Numerous Philly haters have approached the Serminator after the Eagles herded, corralled and branded Michael Vick and the Falcons on Sunday. All these suckas sippin’ on haterade could do nothing but bemoan the Eagles’ victory. Not even the soul of the smartest Giants fan lacks a sweet, crystalline cry, a cry that reeks of sour grapes and consistent six-win seasons and “the Falcons suck anyway.”
I understand the mentality that takes over when someone sees a team that they hate win, a team that has been ripe for the picking because of their ineptitude: it’s the simple desire to hate them and their fans even more because by winning they did something that your team could not.
And that is the situation the Serm finds itself in. Everyone wants to hate the Eagles because they are never supposed to win, but instead serve as the whipping boys for everyone else on their way to the Super Bowl. Well, now we’re going to the Super Bowl, and nobody will cheapen this because of their own jealousy.
What happened on Sunday in Philadelphia was magical. I hesitate to make overzealous Red Sox comparisons, but there is one that is apropos. While watching the Eagles History DVD, Papa Serm was touched by the proud lineage of fans and Eagles football. People who were at the 1960 Championship Game, the Eagles’ only championship, told stories of how they went with their kids to the 1980 NFC Championship game, a victory that put the Eagles in their first Super Bowl. Those who attended the 1980 game told stories of how they took their kids to the 2003 and 2004 Championship games. Papa Serm is one of those fans and Sunday’s victory may have just added five years to his life.
It is an embarrassing confession, but the Serm would be content if the Eagles just played a good game and walked away empty-handed. While there is certainly no shortage of eyes on the prize, the mountain has been partially scaled. In Philadelphia, we take what we can get and learn to be happy with it.
Ordinarily, the Serm would not be such a walking cliche, but these are not ordinary times. If this is the only chance that we have to bask in some glory, then we’re taking it. If you’ve got a problem with that, drop us a line, but make sure you send it to Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, where we’ll be picking up all our mail for the next two weeks.
