Will
the Eagles stink at the Linc?
New
stadium, but same old doubts Fatalism, failure stalk jaded fans
CHRIS YOUNG
SPORTS REPORTER
PHILADELPHIA—The press conference had just finished,
and its final act, the star attraction, was staring straight
ahead as he departed, a quartet of NFL security personnel
his personal flying wedge through the hotel corridors.
"Donovan, can you sign," said the autograph seeker,
one of three waving copies of the current Sports Illustrated
with their quarry, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, on the
cover.
"Donovan, please."
"Donovan, there's just three of us. C'mon."
This was some kind of SI jinx. McNabb was having none of
it. As his shoulder grew colder and the goons barked no, their
mood changed.
"A hundred and twenty million," one of them harrumphed,
spitting out McNabb's contract figure as if it was something
stuck between his teeth.
"Some fan support," sneered another.
From begging to whining to outright maligning it went, and
as McNabb was delivered into the back seat of the black stretch
limousine waiting outside, there was a final "You suck!
You're going to get killed on Sunday!" as the man stood
on the sidewalk waving the magazine and watching the local
saviour glide anonymously into rush-hour traffic.
Hell hath no fury like an autograph hound spurned. Or an
Eagles fan, for that matter. The stage has changed yet again,
but for Philly's No.1 sporting sons the feeling is familiar
— and ominous.
For the past two seasons, the Eagles have been bounced out
of this same NFC championship game they'll contest tomorrow,
against the upstart Carolina Panthers. In a sports-mad city
where fatalism and failure walk hand in hand, and where football
is king, this third time may well be the charm. Just don't
go saying it's supposed to work that way. Everyone hear knows
better. Even the Phillies, a 1980 World Series crown the only
bauble they have to show for 121 years of trying, have one
more than the Eagles' Super Bowl count.
"There's no destiny," McNabb said. "We were
destined last year. It didn't work out."
This time around, they'll do without the kind of boozy, boisterous
boost that was supposed to be provided by vile Veterans Stadium,
with its rock-hard turf, its featureless façade, and
its game-day court in session to police a fan base that still
carries a reputation only slightly above a Hell's Angels picnic.
This time around, it's the brand-new Lincoln Financial Field
— the Linc, as the locals call it — another change
of venue for this final hurdle before the Super Bowl. The
Eagles' 2001 season ended on the road in St. Louis, McNabb
watching confetti rain down on the victorious Rams. Last season,
the Buccaneers fired the killing shot to sink the Vet, a 27-10
last-call stinker that went down as easy as a tofu burger
in the birthplace of liberty and the cheesesteak.
"The window's closing," said veteran cornerback
Troy Vincent. "Three opportunities in three years just
doesn't happen in this era of free agency. It's almost like
déjà vu, except not with the hype of the end
of the line at Veterans Stadium.
"You don't want to hang your head here. The city's been
just starving for some success, for a championship team, and
rightfully so. We've brought them right to the edge twice.
We feel the same way about it that they do."
Even under normal circumstances, these are fans with itchy
vocal chords (and on one storied occasion, an itchy trigger
finger). "The home of the boo, its very Cooperstown,
is Philadelphia," native son Wilfrid Sheed once wrote,
adding that perhaps the reason is that Philadelphia itself
is "an enchanting city, but infinitely booable."
It doesn't get any easier on the rare occasions of success,
apparently, former Phillies great Mike Schmidt noting that
"only in Philadelphia do you have the thrill of victory
and the agony of reading about it the next day."
Against that kind of backdrop, is it any wonder everyone's
approaching this latest penultimate with bated breath? Sort
of like the way they approach everything, perhaps?
"We were a little worried here, at the start of the
season," says Eagles fan Bill Deery, a season-ticket
holder in the Vet's infamous 700-level who's just adjusting
to the genteel Linc. "They started out 0-2 and right
off we thought it might be the new stadium, and a long season."
Deery figures there's much to like about the Linc. But the
sense of community, of shared passion and general hell-raising
has been diminished some.
It has created a an atmosphere more suitable to the kind
of monied base that is the prime target of today's big-dollar
sports franchises — which is not at all bad. No longer
are people firing flare guns, that Monday Night Football incident
at the Vet in 1997 necessitating the establishment of the
Eagles Court on site for a time. The court, with its judge
and its immediate proceedings, was discontinued this season.
"I think halfway through the year, it started to pick
up as far as being a great home-field advantage," said
tight end Chad Lewis. "Out crowd is loud and wild and
crazy, but we don't rely on anything else but what we do on
the field to get things done."
Eagles head coach Andy Reid was asked what the Panthers might
expect. "I know our fans will welcome them in,"
he said with a wry smile.
That's a given. The question is how they sound when it's
over.
Additional articles by Chris Young
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