3 More HRs to Prep for Dallas!
Well, through the magic of flex scheduling, TV, which is responsible for this whole Eagles mess, in the humble opinion of your Eagletarian, has made Sunday's Eagles-Cowboys game a 4:15 affair, instead of the previously scheduled 1 pm. Who says the networks don't care about the burdens they shift onto the players?
3 More HRs to Prep for Dallas!
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Well, through the magic of flex scheduling, TV, which is responsible for this whole Eagles mess, in the humble opinion of your Eagletarian, has made Sunday's Eagles-Cowboys game a 4:15 affair, instead of the previously scheduled 1 pm. Who says the networks don't care about the burdens they shift onto the players?
After taking away two days of preparation from the Birds by changing Eagles-Vikings to tomorrow night, TV has taken pity and added back more than 3 full hours to the prep time. We're certain Andy Reid will use it wisely.
Some thoughts on the fallout over the postponement of the Vikings game: I was really surprised, and at first I thought it was a huge overreaction. Moving the game all the way to Tuesday really is indefensible; there would be no public safety issues with playing tonight that haven't been faced many times before, as recently as last season.
This was strictly so Monday Night Football wouldn't lose a huge market tonight, and so NBC wouldn't lose out on a national Michael Vick ratings bonanza. But the business of playing Sunday night is more complicated. It's easy for people who don't carry any responsibility to call the people who do "wimps." Fact is, when TV moved the Vikings game to 8 pm, it really changed the equation.
The 1948 championship game was played in a blizzard, in the days when stadiums held half as many people as today, long before people who lived 50 or 100 miles away regularly bought season tickets. To say everybody could have just taken public transportation is incredibly facile.
The fact is, many thousands of people would have been clogging the highways, in the dark, in the teeth of the storm. One fatal accident would have made a decision to play a horribly, irredeemably wrong one. The real issue here is the move from 1 pm to 8, made just two weeks earlier, for TV.
Night games this time of year, here, are a roll of the dice. That move was a bad idea. The game could and should have been played at 1, when the snow had barely started. One prediction: If the Eagles somehow lose tomorrow night, we will never hear the end of this controversy. It will threaten to overshadow a surprisingly successful season.
"The 1948 championship game was played in a blizzard, in the days when stadiums held half as many people as today, long before people who lived 50 or 100 miles away regularly bought season tickets. To say everybody could have just taken public transportation is incredibly facile. The fact is, many thousands of people would have been clogging the highways, in the dark, in the teeth of the storm. One fatal accident would have made a decision to play a horribly, irredeemably wrong one."
Then why does the NFL ever play games in terrible weather? Why has it been since 1946 that a game's been played on Tuesday? Is it always "irredeemably wrong" to play NFL games in terrible weather, or just in Philly?— montgomeryhopkins- I heard the forecast was for light showers on Sunday so they are meeting to possibly postpone the Cowboys game until Weds to make sure no fan gets wet.— Blankman
- was this wall of text written by a professional writer or an enraged message-board poster? paragraphs are a wonderful thing.— tbone pickins
- I agree. At first I thought it was firefox flipping out on me. But after refreshing twice, i realized it was hastily put together.
- er uhhhhhhh, mayb it's Firefox? Just saying.....
— CJinPA - montgomeryhopkins, you craftily misattribute what Les labeled as "irredeemably wrong" to help justify your viewpoint. Yes, the NFL often plays in horrible weather. But it's a rarity that games are played in the teeth of a blizzard -- and this storm could have been far worse, there was no way to be sure. And it's a far greater rarity that the NFL has played night games -- with the added complications of darkness and iced-over roads -- in the teeth of a blizzard. I'm unsure about the decision to cancel the game yesterday, but I do know what a proper, honest comparison is.— PhilaLogic
- "...could have been FAR worse.." Are we playing "what if"? "Coulda woulda shoulda"? Pathetic. — justacarpenter
- Big whoop! 4:15 on Sunday. Why not push it to next Tuesday? If flex scheduling is "all that", flex it to Tuesday. Big friggin deal. Cowgirls will still go down in flames to The Mike Vick Experience! GO EAGLES!
- The best part is, when the game was flexed, Favre was injured and it was still unknown if he would even play again this season. So the network flexed a game to get a Vick-Favre matchup that it had a 50/50 shot at, at best, and now he's hurt and probably not playing and the game is on a Tuesday. If the Eagles don't get the 2nd seed in the NFC they could play three games in 12 days. Now isn't THAT just lovely?!?!?— amg
- Farve has never really been that great against the Eagles. Now that he's less-than-Farve, I'm not sweating him. I actually think the real problem is Adrian Peterson coming back.
Comment removed.- ...it was about the money, you weekend rocket scientist. — justacarpenter
- Comment removed.
