The Morning After

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Good morning my loyal TMAers…

First and foremost, I want to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving.

You know, we as Philly sports fans are very thankful for the magical season our Phillies bestowed upon us. But it has been over three weeks and one would think that by now our sports color wheel would have spun from red to green.

But no… for that to have happened would have required the Eagles to assume control of our sports psyches by reminding everyone that despite the magical ride the Phils took us on, at the end of the day, this is s a football town.

And after yesterday’s abysmal performance, in what has become a season of abysmal performances… well let’s just say, at this rate, this town will become a baseball town faster than you can say “former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb.”

As anyone whose read the TMA more than once knows, I try to make light of different things that happen during the game – be it on the field or off. But it’s games like this, that truly test my ability to take our collective minds off what is blatantly and painfully obvious to all of us.

So… the reality check will come soon enough (see below) but for right now, enjoy this brief intermission.

THE GREAT THINKERS OF OUR TIME…
Plato. Newton. Voltaire. Quick.

Quick? Yeah, Mike Quick. Do you think any of these other “thinkers” could come up with something this perspicacious as this gem I heard on the pre-game show?

“In this league of good quarterback play, the Eagles need good play from their quarterback.”

Just let that sink in for a minute. Kind of freaks you out don’t it? That one man can be so in tune with the cosmos.

Just kidding Mike, we love you. Hell, that “other” MQ – the one that sits to my right for every game – did his best Quick impersonation on the Quinton Demps kickoff return for touchdown: “He gone, Merril!”

TV TIMEOUT…
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. I am not a fan of any TV spot in which a human being’s body is disfigured, dismembered or any way hideously altered, all to sell a product or service.

During yesterday’s telecast we were treated to not one, but two more examples of advertisers feeling the need to show how creative they are by resorting to the use of in-human-esque camera tricks and/or illusions.

The first one was for X-Box and how users of X-Box can watch movies via their system. The spot opens on a normal enough looking woman but as the camera pans, we see the back of her head has been removed to reveal the inner workings of a movie theater.

The second was a spot for Southwest Airlines. You’ve this one. It’s where the poor schlub goes to the counter to speak to an attendant from one of those other airlines when suddenly, the attendant shows her “other” face and we see her do her best Linda Blair as her head spins completely around.

So c’mon guys and girls of the advertising world, of which I am one, stop resorting to using the human body as your personal horror movie.

One last thing on TV spots… not sure how many caught this, perhaps my brother Michael or my friends Rich Romig or Isaac Segal or others who are like us and notice these otherwise innocuous subtleties on TV commercials… in the Burger King spot that ran during the game, I noticed that at the end they made reference to the fact that they (BK) feature Heinz Ketchup.

I don’t know, maybe it’s me, but is that really a selling point? Is BK trying to sell us on the fact that, despite these hard economic times, they have not sacrificed the taste of squeezed tomatoes?

‘Hey honey, let’s go to Burger King tonight. They got that there Heinz Ketchup, you know… the good stuff.’

OK, REALITY TIME…
Obviously, everyone will be talking about the move at QB for many days to come. What did I think? Well as I say on my Audio Rant below, I think it was the right move and I have to give credit to Andy Reid for making it.

I realize many people will disagree with it, but I do not think this move was made as a result of one half of poor play but rather 3 or 4 weeks of bad play. Fair or not, Reid simply had to go to Kevin Kolb to try and spark his team.

Of course we know there was no spark forthcoming from Mr. Kolb, save for one series where he led the Eagles down the field that ended in pure disaster and was in a way, a very fitting way to cap off the game.

So what do we have here?

We have a franchise, gold standard or otherwise, in complete turmoil and disarray.

We have a head coach/general manager who clearly has no clue what it is going on with his players, the same players he himself drafted and/or signed.

We have a quarterback in Donovan McNabb who clearly has no interest in being a Philadelphia Eagle any longer than is humanly necessary.

And we have a group of the most-loyal fans in all of sports that are left to ponder the future of this once proud franchise that is now imploding unto itself.

Do I think Andy Reid will be next year? Right now I am not so sure. Watching that post-game press conference made me start to wonder if Andy wants to be back? Right now, I will say yes, he will be back but it will not surprise me in the least if he is not.

As for Donovan, it doesn’t take much to realize that his days in Midnight Green are numbered. Chicago. Minnesota. Tampa. There will be suitors for his services, no doubt about it.

So Happy Thanksgiving, again. Enjoy your day with your family, then sit back and see what happens next in this made-for-TV melodrama.

As always, time’s yours, food’s mine.

‘Til next time.

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The Morning After