A fond farewell to the Vet

There's something about old stadiums -- even this one

PHILADELPHIA -- God, I won't miss this place.

Lord, I'll really miss this place.

I was sitting with Andy Reid in his office in the bowels of Veterans Stadium, across the hall from the Eagles' locker room, as dusk fell on this city Sunday. As we talked about what I think has been a terrific job by Reid this year, a scary "thud" that sounded like a thunderclap echoed from the ceiling just above Reid's head. He didn't budge. I did. I flinched and went bug-eyed, wondering: What in the world was that?!

"Beer barrels," Reid said, smiling. "Hey, roll out the barrels! This is great!"

Empty beer kegs were being bounced around over Reid's head like metal basketballs. He paid them no mind.

There is something about old stadia like the Vet. Something so great, something so rotten. When I saw my last football games at RFK and Cleveland Stadium, respectively, I remember thinking on both occasions: I can't wait until they raze this dump ... and I'll miss the hell out of the joint. Jim Brown played here. Sonny Jurgensen slung there. You're connected with history in both. But these places were so lousy to work that I semi-longed for the day when there would be a comfy press box and DirecTV and heated walkways to locker rooms.

That's how I felt about this place, until a couple of weeks ago, when I asked Philadelphian and ESPN correspondent Sal Paolantonio if Philly would miss the Vet, a cookie-cutter place from the Nixon Administration and one of the biggest pains in the rear end of any sporting venue in America. Sal said he thinks a lot will be lost at Lincoln Financial Field, which is rising into the sky just across Pattison Avenue, next to the Spectrum. The new place will be prettier, more comfortable and a sight to behold. And, as Paolantonio said, "It probably won't have near the home-field advantage of the Vet."

Reid has shooed rats away from the end zone. The carpet has been a constant embarrassment. The fans are the most vile west of Foxboro, but also the ones who give the place such a feeling of home-field advantage. Opponents such as former Giants head coach Bill Parcells and current defensive end Michael Strahan said that even though the Vet is the hardest place in the league to play, it's also their favorite road venue because the fans care so much.

Whenever you're here, you get a feeling that something important is happening. As I walked into the place on Sunday, I saw generations of fans walking in, some with the old kelly green Eagles jerseys, some with the '80 vintage, and some with this year's stuff. Grandfathers and grandsons, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, bowling leagues, Rocky Balboas. All caring ridiculously about what was about to happen.

"I've always said this was a tough place to play," Reid said after the Eagles clinched the NFC East with a 34-21 win over Washington. "It was evident today. The fans were out of their minds. I think if you go around the league and ask people the place they do not enjoy playing, it's right here."

The front-office triumvirate of Reid, owner Jeff Lurie and cap-man Joe Banner has done a great job revitalizing this team. The Eagles' resurgence was the impetus the city needed to partner with the franchise to build a new stadium. It's interesting. The fans are knee-jerk. Lurie/Banner/Reid are not. Lurie's a blue-blood who grew up around Boston, but he's an enlightened blue-blood, and he has learned an extremely valuable lesson from watching the Red Sox over the years. "You've got to be willing to take a hit from the fans and the press if you believe what you're doing is right," he said. "Don't operate your business to get a favorable headline in the paper the next day. That's been the Red Sox approach over the years. They always went for the headlines in the Boston Globe the next day."

I said: "Like signing Manny Ramirez for $160 million when they could have had [Mike] Mussina for $100 million a couple of years ago."

"Right," Lurie said. "They always wanted the slugger instead of the pitcher. Pitching wins in baseball."

