DV Journal

I really enjoyed Super Bowl LIX. What a game! The Birds made the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs look like a bunch of Pop Warner League amateurs.  Spectacular catches by A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson, and even Saquon Barkley.

The Philadelphia defense was simply awesome with six sacks of Patrick Mahomes, a fumble recovery, and two interceptions including a pick-six by phenomenal rookie Cooper DeJean.   Even Jake Elliott was back to his usual self, missing nary a field goal or point-after.

But within moments of the game’s conclusion, coach Nick Sirianni proclaimed, “God’s blessed us very much. He gave us all the talents to be able to get here. So first and foremost, thanks to Him,” adding later, “Thank you, God, thank you, Jesus.” That kind of took some of the shine off the victory.

Now before you get all riled up and accuse me of being some godless communist or diabolical spokesman for Beelzebub, let me explain.

If Sirianni is right, does this mean that God is a Philadelphia Eagles fan who made sure the Birds had enough talent to defeat the Chiefs? What about the other 30 teams who didn’t even make it to the Super Bowl? Did God make sure those teams’ players didn’t have what it takes? Did the members of those teams not pray hard enough or believe strongly enough in God’s benevolent grace?

Whose side was God on when the Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII? And why, after favoring the Chiefs with victory in that contest, and then again a year later, did God abandon the Chiefs this time around? Did He decide He didn’t like Taylor Swift’s music anymore? Did He find Harrison Butker’s views on women, homosexuality, and abortion just too uncharitable?

What will happen to the Eagles next year? Will God continue to bless them with talent? Will they go on winning Super Bowls for all eternity, or at least long enough to be called a dynasty? And if they, too, like the Chiefs and every team before them, eventually fall from the pinnacle of athletic achievement, will they then have lost God’s grace? Will Nick Sirianni find himself saying next year, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Once again, don’t get mad at me. I’m not the one who brought God into this conversation in the first place. I’m only taking note of what Coach Sirianni said. And he’s the one who said the Eagles owe this victory to God.

The fact is that there are lots of things we can easily and safely thank God for. The people we love. The people who love us. Flowers in the spring. Beautiful snowfalls. Mountains and rivers and oceans and meadows. All creatures great and small like elephants and butterflies and Holstein cows and otters.  The planet we live on. The universe itself.

But winning the Super Bowl? I just can’t imagine that God really cares who wins the Super Bowl. Or the World Cup.  Or an Olympic gold medal. Or all of the other sporting events in which I too often hear the winners declare “all glory to God” or “I owe it all to Jesus.” Whenever I hear that sort of thing, I find myself wondering, “Who was God cheering for?”

My own guess is that God is always rooting for each and every contestant to play hard and fairly, to have fun and try not to get injured, and to be a good sport, win or lose.” I can’t say with absolutely certainty, but I strongly suspect that God has more important things on His mind than the outcome of Super Bowl LIX.

Like maybe wars in Ukraine, the Holy Land, Yemen, Myanmar, and 100 to 150 other armed conflicts going on at any given time around the world. Like maybe what’s going to happen to all those people Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde so eloquently spoke in defense of last month at the National Cathedral. Like what we human beings are doing to this very finite and fragile planet we’re living on.

Indeed, given that Jesus broke bread with sinners and fed the multitudes for free and healed the sick without asking if they had medical insurance, I think it rather unchristian to imagine that God cares one way or another who wins the Super Bowl.  So enjoy the Eagles’ victory in this year’s Super Bowl, but please leave God out of it.

Philly’s NFL team is shooting down reports that it’s “Fly, Eagles, Fly” for Kamala Harris.

Fake ads suggesting The Iggles are in for Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz have popped up around Philadelphia, outraging some loyal fans.

“I hope the #Eagles lose every game this year,” Jamie Cohen Walker of Chalfont, Pa. posted on Facebook. “No one is interested in the owners’ politics.”

Jen Lawson Scheurer responded, “I don’t think it’s real. That would be really stupid if they picked a political side.”

“I guess I’m no longer an Eagles fan,” said Kris Ten.

Leslie Bachinsky posted to Facebook, “Sell your season tickets now.”

And Richard Pruet also responded to the post, “This has to be a joke.”

Marie Ridel added, “Hope no one goes to the games. Go woke, go broke!”

