Some Odds & Ends

Don't worry, I'm not totally slacking on the job here.  A couple things are in the pipeline, but not quite ready.  In the meantime, a few things to comment upon in today's coverage:

Really?  From Les Bowen:

A source close to the situation confirmed last night that Doug Pederson, everyone's favorite former Eagles quarterback, is returning to the team in a coaching role. It would seem to make sense that Pederson would coach the quarterbacks, replacing Pat Shurmur, who was just hired to run St. Louis' offense by ex-Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo. But indications are that someone else will coach the QBs and that Pederson might just replace "offensive assistant'' Mark Whipple, who left the Birds yesterday after 1 year on the staff to become the offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.

"Everyone's favorite former Eagles quarterback"?   Hmmm ... no, put me down for Koy, at least until Donovan gets run out of town.

Speaking of Mark Whipple.  I'm really going to miss the guy.  Not that he actually did anything last year.  And not that he's actually sticking around to take a real job on the staff this year.  But this one post I wrote about him at the time of his hiring has been without a doubt the most popular thing I've ever written on this blog. 

I always knew when Whipple's name was coming up in the rumor mill because I'd immediately start to see dozens of incoming visitors from random college message boards.  If the rumors started to heat up, those dozens turned into hundreds.

And once Miami got involved, you could make it thousands.  Man, those people do love their football down there. 

Thanks to all that link love, we're the ol' #2 for Google on that guy.  We'll see how long it lasts.

What they said.  Yeah, Sapp and Sanders can be idiots.  But if even they can see it ...

And from Mariucci:

"They should have beat the Cardinals," Mariucci said. "But you know what, you've got to play the games. Just because you win 48-20 at home doesn't mean you're going to win the next one. At some point, I think they're going to want to have another receiver or two.

"They're good in so many ways, but they need to help Donovan McNabb out. Not to diss the receiving corps in Philadelphia - DeSean Jackson had a nice year - but they need a Pro Bowl guy. Arizona has three 1,000-yard receivers. If you give Donovan something close to that, they win a lot more. He's been carrying that team."

Pretty much.

Finally, the Banner stuff.  Yeah, so it's abundantly clear the local writers really, really don't like Joe Banner.  It's a measure of how well he does his job that the ISWs haven't figured out a way to call for his firing without looking like morons.

But when the writers can't help but say things like: "Eagles president Joe Banner will be on WIP this morning, continuing his trophyless tour of media outlets," you do kind of have to wonder a bit about their ability to see this whole thing objectively.

Anyway, it's same old, same old, for the most part and you can go check that stuff out if you like.  I do want to point out, however, that the new guy seems to be getting progressively less intelligent the longer he's been back.  May want to switch to bottled water for awhile, lest things go even further downhill from here:

Then, just to make sure we all understand, he added: "We believe we're very lucky to have them. The good news is that's overwhelmingly the view of our fans. I know it doesn't always come out that way."

Glad he cleared that up. See, when Eagles fans go on the radio or craft e-mails to complain about the team losing to the Arizona Cardinals, their words just come out wrong. In the past, when they openly lamented that the Birds lost the Super Bowl - when they questioned how Reid and McNabb have performed in pressure situations - it was all a misunderstanding.

Same goes for this space, I suppose. I'm a columnist by trade but an Eagles fan by birth. When I wrote that going 1-4 in NFC championship games isn't good enough, it was a simple mistake. I must have accidentally mashed the keyboard with my hand that day.

What I actually meant to write after the Eagles lost to the Cardinals - a team that's long been an NFL punch line - was something positive. Something like, "Three cheers for Reid and McNabb! Huzzah!"

In order:

1. The most vocal Eagles fans, particularly those who like to hear themselves talk on the radio, are a very, very poor sample for understanding the entirety of the Eagles fanbase.  That's like saying Americans can't stand their new president because of what you heard on Rush Limbaugh.
2. Gonzo himself also does not represent the entirety of the Eagles fansbase, which is why it's possible for your personal opinions to be somewhat different than "the view of [their] fans."  I know, crazy right?  The world doesn't revolve around you.  (You want a second political story -- ok to post because it's the dead offseason and all?  Gonzo reminds me of the Manhattan socialite who said she couldn't understand how Nixon had won since she didn't know anyone who'd voted for him.)  
3. This is going to shock you, but apparently there's actually some statistical support for Banner's contention.  You won't find it in either of the above two stories, but it's here:  "He expanded on his comments to CSN about the popularity of Reid and McNabb. He said the team has been surveying both season ticketholders and those who follow the team closely for six years. Reid and McNabb have '80 plus percent and in some years 90 plus approval ratings.'"

(Oh, and notice how the emails above are "crafted," presumably because they agree with them.)

Gonzo does nail Banner on his messed up John Madden analogy.  Two points given back for that.