And so Lurie/Banner/Reid aren't Philly guys. Yet. Maybe now that theirs is the only team in football to have won 11 games each year over the past three they will be. And maybe they'll carry the new regime to the new stadium and keep the intensity in there at the same time. I think they will. Winning does that to a city.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Indianapolis WR Marvin Harrison. "I just catch 'em. I don't count 'em," he said after breaking Herman Moore's record for NFL receptions in a season with his Week 15 performance -- nine catches for 172 yards, giving him 127 catches for the year. (Moore had 123 in 1995.) With two games to play, and Harrison averaging nine catches per game, he could put the record pretty far out of reach. Can you imagine a player aiming for 145 catches? Here's how tough that would be: Only three other receivers on the 29 additional teams that played yesterday -- Randy Moss, Marty Booker, Koren Robinson -- caught nine passes or more. Here's a guy, Harrison, catching nine each week.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Miami DE Jason Taylor. Talk about setting a tone for a game. In the first quarter of the contest of the day, Oakland at Miami, the Dolphins' ace pass-rusher sacked Rich Gannon twice and forced fumbles on both sacks -- on the second and third plays of the game. The Raiders had been as hot as an offense could be in the past month or so, and here was Taylor, personally saying to the Men of Callahan: Not in our house. For the day, Taylor had seven tackles, one assist, three sacks and two forced fumbles. With two games to play, Taylor has a league-leading 17 sacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Atlanta CB/KR Allen Rossum, who made a big, electric return when his team needed it most. Seattle led Atlanta 7-0 in a game the Falcons had to win to have an NFC South title prayer. Rossum caught the kick at his 9, zigged and zagged through traffic, and sprinted 91 yards for a touchdown. Atlanta was off and running -- or so it thought. It would have been off and running to a win had the Birds not allowed 14 third-quarter points, and had Michael Vick not thrown an uncharacteristic two picks.

COACH OF THE WEEK

Minnesota head coach Mike Tice. Count me among those who would not have said "boo" if Daunte Culpepper hadn't scored on the two-point conversion with five seconds left. I loved the call. Absolutely loved it. The Vikes, down 31-30 after scoring a touchdown, could have kicked the extra point to go to overtime. Logical move. I'm sure Tice won't say this, but let's face it: He didn't trust his defense to stop the Saints in the event Minnesota lost the overtime coin flip. On two of its last three possessions New Orleans had taken the ball and driven 89 yards to a field goal and 56 yards to a touchdown. Why let a coin flip all but decide your fate? Why not put your fate into the hands of a hot quarterback, Culpepper, who'd already run for two touchdowns and thrown for two?

GOAT OF THE WEEK

The Washington offense, for its passive approach to a third-quarter fumble that allowed Eagles linebacker Carlos Emmons to pick the ball up and rumble 44 yards for a touchdown, making it 24-7, Birds. The season's 16 games long, fellas. Not over yet.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"You know this town is crazy for the Eagles when you see fans wearing Hank Fraley jerseys."

-- Philadelphia radio correspondent Phil Neuman, pointing from the press box to a large lug in the lower bowl of the Vet wearing Fraley's No. 63

When Will Allen, the Giants' young cornerback, attended a function in New York City last week, he found himself face-to-face with Lynn Swann.

Allen had never heard of Swann. He asked if some tape of Swann was available so that he could watch when he went back to the Giants' facility the next day.

I really need time to fathom that one.

Lots of Canadians this week. So let's get to their queries, eh?

WHY DO YOU HATE RANDY MOSS? From Don Pister of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario: "Monday wouldn't be complete without reading your Monday Morning Quarterback column. Almost always great stuff. Clearly, though, you hate the Vikes' Randy Moss. Fine. He's had a number of bad moments, but why are you always on his case when you ignore worse behavior by others? What about that former first-round pick, Sebastian Janikowski, collapsed and incoherent on barroom floors? How about the nonsense in Carolina recently? And I shouldn't even have to mention your personal crusade for sainthood for a certain linebacker who was convicted of obstruction of justice in a murder case. You've been singing his praises ever since!"

For the record, I was critical of Paul Tagliabue for not suspending Ray Lewis, which was a travesty after his plea in the double-murder case. Two differences between Lewis and Moss over the past couple of seasons: Lewis, when not hurt, plays every play as if it's his last. Moss doesn't. Lewis hasn't done a thing to bring shame to his name. Moss has. Thanks for the nice sentence, by the way.

