The Andy Reid Era

Another NFL season has now finally come to an end with my hometown Philadelphia Eagles failing to win the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. That's 0-46 if you're counting at home.

To listen to some fans around these parts, you would think that Andy Reid has been the head coach for all of them, that he is to blame for the team never having won the Big One.

Let's get a little perspective.

The Philadelphia Eagles regular season record in the 'Andy Reid Era' is now 126-81-1. He has guided the team to 9 playoff appearances in 13 seasons, with an overall 10-9 record in the post-season. He has guided the Eagles to 7 NFC East titles, and 9 times under his watch the Eagles have been ranked either #1 or #2 in the NFC at season's end. He led the team to the 2004 NFC Championship, it's lone Super Bowl appearance during his tenure.

I began watching the Eagles around 1971-72 when Veteran's Stadium opened with Eddie Khayat at the helm. Watched through the regimes of Mike McCormack, Dick Vermiel, Marion Campbell, Buddy Ryan, Rich Kotite, and Ray Rhodes.

During that time: 204-216-6, 10 playoff appearances, 1 Super Bowl appearance over 28 seasons.

The Philadelphia Eagles Are Winners

Within this same week we saw perfect examples in the tales of two Philadelphia pro sports organizations, one a winner and one a loser.

First, the big 'L' gets hung on the forehead of the Philadelphia 76ers organization for signing one of its all-time loser players in Allen Iverson. I covered that topic already earlier in the week.

It's time now to highlight Philly's winning winter sports organization, the Philadelphia Eagles. This past week the Birds signed head coach Andy Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history, to a contract extension that will keep 'Big Red' as the football boss through 2013. By the conclusion of the contract, Reid will have been the head coach for 15 seasons, nearly unheard of in today's pro sports world.

After a decade in Philadelphia, Andy Reid is now the 2nd longest tenured head coach in the entire NFL, trailing only Tennessee head man Jeff Fisher. He has already passed Greasy Neale (1941-50) as the longest tenured coach in Eagles history.

Reid has led the club to a regular season record of 105-66-1 and another 10 wins in the playoffs, which his teams have participated in 7 times. He has 5 NFC East titles and 1 NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance to his credit.

Andy Reid's teams have fashioned a regular season .614 winning percentage which is the 16th highest in NFL history. The names ahead of him are all legends of the game: Lombardi, Madden, Halas, Lambeau, Shula, and Walsh. But the list of the 15 coaches ahead of him also highlights what his detractors see as his one weakness: he has never won a Super Bowl.

Eagles-Cowboys: Here We Go Again

No matter the circumstances, the playoff implications or the records of the two teams, football games between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys are the epitome of the word 'rivalry'.

In two different eras, the Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett days of the 1970's, and the Troy Aikman-Emmitt Smith- Michael Irvin days of the mid-1990's, the Eagles and their fans had to sit through numerous defeats at the hands of the team from 'Big D'.

The Birds got some revenge during the bluster of the Buddy Ryan era, and even more during their emergence as a perennial contender this past decade. Along the way there have been numerous unforgettable games and moments.

This all started way back on September 30th, 1960, a full year before I was even born. The Cowboys were an expansion team that year, and the Eagles were on their way to winning their last NFL championship to this day.

But on that late September day it didn't matter that Dallas would end up winless, or that the Birds would win a title. The Cowboys fought the Eagles tooth and nail before the Birds finally overcame with a narrow 27-25 victory.

Veteran sports writer Stan Hochman has told the story that the real beginnings of the venom in the rivalry can be traced to the late 1960's and an Eagles running back named Tim Brown.

Dallas Sucks !

Well, it's finally here, and the zanies and crazies will be out in force this evening as our beloved Philadelphia Eagles pro football team takes on the hated Dallas Cowboys here in Philly down at Lincoln Financial Field.

The game is scheduled to be televised as the Sunday Night Football broadcast, and the nation should get quite a treat.This holiday comes around approximately twice per season, once here in Philly, and once down in 'Big D', and at least here in the City of Brotherly Love the matchups are easily among the most anticipated sporting events of the season, no matter how either team is faring that particular year.

For me, the Cowboy-hate goes back a long ways, to the 1970's-era Dallas team that featured the stoic Tom Landry pacing the sidelines as head coach, his little hat poised atop his head in all kinds of weather.

That team had great players over the years like quarterback Roger Staubach, running back Tony Dorsett, wide receiver Drew Pearson, and a strong defense led by guys like Ed 'Too Tall' Jones, Harvey Martin, and Randy White.

Those Cowboys were always good, always at or near the top of the same NFC East Division in which our Eagles were competing. Unfortunately, most years the Birds weren't very much competition.