Superbowl LIX will be a revered, sacred, memorable event for all Eagles fans, especially those of us long-time devotees who suffered through the mostly-drought years of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Waiting for LIX’s kickoff was the hardest part of the experience. The two weeks, and especially the last few days before the game, seemed to take forever, but the unity of Eagles fans was building. The utile “Go Birds” replaced “hello” and “goodbye” and “thanks” in stores, in church, on the phone.
Attire for the two weeks consisted solely of Eagles gear. And the game day clothing, for me, was the same as it had been all post-bye when the Eagles went on a streak that saw them lose only one game–and a fluky loss at that. First was the midnight green t-shirt Michael had given me for my 60th birthday depicting Eagles great Chuck Bednarik (number 60, get it?) standing over the Giants’ Frank Gifford after annihilating him. Then my non-hoodie black Eagles sweatshirt under a white number 20 Brian Dawkins jersey.
Before that, though, I wore my “dress” gray pullover with the Eagles logo to Mass, as I’ve been doing for every game-day Sunday since the weather turned cool.
A Kelly green Eagles banner has been hanging outside the rectory for a couple of weeks.
At Mass, hours before kickoff, Father Kevin prayed for the safety of fans traveling to New Orleans and bringing the trophy home and assured us that it was okay to pray for victory. When he concluded the final blessing with “Go Birds”, the congregation responded with “Go Birds”, as if it was prayer.
I treated Sunday as a normal day, cleaning the floors, catching up on paperwork, reading The Inquirer, cooking a pasta dinner. And checking the time every 30 seconds. We ate dinner early and even watched some of the talking heads pontificating before the game. Something I usually studiously avoid.
Cindy and I watched the game at home because we wanted to watch the game. We were invited to a couple of watch parties, but when the Eagles started losing, I just didn’t want to be around people. You know, expect the worst.
But, of course, Superbowl LIX somehow turned into the most stress-free game of the season. I was more stressed out during the NFC Championship game when the Eagles were “only” up by twenty-five points.
Number 47 was only shown once–during the national anthem, and I wasn’t even watching at the time. A pleasant relief that he did not sully my experience and that for three plus hours only the game occupied my universe.
We didn’t move for the commercials and we didn’t move during the halftime show. Didn’t want to upset the ju-ju. We sang “Fly, Eagles, Fly” after the Birds scored.
Neighborhood fireworks started early. I thought about how Rio would have jumped up on the couch at the sound. We texted friends, including season ticket friends from section 110. We watched the post-game hoopla.
Over the next couple of days I watched lots of videos related to the game and re-experienced the chills and thrills of the victory.
I had no desire to go to the parade. I watched some of it.
And it was super to see,
but the real joy for me was the victory.
E-A-G-L-E-S.
The Q-View 