Lockout Ends

But now what?

Before we bust out the champagne, cupcakes, and 8-foot inflatable LeSean McCoys for the lawn, remember a few things:

• The players' union has to reform and approve the deal. Now, that's likely, but it's not guaranteed.
• Free agency is about to take place, in about 10 minutes. It's going to be a mess.
• Rookies will need to be signed, also in about 10 minutes. And there are new rules for their contracts. Also likely a mess.
• The salary cap has been lowered. That's going to mean trouble for some teams.
• The Hall of Fame game has already been canceled. Who knows what's going to happen with the rest of the pre-season. 
• The teams have to get ready for the full season in 6 weeks. As the WaPo pointed out this morning, the teams that are in particular trouble include those with rookie QBs, those that plan to pick up a lot of free agents, and those that rely heavily on a passing game and timing routes. That's definitely our Eagles on at least that last count, and possibly on the free agent issue too. As Bleeding Green Nation has pointed out more than once, the Eagles front office has at least been making noise about having a big free agency push this year. Guess we'll know soon.

In short, I'm not yet convinced that all will be well for the 2011 season, but I am at least now fairly hopeful that there will BE a 2011 season.

Read More

Tick...Tick...Tick

Well, the owners and the players are meeting - again - to try to work out their differences. Meanwhile, training camps are scheduled to open mid-month (and given that everyone missed all the mini camps, they're going to need every minute of prep time), and the pre-season opening Hall of Fame game is supposed to go down one month from today.

Time's running out, y'all. I don't think we want a repeat of the 1987 season, not least of which because the Redskins won the Super Bowl that year, and if the Skins win a Super Bowl under their current front office before my beloved Eagles win their FIRST EVER, I will seriously go postal.

So, sports fans, who do you think will blink first?

Read More

Trade Rumors

I don't usually post about these because it's mostly just a waste of time, but there are two I can't ignore:

1. It's looking like Kevin Kolb might be headed to the Cardinals - I KNEW it!
2. Plax might be coming to the Eagles. Are they trying to corner the market on ex-cons? Of course it's all "if the price is right" talk. The Eagles don't need receivers, but ever since they dumped Hank Baskett, they don't really have anyone good for end zone fade routes, since all their excellent receivers are four feet tall. As long as they can get him for used DVDs of the Waterboy and The Longest Yard, plus two packs of smokes, I figure why not take a chance?

Read More

Welcome to the Eagles, Danny Watkins

I don't usually write much about the draft. I don't follow college ball, so I generally don't have anything original to say. I could recap scouting notes and combine results, but why would I add myself as a middleman? Waste of time.

But last night I saw something truly unexpected: the Eagles took a 26 year old ex-fireman and ex-hockey player who's only played football for about 5 years with their #1 pick.

Reasons why I'm not freaking out this morning:

• Andy Reid picked up someone to protect Mike Vick's blindside. Thank God, because Max Jean-Gilles wasn't getting it done.
• Danny may be 26, but he's regular 26 not football 26 thanks to his relatively short career to date.
• I quote Fellow Eagles Maniac: "Love this quote about Watkins: 'Watkins is a mature, physical player with a nasty disposition.'" That'll work.
• How fun was watching his fire fighter posse go nuts when he was picked?

Yes, I know we still need a CB opposite Asante Samuel. Yes, I know Jimmy Smith was still on the board when we picked. You think after the T.O. mess Big Red will EVER voluntarily take a hot mess player again? Because I don't. I figure Andy's got a plan that involves Kevin Kolb and a team that needs a QB like the Raiders or the Cardinals.


In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the presser at 4 today.

Read More

My First Day as an Eagle...

And I'm already on IR.

This past Sunday, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and I went to the Philadelphia Eagles Academy for Women at the NovaCare Complex.

Let me get the "IR" part of the story out of the way immediately.

Part of the day included on the field time in the bubble. I managed to severely strain my left calf about 10 minutes into it. After which I texted Chef Spouse: "My first day as an Eagle, and I'm already on IR."

The day opened with registration of what I would estimate to be 250-300 attendees. Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and I were assigned to Team Maclin. Sadly, that did not mean that we spent the day with Jeremy Maclin.

A team rep welcomed us to the day in the auditorium of the NovaCare Complex, then introduced Kevin Reilly, former Eagle, cancer survivor and motivational speaker. He told a little of his life story, an old but funny joke about a parrot, and basically siked us up with "never underestimate the power of the human spirit." Little did I know how useful that tip would come later in the day.

Then it was Team Maclin's turn in the practice bubble. We did some warm ups, during which I did the damage to the leg, then met rookie Austin Howard. He was really sweet and called everyone "ma'am" and was the biggest human being I'd ever actually stood next to. He seriously could comfortably rest a drink on my head, and I'm not that short.

We moved on to a little 3 on 3. Team reps were on defense and at QB, and we were supposed to be going out to catch passes. Which Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom did, for a TD! I found that, while I couldn't really run forward, I could go backwards, so I played a little D, too.

Then it was on to passing, the obstacle course, and receiving drills. Oh, I still did the rest of the on-field activities. Eagles are tough, and we play injured. You know who else did all the on-field activities? Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom. I'm not going to tattle on her age here, but my first significant football memory was when Dick Vermeil came to Philly. That was 1976, I was 5 and she's my mom, so you do the math.

Then it was time to hit the cafeteria for lunch, followed by touring the complex and classroom time.

