I think I need to opt out of JinxSpam

So I've now received two (2) e-mails from NFLShop.com regarding NFC Conference Champions gear.  While I'm certainly feeling confident ahead of tomorrow's game (and have spent a fair amount of time pricing flights and hotels for Tampa), I haven't actually bought anything yet.  And I certainly don't see myself getting involved with imaginary championship gear, which, despite the fine-print promise of a refund should the Eagles lose, doesn't feel like a productive retail decision.

Also, I'm as big a sucker for merch as the next fellow, but I don't understand the implied urgency that would lead one to feel compelled to pre-order one of these shirts or hats.  What, so I can get it Tuesday instead of Wednesday?  And wear it to the office?

Things must be pretty grim/ desperate at NFLShop.com.

To include on list of Eagles employees who didn ’ t think they ’ d make the playoffs: the marketing department

So about a week and a half after the Eagles make the playoffs, the Birds' marketing department -- usually a pretty slick bunch -- finally went to market with a playoff marketing campaign.

While previous years' efforts have had the benefit of early playoff qualification (and even home-field advantage), this one didn't really come together until the eleventh hour, so we can forgive the ensuing fire drill regarding merch and messaging.  In a prudent move, they just went with the "Green" theme they'd been pushing all season, which is perfectly acceptable, if unremarkable.  We like the appeal to the die-hard fan attributes that it implies, and it sure doesn't hurt that it also conjures up the environmentalism angle as well (at least indirectly).  The font and visual identity is/ was pretty boring, though, and it generally doesn't have a ton of freshness or depth.

It's worth noting that we never liked that "One" campaign that they did in 2004 (and recycled in 2006).  The grainy Courier font in black and white looked extremely amateurish; like what some jackass hack would assemble as the header for his blog (staring at ground, shifting awkwardly).  Mostly it looked like they didn't feel like paying an agency to do some professional work for them and figured their internal folks could handle it.

Anyhoo, here's what the gear looks like;  long sleeve, 24.99, ships today.

They also put the Pro Bowl jerseys on sale, and I have to say that I definitely dig on the 70s NASL-style font for the numbers.  Very classy.  At least as classy as a garish Pro Bowl jersey can be.

BOOOOO Eagles Web Site/ Fan Appreciation Week

The Fan Appreciation Week contest/ drawing on the Birds' site is not available to residents of Florida or New York?

But what if I want to win an autographed Brian Dawkins helmet?  What then?

Yes yes, this is when/ where you give me grief for living in New York.

(Liked the thank-you video from Sheldon Brown, though).

When ad targeting works … and that ’ s about it

Snoozer of a news day w/r/t the Birds, though we can't really disagree with that in the larger context of the Phightins. Apart from Reggie Brown's lingering health issues (yawn) and the Shawn Andrews surgery, all we got out of today's Andy Reid presser was that the Atlanta Falcons are a good young football team with explosive players on offense, defense and special teams.

About all I got for you at this hour is the comforting knowledge that Bud Light is targeting creative based on searches at weather.com. What else to explain this gorgeous ad shown to me when viewing their site from a New York IP address?  Also, nothing says "Drink more domestic light beer" quite like three (3) exclamation points.  They only use two (2) exclamation points and I'm reaching for a Miller Lite. 

Our wandering eye(s)

Since a bunch of other folks have already weighed in on this topic over the past week, and even though I don't actually believe that the Eagles' long-term hold over the sports feelings of the Delaware Value is at risk, I thought it might be an appropriate moment to dredge up a "prediction" from this past summer:

1. The Eagles own Philly.  I know we’re all nuts for the NFL, but, man, this Phillies team is puh-retty charming.  Can you imagine if Chase Utley played quarterback?  He’d be elected Emporer shortly thereafter.  And I can definitely imagine a couple things breaking right for the Phightins and then, BAM, the championship drought is over.  That might actually bump the Birds down a few pegs.  Not permanently, mind you, but long enough to reduce Sunday evening domestic violence in the Delaware Valley for a couple months/ sell a significant amount of Phillies Officially Licensed Products.

