Philly Phile | Eagles fans, you have options for winning football fix

TOP ALTERNATIVES

Temple, the Eagles' neighbor at Lincoln Financial Field, plays at college football's highest level and is 3-0 for the first time in 5 years and receiving attention from voters with the AP poll. The last time Temple was ranked occurred following its 10-2 season in 1979. It already beat Penn State this season and will host Notre Dame on Halloween.

Villanova plays at college football's next level, but has been a power there for close to two decades. It currently stands at 2-1 this season, but remains more than just a playoff contender. It won the FCS national crown in 2008 and looking to make another run at one this year.

A sellout crowd of 69,176 at the Philadelphia Eagles' home, Lincoln Financial Field, witnessed Temple's 27-10 comeback victory over Penn State earlier this month.

Let’s say it isn’t ridiculous.

Let’s say signing off on the Philadelphia Eagles’ season is fine and dandy. That it makes perfect sense. Let’s forget the fact that 14 games remain after a 0-2 start lowlighted by Sunday’s unsightly 20-10 loss to Dallas and the reality that time is on their side if they have any intentions, never mind hope, to turn things around.

That reigning NFC champion Seattle is in the same boat, along with the likes of fellow playoff regulars Indianapolis, Baltimore and New Orleans are as well, and you wouldn’t count any of them out just yet is immaterial.

OK, got it. The Eagles, circa 2015, are done. All the hype, all the pipe-dream pontification … just kablooey. The 13 or 14 wins, the division title, the Super Bowl run … gone.

In two weeks. With the newest fall season in its infancy.

Sad-sack whining has registered, and been accepted.

Now what?

From all I hear, the naysayers are most upset because football will cease to exist from this point on. That they have no team to follow, to get behind, to support. You know, once the Eagles have hit the skids, so to speak, the True Philly Sports Fans are out of it on the football front.

Umm, excuse me …

Ya got options. Lots of ’em.

Check ’em out:

1. TEMPLE OWLS. The bandwagon here has an infinite number of seats. As a long-time “have not” at college football’s highest level, Temple welcomes any and all to join much in the same vein as its university principles have led to the school being ranked the most diversified on the planet about eight years running.

Frankly, that embarrassing show the Eagles unleashed on the public a couple days ago was nothing compared to the embarrassing display of True Philly Sports Fans, the ones who claim to champion all city teams and shame those who don’t, shunning the Owls for the likes of Penn State or Notre Dame or any other school sporting a squad that competes at the FBS level – and doesn’t reside within 60 miles of the city, never mind smack-dab on North Broad. Save for those who are alums cheering on the ol’ alma mater, and, frankly, even that’s questionable when it comes to TPSF science, you won’t find a more hypocritical, two-faced, phony BS effort anywhere.

Here’s the enticing bonus, if you hop on right now: Temple is good at this point. Legit good. The Owls already have topped their in-state Big Brother Nittany Lions, their conference favorite Cincinnati and even stolen a page from Penn State’s War and Peace on winning games despite being outplayed in getting by UMass three days ago. So, you’re not exactly required to hang in there and carry the emotional load while the team tries to find its way. Temple already is pointed in the right direction by third-year head coach Matt Rhule. You can just revel in whatever success lies ahead now.

2. VILLANOVA WILDCATS. OK, you don’t like Temple for some reason. Just can’t get on board there. The school’s cherry and white color scheme doesn’t suit you. The school’s campus scares you. You have nightmares about John Chaney. Whatever. The Wildcats, even with being several Sam Bradford bombs outside the city limits, are certainly a viable option. They’re “Philly.” The school represents a much snobbier, highfalutin version of it than, say, Temple or La Salle or even Saint Joe’s, but still “Philly.” So you’re good if you go the ’Nova route to maintain that football fix.

Again, you’re in luck, because the ’Cats are good. In fact, they’ve been crazy good for quite some time, and are the only grid team around outside of youth leagues that can state loud and proud that it has won a national title in the last decade. Granted, they don’t play at the FBS level like Temple. But they’re at the next stop on college football’s train, the FCS – which, basically, offers a lot of the same skill seen with the big boys just without the overwhelming amount of NFL-ready behemoths involved with it.

Having just beaten conference rival Delaware in a thriller on the Main Line, where the heir apparent to reigning FCS player of the year John Robertson already appears to have been discovered, ’Nova is ranked No. 5 in the country.

3. HIGH SCHOOLS. Take your pick. City, suburban, you name it, you got choices. Southeastern Pennsylvania offers as good a brand of scholastic football as you’re going to find in the state and beyond, and South Jersey ain’t too shabby, either. Obviously, if you attended a school in the Philly area, it makes sense to back it now, if you haven’t already. If not, how about one where you reside? If no team seems to be any good within those parameters, then stretch the damn parameters.

Really, if any member of the TPSF society has been under the belief that their options begin and end with the Eagles then they’re long overdue to stretch the damn parameters.

Even in this specific case, with this supposed lost season, another option remains that always exists.

4. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES. If they’re your team, then stick with them … and maybe show a little belief in them instead of immediately turning to the “woe are we,” “end of the world” silliness after just two weeks of a 16-game season – A SIXTEEN-FRIGGIN'-GAME SEASON!!

Ridiculous, thy acronym is TPSF.

- Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

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