We're not sure how you feel about it, but as far as we can tell gas prices and the horrible economy haven't deterred anyone from going down the shore. The beach is the place to be. Here’s what’s going on this weekend.
Results tagged “theeagles”
Three weeks ago the Super Bowl heralded the end of another football season.
If you haven’t noticed, the Philadelphia sports climate is pretty bleak these days. The Sixers suck. The Eagles are golfing. The Flyers are irrelevant. And the Phillies are currently nickel-and-diming perhaps the greatest slugger in a generation, hoping that an arbitrator will make him play for a relative pittance. So there is pretty much no reason to go to an arena or stadium near you to watch our local pituitary cases compete in the games of chance. And yet, on February 1, the lowest common denominator of our fine city will flock to the Wachovia Center. They will begin tailgating at 4 a.m. Come 6 a.m., they will enter the building, whereupon they will take their seats and longingly ogle the “Wingettes” in their bras and panties. They will buy $8 Bud Lights from the concession stands, and will be completely wasted before many of us have stepped in the shower. They will stand and cheer at fat losers as they stuff their filthy gobs with artery-clogging Buffalo wings. When the spectacle has concluded and a “winner” is announced, these fine gents, fresh from the most intimate contact they have had with a woman in eons, will file out of the doors and head straight to the nearest strip club to further sate their throbbing libidos. Bear in mind that this will probably be the most intellectual activity that these fellows will have indulged in all week. At the end of the day, they will vomit in the public common and drunkenly drive their vehicles home in a treacherous version of “Commuter Roulette.” Sound like fun? Then, by all means, head over to South Philly for the 610-WIP-sponsored Wing Bowl 16, “The Showdown in the Hot Sauce.” (To tailgate. This flimsy excuse to get wasted actually sold out a major sports arena... AGAIN.)
Even though our Birds let us down this year, we’re still really psyched for the Super Bowl this weekend. In true Philly fashion we are rooting for the Giants, not because we like them that much (although the Q-back is our husband’s little brother), but because we’d love to see the Pats fail. Ahem. Anyways, this Saturday 24 current and former NFL players will offer up proof of their culinary prowess at “Taste of the NFL,” a charity event held in Phoenix to benefit America’s Second Harvest. Epicurious has all of the recipes up on their website, so’s to help you plan your Big Day nosh, but they’re also doing something really cool for Second Harvest: if you vote for your favorite recipe, they’ll donate $1 (up to $250,000) to the charity. In addition, the player whose recipe wins will get a wad of cash to donate to their local food bank.
Let’s get this out of the way early: The Eagles season is still, for all intents and purposes, OVER. To have a chance at the playoffs, they would have to win every game but one. And that is good because the game against the Patriots can already be put in the books. The team from New England is going to stomp the Eagles like Editor Jill running into a disgusting, yet otherwise harmless, cockroach. When you factor in games like the visit to clearly superior Dallas, the trip to struggling yet dangerous New Orleans, and a likely chokejob against a stiff like Miami or Buffalo, the Eagles really have no chance in hell of making the playoffs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself and laugh your ass off when the Birds eke out a game that they had no business winning against the self-sabotaging Washington Redskins. If that team should happen to have a nickname that is abhorrent to a whole race of people, so be it! So sit back, relax and soak in the glory of this meaningless, mid-November victory against a hopeless also-ran! It’s diary-time!
You know that old saying about “never waking up a sleeping giant?” Well, the Eagles certainly are not giants. Hell, as they proved in Week 4, they probably aren’t even as good as the Giants. But that doesn’t mean you have to go treating them like a bunch of punks. And that is just what Vikings head coach Brad Childress did when he told his team to execute an onside kick after his team marched down the field on their opening drive to score the first touchdown of the game. The surprise play worked and the Vikings got the ball... and then they got their asses handed to them.