Again, I don't want to risk being struck by lightning, but let me imagine a scenario: Birds struggle against SF and (cough cough) lost another close game.  Eagles head to bye week.  Sun continues to shine on Phillies.  That means two weeks until Atlanta whilst the Phightins charm the city with their can-do optimism.  Even I'll be purposely avoiding the Birds for at least a week in that scenario.

It doesn't mean that we're divorcing the Birds, but at this point, battered and bruised as we are, no one's going to be too judgmental if we treat ourselves to a bit of a fling with the Phightins.  It's really for the best.

This is not the time for rose-colored glasses

The pressers following yesterday's loss were predictably depressing.  I mean, I guess it's tough to get up in front of the assembed media and just admit that you got your ass kicked (unless you're Jim Johnson, then you're actually honest about things).  And while the Trent Coles and Chris Gocongs of the world can express regret in front of their lockers, the team's stars are forced to put on a happy face and act like the game wasn't really that bad. 

At least that's what Donovan McNabb was trying (and not quite succeeding) to do.  Looking as miserable as he's looked since last season, McNabb lamely tried to convince the reporters, and, we imagine, his off-camera teammates, as well as himself, that the Eagles weren't really that bad.  He kept insisting that the Eagles were "better" than the Redskins as well as the Bears, and that they "should have" beaten the Cowboys. 

Um, yeah.  So "better" and "should have" don't mean anything.  Most of the teams are pretty good in the NFL -- a couple are great and a couple stink, but most are in the creamy middle.  The Eagles are definitely in the creamy middle.  This is not 2004.  Every win will be tough and hard-earned.  If the Eagles want to make the playoffs, they'll need to start winning these close games against competent teams.

Of course, McNabb has a duty to project confidence to the rest of the team, especially publicly.  So we can't fault him for (metaphorically) wearing rose-colored glasses as he describes Sunday's loss.  We can't even fault him if he's ACTUALLY WEARING rose-colored glasses while delivering said message (!), which we can only assume (by cross-referencing Brian Dawkins' post-game pink leisure suit) was part of some organizational commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness Day.           

(Seems a wee bit tacky/ the fashion show scene from Slapshot to me, but hey, what do I know.)

These aren ’ t the droids we ’ re looking for (the lowest-key $57 million the Birds have ever spent)

So we're less than 24 hours from kickoff of Week One. Whew. Long offseason. Many words written, many friends bored by my long-winded monologues in re: the Birds. Yet as we approach the end of the offseason and the start of the actual season, the guy who was the most important part of the Eagles' offseason -- at least in terms of team resource allocation, which is a pretty honest metric -- is barely a storyline.

Asante Samuel, take a bow. You sir, are a PR and marketing genius!

How else to explain the complete absence of Samuel storylines and associated Pressures heading into Week One? You'd think that $57 million would get your name in the papers a bit more, but what with the wideout drama, Donovan McNabb's tenth anniversary in Philly, and even the drama that Samuel himself indirectly caused (Litogate), Asante Samuel is pretty low-profile.

Shouldn't we be demanding a certain number of interceptions, if not touchdowns, from this high-priced addition?  And wasn't Samuel supposed to be doing weekly pressers with the other expensive veterans?  How has he managed to distract us so?

Well I'm not distracted.  This dude's getting paid a ton of cash, his presence has gotten Drew Rosenhaus some extra attention, and the Birds' defense needs to cause some turnovers this year.  Consider me the peanut gallery of one on Samuel.  Let's see it, Asante.  You may be under the radar with the media, but nothing escapes the all-seeing eyes of the Philly fans.  And remember, the boos are NEVER that far away.

Sartorial concerns

It wouldn't be football season if I didn't treat myself to a fresh batch of Eagles-themed Officially Licensed Products.  Since I dialed it down a bit last season (t-shirt, hat), I thought a new jersey might be in the mix for the '08 season.  I hadn't added a new jersey to the collection since November 2006, and that one was a gift.

(A most excellent gift, I might add, and ultimately virtually impossible to top in terms of groomsmen gifts.  Throwback jerseys?  I mean.  Genius.)

