1980: Not A Kid Anymore

All this year at my Facebook page, which you can view from the link in the sidebar here at my website by joining up yourself and 'friend'-ing me, I am taking a daily trip back in time to the 1980's. Each month I am highlighting a different year chronologically, and this month have been featuring the music, tv, movies, and important events of the first year of the decade: 1980.

In 1980 the world changed, both in my own individual life and the world at large, in some of the most important and influential ways it ever would. Just one year earlier, as 1979 dawned, I was a 17-year old high school senior living in an apartment in South Philly with my dad and brother. Little did I know how much a life could change in less than a year.

I had been dating a girl, Anne Jacobs, ever since meeting her down at the Jersey shore in Wildwood, New Jersey during the late summer of 1976. We overcame the fact that I lived in South Philly without a car and she lived out in the Delaware County suburb of Prospect Park to become high school sweethearts.

Anne was a year behind me in school, and so while I was finishing up my senior year and preparing to graduate from St. John Neumann high school in South Philadelphia during the first half of 1979, she was still just a junior at Archbishop Prendergast high school out in Drexel Hill, Delaware County.

It was at some point in the late spring of '79 that we began to realize something big might be up. There were increasingly unmistakable signs to us that Anne had become pregnant, and by the early summer we knew it was true. We told our parents at the end of that summer, and I put my LaSalle University plans aside to go out and find a job.

In the fall of 1979 I landed a job as a messenger clerk with the old First Pennsylvania Bank, beginning a decade-long career in the banking world. Anne and I, with the necessary permission from our parents since we were still under 18 years old, got married on November 7th that year, and I moved in with her family.

This is where 1980 opened for me, vastly different from a year earlier. Married at just 18 years of age, living in the suburbs, taking a train in to work everyday in downtown Philadelphia. And then in early February, a day before my own father would turn 40 years old, Anne gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who we named "Christine", adding 'Dad' to my new roles in life.

There is no way that I will ever encourage any teenager to get pregnant. It is one of the most difficult things to go through, trying to properly raise a child while you are still very much one yourself in so many ways. But I also cannot deny the love and joy that Chrissy brought into my life beginning on that day. In a few days from now she will turn 30 years old, and is now a 2-time mother herself. Where has all that time gone?

That would not turn out to be the last major domestic change in my life during 1980, however. We tried to live with Anne's family, but trying to make your own way as parents and a couple is difficult enough without having the dynamic of living under the same roof as people who still treat you like kids. By the fall we had gotten our own apartment at the corner of American and Ritner Streets, and thus began trying to give it a go out on our own back in my old South Philly stomping grounds.

One of my favorite little life stories comes from February 22nd of that year. Just as this year, 1980 was a Winter Olympics year, and the American hockey team made up of young college kids had been stunning the world by slipping through the tournament undefeated. Looming ahead of them was a date with Cold War destiny.

On that Friday the American kids were poised to take on the goliath hockey juggernaut from the Soviet Union in an Olympic semi-final game at Lake Placid, New York. Just two weeks earlier, the Russians had blitzed the U.S. by a 10-3 score in a pre-Olympics exhibition. Then they rolled over five opponents by a combined score of 55-11 to reach this point in the tournament.

The day before the matchup, New York Times columnist Dave Anderson wrote: "Unless the ice melts, or unless the United States team or another team performs a miracle, as did the American squad in 1960, the Russians are expected to easily win the Olympic gold medal for the sixth time in the last seven tournaments."

No one really believed that miracle was likely, but the young American team had captured my and the nation's hearts and imaginations with their dramatic play. The game against the Soviets was going to take place during the day, but would be televised that night in prime time by the ABC network. Remember, these were the pre-ESPN domination days with no 24-hour news coverage of events.

I resolved to stay away from any radios or television during my work day at the bank, which in those days proved easy. I went home with no knowledge of what had happened in the game and was prepared to grab some dinner and then settle in to watch the drama of the U.S.-Soviet hockey game.

While I ate, excited about the upcoming game, Anne walked in to the kitchen of her parents house on 11th Avenue and said matter-of-factly "How about the Americans beating the Russians in hockey today?!"

