Wow. It ’ s getting pretty meta in here. We ’ d better embrace soon!

Full slate of pressers on Friday, with Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, and Brian Dawkins joining Friday regular Andy Reid at the podium.  With, ahem, a lack of fresh material for another full round of interviews, the topic of conversation kept to turning to the players and coaches' relationship with the media and the fans, specifically what it will take for the city of Philadelphia to finally hug Andy Reid's fat belly.

Showing the form that's made them the scourge of the local press detachment, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb had little to offer on the topic of Reid "being embraced" by the media and fans.  From Reid,

On what it takes to be completely embraced by this town and how he and Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel are "text" buddies: "Honestly, I don't think about all that.  That's for you guys to take care of.  Charlie's (Manuel) a heck of a guy and a great manager and I just think he did a tremendous job.  We were supporting him 110 percent, our football team, and their baseball team has been great.  Our players are close and Charlie and I communicate and he did a great job.  I'm not going to get into all the comparisons and embrace myself."

And then McNabb:

On what it will take for head coach Andy Reid to be fully embraced by Philadelphia: "That's a question that I need to ask you. If we had the answer, then it wouldn't be a problem. But, you know what? The thing about it is winning cures everything. When you're winning, nobody digs deeper into finding much of what's going on. I can personally tell you that we don't get affected by what people may say on the outside too much. You use whatever you want as motivation and you move on. You can't impress everyone. Not everyone is going to like you, but you just go out and you do your job and you enjoy doing it. That's something that I can definitely say that hasn't wavered by any means from Andy and it trickles down to the rest of us. You can't let what people may say on the outside become a distraction of what you do here at your job."

Right right.  These guys pay attention to their media training, so you can't expect much more than that.  But maybe we'll get something more interesting from Brian Dawkins, right?

On what he thinks it will take for head coach Andy Reid to be completely embraced by the city of Philadelphia: "You have to understand where we are. Here in Philadelphia they love you to death but they are still going to criticize you. They are still going to get on you. They are still going to ask questions. You have to have thick skin to play here, to coach here. Everybody can't coach, everybody can't play here. So obviously Andy is doing something that a lot of coaches could not succeed in by having thick skin, holding fast to what he believes in, and continue to move on. They are still going to question you regardless of success. As soon as you have a string of failure they are still going to question you, so you understand that. You just go out and do what you do and that's what Andy has done; he has stayed the course in what he believes."

Nope.  Maybe Brian Westbrook?:

On what it will take for head coach Andy Reid to be completely embraced by the city of Philadelphia: "I think everybody knows that Coach is a good coach. He's done a great job here and in his ten years I want to say he's one of the top two or three winningest coaches in that tenure. He's done a great job for this team, and I also feel that he's been great to the players here as well. Different people are always going to have something negative to say, but I think his players respect him and the people that know football respect him around the NFL and as a coach. I think that's all you really can ask for. I think the fans are going to go up and down sometimes with the wins and losses. But, the true mark is how do you follow up those losses, and he's done a great job of bringing this team back this year and now we're playing for the NFC Championship and a lot has to do because of him."

Though, in Westbrook's defense, he did let down the guard a bit when they asked him the meta-question about how it feels to answer questions about his knee every week:

On whether he gets tired of answering the same questions every week: "It gets a little repetitive. I appreciate you bringing that up. It definitely gets a little repetitive, but my knee's fine. I think, it hasn't been said, but a lot of times, throughout games when you have injuries, you're going to tweak your injury no matter what injury it is. This wasn't the only game that I tweaked my knee, but it happens throughout football games."

To summarize, no one can really say why the public doesn't "embrace" Andy Reid (perhaps it's because we all know that our arms would never make it all the way around his generous mid-section?), but Brian Westbrook is just as sick of answering the same questions as the press are of asking them.

Andy Reid eats when stressed. You don ’ t say.

Ashley Fox offered a rather alarmist (at least from Tammy Reid's perspective) walk down memory lane in the Philly papers this morning regarding Andy Reid and Brad Childress's relationship and history.  Whilst these two guys might be buddies, Childress doesn't seem to have mastered the art of saying absolutely nothing/ revealing no details in interviews.  In fact, Childress was more than happy to discuss Big Red's health openly:

"There are two stand-alone factors in heart disease: smoking and obesity," Childress said the other day, sitting in his office at the Minnesota Vikings' practice facility in suburban Minneapolis. "Forget everything else. Your ticker can be good, blood pressure good, but those are separate drags on the spectrum.

