Now before you start rolling your eyes at me, I actually mean this one. Not that I haven't meant what I said in previous posts, but this one is probably the most heartfelt and thought out post I'll have...posted...yet. The different entries I've had were absolutely from the heart, but were mostly emotional ramblings after a bad loss or a great win. This, however, is different. This has been a very personal topic for me lately, and I feel it relates to my fellow fans.

Hope, love, family, and all other kinds of life lessons seem to be repeated over and over again by (Disney) movies, TV shows, and books. As annoying as that can be, I believe that it's only because sometimes we take those kinds of things for granted. Very rarely do we as human beings stop and realize that hope, among other things, keeps us going through the grind. It keeps us from waking up and saying to ourselves "You know what. I think I quit. I just can't do it". More importantly, it keeps us from actually quitting. No matter what your situation is, employed or unemployed, living the dream or living a nightmare, there's just something that keeps pushing you forward in life, whether you want to or not. Let's be honest and just sum it up nice and neatly, if we weren't meant to be here, no matter what our circumstances are, we wouldn't be here.

Now how this relates to football, and more specifically, my fellow Eagles fans. Well let me just cut to the chase and ask a question: Why do we keep coming back and rooting for the Eagles? Why do we repeatedly spend money on the tickets and the merchandise? Why do we continuously lose our voices, and sometimes our minds, over a football team? Well the first part of my answer is that it's more than just a game and a team to us. We all know that. The second part is the H word that I've got floating in the title. Hope. We have hope for something better in the upcoming seasons. We have hope for a good game against the Cowboys. We have hope that the players on the field will be rewarded for doing their jobs, and ultimately rewarding us because they were successful. This year we have been given the worst kinds of ridicule for our "Dream Team", and it's been aggravating all of us to the point of wanting to slap anyone who even says the nickname. But I've seen something through this whole season that could very easily make that dream a reality. Something that gives me...wait for it...hope. The team itself. Look at it anyway you want to, this team can be unstoppable. We've seen flashes. Whether it happens or not, well, that's what we, here it comes again, HOPE for next year. And as much as it drives me and every other fan I know crazy to say it, that's what will bring us back next season. The promise of a team that can attain that which has been unattainable in Philadelphia. That's what it's always been for us. And that's what it always will be.

There's hope for the rest of this season, too. If the team wins out and everything plays out their way, then they're given the best and last chance they'll have for the year. We all know it's what we want deep down, but even if it doesn't, is that honestly going to stop us from coming back next year? No, I didn't think so.