- Play it today (Monday) before the regular MNF game.— P Even
- You guys do realize that it's not necessarily about the weather at the stadiums but the weather in the area? And you do realize that there are Eagles fans in New Jersey, where they were hit HARD and NJ Transit shut down mid afternoon yesterday? Other than missing out on watching football Sunday night, there's no loss. It's a good decision.— awl
- Interestingly, there is little consideration of whether the fans could have used basic intelligence about whether going to the game would have been safe and reasonable for THEIR specific journey, vehicle, people, etc. All of this is written with the assumption that every seat holder would have blindly plunged into their car and felt that it was mandated to put themselves at risk. I, too, am not sure whether the game should have been cancelled. My cynicism says this was somehow about money, TV, etc. But...I do see it consistent with a government trend these days to feel that people are stupid and unable to use good judgment and be responsible for themselves. Only government knows what is right and safe for us! Sad!— bartfr
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Here are the totals...
Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA....... 12.4
CLIFTON HEIGHTS.... 12.4
WYNNEWOOD.......... 11.0
MEDIA............... 8.6
PERKASIE............ 8.0
ROYERSFORD.......... 7.0
PHOENIXVILLE........ 6.0
OXFORD.............. 2.0
New Jersey
DENNISVILLE........ 26.5
ATLANTIC CITY...... 19.0
MOUNT HOLLY........ 12.5
NATIONAL PARK...... 12.4
PENNSAUKEN......... 12.0
SOMERDALE.......... 10.2
MAPLE SHADE........ 10.0
GLASSBORO........... 8.2
I think in the best interest of public safety the right decision was made. i would have loved to watch the game Sunday night, but I understand why they didn't play it. If they did play and lost (Eagles), because of a bad playing surface that neutralizes Vick and the offense, people would have complained "why didn't they move the game to the next day, etc...just like the "Fog Bowl' game in Chicago.— cange30- When the schedule makers flexed this game to 8:00 then THEY decided to take the risk. Wasn't there just a game played in Minnasota, outdoors in what was supposed to be a blizzard??? The game was unwatchable but since the Golden boy Farve thought it would be "fun" to play in the blizzard they played it anyway
- It would have been nice if the NFL made up for the Eagles being stuck with a short week to have kept the Chi-GB game at 1 and moved the Eagles to 4:15. That way if the Bears won, Andy could have rested his starters (and avoid injuries to key players) and given them the extra time to prepare for the first playoff round as the 3 seed. If GB won, then Andy could have played to win the 2 seed and get the extra week off. Unfortunately, the NFL only cares about money (i.e. ratings).— Philliesguy
- What about the people that would have had to work the concessions? Was someone going to provide them transportation? Would they be disciplined for not making it to work because they deemed it unsafe? What if Vick tore his ACL? Would all the people complaining about not playing yesterday now be complaining that they did? Sure injuries can happen any time, the snow and ice would have been cause for second-guessing? What about the risk to players driving home after the storm?— kmon
- This wasn't about the players. Teams play in crappy conditions all the time. This was supposedly about "public safety." However, there are ways to incent fans to use public transit instead of driving (announce that lots aren't fully plowed and it's going to be $50 to park, and people will take the train.)
- Who cares when the game is played, as long as it is played!— KevinCKuharich
- The game should have been played yesterday. If the NFL/Eagles were so concerned with public safety, they could have offered to reimburse people for unused tickets and urged them to use public transit (PATCO, regional rail, and the subway were all running.)
- What a bunch of whiners. All of you meatheads who are so ticked about the move to Tuesday really need to get a life. Really, you'll still be able to watch the game because I'm sure the majority of you are part-timer workers who are still living in mom's basement. I have never heard so much said about something that deserves so little attention. The decision was made, so live with it.— Izzie
- Get Rendell a shovel. He's been shovelling for a while. The Linc would still be snow covered now. And what if Mike Vick had to scramble in 10 inches of snow. Not an advantage.— defiore14
- The move to 4 pm is huge for the Eagles... if Chicago beats GB at the 1pm slot the Eagles will know whether to rest their players for the 4pm game instead of having them have to play the 1pm game and play hard for nothing. It is a big deal.— Theo1980
- GREAT !!NOW AFTER EAGLES FANS HAVE BEEN JERKED AROUND THEY MOVE THE GAME TO 4:15.THIS IS STUPID !!WOULDN'T ANY EAGLES FAN WANT TO WATCH THE BEARS/PACKERS GAME......AFTER.........THE EAGLES/VIKINGS GAME ??
IT DETERMINES THE FLIPPIN' BYE !!SO NOW IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE NFL PACKAGE----YOU HAVE TO GO TO A BAR TO SEE BOTH.WOULDN'T THERE BE MORE TOTAL VIEWERS IF THE EAGLES PLAYED FIRST ??— mike garman
