Congratulations to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Laurie for being a new member on the Forbes magazine billionaires list. Perhaps he should celebrate by taking Joe Banner out to dinner and releasing him of any and all duties he has in regards to the operation of the football team. Banner, the over-controlling yet ever loyal employee to Laurie, has completely changed the football financial system and how it relates to the salary cap, and now Banner’s version of the system is essentially what is used around the league. Laurie should understand this and identify and reward his right-hand man with something wonderful…like a nice severance package. Banner is a man who has made himself obsolete in the business. Banner is a shrewd guy, but now he’s not the only one who can do the job.
Laurie should also realize just how he became a Billionaire. Yes, it was through the ownership of the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was through the toiling and hard work of Eagles fans, buying the tickets, concessions, and merchandise. And now with the apparent disregard for the fan, and in some cases his affect on the quality of product the organization is putting on the field, give him a warm pink slip laden send off. I know there will be those who will say that the team has gone to five NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. I will retort with the fact that the money values that they put on certain positions have hindered them from winning it all. For instance, they will spend money on the offensive and defensive lines. They will not spend money on linebacker, although they have been lucky with the young guys they have. They will spend money on the cornerback, but not come close to signing any of the bigger named wideouts when they become available. For years it has been argued that the Eagles would have won at least one if they had better guys than Pinkston & Thrash, and a guy like T.O. for more than one season. Dante Stallworth was a pickup in a trade, but they didn’t consider him worth signing after the season was over. To sum up the position on the receivers, they will spend many dollars on covering the best receivers in the league, but do not want the best receivers on their team. That is a Joe Banner decision, and if Jeffrey Laurie wants to win the Lombardi trophy, those decisions need to be made be someone else. It will be a fan friendly move that will not necessarily endear Laurie to the Philly fan, that will be difficult to do since he is one of those high brow types, but it will inch him in the positive direction.
Outside the Banner issue, Laurie also needs to step up a bit and settle with the city of Philadelphia regarding a petty battle of a mere eight million dollars. Laurie claims he lost that much due to a canceled preseason game a few years back, and the city claims that the Eagles still owe that amount for agreeing to build luxury boxes in Vet’s Stadium. That deal was with the previous regime, but Laurie took that debt on when he bought the team. Incidentally, it has been argued that eight million dollars would enable the city to keep multiple libraries, slated for closure due to budgetary constraints, in operation.
Laurie was a rich guy before he bought the team, now he is richer. He doesn’t need money and he has his share of fame. What he needs is love. Love from the city he relies on. Love from the people who helped put him on the billionaire list. The amount of good grace and a sterling public persona he would receive would undoubtedly outweigh the actions it would take to receive such accolades. Whether he cares, I do not know. What I do know is despite his new billionaire moniker, it won’t take him as far in the eyes of public appeal if he doesn’t do what it takes to properly thank the city and fans of the Eagles for what they helped him accomplish in the city of Philadelphia.
Showing posts with label Laurie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laurie. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Philadelphia Eagles Are In Trouble
The Eagles are in trouble, plain and simple. They have purged themselves of not one or two, but four starters and two important backups this free agency season and have found the administration the focus of negative media coverage from every direction. They have done little to garner public support in their decision making and have replaced replaced their losses with what looks to be a decent safety and a potentially decent offensive tackle. The depth chart is beginning to wear thin in a couple of areas and the Eagles have failed to produce any more viable options to show that they can remain competitive going into next season and fewer reasons why the fans shouldn’t run ownership out of town.
Tre Thomas, the eleven year vet and the only man who has truly protected Donovan McNabb’s blindside has agree to terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The next guy in line would have been Winston Justice, but if anyone has heard of him, it is because he was manhandled and abused by the New York Giants defensive line. If he is the man for the job, the Kevin Kolb will be the starter by the time the bye comes around because Number 5 will be broken and near dead. Behind Justice, there was last year’s 7th round pick, King Dunlap, who may or not be a player. Dunlap was a monster for his first couple years in college, but fell off the face of the Earth in his senior year. If he can regain some semblance of a NFL tackle, he will take the place of Justice on the roster when he invariably gets cut.
Then there is the case of running back. It is no secret that Brian Westbrook is the team’s best player at that position. Now, there is no question that Lorenzo Booker is not as good as Correll Buckhalter, and thereby an inadequate backup. If the Eagles expect B.West to last the season, they will need to get someone, either via the draft or free agency, to spell him from time to time. The organization claims that Brian will be better on the field since he will be overall healthier than he was in 2008, but how long can that last when he is the only ground option.