"It's amazing the discipline [Reid has] in every other area, but you've got to bend somehow, I guess, and that's it. I hear him breathing through it. I hear the same thing, and it's scary."

Oh, so you're saying Andy Reid is overweight and is a bit of a mouth breather?  Well well well.  You're kind of bald and fugly looking!  So you're not perfect either!

Childress also gave Fox a nice compare-and-contrast on the two men's respective vices:

Childress used to smoke. Who knows why he started? Maybe it was stress or a mid-life crisis. Some men buy sports cars when they turn 40. Childress bought a pack of Marlboros.

So he gets it. Even though he sucked down his last cigarette outside of the Rose Bowl in early 1999, Childress understands that even the toughest or most resilient man needs an outlet.

"I could have gone to Philadelphia and gotten a cigarette anywhere I wanted," Childress said. "I thought 100 times inside the Vet, I could have walked out to any employee at any time day or night and said, 'Hey, can I bum a smoke?' and it would've been, 'Yeah, Coach, here.' "

These days, Childress will have an occasional vodka. He understands that Reid isn't a "closet put-a-dip-in-his-lip guy," but that he "loves to cook, loves to eat," Childress said. Everyone has something.

So, the big Mormon guy -- whose religion rules out the drinking and smoking -- is prone to the occasional beatdown at the buffet table?  REALLY?  We hadn't noticed!  I thought he had some sort of glandular problem.  I'd like to note that I think that it's a little odd that the Mormon thing didn't get mentioned in the article -- is it uncool to connect the "not drinking or smoking but overeating" to the guy's religion?  Maybe?  I dunno.

Also, if I was Childress I would ease up with the vodka chitchat; that's the second one I've seen this week.

Bonus trivia question: what's Andy Reid's favorite food (according to a presser from two years ago that I'll claim to remember)?  Answer tomorrow morning.

Eagles - Vikings Game Preview: don ’ t pretend you know what we ’ re getting today

Well none of us are going to pretend we expected this.  Sure, we could envision this, but to expect this would have been a bit strong after the Washington game.  The Eagles are actually in the playoffs.

So, are they any damn good?

That's the thing about the Eagles game today.  We don't actually know what the narrative of this season is yet.  Is is the "Eagles go on a run like 2006 (Washington game is 'just a blip')" or is it "Eagles stumble into playoffs, but are who we thought they were"?  If they win today, many many sins will be forgiven -- even if they lose the following week.  Then they're good but not good enough, and that's a lot better than we thought we'd get in mid-November.  If they lose today, especially if they do so in one of the ways to which we've become accustomed, well, then they were essentially last year's team with a better punt returner: good on paper, but bad when it matters.

I wouldn't be completely shocked if the Eagles didn't show up at all today, but I don't think it'll happen.  Rather, I think that there's a compelling reason why it might not happen: the Eagles defense.  But more about that in a bit.

What I'll be shouting about in re: today's big Wild Card Game:

Your storylines.  It's a little overwhelming (and by overwhelming, I mean that it makes writing a preview really challenging) when your team makes the playoffs in re: the clear national storylines.  As in, (1) Jim Johnson versus Tavaris Jackson (must include reference to total available quantity of blitzes), (2) Can the suddenly elite Eagles' defense contain Adrian Peterson, (3) Teacher-versus-Pupil.  What's sweet is that I feel good about each of those.  And the thing that worries me most is just that they go out and throw it 48 times.  Andy Reid, you haunt me!

Storylines we refuse to consider.  You're not allowed to say, "This is an extremely close game in simulations with the Eagles winning just under 51 percent of the simulations. The key to the game is turnovers," in an article entitled "Intel Report" on ESPN.  Generally speaking, I think blathermonkeys should be fired on the spot for uttering the phrase, "The key to the game is turnovers."  The key to scoring is touchdowns and field goals.  The key to defense is tackling.  Yes.  It's all true!

Fan storyline that's a bit odd.  I assume most of you are like me in that you feel good about defense and special teams, and have no idea what we're getting from the offense.  It's worth noting that said offense set the franchise record for points scored...and I still don't think we're remotely irrational for not trusting them.