I'll leave it to your imaginations the phrase that immediately raced through my stunned mind at the revelation of the game result that I had been successfully avoiding all day. Ouch. Priceless.

With my excitement ruined and my enthusiasm tempered by the knowledge of what was going to happen, I settled in that evening to enjoy the spectacle of what has become known to history as the 'Miracle on Ice' in the American squad's 4-3 epic upset of the Soviet hockey team: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

In the larger world during the first year of the 1980's, the Carter Presidency continued to deteriorate as the Iranian hostage crisis droned on and on. His candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination received a serious threat from Teddy Kennedy, who I stood just a few feet away from during an early spring campaign stop in Philly that year.

Kennedy would receive my first-ever vote in a Presidential primary, but would lose a hard-fought nomination process to Carter. Later in the year, the Reagan Revolution began with the election to the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, the greatest American President of the past century, but one who I simply did not appreciate or support at the time.

During the year of 1980 we Americans would become introduced to or more familiar with people and topics such as Abscam, Voyager, Ayatollah, Olympic boycott, Rosie Ruiz, Mt. Saint Helens, Yoda, CNN, Solidarity. We would all end the year sobbing over the murder of John Lennon while asking the question "Who shot J.R.?"

Philadelphia was the capital of the sports world in 1980. That spring, the Flyers were beaten in overtime of the 6th game of the Stanley Cup Finals on a controversial goal by Bob Nystrom of the New Islanders. The Isles appeared to be clearly offsides on the winning play, but the refs blew the call. Had the Flyers won, they would have tied the series and sent it back to the Spectrum for a decisive 7th game.

Also that spring, the 76ers advanced to the NBA Finals before succumbing in six games thanks to a herculean performance from Lakers rookie Magic Johnson, who filled in for injured all-star center Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and single-handedly kept the Sixers from sending that championship to a deciding game.

The Philadelphia Eagles had a season to remember that fall and winter, finishing 12-4 and winning the NFC East under coach Dick Vermiel. The Birds finished tied with the Dallas Cowboys, who beat them in the regular season finale by a 35-27 score, but won the tie-breaker for the division title. They would advance to make the franchise' first-ever appearance in the Super Bowl in January of 1981.

And then there were the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies. One of the best teams in baseball since 1975, the Phils were repeatedly disappointed and disappointing in making playoff appearances in 1976, 1977, and 1978. The 1980 team was considered by some to be getting a little old-in-the-tooth, but the veterans fought to yet another division title.

In what many still believe to be the greatest NLCS in baseball history, the Phils edged past the Houston Astros and advanced to face the great George Brett and the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. In the dramatic finale to the 6th game at Veteran's Stadium, Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to preserve a 4-1 win and give the long-suffering franchise' it's first-ever world championship.

I remember clearly watching the game in our little South Philly apartment that was full of friends for the game. We spilled into the streets after the victory, and I headed up to Broad Street with some to enjoy the victory celebration. We worked our way towards the Vet, and it was in the midst of that joyous celebration of the championship just won by Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa and crew that my life very nearly changed forever once again.

I was standing on Broad Street just north of Snyder Avenue in the middle of what was a sea of celebratory humanity, and at the same time there were vehicles still trying to leave the area as well. Somehow I got squeezed by the crowd into the small space between two cars slowly edging their way along. Trying to avoid the crowds, one of the cars kept edging towards the other, pinning my legs between the two.

I started to bang on the hood and windows of the two cars as my legs got squeezed tighter, and just in time felt the release of pressure as the drivers realized what was happening and eased off me. That close to getting my legs crushed while celebrating a life long dream of a World Series victory!

1980 was absolutely a year of change for me, for the country, and for the world. It was a year of beginnings and challenges, of frustrations and celebrations, of defeat and victory, and of joys and sorrows. It was a year that not many others to follow would be able to equal for it's quantity of high drama. And it was ultimately the first year of my life in which I was not a kid anymore.

