Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Where Do Philadelphia Eagles Fans Come From? Part 2 of 5
I had no idea how quickly this answer would come to me. Part one consisted of, boyish dreams, new-found identity, a new group of heros, and immediate success with a football team. Part two would be a rude awakening.
It doesn't take much of a "fan" to suffer through great success. In fact, here in Vegas, we have a name for people that always bet the favorites: Frontrunners. Most young fans start out this way, and I was no different. However, the rite of passage into ANY fan base, would have to be the endurance of defeat and undying support in the face of failure.
At 14 years of age, I would find myself completing this 'rite' right away.
The 1981 season had a few upsides, my new team would go 6-0 right out of the gate and although the 'dynasty' tag was not really thrown around in those days, there were a lot of Eagles believers back then. Wilbert Montgomery would have one of the best seasons of his career, rushing for 1400 yds and receiving another 500+ yds.We also boasted the #1 Defense led by 3rd year linebacker Jerry Robinson. Jerry Sisemore was the lone representative of the offense that year in the pro bowl. Defensively, Jerry Robinson, Frank Lemaster, Charlie Johnson, and Roynell young would all make trips to the Pro Bowl. However, long before the season ended, my Eagles' season ended.
Mid season, it all started to come unraveled. The Eagles would lose 6 of their last 10 games to finish 10-6 and then, only to be eliminated in the playoffs by the dreaded and all-evil Giants (with a defense led by a rookie kid named 'Lawrence Taylor'). It was a deflating end. The offense was snubbed in the pro bowl despite having the 4th best rusher (and 4th best offense) in the league.
My old Raiders buddy who was wallowing in the joy of a Superbowl victory over my team, was now bitterly enduring a 7-9 season. The team name-calling began. Just about any derogatory reference for homosexual was retro-fitted to the name Philadelphia, normally, I suppose I would have caved and safely move on to a team that was winning at the time Cincinnati? San Francisco? I couldn't do it. For some reason, the childhood attacks galvanized my support for the team. I survived the onslaught and would utter 5 words for the first time (of many times): "Just wait till next year".
Now, as a fledgling NFL fan, I didn't know much about draft prospects or anything even close to that. But I knew that our pick #20 was not the best position to be picking from, and the guy we got, was named "Mike Quick" and repeatedly I heard announcers say, "His name is Quick, but he is anything but quick". Little would I know that this 1st round pick would be my only bright light in the dark cave of the seasons that would immediately follow.
Start of the 1982 season 1 loss and 1 win, then, end of the 1982 season. The strike would shorten that year to 9 games only. My beloved Eagles, who I SWORE would be back in 1982, came back from the strike to go 2-5, end up with a 3-6 record, and find themselves eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in 4 years. What went wrong? Its hard to say. The coaching staff would claim, correctly, that the Eagles never really played good football from the middle of the 1981 season. Dick Vermeil, my new hero, would quit and utter a phrase that would become a mainstream idiom, he claimed he was "burned out".
Out came the detractors, more childhood name calling, and for me, I just learned to ignore it. I blamed it on the weird strike and guaranteed this team would be back next year! (There I go again)
By this time, I was nearly 15 and had abandoned my 7childish' plastic helmet collection. Gone was the paper route, now I had moved up to mowing lawns, digging ditches, and caring for plants at a plant store. Yep, I was big time, making a grand total of $3 an hour 6 hours a week! It was around this time that I began to invest myself in the Eagles even more. I began to collect football cards like a insane little teenager. My family was poor during those years and I wish I could say that I saved every penny and then hurriedly scampered to the 7-11 to buy some Topps football cards, but unfortunately, my youth was not quite Brady Bunch material. In reality, I bought as many as I could honestly, the rest I "borrowed" with all the integrity of a Las Vegas teenager. Not the brightest moment of my childhood. But within a short time I would go fully legit. In those days, we didn't have the internet with databasefootball.com or nfl.com to get our info. Most kids kept informed from the backs of these chipboard cheapie football cards. I was no different. I had fully immersed myself in the stats, records, and trivia that comprised the Philadelphia Eagles.
The time for my team was dark and only getting darker but strangely, I had developed a trait that Eagles fans have come to know well, and that is "resolve".
Where do Eagles fans come from? They arise during times of plenty, but ultimately are strengthened during times of want.
