Crash, Eagles, Crash

(haven't had much to say in a sports vein for a little while, so...)

My, what a soap opera of a season it has been for your Philadelphia E-A-G-L-E-S.

All-pro defensive lineman Corey Simon holds out for more money, and instead of trying to meet his demands, they let him walk, and the Indianapolis Colts (who are currently undefeated) say "thank you very much" and sign him (without a "Plan B" to replace him with an equal-caliber player, which is a tall order indeed...I know sports salaries are ridiculous also, but Simon is an elite player). Also, they let go of another fine defensive lineman, Derrick Burgess. They let Hollis Thomas go also, but through no fault of his own, the guy was injury prone. Hugh Douglas has lost a lot over time, but even though they need veteran leadership, they let him go as well. Also departed from last season is special teams standout Ike Reese, who was a fine backup linebacker also.

Meanwhile, on offense, Brian Westbrook attempts to re-negotiate his contract, and the Eagles blow him off, even telling our lapdog sports media that they're trying to bring in washed up Travis Henry from the Buffalo Bills as a possible replacement (Henry signs with the Titans, and I believe he is either injured at the moment or unable to play for some reason). Now, Westbrook is angry and will probably not sign and exit at the end of this year.

And you just knew I was leading up to Terrell Owens, didn't you?

Should the Eagles have re-negotiated his contract? As far as I'm concerned, you can go either way on that (and yes, I know I took a shot at Owens awhile back). But here is the difference - this organization of neophytes which apparently has a hopelessly inflated image of itself (messrs. Lurie and Banner, chiefly) have been "pumping the ether" every way they can to drug the media and football fans around here to the point of thinking that they may actually return to the Super Bowl on the cheap with the team that they currently have. As far as I'm concerned, you should spare absolutely no expense if that is truly your goal.

So anyway, as we know, Owens ends his holdout and appears in training camp, is sent home, returns to finish camp, and then plays and is genuinely productive (even to the point where Andy Reid actually says that he's "a joy to coach," for whatever that's worth). So things roll along basically fine with Owens to the San Diego game which this team stole due to a special teams miracle, and Owens catches his 100th touchdown pass. The Eagles do nothing to recognize that.

Yes, we know Owens is a prima donna and a spoiled, egotistical baby. But he happens also to be an elite position player on this team's offense, possibly the finest wide receiver in football. When you have someone like that on your team, you massage his ego and play along with him as long as he delivers.

So Owens gets his feelings hurt and says some things he shouldn't. He then apologizes, though maybe without a lot of contrition.

Well today, the Eagles suspended him anyway (and I don't care about what the supposed football experts at ESPN have to say; dislike Owens if you want, but it's all about winning, baby).

That tells me that the Eagles' clueless front office is more concerned with settling scores than winning football games. And if I'm a ticket holder for home games, let me tell you how I respond to that.

The Eagles next home game is Monday night November 14th against Dallas.

I don't show up. And if substantially more people do that, there will be a whole lot of empty seats being shown on national TV.

But no, all of you "Joe Sixpacks" out there won't do that, will you? Of course not.

And make no mistake - Lurie and Banner know that too, and that is why they pull all of their penny-pinching crap.

Is Owens worth all of the aggravation? Probably not, but let me remind any Eagles fan out there who may be reading why I feel this way.

Do you remember who the Eagles' starting wide receivers were before Owens got here?

Todd Pinkston and James Thrash.

Pinkston is a solid, steady supporting player, not a marquee, go-to guy on offense. James Thrash is a fourth or possibly fifth receiver and punt returner on special teams.

Hey, if I were trying to get a glee club going, Thrash is one of the first people I'd call. He's a person of character. However, he does nothing to intimidate NFL defenses.

I remember the NFC playoff game against the Carolina Panthers in January, and Thrash was beaten up and manhandled all over the place. At least one pass from McNabb hit him in his shoulder pad, bounced up into the air, and landed right into Ricky Manning Jr.'s hands, and he laughed as he ran back the interception.

On another play, Pinkston ran a pass route, and the entire Carolina defense ignored him and went after McNabb. That was the most unbelievable show of disrespect to an offensive player that I'd ever seen.

When the Eagles got Owens, all of that ended in a hurry. He brought instant recognition and opened up other opportunities for Pinkston, Greg Lewis, and L.J. Smith, among others.

THAT is what I care about. Not some pissy, whiny background noise because Owens isn't as solid of a person as Andy Reid would like him to be (like Jevon Kearse, for example).

But no - we have to have the continued distractions as this organization continues to peddle the fertilizer that this team will actually advance in the post season.

They wish.

(By the way, our sports media is reporting that the decision to suspend Owens was made by Andy Reid. I'm sorry, but I don't think he would do that without Banner or Lurie whispering in his ear.)

Update 11/6: Oh yes, I heard that Owens supposedly had a fight with Hugh Douglas or something, which doesn’t amount to anything for me partly because, as I noted above, Douglas doesn’t even play for the Eagles any more.

Update 11/7: Oh, sure, this will really take care of the whole mess. Tell the guys to plan their vacations and polish up their golf clubs for January, because they’ll have a lot of time now.

Update 11/8: Upon further review, as they like to say in the NFL, I now realize I'm "sitting on a perch" just about by myself on this. Universally, everyone I talk to and everything I read expresses the "good riddance" attitude towards Owens. Oh well, I've been out there before, and I'll probably be out there again.