The last shirt I bought for myself was a Michael Lewis jersey in 2005.  YIKES.  Kind of got that one wrong.  And to be honest, I didn't even expect that I'd buy one this year (sort of -- I like to tell myself that I wasn't going to buy one); thought I'd look for some sort of hoodie (this one was tempting, don't get me wrong).

But then I was sitting in this all-day meeting last week (there've been a lot of all-day meetings of late), and my mind started to wander a bit.  So fired up the eBay.  Was just going to buy some shoes, to be honest, but then I thought I'd plug "eagles jersey" into the search bar.  Just to check.  And...what's that?  A reasonably undervalued Trent Cole shirt in my size?  Sure, it's the third-jersey color, but I didn't have a black one yet.  And Trent Cole is surely deserving of increased jersey sales!  He's the best defensive player on the team, relatively young, on a second contract; this certainly counts as a prudent investment.

(I was thinking about a DeSean Jackson shirt as well, but it's too early.  Mostly the number 10 is a cool-ass number; there should be plenty of time for that conversation later if things go well for the kid.)

A few bids later (including some delivered via text-message over a thoroughly useful eBay SMS interface), the shirt was mine.  Fingers crossed that it arrives in today's mail; want to make sure I'm properly geared up for tomorrow.

“ The 4th & 26 Challenge was just one of many activities ”

I really had no idea that 4th and 26 was still being merchandised -- good for the marketing department.  That was over four years ago (the 2003 team).  Solid.

(Inspired by this photo, I tried to find some 4th and 26 merch, but the best I could come up with was this.  Ew.)

Other random photos of minor note from the Eagles Carnival via PE.com:

I like Bunkley accessorizing with the green Phils cap.  Nice touch.  Also, I can't imagine those glasses were entirely necessary indoors.

So the caption for this one read "QB Donovan McNabb's left hand got a workout at the Eagles Carnival" and the pen was in his left hand. So does he write with his non-throwing hand? Or just sign autographs that way?

I had wedding photos with fewer people than this.

Asante Samuel Press Conference Review

 

We got our first Asante Samuel press conference of the Eagles season today. It appears that a $57 million contract gets you a regular appointment with the blathermonkeys, along with grizzled press conference veterans like Dunavin, Dawk and Westbrook.

Given that I'm planning to watch most of these things ("It's just a TV show"), I was pretty psyched to check out the new character. Quick hits:

So I definitely enjoyed it. Looks like a nice counterpoint to some of the other guys who do the pressers: a little younger, a little cockier, a little less cynical than the others. Didn't sound like a dummy, but also didn't sound like someone who was reading the local papers yet. So he's still a little naive about the dynamic in there, but I would assume his recent liquidity event has lent him a certain confidence.

While he didn't sound like a total Eagles robot yet, he does have some media training. He did a nice job of not saying "talking shit" in reference to the predilections of the Philadelphia supporters. That is, he politely substituted "talking mess" and then "talking crap" in response to a question of fan behavior. Asante, we appreciate your manners.

Went for the easy joke and it worked. He made a crack about Belichick not having a personality and it drew a round of guffaws from the assembled press. I would have laughed if I was there as well. Who doesn't like laughing at the guy who got caught cheating, ran up the score in meaningless mid-season games, and then choked in the Super Bowl? That guy is a total jerkface!

He parried the first volley from the locals well. Someone cheekily asked Samuel about his absence from training camp last year (meaning his "WELL-DOCUMENTED HOLDOUT"), "Was that a hamstring last year? You said you missed all of training camp, was that also a hamstring?" "No," replied Samuel, "it was a contract situation." Followed by a big smirk. Solid.

Did okay with the second volley. They tried to goad him a bit by asking him about the recent article in SI that intimated that other guys on the Pats had blamed Samuel for the Tyree catch. While his answer convinced me that he definitely "could give a mess what those guys think," he got momentarily riled, insisting that the game wasn't about a single play. But he chilled out quickly and moved on and said all sorts of nice things about the catch.

Other items of note. Samuel has apparently played every defense you can play from high school to college to the pros, so we shouldn't worry about him picking up the defense. Sweet! That should be fine then.

Looking forward to seeing more of Samuel up there. Go Birds.