs a Hoboken blog at http://www.judymarcianos.blogspot.com/

Later, a nice girl who I was a longtime reader and I have been emailing with came into the bar with a friend. It was our first meeting face to face and it was very nice to meet her.

Then, i'm talking to a blonde and a brunette and I start riffing about my entry "What Your Drink Says About You In Hoboken". The very cute brunette says, "That's funny, someone wrote something similar on hobokeni.com." She gestures to the blonde, "I emailed that to her!"

I smiled, "I wrote that."

Surprise from both, ego boosting from me.

Then I got talking to Mike, the owners of Mikie's Squared, about the Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken.

Let's back up, shall we?

For those of you new to reading, I decided 2 years ago to start a Philadelphia Eagles Club. It was inspired by the Pittsburgh Steelers Club, who were running out of Liberty Bar (and moved to Texas Arizona). I'm all about Philly. The people. The food. The quirks. The sports. So I wanted to get those people who were like me - born and raised around the greater Philadelphia area, who were Eagles fans and wanted to meet similar people and cheer together in a bar.

A friend of mine who worked at McMahon's Brownstone suggested that I bring the club to her bar and that Francis, the owner, would be happy to get some extra business. It was a great success, we found some new fans and the following year moved to Dipper's bar at 616 Washington. McMahon's was great, I loved the bartenders and Francis. But deep down I wanted a more central location for everyone in Hoboken, more seating and food. Dipper's fit the bill, except that little did I realize how popular the club was going to be.

Week 1 at Dipper's we had 90 Eagle fans in the bar. Dipper's has a capacity of about 70, so the place was PACKED. Last year's regulars would come up to me, angry, that there were so many people in the bar and that they couldn't sit down! I guess you can't make everybody happy.

This year I tried to talk Mike into hosting the Eagles club. Sadly, after much talking on the subject, he couldn't see the bar hosting the Eagles club. I understood his reasons. First, any bar that gets our club immediately alienates their "regulars". If you didn't get the memo - we are in the heart of Jets and Giants country. As much as Mike and Cindy want to make money, they don't want to shut out other sports fans from watching the game. Giants and Jets fans will want to watch their game, and not be surrounded by a bar packed with only Eagles fans each week.

Also, Mike is a die hard Giants fan. Big time.

Think about it. If I owned a bar in Center City and someone with the Giants Club of Philadelphia approached me - what would I say if they wanted to have their club come to your bar each week? I think the answer would be "no".

Then there is Scotland Yard, or "The Yard". The owner, Ned, emailed me last week. We had a nice email chat about me bringing the Eagles Club to The Yard. He is a HUGE Eagles fan - he goes every home game at The Linc. His bar is an Eagles bar. He very much would like to have everyone that I have gathered over the last two years to come to his bar and watch the game each week.

I went to The Yard late last week and looked it over. I mulled his consideration.

Then yesterday I had a revelation. During Saturday night's conversation with Mike he actually made some great points about running his business that applied to the Eagles Club. It was about being flexible, and catering to the wants and desires of your patrons. Would Mike like our club to come to his bar? Absolutely. Does he want the bar to be the home base for, "The Philadelphia Eagles Club of Hoboken". No.

It seemed to be the same echo that I got from a lot of other bar owners (well, except Ned). They certainly would love to get 45-90 people into their bar for a game, but aren't so psyched about having that many Eagle fans into their bar every single week.

My idea?

I went to a bunch of bars on Sunday. I told them I run the Eagles Club. I said that twice during the NFL season we would like to come to your bar and would you host us?

So far Mikie's, Liberty Bar, 10th and Willow have agreed. I'm sure The Yard will be happy to see us. I am going to approach Black Bear, McMahon's, Rogo's, Farside, Willie McBrides, Moran's and Texas Arizona also, i'm fairly sure they will be acceptable to having the Eagles Club for one or two Sundays next season.

It would be something similar to this, this isn't official!!!:

Sep 10 - at Houston, 1:00 PM (Farside)
Sep 17 - vs. NY Giants, 1:00 PM (Black Bear)
Sep 24 - at San Francisco, 4:15 PM (10th and Willow)
Oct 2 - vs. Green Bay, 8:30 PM (MNF - Mikie Squared)
Oct 8 - vs. Dallas, 4:15 PM (Scotland Yard)
Oct 15 - at New Orleans, 1:00 PM (Nine)
Oct 22 - at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM (Liberty Bar)
Oct 29 - vs. Jacksonville, 1:00 PM (Willie McBrides)
Nov 7 - Open
Nov 12 - vs. Washington, 1:00 PM (McMahon's Brownstone)
Nov 19 - vs. Tennessee, 1:00 PM (Trinity)
Nov 26 - at Indianapolis, 1:00 PM (Scotland Yard)
Dec 4 - vs. Carolina, 8:30 PM (MNF - Mikie Squared)
Dec 10 - at Washington, 1:00 PM (10th and Willow)
Dec 17 - at NY Giants, 1:00 PM (Farside)
Dec 25 - at Dallas, 5:00 PM (No meeting - Merry Christmas!)
Dec 31 - vs. Atlanta, 1:00 PM (No meeting - Happy New Year!)

