An Open Letter To Philadelphia Sports Fans

Dear Philadelphia Sports Fans,

I know, more often than not, we do not see eye to eye. Despite sharing the same neighborhood, we are vastly different. I don't even have a rooting interest in most of your teams. Except the Flyers, and I take issue with some of their fans too. Though not always, I tend to side with the national media's perception of you But, you have to admit, you don't make it easy to defend some your actions. Snowballs at Santa, Booing a possibly paralyzed Dallas Cowboys wide receiver.

Well, enough about that. I'm writing to tell you that, on the topic of Donovan McNabb... You are right! The national media has been in love with McNabb since the day he was drafted. And, I guess I can see why. From a distance, he seems to be very successful (for more on this phenomenon, see Peyton Manning). But a closer look reveals that McNabb isn't all that the sports pundits make him out to be. By the numbers, his career may, in deed, land him in the Hall of Fame (For more on this see one of my previous posts: http://bit.ly/4r16Uu ). But in a league where ultimate success is measured by Playoff performances, most notably, Super Bowl championships, he falls remarkably short and deserves your questioning of his abilities, if not your venom.

In the future, the McNabb era may be reflected upon with a measure gratitude. After all, the Eagles have been one of the 21st century's most successful NFL franchises. But they have repeatedly fallen short of their ultimate goal. And, it should be noted, they've fallen short of that goal, more times than not, as favorites. McNabb's Eagle teams have always beaten the opponents they were supposed to, during the regular season, before the pressure got taken up a notch. In a league where team success greatly relies on quarterback success, McNabb and the Eagles don't measure up.

So, don't let the national media bash you on this one. Arm yourself with the stats. But also arm yourself with the story. McNabb certainly isn't Ryan Leaf. But when the day is done, he'll be a lot closer to Dan Marino than he will be to Joe Montana.

Your friend,

Mike Tursi