SB Nation User Blog: LeonSA

The Dream Continues

LeonSA — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:24:22 -0000

The Eagles really took off in Philly. We would never have been able to imagine how amazing it would be at Lincoln Financial Field.

After having an amazing Thanksgiving Dinner with some friendly people that we met on the previous day, we got a ride to the Linc. We were dropped and walked to the corner of Derian and Pattison, where I reached for my cellphone. "Hey 700? It's Leon". After looking for each other for a few minutes, we met up and headed into the parking lot where we found the ever-entertaining NorthPhillyKidd. We immediately started talking (some of which would could be classified as lovely nonsense). We met a few other people who were really friendly and allowed us to settle in very nicely. Then we headed to the stadium; I could feel my heart beating in my throat while 700 kept looking around at me and telling me how amazing this all is. He truly didn't need to tell me that - I was close to tears! We paused at the entrance and took a deep breath...then we walked over the threshold and suddenly it all became a reality: I was looking at the hallowed turf that is the home of our Eagles. I had traveled 15 thousand miles to see it. And it was worth every dollar, second and bead of sweat. Wow.

The day would only continue to get better. I had the honor of listening to the National Anthem - and wishing that it was my anthem - and then we sang our first ever Fight Song (well, at least with other people, its a bit embarresing when I do it on my own). We were covered in goosebumps. And then the real fun started. The game started off so well. Within a few minutes I was celebrating my first TD in the Linc. But the moment that really shook me was when BDawk came crawling out of the tunnel: I died!

The game itself was amazing, and it was first time this season that the entire team played well for 4 quarters. I'm still shook by the brilliance.

After the game we met up again with 700 and NorthPhilly to get our bags and we said our goodbyes. I'd like to thank both of these awesome guys for everything that they did for us (NorthPhilly even gave me his gloves and beanie...and froze his ass off the entire evening!) as well as the amazing hospitality that we received from them. You guys are the best.

We are now in Rutland, Vt after an awful trip. We applied for work today and will probably start working next Wednesday. We're staying in a nice little Inn, and if any of you guys are headed this way, let me know! We'll be in the US until the 28th of January 2009. Hopefully our luck will carry the Birds to the Superbowl!

All I can really say about our whole experience in the City of Brotherly Love is: Fly Eagles Fly, on the Road to Victory! E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!

We're in Philly!

LeonSA — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:12:12 -0000

Well, it has been a long journey. We have been planning our trip to the City of Brotherly Love for a good few months, and two days ago we boarded the Emirates plane at Cape Town International. We took a connecting flight in Dubai and after another 14 hours, we landed at JFK. At this stage we were getting a little nervous because we needed to find the Greyhound station in NYC. However, we had an incredible stroke of luck...

Seated close to us was a guy who started talking to us after seeing our SA flag and hearing our Afrikaans accent. He said that he's originally from Kenya, but has been living in PHILADELPHIA for the last 20 years! It was truly a godsend. He offered us a lift to Philly and soon we were driving down I95. Our initial impressions of the US of A was absolutely incredible.Our newest friend was incredibly friendly and even invited us to Thanksgiving lunch! He was very impressed when he heard about our love for da Birds and our knowledge of Footy.

After a long drive through traffic, we finally found our hotel. It must have been quite a picture, because I was walking around in shorts that I had worn in SA, while it was freezing at night here in Philadelphia! Truly South African. We are now getting pumped up for tonight's game and we're really looking forward to meeting up with the one and only 700 Level!

All of this is still very surreal. I really can't believe that we are in this great city. I'm looking forward to seeing the sights as well, and we'll be off to center city soon. So guys I have finally made it to the city of my dreams, and in a few hours I will be joining my fellow Eagles fans at the field of dreams - Lincoln Financial, home of the Philadelphia Eagles: E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

Great words from McNabb

LeonSA — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:10:54 -0000

Donovan McNabb posted his latest blog today on Yardbarker.com and I have to tell you, I have been following all of his activity on the site, but nothing he has written before comes close to this.

It really is a classy piece of writing, and it really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Speaking of the Eagles, fans might be happy to know that I'm in Arizona working out with Brian Dawkins. Next week some other players will come out and we'll work together for a few days before training camp opens. I'm feeling great, the shoulder is fine, and I can't wait to get started this season.

McNabb seems genuinely excited about the new season. He also mentioned some reasons for optimism surrounding all Philadelphia sports. But the best line was this little gem:

He proved that no matter how big and strong you look, you can't measure the heart on someone from Philly.

