Eagles

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie married Philadelphia resident Tina Lai in a private ceremony this weekend. Lurie, 61, announced last July that he and Christina Weiss Lurie were getting divorced after 20 years of marriage. Lai will have no official role in the Eagles organization. The wedding was attended by family and close friends. "I am happy and excited as Tina and I begin our lives together," Lurie said in a statement. Lai, 39, is from a family that owns restaurants in Philadelphia, including the Vietnam Restaurant in Chinatown and the Vietnam Cafe in University City.

DESEAN JACKSON didn't back off his contention, voiced earlier this week on the NFL Network, that it would be better for the Eagles to know who their quarterback is going to be, heading into training camp. But Jackson, speaking at Saint Joseph's before a screening of his documentary, "DeSean Jackson: The Making of a Father's Dream," said he understands why new coach Chip Kelly isn't ready to make such a declaration. "I wish I could know, but at the end of the day, that's the coach's decision," Jackson said.

After 10 seasons at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles are investing $125 million to renovate the stadium during the next two years. The privately financed project will include a seating expansion, two new high-definition video boards, upgraded amenities, WiFi installation, imagery of great moments and players throughout team history, and two new connecting bridges for the upper concourses. The project was started in 2010 and has included research of season-ticket holders, the season-ticket advisory board, and focus groups of fans, as well as surveying architectural firms that have built stadiums since Lincoln Financial Field opened.

The Eagles begin a three-day rookie camp Friday that will be attended by 42 players, including eight draft picks and 19 players trying out for the team. The camp, which is closed to the media and the public, will mark quarterback Matt Barkley's first time at the NovaCare Complex after the team invested a fourth-round pick on the former Southern California quarterback. It also marks the return of the Eagles' top draft picks, who visited after they were selected. Offensive tackle Lane Johnson, fourth overall pick, will make his debut wearing No. 65. For tight end Zach Ertz and cornerback Jordan Poyer, this weekend will be their first offseason workout with the Eagles.

It was 50 years ago this Sunday that the Eagles won their last NFL championship. On that frigid Monday afternoon, on the hard bleachers at Franklin Field, along with 60,000 others, sat 10-year-old Karen Van Brocklin, her mother, two sisters, and two grandmothers bundled up against the 28-degree weather. They were there to watch her father, Norm Van Brocklin, play his last game as an Eagle, his last game in the NFL. The quarterback, Van Brocklin threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Tommy McDonald in the second quarter and led the Eagles on a 39-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter as the Birds upset the favored Green Bay Packers, 17-13.

THE COACH who drafted him is gone. The defensive system he was brought in to play is history. Vinny Curry has every right to be worried right now, every right to be sucking down anti-depressants as if they were Jujyfruits. But he's not. "The way I look at it," the Eagles' second-year defensive end said, "I've been to the bottom of the barrel already. The only place to go from here is up. " A year ago at this time, the bottom of the barrel wasn't a place the Neptune, N.J., native ever expected to be, particulary in his first NFL season.

Adonius Melvins' layup just beat the buzzer in overtime, completing Winslow Township's 52-50, come-from-behind win at Seneca on Friday in a nonleague boys' basketball season opener. Billy Johnson (15 points) and Melvins (12) led the way for the Eagles, who overcame a nine-point first-quarter deficit by closing out regulation on a 21-13 run. Jay Daunoras had 14 points and Alex Magasic scored 12 for Seneca. In other nonleague openers: Mikal Harris totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal in host Woodrow Wilson's 63-53 victory over Cherokee.

Enjoying the NFL Experience, Kerri Kappler, 8, of Levittown, kicks a ball at the Eagles' training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. The interactive football event offers nine activities to try.

  It's about time we call Kenny Chesney what he really is: a pop star in a cowboy hat. Sure, he's got some twang, and a song about a sexy tractor, but the most country thing about the 45-year-old Tennessean is that he appeals to such a massive swath of the population. Case in point: Saturday night's stop of Chesney's No Shoes Nation tour at Lincoln Financial Field was packed to the rafters with fans who'd tailgated like it was a Sunday at an Eagles game. Though the name of the tour is a nod to the Chesney hit about lazing in the Mexican surf, citizens of No Shoes Nation showed up in cowboy boots and flip flops, but also Asics, crisp Top-Siders, puffy Reeboks, and thong sandals.

BYRON JACKSON started following his half-brother DeSean around with a camera when DeSean was barely school age, at the start of a football career that would take DeSean to the Eagles and the Pro Bowl. Right from the start, this was more than just family movie stuff; Byron, now a Fox Sports editor, had just seen his NFL dream die after two practice-squad seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He wanted to chronicle the molding of a star, under the demanding guidance of Bill Jackson, the father Byron and DeSean shared, and four "adopted" sons with football backgrounds, who formed what came to be known as "Team Jackson.

