Eagles sign Michael Vick. Fans revolt.

Michael Vick signed with the Eagles. Why? Let me start here – if I were an NFL owner, I would not have hired Michael Vick to my team. That would be my right. I think what he did was reprehensible, and I wouldn’t want to associate him with my team and my brand. It seems that year after year the Eagles give me more reasons to like them less and less. They don’t seem to like their fans and and they treat their employees like shit (see Brian Dawkins).

Thank goodness the Phillies have come back to their rightful spot as #1 in my sports heart.

That said.

There’s a lot of talk about how he shouldn’t be allowed back in the NFL, that he was given his chance and he blew it. Well that isn’t how this country works. I can see preventing him from taking jobs that are related to his offense – so he can’t work at a kennel or at a pet store, but the NFL is a sports league, and I think a lot of people forget that. Each NFL team is their own company and makes the decision on their own. It seems somehow un-American for people to be saying that the NFL should have prevented the teams from making this hiring decision. I don’t know if that is a country I want to be part of.

I think that people want him to pay and pay and pay again. That again is not how this country works. If you want that type of legal system, move to Iran – I think we all see how people are treated there.

I do wish someone else had signed him – I don’t want my team associated with a thug like him. We now have the most hated man in all of sports. It kind of sickens me, but that said – he’s done his time, I see no need to punish him further.

R.I.P. Jim Johnson

This has been a tough year for the Philadelphia Sports community – first Harry Kalas, then Danny Ozark, Gary Papa, and now Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson lost his battle with cancer yesterday less than 3 months after taking a leave of adsense with the team to focus on his health. The loss is a big one. I have faith that Sean Mcdermott  will follow in the footsteps of other Johnson disciples such as Ron Rivera, Steve Spagnuolo, and John Harbaugh, but Johnson brought 50 years of experience to his role. While the others may be able to match intelligence, they can’t match the experience.

sNever has a coach been a better match for this city. While Buddy Ryan was beloved, his teams were short on results. Ryan also had better talent. Johnson had the knack of understanding the strengths of his players, and maximizing those strengths. Year after year, Johnson made do with whatever talent was provided to him, and year after year Johnson posted one of the leagues best defenses, and that consistency led to results that Ryan could only dream of.

The only regret is that the Eagles couldn’t pull it out for him last year. Instead his in his last game, the defense let him down. Regardless – it’s those 10 years of consistently outthinking the opposing offenses that I’ll remember.

Thank you Jim, you’ll be missed.

Shawn Andrews still battling demons

Mike Mergen for the New York Times

According to a NY Times article, it appears that Shawn Andrews is still battling his personal demons.

“There’s some good and bad in there,” Andrews, 26, said of himself. “If you know the song ‘Tears of a Clown,’ that would kind of describe my past a little bit up to now.”

Here’s hoping that Shawn can right the ship, not just because he’s a stud, but because he really seems to be a nice guy. I’m hoping the addition of his brother Stacy and former college teammate Jason Peters help him.

BTW – I find it interesting that this story went to a New York paper – not a Philly one. Can you imagine a Philly paper breaking a story about a Giants or Mets player?