WHY DO KICKERS COMPRESS THE ENDS OF THE BALL? From Adam Woodhouse of London, Ontario: "One quick question that really perplexes me: Why is it that every kicker squeezes the ends of the football before each kickoff? Does he think they are compressing the football for a longer kick or so that it stays on the tee better? I'm dying for an answer."

Simple. The balls that are used in NFL games are brand new every Sunday. Kickers and punters feel, with some proof, that a worn and more supple ball travels farther when kicked than a new ball. That's why you see kickers mugging the leather ball every game, the same way you see baseball players beating up their gloves on the field during games. Kickers are just trying to break the ball in.

MCNAIR FOR MVP. From Rhett Kelton, of Knoxville, Tenn.: "What are your thoughts about Steve McNair as an MVP candidate, or is that race confined to the players with the gaudy stats? The efficient and commanding way he has played this year, and especially this past month with all his injuries, has really carried that team to the division lead."

You know, you're absolutely right. The Titans have gone to more of a passing game this year, and McNair is on his way to a 3,500-yard passing season (he's already at 2,988, with three games to go). With his growing efficiency (he's completing 63.3 percent), and confidence (enough to audible to a quarterback draw on the biggest play of Tennessee's season, the two-point conversion against the Giants two weeks ago), I can see him being a legit MVP candidate.

REMEMBER THE TITANS. From Ray Crisara of New York City: "OK, I'll put aside my frustration at never having seen my letters answered. But, I can't put aside the lack of respect you're giving the Titans. How can you put them in a tie with Indy (last week)? Your criteria is the old 'on-a-neutral-field' chestnut. Well, Tennessee has beaten them at home AND on the road. That seems like some pretty decisive superiority to me."

Good point. My reasoning: Both are 4-1 over the past five weeks, and Indy has the two biggest wins (at Denver, at Philly) among the teams in that stretch. If I don't have them tied, then I don't get the Colts in the poll.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW. From Colin, in St. Louis: "So when are we gonna institute the cold-weather Super Bowl? Will the NFL ever be ready for a Super Bowl in the Meadowlands, or Lambeau, or anyplace where it isn't 70 degrees or in a dome? I loved watching the AFC playoff game in New England last year. I think playing football in the snow is natural."

Good question, Colin. The commissioner is trying his best to push a cold-weather-site Super Bowl through right now, and I wouldn't bet against him, though cooler heads (or should it be "warmer heads?"), such as Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, think it's a bad idea. My take: It's a bad idea. You're asking people to pay prices that by 2008, or whenever the first northern game would be, may be $750 per ticket to sit through a game that could well be played in sleet or snow. You're asking players and coaches playing the biggest game of their lives to, possibly, do so in awful conditions. That's different from a regularly scheduled game, or one that falls naturally in a cold-weather site in January.

YOU OVERRATE RICH GANNON. From Jim Walters, of Calgary, Alberta. "You canonize Rich Gannon for his passing stats, but fail to highlight the two main features of the Raiders attack, besides the obvious one, which would be the receiving corps. First and foremost is their offensive line, which should almost be elected to the Pro Bowl en masse. The second is the health of the Raiders offense. Super bowl champions recently have been healthy teams. I am afraid Rich Gannon, in my poor estimation, is an average quarterback on an excellent offensive team."

Gannon has as much power at the line of scrimmage to change plays and read defenses as any quarterback in football. I agree he has tremendous weapons. But I take issue with you if you think an average quarterback could be a 69 percent passer on pace to throw for more yards than any player in history.

WHY DON'T YOU LET MICHAEL VICK PROVE HIMSELF? From Chris Ginn, of West Monroe, La.: "Please correct me if I am wrong, but weren't you wondering at one point if you were the only one worried that Aaron Brooks was being made a star before he accomplished anything? Now all I read about is how you are anointing Mike Vick a Hall of Fame player and how he is Michael Jordan in football cleats. You are now making Vick a star before he has accomplished anything. I have a problem with writers getting by with their contradictions as you are right now. I'm calling you on it."

