Tag: Philadelphia Eagles

Two Point Conversion – Good Idea

I drove home for dinner as Helaine was watching the Tampa Bay – Washington football game. It’s good to have a wife who loves sports and is an adamant Philadelphia Eagles fan.

My enemy’s enemy is my friend. Go Tampa Bay.

With under two minutes to go, Tampa Bay scored a touchdown, leaving them down by a point. A kick (aka: PAT) from the two yard line would tie the game. A 2-point conversion would put them ahead.

John Gruden, Tampa Bay’s coach, elected to go for the two point conversion. He literally put the game on the line at that point, because if the attempt failed, Washington would certainly run out the clock.

Listening in the car, I heard Gruden’s choice second guessed. Coming home, I heard the same thing from my wife. The proper play is to kick the safe PAT and hope for the best in overtime.

I disagree.

First, you have to assume the PAT is a gimme. Last year, all season, Lawrence Tynes of Kansas City missed two – and he still had a 96.7% success rate! No one else missed more than one. So, by going for the two point play, you’re taking a ‘sure’ tie off the board.

On the other hand, if you tie, there’s no guarantee you’re going to get the ball back. Even if you do, will you ever have an easier place to score from that the two yard line?

Yes, you’re giving up a tie – seldom the final result. What you are doing is securing the chance to win right there. I like that idea. Just having the opportunity to score and probably win is more than you’re guaranteed in overtime and more than many unhappy teams get.

Today, Gruden was successful. If the play would have failed (the refs did review it), he would have been a major goat… but he still would have done the right thing.

Football Season Ends

The Eagles lost another one last night, falling to the Washington Redskins. The Eagles are now dead last in their division.

One of the Eagles’ problems was the missing Terrell Owens. Owens has been the team’s biggest star and biggest problem child, all at once.

He has criticized his fellow players and coaches and, it seems, taken a swing at a former player who is considered the team’s “ambassador.” Now he has been suspended.

Good going Terrell.

From The Associated Press: This was the second time Owens has been suspended during his controversial 10-year career. In 2000, he was suspended one game by San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci following his infamous touchdown celebrations on the Dallas Cowboys’ famed star logo at the center of Texas Stadium.

Owens clashed with management this summer and earned a one-week exile from training camp after a heated dispute with Reid that followed a shouting match with offensive coordinator Brad Childress.

As a kid I thought my sports heroes were heroes in real life as well. It’s not so. I was innocent. Players like Terrell Owens just go to reinforce that realization.

Owens is now suspended and it’s doubtful he’ll ever play for the Eagles again. He’ll probably find another team sometime soon.

The real shame is, I’m not sure he’s capable of being happy. I’ve known people like that… worked with people like that. It’s no fun. They become their own worst enemy. There’s no doubt that description applies to Owens.

Meanwhile. as an Eagles fan, the season seems to have ended early.

Eagles – Helaine’s Got The Sound Down By Now

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 – 10&#185. 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.

&#185 – Back then the season was mercifully 14 games.

The Weird Donovan McNabb Rumor

After the Super Bowl, I sad the McNabb I saw was not the McNabb I had watched all season. Something was different – and it wasn’t something forced by the Pats.

Now there’s this:

The Associated Press

Updated: 7:32 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2005

PHILADELPHIA – Donovan McNabb was so ill in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl that a Philadelphia Eagles teammate called one play in the huddle, center Hank Fraley told a TV station.

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I Really Don’t Want To Talk About It Now

The Super Bowl is over. The Eagles lost. It is sad for the Fox family.

We sat together through most of the game. When things got somewhat out of control in the 4th quarter, Helaine went upstairs to watch by herself with the sound turned down. We all got back together after the Eagles brought it within three points. It was too late.

I’m sure I’ll have something to say later. Right now, I’m going to try and concentrate on happier things… like watching a lecture in my thermodynamics course.

It’s Almost Super Bowl Time

I’ll admit it. For the first time ever, the Super Bowl has really gotten me. It is driving me nuts. I had trouble getting to sleep because I was thinking, and worrying, about it and the Eagles.

It will be a shame to have come this far without getting a win. But nearly everyone says a win for the Eagles is out of the question.

