Random Thoughts before Kickoff...

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Eagles, Cowboys, Monday Night Football. I've told anybody that would listen to me this week that it's too early for this. I'm not ready for a Birds/Cowboys clash in week 2. Why couldn't we do the Cardinals or a quiet AFC match-up. Even a division rival warm up with the Skins or the Giants would have been better for my health and the collective health of our brotherly city.

After we saw a pleasant season opener thrashing of the Rams last week, we have to go straight to a playoff type game. I know as well as anyone that a win doesn't mean we're in the Super Bowl and a loss shouldn't mean the fastest route to the Walt Witman Bridge, but it will seem that way. Yeah, last week was what I would call a perfect game. We won by 35 points, no penalties, no injuries and I didn't swear once. My wife and I both enjoyed a football game. Why can't it be this way every week?

When I think of the Eagles-Cowboys prime-time rivalry I recall many many games and most of them didn't have a happy ending. The Eagles have done well in recent years, but it hardly fades the memories of all those losses to the Cowboys of the nineties.

I've watched many of these games with my Dad and my Uncle Bobby. We've all been long suffering, but at least my Uncle has the comfort of that championship back in 1960. It's been a lot of years since then, but I'm still jealous that he has such a memory.

I remember a game back in '96 when we gathered at my folks place on Sterling Street where I grew up in Wilkes-Barre. My Uncle was in visiting from El Paso. He showed up in his usual Eagles wardrobe, head to toe. New this year though was his inflatable Eagles helmet. I don't see much of these anymore, but they were pretty popular 10 years back. My uncle loved this helmet and was proud to add it to his game-day uniform. Earlier that day, he was transporting the helmet from the car to my Grandmother's house where he was staying. He caught the helmet on the rose bushes out front and his prized helmet deflated before he got to the door.

My Grandmother took out her sewing kit and a First Aid kit and patched the helmet in time for the game that Monday night. He showed up with his repaired baloon helmet and we watched one of the most enjoyable first halves I could remember. The Eagles were leading the Cowboys after so many seasons of losing to them. The tides turned quickly as the second half began with a season ending injury to our quarterback, Rodney Peete and the Birds ended up losing 23-19.

The memory of my Uncle walking back to his car after that game sums up so many Eagles Cowboys games for me. It was dark and I could see him under the one single street lamp on Sterling Street fumbling for his keys. His head was hung low and his patched over-sized inflatable helmet was nearly out of air.