A wild time for Eagles fans

Tucked into a pocket on Ryan Bonifacino's sleeve was a family heirloom, a strange talisman that he swears brings great luck to the Phillies and the Eagles.

It's a furry cat toy that looks like a tiny badger, and there was no way Bonifacino wasn't going to have it with him while watching the Eagles play the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs yesterday.

The toy's name is Seox - the name is a story in itself, Bonifacino said - and his grandfather used it for good luck in the '60s.

"It's been in the family ever since," said Bonifacino, South Philly born and bred. In those days, his grandfather lived next door to an Eagles player, whose name escaped him.

Bonifacino was just one of hundreds of people packed nearly to the walls last night in the Fox & Hound pub in Center City, a rowdy crowd rising and falling with the Eagles' fortunes in the contest.

Early in the game, as DeSean Jackson tore off a long punt return for the Eagles, Seox appeared to be doing its job.

"So far, so great," Bonifacino said. "All my friends swear by it."

His friend Katie Huffnagle, who lives in Fairmount, said she had made him bring along the good luck charm.

"It kind of looks like him," she teased. "They have the same hair."

Across the room, by far the rowdiest table belonged to Luke Wloczynski and nearly a dozen of his friends. Many of them had grown up with Wloczynski in Port Richmond, where his family settled after emigrating from Poland when he was 8. Several were his classmates at North Catholic High School.

"Good sports, good friends, good food - what else is there?" Wloczynski wondered. "We celebrate like it's the last game. . . . The good and the bad, we ride the wave."

He was interrupted by a wild celebration, sparked by Asante Samuel's first-half interception return for an Eagles touchdown. Wloczynski's friends jumped up and down wildly, shaking their table, spilling beer everywhere.

That was followed shortly by a deafening, barwide Eagles chant.

As the first half neared its end, Wloczynski and his friends expressed confidence that the Eagles would climb back into the Super Bowl, an enthusiasm not tempered when the Vikings' Adrian Peterson ran for his second touchdown before halftime.

Wloczynski's former classmate Craig Lecki said the camaraderie was the most important element of the evening.

"I've known these guys for a long, long time," he said, "so no matter what happens, it's the atmosphere."

That didn't mean that his group - and the rest of the bar - didn't grow tense as the fourth quarter arrived with the Eagles leading by a measly two points.

Then the place erupted as Brian Westbrook broke a screen pass into a long touchdown run. A girl at Wloczynski's table shook up her beer and gave the table a shower as "Eye of the Tiger" blared over the sound system.

Still, there was time for the Vikings to climb back into the game.

"Tick, tick, tick, tick," said Vince Bracaliello, watching the clock count down.

When the Vikings fumbled a snap and the Eagles recovered with less than three minutes to play, Bracaliello expressed what everyone in the bar was feeling.

"It's over," he said.

And the celebration was on.

In their exuberance, two guys grabbed Suzanne Heller, who was working a station selling bottled beer from tubs of ice, and hoisted her on their shoulders, spinning her around.

Heller, who just moved to Philadelphia from Lansdale, was beaming as she returned to her station.

"That was a first," she said. "The fans here for the Eagles are crazy."