The great Mike Schmidt once said, “Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.” So is the case today, as WIP loudmouth, Metro scribe, and McNabb basher Angelo Cataldi spews vitriol at Donovan again in his column. Nevermind that McNabb is the greatest quarterback in this team’s history, nevermind that he’s trying to come back from a career threatening injury, and nevermind that he LED THE TEAM TO A FREAKING WIN. Nope, none of that matters when you work for WIP. All that’s important is that you keep the assault on your own players going when the going gets tough.
In the column, the statement McNabb made last week that he’s not the whole reason that the Eagles are so bad (which was an obvious and fairly benign statement if you ask me) is seen as “throwing his teammates under the bus”. I love how WIP wants to have it both ways. They complain that Andy Reid only speaks in platitudes, then when Donovan actually speaks his mind, they launch an all out assault against him and say that he’s a terrible leader. But of course. Because any old terrible leader could lead a team with receivers named Thrash and Pinkston to three consecutive championship games, and terrible leaders are often 5 time Pro Bowlers.
Of course, the fans that call into WIP are just as absurd. Philadelphia always claims that it loves guys who gut it out, win or lose. So when McNabb came back early from such a serious injury, despite the fact that he could have easily taken a few more months to recuperate, did Philadelphia Eagle fans embrace him with open arms, appreciative of the fact that he wanted to play so badly that he was willing to risk his career by coming back early from a devastating injury? Hell no. They just screamed and hollered about how we shouldn’t have let Jeff Garcia go. Which raises the question: Do Philadelphia sports fans only appreciate gutsy though ultimately flawed performances from fictional white boxers, and not from actual black quarterbacks?