Of course for die hard fans, hope springs eternal. We see all the good, none of the bad.

Six thirty can’t come soon enough. I don’t want any more ‘pre.’ I want it to happen. I want it to be over. I want to be able to celebrate.

Eagles Get To Go To Jacksonville

If I wouldn’t have seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons today, and will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. This was a very convincing win.

Helaine and I sat in the family room to watch the game. We were more than a little pleased to be joined by Stefanie. I’m not going to call her a football fan, because she’d deny it on principle, but she’s getting awfully close.

The Eagles looked great from the the first series. On defense, they kept Michael Vick – a quarterback known for his athleticism and mobility, immobile.

I’m not going to write more about the game, because if you’re a football fan you already know. If you’re not a fan, you don’t care.

Two things do need addressing. Earlier last week, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (who wears his hair tightly braided) showed up with it totally ‘free.’ I commented on the air, it looked like Oscar Gamble’s. Luckily, thanks to the net, Oscar Gamble photos are available.

Then there’s Eagles tight end Chad Lewis. As a Mormon, Lewis performed missionary work in China. So, of course, he learned to speak the Mandarin dialect of Chinese.

Last year when the Super Bowl was broadcast in China, he worked the telecast as the color commentator, in Chinese. This year he’ll be busy on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Eagles Win Ugly

The Eagles played the Washington Redskins in this week’s Sunday night matchup. ESPN isn’t ABC, and Sunday night isn’t Monday night. In other words this is less special nationwide, but critical for us, a family of Eagles fans.

It started terribly as the Redskins returned the opening kickoff most of the way down the field and then quickly scored. Then, amazingly, the Eagles returned the favor, scoring seconds later on their first possession. It looked like this would be a wide open shout out.

Bad guess on my part.

Helaine, who scours the Internet for anything good about the Eagles or bad about their opponent, knew there was bad blood between these two teams after Philadelphia had been accused of running up the score the first time they met. Some rumors said the Redskins would play dirty.

Bad guess on her part.

What we ended up watching was an ugly game. Donovan McNabb, one of the top few quarterbacks in the league looked awful. He drilled he ball to the carpet and gave up a critical interception. Terrell Owens, the Eagles trash talking wide receiver, fumbled the ball trying to stretch out a play within spitting distance of the end zone.

I like the ESPN announcers, but by halftime they were starting to sound like ‘homers’ rooting for the Redskins. I find that annoying. At least I did tonight.

The game had heartbreak written all over it. I knew it was bad because Helaine turned down the sound on the TV. Though the Eagles led, the Redskins continued to threaten until an interception in the final seconds locked it up.

The final score: Eagles 17 – Washington 14. It could have easily been the reverse.

The Eagles are now 12-1, much better than anyone could have imagined or asked for. Tonight they were referred to as the only true Super Bowl contender in the NFC. Yet this game only went to reinforce our worry that one off night, one blown play, could end it all.

Watching The Eagles At A Bar

I don’t drink alcohol. OK, that’s not entirely correct. Once or twice a year I’ll get a Bailey’s Irish Cream (aka chocolate milk with booze) at a casino. When the waitress asks, “straight or rocks,” I won’t remember how I had it the last time or if I have a preference.

Helaine is right up there with me. If it were for the two of us, bars and the spirits industry in general would cease to exist. On the other hand, we’re fairly non-judgmental about this. We don’t mind if other people drink and have served alcohol in our home.

All this is leading to the fact that Helaine and I spent a good part of the afternoon at a local bar watching the Philadelphia Eagles humiliate the Green Bay Packers. For Eagles fans, this was a wonderful game. Our biggest concern was the coach leaving quarterback Donovan McNabb in too long, possibly subjecting him to injury.&#185.

I’m not sure I had ever gone to a bar just to watch a football game. It was actually a lot of fun.

We went to Eli’s on Whitney, a bar and restaurant that also does catering. The bar itself is rectangular with the bartenders in the middle. On the outer walls are about a dozen TV sets. Inside, above the bartenders heads, are another 10 sets.

Each TV was tuned to a satellite feed of a game. Since there were fewer games than sets, many had the same game on.

