Die Hard Sports Fan

As most people know, I live in the Philadelphia metro area. My kids were born at the very first hospital in the nation. Unfortunately, Matt Terl hasn’t called me yet to come work with him on the Redskins blog. So, until he does, I may be stuck here for a while longer.

A few years ago, my son came home from pre-kindergarten singing the Eagles flight song.

“Fly Eagles, fly, on the road to victory…”

Well, as you might be able to imagine, that just wasn’t going to work. You see, one of the teachers at his school knew that I was a Redskins fan and he purposely taught my son the Eagles fight song to get under my skin.

I refused to allow that to stand one minute longer than necessary! I promptly went to Google.com and looked up the words for the entire “Hail to the Redskins” fight song. To my wife’s dismay, my son and I memorized those words that very night. I sang the melody and made sure that when he returned to school the next day, he’d have the appropriate song for “show and tell.”

My son did me proud. So, when I saw this video today, and I just couldn’t resist sharing. It brought a smile and fond memories of teaching my son the right way to watch football; from the lense of a Die Hard Redskins fan.

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Speaking as a Die Hard Redskins Fan myself, I aspire to attend a Skins game in every one of our NFC East rival territories.  So far I’ve made it to Dallas, and I actually had the invite to Philly this weekend, however I declined for a couple of reasons.  Meanwhile, some good friends and fellow Die Hard fans were brave enough to travel 2 1/2 hours up 95, into the city of ‘Brotherly Love’ (give me a break) to watch the Redskins humiliate the Eagles in front of their home audience.

My dear friend, let’s call him Boog, accounts for the beginning of the Eagirls experience.

“Driving into the pay parking lot with ‘Hail To The Redskins’ blaring from our rented minivan, I was expecting to have beer bottles flung at us…We had no trouble with fans making it into the stadium after about an hour of tailgating.  Although once we made it into the stadium, fans attitudes changed.”

I guess the ‘presence’ of such loyal fans just angers Eagle fans.  Boog went on to say that they ran into about six or seven Redskins fans on the way in, however they were hiding undercover by not representing the burgundy and gold. I’ve been told time and time again that if you go to Philly, you DON’T wear a Skins jersey…because you will get beat up. Now, what the heck kind of rule is this and who has made it acceptable for Eagles fans to behave like complete Neanderthals? Oh WAIT, maybe that would be the Eagles franchise who decided to put an actual JAIL in the stadium! Let’s read more.

“When we filed into our seats just as the teams were taking the field, one not-so-friendly Eagles fan with a green and white mesh jersey (’practice jersey’) asked us hastily to find our seats.  When we replied that we had in fact found them, a bit of a shouting match endured. My friend, let’s call him Redskin Rick, got ‘Practice Jersey’ to take a seat rather quickly when he didn’t have much to say after his inital one liner.   ‘Practice jersey’ also was part of the ‘pack it up at the 2 minute warning’ club, as fans left the game before the game had come to an end. Some fans, huh?”

This makes me laugh, however it is in no way surprising. Personally, I feel that Eagles fans are bitter and HAVE been for numerous reasons.

1. Has your franchise EVER won a super bowl? EVER? I know… I’d be pretty mad too.
2. Your city is stuck and pretty much LOST between two of the greatest football-oriented metro areas in the country.
3. When your fans boo the local weatherman as well as the halftime entertainment…yeah, I’d say you guys are in need of a ‘fan-based face lift’.

Back to the Philly experience…

“Many of our cheers during the game led to comments like “Go back to DC” and “95 South Is over there.” There was also a dirty napkin that found the side of my face and my roommate claims to have been hit by a flying french fry… All in all, the Eagles fans did not turn out to be as bad as they are made out to be, with many of them being gracious in defeat and letting us know that the skins played a great game…That of course can’t be said about the drunk 20-something that decided to get in a pushing match with my buddy, let’s call him Scooter, in the parking lot. Scooter’s brother stepped in to handle the drunk with a punch in the face and the 20-something was then arrested. HAIL VICTORY!”