Sorry, folks. No diary today. Simply put, now is not the time for witty jokes and non sequiturs about my English Bulldog or P.J. Harvey’s latest work. I am not even going to ramble on about how brilliant Radiohead’s latest album is, and how they make overrated, whiny droners like The National look like rank amateurs. Sometimes one must discard structure, and get their rant on…and this is one of those times.
Ah, what I wouldn't give to be the average George Bush supporter at this very moment in time. If I could, then I could delusionally ignore what I have just seen and pretend like everything is all right with "the home team." Yes, the Eagles just thoroughly dominated the overmatched Jets! Yes, there are WMDs hidden behind one of the flat-screen TVs in Saddam Hussein's palatial domain that just haven't been found yet! Yes, voting an actor from Law & Order to the highest position of responsibility in the world would go a long way toward restoring our luster in the eyes of the world. But, no, I am a realist, and as a realist I know two things: 1) Bush should have been impeached three years ago and 2) The Eagles are about as "out of the woods" as the Unabomber was out of the woods. Rejoice in this victory if you must but realize that if this is as good as it gets, you might actually have to start giving a rat's ass about the Flyers before long. On to the diary!
The Cowboys beat the Bills last night,* OJ Simpson is in jail, and Dana Carvey is actually doing stuff again. This may have nothing (at all!) to do with Philadelphia, but we figured it was time to take a trip in the wayback machine with something that at least combines two of those three things.
What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.
What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.
Game Time: Saturday, January 13th at 8pm
What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.
Less than twenty-four hours after Tony Romo committed one of the most embarrassing, costly blunders in football history, not much else will be talked about after the Eagles defended Lincoln Financial Field in a 23-20 Wild Card Weekend triumph. The final 137 yards of Tiki Barber’s career—now overshadowed. Brian Westbrook’s leadership, not to mention his forty-nine-yard touchdown dash despite stomach cramps—no longer headline making. Jeff Garcia continuing to lead the Eagles to an improbable six-game winning streak—already an old story.
The Eagles have come a long way. After being left for dead in late November - they lost McNabb in a 31-13 loss to the Titans, which was followed by a 45-21 loss to the Colts - they reeled off five straight wins with a quarterback that all the NFL considered a washout after showing some ability in San Francisco. The super undead Eagles - coach Reid himself, as well as several players, was using the zombie comparison in the last two weeks - go charging into the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFL, akin to a fully restored and fully revved hot-rod that's been unleashed on the streets after years lying under a tarp.
Though I expected the Eagles to win, all the imbibed Sam Adams Winter Brews, along with the frenzied conversation shared with my relatives, made the game play out like a dream, as they ran away with the game in the second half. Literally. The Eagles 204 yds rushing was three more than the Cowboys total offensive output. They ended the day with 426 yds of total offensive. But what was most impressive was how they were able to control the clock during long sustained drives: they ended the game with 37:06 minutes of possession compared to 22:54 for the Cowboys. On their opening drive Garcia overcame the momentary loss of L.J. Smith (Smith would return in the 3rd with a 65yd completion that helped set up a field goal) by connecting with his backup, Matt Scobel, for a 25 yard touchdown pass after a 13 play 89 yard drive that ate up seven minutes and twelve seconds from the clock. After exchanging possession via a fumble on the ensuing kickoff followed by a Jeff Garcia interception (Madden proved once again that he doesn't know what he's talking about as he said: "This is what Garcia does a lot of," as Garcia has thrown only two INTs in five games in addition to recently have a stint where he threw the most passes of his career without an INT), the Eagles defense shutdown the Cowboys on the goalline in dramatic fashion. Garcia took them right back down the field with another 89-yard drive (12-yards, 7:30) that resulted in a David Akers field goal to put the Birds up by 10.
Thinking the playoffs would only be shocking,
How cruel of the Eagles to win on Monday night, pulling us all back into the hunt for the playoffs like that. Why did they have to beat a Panthers team expected to win Super Bowl XLI and take their spot in the playoff ladder? Why couldn’t Jeff Garcia have just embarrassed himself and taught coach Andy Reid a lesson for not opting for A.J. Feely? Why did they have to build our hopes back up, only to disappoint us in heartbreaking fashion?
