About | Shop | FAQ | Polls | Contact

Have been doing a lot of reminiscing lately about the Buddy Ryan years, what with Rex in the playoffs with the other green team.  It’s funny how fondly we all look back on those days now, even though at the time there were a lot of things to gripe about.  Makes me think how much everybody’s going to miss Reid, McNabb and going to the playoffs every year when we eventually hit a serious downturn.   Ah yes but it’s so much easier to remember Reggie and Jerome and Seth and to forget about things like…

• Never winning a playoff game  (fog bowl still boils my blood)

• The complete lack of a running game (it being a big deal when Keith Byars managed a 4 yard run)

• The complete lack of an offensive line (Antone Davis anyone?  Ooo and Mike Schad!)

• Ditto pretty much every aspect of our team except for the defense and the QB

Ahh yes, that defense.  I still believe firmly it’s the best defense in the history of the league, but what the hell do I know.

Anyway, the point of this post was to tell a little story that I think I may have already told, but it’s awesome so here it is again.

Buddy's Watchin' You!

So I was at training camp, on that shitty practice field they used to have next to the Vet, with my Pop Pop.  This must have been 1990, a year or two before Jerome died.   It was the golden era of Gang Green, everybody was there: Erik Allen, Seth, Clyde, Wes, Andre, Reggie, Jerome.   The coolest thing is that you could just literally wander around among the guys as they were practicing.  It was such a loose atmosphere– Keith Byars would be catching passes from Matt Cavanaugh and you’d have to jump out of the way.

So we’re standing there at one point, and Buddy goes walking past us towards the porta-potties.  He goes inside, and I look over and see Jerome and Reggie standing there watching him and whispering to each other.  When Buddy closes the door, the two of them sneak over to the porta-potty, each one gets on one of the sides, and they start shaking the unholy shit out of the thing, with Buddy inside.  This is like 700 pounds of awesome Eagles defensive muscle literally rocking the shit out of Buddy while he’s stuck inside this stinky plastic box.  And at this point EVERYBODY is watching and giggling: players, coaches and fans, because they all know who’s inside.

After a good 15 second shake-up, Reggie and Jerome run off and hide in a big pack of green jerseys, and suddenly the door to the porta-potty busts open and Buddy comes stumbling out.  He looks around, wild-eyed, for the culprit, and suddenly you hear Jerome just completely crack up.  The whole place loses it, Buddy included.  It was fuckin’ awesome.  Those dudes all really loved each other, it was such a nice atmosphere.

I think we need to make a BRING IT HOME FOR JEROME shirt.

1) I’m a big Vikings fan this morning.  But only this morning.  Then I’m going Saints.  Those guys down there deserve one.

2) One positive of the way our season ended (I know it’s a stretch calling this a positive, but it is kindof true):  At least we’ve got some new (and very real) fuel for the Boys-Birds rivalry.  Things were getting a bit boring and one-sided for the last 10 years if you think about it.  We need to get back to the days when there was a real chance our head coaches would get into an actual fist fight.

3) For all the McNabb/Reid/Lurie haters and Birds conspiracy theorists: “Sometimes, people, an insufficient pass rush and a fractured O-line are exactly and only what they appear to be.” This is a very, very smart quote from Ahab on philly.com in response to a very, very shitty article by John Gonzalez.  Wonderful point, Ahab.  Why people feel the need to shift blame away from the real reasons why our season fell apart and toward the typical McNabb/Reid/Lurie blame-game totally escapes me.  Maybe because it takes a small amount of focus and concentration to actually think about why our team was having trouble (see #4), while it’s a lot easier and less time-consuming to just follow the “I hate McNabb because he smiles” gut reaction.

4) It’s a lot easier to stomach these losses when you take a second to understand why they happen.  A lot of it is just luck, ladies and gentlemen: as in, injuries to your starting MLB and center.  Find me a super bowl winning team who lost their starting MLB and center.  It’s just that simple.  But I guess it’s McNabb’s fault that Stew Bradley tore his ACL.