The last time these guys played in January.  The future Mrs. BountyBowl got us tickets for the game as a Christmas gift, circa December 2004.  This was a very clever strategy of hers for currying my affections.  Seemed to have worked out for everyone.  F***ing cold that day, though!

Hip, whatever.  The Birds paid a lot of money for Asante Samuel.  Mr. Samuel has traditionally been very successful in elimination games (save for an awkward moment along the sideline last February).  It'd be lovely if he felt compelled to demonstrate his penchant for the big moment against the Vikings.  Also, I'm pretending that the injury thing is an illusion.

Speaking of, he doesn't need to play.  L.J. Smith has his impending free agency to worry about.  Let's cut the guy some slack and let him get healthy.  It's for the best.

The CamelCased One.  What a wonderful opportunity for young Master DeSean to go out and demonstrate he has a feel for the big moment (and redeem himself for the Washington game) than to make a play against the absolute worst punt coverage team in the league?  Very tempting, no?  We'd hate to think the kid had issues with the spotlight.

Speaking of wideouts.  Both Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown made circus catches against the Vikings when the Eagles played there last year.  A similar effort this afternoon would augur well for the Birds' chances.

Jared Allen is scary, though not as scary as Demarcus Ware.  I think Allen will be slightly more dangerous than Ware was last week if only because Ware's team completely quit.  But if the Birds can handle Ware, why not Allen?  (That said, I think Allen is excellent.)

Adrian Peterson is scary, though not as scary as Brian Westbrook.  Sure, AP ("Purple Jesus") is a megastar guy who has a chance to be the best back of his generation.  But in a game that matters I feel extremely good about a Brian Westbrook, and not just because he might be the single smartest guy on the field.  He's also good at not getting tackled!

Eagles thoughts from during the Cards - Falcons game.  While I know it's not for everyone, it sure looks like you can run your offense through a couple dominant wideouts.  Those guys are good.

Eagles thoughts from during the Bolts - Colts game.  This was actually painful to watch for me, if only because there were so many little plays that almost but didn't quite go the Chargers' way (at least until the coin toss!).  Lots of dropped picks, bad bounces, that sort of thing.  It's rare that I can feel like an Eagles fan watching another team.  Thanks, Chargers!

Things I'm glad I haven't thought about in weeks.  How about that David Akers!  Doesn't seem to be struggling any more.  And he's got to feel good about a dome.

No one believes in you, Donovan.  I hope Mr. McNabb is on his laptop this morning reading the InterWebs just so he knows that NO ONE BELIEVES IN HIM.  Nope.  Not a one.  And the ONLY WAY HE CAN STICK IT TO THE FICKLE DOUBTERS is to play the game of his life.  That's the only way you can really get us, Donovan.  Seriously.  It'll totally piss us all off, because we don't really like you and don't want you to succeed.

Cardboard Box.  One of the things that makes me feel confident about the game today is that I think the Eagles actually will get the speed of the playoff game.  That is, there are a few guys on the field for the Eagles who won't be intimidated by the moment and will come out playing fast.  Mostly I'm thinking that Brian Dawkins and/ or Sheldon Brown isn't going to be afraid to endanger themselves in order to announce their presence with authority in the first few minutes of the game.  And now, because I can't help it, is the link.  Treat yourself.

Game prediction. I think that the defense is going to show up this week for the Eagles, and that if the Birds can get it to 20 points they should be chill.  The problem is that I can't really speak for the offense.  I think they could be awful.  I think it's important that the Eagles wide receivers play well.  That means getting open and it means catching the ball.  Eagles 20, Vikings 13.

Comparative Media Studies

Shame on me for being shocked/ disappointed by this, but there's actually been a thread of discussion on WIP over the past two days regarding Donovan McNabb's post-game comments following the win against Dallas, with some hosts and callers arguing -- essentially -- that Donovan was whining and bellyaching in even victory.  I suppose they mean the comments I posted yesterday,

“We’re human beings, you get tired of it, but you never let them see you sweat. And you never show that it bothers you because you kill them with kindness, and when you kill them with kindness and you go out and you do your job, people understand that it never really affects you.”

