Philadelphia Eagles vs Phillies: 5 Ways the Eagles Can Win Back the City

The misery ended on October 29, 2008. The longest mathematical title drought in the history of any sports town. Four major professional teams. Twenty-five fruitless seasons for each of them.  One hundred, yes, a century's worth of title-free finishes, when you add them all together. 

But on the final play of season No. 101, Phillies closer Brad Lidge sunk a devastating slider beneath the helpless swing of lumbering Rays pinch hitter Eric Hinske. And the ensuing image is forever etched in the photographic minds of the long-tortured Philadelphians lucky enough to enjoy it. 

We remember Lidge dropping to his knees with Carlos Ruiz darting out to embrace him like a newly married couple. We remember Ryan Howard doing his best Reggie White impression and decking the pile into a boulder-like tumble. We remember Charlie Manuel standing on the podium shouting "This is for Philadelphia," in broken Southern drawl at the top of his lungs.  

But this night was about more than a sports-obsessed metropolis winning its first championship in a mathematical century. It represented a symbolic sea change that altered the Philadelphia sporting pecking order for the first time in over a decade. 

It wasn’t supposed to be the Phillies that ended our historic run of futility. We weren’t supposed to have images of Lidge falling to his knees or Manuel shouting in broken Southern drawl running like the top play through our internal SportsCenter. 

No. This was supposed to be the Eagles. This was supposed to be Andy Reid thanking the Philly fans for sticking by him through his unlikely ascension from unknown Green Bay quarterbacks coach to Super Bowl-winning household commodity. We were supposed to have images of Donovan McNabb wearing his signature white-toothed smile like a dental floss ad as he pumped a triumphant fist beneath a torrential flood of confetti. 

This was because it was the Eagles in the early '00s who first broke Philadelphia’s tradition of losing that had taken shape through much of the 1990s (outside of the Flyers, who built a cup contender around Eric Lindros). But Reid, McNabb and company failed to capitalize on their prime years as a championship contender from 2001 to 2004. 

The Phillies, on the other hand, capitalized almost immediately after getting over the lengthy playoff hump (in 2007, they won the series in 2008) that had haunted them through a litany of near-misses from 2001 to 2006.

Once they did, the Fightins instantly catapulted themselves into a head-on battle with the Eagles for the role of Philly’s most prominent sporting passion. But the two could have easily coexisted at the top in a city with a decorated hybrid history as both a baseball and football town.

But Eagles management responded to the Phillies championship with the type of petty jealousy usually reserved for 12-year-old schoolgirls. In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 World Series, both the Sixers and Flyers congratulated the Phillies through statements from management and on the jumbotron at an early season game. 

Naturally, the public expected the Eagles to soon follow suit. But, outside of a standing ovation for honorary coin-tossers Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell at a mid November Eagles-Giants game (about as indirect of a congratulations as you could possibly display), the statement of good will never came. 

It became clear through the talk radio and print media loops that lifelong Bostonites and notorious Red Sox fans Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles owner) and Joe Banner (Team President and Lurie’s childhood friend) were jealous that the perennially back burning Phillies had beaten their Eagles to the championship punch. 

When the Eagles fell short again in the NFC Championship Game the following January (for the fourth time in eight years, not including their Super Bowl loss to New England), it became painstakingly clear that the Phillies had finally pushed the Birds from their self-concerting mountaintop. 

Another pennant, two more division titles, three ace pitcher acquisitions, and 162 consecutive sellouts later, the Phillies are still king. But in the meantime, the Eagles have broken away from the stale McNabb era and revamped the roster around a slew of exciting offensive speed demons. 

With the re-emergence and maturity of vindicated former Falcon Michael Vick, the Eagles have the type of transcendent face they can build a fresh-blooded Super Bowl contender around. 

Vick’s dynamic 2010 comeback campaign successfully re-energized an Eagles fan base that had grown tired of the status quo. If they can build off that resurgence, Lurie and Banner may just be able to wrestle their adopted city back from their baseball siblings who took it away from them. 

While Philly fans will always root just as passionately for both of their favorite teams, the subtle popularity rivalry between the two will always exist.  Here are five things that need to happen if the Eagles are going to win back some brotherly love.       

5. Management Does Regular Interviews with Local Talk Radio

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 14: Owner Jeff Lurie of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks at a press conference introducing Michael Vick at the NovaCare Complex on August 14, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vick signed a one-year contract, with a second year optio

Since taking over the Eagles in 1994, Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner have never been able to shake the notion that the team is more of a business to them than a passion. As a result, there's always been a sense of detachment between the Beantown-raised tandem and the starving Philly fan base.

