You’ve got to hand it to the Birds for the PR efforts on the Lito thing. At the same time that the local papers are covering it from all angles like an affair of state (”I like they way they surround a story”), Eagles management are playing it straight, assuring us that Lito IS A PART OF THIS FOOTBALL TEAM.
Of course, let it never be said that the Birds are not responsive to the needs of their customers! Note well that there are no fewer than four (4) photos of Asante Samuel and Lito Sheppard together (three with just the two of them, the other with Dawkins third-wheeling it in the corner of the frame) in the Mini-Camp album on the Eagles site. Never mind that neither appears with Sheldon Brown in any of the photos, or really with any other player at all except for Dawkins. Nope. Nothing to see here, folks.
In the context of the Buzz Bissinger-versus-the-InterWeb freakout, let me send a big Yo Whaddup to the good folks over at Eagletarian, the Daily News‘ new Eagles blog. I know that we unpaid amateur journalists, ensconced as we are in our jammies in our many parents’ many basements, do tend to sully the otherwise pristine waters of PROFESSIONAL SPORTS JOURNALISM, especially in Philadelphia. So I can’t tell you how flattered we are to have you pretend to join our ranks!
In all fairness, I’ve actually enjoyed the first couple weeks of Eagletarian (and even have the positive comments to prove it!). What with the actual access that these guys have to players, coaches, scouts, other members of the MSM (in Philly as well as in other cities), giving them a forum to publish shorter stories with a bit more niche/ nerd appeal (that is, stories for the freaks for whom no level of detail is too minute) is an actual great addition to the overall portfolio of Eagles-related media.
I mean, being the kicker is cool and all, but um, well, I don’t know that hanging out with said kicker is exactly the most exciting promotion I can imagine.
I would definitely be more interested in hanging out with any of the veteran players (in that the rookies probably don’t have too much to say), the broadcast team (imagine ordering drinks with Merrill Reese; I would just keep insisting that he say, “Tautalatasi the lone setback” over and over), even Spuds (if only to tell him that I don’t think it’s fair that the blathermonkeys give him such a hard time). I just don’t know what I would talk to Akers about.
So I’m thinking that the Reggie Brown too-cool-for-school act is getting a little old. For those of us who pay attention to these things (where “these things” = “making character assessments of people we’ve never met”), the Reggie Brown smirk — manifest in his look-away-from-the-camera-and-laugh-everything-off style in interviews — has always worried me a bit. I had always hoped it was just quiet, cool confidence, and that this guy was cocky because he was such a ridiculous baller. But now that it’s clear that he’s a competent, but not ridiculous, baller, it might just be that he’s kind of a jerk.
Or, even worse, it might be that he’s actually scared and insecure.
This quote from last week doesn’t sit well with me:
Still, when asked about the excitement that comes with the opener being at home, Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown admitted he wouldn’t mind working out some of the kinks on the road before giving the fans their first taste of the team.
“I don’t know,” Brown said jokingly. “Maybe it’s good to play away for the first game, but it will be exciting. At least we don’t have to travel. The crowd gets to come and watch the game, so it will be fun.”
Right, so the non-haters will try to tell me that he was only kidding (hence the “jokingly” from the author), but, um, we don’t kid unless there’s a kernel of truth there, right? (Read the rest of this story.)
Careful readers may have noticed a fresh image of Donovan McNabb celebrating the Reggie Brown TD inserted into the page-top header. Hmmm.
Note that Dunavin made a big point of saying that he was not trying to mock a certain former teammate with this celebration, but was instead “thanking the Man upstairs.”
Got it.
(Also, nice work from the web site staff sucking up to Dunavin.)
Oh, the local blathermonkeys can’t be thrilled with this!
After weeks of baiting Andy Reid (and Donovan McNabb, but we’ll skip that for now) about his impending dismissal/ resignation from the Eagles (which, it might be noted, included an actual editorial in the Daily News demanding Reid’s departure), Big Red and Joe Banner decided to tell their side of the story — to the New York Freakin’ Times.
In a move eerily similar to the Reid bye-week exclusive with Fox Sports correspondent Jay Glazer, The Eagles PR/ marketing machine decided to go over the local blathermonkeys’ heads to tell a heartfelt tale of tragedy and perserverence from within the walls of the Novacare Center (sniff, double-sniff). This story did contain fresh, previously unheard material — all packaged up and fresh for the ole gray lady.
Quick break from Reid-family-on-drugs and I-hate-the-f*cking-Cowboys, but I was looking around on PhiladelphiaEagles.com for a Trent Cole jersey (HINT: MAKES AN EXCELLENT GIFT/ they’re unfortunately on backorder), and I stumbled upon this hideous-looking brand extension they’re attempting to market as an “Eagles jersey.” (Read the rest of this story.)
Wow. Looks like somebody had a longer day than I did!
We were all pretending that the Andy Reid family drama wasn’t going to impact the football team, and that despite the distractions, the Birds would have a normal season. (Or at least I was pretending.)
Um, nope.
The Reid boys got sentenced, and the Reid family was skewered by MontCo judge Steven O’Neill. Coach Reid’s house is a “drug emporium”? “There isn’t any structure there that this court can depend on”? 89 pills in Garrett Reid’s rectum?
This is all a big mess for the Reids and the Birds, and it isn’t going away. My questions:
A rare media appearance by Mrs. McNabb this week (that’s the one that’s married to Donovan, not Donovan’s mom — we hear plenty from her). Raquel “Roxie” McNabb is not very Anna Benson; she avoids the unwavering gaze of the local blathermonkeys and even does a solid job of managing her online digital footprint/ privacy (the search engines are pretty thin on Dunavin’s better half).
She spoke to the “Yo!” section of the Daily News to pimp her charity event this week, which by all accounts seems like a good thing that will help people and inspire us all to give something back to the community. We also learned the following (and by “learned” I mean “inferred and speculated”):
In an attempt to connect with the younger, more Internet-savvy generation that Andy Reid dissed in his press conference on Wednesday, the Birds site launched a little interactive avatar generator called “SuperFan” yesterday. That’s right, SuperFan. Big S, big F.
That’s my SuperFan right there:
I wouldn’t say I was blown away by it (the options and configurations are pretty limited, though the sound is a really nice touch), but I have to applaud the general effort. The young people like their facebooks and their myspaces, and you need to give the young people the tools to propagate your brand in an engaging and organic way that’s authentic and resonates with them in the consumption scenarios where they feel most comfortable.