Thoughts?

The is *one* downside. I can't guarantee that each week that the bar will put the sound on for us each game. But maybe if 45-90 Eagle fans all show up, they will hook us up that week.

Also - maybe some of you are in good with a certain bar. If you know the owners and think they would be interested, have them email me. I have no problem changing the schedule to fit in new bars.

Lasty - keep checking the website each week. I will put the schedule on a link and add it to the side of the page. You can just check each Monday to see if the schedule has changed. If you have buddies who need to get on my email list - send me an email at philly2hoboken@gmail.com

Only a few weeks ago I wrote about how I would want my ashes spread on Lincoln Financial Field, and someone decided to steal my idea!

PHILADELPHIA Nov 29, 2005 — A man arrested for running onto the field during the Philadelphia Eagles' game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday told police he was spreading his late mother's ashes.

Christopher Noteboom, of Tempe, Ariz., ran onto the field holding a plastic bag, leaving a cloud of fine powder behind.

As he reached the 30-yard line, he dropped to his knees, made the sign of the cross and lay down on his stomach. Security personnel reached him moments later and he offered no resistance as he was escorted from the field.

The 33-year-old Noteboom, a native of Doylestown, said his mother died of emphysema in January 2005, shortly before the Eagles' Super Bowl appearance.

"She never cared for any other team except the Eagles," Noteboom told WPVI-TV after he was released from custody Monday. "I know that the last handful of ashes I had are laying on the field, and will never be taken away. She'll always be part of Lincoln Financial Field and of the Eagles."

Noteboom, a bar owner in Arizona, was charged with defiant trespass. He has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 27.

"It's bizarre, but we have a zero tolerance for people who run on the field," Police Inspector William Colarulo said. "We especially have a zero tolerance for people who run onto the field and dump an unknown substance in a stadium full of people."

Eagles spokeswoman Bonnie Grant said the team has declined requests to spread ashes on the field.

If I had to do this, I wouldn't do it while a game was being played - i'd just get a job at the Linc doing some menial job, like janitoral services or working in the food court. First night on the job, walk down to the field, spread the ashes and then quit the next day. No fuss, and no lawsuit.

Of course, we won last weeks game - maybe we should do this every week to get another victory?

From Super Bowl contenders to playoff pretenders, our Eagles are having a terrible season. Why?

I think there is a fine line between our 4-6 record and being 6-4 right now. Here are what I see as the Eagles problems, and I don't know if this season it can be fixed:

1) Special Teams - I think I wrote about this weeks ago, and our special teams have been killing us most games. Against the Giants, the blocked punt is beyond terrible, how many times do you snap a ball low? Come on.

2) Derrick Burgess - think we miss him much? I do. Corey Simon - think we could have used fat boy now? Our defensive line just isn't getting pressure on the QBs like they used to. I think Mike Patterson is a bit green, and didn't live up to the pre-season hype. Kearse is just above average, and not the factor that he was hyped up to be. Losing Jerome McDougle certainly didn't help.

3) Don't blame this on TO, wrote Rich Hofmann in the Philadelphia Daily News: "You want to pin this on Terrell Owens, go ahead. But unless Jeremiah Trotter was searching for T.O. in the middle of traffic when Tiki Barber cut back for a 55-yard run that set up a Giants field goal, Owens had nothing to do with it. T.O. had nothing to do with the pass interference in the end zone that set up another score, on a play in which a referee's flag and hat joined Michael Lewis' jock in the laundry pile on the field. And unless Sheldon Brown was distracted by visions of Owens dancing in his head when Plaxico Burress ran by him for the final TD, well, you get the idea." Defense wins championships.

4) McNabb. I don't think the team lives and dies by one player, but having Koy or Mike at QB certainly is a different team versus having McNabb. I still like what I see from McMahon, but it may be until 2 games from now that the guy gets into a better rhythm with his center on how to snap the ball. But I still don't place too much blame on McMahon - he scored 17 points against a very good defense.

I said it before, I know we are a better team than 4-6, but unfortunately the door is nearly closed on us this season. I expect to win 5 of the next 6. I would like to end this season on a high note, with some wins, even if we miss the playoffs.

But football is a crazy sport. Who knows what will happen to Dallas and the Giants in the coming weeks?

Football is a funny game sometimes. And if by saying 'funny' I mean 'drives me insane' then you get what i'm saying.

It is hard to write a post where your team looks excellent for about, oh, 56 minutes. It is holding the other teams offensive challenges and doing a decent job on offense. In the 4th quarter, up 13 points and only 4 minutes left, the Gods of football would say that you have a pretty good chance to win. Heck, they even flashed a stat up on the screen "Eagles have won 36 consecutive games when leading by 10+ points in the 4th quarter - the longest streak in the NFL!"

Dallas, the bane of the Eagles existence, decided to add just another reason for Eagles fans to hate them after this Monday Night loss. What was poised to be a rejuvenated team, a phoenix rising from the ashes of the firey citadel of Rosenhaus & Owens, get a rude awakening to the current state of the NFC East:

You are no longer the big kids on the block.

Hats off to Dallas, because they won with a fairly incredible comeback. Much like the Redskins/Dallas MNF football game on Sept 20th, the visitor team was just close enough to rally for a win.

What does it mean for Eagles country? First off, we need Dallas to continue to do well, in the regular season, and win the NFC East. Yep, I just wrote that. I know most of you want to see the entire Dallas team die in a plane crash, but hear me out.

Right now at 4-5, with 7 games left, I just don't see the birds winning 7 in a row. Here would be my non-baised prediction on the upcoming games, if McNabb's newest groin injury doesn't sideline him:
Nov 20 - at NY Giants - loss.
Nov 27 - vs. Green Bay - win.
Dec 5 - vs. Seattle - loss.
Dec 11 - vs. NY Giants - win.
Dec 18 - at St. Louis - win.
Dec 24 - at Arizona - win.
Jan 1 - vs. Washington - win.

I think we are going to win 5 of the next 7 and end up 9-7 now.

I think the Giants can go 2-5 absolutely lose the following games:
Seattle, Dallas, Philly, KC, Washington

Here is the kicker. Lets say we sweep the Giants & my other predictions hold true. They go 1-6, which, if you look at who they are playing, is entirely possible.

We end up 10-6.

Now how about those pesky Redskins? With 7 games left, they are playing so haphazard it will be hard to predict what they will do in any game. San Diego, Dallas & Philly could be losses. Oakland, St. Louis and Arizona are probable wins, but who knows? Hope they beat Giants. If the Redskins win 4 of the next 7, they end up 9-6.

What's my point? Losing to Dallas certainly hurts, not only from a personal hatred standpoint, but also from a playoff picture. If the Eagles can put this loss behind them and win at least 5 of the next 7, along with the Redskins and Giants having troubles, we aren't doomed yet.

A longshot? Yes. Probable? No. Possible? Absolutely.

"Fly Eagles Fly, on the road to victoryyyyyyyyy!", sang two patrons off key at the bar. "Hey Eeeeeagles fan? How about T.O.?", they mocked.

The two patrons were bar regulars, one wearing a Yankee cap, and the other shorter and unshaven. Both were obviously drinking all day. I was fiddling with the lights, trying to darken the bar, before my shift started at the bar on Saturday night. It reminded me like schoolchildren at Richboro Elementary playground in 3rd grade. I felt my blood boil a bit and I was more than happy to set the record straight, like I have been doing all week.

"Hey, I think most Eagles fans were fooled by the act from last year.", I began, "We thought that San Fran was a unique case and he got a fair deal with us. It wasn't until Rosenhaus showed up that Owens turned into an asshole."

The drunken Yankee fan, with bleary eyes said, "You all loved him, saying he was the key to a Super Bowl! Now you homers are saying how you don't need him anymore! I hate you Philly fans!"

"I said it before, I think he is the most talented wide receiver in the NFL. I loved him as a player, and hoped he was just in a bad situation in San Francisco. The Eagles did get to 4 NFC Championships and 1 Super Bowl without him. We were just wrong about the guy, he proved he has the maturity of a twelve year old. What can I say?", I stated.

"Philly fans are so two-faced! What do you think of McNabb? Great or good?", he grunted.

"I think he is good, but not great. He isn't Marino or Young quality yet. He has two key problems: One is time management, and second is his 'touch' when passing. Over his career, McNabb has always used timeouts at the wrong time in a game or can't run the 2-minute offense effectively. As for his touch, I think he has a rifle for an arm, but never learned a consistent touch on the ball, either overthrowing or underthrowing passes.", I analyzed.

"Dude, you should have your own TV show!", the other scruffy drunk guy exclaimed.

"Hey, I may be an Eagles fan, but i'm not a homer. I know what is wrong with my team. Plus lets talk about some New York issues.", I started my offensive on them.

"First, before you start with your gay-T.O. tirade on me. Let's talk about a player on the YANKEES named A-Rod? Remember him?"

"Yea? So?", said the one with the Yankees cap.

"Hmmmmm. Let's go back to oh...I don't know...when he was going to sign with Boston...", I started.

The Yankee fan shifted uncomfortably and rolled his eyes.

"Why yes...that was a good week of trash talking I heard from New York fans about how much A-Rod sucked. How he wasn't going to help Boston. How overrated he was. Then look what happens when New York signs him, hmmmm? Everyone is running down Madison Avenue and sprinkling rose petals to welcome their new hero to the team. So don't talk to me about two f