Tag: NFL

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Philadelphia Eagles

Reid and McNabb: More fool’s gold for Philly fans

mcnabb4

It was week 12 of the 2008 NFL season and the unthinkable happened: Donovan McNabb was benched for the second half. Kevin Kolb stepped in and promptly screwed the pooch some more. That poor pooch had a rough couple of weeks as he’d already been screwed repeatedly by McNabb in previous quarters. Every Eagles fan and reporter thought, “wow, this is the end of the McNabb era.”

Not so fast. While I sat around and wished for the Eagles to lose their remaining games to hasten a regime change (I even came up with a clever term for it: f’ing the kennel), the Cardinals came to town and promptly laid down for the Eagles, starting a run that will go down in Eagles history: finishing 4-1, knocking the Cowboys out to sneak into the playoffs as a 6 seed; beating the Giants twice, once in the NFC Divisional round to make the NFC Championship game.

Riding high on emotion and momentum, the Eagles were a 4 point favorites on the road against the Cardinals and did what they do best: choke.

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Arizona Cardinals NFL Philadelphia Eagles

NFL Flashback: 1948 NFL Championship, Eagles vs Cardinals

On Dec. 19, 1948 the city of Philadelphia was to play home to the first televised NFL Championship game, pitting the West Division champion, and defending NFL champion, Chicago Cardinals and the home town Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles were also defending East Division champions and were looking for revenge after the previous season’s loss to the Cardinals, 28-21, in the championship bout. Mother Nature had other things in mind.

Snow piled on the city, raising questions as to whether or not the game would even be played or if it would be postponed. To today’s Philadelphia fan, this story may seem all too familiar. The championship game, held in Shibe Park, was delayed for thirty minutes while the grounds crew cleaned up the field.

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NFL General

2008 NFL Conference Championship Picks and Podcast

And here we go with the most exciting week in the NFL season. The conference championship weekend is so much better than the Super Bowl. Two great games, 1/100 of the hype. You can download the podcast directly (running time 90 mins) or subscribe to the feed.

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

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NFL General

The Vick Quandary

Get this. Michael Vick, a superstar quarterback in the National Football League, pulling down an obscene amount of coin to play a game he probably loves, could lose his career because he made sport of watching dogs kill, and die. Good fun for deranged folk. Maybe I’m a hard judge. I never understood the appeal of blowing a deer’s brains out, either.

This whole saga becomes more incredibly warped as the days bleed away. Vick was becoming the face of an unstoppable corporate monster that has no parallel in American sport. He was on the cover of videogames, shouted out in rap songs. He was a celebrity nationwide, but an icon in Atlanta, a virtual deity to a community ready to elevate a new hero, all their own. He was obsessed over. Could he ever master the west coast offense? Would the Falcons provide him with a true number one receiver? This was important business, the evaluation of a prodigy. Now, he is a problem. For fans, for journalists, for the league he starred for. And he isn’t going away.

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College Football

Pat White is an NFL quarterback

In what was arguably the best bowl game of the season in college football, West Virginia escaped North Carolina with a 31-30 victory to capture the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. and spoiled what was basically the Tar Heel fans’ home game.

Senior quarterback Pat White threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Alric Arnett midway through the fourth quarter and the victory was sealed for the Mountaineers by a Pat Lazear interception. White eclipsed his previous highest passing yards of 222 yards against Louisville in 2006 with an astonishing 332 yards and completing 26 of 32 passes as well as adding three touchdowns to the cause.

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NFL General

2008 NFL Divisional Round Picks and Podcast

Only a few more weeks of football left. But these next two weeks are usually the best two of the season. You can download the podcast directly (running time 90 mins) or subscribe to the feed.

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

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Coach of the Year voting missed the real best coach

Each year, I’m more and more convinced that the NFL’s Coach of the Year Award goes to the most improved team without regard to actual coaching ability.

As expected, the Coach of the Year Award came down to Tony Sparano of the Miami Dolphins and Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons, who took over teams with a combined five wins in 2007 and turned out a pair of 11-5 records.

As expected, the man who did the best job in football got absolutely none.

Sparano and Smith’s accomplishments aside, tell me how Gary Kubiak was not even a candidate? You want to know why? His team did not improve in the standings.

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General Sports

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem: How Sports Have Skewed My Sanity

“The fan is the one who suffers.”
-Frank Robinson

When you’ve spent enough time screaming at the TV in public or when you have worn enough team-branded clothing, you become known as the sports you support. You become the first person people think of when your team loses or wins, which means the sound of 489 text messages coming in at the same time runs the gamut from “Merry TEIX-mas!” or “%&#!! Did we really just give up a four goal lead to the Caps?”

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NFL General

2008 NFL Wild Card Round Picks and Podcast

It’s playoffs time and all the games are featured this weekend. Listen to the podcast for indepth analysis of the games, or just see who we pick below.

You can download the podcast directly (running time 90 mins) or subscribe to the feed.

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

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New England Patriots

Congratulations, Super Bowl XLIII Champs*

By Ryan McGowan

There will be a head coach from some NFL team who will raise the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Raymond James Stadium on February 1, 2009.  It very well might be Tony Dungy and the Colts for a second time.  Perhaps it will be Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, or Tom Coughlin of the Giants in a repeat.  Maybe even a dark horse rookie such as the Falcons’ Mike Smith or the Ravens’ John Harbaugh.   One thing is certain, though–whoever it is will have a giant asterisk next to his name.

The 2008 NFL playoffs (or “the tournament”, as Bill Parcells likes to say) will be conducted for the first time in six years without the New England Patriots, and the rest of the league can breathe a sigh of relief.  

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