WIP Blog By Joseph Santoliquito- The Eagles Have Gone All In
The occasional bitch can still be heard from the rabid collective that follows the Eagles, but you have to give these guys some credit, can’t you Bird fans?
They signed the most sought-after free agent available in Asante Samuel. They’ve gone after Randy Moss, and they seem to be pursuing Larry Fitzgerald.
Yet when I tuned into WIP last week, all I heard, it seemed, was what the Eagles did in signing Samuel was “nice,” but nothing that could push the Eagles further.
Well, right off the top Samuel is bound to help a defense that was turnover anemic last season, recording an NFL-worst 19 takeaways in 2007.
That’s a help, isn’t it?
I also have a feeling, a strong feeling, the Eagles will go after a No. 1 receiver (Getting one could be a different story). As I said in this space a month ago, I really don’t think the Eagles are that far away from being Super Bowl contenders again. Call me nuts, insane, well, we’ll stop there, but I don’t think that they’re that far behind the World Champion New York Giants (just saying that gives me the cold shivers).
With Andy Reid at least reaching out to Moss, and with the Eagles, though they deny it, trying to shop Lito Sheppard around, tells me they sense they’re just a few pieces away from getting back to the NFC championship game again—and possibly the Super Bowl.
Maybe someone slipped me some of the same Eagles Kool-Aid my man Dave Spadaro drinks every day at the NovaCare Complex (actually, Dave is an employee of the team and is paid to drink it, I’m not), but I’m thinking this team is on the verge of making one more serious run.
What makes me think that is 2008 will spell the future of Donovan McNabb as an Eagle. If the right pieces are placed around him, as McNabb has asked for, and the team still falters, No. 5 will take the brunt, if not all of the blame. Whether it’s deserved or not.
Let’s put it even more bluntly, McNabb is outta here if the Eagles don’t make the playoffs next season—along with a healthy postseason push.
Getting a Fitzgerald makes everyone happy. But it won’t please me. My concern falls more towards a tight end, someone the Eagles can rely on in the red zone, because hell knows they can’t rely on L.J. Smith, who has dubious hands (the hell with it, the guy is a fumble machine), and crosses me as a “me-player,” a potential cancer to an organization that thinks team-first.
Maybe Brent Celek is the answer at tight end. I don’t know. Hopefully, he’ll get a chance to prove that this fall. As for defensive end, giving Victor Abiamiri an opportunity could solve their rotation problems there.
Again, we can’t count on anything, because we simply don’t know the makeup of the 2008-09 Eagles yet. But getting Samuel, and thinking—finally—about grabbing a wide receiver, a No. 1 receiver, is certainly a nice step in a direction many fans out there didn’t think the Eagles were capable of making.
Maybe the Eagles heard the beckoning of Hugh Douglas at the Great Debate of ’08 a few weeks ago—and they’ve decided to go all in.
Not Buying The Soccer Craze
I live in Delaware County. I’m happy for Delaware County and the Chester waterfront and the planned renovations that are supposed to be taking place there over the next few years.
I’m happy the area is getting a Major League Soccer franchise—pleased the local media is blowing up it as the second coming of Pele. I hope it succeeds, whatever the name of the team is.
But I have to ask this: Are you going?
The media mentions an 18,000-seat, soccer-only stadium—filled with whom? Are you going? Will you be among the 18,000 that fills up the Chester waterfront stadium on a regular basis? I doubt it. I may go once, possibly twice out of curiosity. But this plan has all the signs of falling flat, simply because the planners and pied pipers pushing it actually believe there is an audience large enough to back it.
I wish there is. I hope there is. But I covered soccer for a number of years in this area, and while it’s a great sport to play and participate in for young children, it will never consistently draw 18,000 a night—or even 10,000 a night.
I would like to see it succeed. Will you be there?
Joseph Santoliquito is an Emmy Award-nominated writer based in the Philadelphia area who can be contacted at Jsantoliquito@yahoo.com.
