It's JUST a GAME!

Spaulding: Well, they did it AGAIN! Teddy: It's so beary hard to be a Philadelphia Eagle fan! Spaulding: Harder still to be an Eagle PLAYER! Both: Kehehehehehehehehehe Teddy: We could have won, if we knew how much to pay the referees! Spaulding: We counted three times that the refs simply didn't see penalties! Teddy: OR, intentionally didn't see Panther's breaking the rules! Spaulding: The time that hurt us the most was the three-seconds-after-the-whistle-blew hit on Donavan McNabb, our quarterback, that hurt his ribs enough to eventually knock him out of the game! Teddy: The most obvious one was the time our player got called for Face Mask, but the ref didn't see that BOTH players were face masking each other at the same time! Spaulding: AND THEN, some of our players simply forgot how to do their jobs! Teddy: Duece Staley! Duece Staley, of all people, MISSED a pass. He just simply didn't catch it for no particular reason! Amazing!!! Spaulding: He's now officially a free agent. He thinks management already has him on the auctioning block. I wonder if that had anything to do with how he played?! Teddy: Duece Staley MISSED a pass! Unbelievable! Spaulding: Daddy wants Coach Reid to fire the whole team and start from scratch! Teddy: Mommy doesn't want to care even if they make it to the playoffs again next year! Spaulding: That one silly fan screamed at the TV camera that "The Eagles ruined my WHOLE LIFE!" Teddy: Some guy was crying! Spaulding: Do you think that was to get on TV?! Teddy: I sure hope so! It seems silly to get THAT upset over a simple ball game! It's JUST a GAME, Philadelphians! Get a grip! Spaulding: The players accepted it quickly. Teddy: I don't know who those guys were out of their football uniforms, but they seemed to have the right idea-- Spaulding: They were going home to spend some time with their wives and children! Teddy: I bet they needed their Teddy Bears too! So many upset people over a GAME!!!! Spaulding: Yeah, if they have Teddy Bears, the Teddy Bears will hug them and remind them that they still have one of the funniest jobs in the whooole world-- Teddy: ..to PLAY a GAME and make lots and lots of money doing it! Spaulding: It's just like us playing Jeopardy! Teddy (with wholehearted agreement): Yeah! The same thing! It's just a GAME! Yeesh! Spaulding: It did prove something that Mommy said when that guy died last week! Teddy: Tugger? Spaulding: Yeah! (Mommy Note: 1980-1981 was a special time for Mommy and Daddy. They got married the same day the Phillies clenched the eastern division pennant, and were home from their honeymoon in time to watch the Phillies go on to win the World Series. The scene etched on anyone in the Delaware Valley area--the area in and around Philadelphia, PA--was the last pitch of the last game of that series. People around here still remember that the batter was Willie Wilson from the Kansas City Royals. Mommy remembers him, because she kept his stats when he played baseball for the Summit HillToppers at Summit H.S. in Summit, NJ in 1974, right before he was signed for $50,000 a year to play in the farm team for the Royals. Anyway, the pitcher became one of Philadelphia's most loved celebrities, Tug-Tugger to his fans--McGraw, who struke Willie Wilson out, jumped up and down with his arms straight up in the air, was jumping to homeplate after the strike out, when he suddenly jumped facing third base! On third base was one of the best third basemen of all times, Michael Jack (Mike) Schmidt, who promised Tugger that he would run to pitcher's mound the second Tugger won the game for the Phillies and jump on top of him! Tugger faced third base in preparation for that jump, and sure enough, the photo in the local paper the next day showed Mike flying in the air onto a group of Phillies, as if he were joining a mosh pit, and the only sign that Tugger was there was Tuggers arm next to Mike Schmidt! Oh, the very next season for football--1980 -1982-- the Eagles actually made it all the way to the SuperBowl--the first time ever--and last time! Of course, we could tell by the stunned awe on their faces as they came out onto the field that The Raiders would win, and they did, but the Eagles at least made it to the SuperBowl that one time. Anyway, back to Tugger. If the name Tug McGraw sounds familar, but not as the name of a baseball pitcher, he also happens to be Tim McGraw, the country singer's father, and, of course, therefore being Faith Hill's father-in-law. Unfortunately, last Spring season, as Tugger was down in Florida with our Phillies, he suddenly got sick, was rushed to the hospital and found out that he had a brain tumor. Despite having John's Mom and brother die from brain tumors, being blindly optimistic most of the time, I assumed, as did the whole city, that when he got out of the hospital minus one tumor that he would be fine. He was for half a year, but died last weekend at his son's house in TN. The newscasters all reminde us of his favorite saying that seemed to be the mantra for that glorious season in 1980--"You Gotta Believe"--and seemed to suggest if we all live by that it will be a prophecy. Tugger died at the young age of 56! If anyone could conquer cancer by beliving in "You Gotta Believe" it would have been him. Fortunately, even though sometimes it doesn't seem "fortunately," God is in control of the universe and, no matter what we think that is considered positive or negative thinking, he works all things out his way, not Man's way. OK, back to Teddy and Spaulding, who are giving me that "are you done YET?" look! LOL) Teddy and Spaulding: Done, Mommy? ::::::::::Mommy sheepishly smiles and nods her head.:::::::::::::::: Teddy: The Phillies winning the World Series happened RIGHT before we were born! Spaulding (nodding in agreement): Obviously a whole area of the country "You Gotta Believe"ing didn't make the Eagles win on Sunday! Teddy: Even though we weren't born yet in 1980, we liked Tugger too! We're praying for his family, cuz we know how horrible it must be to lose your Daddy! Spaulding (nodding in agreement again): Then again, this IS Philadelphia! It seems this area has two mindsets! We always think our teams are going to win the championship game every year AND... Teddy: ...we always KNOW, every year, that they will choke or just plain be lousy and disappoint us again! Spaulding: You know what's weird? Teddy: What? Spaulding: The rest of the world isn't like that! Teddy: Hmmmmmmm, who's right and who's wrong?! Spaulding: We're right! We're right when we say... Both: It's JUST a ball GAME, Yeeeeeeeeeeesh! Kehehehehehehe Teddy: Soooooooo, until next time...