BORN 1980: Christine Veasey, Erin Mooney Bates, Justin Timberlake, Elin Nordegren, Zooey Deschanel, Robinho, Nick Carter, Gilbert Arenas, Albert Pujols, Eli Manning, Adam Lambert, Francisco 'KRod' Rodriguez, Natalie Gulbis, Andre Iguodala, Joe Flacco, Mischa Barton

DIED 1980: Jimmy Durante, Paul Lynde, Paul 'Bear' Bryant, Ray Kroc, Johnny Weissmuler, Jackie Wilson, Donna Reed, L. Ron Hubbard, Ray 'the Scarecrow' Bolger, 'Pistol' Pete Maravich, Hirohito, Ted Bundy, John Lennon

The Philadelphia Eagles Are Winners

Within this same week we saw perfect examples in the tales of two Philadelphia pro sports organizations, one a winner and one a loser. First, the big 'L' gets hung on the forehead of the Philadelphia 76ers organization for signing one of its all-time loser players in Allen Iverson. I covered that topic already earlier in the week.

It's time now to highlight Philly's winning winter sports organization, the Philadelphia Eagles. This past week the Birds signed head coach Andy Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history, to a contract extension that will keep 'Big Red' as the football boss through 2013. By the conclusion of the contract, Reid will have been the head coach for 15 seasons, nearly unheard of in today's pro sports world.

After a decade in Philadelphia, Andy Reid is now the 2nd longest tenured head coach in the entire NFL, trailing only Tennessee head man Jeff Fisher. He has already passed Greasy Neale (1941-50) as the longest tenured coach in Eagles history. He has led the club to a regular season record of 105-66-1 and another 10 wins in the playoffs, which his teams have participated in 7 times. He has 5 NFC East titles and 1 NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance to his credit.

Andy Reid's teams have fashioned a regular season .614 winning percentage which is the 16th highest in NFL history. The names ahead of him are all legends of the game with names like Lombardi, Madden, Halas, Lambeau, Shula, and Walsh. But the list of the 15 coaches ahead of him also highlights what his detractors see as his one weakness: he has never won a Super Bowl.

On that list of coaches ahead of Reid, 10 of them have won multiple NFL Championships. Only George Allen, the longtime head coach of the Washington Redskins who owns the 3rd-highest winning percentage of all-time, joins Reid in the frustration of never having won a title.

But that inability to win the ultimate prize is not a fatal flaw, it is simply a remaining goal. Only 3 of the men ahead of him on that all-time winning coaches list had fewer games than Reid has coached. He is in the prime of his head coaching career, his team is relatively young and talented, and he should have a number of shots at getting that ring in the coming years.

I grew up in an era of Eagles football during the 1970's in which you expected to lose, one in which the division rival Cowboys and Redskins were always expected to finish ahead of the Birds. That didn't change until a young Dick Vermiel came along and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance in January 1981. Vermiel burned out quickly and the Birds took a decade to recover until the boisterous Buddy Ryan-led teams. But Ryan could never win in the playoffs.

Andy Reid is quite simply the best coach in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles, and it isn't really even close. He has created a sustained winning atmosphere and record for more than a decade that has now led to head coaching jobs for three of his former assistants: Brad Childress (Minnesota), John Harbaugh (Baltimore), and Steve Spagnuolo (Saint Louis) all served under Reid. This has always been considered a hallmark of great head coaches, the ability of their assistants to move on to head jobs.

Owner Jeff Lurie took over the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994, and promised the rabid football fans of the city that the franchise goal was not only to win a title, but to win multiple Super Bowls. While that has not yet materialized, the organization of Lurie, Reid, and team president Joe Banner has kept the team as a legitimate contender throughout their time at the helm.

The Philadelphia Eagles are winners in any way that you want to measure that fact. While they have not yet won the ultimate prize in their profession, they have always contended for that title and remain a strong contender for the crown. With the signing of Reid and the continuity that provides the organization, the Birds should remain a winner well into the future.

