Someday

Posted: June 25th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 70 Comments »

I watched the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup tonight. It is so amazing to see the joy of the players at that moment when the game is finally over and they are the champions. That must be a feeling like no other.

I’ve watched teams win titles for years. Penn State won in 1982 and again a few years later. The Sixers and Orioles both won titles in 1983. I was a spoiled kid. Life was pretty darn good.

But I’ve never known the joy of seeing the team I love the most, my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, win the Super Bowl. That day will come. I believe it. Heck, I know it to be true. They will win.

Someday.

I try to imagine what that feeling is like. I can’t really do it. The other teams I’ve followed over the years have been teams that I liked, but were not the all-consuming passion that the Eagles are. I write about a million words every year about the Eagles. Think about the insanity of that sentence (and then go back and count the words).

Some people lay in bed and dream of being in a hot tub with Kate Upton or Brad Pitt or whichever stars are the flavor of the month. I’m in that hot tub with Chip Kelly and Bill Davis and we’re discussing the 4-3 Under. Pat Shurmur is off making a beer run, but that is probably just an excuse to get out of the hot tub.

Does this mean that I’ve got an unhealthy obsession? I just asked the stack of Eagles media guides that I keep beside my computer and they emphatically said “no”. So there you have it. I’m completely normal.

I often wonder how I would handle the Eagles winning it all. Would I be like Chris Cooper’s character in Adaptation, the guy who was once obsessed by fish and one day decided enough was enough and gave up the hobby completely? Or would I be even more obsessed, since I was now covering the world champs? I certainly look forward to finding out. I do know life would be pretty fun after the big win. Actually, surreal is probably a better word. “World Champion Philadelphia Eagles” does sound like something from a Phillip K. Dick story.

My guess is that there would be about a week of pure bliss. You’d have the celebrations. The team would be all over the TV and radio with interviews and stories. The parade would be a magical event, like Christmas on steroids. Seeing the city of Philadelphia acknowledge the greatness of Derek Landri, the Super Bowl MVP (2 TDs and 2 sacks!!!) would just be the cherry on top. I know he’s not an Eagle now, but this is my delusional fantasy so keep your reality out of here. Dream big, right?

And then reality would set in. The focus would shift from being Super Bowl champs to getting ready for the next season. There would be talk of cuts and pending free agent moves. The business of football would take over.

For that week, that one glorious week, life would all be about winning. Being an Eagles fan would be the greatest thing on Earth.

I can’t wait til that happens.

Someday.

_


70 Comments on “Someday”

  1. 1 Ollivier said at 3:27 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Un jour….
    And for sure I will come from France to Philly for the parade.
    I will never miss the joy to be on broad Street !!!

  2. 2 John Gurney said at 3:37 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    My biggest Eagles SB fantasy is me travelling to Philly to watch the parade, I think that would be the greatest thing on earth… Aside from getting Shurmur in a hot tub obviously.

  3. 3 MediaMike said at 6:17 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Yes. I tire of those insults.

  4. 4 the guy said at 3:41 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    The best part is fans of other teams won’t be able to hold the lack of a Super Bowl win against us anymore. Once that’s gone, what negative things could they possibly say about Eagles fans?

  5. 5 MediaMike said at 6:18 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I tire of those insults from the rest of the league’s fans.

  6. 6 GEagle said at 8:23 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Considering just yesterday Florio was bitching about us Boooing Santa…Idiots will always find something to put us down.

  7. 7 TommyLawlor said at 9:45 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    They can still be critical of our frog-centered avatars. Obvious target.

  8. 8 Gary said at 3:58 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Oh I’ve imagined this many times. I picture that the second the game ends, I head out into the street, screaming at the top of my lungs just running around until I pass out or get arrested.

  9. 9 Bob Brewer said at 6:17 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    The one thing I’m sure of, once the glow of the victory wore off fans would be back and more fervent for the next Super Bowl win. To a fan, winning is a narcotic. You always want more.

  10. 10 Michael Winter Cho said at 1:12 AM on June 26th, 2013:

    Yeah. I’m a Spurs fan. Losing this last championship, that would have been even sweeter because of beating down the LeBron hype machine, was pretty bad. And we have four titles! You think we’d be satisfied…

  11. 11 MediaMike said at 6:17 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    An Eagles Superbowl would be EPIC! And a few other points.