BYRON JACKSON started following his half-brother DeSean around with a camera when DeSean was barely school age, at the start of a football career that would take DeSean to the Eagles and the Pro Bowl. Right from the start, this was more than just family movie stuff; Byron, now a Fox Sports editor, had just seen his NFL dream die after two practice-squad seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He wanted to chronicle the molding of a star, under the demanding guidance of Bill Jackson, the father Byron and DeSean shared, and four "adopted" sons with football backgrounds, who formed what came to be known as "Team Jackson.

S. Miller Harris, 91, longtime chief executive officer of Eagle Shirtmakers, a Philadelphia firm his great-grandfather founded in 1867, died of pneumonia Sunday, June 9, at home in Spinnerstown, Bucks County. Mr. Harris joined the shirt business, designing and manufacturing Eagle Shirts, in 1946. The firm was established by Jacob Miller. It operated a store at 800 Market St. as well as a factory at 26th and Reed Streets. The company later moved to Quakertown. Mr. Harris was known for pioneering the Ivy League look, which featured shirts made from multicolored oxford cloth and neat, button-down collars.

Chip Kelly's message to his players before they started the NFL's answer to summer vacation was to "be professional" about their work during the intermission between minicamp and training camp. It's fair to assume the directive extends to the players' conduct, too. It was Kelly who said earlier this offseason, "If I can't trust them when they leave this building then we probably brought the wrong guys in here. " No team is ever excited to hear about a Pro Bowl left tackle racing away from the police in excess of 100 m.p.h.

Quarterback Matt Barkley agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Eagles on Thursday, leaving first-round pick Lane Johnson as the only rookie without a contract six weeks before training camp. Terms of the deal were not immediately known. A surprising fourth-round draft pick, Barkley was selected 98th overall. The No. 98 pick in the 2012 draft received a four-year, $2.58 million contract. That's more than $10 million less than the four-year, $12.68 million deal signed by Ryan Tannehill, the third quarterback taken in 2012.

THE FORECAST for the U.S. Open today calls for a severe storm with a 100 percent chance of biting one-liners by Joe Conklin. The sports comedian, who grew up in Olney, plays at Parx Casino every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Here are a few of his observations that we were able to get into a family newspaper: * Tiger Woods justified taking a practice round wearing cargo shorts in violation of the club's "no shorts" policy. He said that was all he had left after the divorce settlement. * The winner will be 3-under par . . . and that still will be taller than Mike Kern.

Michael Vick is apparently not the only one who wants the Eagles to name a starting quarterback before the veterans arrive at training camp July 25. According to DeSean Jackson, "the team" also wants coach Chip Kelly to name a starter. "I have been hearing some things about Vick saying that he wants to know," Jackson said in an interview with the NFL Network. "At the same time, the team wants to know, too. We need to go into training camp prepared and know who is going to be our starting quarterback.

A championship will be won in Philadelphia next weekend. OK, so the U.S. Open title technically will be won in Ardmore, and there won't be any parade down Broad Street for the winner. Within hours of raising the silver trophy at Merion, the U.S. Open champion will be on a plane bound for his next paying gig. It wasn't so long ago that Philadelphia was in danger of being spoiled. The Phillies played 24 postseason games at Citizens Bank Park, including a World Series clincher that took two nights.

CHANGE IS COMING to Lincoln Financial Field beginning this fall. A 2-year project, which will cost an estimated $125 million, will add high-definition video boards, upgrade club and suite boxes, create numerous entry points for fans and additional seating and celebrate the team's history with art throughout both levels of the stadium. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said the upgrades are a direct result of feedback from the fans and will improve the overall experience while at the stadium.

  It's about time we call Kenny Chesney what he really is: a pop star in a cowboy hat. Sure, he's got some twang, and a song about a sexy tractor, but the most country thing about the 45-year-old Tennessean is that he appeals to such a massive swath of the population. Case in point: Saturday night's stop of Chesney's No Shoes Nation tour at Lincoln Financial Field was packed to the rafters with fans who'd tailgated like it was a Sunday at an Eagles game. Though the name of the tour is a nod to the Chesney hit about lazing in the Mexican surf, citizens of No Shoes Nation showed up in cowboy boots and flip flops, but also Asics, crisp Top-Siders, puffy Reeboks, and thong sandals.

Don Smolenski arrived in Philadelphia in the winter of 1998, starting his job as chief financial officer of the Eagles. He went to dinner with his wife and two friends. Smolenski shared the news of his new title with the other couple. "You can't tell anybody who you work for," the friend said. That befuddled Smolenski. After time as an accountant and expanding the International Hockey League, Smolenski had made it to the NFL. The logo on the business card is a perk of the job - until the friend offered Smolenski the qualifier.