It's Easy to Root for Kurt Warner

He is 37 years old now, which is getting pretty long in the tooth for an NFL starting quarterback. He is also a decade removed from his first trip to the Super Bowl, when he led Dick Vermiel's Saint Louis Rams to victory and was named the MVP of the Super Bowl. He also won the first of two NFL MVP awards that season. The midwest boy, born and raised in the Iowa corn fields, grew into one of the most accurate passers in the history of the National Football League. But perhaps more importantly, Kurt Warner grew into a leader of men, and a strong, positive example for mankind. That's a mouthful to say about a football player, but the Arizona Cardinals quarterback is far from being your normal high-profile athlete. First, that football career. Kurt Warner stayed home and played college ball at Northern Iowa. He was not able to win the starting job there until his senior year when he was named the Gateway Conference Player of the Year. Still, the NFL did not come calling. Warner went undrafted in 1994, and so he went to work at a grocery store. In 1995 the local Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League offered him a contract, and over the next three seasons he played well enough that he was considered the best quarterback in the AFL. The officials with the Saint Louis Rams noticed, gave him a tryout, and signed him to a contract for the 1998 season. Warner spent that 1998 season riding the bench and went into 1999 expecting to again be a backup. But an injury to starting quarterback Mark Bulger gave Warner an opportunity, and just as he had at Northern Iowa and with the Barnstormers, he made the most of it. Warner went on to an MVP season with the Rams, passing for more than 4,300 yards with 41 touchdown passes. He was named the NFL MVP, led the Rams to victory in only their 2nd franchise Super Bowl (their first in St. Louis), and was named the Super Bowl MVP as well. In both 2000 and 2001 Warner was again one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, and he won his 2nd NFL MVP award after that 2001 season. Then the career wheels fell off. Nagging injuries drove Warner to the trainer's room and to backup status. He left the Rams for the Giants, and then moved on to Arizona, all the while becoming more and more viewed as an aging, injury-risk, backup-type quarterback who was now just a shell of his former greatness. Coming in to the 2008 season, Warner was expected to be backup to young phenom Matt Leinert. But it was Warner who was healthy and shined in the pre-season, and it was Warner who was named the starter by coach Ken Whisenhunt. He was phenomenal, passing for over 4,500 yards and 30 TD passes. He led the Cardinals to their first NFC West championship, and now will lead the Cards franchise into it's first-ever Super Bowl on Sunday. Warner has thus gained a trip to the Super Bowl for both the city of Saint Louis and their former longtime Cardinals team. He may very well win his 3rd NFL MVP award. With this season and his latest trip to the NFL's biggest stage he has likely cemented his place in the Hall of Fame. But all of that only tells a part of the story, for it is Kurt Warner's personal life that has so endeared him to teammates and fans alike. Let's go back to those days when Warner was undrafted and stocking groceries for a year, prior to the AFL giving him his first shot at pro football. The story is told like this. Kurt was a stockboy at the supermarket when one day a new voice came over the loudspeaker asking for a 'carry out' at register four. Kurt was almost finished, wanted some fresh air, and decided to go answer the call. As he approached the checkout he noticed a new girl working there. As the girl smiled at him he thought how beautiful she was, but also that she was older. Turns out she was 26, while Kurt was only 22 at the time. He found out that her name was Brenda, and after work he offered her a ride home, which she accepted. When he dropped her off Kurt asked if he could see her again outside of work. She said that it wouldn't be possible, but he pressed her and she responded that she had two small children. Kurt was unfazed and volunteered to pay for a babysitter and so Brenda agreed to a Saturday night first date. However, when Kurt arrived she told him that she wouldn't be able to go because the babysitter had called and cancelled at the last minute. Kurt was again unfazed and told her that they could take the kids out with them. She again said that it wasn't possible, and again Kurt pressed her for a reason. As Brenda called out, her cute-as-a-button daughter came running, and Brenda went to get her other child. She came back with him: a wheel-chair bound son who was born with Downs Syndrome. "I still don't get it, why can't they come out with us?" Warner asked. Brenda was amazed, believing that most men would have seen this as their opportunity to bow out gracefully but quickly. After all, her husband had left when he found out about the disability and it's responsibilities. But Warner wasn't like most guys. They went out together that night, and any time that the son needed help, Kurt was there to provide it. Brenda and Kurt fell in love, were married a year later, and Kurt adopted her kids. Where did Kurt Warner get this fortitude, this maturity? It turns out that Kurt Warner is an open, out of the closet, wear it on his sleeves Christian. Kurt Warner, you see, has been touched by the Holy Spirit and has never been ashamed to talk to anyone about his love of Jesus Christ. His teammates on the Arizona Cardinals, as with anywhere else that he has played, have always been both moved and inspired by the depth and openness of his faith. Many of them have come to the Lord and been saved by his direct example and his willingness to share his beliefs with them. So as you can see, there are many more reasons to be a fan of Kurt Warner than simply because he is a great football player. Despite the fact that he beat my Philadelphia Eagles to get here, on Sunday evening I will be rooting for Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl over the Pittsburgh Steelers. When you know the whole story, it's easy to root for a guy like that.

