Back... and Live-Blogging the Birds

Yes, I was taking a little time off to advise the President on righting the ship of state.

Jokes aside, I have to agree with Bill Kristol's comment earlier this week -- the "Bush bear market" has bottomed out, at least for the time being.

That said, I've decided to try live-blogging the Eagles game...

With regard to the T.O. Mess... I said earlier this year that I would never say a bad word about the guy when he returned for that Super Bowl performance. I still won't do it. But the Eagles have my full support.

8:43... Two running plays? In a row??? Is Andy Reid drunk or something?

8:46... I'm wearing a T.O. Super Bowl jersey, by the way. Call it my effort to inspire my team via off-the-wall motivational techniques. And no, I will not break out the Rich Kotite Halloween mask next week.

8:48... I think I might tackle better than Lito Sheppard. Yuck.

8:56... Donovan looks more comfortable than he has in weeks. He may want to take Hugh Douglas to dinner.

8:59... Say it with me... Reggie... Reggie... Reggie... Reggie...

9:02... I need to stop dancing around the house. Also, I just picked up Reggie in fantasy football.

9:06... I knew I should have started Chris Cooley on my fantasy team this week. Idiot.

9:10... Can someone tell me why it's so freaking tough to tackle Santana Moss? Did he have lead weights in his uniform when he was with the Jets last year? I'm sure Johnny Red would tell me yes, but this guy's not that good. Or maybe he's just waiting until the second half of the season to have his annual hamstring injury.

9:12... And no, I would never wish an injury on a Redskin. Maybe a Cowboy.

9:13... Actually, that's not true. There's no maybe about it -- if you're a Cowboy, may you suffer terrible hemmerhoids.

9:15... By the way, speaking of Cowboys... when did Michael Irvin become T.O.'s personal ambassador? I smell a rat in the whole T.O. mess, and his name is Jerry Jones. If T.O. is wearing a Cowboy jersey next season, I take back what I said earlier about never saying a bad word.

9:19... I don't mind failed running plays. They give the QB's sports hernia a break.

9:21... Okay, that might be the most entertaining run Donovan's made all year. The little high step was awesome. But running into the teeth of the blitz on the next down... that's where an audible might have been good.

9:22... This kid punter is doing a solid job so far.

9:24... The commercial break -- Family Guy is hysterical. Yes, even I change the channel on occasion. For those wondering, it was the origin of Reeses Pieces that had me laughing.

9:26... Sheldon Brown deserves the Pro Bowl this year. No, I'm not exaggerating.

9:29... Is there anything funnier the Dickies 500?

9:30... Oh, what a sweet run by Donovan there. And nice catch by L.J.

9:35... That punt could have been better.

9:38... Can someone match Brian Dawkins up against Santana Moss? Pleasepleaseplease.

9:39... I really hate Chris Cooley right now.

9:40... Lito Sheppard's getting fitted for some big-time goathorns right now.

9:42... That ball's a fumble, no matter what Theismann and or Maguire think.

9:44... The ref's wrong too. Tom White must be legally blind.

9:47... Redskins kicker John Hall is pretty athletic. Nice leap over the bench.

9:50... Funniest thing I saw in the NFL today. Raiders-Chiefs ending, where Dick Vermeil had the guts to go for it with five seconds left with a run to score. The NFL's arcane rules require teams to kick the extra point, so gamblers don't go nuts. On the extra point, so many Raiders had left the field that QB Kerry Collins was on the field to try to block it.

9:51... The ESPN announcers try desperately to make every play sound ultra-exciting. It's a two-yard pass to the flanker, WHAT a play. Mike Patrick and Theismann spend way too much time trying to turn everyone on the field into a Pro Bowler.

9:54... Maybe Michael Lewis' shoulder will be imprinted in Santana Moss's back this week.

9:55... The review was coming. The Chad Johnson thing from last week all over again --his arm might be out of bounds.

9:57... Damm you, Tom White.

9:58... Administrative stoppage? We are in DC, aren't we?

9:59... Trent Cole and Juqua Thomas... game-changers, baby.

10:00... Greg Lewis with more yards, and Raj celebrates on behalf of his fantasy team.

10:02... Spike the friggin' ball. Damn brain cramps with the clock every freaking week at the end of the half. Dammit.

10:15... On the phone with the Kansas Redhead, who's still high from the ballsy call by Dick Vermeil earlier today. No, that wasn't like Vermeil, but it rocked.

10:18... Short flanker passes to Greg Lewis are fully supported by my fantasy team.

10:20... Dammit. James Thrash trying to give us a gift, and we don't take it.

10:23... Nice defense on the screen. Why do QBs never throw the ball out of bounds on such plays? Way too risky.

10:28... A sweep on third and inches. I know they got it, but can we just hammer it up inside. And dammit, L.J.'s down again.

10:32... Billy McMullen, finally returning from the Witness Protection Program.

10:35... That might be the coolest catch I've seen in weeks by Lewis. And it is a catch, even with blind Tom White calling it.

10:37... I need the fantasy points, Tom. Pleasepleaseplease.

10:38... I'm leaving now to go egg Tom White's car.

10:40... Koy Detmer is a friggin' great holder. Glad to have you back, Mr. Akers.

10:46... Someone needs to cover the middle of the field. Might be a good idea.

10:47... Brian Dawkins is a friggin' killer. I love him. But Clinton Portis needs to learn how to dance. For a guy who went to Miami, he needs to do better.

10:48... They "wore the defense down" on that drive? What world is Maguire in? They're lucky to have converted that third down, especially after Dawkins tatooed Cooley.

10:51... The great thing about blogging my reaction to the game is like someone's censoring it. The ESPN drive graphics are really stupid. And stupid's not the word I originally used.

10:52... LaVar Arrington is a great guy to watch, in that he moves to the ball so quickly it's insane. He just explodes into hits. Sean Taylor's much the same way.

10:55... This drive needs to end with points. A TD would work, but so would a field goal. Nice effort on the run by Five.

10:57... Westbrook makes that catch, Mr. Gordon. The ball's slightly behind him, but you need to catch that if you want more touches.

10:59... Nice penalty. BTW, I think the Redskins fans will be in shock that Darnerian McCants is playing special teams for the Eagles. And not too badly, either.

11:03... Tackling would be nice, guys. But so would a holding call, because N.D. Kalu is getting mugged by Samuels right now.

11:05... If Mark Brunell is re-born, and was born again before, has he been born for a third time?

11:07... Do they really need to tell Skins fans to be quiet when they have the ball? That videoboard is for idiots.

11:08... I need a third down stop here, guys. And a turnover would be nice.

11:12... I need a third down conversion here, too.

11:16... ESPN Classic is running old-school Tyson fights. Nice to see the gap-toothed killer again.

11:18... Andy Reid went 0-for-2 on challenges tonight, and I'm still ticked off about it.

11:19... Man, does Brian Dawkins tackle beautifully.

11:20... I've never been a big fan of running the clock all the way down and calling time-out. Running the play with one or two seconds left ain't that hard. But it would nice if the Birds picked now to block their first punt in what seems like years.

11:25... Yeah, I'm sweating right now. But Reggie Brown has been a revelation tonight.

11:33... For the record... I'm still not impressed by the Redskins. Brunell, yes. But this team will get their lunch handed to them if they ever reach the playoffs. And if someone can explain to me why Brian Westbrook wasn't in the game on the final play, I'll gladly live-blog again...not.

11:35... I take that back. I'll live-blog the Cowboys games sometime.