Now I have never been one to promote violence or fighting…that is actually one of the reasons I didn’t want to go to Philly this weekend- I hear their fans are pretty much relentless and if I was the only girl…TROUBLE!!  But when you are a home team fan and the home team LOSES… wouldn’t you think you should let it go? As if it isn’t embarrassing enough that the Redskins walked into your home field, let you score two touchdowns in under a minute to be up 14-0 but STILL come back to take the win back to DC… I think you need to either be wasted or a complete fool (or both?) to go around instigating like that. But this just goes to validate my bitter eagle fan theory.

To close on a more positive note, Boog went on to add this little tidbit at the end of his memoir for future reference for us all as Die Hard Redskins fans:

“Wanna shut up a philly fan? Just mention the fact that we all hate Dallas. Wanna make em’ talk again? Mention that we took care of the business they couldn’t in Dallas.”

Hail to the Redskins, the BEAST in the EAST!!!!!!!

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Over the years, I have learned that certain things just weren’t meant to be.  As a kid, I always wanted a brand new baseball glove.  I played every season for years and always used one my parents bought at a yard sale.  It had to be 40 years old at the minimum.  My little sister played softball one year with a brand new glove.  A new glove for me to be proud of just wasn’t meant to be.  In college, I spent a majority of my one class daydreaming about a believably good-looking girl that sat a row ahead of me, wondering what she looked like without all those annoying and frustrating clothes on but never found out.  It just wasn’t meant to be.  Life’s lessons never end because on Monday, I just realized another thing in my life that is not meant to be.

After suffering through a painful, horrific, and humiliating loss to the Washington Redskins Sunday, and trying to recoup from the loss, the hits just keep coming.  Philadelphia Eagles RB Brian Westbrook now has two fractured ribs.  I don’t know who is in more pain; Westbrook or us Die Hard Eagles Fans.

Brian Westbrook is the heart and soul of the Eagles offense.  No offense to QB Donovan McNabb but Westbrook is anything and everything to our offense.  He instills fear in the minds of opposing defenses.  Other teams have to account for him on every play.  They have to spend all week game planning for how to stop him as a multi-level threat. 

We know what the Eagles can do with and without “Westy”.  We saw that for the 2^nd half of the Steelers game and unfortunately the entire Bears game.  With a current record of 2-3 and a 0-2 NFC East division record, can there be any worse time for this injury?  My hopes and dreams of an Eagles Super bowl are fading by the second.  Maybe it is just one more thing in our lives that is not meant to be.

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

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Plaxico Burress held a Press Conference today to talk about why he was suspended. I heard some audio clips, and Plax sounded very edgy which doesn’t necessarily mean anything. A couple things he said caught my ear. Usually, the Giants don’t put articles about negative events that take place on their website. For example, the Giants never put an article on their website, Giants.com, about Ahmad Bradshaw when he went to jail. This time they did.

Here are some of the questions and answers…

Can you shed any light as to what happened two Mondays ago when you didn’t show up for work?

I ran into some family issues as far as taking my son to school and things like that. It was not like I purposely missed out or that was my intention. It just seemed to happen that way and I didn’t feel any reason to explain to them what happened or why I missed because I don’t feel it is really anybody’s business. It is like I told them, if I had a decision to make as far as my family and my son and things like that, I wouldn’t change anything about it and I would still make the same decision to do that. Maybe I would have put a phone call in, but that probably would have been the only thing. As far as things like that, I am going to always put those things first and I think that is one thing that people have to understand, but I don’t have any regrets for it.

Didn’t you feel a responsibility to let your employer know why you wouldn’t be showing up for work?

It is like I said, maybe I could have put a phone call in, but the fact of the matter is that they told you guys that I didn’t speak to them, which is not true. They called my house Monday night, they talked to my wife, I talked to them on the phone, I talked to Jerry Reese on Tuesday, so if I didn’t talk to them then how did I know that I had to meet with them on Wednesday? So them talking about how I didn’t talk to them at all that is not true and they know that. I guess that sheds a little bit more light on the situation, but the idea that I didn’t talk to them at all, that is not true at all.

There have been reports that you have been fined 40-50 times during your time with the Giants. How accurate would you say that is?

