All In the Meatballs

A lot of sports fans hold certain superstitions when they watch their teams. Some people sit in the same chair for every game. Others, and I include myself in this group, will not wash their game day jersey throughout the entire season if the season happens to be going well. Each fan has their own unique habits, but the motivation is the same. They do whatever is in their power to help their team win. Like I said, I can’t say I’m above these routines. In fact, in the last three weeks, I have developed a new one and it revolves around meatballs and homemade sauce.

In our year and a half of marriage, my wife has used Sundays as her day to experiment in the kitchen. During this time, she tries all sorts of recipes and 99% of the time they end up tasting pretty good. The week of the Dallas-Eagles “win and in” game, she took a stab at homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. The meatballs and sauce turned out pretty well and, more importantly, the Eagles won and somehow snuck into the playoffs.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but the sauce and meatballs may be the key to the Eagles pretty incredible run over the last three weeks. These delightful Italian staples continue to serve as game day food of choice in the Maiese household throughout the playoffs. Each time we’ve indulged, the Eagles find a way to win a must-win game. During Wildcard Weekend, we had meatball sandwiches; the Eagles beat Minnesota. This past Sunday, we ate leftover baked ziti drizzled with more homemade sauce and a few more meatball; the Eagles beat the Giants. You see the common denominator here?

Am I crazy? Absolutely. However, I can guarantee you that at about 3PM this Sunday, I’ll be gnawing at a meatball while I’m watching my Birds beat up on that fraud of a playoff team, the Arizona Cardinals.

Now that I’m finished with the meatball and sauce story, let me run through some thoughts on our revitalized Birds:

• I don’t mean to belabor the point, but who saw this turnaround coming after the Cincinnati and Baltimore game? Honestly, after the Ravens game, I started to count down the days until Spring Training. I never imagined I would write about the Birds in the NFC Championship game.
  
• This will mark the fifth time in eight years the Eagles will play in the NFC Championship game. When you think about it, that stat is really remarkable. During the rough patch in midseason when we were calling for Andy Reid’s head, I think we lost sight of just good of a track record this guy has. Sure, we Philly fans subscribe to the ‘what have you done for me lately?’ philosophy. However, you can’t argue with wins and, as evidenced by the above stat, Andy Reid wins.
  
• I love to watch this defense right now. They are all over the field on every play. Of course, you can’t talk about the defense without singling out the heart and soul of that squad, Brian Dawkins. He looks like he turned back his internal clock about six years. He’s all over the field on every play. Plus, that guy can hit.
  
• I really didn’t see the big deal with Donovan picking up the phone on the Giants’ sideline at the end of the fourth quarter on Sunday. The move showed Donovan is loose and I like that. Surely though, I wish the play didn’t result in a 15 yard penalty, but sometime’s a little fun is worth it.
  

I heard an interesting little tidbit on mid-day show on WIP. Before the Phillies won this year, the last time they won it all was ’80. Rotate that year 180° and you get ’08. Now, take the last time the Eagles won the NFL Championship, ’60 and rotate that number 180°. Amazing.


Sunday can’t come fast enough.