Here's what I wrote with an Orlando dateline last week, after seeing Michael Jordan struggle against the Magic and seeing the Pro Football Hall of Fame request Vick's shoes from the previous week's game: "Maybe, team sports has a guy with charisma who can do [Jordan's] magic. Hop on I-4, drive 75 miles west, and you'll see him. Maybe." That is saying Vick MIGHT grow into the Michael Jordan of football. That is not anointing Vick as the Michael Jordan of football.

Sunday morning, 2:47 a.m., Four Seasons Hotel. I am sleeping like a hibernating grizzly. Best sleep I've had all hectic week. The phone rings. I think it's a dream, then I bolt upright. Someone has died. Has to be. I pick up the phone. "Mr. King," an impatient-sounding voice says. "We've got room service standing outside your door, and we've been knocking at the door. Could you please answer it?" I think I said something about being asleep for the past three hours, and then the guy asked something about whether I was sure I didn't order room service, and I said yes, and hung up.

I go back to sleep immediately.

"KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!!!"

It's 3:07 a.m. I am upright. Did I really just hear that?

"KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!!!"

"What?" I say feebly.

"Room service, sir!"

"I didn't order room service," I say.

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes."

He goes away. Now I am awake. I go to the bathroom. I drink some water. I am awake now. I cannot sleep. I watch a rerun of The Junction Boys. (Pretty good show, by the way, though some of the extreme Bear Bryant behavior -- like head-butting a player and smashing up his nose, and not caring if his guys die of heat stroke -- was beyond credulity.) I fall asleep at 5 o'clock or so, but when I get up at 8 I feel like the old days of infant-kid-dom, feeling as if I've slept two hours all night.

P.S.: An apology note, with a free-breakfast offer, was under the door in the morning, and two more apologies came at the front desk. I wonder if they knew that would land them in MMQB. So most is forgiven, Four Seasons. Sort of.

1. I think with two full weeks of football remaining, calling the MVP race is pretty darned tough. Entering play yesterday, I was thinking of the candidates in this order: Gannon, Vick, Favre, Priest Holmes, LaDainian Tomlinson, Derrick Brooks, Ricky Williams, McNair, Peyton Manning, Harrison. These guys are very close: Brad Johnson, Jeff Garcia, Jason Taylor. Now, my top 10 is Gannon, Favre, Holmes, Vick, Tomlinson, Williams, Brooks, Taylor, McNair, and Manning and Harrison tied for 10th. Johnson and Garcia are still knocking at the door.

