Fire The Walrus

Last Thursday, well before the Eagles melted down in the game against the Bengals, we did something we’ve never done before. For the first time in two-and-a-half decades of attending Eagles home games, we sat in seats that weren’t ours.

Since we were children, we’ve sat right on the upper deck of both the Vet and the Linc, with (no pun intended) a bird’s-eye view of the entire field, able to see all of the action as it unfolded. On Thursday, with more than half the stadium empty, we found our way down into the lower bowl, exactly twenty rows behind the thief known as Demetress Bell. While it was a jarringly different experience, and what we’ve been told our entire lives was confirmed – that it’s difficult to watch the game from that too-close vantage point(*) – what was happening on the field took a back seat to what we were truly paying attention to.

(*)It was akin to sitting in the low bleachers of a high school football game… You see football happening, but it just looks like a bunch of guys running into each other. From our usual seats, you can see each play unfold – follow the QB’s progressions, see the holes opening up for Running Backs, anticipate Wide Receiver’s routes, watch the Defenses alignment and see where they’re blitzing from, etc.

Sitting directly in front of us and two seats over, was president, CEO and general owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, Dave Montgomery. Sitting directly behind us, 15 rows of seats away in his box, was Eagles owner, The Billionaire, Jeffrey Lurie. Needless to say, we spent much of the time watching the facial expressions of both men.

It was highly fascinating. We were absolutely enamored with witnessing their reactions to every boo, every disappointed grumble after a fumble or botched play or missed tackle, every scream directed at Andy(**).

(**)Yes, most materializing out of our mouths…

Unsurprisingly, Lurie’s face was vacant… Just a blank stare out towards the field. The only time his face moved was when he was conversing with that parrot on his shoulder, Howie Roseman. However, instead of kicking around names of the next Head Coach, they were likely discussing ways Lurie could cut costs or new throwback uniforms to suck any remaining money out of the fans pockets.

Quick side note: Our favorite moment of Thursday’s game came when the stadium’s PA system prematurely pumped crowd noise and chants of “Defense” through the plethora of speakers while the actual crowd was dead silent. That invoked cackling laughter from the less-than 45,000 in attendance. A particularly good moment for us, and an equally bad one for The Billionaire!

Meanwhile, Montgomery was rivaling Lurie in his lack of expression, but his subtle acknowledgement of the angry fan base was interesting. When fans were booing vehemently, he would look around with a look on his face that was, at the same time, bothered(***) and satisfied… As if he were thinking “such impatience” and “HAHAHAHA,” simultaneously.

(***)He is, after all, an Eagles fan.

Sure, the Phillies disappointed the city by missing the playoffs last season, but there’s no denying that the two teams have been on diverging paths the last few years. It used to torment Montgomery when fans would fill Citizens Bank Park with “E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!” chants, as the Eagles were perennially in the NFC Championship Game and the Phillies were engulfed in a 13-year long playoff draught. Of course, the tables turned in 2008, but we have to assume that he basks in the boos raining down around him in the Linc. Philadelphia will ALWAYS be a football town first, and he knows that, but the animosity directed at this current team must be nice to the man who runs the city’s second favorite franchise.

It really was an interesting experience… To watch one franchise owner witness the bitter end of his counterpart’s “glory days.”

Which brings us to this week… The bitter bitter end.

For all intents and purposes, this Sunday marks The Walrus’ last home game as Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles(****). CSNPhilly.com’s Geoff Mosher already asked how Reid will be received in his (likely) final home game, but we can’t imagine it will be much different from any other game this season. Ever since the chants of “Fire Andy” rained down on the team in last year’s 38-20 defeat to the Patriots, Andy has been feeling immense heat from the home fans. That will only continue.

(****)Until Lurie inexplicably brings him back, sparking murderous outrage across the Delaware Valley.

There will be no outward showing of heartfelt emotion, no pouring of love, no actual acknowledgement that Andy’s done, no “ride off into the sunset” for a coach that even we admit is the best in franchise history. Andy’s last home game will not feel any different than any other game. Tickets won’t be a hot commodity, because no one really cares to wish him farewell. He’s overstayed his welcome and he just needs to leave. It’s a fitting end and one that should have come years ago.

No celebration, no goodbye. Just boos. Maybe he deserved better… We certainly did.

The only thing we know for sure, is that we’ll be in our regular seats. And will still be there long after The Walrus is gone.

The Walrus held a rather interesting day-after press conference yesterday. Having fired Defensive Line Coach (and apparent asshole) Jim Washburn on the flight home from Dallas Sunday night, Reid faced the media Monday morning and “explained” the move.