    – Penn State earned a celebration in 1994 and was screwed by the pollsters.

    – Watching Pat Kane win the Conn Smythe makes me sick to my stomach because he should have been a Flyer, but for a coin flip loss. And we wound up with James V@ginal Riemsdyk.
    – Truly we should have been having these parades after the 2002 and 2008 seasons, but choke coaching jobs vs. Tampa and Arizona stole our joy.

  12. 12 Bob Brewer said at 6:42 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    More sick over Patrick Sharp.

  13. 13 MediaMike said at 6:49 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Also stupidity in motion! Great trade.

  14. 14 ACViking said at 3:33 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    NHL . . . and its bullsh*t coin flip.

    That still makes me sick to my stomach.

  15. 15 CTAZPA said at 6:52 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    A million words a year and you’re not sure if you’ve got an unhealthy obsession? Of course you do. But you started this incredible blog and gathered a crowd of unhealthily obsessed Eagles fans to read ’em (plus the comments).

    It’s 7:00 am, what did Tommy write about the Birds since I checked last night?

  16. 16 A_T_G said at 7:47 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Exactly! My thought was, “Hm, Tommy writes 1,000,000 words a year, huh? I read all of them, plus all the comments, plus a few other writers, and I still feel the need to craft comments and check if the new post is up yet. What does that say about me?”

    So, I decided to read the comments and then write one of my own. So much for reflective self-analysis.

  17. 17 GEagle said at 8:24 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    This has pretty much turned into an Eagles support group

  18. 18 Sb2bowl said at 9:13 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I don’t agree with you often, but I’ll second your comment!

    “Hello, my name is sb2bowl, and I’m addicted to the Eagles”

  19. 19 CampDracula said at 9:34 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    But we’re all supposed to “accept the things we cannot change,” right? So I guess we’re all stuck being addicted to the Eagles.

  20. 20 GEagle said at 10:20 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    If Loving the Birds is wrong, I dont wanna be right..or some fruity cliche ish like that

  21. 21 T_S_O_P said at 12:55 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Do you have a good excuse that you use with your partner to justify this? Because I could surely use one.

  22. 22 theycallmerob said at 1:48 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    I kick in plenty of time “watching the kids”. Of course, they’re watching themselves while I watch the game.

    Or…is this not that kind of support group?

  23. 23 Jack Waggoner said at 7:58 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I guess the closest for me was when the Sixers won in ’83… I was a huge fan that era and for years before. That one was special.

  24. 24 GEagle said at 8:25 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I was just born in 83..so the only Parade I got to enjoy was the 08 Phillies..What a glorious ecstacy filled day that was (My brother actually met his wife at the Parade lol)

  25. 25 Jack Waggoner said at 9:34 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    The Eagles have been my favorite team of all since around 1976 or so… corresponding to the beginning of the Vermeil years. There was something about him that got me believing in him even before the Eagles were actually winning much. And that was really something because the Eagles were a pretty miserable team for a long time before him. I mean, when the fans booed and threw snowballs at Santa, they were really expressing frustration about what a miserable crappy franchise the Eagles had become. (Don’t believe the “drunk Santa” stories, I think people got confused with the Miracle on 34th St movie or something). But about 8 years later, along comes a guy right out of college who actually seemed to inspire confidence. And even in the first couple of years when they were just rebuilding, you could see that things were starting to fall into place (even though he had no first round draft picks, the former management having traded them away). It was miraculous. I was excited.

  26. 26 GEagle said at 10:17 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Really hurts for me to have missed the vermiel era, and much of the Buddy Bowl…appreciate some of you guys always enlightening us younger fans with the Era’s of Eagledom (if thats a word) that we werent privy to..You guys are an awesome contribution to this great site!

  27. 27 Bpils said at 10:02 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I was in elementary school at Saint Aloysius Academy in Bryn Mawr at the time. I remember the nuns actually brought a TV into the classroom so that we could watch the parade. I’ll never forget that day 🙂

  28. 28 Bob Brewer said at 8:34 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I guess here is a source of optimism for the Eagles. You could make a case Howie Roseman is the best GM of the 4 Philly teams.

