Wha happen?

Whoa.

After a week of cool down, an Eagles victory, and the realization that this year's NFL season is unpredictably weird, I almost feel like taking back some of the things I said last week.

Obviously that's not going to happen. Honestly though, what teams in the NFL are good anymore? The Chiefs are leading the AFC West. The mediocre Cowboys lead the NFC East. There are divisions that are unmentionable altogether. I can only list three or four teams that are definitely good.

All things considered, however, the Eagles might not be as bad as I previously thought.

Scratch that. They are horrible. The other teams they play might be worse than I expected, which makes the Eagles look good. This season might truly be a toss-up. McNabb actually looked a little better on Sunday, against a Viking defense that isn't horrible. Interesting games abound on the remaining schedule, and hopefully #5 continues to get back in some sort of a stride. If you were to make any sort of prognostication on NFC playoffs right now, I'd say you either work for ESPN and get paid to make stupid comments, or you just don't get it. I'm so confused.

Is this the end of an era?

Remember in preseason when everyone was predicting at least nine wins for the Eagles, and most put it over ten?

Man, that just seems crazy now. Clearly this team has major issues, both now, and in the future. It's tough to say whether or not they can recover in the short term, under this management, but I for one am fairly hopeful for the next decade or so. Beyond that, it's clearly ridiculous to postulate.

But, another hypothetical question must be asked. If they don't pull this season out (which seems highly unlikely at this point), is the good-Reid era over, and soon to be replaced by the bad-Reid era? Will he be fired?

I don't think Lurie has shown that he's the type to fire Andy Reid. I think he should...I think most sensible people do. And honestly, while this team isn't quite at "blow up" level, I think some serious re-thinking needs to be done, offensively and defensively. Clearly a new coach would bring that, and a fresh perspective all around. No disrespect to Reid, because when he was good, he was really good. But the Eagles' play has become beyond stale, and has shown no signs of recovery.

In case you haven't noticed...

Ok, so I know this is more of a diary entry than a blog post, as I might be the only remaining hockey fan in the country, but here it is.

Remember last season's horrible performance? Those days might be finished. Sure, they've only played 4 games, but they look pretty good. If you remember, last year I couldn't quite figure out why the Flyers were so bad. I could see some of it, but the fact that they were truly dominated in every way perplexed me.

This season is clearly different, even if they don't keep up this pace. This team is mean. They've fought, they've taken dirty penalties, and all the while, they've managed to score enough goals to win games. Not surprisingly, the Rangers, whom everyone thought would walk away with the division, are experiencing some early season jitters, and look like just another New York team: miserably failing at buying a championship.

The Flyers, on the other hand, look sprightly to say the least, all while harnessing what appears to be the same type of intensity that gave this team so much success years ago. I'm not gonna get ahead of myself and say that they're definitely a lot better than last year's team, because they've only played four games. But I will say that I think this season just might be enjoyable.

Too many questions

The Phillies made the playoffs, and immediately blew it. It was a turbulent season; our "ace" got hurt and it might have helped us, we moved our other "ace" to the bullpen and it might have helped us. Our two best offensive players missed a ton of games. And they battled, and battled, and battled. And somehow snuck into the playoffs.

I have to say it was pretty crazy. I went to game one, and although it was disappointing, it was a once in a life time experience.

But now that it's been a week, and the excitement/despair has worn off, does this take the Phillies off the hook? Do they get a pass for a year or two, at which point we can begin complaining again? Are they on the same list as the early 2000's Eagles who flirted with destiny, but never reached it?

I'm so torn on this season. I can't decide if I have any confidence in the team for next season, or if this was truly just a fluke. I obviously enjoyed the season. But what comes next?

Did that seriously just happen?

Give me a call when reality sets back in.
Greenbleeder over and out.