For Philly fans, T.O. now playing Grinch
BY PHIL SHERIDAN
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA - To the long list of things Terrell Owens has cost the Philadelphia Eagles - $12 million, $20,000 worth of antacid, their 2005 season, Donovan McNabb's peace of mind, the team stability carefully built by Andy Reid - add one more:
Christmas at home with their families.
That's right. The NFL schedule makers gave the Eagles a road game in Dallas on Dec. 25 expressly because the league and its TV masters wanted some kind of compelling matchup to lure viewers that day.
Insert Grinch joke here.
Insert Scrooge joke here.
Really, you have to wonder why the NFL and its TV masters worry. After all, we have now reached the absurd point where three - count `em, three - different channels went live to announce the 2006 schedule yesterday.
The NFL Network, of course, devoted two full hours to the unveiling of the schedule and team-by-team analysis. ESPN and ESPNews, two different channels, also presented breathless coverage of which teams will play which teams, where and when.
Wow.
I don't know about you, but my schedule-day tailgate party was pretty nuts. Lots of beer. Lots of good food on the grill. Lots of thrills and chills, all in glorious high-def.
The highlight: Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher was reached by phone to get his reaction to the Bears' schedule, live on ESPN.
"I haven't even looked at it yet, Mike," Urlacher said.
Riveting TV. And hey, give Urlacher credit for having a life.
Then again, you're reading the same guy who couldn't believe anyone would actually tune in and watch the NFL draft on live TV. And that was before it became a two-day weekend of scrolling names and Mel Kiper and video phones in the war room.
Clearly, if you put the NFL logo on the screen, grown men will stare at the TV until it goes away again. The NFL Network actually televises combine workouts now. The league used to be more secretive about the combine than the CIA is about goings-on at Guantanamo Bay. Now you can watch about 500 guys in a row run the 40-yard dash.
Eyeball abuse.
So why not make a show out of the next season's schedule? Even though everyone already knew which teams played which and where, the "when really can be kind of interesting.
And that's why you wonder whom the Eagles ticked off in the NFL offices - or, more accurately, in the offices of the league's TV masters. For this is the year the transfer of power became complete. With ESPN taking over "Monday Night Football, with three Thanksgiving games, with time-shifting on late-season Sundays, the networks no longer merely televise NFL games. The NFL now provides programming whenever the networks want.
You'd think ESPN would love the Eagles, after the network got roughly 12 million programming hours out of the T.O. follies last year. But no.
Not only is this their second consecutive Christmas on the road (following last year's delightful holiday getaway to Arizona), the Dallas game is their third straight on the road, all against NFC East rivals.
That's pretty harsh.
Yes, all 16 games must be played over a 17-week period. But it's standard practice to break up the home-and-home divisional series so no one has a competitive advantage or disadvantage.
Three in a row, on the road, against Washington, the New York Giants and the Cowboys? That qualifies as a competitive disadvantage. Especially when you back up another two weeks. The Eagles play at Indianapolis on Nov. 26, host NFC runner-up Carolina on Monday, Dec. 4, and then, on a short week, start their three-week road trip against the rest of the division.
Is that an excuse for the Eagles to be as bad as they were in 2005? Of course not.
The flip side of a brutal second half is that pretty soft first half. If the Eagles aren't 3-1 or even 4-0 after playing Houston, the Giants, 49ers and Packers in the first month, they'll deserve another December of meaningless games.
And of course, there is Oct. 8. Dallas and T.O. at the Linc. Bring your vocal cords.
The way the NFL has been, of course, the 49ers could be terrific and the Colts could fall apart. This time last year, you probably figured Monday night at home against Seattle was a laugher. It was, if you were a Seahawks fan, to the tune of 42-0.
The way the NFL has been, the teams with a chance at the Super Bowl get better and better as the season wears on. If the Eagles are going to be that kind of team again, then, they'll be able to deal with that cruel December schedule.
And if not? Well, it won't matter much anyway, and Christmas with T.O. will be just another dash of salt in a very deep wound.
