I bear what is the most difficult burden of any sports fan; I cheer for all teams Philadelphia, a condition that has brought all manner of pain and suffering. We mark time since 1983, when the 76ers won the last championship that my city has won. Phillies fans count back to 1980, Flyers fans to 1975, and Eagles fans must look to 1960, 6 years before the Super Bowl even started! 1960!! To contextualize, when the Eagles won their last championship, Dwight Eisenhower was still the President of the United States.
Doesn't the enthusiasm of mid-September seem so long ago? The Phillies had roared back from a mid-season collapse (and had even begun a fire sale, unloading Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle) to the thick of the wild card race. The Eagles had just acquired Donte Stallworth, giving the Eagles their "deep threat" that had been missing since T.O. was cut. The Sixers...well, they still had Iverson, right? It might finally have been time to start stockpiling that ticker tape for the parade down Broad Street....
This week made it clear that not only would the championship drought NOT end in 2006, but that it would not end in 2007 either. Our week of pain began mid-afternoon on Sunday, as we watched Donovan McNabb, after being hit out of bounds, struggle to get up for several minutes as the game went to commercial. When the break ended, we saw him being taken to the locker room on a motorized cart. Here's a quick rule of thumb: player being taken off the field on a motorized vehicle = out for the season.
Quick aside - the officials of the National Football League seem to go out of their way to protect quarterbacks by characterizing even the most innocuous hits on most quarterbacks as roughing the passer or a late hit. That protection is not extended to Donovan McNabb. On the play he was hurt, he was pushed to the ground while he was clearly on his way out of bounds. Although the push itself was not egregious, a penalty will be called on that play 90% of the time. It's a pattern - look back to the 2004 NFC Championship; McNabb was clearly hit late by linebacker Greg Favors after he had thrown the ball, and after he had been tackled, knocking him out of the game. Again, no penalty was called. Then again, Michael Vick never seems to get those calls either.
While furiously searching the internet for news of McNabb's injury, and at the same time watching the Eagles lose to the Titans, we came across another choice piece of news - free agent Alfonso Soriano, who the Phillies were courting, had signed a 136 million dollar deal with the Cubs. Many saw Soirano as the missing piece of the Phils equation, (much like Stallworth was purported to be for the Eagles), someone who could provide the protection for Ryan Howard that he had been without for much of his career (thanks to former phenom Pat Burrell and the decidedly un-clutch Bobby Abreu.) I didn't see him as a savior, but the Phillies have missed the playoffs by one game each of the last 3 seasons. Whatever faults he had, Soriano would have been worth one at least 1 or 2 wins, right? So unless Pat Gillick has a backup plan (and I still trust that he does) the Phils will be looking at another 86 or 87 win season.
Meanwhile, with backup Jeff Garcia at the helm, the Eagles wouldn't be too bad, right? Sure, he's 36, and was 3 years removed from his last good season. But ee was a star with the 49ers. He knew the west coast offense, and they were playing the team with worst pass defense in the league, so it wouldn't be too bad....right? Wrong. Garcia repeatedly threw short passes, regardless of down and distance, and the Eagles offense could not get untracked. He finished with 189 yards on 48 passes, a shockingly bad 3.9 yard average per attempt. Admittedly, he was rusty, but he's an experienced NFL quarterback playing against a bad defense. He should do better. The officials helped out, ignoring an obvious holding call on a punt return touchdown by Adam "Pac-Man" Jones. The Eagles were lost without their leader, and ended up losing to the Titans, leaving their record at 5-5, and on the outside of a crowded playoff field. McNabb's ligament tear will take 8 - 12 months to heal, ending his 2006 season, and potentially impacting his 2007 season as well. Even the Sixers were apparently affected by the McNabb injury, going 0-3 this week, to drop their record to 4-7.
So here we are at the end of a devastating week, fellow Philly fans. Instead of McNabb and Soriano, our championship hopes are in the hands of Jeff Garcia and Pat Burrell.
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