RSS
Another story of the Eagles in the desert
In my 27 years here at the Daily Times, it’s still one of the favorite front pages I ever created.
And one of the saddest.
That is because I am nothing if not a die-hard Eagles fan. At one time, seemingly another lifetime ago, I was a season-ticket holder. Back then I was single. Going to the Vet was an all-day affair, starting with an early-morning tailgate and ending at a local watering hole.
Then I got married. And I started working on Sundays. I gave up the season tickets. But not the “Gang Green” that beats inside my heart.
So it was with a heavy heart that created the front page of the Daily Times that hit the streets on Dec. 12, 1984.
It was dominated by three words: Bye, Bye, Birds.
And a face. That visage would belong to one Leonard Tose.
Tose was the Radnor trucking magnate who owned the Eagles. Tose liked to do everything first-class. He also liked to gamble, especially at Atlantic City casinos.
Eventually, the odds caught up with him. And the Eagles. Tose, desperate for funding, cut a deal to sell part of the team and move the franchise out of Philadelphia.
Imagine, Philadelphia without the Eagles. It would be like the city without the Mummers. Oh, we came close to doing that, too? Like the city without cheesesteaks, then. Or without Rocky. Just unthinkable.
I’ve been thinking about that week, now more than two decades in the rear-view mirror, because on Sunday the Eagles will play for the NFC Championship.
In Arizona. That’s where Tose had visions of moving the team. Only some hard-core negotiating by then-Mayor Wilson Goode, which included construction of luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium to increase the team’s revenue flow, saved the franchise.
Tose changed his mind, decided to keep the team here.
I will think about that on Sunday. That could be the Eagles representing the city of Phoenix and state of Arizona.
Maybe another franchise would have moved to Philly. If not the NFL likely would have awarded the city an expansion franchise.
But they wouldn’t have been the Eagles. Yes, they’ve given us a lot more misery than joy over the years.
That could change on Sunday. The Eagles can deliver their fans from the desert by winning in the Arizona desert.
And wouldn’t it be fitting payback for the city that once came so close to stealing our hearts.
And one of the saddest.
That is because I am nothing if not a die-hard Eagles fan. At one time, seemingly another lifetime ago, I was a season-ticket holder. Back then I was single. Going to the Vet was an all-day affair, starting with an early-morning tailgate and ending at a local watering hole.
Then I got married. And I started working on Sundays. I gave up the season tickets. But not the “Gang Green” that beats inside my heart.
So it was with a heavy heart that created the front page of the Daily Times that hit the streets on Dec. 12, 1984.
It was dominated by three words: Bye, Bye, Birds.
And a face. That visage would belong to one Leonard Tose.
Tose was the Radnor trucking magnate who owned the Eagles. Tose liked to do everything first-class. He also liked to gamble, especially at Atlantic City casinos.
Eventually, the odds caught up with him. And the Eagles. Tose, desperate for funding, cut a deal to sell part of the team and move the franchise out of Philadelphia.
Imagine, Philadelphia without the Eagles. It would be like the city without the Mummers. Oh, we came close to doing that, too? Like the city without cheesesteaks, then. Or without Rocky. Just unthinkable.
I’ve been thinking about that week, now more than two decades in the rear-view mirror, because on Sunday the Eagles will play for the NFC Championship.
In Arizona. That’s where Tose had visions of moving the team. Only some hard-core negotiating by then-Mayor Wilson Goode, which included construction of luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium to increase the team’s revenue flow, saved the franchise.
Tose changed his mind, decided to keep the team here.
I will think about that on Sunday. That could be the Eagles representing the city of Phoenix and state of Arizona.
Maybe another franchise would have moved to Philly. If not the NFL likely would have awarded the city an expansion franchise.
But they wouldn’t have been the Eagles. Yes, they’ve given us a lot more misery than joy over the years.
That could change on Sunday. The Eagles can deliver their fans from the desert by winning in the Arizona desert.
And wouldn’t it be fitting payback for the city that once came so close to stealing our hearts.
posted by Heron's Nest at
7:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home