    It just depends on how you interpret that statement.

  29. 29 GEagle said at 8:43 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    never really stopped to think about it..but Howie very well could be the best GM in Philly. There was a time that we used to hate howie around here

  30. 30 ohitsdom said at 8:36 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Someday.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvdI5tiNe08

  31. 31 TommyLawlor said at 9:49 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    That’s funny. “Tacos made of light…”

  32. 32 A Roy said at 8:51 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    My Stepfather lived his entire life as a Red Sox fan. He died in 2000. Here’s hoping this fate does not befall you, Tommy.

  33. 33 TommyLawlor said at 9:50 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Yeah, I’m hoping to be around long enough to enjoy the title.

  34. 34 A Roy said at 9:55 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Titles! You’re usually the Mr. Positive.

  35. 35 TommyLawlor said at 10:25 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Thanks for the correction.

  36. 36 Ben Hert said at 8:57 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    I could imagine Broad Street being like Wrigley was last night…x50 and a million times rowdier.

    Now thats a crazy thought.

  37. 37 CampDracula said at 9:32 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    “Some people lay in bed and dream of being in a hot tub with Kate Upton or Brad Pitt or whichever stars are the flavor of the month. I’m in that hot tub with Chip Kelly and Bill Davis and we’re discussing the 4-3 Under.”

    Hilarious! And obviously true. Tommy, you’re the man.

  38. 38 GEagle said at 10:18 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    My Hot tub fantasies are Fletcher Cox, Graham,Barwin,Meco,Kendricks…and who doesnt want to be in a hot tub with Clifton Gaethers? I mean thats a given!!!

  39. 39 D3FB said at 3:29 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Is there even any water left in this hot tub?

  40. 40 GEagle said at 8:04 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Hahahahah well played sir, well played!

  41. 41 Jay Austin said at 10:01 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Hilarious…Just like 2 days ago I watched Minority Report. Strange movie, were it not for the scenes which seemed to be lifted directly from the original Total Recall, Minority Report might have been truly phenomenal.
    Here’s hoping that Chip Kelly is more like Ridley Scott (complete with the several remakes and reissues) and less like Verhoeven or Spielberg in his treatment of your future history.

  42. 42 Flyin said at 10:13 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    “There was a verse that I was gonna write
    I haven’t yet but there’s still a chance I might
    An open book that I still wanna close
    I’ll find the time someday I suppose

    A place and time I wanna be and spend
    A storyline that’s happy in the end
    Plans are made with promises, so certainly uncertain
    I can’t wait to set things straight before they close the curtain

    One day
    One day who knows
    Someday
    Someday I suppose”

  43. 43 CalSFro said at 10:25 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    How about, “Do Philly Fans Dream Of Electric Eagles?”

    Philip K. Dick!? I get science fiction AND Eagles talk in the same post? What’s going on here? Next thing I know you’ll be throwing out Vonnegut lines in reference to Jamar Chaney getting turned around in coverage; “So it goes”.

  44. 44 A Roy said at 10:36 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Hopefully, the Eagles will learn the Breakfast of Champions.

  45. 45 TommyLawlor said at 11:55 AM on June 25th, 2013:

    Instead of Billy Pilgrim’s wife yelling about how she’s going to lose weight for him, we could have Brandon Graham and Trent Cole yelling that at Chip Kelly.

    “We’re gonna lose weight just for you Chip Kelly!”

  46. 46 Michael Winter Cho said at 1:15 AM on June 26th, 2013:

    I guess that would make Igglesblitz a kind of karass? (hopefully not a granfalloon)

  47. 47 ACViking said at 12:33 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Re: Someday the Birds Will Fly High

    T-Law:

    I couldn’t resist — for very personal reasons, with the title to your post — quoting in full the lyrics of a song that begins “Somewhere.”

    We’re all hoping that someday where at that somewhere with the Birds and out kids in tow — with the rainbow of victory across the sky:

    Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
    There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby.
    Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
    And the dreams that you dare to dream,
    Really do come true.

    Someday I’ll wish upon a star
    And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
    Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
    High above the chimney tops,

    That’s where you’ll find me.
    Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
    Birds fly over the rainbow
    Why then, oh why can’t I?