We came in around 4:00 o’clock. The place was crowded with fans still watching the early games as the late shift moved in. A large proportion of the people there were wearing jerseys, sweatshirts or other team attire. Helaine and I were wearing Eagles sweatshirts.

Through the course of the afternoon we had appetizers, (soft) drinks and dessert. The tab came to about $30 and I gave our waitress a 35% tip based on both her good service and the long time we were there.

It is not like watching at home. On the other hand, it wasn’t bad at all. I enjoyed it, especially when it became obvious there were many more Philadelphia than Green Bay fans. There were cheers for each good Philly play – meaning a lot of cheers today.

As the season winds down, more and more games will be on free local TV, meaning there will be less reason to watch at Eli’s. If the opportunity presented itself again, I’d go in a second.

&#185 – If you know Rush Limbaugh, would you please tell him an apology to McNabb for what he said last season is way overdue. There’s just no arguing with the numbers and Limbaugh must see that by now.

An Afternoon With The Eagles

For the third consecutive week the Philadelphia Eagles were featured on local television. That meant Helaine and I were glued to the TV.

Wow! They beat the Detroit Lions, and it was never close.

I don’t want to put some sort of curse on the team, but maybe this is the year? Of course as a real Eagles fan, my fear is the unknown. Who will get injured? Who will under perform? Will some competing coach figure out what makes the Eagles tick and turn the season around?

Next week, foolishly, local TV will carry the New York Giants game. We’ll listen to the radio broadcast over the computer.

Until the final gun sounds for the Super Bowl we will walk on eggshells waiting for the disappointment that’s become an Eagles tradition.

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.

Philadelphia Eagles

Please, don’t talk to me about this loss. Devastating.

Go Eagles

Last night was Monday Night Football and the Eagles versus Miami, in Miami. Helaine is actually the bigger football fan in the family, but we’re both Eagles fans. Years ago, I was a season ticket holder – a distinction I wear as some sort of badge of honor. I sat through an Eagles 4-10 season!

I think we’re both a little worried, because the Eagles have played so well. As an Eagles fan, and I’m sure this applies to most teams, you’re always waiting for that boneheaded move that squanders it all. Yet, that hasn’t happened.

The Eagles started the season losers. Donovan McNabb, the quarterback, was ineffective as a passer and non existent as a rusher. And then, the team jelled. All of a sudden, they could do no wrong.

Tonight’s victory against the Dolphins is sweet, but I’ll swear we’re being set up for disappointment somewhere farther down the road. That’s the Eagles fan in me talking.

At The Eagles Game in Spirit Only

I am not writing this from Lincoln Financial Field. I did not take Amtrak to Philadelphia. I assume my friend Barry is sitting home and not at the game either.

It’s a real shame, because I wanted to go to the game. But, it was not to be. Even though the snow stopped overnight, there was no reasonable expectation that my train would be able to hold to its schedule. It would originate in Springfield, MA and then move south through Hartford before getting to New Haven’s Union Station.

The Eagles game is the glamor game in the NFL today. The Eagles and Cowboys are both contenders. A win by the Eagles assures them a playoff spot with 3 more to play. An Eagle loss would give them both the same record, but put Dallas ahead by virtue of 2 head-to-head wins.

Here in Connecticut, the game wasn’t shown on TV. Instead, we got the Giants and Redskins. Even parents of players on those teams wanted the Eagles game!

Helaine and I sat and listened to the game on the PC. Three weeks ago, I subscribed to the NFL audio package, and it’s pretty good. Our feed is from WYSP with Merrill Reese (who I worked with 23 years ago) and Mike Quick.

All the commercials are removed, leaving dead air. Believe it or not, you miss the commercials. The silence spoils the flow of the game. Actually, the commercial pauses hurts the game at the stadium too.

Happily, the Eagles won big… big enough that I’ve already heard two sportscasters on two separate networks call it a rout.

Barry has invited me. again, two weeks from today. It’s tough to resist.

The Eagles Win

Playing in black uniforms (Helaine says its to maximize their merchandising income) the Philadelphia Eagles put on a football clinic, decimating the Giants.

If a quarterback has looked more in control than Donovan McNabb, I haven’t seen it.

Extremely impressive.