Part 3 will cover the plunge to rock bottom and strange hope that a cantankerous defensive coordinator and 2nd round draft pick would bring to the City of Brotherly Love.
It doesn't take much of a "fan" to suffer through great success. In fact, here in Vegas, we have a name for people that always bet the favorites: Frontrunners. Most young fans start out this way, and I was no different. However, the rite of passage into ANY fan base, would have to be the endurance of defeat and undying support in the face of failure.
At 14 years of age, I would find myself completing this 'rite' right away.
The 1981 season had a few upsides, my new team would go 6-0 right out of the gate and although the 'dynasty' tag was not really thrown around in those days, there were a lot of Eagles believers back then. Wilbert Montgomery would have one of the best seasons of his career, rushing for 1400 yds and receiving another 500+ yds.We also boasted the #1 Defense led by 3rd year linebacker Jerry Robinson. Jerry Sisemore was the lone representative of the offense that year in the pro bowl. Defensively, Jerry Robinson, Frank Lemaster, Charlie Johnson, and Roynell young would all make trips to the Pro Bowl. However, long before the season ended, my Eagles' season ended.
Mid season, it all started to come unraveled. The Eagles would lose 6 of their last 10 games to finish 10-6 and then, only to be eliminated in the playoffs by the dreaded and all-evil Giants (with a defense led by a rookie kid named 'Lawrence Taylor'). It was a deflating end. The offense was snubbed in the pro bowl despite having the 4th best rusher (and 4th best offense) in the league.
My old Raiders buddy who was wallowing in the joy of a Superbowl victory over my team, was now bitterly enduring a 7-9 season. The team name-calling began. Just about any derogatory reference for homosexual was retro-fitted to the name Philadelphia, normally, I suppose I would have caved and safely move on to a team that was winning at the time Cincinnati? San Francisco? I couldn't do it. For some reason, the childhood attacks galvanized my support for the team. I survived the onslaught and would utter 5 words for the first time (of many times): "Just wait till next year".
Now, as a fledgling NFL fan, I didn't know much about draft prospects or anything even close to that. But I knew that our pick #20 was not the best position to be picking from, and the guy we got, was named "Mike Quick" and repeatedly I heard announcers say, "His name is Quick, but he is anything but quick". Little would I know that this 1st round pick would be my only bright light in the dark cave of the seasons that would immediately follow.
Start of the 1982 season 1 loss and 1 win, then, end of the 1982 season. The strike would shorten that year to 9 games only. My beloved Eagles, who I SWORE would be back in 1982, came back from the strike to go 2-5, end up with a 3-6 record, and find themselves eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in 4 years. What went wrong? Its hard to say. The coaching staff would claim, correctly, that the Eagles never really played good football from the middle of the 1981 season. Dick Vermeil, my new hero, would quit and utter a phrase that would become a mainstream idiom, he claimed he was "burned out".
Out came the detractors, more childhood name calling, and for me, I just learned to ignore it. I blamed it on the weird strike and guaranteed this team would be back next year! (There I go again)
By this time, I was nearly 15 and had abandoned my 7childish' plastic helmet collection. Gone was the paper route, now I had moved up to mowing lawns, digging ditches, and caring for plants at a plant store. Yep, I was big time, making a grand total of $3 an hour 6 hours a week! It was around this time that I began to invest myself in the Eagles even more. I began to collect football cards like a insane little teenager. My family was poor during those years and I wish I could say that I saved every penny and then hurriedly scampered to the 7-11 to buy some Topps football cards, but unfortunately, my youth was not quite Brady Bunch material. In reality, I bought as many as I could honestly, the rest I "borrowed" with all the integrity of a Las Vegas teenager. Not the brightest moment of my childhood. But within a short time I would go fully legit. In those days, we didn't have the internet with databasefootball.com or nfl.com to get our info. Most kids kept informed from the backs of these chipboard cheapie football cards. I was no different. I had fully immersed myself in the stats, records, and trivia that comprised the Philadelphia Eagles.
The time for my team was dark and only getting darker but strangely, I had developed a trait that Eagles fans have come to know well, and that is "resolve".
Where do Eagles fans come from? They arise during times of plenty, but ultimately are strengthened during times of want.
Part 3 will cover the plunge to rock bottom and strange hope that a cantankerous defensive coordinator and 2nd round draft pick would bring to the City of Brotherly Love.
Monday, August 11, 2008
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