For the Ages

for the ages

22 years.

Count 'em. Two decades and change. To be honest, I can't even remember that far back.

22 years.

What do I remember? I remember Vermeil, vaguely. Then, nothing until Marion Campbell. Then Buddy Ryan, then that other idiot, then Ray Rhodes, and now Andy Reid.

I remember Jaworski, then nobody until Randall Cunningham. Then it was Rodney Peete. Ty Detmer. Bobby Hoying. Bubby Brister. Rumors of maybe Rich Gannon. Never Happened. Doug Pederson. Donovan McNabb. Throw in Koy Detmer and A.J. Feeley just for fun.

22 years. The Phillies won in 80, and went back in '83. The Sixers won in '83. The Flyers went in '83. '87. and '97, but couldn't do it.

Couldn't do it. That's the worst part.

What do we remember from 22 years ago?

Losing. We lost. 22 years later that taste is still stuck in the back of our throats.

Mike Quick couldn't do it. Keith Byars couldn't do it. Ty Detmer couldn't do it. Reggie White couldn't do it.

One more game to get there. Two more to change that godawful taste in our mouths.

And there are people out there who dare say that it's just a game?

Tell that to Dick Vermeil, who quit for thirteen years before coming back. Tell that to Mitch Williams. Tell that to Ron Hextall and Garth Snow. Tell that to Charles Barkley. Tell that to Donovan McNabb. He knows the taste. Granted it's not as sour for him as it is for the rest of us. He only knows the taste of losing a conference championship game. We remember the taste of losing the big dance.

22 years. Dear God, you can feel it in your bones. Every time you see green. Every time you hear anyone mention the superbowl, that number rings through your head. 22.

Since they started calling it the superbowl, we've only been there once. We lost that game. What happens if we get there again? You hear over and over again how horrible Philadelphia fans are. We're not that bad, we're just that hungry. Can you blame us? Can you blame us any more than you blame the Buffalo fan who can't even watch football anymore because they're too shell-shocked?? Sure, the pressure is high. But that's just because we still remember that taste. We still sting from a defeat that happened 22 years ago.

The Eagles may not win on Sunday. Every team feels that destiny is on their side. Green Bay did, I'm sure. Cleveland, even, probably felt some sort of karma. San Francisco had a huge chip knocked off of their shoulder after beating New York, and the Jets thought they could beat anybody.

History says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will lose here on Sunday because they always lose here. History can go fuck itself. The Bucs will lose here because the Eagles will beat them, fair and square.But then what?

In a town like this, you wonder which will inspire the more extreme reaction - winning, or losing? Honestly, in a town that has had to sit on a painful loss for 22 years, the reaction will be the same either way.

22 years.

Jesus Christ, I've gone out with women younger than that.

22 years. Win or lose, you'll be able to hear us no matter how far away you are.