Three Strikes and I'm Out...
By: TJ Moos (1-19-2004)
Here I sit for the third year in a row on a Monday morning in mid January wondering what happened. Wondering what could have been. Wondering, it is ever going to happen? Making 3 straight NFC Championship games, including 2 at home, is no small task. Losing 3 straight NFC Championship games, including 2 at home, is a much bigger task. In fact it was such a big task that no one has ever done it before in the history of the NFL, that was until yesterday. Three straight championship games and 0 championships, and 0 Superbowl appearances. Three years ago when the Eagles were 52 yards away from beating the St. Louis Rams to go to the Superbowl and someone told me that they would go to the NFC Championship game the next 2 years and they would play that game at home both years, I would have been my reservations for San Diego and Houston right then and there. Well, as it turned out, I did have reservations for San Diego last year, and I did have reservations for Houston this year. I don't think I have to tell anyone the obvious, both me and the Eagles didn't make it to either place.
Which brings me to my point.... 3 strikes, and I am out. I am, as of now, renouncing my status as a diehard Eagle fan, and proclaiming myself a causal Eagles/football fan. Do not fret as I will continue to be a season ticket holder and attend every home game, along with our now infamous tailgates. I will continue to wear my Eagles winter coat, mostly because it is my warmest coat that I own, and you will probably see me in an Eagles T-shirt or sweatshirt, and I will still dress my 18 month old son in his Eagle gear. However I will do this all as a causal fan, and no longer wear my Eagle heart on my sleeve. I know what everyone is thinking, if I am going to renounce my diehard status after the team is down, I must have not been a true fan to begin with. That is where you are wrong. I have said it before and I will say it again, I have invested a lot of time, energy, passion, and money into this team, and what have I received in return? Lets go over a few of the things the Eagles have given back to me and the rest of the Eagle fans. First on the list has to be the SBL. Jeff Lurie's goal is to squeeze every dime out of the fan that he can. In case you are not convinced, check out the 4th and 26 T-shirt for sale on the Eagles website. If that is not a blatant attempt to "cash in" I do not know what is. Also the fact that they let team leaders and fan favorites just walk away. Then yesterday, in perhaps the boldest statement that Mr. Lurie could make, he closed off an entire parking lot that fans had been using for the last 2 plus years and decided to use that lot for his California buddies. Next lets talk about Mr. Personality, Andy Reid. Andy is one of the most smug individuals in sports today. Now that the Eagles are done for the year, maybe he can go and hang out with his "smug buddies" Martz, and Sherman. Why does he have a press conference? Any lackey in that organization can read the injury list at a press conference. I think Andy should record his first press conference of the year, and then each week just place a cardboard cut out of himself at the podium, and just press play on the tape recorder. Would anyone know the difference? Hey Andy, do you still think that the receivers are good enough and that we do not need a true number 1? I believe that your quote in the beginning of the year was "whoever has a problem with the receivers should call Dr. Phil and get over it." I sure hope that today you are looking for his number, because if you still think that we are going to get to the next level with Thrash and Pinkston then you have bigger problems and a bigger ego then anyone could have possibly imagined. Next lets look at the players themselves. I have always given the players the benefit of the doubt. However the past 2 years have made me look at them differently. Last years loss to Tampa Bay was devastating to everyone. After that loss I got the feeling that the players lost touch with the fans a little bit and went into this season wanting to bounce back and win the big game for themselves. Every time a player was interviewed, all they would say is that they want to win for the guys in the locker room because they know that not everyone will be here next year. They never mentioned that the fans and the city deserve a championship. Also after they started off slow this year, the distance between the players and fans got much, much wider. In fact it was well known that the players used the "it's us against them" mentality as the season wore on. Then after the latest disappointment I watched the players being interviewed and hear Ike Reese saying that they wanted to win so bad for each other, and, pay attention this is my point "not for anyone else." I could not believe what I was hearing. "Not for anyone else." Then I hear Todd Pinkston say that he came into the game and was "not focused and lacked enthusiasm." WHAT THE F IS THAT?!?!?! The biggest game of your life and you are not focused and you were lacking enthusiasm? How is that supposed to help him or his team gain support, and understanding from the fans? To me that is nothing but a slap in the face. It was pretty obvious that he lacked focus since both him and I had the same amount of catches yesterday. If you are counting, that would be ZERO. The bottom line is that everyone from the front office to the players do not care about the fans. They say it all the time, it is a business. Well, at my place of business if I said I lacked focus and enthusiasm, I may be looking for a new job.
The bottom line is sports are a business, and the higher the salaries go, and the more luxury boxes that are built, the more the owners and players will be separated from the fans. Maybe some day things will change and sports will not be as much a business and will return to what they were meant to be....a game..
The time's MINE...
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