I can handle the fact that she's a Republican. And I don't really mind that she doesn't know much about college basketball. But the absolute hardest thing for me to accept about my girlfriend is simple: She's an Eagles fan.
I know it's not her fault--she simply doesn't know any better. Her father brought her up with season tickets to "the Birds," brainwashing her from an early age that the greatest team to ever play the game of football was the one wearing green and white.
The Eagles are the proud winners of Super Bowl, um...I could have sworn they won at least one Super Bowl? Really? Not one? That's a shame.
The Eagles are to football what the Maryland Terrapins are to college basketball, except without the championship ring. It's easy to dislike the team, but it's even easier to dislike their fans.
The only conclusion that I can reach which justifies Eagles fans' behavior is that they simply don't have souls. How else can you explain booing Santa Claus and launching snowballs at him, as this bunch of clowns did way back in 1968?
But that was only the beginning. Eagles fans have moved way past targeting their aggression on fat, jolly men in red and white Santa suits.
In a display that brought national attention to the dearth of human decency that exists each Sunday in Veterans Stadium, Philadelphians joined together to cheer and applaud when, in a 1999 game against Dallas, Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin lay motionless on the field. Across America, NFL fans held their breath, hoping the Pro Bowl receiver wasn?t paralyzed for life as he remained on the field for an excruciating 20 minutes while paramedics rushed to his aid. But in eastern Pennsylvania, tens of thousands stood and cheered.
Eagles fans? behavior?quite simply?defies explanation. They?ve fired a flare gun at the opposing team?s fans. They?ve launched batteries at opposing players.
Experts conjectured that there was something about Veterans Stadium?be it the air, the stench or the beer?that inspired otherwise normal people to check their souls at the door.
Then the 1999 NFL Draft occurred, and that excuse went out the window. After head coach Ray Rhodes inspired the team to an awe-inspiring 3-13 season in 1998, the Eagles were granted the No. 2 selection in the 1999 Draft. The expansion Cleveland Browns selected Tim Couch with the No. 1 pick. Then, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue strode to the podium, and announced that the Eagles had selected Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb. Inside Madison Square Garden, where the draft was held, the Eagles fans in attendance?who were hoping to hear Ricky Williams? name called instead?made their new acquisition feel right at home by nearly booing him out of the building.
Now, three seasons later, they realize how stupid they were. They proudly wear their No. 5 green jerseys to Eagles games and talk about how McNabb will one day be enshrined in Canton, presumably choosing to forget that only a few years ago they nearly drove the Pro-Bowler to tears before he even donned an Eagles jersey.
Fortunately, however, the powers that be in Philadelphia have not forgotten their city?s long and shameful legacy. In December of 2000, as the Eagles prepared for their first playoff game in four years, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. began running television ads which asked fans to ?enjoy the game, don?t destroy it.?
Apparently, they decided that images of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall were better for tourism that those of fans pelting Santa with snowballs and urging on the onset of paralysis.
Having said all that, I admit that there are some positives to having a girlfriend who aligns herself with this depraved bunch. Every Sunday, she and I get to trade barbs over the result of Eagles game, win or lose. Between us, it?s a friendly rivalry, and it gives us a chance to talk about football.
But most importantly, bickering with my girlfriend over the Eagles lets me forget, for a moment anyway, that she?s a Republican.
Evan Davis is a Trinity senior and senior associate sports editor. His column appears every Wednesday.
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