    If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
    Why, oh why can’t I?

  48. 48 TommyLawlor said at 4:49 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Classic tune. Although it does have some negative connotations for me. The flying monkeys from that movie scared me as a kid and still make me nervous.

  49. 49 T_S_O_P said at 12:50 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Someday. It’s a dream, but acheivable. Back when you were being spoiled as a kid, I’d seen my Association Football team fall from glory and reach (what I thought) their depths only to see them ascend again in the late 80’s early 90’s. Back then, any team could win the League (akin to the SB), though of course Some teams had dominated for years. Back then Liverpool and Arsenal were the 49ers and Cowboys of their footballing code. However, whereas the NFL introduced a salary cap the Football League became the EPL; whereas NFL teams were compensated for losing good players, the EPL rewarded the teams that finished higher with richer financial recompense; whereas in the NFL I can read a blog entitled ‘Someday’, in the EPL, I could only read one that was titled ‘Never’.

    My team were the last to win the old Football League and had it not been for Bryce Paup (Yes, him again!), it would haven along side the Eagles being reigning World Champions. Bryce Effin Paup! You gotta hate him.

  50. 50 ACViking said at 1:09 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Center David Alexander missed Paup on the A-gap blitz. Alexander never saw him.

    Ironically, Paup was filling in for hold-out rush-LB (and future Eagle) Tim Harris that day. It was Paup’s first — and ONLY — start.of 1991.

    The horror . . . .

  51. 51 Sb2bowl said at 2:02 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    ACV-
    Your facts are hurting me; please stop 🙁
    Now THAT is depressing………

  52. 52 TheRogerPodacter said at 1:01 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Does this mean that I’ve got an unhealthy obsession? I just asked the stack of Eagles media guides that I keep beside my computer and they emphatically said “no”. So there you have it. I’m completely normal.

    uh oh. Tommy is talking to his magazines again. i expect this for the ones with pretty ladies with minimal clothing, but not this!

  53. 53 TheRogerPodacter said at 1:11 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    hey tommy, completely off topic, but wanted to post this here to get your thoughts.

    Remember, the coach can talk to the QB through the headset from the time the play clock starts until it hits 15 (25 seconds total)

    from Sheil’s article at http://www.phillymag.com/eagles/2013/06/25/eagles-wake-up-call-kelce-not-qb-will-set-protection/

    does this fit in with the no huddle / hurry up offense the way i think it does?
    If we are assuming that the O is going to try to get off as many plays as possible as quickly as possible, that would mean that they would NOT be letting the play clock wind down too low between each play. I would also assume that they would be trying to setup before hitting this 15 second window.
    Does that mean that, in theory, the coaching staff could be communicating with the QB before the ball is snapped? is this an advantage for the offense being able to have this communication? (i would also assume that the D gets the same time to talk to their coaching staff)

  54. 54 theycallmerob said at 1:57 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Keep in mind though, Kelce (and to some extent the QB) will have to make some audibles based on the defensive looks. It would be too difficult to try and have all that come through the headset to the QB alone. Remember all the practice with hand signals at the spring camps, with the whole team looking to the sideline immediately?

    Maybe, if a coach in the box (shurmur?) is wearing the headset, he can quickly alert the qb to a defensive switch or missed assignment at the line.

  55. 55 ACViking said at 3:45 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    then the D-coordinator can yell into the helmet of the defense’s signal caller.

    last yell wins.

  56. 56 theycallmerob said at 1:44 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Aye, someday….
    alas, this has been a particularly difficult off-season for me, living down here in Baltimore.

    Are you familiar with the orioles call up SP Kevin Gausman and his love of doughnuts (and what Adam Jones did to his locker)? Similarly, my co-workers left about 6 or 7 dozen purple cupcakes in my office that week. And in my misery, I ate more than I care to admit on this blog

  57. 57 Bob Brewer said at 3:13 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Tell me about it. I kept saying to Ravens fans that losing to the Eagles should have automatically disqualified them from the playoffs. Alas…

  58. 58 TommyLawlor said at 4:50 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Purple cupcakes must be eaten.

