Best of Enemies & An Eagles Update

They are the games that fans most look forward to.  The ones that get the blood pumping.  The ones that you are desperate to win more than any other.

I'm talking about the games against your team's rivals. Maybe it's the local rivals from down the road, maybe it's a team in your Division an/or maybe it's a team you have an historical rivalry with.  Whatever the background, we all love the big games against our rivals.  So, how can I make sure I'm excited for the big Divisional games facing the Eagles this season?

At Gillingham, we aren't located especially close to another team.  Charlton and Millwall are the nearest we have to local rivals, but it's not a particularly fierce or passionate rivalry.  Partly because Charlton and Millwall have other teams that play closer to them and partly because they are usually in a higher division to us, so we don't get to play them too often.

A Swindon fan shows off
his counting skills

Historically, we've been rivals with Swindon Town.  This dates back to some important league fixtures in the 70's that had a few controversial moments and some ensuing crowd trouble.  To this day, it's still extremely satisfying to beat Swindon, especially when it's 5-0 on the first day of the season!  However, compared to some of the rivalries that exist in football, it's pretty tame stuff.

I live in Birmingham and the rivalry between Aston Villa and Birmingham City is far more intense.  Supporters will openly come out with comments like "Don't care if we go down, as long as we beat the Villa".  It's all a bit puzzling really as the genesis of the rivalry is that they are geographically close.  It's hardly the basis for a big dispute.  But having said that, I am a bit jealous of the fact that these teams have a fierce local rivalry and such intense games.  It's a similar story in cities such as Sheffield, Bristol and Manchester.

In the NFL, things a bit different.  The majority of rivalries are born from the way the league is structured.  You play the 3 other teams from your division twice each - which constitutes over a third of each teams fixture list.  Obviously this means that a lot of Divisional match ups have a lot riding on them.  Titles are decided, play off spots are secured and bragging rights are won.  This leads to some pretty intense rivalries.
It also means that defeats for these teams in other games has a positive impact on your team - so it makes sense to cheer for their opponents.

For the Philadelphia Eagles, this means NFC East rivalries with the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys.  I've previously discussed incidents with the Giants, including both Miracels in the Meadowlands, and there have been equally as memorable moments against the Cowboys - The Bounty Bowls are the most famous.

So, in order to support the Eagles do I need to cultivate a hatred of their NFC East rivals?

Cowboys fans show off their
spelling skills

As it goes, the Cowboys are one of the teams that I've always carried a bit of a dislike for.  I've written before about how you develop fairly intangible dislikes of certain teams. Well, Dallas certainly fall into that category.  I can't place where this emanates from - maybe it's the annoying Owner Jerry Jones, maybe it's the "celeb" QB Tony Romo or maybe it's just down to the fact that there are one of the most popular teams in the NFL and have a fair few glory hunters in their midst.  Whatever the answer, I'm sure I will find it very easy to develop my hatred of all things Cowboy.

It's a similar story with the Giants, I can't put my finger on why I dislike them but I clearly do.  I was routing for the Pats during the SuperBowl..and the 49ers in the Championship game.  There's just something a bit clinical and dull about them - maybe it's the dullard QB Eli Manning or the angry uncle Tom Coughlin. The Giants aren't a team that endear themselves to me, so I can no problem in building up a healthy hatred of them.

It will be a bit tougher with the Redskins. I can't say I've got any real dislike of Washington, they are one of the NFL teams that I am pretty apathetic about.  I've got no real negative feelings towards any of their players, Mike Shanahan doesn't offend me.  Perhaps that will change, maybe Robert Griffin will be really annoying in the NFL, or Shanahan will come out with some ludicrous comments in press conferences.

The overall feeling I have is that whilst I'm not an NFL fan so that I can hate teams, it is an interesting part of being a fan and makes some victories (and defeats) more of an emotional experience.

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I'm now 2 weeks into my Eagle supporting life and I'm growing ever more happy with my decision.  I decided to try posting my blog on a US based Eagles site. Whilst there were a few comments regarded my terminology (It's a match not a game apparently!) the feedback was excellent.


I'm also reading up quite a bit on the teams prospects for the upcoming Draft and next season.  It's all leaving me in a positive frame of mind regarding the Eagles future.


As for the blog, I'm going to carry on in a similar vain and will be writing an article on the Draft build up later in the week.


I'm also keen to make the blog more like it was "pre Eagles".  Some kind of quest or journey I can undertake. I want to keep it within the realms of the NFL rather than looking for another sport or team to follow (not sure my girlfriend would be able to cope with that).


There are a number of other great NFL blogs and websites up there so I'm keen to try and make my different to others.  Any ideas gratefully accepted?