Blizzard and Iwo Jima Pics II

More blizzard pics around Rosslyn - one of the Netherlands Carillion, a few of Arlington Cemetery, and a bunch of the Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial.

Or as one great orator might refer to it, the "Marine Corpse Memorial"

Blizzard 2010

Wandering through a blizzard after an evening at Continental may not have been the smartest thing to do, but getting these pictures was a once in a lifetime opportunity.











Arlington Cemetery. I could have easily hopped the three foot wall and gotten better shots, but out of respect went no closer.

A Question About Our Leaders

* Update - Cross posted at Flopping Aces! *

This story came up over the summer, and only showed up as a small blip on the blogosphere radar. I never quite found the time to write about it then, but with us on the verge of having President Obama's health care system imposed on us despite massive public opposition I though this was a good time to circle back to this topic.

To recap, over the summer, Rep. Eric Massa stated that he would vote against the interests/opinions of his constituents if he thought it would be "helpful". There was a small bubble of outrage that quickly passed, as our elected officials were kind enough to give us bigger reasons for outrage. Kim Priestap at Wizbang raises a good question about Massa's motives, but a greater question was left unasked. Her main point is that Massa made a freudian slip in asserting that he would vote against his district's interests, later changing his wording to say opinions, is stating that he would support the health care bill. Priestap goes on to state that the main difference between Bush's going against public opinion versus Obama's is that Bush was doing what was in the best interest for national security while what Obama is doing is merely an attempt to grab power and put America under the dependence of the government.

Now, to take Kim's point a bit further, the heavy public opposition to both policies are for two very different reasons. Many liberals were opposed to the Iraq war simply out of hatred for George Bush. If you don't believe me look at how groups like Not In Our Name have folded up their tents, how the antiwar comic "Get Your War On" ended on January 20th 2009, or how Code Pink no longer dominates the news as opposed to back when they were exploiting Cindy Sheehan. Many additional Americans opposed the war because Bush did a poor job of making his case to the public as to why the war was necessary. Doug Feith's book "War and Decision" illustrates how this happened and how the opposition was able to frame the arguments to push public opinion against the war. By contrast, the American public is greatly opposed to the current health care bill because Democrats have done a poor job of obfuscating the disastrous effects that this bill will have on both the levels of health care we enjoy and on the American economy.

But a larger question remains unanswered. For the most part, people opposed to the war in Iraq are in favor of the health care bill and those supporting the Iraq War are against the government taking over the health care industry. Granted, there will be exceptions, but for the most part this principle holds true. Which leads me to the question - we elect our officials to act in our best interests. At what point should we entrust our elected officials to "do the right thing" even if the majority of us disagrees with their course of action? Conservatives know that Bush was right on Iraq and that Obama's health care plan will lead us to ruin. Liberals know that Bush was wrong about Iraq and that Obamacare will improve health care for all Americans. If we're applying public opinion as the litmus test, are we selling ourselves short in that a simple majority rule should decide any issue, no matter how complex? For that matter, are we all being hypocrites for praising the steadfastness of our leaders who champion issues that we support while condemning the leaders who back issues we oppose? This is one time I don't have a solid answer or a solid conclusion. Personally I find it refreshing to have a politician willing to be this honest with his constituents as Massa - I just hope he was as clear about his position during his last election campaign. I'd be really curious to hear what folks from both sides of the aisle have to say...

Eagles Postmortem

OK, a few days have passed and I've cooled off enough to finally write about Saturday night's meltdown against Dallas.

Very simply, the team did not show up. One would have thought that after the previous week's blowout at the Cowboys' hands would have given the team enough insight into Dallas' offensive and defensive play calling to be ready. That did not happen, and everyone is pointing fingers at their favorite targets - McNabb not being accurate enough (not completely undeserved), Asante and Sheldon getting burned trying to jump routes (sometimes undeserved), Jason Peters being an overpaid, overrated sack of protoplasm (always deserved), having Vick as a distraction to the offense, etc. While most of the players earned their share of the blame, ultimately it goes back in one direction - the coaches.

Anyone who's read this blog knows I'm a long time Andy Reid supporter. But he had a week to study the film, learn what went wrong, make the necessary adjustments, and he did not. And the team was completely humiliated by its arch rival two weeks in a row. And this also leads to further questions on Reid - is he still the right guy to lead the Eagles?

