The new just came out that the Eagles signed former Seahawks FB Leonard Weaver to a 1-year "show me" contract. It appears the Eagles finally addressed a roster spot that has sorely lacking and woefully unproductive for the Eagles Offense...they've lacked a real blocking FB since Jon Ritchie, and the guys that have assumed the role, has mostly sucked...(That said, I thought Kyle Eckel did a good job in the second half of last year, and I was more than willing to give the guy a crack at the full-time gig after a full off-season of preparation).
So the Birds have added an OL (Andrews - brother of Shawn), a couple of safeties (take assume the roster spot vacated by Brian Dawkins and Sean Considine.... notice I didn't say replace...Dawk's departure leaves a void no FA can fill), and now a FB.
The thing is - nearly every Eagles player who has become a free agent this year has left the team. The lone exception was Joselio Hanson, but he signed a long-term deal before the FA period started. Everyone else who has tested the waters has flown the nest. And the Eagles has essential made NO attempt to keep any of them. It is quite understandable in the case of Sean Considine and LJ Smith...they've been ready to walk the Green Mile out the door for a couple of years now. And I think the Birds have decided an injection of youth is necessary at the OT position. They did not pursue long-time stalwart LT Tra Thomas at all. The possibility of resigning bookend RT Jon Runyan remains, though it seems quite remote given his ongoing recovery from microfracture knee surgery. If I was a betting man - Runyan will not be back. If the Eagles are willing to let Dawkins go, then you can tell they simply are not going to place much emphasis on locker-room leadership, etc.
And I think that is the thing that burns most of us fans. Letting Dawkins even GET to FREE AGENCY, when the team is literally awash in cap room. Would it really have hurt the bottom line that much to give the guy a decent offer prior to the FA period and preventing his departure from ever even having a chance of occurring? Would it really have been so bad to give the fans that one exception -- that ONE STINKING example of how there is more than just a straight bottom-line to this business that is the NFL, but which has grown to become part of the psyche of all Philly fans? I mean, for Chrissakes, even the Phillies went out this off-season and kept the team together....
Of course I will want the Birds to win, but I want them to win with DAWK, not without him. And the Broncos?? Fuck, the Broncos aren't going anywhere. B-Dawk is going to squander away the last few years of his playing career being part of some "building process" in Denver, instead of trying to get over the hump with the Eagles. That sucks...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
To Kill an American
Not sure if this a true, I haven't verified it on Snopes.com, but you know what, whether it really was written by a Australian Dentist or not: IT IS TRUE
Written by an Australian Dentist:
To Kill an American
You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
'An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American is Christian , or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11 , 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo , and Stalin , and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself . Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Written by an Australian Dentist:
To Kill an American
You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
'An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American is Christian , or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11 , 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo , and Stalin , and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself . Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
B-Dawk has flown the coop to Denver
My all-time favorite Eagles player is no longer an Eagle.
It hasn't quite sunk in yet. I'm a bit mad, a bit out-raged, and more than a little bit saddened.
Brian Dawkins WAS the Eagles. He was the epitome of what a football player should be and how they should conduct themselves both on AND off the field.
It would be a lot easier to take if Dawk was retiring, but the idea that he's still going to keep playing, just elsewhere, is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.
Do I begrudge the Eagles for letting him go? Yep, sure do. Do I hate the fact that money ruled the day and the business-side of the NFL reared its often ugly head? Yep, sure do. Do I think the Eagles are going to regret letting him go? Yep, sure do. Will I still keep rooting for the Birds? Yep, sure will.
Look I recognize that Dawk was more of situational player at this point in his career. I do. Its not like this D is losing a player in his prime, when Brian Dawkins was the predecessor to today's greats like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. Fuck, Dawkins, under JJ's guidance, re-invented what it meant to be a safety in the NFL. Does that mean the Eagles D won't be able to recover? No, it sure doesn't. The primary thing the Eagles must find with his departure is leadership and passion. There are few leaders with Dawkins charisma and presence in the NFL. That's why he's worth the money. Not the stats. Still, as uncomfortable as I was in 2007 and early 2008 watching Dawkins play, but just not quite be the same "B-Dawk", I was ecstatic to see his resurgence and gutsy play for the most of 2008. As a few of the writers said, its primarily because JJ decided to modify Dawkins role, and use him closer to the line, more of a Rodney Harrison run-support guy. Brian could still make some plays in the D-backfield, but even a staunch supporter like me knows, deep down, as much as I hate to admit it. He is no longer a sideline to sideline guided missile. He's an adequate pass defender these days, not the roving play-making machine that we all grew to love.
All that said. Given the Eagles cap room. I'd have paid him. and I think that is far and away the majority sentiment for Philly fans. Its one thing if you don't have the space and have to make tough choices and let folks get away. Its another to be sitting on big pile of room, and not commit the $$$ to keep perhaps the greatest defensive player to ever don an Eagles uniform, and if he's not, then Reggie White is, and Brian Dawkins is #2.
It hasn't quite sunk in yet. I'm a bit mad, a bit out-raged, and more than a little bit saddened.
Brian Dawkins WAS the Eagles. He was the epitome of what a football player should be and how they should conduct themselves both on AND off the field.
It would be a lot easier to take if Dawk was retiring, but the idea that he's still going to keep playing, just elsewhere, is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.
Do I begrudge the Eagles for letting him go? Yep, sure do. Do I hate the fact that money ruled the day and the business-side of the NFL reared its often ugly head? Yep, sure do. Do I think the Eagles are going to regret letting him go? Yep, sure do. Will I still keep rooting for the Birds? Yep, sure will.
Look I recognize that Dawk was more of situational player at this point in his career. I do. Its not like this D is losing a player in his prime, when Brian Dawkins was the predecessor to today's greats like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. Fuck, Dawkins, under JJ's guidance, re-invented what it meant to be a safety in the NFL. Does that mean the Eagles D won't be able to recover? No, it sure doesn't. The primary thing the Eagles must find with his departure is leadership and passion. There are few leaders with Dawkins charisma and presence in the NFL. That's why he's worth the money. Not the stats. Still, as uncomfortable as I was in 2007 and early 2008 watching Dawkins play, but just not quite be the same "B-Dawk", I was ecstatic to see his resurgence and gutsy play for the most of 2008. As a few of the writers said, its primarily because JJ decided to modify Dawkins role, and use him closer to the line, more of a Rodney Harrison run-support guy. Brian could still make some plays in the D-backfield, but even a staunch supporter like me knows, deep down, as much as I hate to admit it. He is no longer a sideline to sideline guided missile. He's an adequate pass defender these days, not the roving play-making machine that we all grew to love.
All that said. Given the Eagles cap room. I'd have paid him. and I think that is far and away the majority sentiment for Philly fans. Its one thing if you don't have the space and have to make tough choices and let folks get away. Its another to be sitting on big pile of room, and not commit the $$$ to keep perhaps the greatest defensive player to ever don an Eagles uniform, and if he's not, then Reggie White is, and Brian Dawkins is #2.
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