Jeff Laurie, who only speaks when the team is either doing well or there is exceedingly good news, has been in an ongoing battle over an eight million dollar suit from the city of Philadelphia. The Eagles have a counter-suit going saying that they lost eight million dollars when a Pre-Season game with Baltimore was canceled because the field at Veteran’s Stadium was in shambles. The political action group, ACORN, has a small rally outside Laurie’s suburb home, fighting for city. It turns out, that eight million dollars would help keep the libraries that are forced to close due to budgetary constraints open.
Joe Banner, went on talk radio last week and essentially lied his way through an interview regarding the Brian Dawkins saga. He stated that he wished he only had a chance to talk to Brian and maybe he could have swayed him to stay or that a deal still could have been worked out. Brian said his agent was in contact with the team three times before he signed with the Broncos and that there was never an indication that Banner wanted to talk or change the deal he had put on the table. Sunday night, Banner said just that, that he wasn’t going to match the offer Denver made, which tells me that Banner had no intention of giving Dawkins a better deal and was only doing a media tour because of the public backlash of Brian’s departure. Oh, by the way, no one has heard a peep from Coach Andy Reid during this whole mess.
And now, most recently a story has come out about just how weasel-like the organization can be read
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20090309_Gonzo___Cold_Eagles_sure_are_thin-skinned.html to see how they fired a part-time employee with a disability because he loved the team he worked for. If every company was like this, unemployment would be 75% and the remaining workers would be so frightened little robots. For six years, Dan Leone, who suffers from a potentially debilitating illness called transverse myelitis, was an exemplary worker. Then the Eagles let Brian Dawkins leave for Denver, and to vent Dan vented on a Facebook page. One of team’s upper management saw this posting and well, one thing led to another and Dan “could no longer be trusted.” The post wasn’t even up that long as Dan realized his mistake and removed it, but the wheels to his firing were already rolling. Soon he found out that there would be no warning, no slap on the wrist, and no understanding, just a firing squad from a team with no backbone and the arrogance previously unknown to mankind.
Not only have the Eagles screwed up with their on the field business, they are doing the same off the field. Their PR department must have been bought on the cheap like everything else, because they are slipping into an area saved for those like Marge Schott and Leona Helmsley. All we need now is some insider trading and a sex scandal and we’ll have the most eclectic bunch of guys possible running our team.
Tre Thomas, the eleven year vet and the only man who has truly protected Donovan McNabb’s blindside has agree to terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The next guy in line would have been Winston Justice, but if anyone has heard of him, it is because he was manhandled and abused by the New York Giants defensive line. If he is the man for the job, the Kevin Kolb will be the starter by the time the bye comes around because Number 5 will be broken and near dead. Behind Justice, there was last year’s 7th round pick, King Dunlap, who may or not be a player. Dunlap was a monster for his first couple years in college, but fell off the face of the Earth in his senior year. If he can regain some semblance of a NFL tackle, he will take the place of Justice on the roster when he invariably gets cut.
Then there is the case of running back. It is no secret that Brian Westbrook is the team’s best player at that position. Now, there is no question that Lorenzo Booker is not as good as Correll Buckhalter, and thereby an inadequate backup. If the Eagles expect B.West to last the season, they will need to get someone, either via the draft or free agency, to spell him from time to time. The organization claims that Brian will be better on the field since he will be overall healthier than he was in 2008, but how long can that last when he is the only ground option.
Jeff Laurie, who only speaks when the team is either doing well or there is exceedingly good news, has been in an ongoing battle over an eight million dollar suit from the city of Philadelphia. The Eagles have a counter-suit going saying that they lost eight million dollars when a Pre-Season game with Baltimore was canceled because the field at Veteran’s Stadium was in shambles. The political action group, ACORN, has a small rally outside Laurie’s suburb home, fighting for city. It turns out, that eight million dollars would help keep the libraries that are forced to close due to budgetary constraints open.
