Living and Dying With the Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are on Monday Night Football tonight. If you’re not a fan, let me make an analogy. Monday Night is to football as Carnegie Hall is to music. It is a showcase venue with no other games competing. All the fans, all the other players, are watching.

As Eagles fans, this game is especially important for Helaine and me.

OK – I’ll admit it. My wife is the bigger fan than I am. She’s been a fan longer and is more knowledgeable. And she lives and dies with the team.

Right now the Eagles are ahead – though I know she’s sitting there at home worrying about everything the Eagles can possibly do wrong. If the Vikings go ahead, she’ll turn the volume on the TV down and watch without listening.

If the Eagles win, tomorrow she’ll read every sports story, listen to every radio show, even stay up tonight for the post-game interviews on ESPN. If they lose, she’ll be incommunicado.

The shame of it all is no matter how the season ends, unless they win the Super Bowl, it will be a disappointment.

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football

Even though tonight is Thursday, it marked the first installment of Monday Night Football.

It is probably ABC’s most consistently popular program. Unfortunately, it ends so late that most people have long since gone to bed. To make matters worse, a few years ago, ABC added an extra segment, with commercials, after the game, which extends it another 5-10 minutes.

In a fair and just world, Monday Night Football would start at 8:00 PM, a more civilized time. But, there would be no early local news on the West Coast, and that seems to be the stumbling block.

O.K. – I know – This is all very selfish on my part, since I have to stay until 35 minutes after Monday night Football ends. So, sue me.

Tonight, to open the season, ABC ran a musical special at 8:00 PM. With it, we established again that Britney Spears, as adorable as she is, can’t sing, nor can she dance, nor can she even lip synch with conviction.

Did I mention she’s adorable?