...we realize that things can get even dirtier in the next few weeks.
The aftermath of the TO dismissal in Philly is almost the same as SEPTA returning to work. Among the masses, its almost a non-issue. Was there even a strike? Did TO play for us? I've never seen a situation where a man is embraced as the savior of the city, a virtual Moses Malone, if you will, and can be promptly, and most unexpectedly, shown the door with such public approval. If there's a life lesson to be learned in all of this, its that the high road (The McNabb Way) wins in the end. Or better yet, play your position. Freddie couldn't just catch the ball and shut up. You see where he is. Crazy enough, Pro Bowlers aren't exempt either. After a while, people just get tired.
And I think that's the key word in Philly. We are tired. We were tired of coming in second so we brought TO to town, fighting to the end, even after it seemed like he would be a Raven. He talked his way out of that one. Guess we didn't care, since he would be wearing Eagles green. We turned the other cheek so many times when his past was brought up, and at first, he made it easy. Donovan and TO making all of the media rounds (hey, weren't 50 Cent and The Game cool once, too?). The Super Bowl marked the beginning of the end. Second, again. The city forgave. Looked forward to "next year" as we always do. Barring injury and/or curse, it would be promosing. Until TO started to talk. And people started to grow tired.
Personally, I think he's gifted and crazy. Skip Bayless,
in one of the better articles I've read on the topic, agrees. And everyone who's stretching to take TO's side is crazy, too. His apology - too little, too late. If I'm running a team, a company, whatever, I damn sure don't want someone belittling the franchise and the franchise player in the same breath. Granted, TO's a rare talent, so you work with him. That's the only reason why he didn't get dropped at training camp. But now... escallating the issue, for whatever reason, when the team is mired in a 4-4 record, trying to stumble into the playoffs and hope the can regain some sort of stride... nobody needs additional distractions. Especially not internally. Donovan's hernia is more than enough.
Everyone is resolved to move on. That's great. Makes me think of a few key issues. 1) Remember Todd Pinkston. Funny how no one is mentioning his season-ending injury now, or Todd at all. Guess that shows where he stands, which brings us to point #2. Remember why the Eagles never made it to the Super Bowl before Owens? Exactly. So, what now? What about next year. I hope the best for Reggie Brown in his career, but after 1 start and 1 TD, he's a loooooong way from TO.
My last, and probably most interesting point, is this - what do the Eagles do when TO is sent back to the team? His case goes into arbitration next week, and honestly, I don't know. Things seem to comfortable now. People are talking about "moving on," forgetting that this is TO we're dealing with. From an organzational standpoint, the Eagles did what they had to do. But like their record, things are 50/50 right now. If they were winning, maybe the have more to lose by ridding themselves. Or maybe the get cocky and go it alone, like the NFC Championships, when TO was injured. If they were 2-6, then you say eff it and tank. Maybe you cut TO outright and let him self-destruct a contender. But at 4-4, it's interesting. What if he's ordered back to the team, and only given a 1-game suspension? What if he and Donovan go to couples therapy? What if he agrees to drop Rosenhaus, is barred from the press, and gives every kid in Philly an XBox to win over the public again? I don't know. I'm sure the locker room will be divided, but they already were and dude has 6 TD's. I hope somebody is thinking about the scenarios because I have a feeling that this story is far from over.
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On to the Sixers, if the beat the Lakers tonight, I'll take back everything I said about them in my last post. (Yeah, right).