Say it ain’t so, Eagles! Well, the Eagles say it’s not true. They have not put up ads around Philadelphia touting Democratic Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, although someone has.

“This has to be a fake,” added Pamela Roseann. “They would never intentionally deny revenue.”

The skeptics were correct.

The Sporting News reported Sunday that the Eagles have denied they are supporting Harris and say they aren’t responsible for the ads.

The ad with Harris wearing an Eagles helmet and with the team endorsing her has appeared at some SEPTA bus stops. When photos of the ad started circulating on social media, the Eagles issued a statement: “We are aware counterfeit political ads are being circulated and are working with our advertising partner to have them removed.”

Walker updated her post: “It’s just Democrats lying…sorry #Eagles.”

In its report, The Sporting News noted, “There is no known example of an NFL team endorsing a political candidate ahead of an election.”

Talk radio host Rich Zeoli also posted to X, “The @eagles say the Kamala Harris endorsement is a fugazi. Fake. Like all of Kamala Harris’ new policy positions.”

His fellow talk radio host, Dom Giordano, called for an investigation.

While Republican-leaning fans, like Walker, were outraged, Harris supporters like Ed Krassenstein welcomed the ads.

“Always been an @eagles fan. Even more so now,” Krassenstein posted to X.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: X@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

Eagles fans are throwing a flag on a new study that claims to show Pittsburgh has America’s best pro football fans, while Philadelphia ranks 21st — behind Las Vegas, who have hosted the Raiders for less time than Joe Biden has spent as president.

Say, what?

The analysis is from WalletHub.com, which looked at measurements like attendance, ticket prices, and how much social media traffic teams generated. Pittsburgh sits atop the list, followed by Green Bay and Dallas. Kansas City, whose Chiefs will face the Eagles on Sunday in Super Bowl LVII, is seventh.

Whatever their calculation, Philly fans in the Delaware Valley say they fumbled it.

“I have been going to Eagles games since 1973 when my father got season tickets for the family,” said Christine Flowers, a local lawyer and frequent contributor to DVJournal. “Our seats were two rows down from the legendary 700 Section, and I have memories of drunken men rolling down the seats into my lap. (They were Eagles fans, so it was okay. It would have been a different matter if they rooted for Dallas).

“I have gone to Wing Bowls, frozen my digits off at Monday Night Games in December, dyed my hair green-on purpose — and offered my hypothetical firstborn to the gods of football in hopes of a Super Bowl win. Fortunately, it became unnecessary. And I am by no means the craziest fan around. ”

State Sen. Frank Farry (R-Bucks) agreed.

“You can’t deny that Philadelphia has some of the most passionate and loyal sports fans around. We were fortunate enough to experience it just a few months ago when the Phillies were in the World Series. It was electric. You can feel that energy and excitement again leading up to the Super Bowl. It’s a great time to be a Philadelphia sports fan,” Farry said.

Sen. Frank Farry in his district office in Bucks County, PA.

Eagles fans argue their passions run deep, forged by years of die-hard support for a team that often didn’t deliver on the field.

Paul Rhodes grew up in Horsham in Montgomery County rooting for some mediocre (to put it kindly) Eagles teams. He has lived in Arizona for 44 years, but his understanding of the mindset of Eagles devotees remains.

“We grew up in a blue-collar city,” Rhodes said. “We didn’t have much to be proud of. The Eagles were terrible. But, we were at the games. It was a badge of honor.”

Rhodes compares Eagles fans to those in Green Bay, another city with a passionate fan base.

“Green Bay fans are tremendously loyal,” he said. “They are a blue-collar town of 110,000 people. They bleed green.

“We are from a blue-collar town. Most people don’t move more than 50 miles away from the town they grew up in. They are proud of their team, good, bad, or indifferent.”

Ukee Washington has been at KYW-TV for 36 years. The Dover, Del. native has a deep understanding of Philadelphia sports’ mindset fans in general and Eagles fans in particular.

“Eagles Nation is second to none in my opinion,” he said. “We are a proud, passionate group, and that enthusiasm begins at birth.”

Like Rhodes, Washington cited the blue-collar mindset of the Eagles’ fan base.

