I bleed red, not green
The Phillies got Cliff Lee. The Eagles got Michael Vick.
The Phillies embrace their fans, with Ruben Amaro Jr. out there regularly, on Daily News Live, visiting the TV booth, wherever. And he doesn’t behave like an arrogant, entitled jackass. The Eagles, with Banner, Reid & Co., don’t care what anybody thinks.
The Phillies brought our city a championship. The Eagles are competitive, yes, but have consistently and stubbornly disappointed in the end.
The Phillies are the gold standard. The Eagles just tell us they are.
Yet, as the Phillies make their run this fall at a second straight world title, stealing headlines will be Vick. What a disgrace.
I have my issues with Brett Myers. I’ve ripped him many times on this site. The difference is he was already on the team; the Phillies didn’t seek him out to sign him after he allegedly abused his wife. Also, his wife could choose to leave him at any time, press charges, put him in jail. And if she had, or if the police had more evidence to go on and his crimes were proven in court, the pressure would be on the Phils to cut him loose.
And Myers isn’t the face of the Phillies. Vick will now be inextricably linked with the Eagles and Philadelphia, thank you very much.
For years this was a football town, partly because of a love of football, and partly because we thought the Eagles were our best shot at a title. But they didn’t deliver. Now they’re desperate, and Reid is desperate. So the current regime took it upon itself, without any sense of accountability to the community or to a large segment of its loyally paying fanbase, to bring in the most hated athlete in America and put him in Eagles green.
If you don’t like it, too bad. The Eagles brass, Donovan McNabb, Roger Goodell and Tony Dungy think you should just get over it. Suck it up, accept it, keep investing your time as a fan, keep buying tickets at the predominantly publicly funded stadium, keep paying for parking and jerseys and $11 beers. The Birds are the only big-time football in town, so put up or shut up. To the Eagles, your concerns are nothing more than a measured risk.
I bleed red, not green. Red for the Phillies, and red because I’m a human being before I’m a football fan.
I’m with you. The Eagles don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re accountable to our whole region. Vick may have talent, but signing him is an embarrassment. If they don’t win the SB this year ot at least get there, I think Reid and Vick might both be gone. And if they do win, then I question at what price? Why would you betray an entire segment of your fans?