Hail Mary

From what I hear on the radio and read in the papers I am not the only one who was very frustrated with the Philadelphia Eagles this season. At times during the season many fans wanted to get rid of the coach and quarterback- or one or the other. I wanted to see Andy Reid gone- I'd had enough of his stubborn arrogance. I wanted the team to lose some more games in the crazy hope that ownership would be forced to make some off-season changes. I'd seen too many stupid play calls and enough poor clock management (for God sakes you've been a head coach for 10 years- learn how to handle your timeouts) The Eagles follies of mid-season can be summed up in two words for those in the know- over time (If you're not in the know you're probably not reading this anyway) But I'm not really here to write about all the bad things this year- I want to talk about the miraculous last month or so.

Now I'm not the same crazy, cursing at the TV superstitious Eagles fan I was for so many years. I'm still very bitter- Philadelphia fans may never lose that no matter how many trophies our teams hoist, but Eagles losses don't ruin my week like they once did. Several factors play in to all of this, but a major one is the litany of disappointments this team has visited upon its fans, well for almost 50 years now. Several of these disasters have happened in the game they are about to play in a few hours- the NFC Championship. They have been to four of them so far in the last ten years and they are 1-3. Two of them are remembered as some of the worst losses in team history. But still, fans are very optimistic this time too. No one is really afraid of the Arizona Cardinals no matter who is on the team. In the past we were a dominant team, winning our division and conference. This time we slipped into the playoffs through a very rapidly closing window. A few months ago the Eagle's didn't have a Santa's chance on a cold day at Franklin Field of making the playoffs. Now everyone is again saying: "Why can't us?"

I've been thinking of the end of this season as one big hail Mary pass. That's when the quarterback is so desperate he rears back and lets the ball fly-praying that it will come out well. A team that had a hail Mary's chance of making the post season is now on the verge of becoming legendary. The pass went up against Dallas in the last game of the seaon and has been flying past the Vikings and Giants. We are all now ready to watch and put ourselves on the line again waiting to see where the ball will land.

Why you might think I'm giving you the Finger

This is the hardest blog entry I've ever had to write-- or maybe I should say the hardest to type. The middle finger on my left hand is in a splint to keep it immobilized after a bizarre injury I suffered on Christmas Eve. In addition to hitting at least two keys at once with my bandaged digit, it also seems to throw off the rest of my typing and its making my spelling even worse. Being that I'm left-handed too it hasn't done much for my handwriting either.

The injury is called "mallet finger" or "mallet deformity" (look away - I'm grotesque)
It happens when the tendon on the top of your finger ruptures and tears away from the bone. The top third of your finger can't support itself so it droops down at an angle- you can't straighten it out. I know what you're thinking, but it doesn't hurt. It didn't even hurt when it initially happened which also seems freaky. Everyone wants to know how it happened, but its kind of boring so I've been trying to come up with a good story. Here are a few ideas- don't be shy, vote for your favorite:

1. I hurt it in a bar fight when I got hit by a pool cue
   
2. Guitar Hero injury
3. I got hurt reaching into my pocket for my wallet to cover a check
4. Too much text messaging

None of these is the actual story so don't go trying to figure it out. Now that its all bandaged up I can tell people I had surgery to re-attach it after a workshop injury. I'm sure the story will change weekly.

The other day I went to a hand specialist that was recommended by my regular doctor. They told me I'd have to wear a splint just about 24-7 for about eight weeks. You can take the splint off to wash your hand, but you must keep it absolutely flat- if your finger bends at all you will re-injure it and have to start your two month process all over again. The splint is made out of something called low temperature plastic that can be molded to your finger. It will also melt if it gets near anything too hot, so I've got to wear a bag over it in the shower and avoid having it near hot stuff on the stove- good thing my soup serving days are far behind me. I guess I'll have even more trouble washing dishes now too. I'll get accustomed to having this thing on my finger after a while, but not before it becomes a big pain in the ass. I'm even developing a drinking problem because its so hard to hold a beer or coffee mug.

So If you see me you'll know what's up with my finger and maybe I'll tell you another story about how it happened. And I apologize in advance: I'm not giving you the finger. Probably.