Donovan and Eagles at a Crossroads

Despite what the gloom and doom crowd at 610 WIP AM Sports Talk radio would tell you, the Philadelphia Eagles football team does not stink. Their coach does not need to be fired. Their quarterback is not washed up. Eagles fans have become spoiled by the Andy Reid era. That is a fact. They must have forgotten the Ray Rhodes era that preceded it, when the team went 29-34-1 over a four year period. Or perhaps the Rich Kotite era before that, when the team went 36-28 over four years but only made the playoffs once. Maybe they loved those brash Buddy Ryan years before that, every one a winning regular season. Of course there was that little matter of zero playoff wins. None. Marion Campbell, the 'Swamp Fox', and his 17-29-1 over three years and no playoffs? Forget those. Fact is that since the end of Dick Vermeil's final full season in 1981 and the start of the Reid Era, the Eagles floundered, sputtered, and crashed after brief periods of soaring. Fact is also that since the end of Reid's first season he has guided the team to an 88-52-1 regular season record, 8 playoff wins, 4 NFC east division titles, an NFC championship, and a narrow Super Bowl defeat to this decade's dynasty team. The biggest mistake that professional sports teams make is hiring the wrong manager/coach. The 2nd biggest that they make is hiring the right guy, then giving up on him when the going gets tough. The organizations that remain the strongest consistently, year-in and year-out over lengthy periods of time, which is exactly what their fan base wants, are the organizations that keep their good coach through the tough times. The fact is that the Eagles are in a transition period with their personnel, they play in a tough division with superior competitors, and their superstar running back is playing at less than 100%. Andy Reid and his staff deserve a full chance to work their way through this tough period. My bet is that they quickly have the team back in contention. Of course that's not to say that they aren't in contention right now. The team sits at 5-4-1, just a half game off the final Wildcard pace. Their defense has allowed the 8th lowest points in the entire NFL. Only 5 teams have scored more points than their offense. The simple fact is that they remain one of the top teams in the league. They don't get blown out. They do not get dominated. In other words, to say they 'stink' is to completely ignore reality. They are in such a difficult playoff situation because they have not come through in critical situations in close games, not because they are any worse than any of the teams to whom they lost. Their four losses were twice by 4 points, once by 5, once by 6, and then there is last week's dispiriting tie with Cincinnati. Their five wins have all been by more than a touchdown. In other words, this is a good team. They have simply suffered some bad breaks, and some bad breakdowns at key moments. You can blame that on poor coaching decisions and be correct in a few instances. You can blame that on the inability of players to make plays, and be just as correct. You can also look at the fact that their most dynamic offensive component, running back Brian Westbrook, has been a shadow of his Pro Bowl self in an injury-marred season. The Eagles are in a four-team race with Washington, Dallas, and Atlanta for the final playoff spot. A look at all of their schedules shows that none has a real advantage. In other words, the Eagles are a playoff contender during a difficult season. On Sunday they have a difficult challenge in playing at Baltimore, an AFC contender with a defense as good as the Eagles. It should be a defensive struggle for both clubs. It is up to Donovan McNabb, the veteran quarterback whose career in Philadelphia (but certainly not his entire NFL career) is perhaps at as big a crossroads as this team's season. If McNabb steps up and leads the team to victory this week, the Eagles stay in contention, the WIP crowd is silenced for at least a week, and McNabb stock rises. If the Ravens dominate him and win the game, the Eagles season is likely over, and perhaps McNabb's career here as well. The Philadelphia Eagles and their longtime quarterback are indeed at a crossroads. Their coach should not be considered in the same light.