It wouldn’t be football season if I didn’t treat myself to a fresh batch of Eagles-themed Officially Licensed Products.  Since I dialed it down a bit last season (t-shirt, hat), I thought a new jersey might be in the mix for the ‘08 season.  I hadn’t added a new jersey to the collection since November 2006, and that one was a gift.

(A most excellent gift, I might add, and ultimately virtually impossible to top in terms of groomsmen gifts.  Throwback jerseys?  I mean.  Genius.)

The last shirt I bought for myself was a Michael Lewis jersey in 2005.  YIKES.  Kind of got that one wrong.  And to be honest, I didn’t even expect that I’d buy one this year (sort of — I like to tell myself that I wasn’t going to buy one); thought I’d look for some sort of hoodie (this one was tempting, don’t get me wrong).

But then I was sitting in this all-day meeting last week (there’ve been a lot of all-day meetings of late), and my mind started to wander a bit.  So fired up the eBay.  Was just going to buy some shoes, to be honest, but then I thought I’d plug “eagles jersey” into the search bar.  Just to check.  And…what’s that?  A reasonably undervalued Trent Cole shirt in my size?  Sure, it’s the third-jersey color, but I didn’t have a black one yet.  And Trent Cole is surely deserving of increased jersey sales!  He’s the best defensive player on the team, relatively young, on a second contract; this certainly counts as a prudent investment.

(I was thinking about a DeSean Jackson shirt as well, but it’s too early.  Mostly the number 10 is a cool-ass number; there should be plenty of time for that conversation later if things go well for the kid.)

A few bids later (including some delivered via text-message over a thoroughly useful eBay SMS interface), the shirt was mine.  Fingers crossed that it arrives in today’s mail; want to make sure I’m properly geared up for tomorrow.

I really wish I was a little more excited about the game this afternoon. The Birds’ season is pretty much through, and I’m mostly concerned that the team has already quit — meaning that I’m going to watch them capitulate to the Cowboys this afternoon with little to no resistance.

That would not be sweet.

All I can think of as kickoff approaches is the opening lines from the very fabulous A Season With Verona by Tim Parks:

“FACCI SOGNARE says the banner. Make us dream! Please!”

And really, that’s what I’m asking for this afternoon. I know there are no playoffs (much less a Super Bowl) in the Birds’ immediate future. I’m rational. That’s all done.

I just want something to get excited about. Something to convince me that these guys are worth rooting for and that next year might be better than this one. (Read the rest of this story.)

In addition to a multimedia Trent Cole lovefest in the papers this morning (well deserved, good for Trent Cole), more than one blathermonkey stepped up to remind us all that (a) Dallas is coming to town this week and (b) it is right and just to hate on them.

Personally, I thought it was the most insightful thing Phil Sheridan has written in a while, if only because he was trying to channel the anger/ hatred/ bloodlust toward the other team, and not just the one we’re supposed to be rooting for. I’d say that they’re using their powers for good rather than evil, but I’m not exactly sure that’s correct. Anyhoo, way to pitch in, boys.

I especially liked the quotes from Sav Rocca, in which he demonstrated his familiarity with the Dallas rivalry, translated into non-American English:

(Read the rest of this story.)

Good guys win today (complete with a heartfelt manhug for Andy Reid and Brad Childress), improving this week’s storyline from “Cowboys and Birds headed in opposite directions as T.O. comes to town” to “Eagles can play their way back into contention with win over Dallas.” I’ll take that.

What I saw from my stool at the bar:

1. You can’t complain about the WRs not making plays this week. The blathermonkeys were mean to the WRs (”Birds’ receivers aren’t good enough“) this week, and the WRs played well — we can only hope in response to this criticism!  Screw you, Phil Sheridan!  You won’t have Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis to kick around anymore!  They actually have the Curtis catch up on nfl.com — get it while it lasts!

2. I’m sick of rationalizing Trent Cole’s success by saying that he’s just a pass rusher. He’s on a very short list of playmakers on the Eagles defense, and he seems to be the most emotional/ intense guy out there (which is important since there’s no more Trotter or Dawkins). There should be more Trent Cole shirts in the stands.  I’ll show my appreciation by adding his name to my tag cloud.  Yup, the tag cloud.  That’s how we roll here in Web 2.0.

(Read the rest of this story.)