He also mentioned something that we would love to see dearly:

If (the Philadelphia Soul) play that well next week they will be able to set the route for the "Championship Parade in Philadelphia" in case there has been some changes in the past 25 years! With the promise shown by the Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and yes, the Eagles, hopefully that route will start getting used more often.

Donovan has really endured huge amounts of unfair criticism. But he has never used it as an excuse for anything. Go ahead and read the post and let's all feel good about life, Philly and most of all, the Eagles. I just love the atmosphere that McNabb creates with this blog. I'm incredibly optimistic about the season the greatest QB this team has ever had will experience, as well as the team that he leads.

Guys, take notice please

LeonSA — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:47:48 -0000

This "Pint Glass" moron that posted yesterday about the Eagles not having WR's is a clown. There was a poll held on Blogging the Boys where they decided to ignore him. This punk thinks because his gaymen won the SB, he can go around the East and talk crap about all the other teams. He has never posted ANYTHING on his supposed team's blog, Big Blue View. All he has done is post bogus articles on the Cowboys' page, and guess what...After they decided to ignore him, he joined BGN...YESTERDAY!

So it's quite clear that he has now moved on to start posting nonsense about the Eagles. In a case of showing the world how unified we are, I present all Birds fans on this site with a challenge:

Ignore this idiot from the start. Do not post ONE single comment on any of his posts. Just leave him to wallow in his own dirt. Ignore him, he doesn't exist. Instead, go ahead and reply to the great articles being posted daily by our fellow Bleed Greeners. Show this guy what we're made of.

Similar, yet very different

LeonSA — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:00:02 -0000

American football and rugby are the two most popular team contact sports in the world. But how do the sports differ? Not when looking at the rules, but when examining the characteristics of the games? There are many different ways to compare the game of rugby to football. This is an issue I have dealt with quite extensively as an NFL fan in the rugby-crazed South Africa. Obviously the sentiment over here is usually that rugby is much more tough, and basically the harder game of the two. I’m not quite sure if one can come to that conclusion either way, but I am going to try and compare them as objectively as possible. I have very good rugby knowledge, and I also understand the nuances of football as well as anyone that has never played the game possibly can.

I’m going to use a scoring system to judge different aspects of both games. Let me start off with the juiciest part, namely the physicality. It has long been argued that rugby is more physical because players don’t wear as many pads and helmets to protect themselves. I say this is false. Something that many people in the States might not realize, is that in rugby you are not allowed to tackle someone in the same way as football. The rules state that it is dangerous play to tackle a player above the shoulders in rugby. Sup-flexing a player is not allowed (a la Brian Dawkins), and you are not allowed to “spear tackle” a player (lift him off of the ground and “dunk” him back down). These types of tackles all result in penalties, with the possibility of the transgressor receiving a yellow or red card (a yellow card means that the player is taken off the field for ten minutes and a red card means that the player is not allowed to come back onto the field at all. This means that the team whose player committed the offence, will play with 14 players against the 15 of the opponents, clearly a huge disadvantage). This doesn’t mean that there aren’t big tackles in rugby, it just means that it isn’t quite as hard as people might think. In rugby, tackles are also carried out in a more one-on-one fashion, whereas running backs especially are gang-tackled very often in the NFL. Obviously, I’d rather be tackled by one guy than by three or four. It really is a much closer race than people think, but I’ll have to give the edge to football by a slim margin, mainly because more brutal hits are allowed. I don’t care how many pads you wear, when Dawkins hits you, you will feel it.

Physicality Score: Football +2.

Another important area is in the all-round abilities of the players. In football, the positions are specialized. When you play OT, you won’t usually be asked to pass or catch the ball. It is not the same in rugby. Although there are also skill positions in rugby like centre of fly-half, it happens in every game that a player like a prop or a lock needs to catch, pass or even kick the ball. This versatility means that man-for-man, rugby players have better all-around skills. A good example is the fly-half. He needs to be able to kick, pass and catch the ball, as well as to tackle opposing players. He is very much the QB of a rugby team, but I don’t see Tom Brady kicking, punting, passing, receiving and tackling. I’m sorry, I just don’t. So when it comes to the all-round skills of the average rugby player vs. the average football player, rugby takes this round.

All-round skills: Rugby +5.