While we (obviously) weren’t there, CSNPhilly.com’s Geoff Mosher was, and we want to share Mosher’s thoughts on Reid’s comments. Take it away, Geoff:

Just before he walked away from the podium to abruptly signal the end of his own press conference, Eagles head coach Andy Reid made a stunning admission that he had fired the wrong assistant coach.

Reid shouldn’t have fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo on Oct. 16 when he sought ways to improve his foundering 3-3 team, which had just blown a 10-point lead to Detroit in the fourth quarter and lost 26-23 in overtime.

He should have retained his longtime and loyal assistant and parted ways with defensive line coach Jim Washburn, who had become an unpopular and divisive figure inside the NovaCare Complex, according to several team sources and other sources familiar with the situation.

“Listen, it’s not how you draw it up,” Reid said when asked how the team could recover from losing its defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin — a Washburn disciple who was released last week — all within an eight-week span.

“I’ll end it with I think Juan Castillo is a great person and a fine football coach. Juan will have a long career in the National Football League, and rightly so.”

Reid refused to elaborate on his reasons for dismissing Washburn but acknowledged that the move wasn’t exclusively football-related.

“I’m not going to get into all that stuff,” Reid said. “I will tell you there were just things that I was disappointed in and, as time went on, that I knew. I just thought [firing him] was the right thing to do right now for this football team.”

As always, stubborn Andy admits to being wrong without directly admitting to being wrong. He is the master of spin. But an even larger issue seems to have been brought up by Washburn’s dismissal. As Mosher suggests, and Reuben Frank confirms, Jim Washburn was fractious to the locker room and habitually undermined Juan’s coaching. Per Frank:

Washburn operated apart from Castillo, running his own little defensive line fiefdom and often either ignoring Castillo or derisively calling him “Juanita” in front of his players, the veteran defensive player said. He was condescending and confrontational and embarrassed Castillo frequently in meetings and at practice and also went over the line criticizing his players at times.

As Roob claims – and we wholeheartedly agree – hiring Washburn was a mistake from the start… Especially the fact that Andy brought him in BEFORE hiring a Defensive Coordinator. That move seemingly gave Washburn carte blanche to do as he pleased and ignore whoever was put in charge of him. While the thought of Washburn’s “Wide-Gaping-Hole-9” was nice, it obviously was a failed experiment. And the fact that he was a polarizing, disruptive force inside the NovaCare Complex makes the decision to keep him this long eye-opening. What the hell was The Walrus waiting for?!

And good to know Andy allowed that to go on! It’s no wonder the Defensive players don’t give a shit; they’re too busy watching a petty pissing match between a bunch of old guys. And as we learned back in the halcyon days of the T.O. experience… when there’s a divide between one group of players and another, things go south QUICKLY. This is now the second time in Andy’s tenure (that we know of) that he allowed the locker room to become irrevocably split. How is that NOT a fireable offense?!

Seriously, this whole mess is Andy’s fault, and HE needs to be held accountable… Not Washburn or Babin or Castillo or anyone else he decides to fire over the next four weeks. Again, Jeffrey Lurie has NO BALLS. He’s the only one who can hold Reid responsible for his mistakes, yet he sits in his owner’s box with a grim look on his face and DOES NOTHING. Stop counting your money and wake the fuck up, Billionaire!

It just goes to show… Once Jim Johnson got sick and left the team (and sadly passed away), there was no blueprint for the Defense and Andy was completely, utterly lost.

As NFL Network’s Mike Lombardi points out on yesterday’s B.S. Report with Bill Simmons(*), JJ made all of the personnel decisions and masterminded the entire Defensive side of the ball. Which (more than) basically confirms everything we’ve been saying for the last however many years. The Eagles of the 00’s were Jim Johnson’s team, not Andy’s. Sure, Dramavan was the face of the team, and Andy, the team’s considerably hefty torso, but Johnson was the heart, the brains and the soul of the Eagles.

(*)Listen to the first eight minutes of the podcast, as Lombardi makes really great points about the Eagles’ lack of talent, the firing of Jim Washburn and the majesty that is Wawa. Also Bill and Mike recount a great tweet that compares the final days of the Andy-era to the final days of the Nixon Whitehouse. So, there’s that.

How do you make an eight game losing streak look worse? By admitting that the people running the team don’t know what they’re doing. Forget the “Fool’s Gold” standard. The Philadelphia Eagles can’t even live up to “tin foil.”

What a fucking disgrace this franchise has become…