Sad Day

Although it's not yet official, it appears as though Brian Dawkins has played his last game as a Philadelphia Eagle. 13 years, countless memories.

I was hopeful the Eagles would stray from their usual practices and show loyalty to the future hall of famer. However, I'm not completely surprised by this news. It's business as usual for the Eagles front office. They're an organization that's notorious for letting veteran players go elsewhere in favor of getting younger players on the field. Dawk, 35, is no doubt on the downside of his career. But it's hard to find many guys who are better than he is right now at his position.

No one will ever match Dawkins' intensity and passion on the football field. One of my favorite Dawk highlights occurred at a 2002 game at Veterans Stadium against the Giants. I got into the game with a counterfeit ticket. Side note: I miss the Vet. So easy to sneak in to games. Dawkins absolutely leveled Giants WR Ike Hilliard, dislocating Hilliard's shoulder in the process.

It was those kind of hits that made opposing players think twice about going over the middle. It will be difficult to replace the swagger that Dawk brought to the defense. Now who will make Tony Romo collapse in the shower after an Eagles game?

Reflecting on all the great Eagles moments this decade, the ones that stand out the most are watching games with friends and simultaneously jumping out of our seats after a Dawkins hit. That is what he makes you do as a fan.

Farewell Weapon X. Wish you could have won a Super Bowl here.

Baseball, How I've Missed Thee

Kind of weird that your WFC Phillies play their first exhibition game this afternoon in Florida. After all, it seems like yesterday they were parading down Broad Street celebrating with millions of Phils fans (fights back tears). It's surreal to read season previews that ask the question, "can the Phillies repeat?" So this is what it's like when the team you love wins a championship? It's a nice feeling.

As for whether or not the Phillies can reapeat, history suggests no. It hasn't been done since the Yankees won three consecutive 'ships from 1998-2000, when they still developed players instead of overpaying for obese pitchers and roid ragers. That won't take the optimisim out of the air in Philadelphia, though. And motivation shouldn't be a problem for a loose team that overcame late season deficits to win the NL East and surge in to the playoffs two years in a row.

Sadly, one guy who won't be back this season is the man, the myth, the legend, Pat the Bat Burrell. Phils fans had a love/hate relationship with him. Ladies had nothing but sweet, sweet love for him. I'll certainly miss him. For all the crap he took during his time in red and white, the guy never complained. More importantly, he delivered in the biggest at bat of his life, and his last with the Phils.

So here's to a new year. If all goes according to plan, I'll be right back here again in late October.

It's Just You and Me, Treadmill

I recently became a paying gym member for the first time of my young, awesome, in-shape life. After weeks of weighing the pros and cons, I finally decided it would be good for someone in his mid-20's to be able to walk up the stairs without running out of breath.

I miss the days of running around forever without getting tired, and the days where I had enough time to do so. But with the full-time gig going on and the fact that my friends who I always balled with live in the next state over, I needed an alternative. Rittenhouse Fitness Club was the lucky winner. No meatheads, within walking distance, affordable.

My routine has been light so far. A few miles on the treadmill followed by some upper body machine exercises. Sometimes I'm sore, so I know it's working. When I'm not, I still feel better. So, a month in, this gym rat considers it a success.

My legs hurt.

Bobby Knight, Part II

I attended the Drexel/Loyola-Maryland basketball game at the DAC Saturday afternoon. Before the game, I had heard the rumors about the coaching style of Loyola's head man, Jimmy Patsos. He is quite the colorful coach, to say the least, and Saturday's game confirmed that. Sitting behind the Loyola bench, I heard every f bomb he directed at his players and the refs during play and during timeouts. It was awesome. Patsos was not cursing in a calm manner, either. It was a yellfest filled with lots of spit.

I'm a huge college basketball fan but given the fact that Loyola is not in the national spotlight, I had not heard much of Patsos. Earlier this season, he coached a game from the stands to avoid getting a second technical foul, and thus, ejected from the game. He also caused a stir when, in a game earlier this season, he directed his team to double-team an opposing player the entire game. The player did not score a point but Loyola still lost by 30.

Despite his antics, Patsos is highly regarded in the Baltimore area and in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where his team competes. Loyola won just one game in the season prior to Patsos' arrival. In his fifth season as head coach, he has lead the team to three straight winning seasons. Before coming to Loyola, Patsos was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland for 13 years, including the 2001-02 season when UM won the national championship.

Patsos received a technical foul Saturday but did not coach from the bleachers, much to my dismay.

To Facebook Or Not To Facebook?

That is the question. I know I'm about three years behind the game but with everyone and their mother now on Facebook, I've been considering joining. The problem is my mom is a facebooker. A crazy, rabid facebooker. The concept of my mom as a social networker is shocking. Soon she'll be on Twitter signing all of her tweets with XOXO.

I guess I should have prepared for this, though, as her digital savvy has been evolving for quite some time. Downloading ringtones, taking photos with her digital camera and even uploading them to her PC, using her cell phone camera and what not. It's wild.

But with all that said, my mom is awesome. And although I dread the possibility of her having yet another way to communicate with me, I'm glad she actually still cares about what's going on in my life. And maybe, just maybe, if I join Facebook, I can stop going home to visit.

On second thought, there's nothing wrong with a home-cooked meal and exceptional laundry service. I love my mom.

Email Follies Galore!

It's a short work week indeed but that hasn't stopped the office from partaking in some awesome email exchanges.

It all started when a colleague forwarded me an email from a college student who wanted to discuss advertising out of his North Jersey house. I am yet to respond but it may go something like this, "Hey stoner, stop scheming for extra pot money and hit the books."

Later in the day, someone not in our company responded to an email that was sent only to our entire company. The phrase, "Jimmy loves hotdogs" was included in said email. News flash pal, every American loves hotdogs.

Lastly, the ish really hit the fan when random non-employees began emailing the big boss to unsubscribe them from our company email blasts. That probably pissed the big boss off. But it turns out those people really wanted to unsubscribe from their own company's email list. Talk about being a disgruntled employee. Jokes on you, PASO.

Oh and a word to the wise, read your email from the bottom up to avoid asking a question that's already been answered on the email chain. Too much of that going on lately.

Late Night Notes

I couldn't fall asleep last night so I watched Conan O'Brien for the first time in a long time. He previewed a few hidden satellite TV channels that could easily top the primetime Neilsen Ratings. My favorites were the Sexual Harassment Skeleton Channel, the Potato Judge Channel and the Lincoln Money Shot Channel, which would offend any true historian or anyone with morals. Oddly enough, I picked up a pen and wrote the channel titles in the back of my copy of A People's History of the United States, so I wouldn't forget them.

Upon further review, he's shown the Lincoln Money Shot Channel in shows as far back as the Andy Richter days. And since the internet can't provide the video from the more recent show, here is the old clip.

Ahh it was nice to laugh with Conan again.

Better Late Than Never

A few weeks ago, I attended a journalist conference in Philadelphia hosted by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. To my knowledge, I am neither black nor Hispanic, so of course I was the ideal attendee. Anyway, the conference was designed to give journalists (I'm also not a journalist) a crash course on new media and social media. Although I stayed for only one-third of the day, I left motivated, thanks in large part to Ju-Don Roberts of washingtonpost.com. Roberts opened the conference with an insightful presentation about social media.

As someone who works in the marketing industry, it's important for me to use the social media tools that are available, if for anything, just to learn how they work. And to be honest, I'd like to start documenting my every day experiences a bit more often. My memory just ain't what it used to be. So, here I go...