  59. 59 DJH said at 2:28 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    For one thing, there would (will) be a lot more Eagles fans. Surprisingly, never having won a SB, the Eagles are in the top ten most popular teams in the league according to at least one poll I’ve seen. Pretty incredible.

  60. 60 ACViking said at 3:30 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Winning a SB will be . . . a relief, more than anything else. I’ll thank God that I lived to see the day. And be very happy for the players and those fans who don’t pull a “Detroit”.

    Then maybe the floodgates will open — as they did for the Steelers after finally winning a SB in ’74 — and the Eagles willl become, if they have a top-shelf QB, like the Patriots. Consistently in the mix for the SB.

    The pain of losing is far more intense and lasts far longer, for me at least, than the euphoria of winning — depending on the context (’01 NFC Title Game loss to Rams told me the Eagles were going to win a SB . . . but it still hasn’t happened).

    1980 SB. Plunkett scrambles to his left and throws an incredible pass just by the arm of Herm Edwards for an 80-yard TD by RB Kenny King. He couldn’t do that again in 100 tries. Cliff Branch out-muscles rookie CB Roynell Young for a TD. Frank Lemaster bites on the slow Plunkett’s jab-step toward the goal-line on 3rd and goal from the two, and Plunkett — from the 5 yard line — throws a TD to Cliff Branch in the area vacated by . BUT WORST OF ALL . . . Harold Carmichael is called for illegal motion (moving left to right in motion, he allegedly turned up field before the snap) on a TD pass from Jaws to Rodney Parker that would have tied the game at 7. That penalty RARELY was called then or now. Then Jaws kept throwing the ball to OLB Rod Martin on the same out pattern to John Spagnola form the 2-TE set. Horrible day. Almost 3 quarters of just starring at the TV and feeling the same sick feeling I feel today about that game.

    Fog Bowl ’88 . . . the Eagles could have won the SB that year. KJax drops a TD. Anthony Toney juggles a TD pass into an INT. The fog ruins the game. Only the Eagles suffer those disasters.

    Tampa ’02. Reid refuses to run the ball. WHY? WHY? (I know, statistically, that — over at Eagles Rewind — the argument’s made that the Eagles ran into a once-in-a-decade defense. I don’t care. That Tampa team was always vulnerable to the run between the tackles. KILLS ME TODAY.

    On the other hand . . . I still feel the euphoria of the Eagles climbing the NFC mountain in ’80 and beating the Cowboys — highlighted by Wilbert Montgomery’s long TD run on the Birds’ second offensive play. The game was over at that moment. Even though the ‘boys tied the score at 7. But from the moment Wilbert scored, it was almost a full game of satisfying woop-ass on Cowboys.

    (And the Cowboys changed the color of their blue jerseys after that game!)
    _____________________
    T-law . . . as my grandmother used to say, “From your mouth to God’s ears.”

    I’m not much on God choosing sides. But if it means a SB for the Eagles, then I see how it would make sense.

  61. 61 TommyLawlor said at 4:52 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Great stuff.

  62. 62 Eagles_Fan_in_San_Fran said at 10:51 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    I’m still convinced it was supposed to be our destiny to win it all in 2008 – DAMN YOU, KURT WARNER!!!

  63. 63 TommyLawlor said at 11:26 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    It really did feel like our year. The whole up and down thing…getting hot at the end. Destiny. Denied.

  64. 64 Arby1 said at 10:52 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Tommy, don’t worry about what you’ll do after the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Because just before the game, instead of the 4 Blue Angel jets flying over, you’ll see in the sky something never seen before and never again, the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Enjoy the game – while it lasts!

  65. 65 TommyLawlor said at 11:25 PM on June 25th, 2013:

    Awesome.We’ll be the final SB champs of all time!

  66. 66 Cafone said at 2:59 AM on June 26th, 2013:

    I assume it’s great for the players. For the fans it’s overrated.

    In any given year, I’d rather see the Eagles knock an NFC East team out of the playoffs or out of the playoff race than see them win a Super Bowl. The taste of victory is never as sweet as the tears of Giants, Cowboys or Redskins fans.

  67. 67 Aleandro green said at 4:48 PM on June 26th, 2013:

    the closes ive come to seeing my team win is the heat (im huge lebron fan) and im sure that would pale in comparison to how i would if the eagles won

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