As well as some overhear/ reported words before said presser:

Donovan McNabb was heard on his way to the locker room saying 'They love me for one more week.'

Got it.  So the guy feels like he gets a bum rap from some of the media and fans, and he was happy to prove them wrong.  Personally, as noted yesterday, I think he earned it.

But compare to the Lew Bowen-Andy Reid exchange from yesterday, in which Bowen asked Reid if he felt that the Birds had stuck it to their critics (with clever sound effects included by the team at PE.com):

On whether he would like to take this opportunity to say "nah-nah nuh-nah-nah": "Not at all. Listen, that's not how I operate. You know what, I know it's crazy but we're all in this thing together trying to make a living at doing what we are doing and I know it's not an easy job day in and day out. We're blessed to be here in Philadelphia with a great fan base that is knowledgeable about the game. I mentioned to somebody that in a lot of cities it's game to game. In Philadelphia it's play to play and you have to love that. You have to love that part of it as a coach and a player and from your standpoint. From play to play, and you're criticized for the bad and praised for the good. It's a great atmosphere for football."

My my, quite the study in contrasts!

Still, it's understandable that they'd both react that way.  The guy with rumors circling about his departure, who's always been a little sensitive, and who is in the top 2 percent of US athletes regarding "sh*t taken on a day-to-day basis from the media/ fans" is puffing his chest after a win?  Can't say I'm shocked.

On the flip side, the guy who runs the whole shebang, calls the plays, decides who stays, who goes, who gets snaps, is comfortable and confident with the media?  No kidding.  And I even appreciated the meta-commentary from Big Red in there (the line about them all trying to make a living in there -- you're right, Big Red: you do all sell the same product, you're just in different departments).

What I'm hoping here is that McNabb is actually really pissed off at all of us.  That is, I hope he's brewing a full-on "Us against the world/ No one believed in us" mindf*ck for himself and his teammates.  That sort of thing totally works -- the Birds just never get to use it because we all believe they're going to win the Super Bowl every single year.  Yes yes, Donovan, they hate you, and they only way to really stick it to the customers is to win four games in a row.  That'll learn us!

But hey, I've always been a sucker for cheap motivational tactics, especially that one.

Domo gets it almost, but not quite, correct in re: the pressers

Real, real solid piece in today's papers by Paul Domowitch about the incident in Detroit with journalist Rob Parker and Lions' coach Rod Marinelli. 

Domo did a nice job of tethering the Detroit kerfuffle to the ongoing frustrations of Eagles' fans (and the local balthertatriat) with the tone of Andy Reid's interactions with the press.  Certainly worth a read.  Domo explains that he gets a lot of e-mail demanding that he and the rest of the blathertariat ask tougher questions of Reid, and insists that he and others actually do ask tough questions.  Domo gets most of it correct -- I certainly believe that they ask tough questions -- though I don't entirely buy his characterization of the pressers (below): 

Once upon a time, nobody paid much attention to coaches' news conferences unless somebody was being hired or fired or comparing the feeling of a loss to someone breaking into his home and sodomizing his wife and kids (Ray Rhodes).

That was before Comcast SportsNet. That was before the Internet and video streams and YouTube.

Now, news conferences have become reality shows. People watch them every week the same way they watch "The Hills" and "Flavor of Love." They are looking for action. They are looking for confrontation.

After a loss, they don't want no stinkin' tough questions. They want my Daily News colleague Les Bowen throwing a shoe at Big Red. They want Comcast SportsNet's Derrick Gunn giving him the finger. They want Bob Grotz, of the Delaware County Daily Times, asking him why his wife insists on sitting in on every damn postgame news conference, home and away.

They want Rob Parker or somebody like him stirring the pot and trying to make the coach lose his cool and say something he'll later regret.

Now that's real hard-hitting journalism.

So what he seems to be arguing is that the people don't actually want tough questions in the press conference -- they crave histrionics.  And Rob Parker is giving them exactly what they want: tabloid sports coverage (akin to "The Hills" etc). 

Some comments here:

1.  There is nothing more boring than listening to the reporters complain about the press conferences.  We've been over this before.

2.  I don't consider it outrageous at all to characterize sports as cheap reality TV.  I mean, maybe not cheap -- this thing has a HUGE TV contract, but let's not forget that this is all entertainment, and it can rightly be described as Brad-and-Angelina for the Male 18-to-54 set. 

