Many thanks to the good folks at RedLasso for passing me the link to the pre-game segment on ESPN which detailed Eagles safety Brian Dawkins’ borderline embarrassing fanboy obsession with the Marvel Comics character Wolverine.

Did I say borderline embarrassing? I meant to say completely and unambiguously bizarre. Click the video below if you don’t believe it. It’s one thing to play make-believe during a live NFL game (in which Dawk likes to pretend he’s a superhero); it’s quite another to have a separate stall in the team locker room for your dolls. Still, since it’s Dawk, we’ll all pretend it isn’t actually that bad.

(Read the rest of this story.)

Seriously, guys? Now we’re talking about imaginary Super Bowls from alternate universes?

For reasons that are entirely beyond me (and I’m sure beyond EmbattledEaglesCoach Andy Reid), half of his starting secondary (I’m shocked they didn’t get Michael Lewis on a conference call from San Francisco) has begun speculating to reporters that the Patriots might have cheated in Super Bowl XXXIX. Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins both offered the sort of quotes that reporters can transform into headlines like “Opinions on Pats’ tactics mixed among holdovers from Eagles’ NFC title team.” Of course, given that it’s Philly, half the city probably believes this now as well.

(Read the rest of this story.)

Ask and ye shall receive!

Windows Live Search (you guys all use Windows Live Search, right?) did me right in my quest for details on the Eagles connections to the Church of Latter Day Saints. I was going to just leave this gem in my del.icio.us eagles links, but the level of detail in here merited a full post. It’s this killer piece from the BYU alumni magazine from the summer of 2005 detailing all the connections that BYU has forged with the Birds (”BYU East” according to the article). It’s definitely worth a read, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight a couple passages:

(Read the rest of this story.)

And so it came to pass that EmbattledEaglesCoach Andy Reid, whose sons have recently fallen victim to wickedness and whose football team has recently fallen victim to being terrible at catching punts, has turned to the LDS Church for help in this time of need.

The Birds announced Tuesday that they had signed former Eagle Reno Mahe to handle the kick and punt return duties in the wake of Sunday’s game-changing muffs at Green Bay. They cut J.R. Reed to make space for Mahe, which is kind of a bummer since (1) I always had a soft spot for Reed and (2) there are now only 3 safeties on the roster. Greg Lewis survives. Comma. For now.

Mahe is pretty unremarkable as a return guy, but at least he catches the ball. And if there’s one thing that we know Andy Reid likes to turn to in times of need, it’s Mormons who can catch the ball (see also Curtis, Kevin and Lewis, Chad).

(Read the rest of this story.)

I’m actually pretty impressed by how easily I took yesterday’s COMPLETELY CRAPTASTIC AND SLOPPY LOSS to the Packers. I was really looking forward to Week 1, and it couldn’t have been more disappointing: my favorite team didn’t play well, and the game wasn’t really any fun to watch. And that isn’t because both defenses outplayed both offenses — good defense can be fun to watch when it’s hard-earned. But this was just sloppy up and down.

Still, I feel like the Eagles have been pretty blessed over the years w/r/t the Packers, and that eventually even luck reverts to the mean. Imagine the scenario if you’re a Packers fan: (Read the rest of this story.)

Just minutes before the Birds kick off the 2007 season, I can’t help but remember an early-season game ten years ago, also at Lambeau Field, when the Birds beat the then-highly favored Packers 10-9. I can distinctly remember listening to the end of that game on the radio in the driveway of a buddy’s off-campus house. Ten years later, I live with that same guy in an extremely off-campus house (in Seattle, to be precise). Crazy how things go around and come around.

Anyhoo, while I’m cautiously optimistic that the Eagles will win this afternoon (score prediction below), one can’t help but be nervous ahead of the First Real Game Of The Season.

Sure, we think we know who can play and how they’ll perform, but until it’s Actual Football, you never really know. And it doesn’t help that the Eagles have traditionally struggled in Week One.

Thus shall I lay out the items that will cause me to shout the television this afternoon (in no particular order):

(Read the rest of this story.)

The short answer is that I think the Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl.

(I say this every year, and you can check my old blog if you’re not convinced. I say, put it in writing, wager on it, etc etc. I’m — unfortunately — something of a true believer w/r/t the Eagles’ Super Bowl chances each year since, oh, about the age of fifteen.)

But if you really want my slightly less partial opinion, (Read the rest of this story.)

Of all the Eagles coaches, players, and staffers who do press conferences, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is consistently the most, ahem, candid. That is, he seems to be the only guy at the NovaCare complex who’ll dare suggest that everything isn’t going swimmingly with the Birds. Maybe it’s because he’s one of the senior guys on staff (”I’m a grizzled veteran coach — don’t tell me what I can and can’t say to the freakin press”), but he definitely gets a little more leeway in his media sessions.

This all makes his comments from yesterday’s press conference all the more troubling.

(Read the rest of this story.)

Let us all rejoice: real NFL football is back and ready to sign.

Despite the fact that the season premier episode features Peyton Freakin’ Manning and the freshly annointed America’s Team (who hath inspired us all, no doubt!), I’m still in a very good mood about the return of actual football, in all its glorious forms! Welcome back fantasy football, gambling, HDTV viewing! We missed you so!

Anyhoo, I shall now shamelessly recycle a posting from two years ago to express my glee in re: the return of football. The game started about five minutes ago and the guy that I drafted first (#3 overall) in one of my imaginary football leagues got hurt on the game’s first offensive play. That means I’ve already had my first official “shouting at the television” moment. Super duper!

Link:
The Return of My Favorite TV Show, Interactive Product, and Live Event

I really had no idea that Shawn Andrews would become the breakout media star of training camp.

With a string of space cadet quotes (we might even suggest that they are Randall-esque!), Andrews has already established himself to be a go-to player for enterprising blathermonkeys looking for a goofy/ semi-controversial quote. Just weeks after declaring that his visit to a doctor in re: his ankle had been a real “tear-jerker,” today he declared himself to be in good health and insisted that his earlier, ahem, more emotional comments had been part of some sort of cunning ruse designed to deceive the assembled blathemonkeys:

(Read the rest of this story.)