Piggy-backing off the "Bold Predictions for the Season" post, here's a few bold (and not so bold predictions for Week 2):

The Big 5:

Final Score Prediction: Good guys win this 20-16 in a close one.

Douchebag Announcers Prediction: Aikman will be very critical of Kolb but otherwise be reluctantly supportive of the Eagles. Buck will continue to annoy every time he opens his mouth.

Many options exist from the local sports bar (annoying) to NFL Ticket (expensive) to justin.tv (unreliable). But I just discovered a new option, that I'm almost 95% certain I'm going to go with:

NFL Game Rewind from the NFL Network. You pay $50 ($40 if you only want Eagles games) and you have access to HD rewinds of every single game from the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Games are posted on Sunday at midnight after the games are played.

The drawbacks are you don't get to watch the games live and you have to watch them streamed over your computer, but even when I had NFL Ticket last year I ended up DVR'ing half of them to watch later. Plus, it's pretty straight-forward connecting your laptop to your flat screen.

To me this is a dream come true, and allows me to catch every game without any effort or worry on my part.

I've got a flight to catch at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. No problem. Wife wants to have some husband-wife time right at kick-off. No problem (in fact I probably won't even tell the wife about this and make her think I'm being extra generous by giving up my Eagles for her from time to time).

And if I'm lucky enough that the Eagles game is broadcasted live, then I get to re-watch any game highlights immediately afterwards (although DVR accomplishes the same feat). But with all the 2008 games there too, I'm looking forward to watching 44-6, the two Meadowlands wins, and the Steelers sack feast at some point during the season.

I'm going to have to be disciplined enough to ignore any scores, RSS feeds, emails, text messages, etc... until I watch the game. Also, I pray that NFL Network in all it's glory doesn't post the game rewinds with links like "Philadelphia 38, Carolina 10."

And since I love polls, I'm going to throw one on this post to get an idea how BGN takes their games.

Good article on Moving the Chains where an old hero of ours drops his two cents on Vick.

I honestly haven't thought about Randall Cunningham in some time, and this led me to go read his bio on wikipedia. I found two interesting excerpts I wanted to share.

First off, even Super Bowl champion, 3-time NFL MVP quarterbacks get benched during games when they are not performing:

Cunningham led the league with a 106.0 passer rating while the Vikings posted a then-NFL record 556 points during the 1998 season. Cunningham claimed the Vikings Monday night 37-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers was, "the greatest night of his career". Cunningham threw for 442 yards and 4 touchdowns in a game where Brett Favre, in the prime of his career, was benched at the end of the first half.

I never really thought McNabb's benching last year was a big deal. If your star pitcher is in a slump, you pull him. I think the media blew it out of proportion, but McNabb didn't help either any time he talked about it, you could tell how bitter he was.

And then there was this one. I had completely forgotten about this monumental "Our Past vs Our Future" game until now:

One notable occurrence during his time with the Cowboys was a return to Philadelphia. Cunningham started the game and dueled the new Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb. The game was decided in overtime, with an Eagles field goal giving them the 16-13 victory. Cunningham was given a standing ovation by the usually tough Philadelphia crowd.

So to my boy, Randall Cunningham, who was at the helm of the team when I came into my own as an Eagles fan, here's a fisted double chest-pump to you.

via www.checkoutmycards.com

From Deadspin:

And on a football note, Vick has claimed his first victim. Giants rookie RB Andre Brown is done for the year after injuring himself in a let's-learn-to-defend-against-the-Wildcat drill.

/shakes head at misleading headline

I'd like to thank Brett Favre for officially putting an end to the Philadelphia-Vick media circus. Pretty much everything that was needed to be said about Vick's signing, was within 48 hours of the event. After that it was a motley tapestry of regurgitated ideas, conspiracy theories from left field, and random relatives dropping in with their two cents (none of which I will link to).

I did find a few amusing and original points of view after the initial incubation period in the holier than thou stance of the NFL community on Vick and that the Cowboys should be mightily upset that the Eagles signed Vick and they didn't.

So for now, all we can do is hope that things keep quiet here on that front. With the exceptions, of course, when Vick:

Plays his first preseason game.

