I must've watched a different game on Sunday...

Though I know very little about football (which is arguably far more dangerous than knowing nothing at all), I nonetheless feel fully entitled to rant and rave as a battered Eagles fan. Sure, my husband is all too quick to point out that I’ve only experienced the ‘good days’ but I can argue back that these are far from being ‘good’ – I guess it’s all relative. I see little ‘good’ in a winning record that comes with consistent mediocrity and lack of passion or commitment to what can be the ONLY goal at this point – a superbowl title. A team which is committed, from the person at the very top all the way down (to Reno Mahe) – that is a team I respect. A team can only be ‘good’ if it acknowledges that this is a serious profession and thus should treat it as one -- I have never been allowed half the flexibility or tolerance for mistakes, idiocy, lack of interest, you name it, on any of my jobs, while on a meager salary mind you, than the allowance we afford our head couch *shudder*, managers *convulse, convulse, convulse* and very often our players. I have so far sat through two 8-hour Saturday classes listening to my professor go off about Leadership – of all the points a 16-hour lecture can cover, I still have not found one that is represented by the Eagles coach or management – unless ‘presence’ is one, but in our head coach’s case it is not due to his personality but rather due to his girth. But alas, I digress.

Does anyone else find it troubling that the *only* way this team seems to care about playing some half-way decent football is when it’s at the verge of being mentally abandoned by all its fans, and/or completely ridiculed by everyone else? I truly believe that had there not been so much controversy last week (both thanks to those oh-so-thought-provoking remarks from our ‘leader’ McNabb and thanks to the sheer embarrassment of the MNF game), we would’ve come out to see a very different (albeit still very yellow) football game Sunday afternoon. How can this team not be able to find motivation in the sheer game itself? It can only mean that the team has no real goals – other than to be ‘good enough’ to (just) make it to the playoffs and thus make an extra dollar for the management.

Btw – speaking of Sunday’s game, I’m still not all that impressed with it. We were playing the Lions for crying out loud. Sure, they were 2-0 coming in but then again the Packers are 3-0 and we all remember their complete inability to score against us on opening day – and not because we were demonstrating any sort of defensive excellence 3 Sundays ago. Did we not notice the complete lack of effectiveness of our secondary? Sure, it is plagued with injuries, but the fact remains that we are completely unable to control an aggressive passing game. Yes, our D-line did stop the run – I’ll give them that, but we were playing the Lions after all. And yes, our O-line did great as well, but other than Shaun Rogers, I’m not sure we can talk of an exceptionally strong D-line on Detroit’s side. And I’m still not convinced that Curtis can get open against a decent corner – which might not be surprising given that he is accustomed to practicing against our own secondary (and I am becoming more and more a believer that even a post-knee-surgery rehab patient can outrun James).

Next Sunday is looming ahead and we’re coming off a ‘huge’ game – we thus have nothing to prove and no reason to try. I wonder if the players share the amount of animosity the fans do against the giants – if so, that would provide a glimpse of hope that we’re not going to embarrass ourselves on national TV. Then again, maybe all Eagles fans should take a conscious mental and psychological hit this season and hope for a horrendous season, if that means that we will FINALLY see some change – new coach, new mentality, and, dare I say this, new QB – at least one with some leadership skills because our current one sure never had, nor has he shown signs of ever developing any. Then again, I can’t help but being a horrendous hypocrite because I will always stand and cheer our Philadelphia Eagles on, through rain or shine.