Monday morning musings: Philly is still an Eagles town first

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Spent Sunday at the Phillies game and a couple of things struck me about the day.

First of all, none of the TVs around the ballpark controlled by management -- even the ones in the press box -- were turned to the Eagles/Lions game.

One of the writers had an NFL game on in the back row of the box and I thought it was the Eagles, but when I asked for the score, he said it was the Steelers-Titans game.

Also, there was nothing on the scoreboard about the Eagles. Not even an occasional update in the spot down in the right-field corner where the IronPigs and Reading Phillies scores are usually posted.

Nothing.

Maybe with everybody getting their info from cellphones and I-Pads these days, Phillies management figures fans now know the score anyway without help from them.

Or, just maybe, there is a bit of gamesmanship going on between the two franchises and one is reluctant to acknowledge the other. Maybe the Phillies are tired of the Eagles stealing their spotlight, even though the Phillies have been far more successful than the Eagles in recent years.

I do remember going to a Phillies Sunday home game in September many years ago and the Eagles were playing in Washington that day. That day was so long ago that the Phillies game was being played at the Vet and Randall Cunningham was quarterbacking the Eagles.

That day, the Vet scoredboard flashed continual Eagles updates. And it was a high-scoring game, so there was lots of alternating cheers and jeers.

But on this Sunday, no acknowledgement. If there was, I missed it.

Relations between franchises have obviously iced up.

So, on this Sunday, the Phillies stage another unbelievable rally and move one step closer to another division title in dramatic fashion and when I turn on the sports-talk radio stations for amusement on the ride home, all I hear is Michael Vick this, and Michael Vick that.

I obviously didn't see Vick play -- just highlights after I got home -- but from the comments I heard on the radio I am guessing Eagles fans had never seen such high-quality play from one of their QBs before.

I did note that their former quarterback threw for 426 yards in Washington on Sunday, but he's old news. Eagles fans disparage him now as if he was Mike Boryla or John Reaves in the 1970s. This is Vick's town now.

Him doing well against the Lions now has some Eagles fans thinking Super Bowl. Honest. Some do. Especially with the Cowboys and Vikings 0-2 and the Giants getting ripped by the Colts.

Our own Eagles beat writer Nick Fierro astutely noted in a story today that the Eagles defense gave up 444 yards and 32 points to the Lions, who probably still rank as the second-worst team in football after the Rams.

But all anyone else cares about is Vick. Even The Morning Call pays tribute to him on the cover today.

Meanwhile, the Phillies are a remarkable team and have been so for four years now. They may have a clunker here and there, and a bad series against Houston, but for the most part they deliver excitement every time you go to one of their games.

A guy like Northampton's Brian Schneider, who had three hits, including a clutch two-run double on Sunday, must feel like he's in baseball heaven.

Management finds ways to add people like Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt and the offense -- even without everybody healthy and clicking on all cylinders -- keeps coming at you. It's a relentless club that has probably staged 100 come-from-behind home wins over the last four years and most of them have come late.

And yet, a win over the Lions and Michael Vick are all anyone wants to talk about today.

New made-for-TV movies about Vick are in the works.

I guess it's somewhat understandable. With the Eagles you only get 16 chances to let all of your feelings out and with the Phillies you get 81 home dates to do it.

And by now, we've come to expect another 8 to 10 Phillies home dates in the postseason to get all worked up about. October, everyone assumes, will be about them -- again.

People do pack the house every night and everywhere I go on vacation -- from the Jersey shore to Disney -- you see lots of Phillies red. It's not that people don't care -- that's for sure. Maybe even the rally towels will be twirling tonight when the Braves come to town in what is likely to be the end of the NL East divisional race.

And yet, I am still floored by the priorities of many fans and most media outlets on a typical fall Sunday.

The Phillies may be the much more successful and superior franchise, but this is still Eagles Country.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/