Plays his first season game.

Scores his first touchdown.

Holds his first post-game interview where he unintentionally questions Reid's judgement and challenges McNabb's leadership.

Fights his first pigeon, etc..., etc..., etc...

Pigeon Fight! (via MondoRetardo)

I gotta say, this all hit me like a tornado. My knee-jerk reaction was "Can I root for the Eagles after this?" I then went searching for every piece of internet fodder I could get my hands on. I began reaching for anything that would tell me this drastic move by my beloved team was alright.

I abhor what Michael Vick did, but I'm no tree-hugging, birkenstock-wearing, hippie-crit. I've had enough pets throughout my life to recognize that animals, especially dogs and cats, have personalities and souls, and what Vick did to torture those poor animals was monstrous. But at the same time, I also eat meat, wear leather, and probably would go hunt deer if given the chance. And it's hypocritical on my part to say killing animals the way Vick did is evil, while killing animals for society-acceptable reasons is not.

Likewise, killing another human being is a far, far greater crime in my mind than taking the life of an animal. There shouldn't even be a comparison. And I don't really care what means caused a human being's death. Momentary lapse of reason, alcohol-influenced accident, or your henchmen got carried away, if someone died and you caused it, you must be severely punished.

Vick was punished for his crime. Some may argue the punishment was too much, some will say too little. Regardless, the state decided on what they deemed was a fair punishment, and Vick served. No need to punish him more.

From all the comments I've read across the NFL, Vick has been forgiven and everyone wants him to get a chance at redemption. Everyone including the man who's job it is to protect the NFL. I was surprised at the support Roger Goodell gave Vick, it was much more than I expected. I've only heard players and coaches across the league endorse Vick. And it seems the only ones that had negative things to say about Vick were the owners and front offices too insecure with their team or their team's status with their fan base to even consider taking a chance on Vick.

Then I watched Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb do their interviews last night.

When the news of the Vick signing came in, my first emotion was "Shame." I was ashamed to be a part of an organization that could accept someone who did something so monstrous. After listening to Reid and McNabb's words, my emotions changed to "Pride." I was proud to be a fan of an organization that was willing to forgive, willing to take a risk and give someone a chance at redemption, strong and confident enough to stand up for something they believe is right against what will be a shitstorm of hate and criticism. The Eagles have provided me with multiple emotions throughout the years: joy, anticipation, desperation, excitement, and pride. But I don't think I've ever been prouder of this team than I am at this moment.

There will always be haters. There will always be those that will take this as an opportunity to mock or attack us. Let them come. They can go rally with the hippie-crits and act righteous.

Our organization did a very good thing yesterday, and regardless of the success or failure that may come of it, both my appreciation of the Philadelphia Eagles and the class it has shown have evolved my Eagles to a higher level of appreciation.

Good for you, Philadelphia. You are a much stronger organization than I understood.

I'm curious to see how fans view Vick as compared to some of the other convicted or accused criminals in sports. I'm focusing on those who were convicted/accused yet were (or will be) forgiven and allowed to return to their sport.

So OJ doesn't count because his troubles began way after his playing days were over, and while I can't recall any names now, I know there were a few athletes formally convicted of murder who got locked in a hole for good. I'm also looking past drugs (for now), or this list would never end.

And by all means let me know if I'm missing someone.

Here's the scenario:

- Knowshon Moreno is selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 14th pick. Apparently the Eagles were trying to trade up to the 13th pick, but the Chargers kept the phone lines busy. Philadelphia then trades down a few spots and selects David Brown and gets an additional 4th round pick.

- Philadelphia is on the clock at #21, the Philly fans are calling for "knowshon, Knowshon, KNOWSHON!!!" from the rafters. Roger Goddell steps up to the podium: "With the 21st pick, the Philadelphia Eagles select TE Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State University"...

What posts can I expect to see on these boards immediately afterwards? I'm very curious to see the responses of Anuj and the Knowshon Cult...

DISCLAIMER: I'm not sold on Knowshon. The lacking speed thing is really giving me doubts, and I wonder if we're better off trading up our 2nd round pick for McCoy.