HOW STRONG ARE A CEDAR'S ROOTS?

Something potentially momentous is happening right now in Lebanon. Peaceful demonstrations in response to the assassination of Rafik Hariri have toppled the Syrian-backed puppet regime and are threatening to kick the last Baathist tyranny out of their nation. So far the anti-Syrian movement has unite the various factions - Christian, Sunni, Shiite and Druze. There appears to be a real hope that Lebanon can finally rise from the ashes, and end its 30 year nightmare of civil war and foreign domination. If so, the potential possible repurcussions of a thriving, pluralistic, democratic and free Lebanon for the Arab world are enormous. The collapse of Lebanon into sectarian strife and chaos in the 1970s deprived the Arab World of its haven for progressives, artists, free-thinkers. The consensus had been that while Lebanon could physically rebuild what was torn down in the war (and of that succesful rebuilding, Hariri was the symbol), it could never reclaim its other losses. The present outpouring of non-violent popular action, however, suggests that the roots of Lebanon's civil society may go much deeper than suspected.


Lebanon is by no means out of the woods. The desire of the majority of Lebanese to put their past behind them is not shared by all, especially Hezbollah, who represent the interests of their pay-masters in Tehran far more than Lebanon's Shiites. Hezbollah seeks total war against Israel, despite its exit from Lebanese terrirtory (in fact, there is little doubt that its fingerprints were found on the recent massacre in Tel Aviv - otherwise Israel would have not directed its fury at Syria and given Abbas a temporary pass). However, in a free Lebanon Hezbollah will no longer be able to have it both ways - maintaining its domestic ambitions and its foreign terrorist agenda. The Lebanese people have had enough of war. They have had enough of tyranny. May the cedar bloom again, soon.

PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 21

3 Points. 3 Lousy Points the difference between the ending of 44 seasons of failure from sweet victory.
It was a gut-wrenching loss in so many ways. Unlike in years past, the Patriots did not come with their A game. The Eagles, therefore, did not need to have brought an A game of their own, merely to have played good solid football with minimal errors. Instead the Birds played a wildly inconsistent game, marked by stretches of brilliance and marred by costly mistakes.

The defense started the game tremendously, shutting down the Pats running attack and knocking Brady out of sync. But the Patriots, as always, adjusted, and were able to move the ball from the middle of the 2nd quarter on. Blitzes were picked up, Deion Branch ran wild, and the D folded three times in the red zone. Still, with the game on the line, the defense rose to the occassion, preventing the game-ending TD, and forcing two critical stops during the thwarted comeback.

The offense rose to even greater heights and sank to even greater lows. After a rocky opening series, the Eagles spent most of the 1st half on the Patriots side of the field. Terrell Owens made all of the nose-bleed pundits who took potshots at him for his valiant rehab look petty and foolish. He was not the dominant force that he is at 100%, but he was at least 81%, and despite his limitations a major factor in the short and medium passing game. The much maligned Todd Pinkston made the 2nd most spectacular catch of the night (unfortunately the top honor must go to Branch's leaping catch over Sheldon Brown) and succesfully stretched the field, while the emerging Greg Lewis made a major impact in his limited time on the field. And Brian Westbrook, despite being stymied as a rusher and returner, proved as dangerous a receiver as always during the game tying 3rd quarter drive.

But in the end the Eagles went as far as McNabb could take them. I cannot recall another QB having as roller-coaster a Super Bowl as McNabb. He made some spectular throws, the scrambling bomb to Pinkston, the two red-zone bullets fired threaded through a needle to LJ Smith and Westbrook, and the perfectly tossed deep post to Lewis. But for stretches of the game he reverted to the old McNabb, as scattershot as he's been in a year and a half - missing low, high and wide, bringing the Eagles West Coast attack to a screeching halt despite the fact that Reid and company had found the soft spots in the Patriots defense. Even worse were the questionable decison-making, ranging from the lame duck toss in the end-zone early in the game to the torpid "five-minute drill" offense late in the game (although to be fair, there are reports that McNabb was playing through exhaustion or dehydration to the point of "puking" during the last two drives).

Even worse was the game by Andy Reid. The clock-management on the final drives of each half were unprecedently bad for a coach who rarely makes mistakes as a result of oversight (case in point - the successful early challenge that reversed a McNabb fumble). Rather than trust his defense with getting the ball back, Reid gambled on the on-side kick, and then doubled down with a dubious decision not to send a returned deep for the final punt.

I imagine, therefore, that plenty of idiots have been calling WIP in the past 48 hours, asking for the heads of the Eagles QB and head coach. To who I say - suck it up! If it weren't for McNabb and Reid, you wouldn't have any conference championship or Super Bowl losses to complain about. Do you forget the likes of Ty Detmer, Rodney Peete and Bobby Hoying under center, or Rich Kotite or Marion Cambpell on the headset. What about the collosal underachievement of Randall Cunnigham and Buddy Ryan, who could never get a star-studded group to one NFC championship, let alone four straight and a Super Bowl.

I know how heartbroken we all are right now. I am glad I went home for the game - if nothing more than to see Eagles green at every corner. I clearly did not have an original idea, as I was joined by a dejected mob of green on the train back to New York. But in the end, there must be perspective - and hope. The 2004 Eagles gave all of us a great run. Unlike the 1980 Birds, they did not wither away on the big stage, but instead almost pulled off a major upset of this era's greatest team. They fell 3 points short. But so long as they have Donovan McNabb in his prime and Reid at the helm, they will remian contenders. The Eagles will be back to Super Bowl, perhaps as early as next year, and next time McNabb and Reid will perform at their standard level of excellence. And at last the Philadelphians will have the parade we've waited for for so long. E-A-G-L-E-S !!!

