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Butterflies Are Free

On the opening day of the Eagles season, which also happened to be owner Jeff Lurie's 57th birthday, he stepped outside his house on the Main Line, released 20 butterflies and made a wish.

The butterflies were a birthday gift, and now you have the answer to the question: "What do you give someone who has everything except a Super Bowl trophy?"

If Lurie wished for that one element that has remained missing from his tenure as the Eagles owner, he came a lot closer to having the wish fulfilled than it seemed possible when the team was lolling along with a 5-5-1 record in late November.

That's the kind of story that tends to make fans roll their eyes a little bit, and part of the reason that locals have never exactly warmed to the Boston transplant. The rich, as Fitzgerald suggested, are different from the rest of us. They have more money and people give them the gift of a butterfly release -- which has become a staple at certain schmaltzly weddings, usually during the playing of "You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings," but hardly seems appropriate for a grown man in his front yard.

Nevertheless, you should read the excellent interview with Lurie done by Eagles beat writer Bob Brookover that appeared in Sunday's editions of the Inquirer. Not only does Lurie feel your pain, but he might even suffer it more. The owner explains why Andy Reid is the right guy, in his mind, to continue the quest for a championship and finish the journey of the butterflies.