Eagles-Phillies rivalry is a good thing for fans

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the Green Sox scandal, let's consider the whole thing from a different perspective.

Let's acknowledge that the Eagles don't love the Phillies, and the Phillies aren't all that fond of the Eagles, either. Take it from someone who has been a beat writer covering both teams and has been around both franchises as much as anybody: That has been the dynamic for nearly 20 years, since both teams sought escape from crumbling Veterans Stadium. The most recent public manifestation came with Joe Banner's comments in Sports Illustrated.

The ire of the professionally ired was raised when Banner compared the Eagles' recent free-agency splurge to the Boston Red Sox instead of the Phillies. In a summer of historically positive vibes in Philadelphia sports - the Phillies have the best record in baseball, the Eagles appear loaded for bear (and the Bears) - Banner provided red meat to the eagerly outraged.

OK, fine. Banner chose the Green Sox analogy over tossing roses and baby's breath to the Phillies, even though the Phillies better fit the point he was making. They won the World Series in 2008 and have been aggressively upgrading their team ever since. The professionally ired and easily outraged see Banner's slight as petty and a Very Bad Thing.

But is it? Maybe everyone is looking at this whole thing from the wrong angle. Maybe this friction between the Phillies and Eagles is the best thing that's happened to sports fans in this city since 1980, when the Sixers, Flyers, and Phillies reached the finals and the Eagles were on their way to Super Bowl XV.

The crucial moment in all of this came as both the Phillies and Eagles were moving out of the Vet. The Eagles were in that golden period when it seemed certain Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb would win a Super Bowl together. They reached their first two NFC championship games during the final two seasons at the Vet, and played the next two at Lincoln Financial Field.

To say this was an Eagles town at that point would be an understatement. They were the focus of most of the enthusiasm, passion, controversy, and criticism while the Phillies, a decade removed from their most recent postseason appearance, were struggling for a foothold.