E-A-G-L-E-S: THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BIG GAME

The last time the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, I was certain they were
going to win. After all, I had just witnessed my heroes smash the hated Cowboys in the NFC Championship. I can still remember from my perch in the 500 level of the frozen Vet, wearing the #17 of the great Harold Carmichael, the Birds defense smother Tony Dorsett and pound Danny White, and Wilbert Montgomery bursting to daylight, leaving Dallas defenders in the dust. After such domination, what was there to fear from some wild-card Raiders team that after all, we had beaten early in the year. I was absolutely certain we would win. I was also 7.

But it was not to be. The defining memories of that game are of course, are of Jaworski tossing interceptions to Raiders LB Rod Martin, and the screen pass that Kenny King somehow broke for a long TD. Every big play went against the Eagles, and Raiders prevailed 27-10. Older and wiser, it is easy to explain what happened. The Eagles had peaked emotionally with a win over Dallas, Vermeil's manic energy, rather than inspiring over-achieving as usual, instead led to a tight, skittish crew. A team that had won all year with its defense, and a low-risk, ball-control offense, made mistakes and fell behind early. And those Eagles were not built for playing come from behind football.

The Vermeil Eagles fizzled out without ever making another title run. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Reggie White-Randall Cunningham Eagles, teased but underachieved in the playoffs. A combination of Ryan's awful offensive gameplanning (1989 and 1990) and lakefront fog (1988) and injury (1991) halted the team at its peak. The Ray Rhodes Eagles of the mid-90s were solid clubs that never flirted with greatness.

The same cannot be said of the Eagles latest run. The Eagles of Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb have had sustained periods of greatness for the past four seasons, but have until now, fallen short of the Super Bowl.

So will these Eagles finally win the team's first NFL title of my liftime? Will they ultimately end the suffering of the Eagles Nation and defeat the favored, defending champion Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX?

My head says that while they have a fighting chance, that its more likely than not the error-free Pats will prevail. My heart says absolutely - that we are more than overdue, and this game is the Eagles date with destiny.

I believe that the Eagles' underrated defense will rise up and shine in this game. That they will continue to do what they do best - prevent big plays, and keep teams out of the endzone. Corey Dillon will get his yards, and Brady might move the chains, but on the whole the Pats will be contained to a 1 or 2 TDs and a number of Vinatiri FGs. What will determine the game is the ability of the Eagles offense to aggressively challenge the Patriots defense without turning the ball over. The Patriots will most likely try to muscle the Eagles wideouts, and drop the LBs into coverage to clog the short routes and contain Westbrook. The Eagles will a superlative performance by McNabb, one in which he thwarts the Patriots cover schemes with his scrambling and takes advantage of the opportunities when the wideouts are able to release long, all without being forced into an uncharacteristic interception.

I have faith that McNabb will come through with an MVP performance, that Owens will make at least one spectacular play that will justify all the hype, that Dawkins will jar at least one ball loose from a Patriots receiver, that Kearse will disrupt Brady's timing, that Trotter will stuff Dillon on a critical third down, that Westbrook will break off at least one game-breaking run, reception or return, that Akers will make a clutch FG, that Reid, Childress and Johnson will match Belicek, Weis and Crennel, adjustment for adjustment. I believe, no I am absolutely certain they will prevail - in fact, 24 years later, I haven't changed a bit.

Eagles 23 Patriots 19.

STATE OF THE UNION: 2005..."LIVE" BLOGGED ON TAPE-DELAY

I orignally had no intention of watching this, by my attractive lawyer wife wanted to play the SOTUS drinking game, so I taped it for her and we watched it an 1 1/2 hour behind schedule, (with a necessary break for the Daily Show). I decided it was the perfect opportunity to break a blog-drought, so here goes....(Admittedly, the snark to deep thought ratio is much higher than usual)

Well, its early on and already Bush is promising to make the tax cuts permanent and cut the deficit in half by 2009 (next up, a donut that will magically reduce your gut). Ahh, that's how he's doing it, he's eliminating more than 150 government programs that don't fulfill substantial priorities...like Social Security, for example.

A shout out to education...now we're expanding NOCLB to high schools, no mention of adding any money (after all there's a major deficit you know). Good news, he's increasing the size of Pell Grants (the bad news of course this probably means, he's decreasing the number of Pell Grants awarded).

Wow, he just managed to weave in small business, women and minorites benefiting and frivolous asbestos claims into the same sentence. (Yes, I can see it now, somewhere in Ohio there's a young entrepeneur all ready to open shop and hire lots of women and minorites, except for those damn asbestos claims!!) Anyway, W. gets 5 points for managing such an impressive pander-scapegoat combo.

Next up, W. promises a "comprehensive" health program, but I'm not really paying attention since its clear he doesn't plan to spend a dime on any of it and it will the last you'll hear of it until next year's SOTU.

I'm trying not to laugh as he says "environmentally sensitive energy"...which translates as "safe, clean, nukular energy" ...now I've lost it... It's followed up by a laundry list of alternative fuels that he will continue to underfund, but provide a fig leaf for ANWR. (Of course, there's a great trade-off to be made, ANWR for a serious green energy policy, but I highly doubt any Dem is imaginitive enough to propose it...and I'll stop reliving my days as an espiring Environmental Policy wonk and move on now...).

Now he's talking about updatiing "archaic" institutions. Its gotta be Social Security...

[Sorry, the rest of this post somehow got lost in cyberspace....]