Reaction to the draft is almost universally positive, so this seems like a good time to make this rant.

"Angry Eagles Fans" is like NFL sportswriter crack - they can't get within throwing distance of the NFC without squeezing it in everywhere they can (not to mention Philadelphia fans in general). It sells, and it's an easy cliche so they don't have to take time out of hair-and-makeup to come up with a real observation.

Everyone here is familiar with the ubiquitous, uninformed branch of the city's sports fans (the ones that want every wide receiver that even hints at being on the market, can't ever reconcile themselves to the fact that we don't have a "power" back, etc). If there's anything that shows how good this draft was it's that the media are even having trouble finding disgruntled fans. That all said, why are those guys the one that are represented as "Eagles Fans" and "Philly Fans". That's not really my question though, my question is what to do about it. I personally don't care, but I think it has a detrimental effect on the team. It's hard to deny that the ongoing saga with Andy and McNabb against the "Fans" has affected both of them. McNabb's mentioned it on several occasions over the last few years, with the middle of last season being the clearest - and Andy has been looking more and more angry/stressed/worked-up as time goes on. McNabb is a far better player, and Andy is a far better coach if they know that the fanbase bleeds green. They make decisions we don't understand, often ones we don't like, but in the end the media seems to have some mission to make those things the extent of the relationship between the fan and the teams. So DMac and Andy tighten up and won't say anything (knowing how the "fans" will react), they play/coach under more pressure than they should, all the while with asshats on ESPN chortling about their knowledge of Philly sports fans.

Personally I'd like the message to go loud and clear to the Eagles' organization, and the players, that we're completely behind them. We're not going to stop showing our discontent when we're angry, because you can't be passionate about a team without getting riled up. But the second some puppet on a sports network starts talking shit, I stand behind the team. The media shouldn't be allowed to represent the whole Eagles fan-base on the basis of a vocal minority of continually unhappy wankers -every fanbase has those, why are they the public face of ours? Seems like a good season to get that message across loud and clear, twelfth man on the field and off the field. A positive relationship between the team and the fans makes a better football team.

That, and I can't wait for McCoy to prove himself so we can start using his nickname. "Sssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhady!" would sound pretty good in the Linc.