More Change at Top for Eagles?
I'm very surprised that Jeffrey and Christina Lurie are divorcing, but that's how it nearly always is, really -- other than Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, when was the last time you heard of a couple splitting up and thought "hey, I figured that was coming"?
More Change at Top for Eagles?
Les Bowen
I'm very surprised that Jeffrey and Christina Lurie are divorcing, but that's how it nearly always is, really -- other than Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, when was the last time you heard of a couple splitting up and thought "hey, I figured that was coming"?
Marriages don't usually play out in public. Most couples are good at seeming happy to strangers, acquaintances, even close friends. I have no idea what happened with the Luries, and I figure that's their business. I won't be delving into it.
But I will be delving into what this means for the Eagles, which is everybody's business. In the statements that were released Wednesday evening -- letting everyone know late on a national holiday absolutely was an attempt to control fallout, of course -- the couple kept stressing how the operation of the franchise would be unaffected. That's at odds, frankly, with the organization's longstanding stance about how integral Christina Lurie has been to the nonfootball aspects of the team. A 2010 Inquirer profile detailed how Christina spurned a "wives' afternoon" at the NFL owners' meetings to sit in on the business session, and quoted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on her prominence in such ventures as the "Go Green" enviornmental initiative.
But of course, according to those statements, the Luries will remain partners in the running of the Eagles, just not in marriage. Maybe so. Sounds kinda tricky to me. This is something reporters will be watching closely. Funny how this intensely private couple, who would never even talk about their home or their kids to reporters, or divulge the children's names, have done the one thing that will now turn a bright spotlight on their relationship.
Those fervent "everything is fine here" statements notwithstanding, we can't possibly know what this means to the Eagles yet. But I'm struck by the coincidence of a second huge, behind-the-scenes change, less than a month after the announced departure of team president Joe Banner. Of course, whatever happened between the Luries has nothing to do with what happened with Banner, or with Jeffrey Lurie's growing discomfort over how the Eagles organization is perceived by fans.
But let's dive right in here and address something sensitive. (This is the sort of paragraph that ensures I will never be an organizational confidante. And I'm OK with that.) Christina Lurie, with that hard-to-place French/Spanish/whatever accent, with the Vera Wang ideas and the high-minded philanthropic focus, was and is about as unPhilly as you could possibly get. Jeffrey is unPhilly too -- wealthy guy from the Boston suburbs -- but he at least is approachable, will at least nod in agreement in a discussion of, say, the ubiquity of Pete Retzlaff in mid-60s packs of football bubblegum cards. Christina has always seemed to me to be, if not a visitor from another planet, certainly a visitor from another culture, observing ours through gritted teeth. I've covered the team 10 years now, and never had a one-on-one conversation with her, never done more than exchanged mild pleasantries in a group setting.
So, does this divorce announcement make the Eagles less hoity-toity, in any way? The main question I got on Twitter Wednesday night was whether the Eagles would now go back to their traditional kelly green, the color Christina famously disliked. She always portrayed it as both of them dislking it and preferring the midnight green she chose. Maybe now we'll know.
But Eagles fans will be lucky if something like uniform color turns out to be the biggest change resulting from this divorce. The kind of setup the Luries detailed in their message to team employees Wednesday night seems difficult to maintain, even with the best of intentions.
Jeff has to keep her around as a partner since he does not have the cash to buy her out.— jhupat- One thing is sure, Jeff will now have to clean house...— greenflyer
- "GOLD STANDARD" Marriage....Fail!— citysims
- Les, best to keep your mouth shut about Christina.
There are other issues involved. Christina is a top rate person. You obviously don't know much about her to say that she's "unphilly." Being kind, considerate and charitable is not "unphilly". Perhaps you are from philly and you are none of the above, kindly use a different reference criterion than your own.
Please keep your stupid comments about her to yourself.
— laura simone - Any chance the Eagles sign this ex-Raider for a try out? Remember Andy said "everyone deserves a second chance". http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/05/former-oakland-raider-awaiting-murder-retrial-charged-with-three-additional/— BobbyD
- Wow Les. Calling Christina "as unPhilly as you can get" and "a visitor from another planet" seem like two low blows, especially since she's on her way out the door. Given the fact that she ran the team's charitable endeavors, I would hope her desire to help people was just a little bit Philly. I'd like to think we're a city that cares enough to help people when they're down. You know, sorta like Christina did by running the Eagles charities.— kingsolomonsmind
- Maybe joe was droppin Nickles on Christina?— outta work
- Hey Jeff, John Travolta and Tom Cruise await....— shakenbake
- Just sell the team and go back to Boston,the town you love so much.Get somebody in here who really cares about winning and not just making a profit.— sewell guy
- Just sell the team and go back to Boston,the town you love so much.Get somebody in here who really cares about winning and not just making a profit.— sewell guy
- SELL, SELL, SELL. Get out of town, take Reid and Vick with you.— Taser
- You left out the part that she had more class than the whole city of Philadelphia, which used to be a classy city and now is just a dump.— mario1239
- I'm sure Les will obey all your commands laura simone— brs50
- yes, I think Banner leaving makes sense for him as he might have been the only person smart enough to get out before the ship finally sinks. You think Howie would bolt ? Where is he gonna go ? He couldnt get another professional football job unless it is with the Indoor Football League. and Andy is too dumb and stubborn to quit a failling strategy. So now a ticket sales guy is going to help win a championship...amazing. This dysfunctional organization just got even worse possibly. I cant say anything bad about Miss Lurie, congradulations on your "trophy", now please sell the team to someone that actually knows how to win a championship.— CharlieGarner25
- she is divorcing him because he doesnt keep his promises.
he promised us a SB win— mwright252