This weekend in English football has as its highlights back to back "derby days" which will see crosstown rivals doing battle against each other. Come out to the pub, grab a coffee or a beer, and imagine The Eagles playing a game against a team from Northeast Philly.
The Eagles are once more victorious (took long enough!) and that means it's okay to throw a party next week when they play. And what's essential to any football-oriented gathering? That's right! Wings!
The Eagles played a good game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon, but not good enough this time. The teams were evenly matched, and ended up tied 24-24 in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had a chance to stop a strong Saints offensive drive near the end of the game, and even seemed to have done so by sacking the quarterback for a loss on a crucial third down. But they made a stupid mistake - putting 12 men on the field - and the penalty gave the Saints the chance they needed to keep going. Poor time management had left the Eagles with no time outs, and in a slow and agonizing finish, the Saints just ran the clock down to three seconds left and then kicked a field goal to take the win.
They did it. The Eagles came, they played hard and well on defense and offense, and then, most importantly, they finished the game, winning a huge, hard-fought victory over division rivals the Dallas Cowboys. Perhaps even more satisfying, they completely defeated ex-teammate Terrell Owens, making him a non-factor in the game. The Eagles might not have been the only ones involved in removing him from the game; there might also have been some bad juju working against him, thanks to a couple of recent promotions by local radio stations, wherein piles of T.O. jerseys were burned in a gigantic bonfire, and a car with "81" spray-painted on it was attacked by fans armed with sledgehammers and other implements of destruction. But regardless of what did it, T.O.'s stats in the game speak for themselves: three catches for only 45 yards and zero touchdowns. T.O.'s main contribution to the game was whining and complaining on the sidelines. The fans treated him to some brutal "O.D." chanting, while he dropped passes, or waited for throws that never came.
What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.
It was an all-too-familiar scene at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday afternoon. We watched in horror and rage as a sure and easy win slipped slowly and agonizingly away from us. Maybe we should have known right away, when Akers got in a scuffle on the Giants' sideline after the opening kickoff, that everything was going to go terribly wrong.
The Eagles lost their first preseason game last night, 16-10 to Oakland in the Hall of Fame Game, and we aren't sure whether to complain or not.
Yes, that's right, today's the day. The most wonderful day of the year. No, it's not Christmas, or the first day of Hanukkah, or Thanksgiving, or July 4th, or (heaven forbid) Opening Day of the baseball season, or even your birthday. It is in fact, the first day of EAGLES TRAINING CAMP! Yes, that's right, from now until somewhere around Groundhog Day ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE MATTERS except FOOTBALL and that means THE EAGLES yes that's right the E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES WOOOOOO!!!!
- Both philly and Philadelphia Will Do have some strong words for Geno's owner, Joe Vento, in reaction to his "When Ordering, Speak English" policy. Since when has "Whiz wit" been considered English?
To describe the Eagles of Death Metal as merely a side-project of Queens of the Stoneage frontman Josh Homme (who goes by the hilariously excellent and ridiculous moniker, Carlo Von Sexron, when playing with the Eagles) is to do the band a disservice. Although, as the title of this post suggests, their music is far from being death metal, it is an incredibly fun, perhaps-slightly-harder-than-average bluesy pop rock that is highly enjoyable, and really something quite distinct from the sound of Queens of the Stoneage. EoDM have even more swagger, and even more of a sense of humor about themselves and what they're doing, as you can tell from their entertaining cover of the only famous Steeler's Wheels song, which, ever since Reservoir Dogs, Phillyist likes to call "the ear-cutting song," and which EoDM call "Stuck in the Metal with You."
"The Eagles are still playing like shit! Please pass me a beer! Buy your Eagles tshirt right here! I repeat, the Eagles are still playing like shit!"That's courtesy of some guy selling Eagles tshirts on the corner of 18th & Market Streets. It almost inspired us to buy a shirt, just for the sheer ingenuity of it all.