5) Thick and thin guys, thick and thin.  And try to keep in mind, there’s been quite a lot of thick in the past ten years.  And no, not this Thicke:

Just found these two items today for Ye Olde Philavania Vintage Shoppe… they came from different places but they’re basically the same design and they’re both from the Birds’ first Super Bowl year.  Maybe I’m just grasping for positive signs, but I’m filing this one in the “POSITIVE OMEN” category.

Birds in the Super Bowl?  It’s happened before folks, it could happen again…

NFC Champs?

PS: This shirt is off the hook awesome.  We paid and arm and a leg for it, but whoever ends up with it is gonna be a real proud bird.

Whoa whoa whoa–NOT COOL for the Twins to play Philadelphia’s own “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” after they won tonight. NOT COOL.

That’s a Philly song, not a freakin’ Minnesota song. Everybody’s knows about Philly Soul– “Minnesota Soul” is like a fat swedish guy with pigtails yodeling in the snow.

Now I hope the Phillies play the Twins in the World Series and win in Philly and play that shit in OUR HOUSE and rub it in their faces.

Stupid Minnesotan song co-opting a-holes…

This stat came from tonight’s MNF game, but it goes a long way to explaining why I’m baffled by people who complain about McNabb.  Here’s what happened to the following teams after they lost their big time franchise QB…

DOLPHINS SINCE DAN MARINO:
- 14 Different starting QBs
- 1-3 Playoff record

COWGIRLS SINCE TROY AIKMAN:
- 10 Different starting QBs
- 0-3 Playoff record

BRONCOS SINCE JOHN ELWAY:
- 9 Different starting QBs
- 1-2 Playoff record

49ERS SINCE STEVE YOUNG:
- 9 Different starting QBs
- 1-2 Playoff record

BILLS SINCE JIM KELLY:
- 8 Different starting QBs
- 0-2 Playoff record

Point is: when you’ve got somebody who wins games, who wins PLAYOFF games (yeah yeah but not Super Bowls, but lots and lots of regular season & playoff games), thinking you can just replace him and continue with the same level of success is kindof nuts.  Not kindof nuts, it IS nuts.

You’re nuts, McNabb haters.

PS: Did yous guys see how DeSean puked after his flipped out touchdown?  Think he’s a pussy?

Watched Rocky II yesterday, hadn’t seen it in a long time. It’s pretty awesome, and not just because Rock wins in this one. We might just have to some Rocky inspired t-shirts, there were a few ridiculously awesome warm up shirts they were wearing in the movie, and this amazing poster hanging in the Spectrum that would be insanely cool on a t-shirt…

Superfight Philadelphia

Rock Loves Mick

Yo Adrien, I did it!

“Larry Johnson says in the book “Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception and Death” that he watched an Alcor official swing a monkey wrench at Williams’ frozen severed head to try to remove a tuna can stuck to it. The first swing accidentally struck the head, Johnson contends, and the second knocked the tuna can loose.”
A TUNA CAN??? Wow.

Fightin’ Phils win their 3rd consecutive NL East title!
Gotta admit, we teared up when they brought Brad Lidge in for the last out. That was one classy move, Cholly.  Aw man now they’re playing Harry singing “High Hopes” while I’m typing this!!!   I gotta go cry.  Remember Philadelphia: sometimes it feels good to be happy.

Looks like the birds brought in Jeremiah Trotter yesterday for a workout! If anything I’d love to just see him on the sidelines one more time. Oh and a bonecrushing tackle on Eli wouldn’t be bad either. Yeah yeah we know he’s old, but he’s had a year off so maybe his knees are feeling better. Anyway we could use the help. Now we just have to get Dawk back…

Here’s the quote from Big Red:
“I just wanted to see where he was at. I wanted to see him move around a little bit, which I thought he did a good job with,” Reid said. “I haven’t made any decisions on it. I think he felt a little better physically than he did last time when he was here.”