I can't pick a No. 1 team right now. Just can't. So I'm doing it a weird way this week.  1. (tie) Tampa Bay (11-3). Sometimes you have to eke out wins at Detroit. That's just the way this league is.  1. Philadelphia (11-3). The third-string quarterback has beaten St. Louis 10-3, Seattle 27-20 and Washington 34-21. Three big wins by an average of nine points. That's what I call a pretty good third-string quarterback. And a pretty good defense backing up said third-string quarterback.  1. Oakland (9-5). Tough road game to win, but it's the type of game the Raids may need in order to get to the Super Bowl. Remember my reason for ratings: If they played on a neutral field in Wichita, who would win? I say the Raiders edge the Fish.  1. Miami (9-5). Pretty impressive how Gannon had enough time to throw on the majority of his passes at Pro Player, and the back seven of the Dolphins defense kept a pretty good blanket on Oakland's receivers.  5. Green Bay (11-3). When the Brett Favre time capsule is put into the ground someday, the length-of-the-field touchdown drive he engineered in the rain at San Francisco to start the third quarter just has to go in it. What mastery of the game.  LINE OF DEMARCATION, WITH A NOTE OF EXPLANATION: It's hard to judge the top teams in the NFC right now, because they are so tied to the home-field advantage. Tampa Bay doesn't play well in the cold, and Veterans Stadium in particular has been its kryptonite the past three years. Favre is perfect in both the cold and in the postseason at Lambeau Field. So if the Bucs have to travel to Philadelphia in the playoffs, I don't like them to win. If the Bucs have to travel to Green Bay, I don't like them there, either. But if the Bucs are at home, I like them. Therefore, picking the best in the NFC right now is a slippery slope. Now, as Kasey Kasem would say, on with the countdown.  6. San Francisco (9-5). That loss to the Pack probably sewed up the fourth seed in the playoffs. Which means a Niners-Saints Wild Card Game at 3Com if form holds. (Why am I saying that? Form never holds in this league.)  7. New England (8-5). My guess is you might see a few Tom Brady screens tonight.  8. Tennessee (8-5). Strange, but Monday's game isn't as much of a must-win as we all thought it might be. The Titans have a manageable (Pats, at Jacksonville, at Houston) schedule remaining.  9. Indianapolis (9-5). Marvin Harrison is the least-famous famous man in the NFL.  10. Atlanta (8-5-1). If they were playing well right now, which they aren't, I would like the Falcons' schedule: Detroit at home, at Cleveland. But the best postseason scenario they can hope for is the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs ... and a three-road-game path to the Super Bowl.  11. New Orleans (9-5). Attention Saints fans (all 964 of you) who e-mailed me last week to complain about various slights I've given New Orleans this year: Please don't ask me to rate your team high anymore, at least not until it begins employing a defense throughout its remaining games.  12. San Diego (8-6). If the Chargers are fortunate enough to get to the playoffs, there's a decent chance they could play the opening wild-card game at New England, Tennessee or Pittsburgh. Those places, on the first weekend of January, are liable to be as cold as the place they lost yesterday, Orchard Park. Which is why that loss, though a narrow one, could be a bad harbinger of the future.

2. I think these are my quick-hit football thoughts of the weekend:

a. Corey Simon is a load of bricks. What a force in the middle of the Eagles' defensive line.

b. People ask me what it's like at an Eagles' game at the Vet. This is what it's like: Eagles up 17-0, late second quarter, new punter Jason Baker shanks a 24-yard punt. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I mean, it was as loud as a cheer for a touchdown.

c. Time for a new punter, Andy Reid. That Baker guy will kill you at some point in the playoffs.

d. I can't wait to read all the Jets' quotes about how the Thursday practice brawl had nothing to do with how crummy they played in central Illinois. That ought to be rich.

e. Garcia and McNair and Culpepper, over the past three weeks, have shown all NFL coaches how great a thing the quarterback draw is on the two-point conversion. Why don't more coaches use it?

f. The Vet press box leads the NFL, by a mile, in terms of noise. During the game and after it. I'm amazed the people working there can churn out complete sentences.

g. When are the Browns ever going to play a game with a boring finish?

h. Word association ... Giants 37. Dallas 7. Dave Campo. Death knell.

i. It's never over when Peyton Manning's on your team.

j. I don't hear anyone ripping Bill Cowher this morning for starting Tommy Maddox. Do you?

k. The guy who does overnights for WFAN in New York, Joe Benigno, spoke for legions of Jets fans when, sometime around 3:30 Monday morning, he compared Wayne Chrebet's stupid and silly and unnecessary drop while the Jets marched to the tying touchdown against the Bears to the ball that went between Bill Buckner's legs in the '86 Series. When you're a Jets fan, and you're emotional, and you've been up all night, that's actually not a stretch.

l. Priest Holmes, you can play on my team anytime. Day or night.

3. I think Terrell Owens has made my All-Pro wide receiver decision pretty easy. Did you see his catch/wrestling match/sprint with Packers cornerback Mike McKenzie in the third quarter of Green Bay-San Francisco? And then the pom-pom thing, which I found riotous? The All-Pros at wide receiver have to be Owens and Harrison. First of all, Harrison is going to put the receptions record pretty far out of reach for most mortals. And strip away the silly stuff Owens does and just consider the between-the-white-lines stuff, and you have yourself a receiver for the ages.