I really don’t know the amount of times, but I do know that I have been fined quite a bit and some things and some of the demands that they ask me to do, I just don’t meet. Do I have an excuse for them? No. Maybe I have a problem with time or something, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to quite put my finger on it, but yeah, I have been fined quite a few times. It hasn’t really bothered me or affected me though. Like I said. when I step on the field it is time to play and that is what I do. If I don’t do things the right way as far as getting there on time or treatments so to speak, I deal with it and get over it and concentrate on my job.

The media continued to ask the same questions over and over to get more out of Burress, but they were not successful. Plaxico acknowledged that he should have picked up the phone and called the team. In the second question, he said that the team is lying. In the third question, he said that he hasn’t been able to put his finger on why he’s been suspended so much. He is definitely a shady character. The situation raises some eyebrows because not everybody is on the same page.

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Antonio Pierce talked to Mike Francesa of WFAN about their win over the Seahawks and their upcoming game against Cleveland. To hear the interview in its entirety, click here.

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The best part of yesterday’s game between the Seahawks and the Giants was when the G-MEN roughed up Matt Hasselbeck on the first drive of the game making him ineffective and providing him with an early exit. It was similar to the last Giants game when they roughed up Carson Palmer, and the Cowboys should thank us for that since they squeaked by the Bengals yesterday. Imagine what a healthy Palmer would’ve done to the poor Cowboys defense. The Cowboys should also thank us for ending Drew Bledsoe’s time in Dallas because who knows when Tony Romo’s opportunity would’ve came if not for our nasty defense. The Road Warriors won their third home game in as many games in the early 2008 season. These are the Road Warriors that could barely win at home in ‘07.

Offense

Eli Manning had a pretty good game statistically. He went 19/25 which is a 76.00% completion percentage and threw for 267 yards and 2 TDs…in only 3 Quarters. David Carr was able to come in lead the team to a 4 Quarter Touch Down as well. The last time we saw Carr was against the Rams for a couple of minutes, but he played an entire quarter today. We knew that Eli was not going to have his favorite weapon in Plaxico so everybody needed to step up, and they did just that. Domenik Hixon, Amani Toomer, and Steve Smith led the team in Receptions. Hixon had 104 yards in the 1st Half before leaving the game at Halftime due to a concussion, and I would’ve loved to have seen what he could’ve done by playing the entire game. Surprisingly, Sinorice Moss had 2 TD Catches, and Domenik Hixon had 1 TD. Earth, Wind, and Fire had an outstanding day as they steamrolled the soft Seattle defense for 241 yards on 33 attempts which is an average of 7.3 yards per carry. WOW! Jacobs led in rushing yards with 136 and 2 TDs. The Giants’ offense put up 35 of the 44 points.

Defense

Mike Holmgren developed a pretty good game plan because Big Blue was only able to get 2 Sacks which is the lowest since the Giants opened up the season against the Redskins. With that said, the hit that Justin Tuck laid on Matt Hasselbeck on the first drive of the game, which wasn’t even a sack, was enough to make him a non-factor as the Seahawks didn’t score any touch downs. Mathias Kiwanuka and Dave Tollefson were the two players that actually got to Hasselbeck. I was extremely impressed with Kevin Dockery’s pick and 46 yard return. That was the last we saw of Hasselbeck. The Giants’ defense put up 0 of the 44 points.

Special Teams

John Carney was 3/3 in Field Goal Attempts, and he hasn’t missed a field goal yet this season. It will be interesting to see what the coaches do when Lawrence Tynes is healthy and ready to return. I would suggest that they ride out it out until he misses and then put Tynes in. The Giants’ special teams put up 9 of the 44 points.

So the Giants won their first four games which makes them perfect through the first quarter of the season. I picked them to do exactly that. The last time the Giants went 4-0 was in 1990 when they won Super Bowl XXV against the Bills. This game was over after the 1st Half. When was the last time you saw both starting Quarterbacks taken out of the game after the 3rd Quarter? The team that has so much trouble coming off of the bye week had no problem in 2008. The Giants travel to Cleveland next week to take on the Browns on Monday Night Football.

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CP takes some time to speak about the team, Jason Campbell, Coach Zorn, and the mindset of the Redskins.