Joe Banner, went on talk radio last week and essentially lied his way through an interview regarding the Brian Dawkins saga. He stated that he wished he only had a chance to talk to Brian and maybe he could have swayed him to stay or that a deal still could have been worked out. Brian said his agent was in contact with the team three times before he signed with the Broncos and that there was never an indication that Banner wanted to talk or change the deal he had put on the table. Sunday night, Banner said just that, that he wasn’t going to match the offer Denver made, which tells me that Banner had no intention of giving Dawkins a better deal and was only doing a media tour because of the public backlash of Brian’s departure. Oh, by the way, no one has heard a peep from Coach Andy Reid during this whole mess.
And now, most recently a story has come out about just how weasel-like the organization can be read
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20090309_Gonzo___Cold_Eagles_sure_are_thin-skinned.html to see how they fired a part-time employee with a disability because he loved the team he worked for. If every company was like this, unemployment would be 75% and the remaining workers would be so frightened little robots. For six years, Dan Leone, who suffers from a potentially debilitating illness called transverse myelitis, was an exemplary worker. Then the Eagles let Brian Dawkins leave for Denver, and to vent Dan vented on a Facebook page. One of team’s upper management saw this posting and well, one thing led to another and Dan “could no longer be trusted.” The post wasn’t even up that long as Dan realized his mistake and removed it, but the wheels to his firing were already rolling. Soon he found out that there would be no warning, no slap on the wrist, and no understanding, just a firing squad from a team with no backbone and the arrogance previously unknown to mankind.
Not only have the Eagles screwed up with their on the field business, they are doing the same off the field. Their PR department must have been bought on the cheap like everything else, because they are slipping into an area saved for those like Marge Schott and Leona Helmsley. All we need now is some insider trading and a sex scandal and we’ll have the most eclectic bunch of guys possible running our team.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Philadelphia Eagles & The Brian Dawkins Fallout
The world according to Philadelphia Eagles fan has been turned upside down since the departure of Brian Dawkins. Questions upon questions have been raised regarding the reasons he decided to sign with the Denver Broncos, few blaming Dawkins. It is widely believed that the Pro-Bowl safety never wanted to leave the Eagles, but was summarily told by the Eagles administration that the Eagles were leaving him. This picture started to become clear once free agency started. Historically, the Eagles have signed players they wanted to keep, locked them up early before they had a chance to hit the open market. So when the clock struck midnight last Friday and B.Dawk wasn’t under contract it became clear that the Eagles were willing to part with guy.
I remember hearing the news, driving home on Friday, a little after 5 p.m. The announcement made reference to the nearly infamous piece from SF Chronicle indicating that Brian had “agreed to terms” with the Broncos. Panic started to take shape, both within myself, and every other Eagles fan. Since then I clearly went through the five stages of grief. First I denied the fact that the Eagles would actually let him go and that Dawk would leave. I then felt hatred for the man I believed responsible (and still do) in Joe Banner. The stage of bargaining was a very small one in this episode of free agency, I told myself that the Eagles could sign no other free agent and they would be fine as long as they had #20 in the backfield. Depression, yeah, I was depressed, but I don’t want to talk about it. And now, nearly 72 hours after I first heard the news, I have accepted the entire situation. I don’t like it, but I have accepted it.
Team lackeys and media brown-nosing doo doo sellers became obvious as they took the side as the administration, allowing the administration itself to become heard without speaking. They knew it was going to be bad, bad for the fans, bad for them, but all they had to do was survive the initial brunt of criticism. Andy Reid didn’t even address the issue at the big party known as the Stacy Andrews unveiling. Joe Banner and Jeff Laurie have been completely silent, issuing bogus statements saying how much Dawkins has meant to the team. Fact of the matter is this: Banner and Laurie own the team and they run it like a business, they are not fans in the real sense of the word, they do not feel the passion that real fans do, especially in Philadelphia, and they know that Eagles football is a drug, a narcotic that the city needs to survive and that they can do anything they want, no matter how heinous and us junkie Eagles fans will keep coming back.
What could have been the disagreement between the two sides that would have driven the wedge between Brian Dawkins the man and the team he lived and died for sixteen Sundays a year for the past thirteen years? I haven’t heard the terms the Eagles offered their star but I’m guessing that they used a calculator, abacus, and a slide rule, to come up with a lowball number and offer that for a one year deal, not considering how much money they have under the cap. It was reminiscent of Hugh Douglas’s departure, and Jeremiah Trotter’s first exit, when they took an older player, “insulted” them with a bad contract offer, and then talked about how they pay based on how they will play at the end of the deal using verbiage like “diminishing returns.” Denver simply offered Dawkins a better commitment than Banner. Denver valued the player, man, leader, and his experience more that Banner, who would prefer to have a 2nd year Quintin Demps start instead of a Pro-Bowler.