Then we come to individual skill players. Who wins when you compare the skill-position players in the NFL to the skill-position players in rugby? Skill position players in the NFL are QB, RB, WR and TE. A case could also be made for CB. In rugby the skill positions are scrumhalf, fly-half, centre, wing and fullback. Let’s take the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) player of the year for 2007: South African Springbok wing, Bryan Habana. And let’s compare him to the Philadelphia Eagles’ MVP for 2007: RB Brian Westbrook. Let me start by saying that Bryan Habana is fast. The guy has really good acceleration as well as a good top speed. Brian Westbrook is also fast, with a great burst. In the speed stakes I’d say they are pretty even. Habana is slightly taller than Westbrook at 5’9’’ compared to 5’8’’. Westbrook outweighs Habana with 203lbs to 198lbs. But they are very similar in build. However, when watching these guys play, it jumps out that Westbrook has a skill set that outweighs Habana’s by a ton. The way that Westbrook is able to evade three, four or five players and still have the speed to take it all the way is amazing. Habana is dangerous in space because he is fast, but he won’t make a defender miss very often. This fact can be found all the way through both sports. Skill players in rugby pale in comparison to the skill players of the NFL.

Skill-position players: Football +10.

The next important aspect is fitness. I am a strong believer that a player is better at his sport when he is as fit as possible. I guess that is something that comes from my rugby roots, but it is really very true. Even if you have a big, fat DT, he will still be a better player is he is able to jog for five miles. This is where football takes a lot of flack in the rugby world. NFL players are able to come off of the field very often, while rugby is a game that continuously flows. The only way that a player gets off the field in rugby, is if he is substituted. There are 15 players in the starting line-up, with 7 available replacements per game. If a player is replaced, he is not allowed back onto the field unless he plays prop (there are two props per team). The argument is often made that rugby players need to play continuously. This is true to a certain extent, but allow me to break down another myth. A rugby player is on the field for the full eighty minutes, but he is not involved for that entire time. He doesn’t run at full speed for eighty minutes. He doesn’t continuously tackle for eighty minutes. Thus, the intensity is lower than in the NFL, where every play is done at full speed and power. So even though rugby players don’t take breaks, the intensity of the few seconds that a play is run in the NFL is much higher than in rugby. Rugby is also eighty minutes, compared to the sixty minutes of a football game. This extra twenty minutes plays a role when comparing the fitness level of rugby to football. This one is not as clear-cut as many rugby pundits believe.

Fitness level: Rugby +2.

It is clear from these comparisons that each game is difficult in its own way. There is no reason to believe that one is better than the other, and it depends largely on what aspects you like the most to determine if you would like rugby or football. However, the aspect that gives football the edge in this particular comparison, is the amount of skills that the skill-players have in the NFL.

Final score: Football +5.

Ps. South Africa won the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup. This competition is held every four years (it is similar to the Soccer World Cup) and is the biggest competition in rugby. There have been six Rugby World Cups, and the South African Springboks have won two of them (1995 and 2007). The final was contested between South Africa and England. It's very cool to be the world champions.

If any of you have access to it, try and watch the Tri-Nations rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand on Saturday, it is absolutely huge. It will be on at about 01:00 on Saturday morning in the USA.

Poll

Which game is the most physical?

Football

5 votes

Rugby

11 votes

Can't decide

1 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

Here is a pic of my High School 1st XV rugby team when I was in matric (grade 12) in 2006. There...

LeonSA — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:06:43 -0000

Here is a pic of my High School 1st XV rugby team when I was in matric (grade 12) in 2006. There are a few future Springboks in that picture. Here's a wiki-link to some Paul Roos info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Roos_Gymnasium

A pic of Stellenbosch University, as promised.

LeonSA — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:47:21 -0000

A pic of Stellenbosch University, as promised.

I don't know if Donovan has ever been represented next to a Baobab tree before.

LeonSA — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:45:14 -0000

I don't know if Donovan has ever been represented next to a Baobab tree before.

Competitive times

LeonSA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:56:50 -0000

[Note by cavortingEagle, 07/04/08 8:52 AM MDT Promoted from Fanposts]
May and June certainly isn't the time to read too much into the state of an NFL football team. But we are in July now, and perhaps this time just before training camp is the perfect time to look at what the prospects for the upcoming season are, especially when compared to previous years.

There are a few very important things that stand out to me at this point. I remember an article by Dave Spadaro about the same time last year, where he posed the question: "Is it a good thing or a bad thing that the biggest position battle is between the punters?" This is a good point to start from. He went on to say that time will tell. Obviously that is in the history books now, and time has indeed told. It was not good for this team. During training camp last year the biggest question marks involved the punter and the development of Broderick Bunkley. That was it. Looking back, this may have been a factor involved in the release of Jeremiah Trotter. A year on, it is clear that the linebackers that have replaced him and Takeo Spikes is a source of good competition. And eventhough I still yearn to have Trot on the field in green on Sundays, I must admit that the prospect of the current linebacking corps gets me very excited. This could be an example of where increased competition has improved the team.