Good stuff!

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Yesterdays loss was a bitter pill for the Eagles fans to swallow. As I perused the web to find their reaction, I found it interesting that, for the most part, many of the Eagle fans found common ground in criticizing their coach and QB.

I, for one, believe that Andy Reid was outcoached yesterday. Moreover, the Redskins just seemed to be more relaxed and able to focus on their assignments, even when they were down by 14 early in the game. But, Eagle fans say…

They need a change in leadership -

Posted by trizot 06:13 PM, 10/05/2008
I know I’m probably in the minority there, but I am starting to believe we need a new approach, and possibly a new coach. My patience is certainly wearing thin.
      
Posted by Wilford Brimley 06:15 PM, 10/05/2008
Why do we have the same issues with Reid and McNabb after ten years?…Time for Banner, Reid, and McNabb to all be gone.
      
Posted by gordy 06:44 PM, 10/05/2008
Andy has to go, there is noway around it…We do need to stop buying tickets, it is the only way the failed movie producer will listen.

Posted by snook65 07:09 PM, 10/05/2008
Fire Andy Reid, it’s that simple…Its his team and he is the sole reason for failure over the past two weeks. I’ve had it!

The Philly fans just don’t get it -

Posted by CSpangler 06:51 PM, 10/05/2008
Yea those inept division titles and that inept .600 winning % as a head coach. Where does this city get all the morons???

It’s the player’s fault. The coaches don’t play the game - 

Posted by almar169 07:03 PM, 10/05/2008
PLAYERS HAVE TO MAKE THE PLAYS!!!!! All the coaching in the world won’t teach Lewis and Brown how to hold on to a pass or a lineman how to hold a block or Akers how to make a dadburn field goal…..sorry, EVERYONE gets a piece of this loss.

Posted by MVKrum 08:51 AM, 10/06/2008
Reid can’t catch the ball, he can just call the play.

They lost their rhythm - 

Posted by Xi Jah 07:33 PM, 10/05/2008
I do not get this team…They come out firing and then lose all rythem…

It’s the playcalling -

Posted by GMiller 08:31 PM, 10/05/2008
Would it kill Andy to try a QB sneak? What is he afraid of? Why not a naked bootleg- he could always throw it away or throw to a tight end!

Andy Reid needs instructions -

Posted by eaglefaninva 09:28 PM, 10/05/2008
…how many game do we have to lost before reid understands that you need a run game to win in the nfl…if you want to throw that ball 40 times a game fine, then go out and get wr’s…move the ball down the field. If you want mcnabb to fight a war get him an army…We need to get physical up front. We have rb’s that can run, just need to start using them. Why do we not have a screen package for booker? What was the point of getting him if we had no idea how we wanted to use him.

Andy Reid can’t call the plays -

Posted by didderbops 10:25 PM, 10/05/2008
The year Garcia led them to the playoffs [Reid] let Mohrningweig call the plays; instead of learning from that he instead has taken over play calling again and has been terrible. He fails to learn from his mistakes and shows no flexibility when opposing defenses are able to counter his game plan. Between his faulty play calling and his defects in his drafts, it is becoming obvious that he has become captain of a ship of mediocrity.

However, perhaps the best quote of all comes from the Die Hard Eagles Fan.

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Man oh man…where on Earth do I start?!  I think first and foremost… the Redskins deserve a HUGE pat on the back. Number one, they are officially finished playing their division rivals on the road for the season with an NFC East record of 3-1.  Number two, I was watching Chris Bermman on ESPN’s The Blitz yesterday and he was literally tongue tied and pretty much speechless because he, like all NFL analysts at this point, are in disbelief in terms of the Redskins success.  This team is truly a force to be reckoned with.

I believe I speak for the majority of us when I say the opening of the game was a bit nerve wrecking.  Brian Westbrook scored running up the middle at the beginning of the game, followed by rookie DeSean Jackson’s kickoff return for a touchdown (that block in the back 100% should have been accepted by the way), leaving us at a 14 point defecit with 7:47 left to go in the first quarter!  The play by play guys started saying we looked like the Redskins who lost in our first game versus the Giants. Little did they know.