Maybe it's because they constantly refer to their franchise as the "gold standard" in spite of a trophy cupboard still bare of silver Lombardis. Maybe it's because they mindlessly referred to our beloved Veterans Stadium as a "dump" and refused to honor its history with anything other than the most crushing loss in Philly history (27-10 defeat to the Bucs in the 2002 NFC title game was the final football game at the Vet).  

Maybe it's because they originally banned package foods at their new palace of a stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) in a clear effort to accumulate more concession money. Or maybe it's because they get in bed with local 610 WIP sportsradio host Howard Eskin in exchange for constant radio promotion and a lack of fair-minded criticism.  

Either way, one thing is for sure: it would do management some good if they actually conducted impartial interviews with the media outlets who blast them for being standoffish. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. does constant, open interviews with both 610 and 97.5 "The Phanatic."  

Eagles GM Howie Roseman acted like he was talking to 5-year-olds in his first local interview on WIP's midday show with Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano in 2009.          

4. Defensive Renaissance

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JACKSONVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 26: Linebacker Trent Cole #58 and defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley #97 of the Philadelphia Eagles bring down running back Maurice Jones-Drew #32 of the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field on September 26, 2010 in Jacksonv

Philly is a blue-collar city, which is why it irks the fans when Andy Reid passes on 60 percent of the team's offensive downs. But it irks them even more when the Eagles make like a Mike Martz team and forget how to stop the opponent, which is exactly what's happened since Jim Johnson's premature death before the 2009 season.  

Early on in Reid's tenure, defense defined the Eagles and stars like Brian Dawkins, Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglass were the team's most popular players.  

This current bunch needs young, promising players like Stewart Bradley, Nate Allen and Jamar Chaney to develop that same type of star quality on the defining side of the ball.  Nothing endears a team to a hard-nosed fan base quite like a smashmouth defense.        

3. Re-Sign DeSean Jackson to a Long-Term Deal

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 19: DeSean Jackson #10 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs in the game winning touchdown on a punt return against the New York Giants at New Meadowlands Stadium on December 19, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ni

In the Lurie-Banner era, Eagles management has always followed a petty policy of not re-signing players once they reach the age of 30.

While, especially in football, this theory may be logical on paper, it can alienate a fan base when you don't handle a situation properly.  

That's exactly what happened when the Eagles didn't make an effort to re-sign 35-year-old future Hall of Famer and all-time fan favorite Brian Dawkins in 2008. While the fans have experienced many similar departures during the Reid era, the Eagles are still slightly recovering from the PR blow surrounding Dawk's departure.  

For those keeping score at home, the Phillies have locked up all of their core, fan favorite players (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, although his contract finally expires after this season) for the long term with the exception of Jayson Werth. But they compensated for that loss by signing an even bigger fan favorite in Cliff Lee.  

If the Eagles don't break the bank for Jackson, their most popular young star, fans will be burning Lurie and Banner in effigy in the parking lot of Lincoln Financial Field.    

2. Michael Vick Becomes Philly's Most Popular Star Since Iverson

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 09: Michael Vick #7 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs down field against the Green Bay Packers during the 2011 NFC wild card playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 9, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Chr

No one embraces flawed, underdog superstars quite like Philadelphia.

Like Iverson, Vick is a once-in-a-generation talent with the entertainment value of a Hollywood blockbuster. Unlike Iverson, he's appeared to turn a life corner and put his rampant off-field issues to rest.

If he leads the Eagles to a Super Bowl, Vick's redemption story may actually become a Hollywood blockbuster. But if he crashes and burns, either on or off the field, the Eagles suddenly lack that Iverson-like dynamism that re-energized the fan base last season in the wake of Donovan McNabb's departure.

They would also lack a franchise quarterback for the first time since the late 1990s.

1. Win a Super Bowl

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ARLINGTON, TX - FEBRUARY 06: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers holds up the VInce Lombardi trophy after the Packers won 31-25 against the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington,

Even after the Phillies won it all in 2008, there was an underlying notion that an Eagles Super Bowl parade would be the only celebration that could top the Phis' drought-cleansing championship party. This is because, through most of those drought years, Philly has remained a cold-blooded football town at heart.  

Nothing would cure management-fan relations quite like the Super Bowl championship everyone's been waiting for. 

You know the saying. This is Philly, where the Eagles are the topic of dinner conversations. And most of those conversations end with someone calling for Reid, far and away the most successful coach in team history, to get fired.  

So the Phillies may have beaten them to the championship punch. But only the Eagles can deliver the knockout blow.