Again, I am not, and have not been among the masses to call for a new coach after every loss. Reid and the rest of the front office have done an outstanding job of maintaining a great talent level - drafting well, developing young players, maintaining depth with mid level players, bringing in a few superstars, and knowing when it was time to say goodbye to some long time fan favorites (we still love ya Dawk, but letting you go to Denver was the right thing to do). The team finally picked up some great receivers in the last two years in D-Jack and Maclin, and this season finally got away from the predictable pass happy offense and pounded the rock even with Westbrook out injured.

That said, at some point it becomes necessary to move on, especially if a team can't take that last leap to get to the top. Dungy built a great team in Tampa, but couldn't win a championship and Chuckie got them the Lombardi trophy. And while he wasn't the man in Tampa, Dungy was able to go to Indy, take their to solid foundation to win the Colts a Super Bowl.

As much as I love Andy and the fact that we're one of the few teams in the league that considers a ten win season a disaster, I'm getting tired of always having to wait until next year. With Heckert gone to Cleveland (the first offseason loss that truly concerns me), the window stays open for only so long. The Eagles need to take advantage sooner than later, and with a core of young offensive weapons to build around the time is now. It's time for Andy to move on, and bring in Cowher, or better still, Jimmy Johnson. C'mon all of you who just spat coffee all over your computer screens - can you think of a single coach more motivated to sweep the Cowboys and put a frown on Jenny Jones' face every season?

Or, as my buddy The Destroyer of Colons II put it, "With the amount of talent that this team has had for the last decade, the fact that they don't have three Super Bowl wins, not appearances but wins, tells you that the problem lies ultimately with the coaches."

And if you're wondering what kind of "Rose colored glasses" Eagles fan would believe that the team should have won three championships in this decade, let me point out that the DOC is a lifelong Cowboys fan.

Tribute to the Jets, Giants Stadium, Reggie White, and the Coolest Incident Ever of Fan on Fan Violence

Tonight's Jets-Bengals game will be the final football game played at Giants Stadium, and I wanted to honor the occasion by sharing my memories of one of the rare football games I would attend at that venue.

On December 20, 1987, Miami Bob's cousin managed to score us tickets to the Eagles-Jets game. So the three of us trekked up to Giants Stadium on a cold, miserable day (over 70,000 no-shows) to watch two average teams. Neither was headed to the playoffs, although the Eagles were just starting to ride the tide of Buddy Ryan's reign in Philly. And most importantly, Reggie White was closing in on Mark Gastineau's sack record.

The game itself was nothing spectacular - the rain kept so many people away, but we were nicely tucked away in the back of a lower tier end zone and had cover. Although the Jets led at one point, The Eagles' won 38-27, and the game wasn't even that close. At one point, Santa Claus was walking around our section, and a few Jets fans were pleading for linebackers and a tailback. Reggie White had two sacks on the day, but would ultimately end the season one sack short of the record. Gastineau's mark would hold until Brett Favre would take a dive for Micahel Strahan to give Strahan the record for sacks in a season years later. Sorry Giants fans, not to take away from what a great player Strahan was, but that record is BS, and one more reason to hate Favre. But none of what I just mentioned are what made the game truly memorable.

Even though it was a near meaningless game between two non conference rivals, I played the role of "Respectful Fan in Hostile Territory". Of course, I stood up and cheered whenever the Eagles made a big play, but I wasn't obnoxious about it and didn't rub it in any of the Jets fans' faces. Which is more than I can say for a lone Eagles fan sitting down below.

This one guy was sitting in the first row of the lower tier right behind the goal posts, and spent the whole game going nuts - cheering like a loon, pointing and taunting at the Jets fans, you get the idea. I remember watching him and thinking, "Dude, you can't do that." Sooner or later something was going to happen to this guy, and that time came in the third quarter. I noticed two massive Jets fans walking down the aisle, having a casual conversation. They walked up to Fanboy, and still having their conversation, nonchalantly picked him up and held him upside down by his ankles out over the drop. Granted, had he fallen it would only have been about a 15 foot drop, but a drop nonetheless. This didn't happen though, as the Jets fans continued to talk for about a minute before placing Fanboy back in his seat and kept on chatting while they walked away as if nothing had happened.

They only got halfway up the stairs when the Yellowjackets intercepted them and three both of them out. Five minutes later they returned and threw Fanboy out as well, probably for his own safety. Dude should have known better, and his fate was far more merciful than what an opposing fan like him would have received in The Nest of Death. Overall, I had a good time, am grateful I got to see The Minister of Defense and Lord Randal the Great play live, but I will never forget the coolest incident ever of fan on fan violence.

