What happened to our city? What happened to our fan base? Have we gone soft? Are we no longer men (and really, really awesome women?)
The Eagles just went 7-9 for the second straight year, missing the playoffs for the third straight year. President Obama may have coined the term “Wentz Wagon,” but the Eagles didn’t win a single playoff game the whole time he was president.
Sure, the Eagles beat the Cowboys on Sunday. But then they announced that Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman would both return -- and they also kicked the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane out of the press box. This, which is bound to go down as the greatest crime against press freedom in America in 2017, totally overshadowed the win, to the point where we couldn’t even take joy in Chip Kelly getting fired again.
Why are we okay with this? Why aren’t there riots in the streets? Since when does this town accept losing, mediocrity and multiple injuries to long snappers in the same game? Or the time the NBC broadcast paused for five minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter of an Eagles win to tell the snowballs/Santa Claus story one more time?
Why hasn’t the city risen up in anger? What would Buddy say?
Sure, there are things to look forward to. We have two franchise cornerstones on offense, in Carson Wentz and Paul Turner. Barring a third suspension for life, Lane Johnson will be back. They’re supposedly bringing back DeSean Jackson. They’ll have Jon Dorenbos, the only Eagle with proven magical abilities, back for the full season And for the first time ever, we get to boo the Eagles’ draft picks right here in Philly.
But do you trust Doug Pederson with this team’s future, and believe he’s the best coach for this team going forward? I know I don’t. Especially not with not one, but BOTH of Buddy’s sons available.
Other Philly sports takes:
- Sure, they lost the Rose Bowl but Penn State football is still vindicated, redeemed and healed. The scandal is over, and the past is at last behind us. But make no mistake: If Joe were still coaching, they’d have won.
- Congrats to Brian Dawkins on becoming a Hall of Fame finalist, although one can’t help but think there should be a separate induction ceremony -- and a special Hall of Fame -- just for him. Dawk is too great for regular Canton.
- So glad to know that Mike Trout is committed to frequently attending Eagles games, acting like a true fan in the crowd, and even going hunting with Eagles players. That, and $400 million, will get him to sign with the Phillies in three years. But how come Carson Wentz didn’t get him to commit to a Phils move on their hunting trip? He had him at gunpoint!
- Other than the Iverson Night -- which the Sixers really need to come up with an excuse to have every year -- the highlight of the Sixers’ season so far was when the team tried to start Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor together, and the floor of the arena literally rose up in protest to prevent the game from happening. I just hope the Wells Fargo Center floor holds up for real important events, like Wing Bowl.
- Speaking of which, I’m loving Marc Farzetta’s Wing Bowl promos, which vow that Wing Bowl is the one day of the year to operate with no filter, to say, do and drink whatever you want, and not be concerned with manners, political correctness, drunkenness, gluttony or public indecency. This is true one day a year only, and definitely not every Friday night.
- Farewell to Bernard Hopkins, who fought for the last time last month. I’m going to miss his fights, but I’m going to miss his mean-spirited shots at Donovan McNabb even more.
- We learned that Brandon Brooks’ bouts of vomiting on game days were the result of a legitimately diagnosed medical condition. So what was Donovan’s excuse?
And finally:
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