4. I think we have a really nice rushing race set for the final two weeks of the season. Holmes, who faces San Diego at home and Oakland on the road, leads with 1,615 yards but has a bruised hip. Ricky Williams goes up against Minnesota and New England on the road, and has 1,601. If I'm Vegas, here's my line: Williams by 38.

5. I think these are my personal thoughts of the week:

a. One request, FAO Schwartz in Manhattan: If you're going to open the doors to so many people that claustrophobia attacks ensue, perhaps you should consider slowing down the lines into the place.

b. Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen is the best modern version of an old Christmas carol. Sounded great during pregame at the Vet yesterday.

c. Coffeenerdness: This is bad. Very bad. When I gave the eggnog latte a second chance a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I'd get addicted so fast and so hard. I'm sucking one down right now, at 6:20 on Monday morning.

d. Montclair (N.J.) High Field Hockey Note of the Week: Congratulations to Margot Vreeland and Eva Hamden for their first-team all-Essex County nods in the (Newark) Star-Ledger last week. Your Favorite Field Hockey Player, Mary Beth King, got a second-team midfielder's nod. We begin the Mock Trial preseason this week. Montclair scrimmages someone, though I'm sure who. Mary Beth is the emotional victim of a plaintiff, from what I understand.

6. I think I'm very happy for Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Holmgren this morning. There is no classier man in the league than Holmgren, and he deserves a very big road win once in a while. Hasselbeck is a good player and a great kid who, I think, has pressed so much to succeed rather than simply play the game. Going 22-for-31, with no picks, on the road against a playoff team is the kind of game Holmgren expects Hasselbeck to have often. Now, maybe, he's ready to do that.

7a. I think I'm in favor of the Heisman Trophy. Fun award. Fun conjecture. But ESPN's Heisman Trophy show is so programmed, so boring, so ... uptight. No spontaneity until the winner is named. No answer from any player, mom or coach that makes you say: "Oh, that's interesting." The show looks like it's programmed by 73-year-old men, which I suppose it is. Zzzzzzzzz.

7b. I think I would have voted for Brad Banks, but I can live with Carson Palmer. Every one of those five guys had a credible argument. Banks and Palmer probably took mediocre-to-good teams the farthest in one year.

8. I think part of me pities Palmer. Wasn't it funny to hear Chris Fowler sound so happy for Palmer's incredible year, with the turnaround football season at USC, the Heisman, the upcoming marriage at Pebble Beach to the perfect woman ... and the fact that he now might be the first pick in the NFL draft? CHRIS, THAT'S NOT A BLESSING. IT'S A CURSE. THE BENGALS HAVE THE PICK, UNLESS WORLDS COLLIDE IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. AND WHAT IN THE NAME OF DAVID KLINGLER AND DAN WILKINSON AND KI-JANA CARTER AND AKILI SMITH AND PETER WARRICK CAN YOU BE THINKING IF YOU'RE HAPPY FOR SOMEONE WHO IS SENTENCED TO GO TO CINCINNATI?

9. I think the Eagles will lose something when the Vet is razed. Something very important. There's no tougher place to play in this game than the Vet, particularly when it's cold and damp and the guy in the third row is yelling, as one did yesterday: "Hey Spurrier! Your offense %^&*$%^ sucks! How do you like the NFL now, you #$%^&*((#$?"

10. I think the most incredible line in this morning's paper is this:

Baltimore   7   7

Still mathematically in it. And if they play their cards right, the Ravens will go to Pittsburgh in 13 days with the AFC North still to be decided.

A real pick-'em affair. Two similar teams, Tennessee and New England: offenses that like to grind it out when possible but that feature quarterbacks who also can throw for 325. Logic says to pick the Titans. I say no. I say this is a very Brady game. Pats, 23-21.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space -- no kidding -- on Monday mornings. Click here to send him a comment.

 

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