Gonzo: Eagles again throw fans a bone

A friend of mine used to have a golden retriever. Great dog - playful, loving, smart. I forget the dog's name, but he knew all sorts of tricks and followed my buddy everywhere like a second shadow.

One day, we were drinking beer on the deck when one of us mentioned the vet. I don't remember how the topic came up. The dog was nearby. His ears perked up, and then he moved away from his owner.

"He knows that word," my pal said. "He hates the vet."

When it was time for checkups, he had to lure the dog into the car with promises of treats. He said the dog always knew something was amiss. And yet the dog went along for the ride every time even though he feared what might happen.

As Eagles fans, we're a lot like my buddy's dog - loyal and desperate to believe in the team no matter how many times the organization disappoints us or pulls a bait and switch. From season to season, it doesn't matter if the Birds look more like fool's gold than the gold standard. All the Eagles have to do is dangle a few wins in front of us and the next thing you know our tails start wagging and we begin slobbering all over the floor.

I'm as guilty as the next person. Days after the Eagles beat the Giants and moved into first place in the NFC East, the carpet in front of my flat-screen TV remains drenched with drool.

This year has provided the perfect example of Philadelphia's conditioning. During the preseason, when the Eagles' offense was struggling to find the end zone, you heard a lot of predictions about the Eagles finishing with a record somewhere in the 7-9 to 9-7 range. People seemed OK with the idea of a step-back-and-regroup season, if only because finding out whether Kevin Kolb could play represented a pleasant departure from the frustrating and ultimately unfulfilling Donovan McNabb years.

So there we were, waiting for 2011 to roll around, when all of a sudden Michael Vick was thrust into the starting role and began playing better than he ever did before. We went from wondering whether Kolb can be an NFL quarterback to talking about Vick as the league MVP. We went from dreaming about the draft to hearing national pundits trumpet the Birds as one of the most feared teams in the league. We went from waiting for next year to hoping this might be the year.