The linebackers are a very interesting group, with a good amount of competition between them. Eventhough Omar Gaither, Stewart Bradley and Chris GoCong may be penciled in as the starters, competition dosn't have to refer to direct competition. The competition between the linebackers is primarily one where each one of them needs to prove that they are indeed the real deal. And having three young, energetic men vying for respect can be a devastatingly good thing. The important factor is that they seem to have a good relationship, which means that they will push each other in a positive way. The athleticism of this group is further evidence of the good things that youth and competition brings. Stewart Bradley is the prime example. He is bigger than Patrick Willis, Jon Beason and Paul Posluszny (6'3'', 254lbs), and he is more explosive than them (4.17 shuttle time). GoCong and Bradley tied for the lead among this group in bench reps (28). Of course, these are just combine numbers and they don't matter much on game day. But the point is that this group is primed to be an example of how good competition can be for a team.

During training camp last year, I also distinctly remember William James proclaiming himself ready to take over Sheldon Brown's job at cornerback. When looking at the level of competition at cornerback this year, I can't help but chuckle even more at the thought of James baing a starter on this defense. Something that people seem to forget about the Lito Sheppard "situation" is the level of competition it brings to the secondary. And based on what was evident from camp last year, it seems obvious that competition is a good thing. Having competition between two Pro-Bowlers and an unbreakable shutdown corner, as well as a rising star in my opinion in Joselio Hansen? Well that is something we could only have dreamed about last year.

Even the undervalued position of fullback is enjoying a huge amount of competition, to the point where it actually seems as if the coaches can't make up their minds! But this could also prove to be very good, as this will probably result in the position being upgraded over Thomas Tapeh.

Strictly speaking, Quarterback is another position featuring competition. Last year, Donovan McNabb was the starter, A.J. Feeley and Kelly Holcomb were the backups and Kevin Kolb was the youngster. This time around, Kolb appears to have beaten Feeley out to take that second spot, and this means that he is one injury away from starting (usually that doesn't mean much, but unfortunately it is a factor when considering McNabb). Of course, the dynamic becomes even more interesting if Kolb were to get meaningful playing time during the regular season...But I don't see that as being good competition. That could in fact be potentially devastating.

Other positions that have some nice internal competitions going on include: Running back - This may be the position that has the biggest impact offensively this year, and seeing the competition between Booker, Buckhalter and Hunt for that backup spot is encouraging. Wide Reciever - This battle will be primarily for the 3rd and 4th WR spots between Jackson, Baskett, Avant and Lewis. Tight End - The emergence of Brent Celek and the addition of Kris Wilson means that there will be great competition for playing time behind L.J. Smith. Left Guard - This competition was highly publicized prior to OTA's, but Jean-Gilles has been dissapointing so far and Herremans is the clear favourite. Left End - This is a good battle between the size of Victor Abiamiri, the speed of Chris Clemons and the stability of Jaqua Parker. Strong Safety - Sean Considine needs to make a push to prove that he is worth keeping on this team, while Quintin Mikell is the favourite to start next to Brian Dawkins.

I see the positions that feature a healthy dose of competition this year as the following: QB, HB, FB, LG, DE, LB, CB, SS.

That sure is a whole lot more exciting than Sav vs Dirk.

Progress

LeonSA — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:45:15 -0000

I'm really making progress on my USA trip. This is the time where I am asking you guys for a favour...

I found a place to stay at for about $102 for all three of us for two nights. Here is the link if you have any thoughts about it: http://www.metrotravelguide.com/hotelinfo/brooklawn/nj/usa/97417/#referertrackid=10016&trafficLogID=520073827&visited=true&clickLogID=37537052

Eventhough that is pretty cheap and I am prepared to stay there, it would be stupid if I didn't take this opportunity to ask you if anyone would be interested in allowing us to sleep at their house for two nights (26 and 27 November). It would probably be best if it is someone who is going to the thanksgiving game against the Cards (because I am, Whoo-Hoo!!!).

We only need a roof over our heads, nothing fancy. I figured it would also be the best way to get to know Philly and maybe seeing the city as well. 700 you said that we could tailgate with you before the game, and if it isn't too much of a disruption, it would probably be easiest for us to sleep at your place. Obviously I understand if it is not possible 700 :)

Anyone else who is interested in maybe hosting us for those two nights, feel free to post it here. I'm sure it will be really interesting, and we will get to learn a lot about each other.