Bird Bored?

Rich Hoffman turns in a terrific article on the current attitude of Eagles fans that proves once again that the city’s best sports columnist firmly has fingers on the pulse of the fan base.

 

He very accurately captured the feelings of many Eagles’ fans, myself included. I am excited about the upcoming season, but not to the extent I have been in the recent past.

 

I think the Eagles will do well this year and should make the playoffs But that extra thrill that was there in the pre-season, especially from 2002-04, just isn’t there now. Heck, I can still recall how pumped I was for the 2001 season confident that the Eagles were a team on the rise, the Cowboys a decaying dynasty, and how they were going to surprise a lot of people over the course of the season. And it sure was fun being proved right.

 

I’m not sure I would call it a malaise. Maybe spoiled would be a better description for the fans’ attitude now.

 

You know what you are getting with this team. Barring disastrous injuries, the Eagles will be an above average team and very competitive. As fans, we’ve been down this road before. At this point, I think it is really about the super bowl. This coach, this quarterback, and this team have accomplished everything but that. The real excitement will come when the playoff push starts in earnest come October/November. At least, I think so.

 

More interesting, I think, is the impact this lack of excitement has on the Lurie/Banner “plan,” the notorious blueprint for remaining a top tier team. Though it is still too early to judge based on one season’s TV ratings and training camp attendance, they should probably be getting concerned that their strategy may inadvertently impede further fan interest/excitement and opportunities to grow their business.

 

I wonder if the consistently excellent teams of this Eagles’ era – the Patriots, Steelers, Seahawks and Packers – are facing similar issues with their fan bases?