Maybe the economy has hit the big wigs at the Eagles, and that their real financial investments have given nothing but diminishing returns. But Joe Banner has made clear that in the world of football, capology is more important than the fan, because the fan is a constant in his equations. He couldn’t be more wrong. The fallout has occurred and his silence will not be tolerated, cannot be tolerated. He has laughed in the face of children as he took what they loved and sent it away. I am an Eagles fan, and will be forever, but my dedication to the franchise has changed I think. I am not excited about who they may or may not bring in anymore, nor do I care who they draft next month. My guess is that I’m not the only one who feels that disconnect, that numbness that settles in after a dramatic change. How will I feel when camp opens? I don’t know. It will be different and it won’t be as electric as it would have been if Brian Dawkins’ energy was still radiating through the entire defense. My man crush has been crushed and that all I’m gonna say about that. I wish him well, and I wish Bronco fans the best, as they watch perhaps the greatest player in Eagles history.
I remember hearing the news, driving home on Friday, a little after 5 p.m. The announcement made reference to the nearly infamous piece from SF Chronicle indicating that Brian had “agreed to terms” with the Broncos. Panic started to take shape, both within myself, and every other Eagles fan. Since then I clearly went through the five stages of grief. First I denied the fact that the Eagles would actually let him go and that Dawk would leave. I then felt hatred for the man I believed responsible (and still do) in Joe Banner. The stage of bargaining was a very small one in this episode of free agency, I told myself that the Eagles could sign no other free agent and they would be fine as long as they had #20 in the backfield. Depression, yeah, I was depressed, but I don’t want to talk about it. And now, nearly 72 hours after I first heard the news, I have accepted the entire situation. I don’t like it, but I have accepted it.
Team lackeys and media brown-nosing doo doo sellers became obvious as they took the side as the administration, allowing the administration itself to become heard without speaking. They knew it was going to be bad, bad for the fans, bad for them, but all they had to do was survive the initial brunt of criticism. Andy Reid didn’t even address the issue at the big party known as the Stacy Andrews unveiling. Joe Banner and Jeff Laurie have been completely silent, issuing bogus statements saying how much Dawkins has meant to the team. Fact of the matter is this: Banner and Laurie own the team and they run it like a business, they are not fans in the real sense of the word, they do not feel the passion that real fans do, especially in Philadelphia, and they know that Eagles football is a drug, a narcotic that the city needs to survive and that they can do anything they want, no matter how heinous and us junkie Eagles fans will keep coming back.
What could have been the disagreement between the two sides that would have driven the wedge between Brian Dawkins the man and the team he lived and died for sixteen Sundays a year for the past thirteen years? I haven’t heard the terms the Eagles offered their star but I’m guessing that they used a calculator, abacus, and a slide rule, to come up with a lowball number and offer that for a one year deal, not considering how much money they have under the cap. It was reminiscent of Hugh Douglas’s departure, and Jeremiah Trotter’s first exit, when they took an older player, “insulted” them with a bad contract offer, and then talked about how they pay based on how they will play at the end of the deal using verbiage like “diminishing returns.” Denver simply offered Dawkins a better commitment than Banner. Denver valued the player, man, leader, and his experience more that Banner, who would prefer to have a 2nd year Quintin Demps start instead of a Pro-Bowler.
Maybe the economy has hit the big wigs at the Eagles, and that their real financial investments have given nothing but diminishing returns. But Joe Banner has made clear that in the world of football, capology is more important than the fan, because the fan is a constant in his equations. He couldn’t be more wrong. The fallout has occurred and his silence will not be tolerated, cannot be tolerated. He has laughed in the face of children as he took what they loved and sent it away. I am an Eagles fan, and will be forever, but my dedication to the franchise has changed I think. I am not excited about who they may or may not bring in anymore, nor do I care who they draft next month. My guess is that I’m not the only one who feels that disconnect, that numbness that settles in after a dramatic change. How will I feel when camp opens? I don’t know. It will be different and it won’t be as electric as it would have been if Brian Dawkins’ energy was still radiating through the entire defense. My man crush has been crushed and that all I’m gonna say about that. I wish him well, and I wish Bronco fans the best, as they watch perhaps the greatest player in Eagles history.
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