Second quarter was the Shaun Suisham show, where he kicked for  41, 48 and 50 yard field goals which took us into half time down by 5, score 14-9.  And this Redskins defense came out ready to fight in the third quarter, causing Donovan Mcnabb and his Eagles to go 3-and-out three times in a row, and going nearly 30 minutes without a first down.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, the Redskins were being productive as well.  College quarterback turned receiver, Anwaan Randle El threw TE Chris Cooley his first touchdown of the year, giving Washington the lead, 16-14.  At the start of the fourth quarter, RB Clinton Portis literally walked into the end zone, adding to the lead and the Redskins 23 unanswered points since Jackson’s kickoff returned TD halfway through the first quarter.

The Eagles marched down the field and made it to the 2 yard line, but then Brian Westbrook took a loss of 3 yards and Acker’s had to come in to kick a field goal.   Washington went on to get the W with the final score being 23-17.

So…how come this number one defense against the rush decided not to show up yesterday? Because Clinton Portis AND Ladell Betts got their man yesterday with 200+ yards!! Not to mention Jason Campbell and the Redskins converted on third down 11 of 19 attempts.  He adapted to reading the blitz effectively and our offensive line gave the Eagles a run for their money. And how about Brian Westbrook..? He had just 33 yards on the ground, granted he got the TD early, but where was he at after that?

As opposed to my initial thoughts at the beginning of the game, our Skins have really broken out of their shell. And as if the defeat of the Cowboys last week wasn’t reason enough, we are certainly the talk among the league right now. We’re the only team in the league who has yet to have an offensive turnover for goodness sake!! Sure, the Giants remain undefeated, but who the heck have they really played so far? And there are a couple of teams with only one loss…most of which I would say deserve to be 4-1 or 3-1. But I am a firm believer that we’ve had the toughest schedule.  But that being said, we are now going into the easiest part of the season, facing the Rams, Browns and Lions who are 1-11 respectively.  Our biggest challenge at the time, in my opinion, would be to NOT get cocky and prepare for these games the same we have thus far.

Oh yeah, and wait, how on EARTH are the Tennessee Titans really 5-0 right now? That’s the best record in the league!! What’s going on?!

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Well, unfortunately for The Philadelphia Eagles, The Washington Redskins were exactly who the Die Hard Redskins Fans bloggers thought they were; and that is a tough, physical team that plays as one, making smart decisions and not turning over the ball.

Yesterday’s loss to the Redskins was painful and frustrating.  It was frustrating because I know how The Redskins needed to be us.  I hinted at it during last week’s blog posts.  On Offense, the Redskins were more physical than we were.  They took the ball and kept it, ramming it down our throats with RBs Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts.  They moved the ball in the air with clean, careful, and short passes, mostly to TE Chris Cooley.  As I had warned last week and throughout the first 5 weeks of this season; one of the Eagles’ biggest weaknesses is covering the opponent’s Tight End.  Yesterday was a clear example of that as Cooley rumbled through the Eagles defense for 109 yards and 1 TD.  QB Jason Campbell continues his most impressive journey to mastering Head Coach Zorn’s offense.  Despite dropped balls by WR Randle El and a disappearing act by WR Santana Moss, Campbell was steady and careful with the ball and went yet another game in this season with no turnovers.  He pulled the ball down and ran or threw the ball away when something wasn’t there.  He didn’t force things and kept his offense on the field and worse, kept the Eagles defense there with him.  By being successful at that game plan, it kept #5 QB Donovan McNabb and his offense watching like me, from afar.

This game hurts.  It was at Lincoln Financial Field.  We let the Washington Redskins walk into our home, be down by 14 points, and then walk out with our hearts squashed in their hands.  At this point, everyone and everything has to be questioned.  Can this team execute well enough to win big games?  Can this coaching staff adapt and adjust during the games?  Many questions loom and by the time we have our answers, it may be too late.  The competive nature of the NFC East doesn’t allow for teams and coaches to perform this way.  It is only week 5 and the NFL season has a long way to go, but one cannot help feeling a sense of doubt.  Here’s hoping the ship can get turned around this week…

With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!!  EAGLES!!”

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