Redeem Team

New Edition

"Won't you help to sing...these songs of freedom..."

Bob Marley - Redemption Song

As the NFL season shifts gears from training camp to the preseason...a lot of talk has been about Tom Brady and his return from injury...however there is another quarterback that didn't play last year...and he has dominated his fair share of headlines too.

Thriller

I have always said that sports are a mirror of life, and nothing proves that statement more than the unpredictable Philadelphia Eagles signing of Michael Vick. The home team just gave Donovan McNabb a healthy extension on his contact, so to the untrained eye...the new acquisition makes zero sense. However it's quite to contrary and here are a few reason why:

• Backup QB Kevin Kolb was drafted in 2007, and while he was given a few key opportunities to shine...he has yet to pan out, as a reliable 2nd or 3rd string. To add a strain of difficultly to this scenario...he was injured recently towards the end of training camp.
• Donovan McNabb is and will be the main guy in Philadelphia...however if he gets hurt during a game, or has to miss games due to injury...then having Vick on the bench to fill in, is a great insurance policy for this team's high powered West Coast Offense.
• Vick will serve a suspension to start the season, so he will have time to learn the plays, fellowship with his teammates, and get comfortable being in his own skin, as he gets readjusted to life in the NFL.
• Life is about change, as it is one of the more constant things in this world...so for Michael Vick, who I believe can still play and excel on a high level...will have McNabb to learn from, and a team that played in the NFC Championship last season to add to.

This is a good sign for what is yet to come from the Eagles, and the silky smooth, left handed, hurler from Virgina...Michael Vick.

Sunset

Genius

"A man dies, a baby is born..."

50 Cent - Ryder Music

The Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson succumbed to his battle with cancer today.

Defensive Minded

Earlier today I was hanging with one of my friends, Lorenzo Booker...I hadn't seen him since the NFC Championship, so after catching up and making plans to hang out before the season starts, I had no idea that a few hours later, I'd text with him about the death of Coach Jim Johnson.

I'm going to keep this post short, as it just really goes to show you how precious life really is. Please tell your family and close ones how important they are, and how much you love them in words and actions.

The Eagles will remember Coach this season, as he has been the mastermind behind the defense that has been ranked tops in the NFL during his tenure in South Philly.

The Buffalo Syndrome

'Mo Betta Blues

“The Buffalo Soldiers, dredlock Rasta’s...”

Lauren Hill – Ready Or Not

The Philadelphia Eagles will enter their 5th NFC Championship game (6th in team history) within the last 8 years, and what’s more surprising than the Eagles opportunity at a Super Bowl berth...is the fact that they will face the Arizona Cardinals.

Bridesmaid, never the bride

The Eagles tied the Bengals (week 11), and lost to the Ravens (week 12), while the Cardinals lost 4 of their last 5 games of the regular season, as no one saw this day approaching, and that’s why the NFL is so great...especially this year. The two teams did meet in Philly, during a week 13, battle of the Birds, on Thanksgiving, with the Eagles prevailing 48-20. The Eagles are the favorite to advance this Sunday, but if they lose either the NFC Championship game or the Super Bowl, then they will qualify for an infamous title, that only the Buffalo Bills fans could understand. Misery loves company, so I wouldn’t be surprised if their fans welcomed Eagles revelers with open arms.

So how tortured are the fans that cheer in the frozen artic of Ralph Wilson Stadium...to put it simply, it’s like being a Red Sox fan circa October 1986. The Bills were a superb team in their days of AFL supremacy, winning back to back titles in ’64, and ’65...prior to the AFL/NFL merger. Since those glory days of yesteryear they returned to a quasi state of prominence beginning in 1990.

Buffalo won the AFC Championship in 1990, 1991, 1992, and again in 1993, however in these four straight trips to the big show, they came up empty each and every time...making their dominance over the AFC, more of a late night talk show hosts’ joke, than any point of strength.

The Atlanta Braves had their fair share of World Series let downs; however they earned their respect from the sports world, by winning it all in 1995 over the Cleveland Indians. The Eagles can equally erase the losses of their past, by winning a Super Bowl within this Andy Reid/Donovan McNabb era. Like the Bills, the Eagles have never won the BIG game, as they boast 2 NFC Championship Trophies, and 3 NFL Championships, ’48, ’49, and ’60. The first Super Bowl was played 7 years later on January 15, 1967, thus diminishing the luster of the Eagles’ 3 NFL Championships.

In life and in sport, things don’t always work out the way they should, but all the ‘Birds (Eagles) have to do, is win...it sounds easy, but it’s not.

Any loss within the next two games would prove to be quite the conundrum. The expectations in the City of Brotherly Love are high, after the Eagles did the impossible by not only making the playoffs, but they have beaten the defending champions, as well as the Minnesota Vikings. The Phillies sparked the retro feelings of 1980, and with victories in the next two games, the Eagles can bring to fruition, what was once a childhood dream.
These are interesting times, as a new President will take office next week, and Philadelphia could possibly emerge as TITLETOWN USA.