Spring Break
NFL football more than a game to Philly sports fans
Joby Martin
Issue date: 1/21/05 Section: Sports
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This Sunday's 'Battle of the Birds' is, technically, only a game.
But let's be honest here, folks. There are 1.2 million hearts that will break, simultaneously, should the Eagles lose this 'game.' The hopes and dreams and desires of so many Philadelphians will go unfulfilled, yet again. They will be left only with the prospect of next year.
How is it that a children's game has so much relevance to so many people?
Therein lies the paradox in which sport is based on. Sports is leisure - it's just a game.
But it's not - it's so much more than that.
This Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons will leave the cozy, climate-controlled confines of the GeorgiaDome. Their cold comfort will be the hostile home of your Philadelphia Eagles.
And boy will it be cold. Temperatures will hover in the teens. Every breath will be plain to see before evaporating into the same January air that stings our ears and toes. Brave fans will wrap themselves in more layers than a wedding cake, and probably still get frostbite.
This is playoff football. This is what it's all about. Drama like this wins Academy Awards. Myths and legends are made in a moment's time - just ask Freddie Mitchell's hands.
In this arena, the gladiators are measured in threes and sevens, fumbles and interceptions, wins and losses.
And thus far, the Eagles have been measured in losses. Three, to be exact. Three losses, back-to-back-to-painful-back. Three years, loss-after-loss-after-haunting-loss. If the third time is the charm, what in the hell is the fourth?
The fourth is Sunday, 3:00 PM. Be there or... no, just be there.
What you will see this Sunday is a city full of people desperate to learn the hard way. People who, after years and years of disappointment and heartbreak, still cling to that shred of hope that maybe, yes- maybe this really could be our year.
If that doesn't speak to the character of our city- my city- than I don't know what will. God forbid they actually do win, for only the good Lord knows what sort of reaction there will be.
This city may very well burn to the ground.
This isn't the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Atlanta Falcons. This is Philadelphia vs. anything and everything that stands in the way of our collective dream. Bring it on.
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