Disappointment

That's what I feel after watching Sunday's game. There were my hometown Eagles, playing on the world's biggest stage, in a dogfight with the best football team ever. The game was tied at the end of the first, second, and third quarters, before the Birds fell a field goal short. While it's possible to take solace in a three point loss to the best team in the league, it's also possible to realize that the Eagles had about 345 different opportunities to win the game and decided to fold instead. Down 10 with around 6 minutes to go in the game, Andy Reid suddenly looked like he had taken some online courses from the Mike Martz School of Clock Management. And Donovan looked like the Donovan of 2002. The positives that I'm taking from the game are this: hope that Todd Pinkston's big first half will erase his "for who, for what" season and allow Reid to trade him for a pick; the awe that I now hold for Terrell Owens and his abilities (as if he needed a reason to be more popular in Philadelphia, Owens returned in six weeks from a broken ankle and torn tendons to catch 9 passes for 122 yards -- possible MVP numbers if the Birds had won); confirmation that Brian Westbrook is a truly special player; and proof that LJ Smith is now our starting tight end. My lasting hope is that the circle is now complete. It has been almost 22 years since this city last saw a major championship, when the 76ers beat the Lakers in 1983. Since that time, the Flyers have been to the Stanley Cup Finals three times and lost (1985, 1987, and 1997), the Phillies have been to the World Series twice and lost (1983 and 1993), the 76ers have been to the Finals and lost (2001), and now the Eagles have lost in the Super Bowl. Perhaps, collectively, these teams have now exorcised the city's demons and can turn their fortunes around.