Trott, back in the Birds Nest?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“Winning is for the Birds”
Philadelphia Sports Fan Launches Philavania.com
Website Offers Locally-Made Philly Sports and Culture T-Shirts

Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2009 – Philavania, a company selling original Philadelphia sports T-shirts and apparel, launched its new website at Philavania.com this month. Started by a Bucks County, PA native and life-long Philadelphia sports fan, the site is dedicated to the teams, fans and unique culture of the city of Philadelphia.

Winning is for the Birds
Philavania was born when founder Charles Peacock spotted a T-shirt worn by a character in the 2006 film “Invincible.” Remembering the shirt from his youth, Peacock felt that that its slogan, “Winning is for the Birds,” perfectly exemplified the heartbreakingly passionate duality of being a Philly sports fan.

Peacock trademarked the phrase and began selling shirts emblazoned with this motto on his website. Without any marketing efforts, word got out and the shirt became an instant hit, inspiring Peacock to create new designs based on his favorite teams and Philly-area culture.

“I’ve been going to Eagles games with my dad and grandfather since I was six years old, so my love for Philadelphia sports runs deep,” Peacock says. “It feels so great when people find our site and get as excited about the shirts as we are.”

Visitors to Philavania.com can find such designs as the “Utley/Victorino ‘08″ campaign shirt, an “Outtaheeeere!” tribute to the late Phillies announcer Harry Kalas, as well shirts parodying the rival teams Philly fans love to hate (some designs, like some Philly sports fans, aren’t for the faint of heart).

“We get our ideas from reading the Philly sports pages, from fan suggestions, and above all from thinking of slogans that we’d love to wear out to a bar or to the game.” In addition to sports-related concepts, Philavania also focuses on local culture and inside jokes, with shirts that parody the peculiar Philadelphia accent (“Lats Gew Floyers,” and “Om frum Philulphyuh”) and others that celebrate the area’s unique foods and beloved landmarks and brands. Philavania has also begun teaming up with “locally famous” companies, restaurants and schools to produce licensed Philavania T-shirts that spread the love for their brands.

Proudly Made in Pennsylvania
Backing up their focus on local pride, Philavania is able to boast that their shirts are 100% made in Pennsylvania–a real rarity in today’s world of overseas apparel manufacturing and outsourcing. “Doing everything in Pennsylvania is more expensive than buying from China or South America,” says Peacock, “but it’s worth it to us. We want to be able to support the local economy, and we were lucky enough to find partners in PA with fantastic quality shirts that our customers love.” The blank T-shirts Philavania uses for its designs are produced by Royal Apparel of Allentown, PA, and the screen printing is all done by hand in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia.

Local Audience, Global Reach
Philavania’s target audience is born and raised in the Philadelphia area, but that doesn’t mean Peacock isn’t seeing sales worldwide.

“Anyone who knows this city knows that our fans have a fierce loyalty to their teams and their home,” Peacock says. “Even when people move away from the area, they still bleed green. We get tons of orders from people all over the country, and have even shipped shirts overseas to troops in Iraq and Philly expats living in Europe and Asia. That’s what Philavania is all about–it’s a meeting place for people who love this city that reaches far beyond the borders of the Delaware Valley.”

As if to prove the point, Peacock recounts a story that exemplifies the passion and breadth of Philly-sports love. “I was in Europe visiting family when the Phils made it to the World Series,” Peacock remembers. “It kindof broke my heart not to be there, and I was watching the games online at three in the morning. When game five was suspended, I checked the weather in Philly and realized that if the game was delayed long enough I might be able to make it home for the bottom of the 6th.” Much to the amusement of his European hosts, Peacock changed his return flight, arriving in Philly hours before the resumption of the game. Unable to get a ticket, however, he stood outside the gates at Citizen’s Bank Park with other diehard fans and listened to Harry Kalas call the last innings. “I did manage to sneak in right at the end,” Peacock remembers with a smile. “I must be the only person in history to watch the first few innings of a baseball game from Europe, and then actually be there to witness the last out in person.”

To celebrate the launch of the new site, Philavania is giving away a free T-shirt for every 100 fans that join their Facebook page. In just a few short weeks, the page has already garnered thousands of fans. Philavania pride is alive and well.