3.  I think the argument above makes sense for the out-of-town fans.  Did I watch the Marinelli clip on YouTube (after seeing links on The Big Lead and Deadspin and PFT)?  Of course I did.  (Same as the Shaun Ellis snowball thing, etc etc.)And I love the trashy tabloid stuff on those sites -- but only when it's not the team I care about.  For the national audience, this stuff sells.  

4.  For the local stories, I'm going to have to accuse Domo of not giving us enough credit.  Or, rather, of generalizing a bit.  I watch all the pressers.  All of them.  They're my favorite TV show.  What can I say -- I really like the Eagles, and I love that I get direct access to their content.  And I watch them so that I can make my own decisions about what the guys running the team are thinking and saying.  I don't want incidents (though I giggle when they ask Dunavin about smiling too much -- that kills me). 

4a.  Still, I listen to WIP, and I know that the tasts of the fans are...diverse.

5.  The unspoken/ unexplained element of Domo's article is that the broadcast of those pressers further disintermediates an already threatened local press corps.  That is, why do we need them to take careful notes and write a story in the paper if we can watch/ read the precise quotes on the Birds' site?  With the live video, the blogs, the local TV coverage -- all of this threatens something that was once a differentiator for the local print media: access to the press conferences.  They still have the locker room, but Dave Spadaro and co. are working hard to film a lot of those interviews as well. 

5a.  And in a world where the newspaper biz is on life support (I assume I don't have to explain why?), I have to feel for a guy like Domowitch: a total pro whom I respect a ton but whose world is imploding around him.  There will not be a Daily News and an Inquirer in 18 months (probably sooner, in all honest); there will be one local newspaper, and it'll be thinner and lighter on local coverage.  So we feel for you, Domo, we do.  You guys deserve a bit better.       

Andy Reid in not-so-slimming horizontal stripes?

Now competing with Kendra Wilkinson's MySpace Pics and the Phillies new ballgirls on Philly.com is a charming Andy Reid photo retrospective. 

Obviously, the good stuff is found in the (chronologically) early part of the set, which features not just one, but two photos of Big Red controversially clad in something other than Slimming Black.

Yes, you can imagine my shock and astonishment when I stumbled upon these.  Especially since it's not like he's wearing midnight green in lieu of the now-favored black.

No no, Big Red seems to have been briefly convinced that it was a good idea for a dude pushing 330 to wear horizontal stripes.  Did Tammy sign off on this?

Anyhoo, it's worth flipping through the photos if only to enjoy gems like Andy eating ice cream and Andy in a Hawaiian shirt (+ utility belt) at the Pro Bowl.

Andy Reid knows we exist (maybe)!

Anyone else in the Birds nerderati/ blathertariat catch this remark from Andy Reid's presser yesterday?

On whether he has any idea why his teams often finish the season strong: "No, (jokingly) but I know there's an Ivy-leaguer out there somewhere that will figure it out."

That's us!  The football nerds!  He knows we're out here!

Did he also know that we went and saw this movie this past week AND caught a quarter-and-a-half of Ivy League football back in October?

Friday Eagles Hangover: this week, it ’ s mostly just the turkey (and all the alcohol)

What a pleasant surprise: 48-20? Happy Thanksgiving!

In a game that couldn't have gone better for the Eagles (save for Max-Jean Gilles getting hurt), all the flailing parts of the team suddenly looked competent and the team rolled over a Cardinals team that wasn't actually ever in it. The quarterback was accurate and focused, the running back looked spry, the offensive line played their best game in months, the wide receivers held onto balls that didn't hit them square in the chest, and the new-look secondary made a bunch of plays against the best wide-receiver combo in the league.

My day-after observations:

Oh no, this is going to make Andy Reid especially smug, isn't it.  Let's see, capture early lead throwing the ball, force other team to throw, run the ball against humiliated, desperate defense, pin ears back on defense, cruise to victory against tired opponent.  Great.  You were right all along, Andy!  Feel free to chuck it 55 times against the Giants.  The road to 7-8-1 is paved with wins like these!

The lines came to play.  When was the last time the Eagles pushed another team around this thoroughly at the line of scrimmage (on both sides of the ball)?  I can't even remember.  The play consistently took place on the wrong side of the Cards' line of scrimmage.  I guess the boys on the offensive side must've really taken those anonymous comments to heart.

