Wednesday Morning Quarterbacks
Let me start this off by letting you know that I’ve been a Philadelphia Eagles fan for as long as I could understand football. (Hey, you in the peanut gallery! Shut it. I’ve gotten plenty of that from the Cowboys fans at work this week.)
This has led to a lot of disappointment over the years, as you can imagine. This year, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie handed down an ultimatum, of sorts. He wants a Super Bowl ring, and head coach Andy Reid’s neck is on the line if that objective isn’t met.
Tensions are high, every week, as injuries plague the team. But Jeff Lurie has reason to be upset. It’s not just the injuries. By any objective standard, the Eagles have had damn good teams over the majority of the last 14 seasons since Reid came in as coach.
This season, for example, the team got closer to their salary cap than at any point in team history, since the NFL salary cap was instituted.
But, after Sunday night’s loss, at home, in a must-win scenario, the season is pretty much over for the Eagles. So, what happened?
Is Andy Reid the problem? He’s the longest-tenured active coach in the league, and has an overall win percentage every other coach is rightly jealous of. Will canning him at the end of the year result in some kind of radical transformation and an automatic Super Bowl next season? Hardly.
Can the blame be placed on Michael Vick? Not really. He’s one guy, and has played fairly well, considering the brutal beatings he takes every week.
Well, then, it has to be the offensive line, right? They’re not giving him enough time in the pocket, and they fall apart so that Vick ends up on the ground after almost every play. True enough.
But one has to take into account that there is only one regular starter in the entire O-line. The veterans are all banged up and riding the bench.
In short: yes, Andy Reid has made some bad decisions as coach. Yes, Vick has made some serious errors in the turnover and defense-reading departments. And the O-line has been disastrous.
But there’s also the defense. Two high-dollar corners haven’t panned out very well. They get burned on way too many plays. And when they don’t get burned, it’s because they commit penalties. Run blocking has been pretty pathetic, too, come to think of it.
So, where does that leave us? Well, looking at next year. Obviously.
But, what should be done about the current problems, so they aren’t repeated next season?
That’s a damn good question. And it needs to be answered correctly.
Now, you’re probably asking why I’m writing about football. Because there’s an apt analogy here.
The GOP is just like the Eagles, at this point in the season. 2012 is over for them, too.
Many problems have been identified by the pundit class since last Tuesday, and each of them believes that “fixing” the pet problem they’ve identified is the GOP’s panacea.
Some say we need a new coach, and all will be well. But the coach isn’t the one who suits up and takes the field every week, making split-second situational decisions on play after play, is he? Of course not. And it doesn’t matter how many millions are sent to him by donors so he can “architect” a playoff run. If the wrong players are on the field, playing only from their hearts and not their heads, stupid plays will happen. Every time.
And, as an Eagles fan, I can see the obvious similarities between Romney and Vick - both multi-millionaires who, arguably, get paid well above their actual talents. And, both have had some questions raised about their past treatment of dogs.
But, despite the fact that each is merely one member of the overall team, some suggest that replacing the quarterback will fix everything. Maybe someone should ask the Redskins about that, in regards to Donovan McNabb.
The truth of the matter is, to coin a phrase about sportsmanship, it’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game.
All the Wednesday morning quarterbacks, with all of their blog-posting, cable-talking, and poll-parsing since last Wednesday have completely missed the point of that old phrase. It doesn’t mean being more magnanimous, or playing less aggressively in the name of sportsmanship. But some suggest we do just that.
Romney wasn’t accessible enough, they cry. As if the offensive line should’ve just stood there and allowed the inevitable sacks.
We didn’t read the defense correctly, they moan. As if the last 5 years didn’t clue us in to the fact that the Progs were going to blitz on every damn play.
We need to compromise on immigration and border security, they wail. As if our defense should just jam their hands in their pockets and count blades of grass when the other team is in the red zone.
We need more short passes to the middle of the field (or maybe even some naked left slant-outs), they bitch. As if the electoral maps from 1980 & 1984 looking like the wall in Che Guevara’s courtyard don’t prove that philosophical, First Principles-based conservatism wins. Big.
Oh, but that was so long ago, they whine. Forgetting, perhaps, the electoral landslide from 2010 (which First Principles Tea Partiers handed them on a silver platter).
The fact is, for the GOP as well as the Eagles, this upcoming offseason is a rebuilding year. And they’d damn well get a better “architect”, this time around.
Might I suggest one that will build on the solid foundation placed by the Framers? Better that, than listening to the hordes in the pundit class (steeped in cultural Marxism, every last one of them) who suggest taking jackhammers to it, in the name of “modernizing.”
After all, if the fundamentals of football still work in football, shouldn’t the fundamentals of Liberty still work in a nation conceived in Liberty?
About Bradley S. Rees
Spent 15+ years in the fields of regulatory, tax, and education reform. Ran in GOP primary for VA-5 Congressional seat from Nov. '08 to October '09. Host of "The Brushfire Hour" (now only in podcast form at BlogTalkRadio) and "The Sons Of Liberty Show" sponsored by Conservative Broadcast Media on spreaker.com Primary author at http://sonofliberty2k10.wordpress.com
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