Chef Spouse was a little worried about the concept of the classroom time going into the day. He was all: "If they're like, 'This is a football. Now, you get FOUR tries to go TEN yards or you have to give the ball to the other team...' you're going to bust a cap in somebody's ass." He needn't have worried. The Eagles know their fans, and they know that even the ladies don't screw around.

We started with a tour of the training room and the locker room (where I noticed that David Akers' locker was completely cleaned out, not a good sign), then had a sit-down with special teams coach Bobby April where he broke down how they set up punt coverage. My one complaint with all the classroom sessions was that there wasn't enough time for Q&A. I really wanted to ask Coach April how he was able to take Sav Rocca from one of the most inconsistent punters in the league to one of the best in just two seasons, and what his take is on whether or not David Akers will be back next year (that one, he probably wouldn't have answered), but there wasn't time.

Then it was through the workout room, where I got that great photo of the weights above, and on to defense with former defensive tackle Darwin Walker.  He walked us through film, talking through how the defensive line sets up to blitz and stop the run. Favorite Darwin Walker comment? "I would give it everything out there. I would pretty much die out there."

After that, Tra Thomas, the guy who protected Big 5's blindside for a decade, walked us through film on how the offensive line sets up big runs or big-time protection to give the receivers time to go long. Favorite Tra Thomas comment? In response to my question about his best memory as an Eagle: "The day I was drafted. I didn't want to go anywhere else."

We wrapped the classroom portion of the day back in the auditorium, with Merrill Reese talking about everything that goes into calling the play-by-play (it's a lot more than you might think). It's good to know that in the heat of a play, Merrill sometimes has as much trouble as I do determining whether the guy with the ball is DeSean or Jeremy Maclin. An 8 and a 0 can look a lot alike, and neither of them is very big.

And then on to the gift bags, which included a BIG blowup of DJax scoring at the Miracle at the New Meadowlands, with Tom Coughlin throwing his clipboard to the turf in the background. Good times.

Check out my photos from the day on Flickr.

Oh, and if your mom or sister or wife or girlfriend or daughter or whoever loves the Eagles? Send her to this event next year.

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

Read More

Final Thoughts on the 2010 Season

It's now two weeks post-Super Bowl, three post-Pro Bowl (Not that I watched the Pro Bowl. The only thing that would induce me to sit through the Pro Bowl is if I were actually Hawaii. Which is a thought. But I digress...) - seems like a good time to reflect on the Eagles season that was. Particularly since everyone else seems to be, too.

To me, the major story is that our Eagles totally outperformed. I was not alone in expecting them to go 6-10 or 7-9. They fooled us all and went 10-6 on their way to the playoffs, which they proceeded to exit in the first round, and let's hope this is not a new trend, but at least it was to eventual Super Bowl winners the Green Bay Packers.

Another big story: the emergence of Michael Vick as a complete QB. African-American quarterbacks hate the "he's a great athlete, but..." stereotype, and justly so, but Vick really was just a gifted athlete when he was in Atlanta (if one can even use the term "just" in regards to his athletic gifts). It took the Eagles coaching, culture, and the team around him, plus the maturity to understand what he nearly threw away due to his illegal actions, to help him develop into the work ethic and the skills to begin realizing his potential.

Much like Steelers Transplant has a type (blonde, skinny, neurotic), Andy Reid clearly also has a type in QBs: Superman. Fortunately, he also seems exceptionally good at recognizing these guys when they come along, or at least constructing them out of the available materials. (And what would unassembled Superman parts look like, anyway?)

McNabb took the Eagles to playoffs his first year as a full time starter. So did Vick. Let's see if he can continue to follow in Big 5's footsteps, with some NFC Championship games, and maybe another Super Bowl. Only I hope it doesn't take another four years to get there, because I'm not sure Vick's going to make it another four years with the risks he takes.

Another should've been a big story: LeSean McCoy. He seriously is Brian Westbrook 2.0, new and improved and ready to make some noise. He also seems like a really nice guy, just like West36.

I'm not going to weigh in on coaching situation too much, since I really don't have the necessary knowledge, other than to observe that Andy Reid cleaned house on the defensive coaching side, which he's never done in 12 years. He's more about "nurture the little birdies until they can fly:" Harbaugh, Chilly, Spags, Ron Rivera, and I'm sure I'm missing some. Of course, Big Red is still doing that pace Juan Castillo, but apparently, he decided Sean McDermott had had enough time and wasn't going to turn into JJ2. Ever.

This move, to me, also says Andy thinks the time to win is now. Of course, in order for that to happen, the Eagles need a secondary that can cover and a red zone defense that, you know, exists.

Finally, a word about the collective bargaining agreement. An 18 game season is BS. The 16 game season is already a war of attrition - look at what happened to the Packers this year. Yeah, they overcame, but that shouldn't be taken as a sign that it's OK, but rather that they were exceptional this year.

And I happen to think the owners make enough money. And aren't at risk of their career ending at any moment. But that's just me.

Read More

Goes Together Like...

Beer and watching sports!

Sports fan who lives outside your team's media market? Frequent traveler?

There's a new site for you - BarChannels.

So far they only cover NYC, but they're working on expanding to other cities.

So Eagles fans who don't live in Philly, where do you go to watch our boys play? BarChannels wants to know.

And eventually, they'll be able to help you find where to bleed green from anywhere.

Read More