The Cards must have really suffered in the short week.  Must not have been time for a lot of film study.  I mean, how else to explain not seeing the shovel pass?  Everyone in the Delaware Valley as well as each of the Birds' NFC East opponents knew that was coming.  Comical.

Looks like opponents are taking the CamelCased One seriously.  Dare we say more seriously than the 36 Chambers of Brian Westbrook?  The Cards completely overpursued Jackson on the fake end-around that Westbrook took down to the three.  Huh.  Can't say we hate that.

Take that, Prime Time curse.  The Eagles finally won one at night!  With the Browns looming on Monday Night in a couple weeks, well, they might even win a second.

I hope Lito Sheppard doesn't have trouble selling his house.  Let's see, undrafted free agent Joselio Hanson not only starts but picks off a pass, and Lito Sheppard had the coverage on not one, not two, but all three Cardinals' TDs.  Looks like we've found the weakest link.

Pass me a vial of whatever they stuck in Brian Westbrook.  Didn't look too gimpy last night, though most of his running was vertical and between the tackles (not a lot of stretch plays or sweeps).  Whatever.  It was a treat to have B-West making plays.

And we're off.  Actually hitting up the Flyboys this afternoon, and looking forward to it.

Way-back machine: Eagles invite Ravens for Halloween, back when the Eagles had some attitude

I was in the stadium the last time the Eagles played the Ravens, and I remember it fondly.  People were rocking the Halloween costumes (including some guy on stilts, going through security, above) and the Birds were rolling (undefeated at the time).

The Ravens played the Eagles tough that day; given the deficiencies of the Baltimore offense, the Ravens' defense played very proudly.  It took all of Donovan McNabb and T.O. at the height of their powers to score on a fourth-quarter touchdown pass -- which included some post-contact effort from T.O. -- and eke out a 15-10 win.

Of course, what followed that touchdown was one of the season's more memorable moments, as T.O. parodied Ray Lewis's entrance dance as a post-score celebration.

Say what we will about T.O. (and we'll all say a lot), but I kind of wish somebody on the Birds had the stones to pull a stunt like that.  This team has looked lifeless for the past couple weeks.  They could use something obnoxiuos, and proud, and loud like that to get them fired up.  It doesn't need to mock the other team (though we don't hate that idea), but it needs to change the tone of the conversation for the Eagles.

Who's going to be that guy?

Right now, I feel like the Eagles are watching called third strikes.  They're telling us they're working on it, and playing their hearts out, and all that, but it doesn't look like it.  They seem a little too nice.  I dunno.  Maybe it's the lingering hangover from a draw, but I'd like to see more desperation this week.  Something random, something angry, something that at least suggests they aren't going quietly.

(Yes yes, I'll print out a copy and send it to Andy Reid.  Go team.)

Injured Eagles rookie likes to party, he likes the nightlife; a long-awaited Eagles scandal?

PFT is posting some naughty news regarding injured Eagles rookie Jack Ikegwuonu. There was apparently a photo posted to Ikegwuonu's sister's Facebook page that included Ikegwuonu and sundry drug paraphernalia.

Check out the photo here.

Florio has some opinions on the sister's claims in re: Photoshop and details on the team's response:

But we post the photo and identify the player with this disclaimer — the picture appeared on the Facebook page of his younger sister, and she has since claimed that she Photoshopped it. (An if it’s truly Photoshopped, then we should fire Taco Bill and hire her.)

We’re also told that the player is not in trouble with his team. (That said, another source said that the picture was taken down only after the team became aware of it.)

My questions and talking points:

1. Who is Florio's source at the NovaCare complex? I can imagine Joe Banner sitting in his office, scheming a plan to catch this treasonist!

2. Is this true? What happens if it isn't? Is Florio accountable somehow?

3. Will someone ask Andy Reid about this in the Friday presser?

4. A Facebook scandal? How very Web 2.0/ Tween of the Eagles!

In any case, the Eagles look like they have a little scandal brewing, and in the case of an Eagles player being involved, it has certainly been a while!

(At this point a scandal is actually preferred to more wallowing in the team's pattern of failures. Bring it on.)