“Philadelphia is a hardworking blue-collar town that expects our teams to work extremely hard,” he said, “With no excuses and owning up to the tough times, while at the same time learning from mistakes to make it better.”

Washington acknowledged that from time to time the passion of Eagles fans boils over.

“The passion and knowledge (of fans) can at times seem intimidating,” he said, “with a few fans on occasion maybe going overboard a bit, but it’s all part of the psychological warfare that’s part of the game.

“That’s the vibe of being a true fan. We absolutely love our teams and would go through a brick wall for all of them.”

If anything, Eagles fans have a reputation for being too passionate. In fact, those passions — on ugly display at a Monday Night Football game in 1997 — led to the creation of “Eagles Court.” A jail, a courtroom, and a judge, all open and on hand at Veterans Stadium at game time.

Montgomery County resident Phil Gianficaro doesn’t dispute that Eagles fans love their team. But he said outsiders find the self-regard of the team’s local supporters a bit galling.

“What (fans in other cities) don’t buy is Eagles fans’ insistence that their passion is unequaled anywhere in the NFL, and insisting otherwise calls into question one’s intelligence. Go to Kansas City. Go to Seattle. They are insanely crazy about their teams,” Gianficaro said.

And at least one Chiefs fan says Eagle supporters aren’t the out-of-control maniacs of the stereotype. Heather Whitten lives in upstate New York but is a diehard Chiefs supporter. In 2021 she attended a Chiefs-Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field attired in Chiefs gear. She says that other than some good-natured teasing she had no problems with the Eagles fans. (Then again, her Chiefs won 42-30.)

“In my experience, Eagles fans get a bad rap,” Whitten said.

Flowers was adamant, however, that when it comes to loyalty, passion, and commitment, Bleeding Green Nation is in a league of its own.

“Anyone who thinks that the Eagles fans are not head and feathers above any other sports creature, including the Steelers, is as crazy as the guy who hired Chip Kelly as head coach.”

Charlie O’Neill, a local GOP consultant, blamed “anti-Philly bias.”

“But like the song says, ‘No one likes us, we don’t care.'”

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

Delaware County’s Media Borough was a sea of green on Sunday afternoon as many Delaware Valley residents attended the “Birds Pep Rally Parade” in the lead-up to Super Bowl Sunday.

“Go Birds” and the “Fly Eagles Fly” fight song, along with other Eagles chants, resounded throughout the parade and pep rally as Eagles fans hope their local team wins it all on Sunday.

At the same time, other Eagles fans were attending the Super Bowl send-off on the 30-yard line of Lincoln Financial Field before the team headed to Arizona for the week.

Kane Kalas, son of the late legendary Philadelphia broadcaster Harry Kalas, served as emcee for the event. Kalas provided musical entertainment along with his band in front of Spasso Italian Grill as they included swingin’ American Songbook titles from his debut album High Hopes.

“This whole event was put together in just a couple of days, so we’re thankful everything worked out the way it did today,” Kalas said. “Our Eagles are going to be flying next Sunday, and I believe they’ll finish out on top.”

Michelle Mcgarvey and Tizianna Perry are both Media residents attending the parade as they displayed their support for the Eagles.

“This is a fun event because everyone in the whole town is gathered and united for the big game,” Mcgarvey said. “Everybody is happy and nobody is miserable.”

“Delaware County Eagles fans are some of the best in the area. Not many other communities have a parade like this before a game, so it’s a special feeling,” Perry said. “My husband didn’t come because he’s superstitious about the game, but it has been a great turnout for our community.”

The parade began in front of the Media Theatre and proceeded down State Street as a high turnout of local fans gathered to spread team spirit while wearing green.

“Nobody does a parade like Delco does a parade, and I want to thank everyone for coming out today,” Delaware County Council Chair Monica Taylor, Ph.D. said. “We want to acknowledge some of our other local elected officials in attendance today, including District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer and state Sen. Tim Kearney.”

Businesses in the Media Borough also benefited.

“When our local teams do well, so do our local businesses. This is a great opportunity for the community to support them and help them continue to grow,” Taylor said.

Delaware Valley residents have to wait another week to watch the big game. The Eagles take on the Kansas Chiefs at 6:30 p.m. on FOX in what is expected to be a memorable game.

Go Eagles!

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal