We are die hard Eagles fans, we Foxes. Before we caught on that even non-drinkers could watch the game at a bar, we listened on the computer. Before that we scrounged as best we could.
Being an Eagles fan is an exercise in self flagellation. They have found nearly every way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
After losing last year’s Super Bowl they proceeded to self destruct in the off season.
Superstar Terrell Owens started sniping at superstar quarterback about the same time the ref shot off the gun ending the game. Had the gun contained more than blanks, who knows what would have happened.
Owens also protested his superstar contract. It didn’t pay enough.
Then there were injuries and unhappy talk from other players. No one was well. No one was happy. It was the Eagles as only a true fan knows them.
I started as an Eagles fan through a strange quirk. A friend had tickets. That first game was played in the sun, on a warm late summer’s day. An American flag covered the entire length of the field as I walked in and gazed down at The Vet.
It would be like prejudging airline service based on airline ads. I started attending games anyway.
By the time that first season ended on an amazingly cold December day, the Eagles had managed to go 4 – 10¹. I was hooked.
Tonight is the first game of the new season and the Eagles are playing in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football. As I type, they are down 7-14. The league’s most accurate kicker has missed two so far.
Hey, the night’s young.
Before the game began a scuffle broke out on the field. Forty five minutes before the game began, a ref threw a flag! Jeremiah Trotter of the Eagles was disqualified.
The Atlanta Falcons drew first blood. They flowed down the field like water into New Orleans. They were a torrent. Before long they did it again.
This is not to say the Eagles aren’t playing too. They scored a touchdown and missed those two aforementioned field goals.
The game is young. There’s still a full half to go. The Eagles could turn it around and win big… or get blown out.
Meanwhile, at home, Helaine has a game plan going. The next few sentences are based on my 20+ years experience with her.
She turned on the set, but kept the volume low. Then, after the Falcons scored, she turned it off entirely. At the moment, it is Helaine in the darkened house, the flickering TV dimly lighting the room – but no sound.
I would call her, but… Well, I value our relationship too much too call now. She is in pre-mourning, if you will. Even if the Eagles win she will have spent the entire evening knowing they would lose.
Hey, that’s what real Eagles fandom is all about.
¹ – Back then the season was mercifully 14 games.