Two Takes on Today's Eagles Victory

First off, we know the Andy Reid (and McNabb) haters won't go away until he wins a Super Bowl, but today he's earned 24 hours of silence.

At this stage in the season I'm guessing that nobody remembers the questions raised during the offseason when the Eagles let a number of key players leave for free agency. Check your Eagles history though, very few big names continue their success after departure from Philly. Derrick Burgess is one of the notable exceptions (for one season only), but aside from that, when do you hear of former Eagles havong a great season? Which brings us to today...

This afternoon was a homecoming for both Brian Dawkins and Corell Buckhalter - both mainstays who could get paychecks bigger than they were worth. Reid took flak for letting them (among others) go during the offseason, but not overpaying for them allowed the Eagles to sign their rookies and properly compensate the mid-level players that win championships. So how did they do today?

Dawk was a non-factor, getting burned or penalized. C-Buck got hurt on a kickoff - does anyone wonder if Andy didn't target these guys for a reason? So it was a hard fought win, but a win nonetheless. Congrats Andy, on winning the Vindication Bowl.

And on that note is my other angle. A win is a win, but no fan likes an ugly win. Except me.
Today's win over the Broncos was wayyyy too dramatic, but it's the kind of win that great teams make. Don't believe me? Think back...

Remember the 49ers of the 80's or the Cowboys of the 90's? You hated them. You could hang with them. But in the end they always found a way to win those close games. That's what great teams do. They may win ugly, but they still win. Right now, we can't say that of the Colts, Saints, or Vikes.

Which leaves us as the team that nobody wants to play. The biggest threat I see is when we meet the Colts in February. And no team in football is better than generating "Manning Face" than the Eagles.

Be afraid Colts; be very afraid.

A Sad Day for Eagles Fans (And Giants & Cowboys Fans Too!)

"He had a lot to say. He had a lot of nothing to say. We'll miss him"
-- Maynard James Keenan



This morning I got one of my semi-regular text messages from Z, the most rabid Eagles fan in DC. When I see that I've gotten a message from him during preseason I usually cringe, as it usually means an injury. When I get a message from him during the season, I'm generally anticipating good news, usually because a key player is getting a contract extension. That would not be the case this morning. Around 9:00 I learned that Vinny Cerrato had resigned as Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

I thought it would only be fitting to open this post with a quote and the video of that great song by Tool, "Eulogy." Being an Eagles fan who once worked for Dan Snyder gives me a certain joy in watching the Redskins endure a disastrous season, like this one! Of course, as much fun as it has been to hear the Monday morning postmortems on sports talk radio following each loss, I knew that the Skins would need a few wins to make this a perfect season - the 'Skins being bad, but not quite bad enough for Snyder to remove his head from his posterior to realize he needs to fire Cerrato. Those recent wins & tight games gave me confidence that we would see Vinny again for at least one more season, and this morning it all came crashing down. So let's take a few moments to eulogize some of the highlights of Cerrato's tenure in DC:

• Unloading a proven quarterback like Brad Johnson in favor of Jeff George, who Phil Sims once brilliantly summed up by saying "He has the hardware but not the software"
• Jacking ticket prices & punishing a very loyal fan base with by becoming the most expensive event to attend in pro sports
• "Prime timmme... Prime timmme... Primmme Timmme..."
• The Old Ball Coach!
  
• Brandon Lloyd
• Not just bringing in a head case like DeAngelo Hall, but grossly overpaying for him
• Jim Zorn - seriously?
  
• Failing to secure a new QB after completely shattering any confidence that Jason Campbell may have
• Not allowing fans to bring signs into Fedex Field because they were critical of the team's management
• Albert Haynesworth

I could continue, but it's already 11:00 PM and I don't want to still be writing this when the sun comes up. Feel free to comment on any of your favorites that I may have missed!

And never one to disappoint, Snyder has already brought in in Cerrato's replacement, Bruce Allen. His most recent resume entry credits him with the atrophy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl winning nucleus. I feel better already.

So rejoice Eagles, Giants and Cowboys fans! We thought that the divisional realignment from a few years ago was going to hurt us, losing those two wins per season against the Cardinals. Who would have guessed that the Redskins would become that team for us?

Maybe we should send our final farewell to Cerrato with one of the last lines from "Eulogy":

"Come down. Get off your f***ing cross. We need the f***ing space to nail the next fool martyr!"

And sorry 'Skins fans, but things aren't going to improve until you fire the one guy most responsible for keeping your team down - Daniel Snyder.