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA - To the long list of things Terrell Owens has cost the Philadelphia Eagles - $12 million, $20,000 worth of antacid, their 2005 season, Donovan McNabb's peace of mind, the team stability carefully built by Andy Reid - add one more:
Christmas at home with their families.
That's right. The NFL schedule makers gave the Eagles a road game in Dallas on Dec. 25 expressly because the league and its TV masters wanted some kind of compelling matchup to lure viewers that day.
Insert Grinch joke here.
Insert Scrooge joke here.
Really, you have to wonder why the NFL and its TV masters worry. After all, we have now reached the absurd point where three - count `em, three - different channels went live to announce the 2006 schedule yesterday.
The NFL Network, of course, devoted two full hours to the unveiling of the schedule and team-by-team analysis. ESPN and ESPNews, two different channels, also presented breathless coverage of which teams will play which teams, where and when.
Wow.
I don't know about you, but my schedule-day tailgate party was pretty nuts. Lots of beer. Lots of good food on the grill. Lots of thrills and chills, all in glorious high-def.
The highlight: Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher was reached by phone to get his reaction to the Bears' schedule, live on ESPN.
"I haven't even looked at it yet, Mike," Urlacher said.
Riveting TV. And hey, give Urlacher credit for having a life.
Then again, you're reading the same guy who couldn't believe anyone would actually tune in and watch the NFL draft on live TV. And that was before it became a two-day weekend of scrolling names and Mel Kiper and video phones in the war room.
Clearly, if you put the NFL logo on the screen, grown men will stare at the TV until it goes away again. The NFL Network actually televises combine workouts now. The league used to be more secretive about the combine than the CIA is about goings-on at Guantanamo Bay. Now you can watch about 500 guys in a row run the 40-yard dash.
Eyeball abuse.
So why not make a show out of the next season's schedule? Even though everyone already knew which teams played which and where, the "when really can be kind of interesting.
And that's why you wonder whom the Eagles ticked off in the NFL offices - or, more accurately, in the offices of the league's TV masters. For this is the year the transfer of power became complete. With ESPN taking over "Monday Night Football, with three Thanksgiving games, with time-shifting on late-season Sundays, the networks no longer merely televise NFL games. The NFL now provides programming whenever the networks want.
You'd think ESPN would love the Eagles, after the network got roughly 12 million programming hours out of the T.O. follies last year. But no.
Not only is this their second consecutive Christmas on the road (following last year's delightful holiday getaway to Arizona), the Dallas game is their third straight on the road, all against NFC East rivals.
That's pretty harsh.
Yes, all 16 games must be played over a 17-week period. But it's standard practice to break up the home-and-home divisional series so no one has a competitive advantage or disadvantage.
Three in a row, on the road, against Washington, the New York Giants and the Cowboys? That qualifies as a competitive disadvantage. Especially when you back up another two weeks. The Eagles play at Indianapolis on Nov. 26, host NFC runner-up Carolina on Monday, Dec. 4, and then, on a short week, start their three-week road trip against the rest of the division.
Is that an excuse for the Eagles to be as bad as they were in 2005? Of course not.
The flip side of a brutal second half is that pretty soft first half. If the Eagles aren't 3-1 or even 4-0 after playing Houston, the Giants, 49ers and Packers in the first month, they'll deserve another December of meaningless games.
And of course, there is Oct. 8. Dallas and T.O. at the Linc. Bring your vocal cords.
The way the NFL has been, of course, the 49ers could be terrific and the Colts could fall apart. This time last year, you probably figured Monday night at home against Seattle was a laugher. It was, if you were a Seahawks fan, to the tune of 42-0.
The way the NFL has been, the teams with a chance at the Super Bowl get better and better as the season wears on. If the Eagles are going to be that kind of team again, then, they'll be able to deal with that cruel December schedule.
And if not? Well, it won't matter much anyway, and Christmas with T.O. will be just another dash of salt in a very deep wound.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:29 PM
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