Lincoln Financial Field

Your wedding inside the Linc? Why not? The Eagles announced yesterday that Lincoln Financial Field will be available to host special events, such as corporate events, banquets, trade shows, product launches and even weddings. Since its opening in 2003, the stadium has been available for only a small number of events each year, mostly for charitable causes. The Eagles said areas from the 45,000-square foot SCA Club to the locker room could be set up for specific events.

The U.S. bid committee hoping to stage the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 sent initial letters last week to public officials and stadium operators of 70 potential sites in 50 markets for soccer's showcase tournament. Among those contacted was Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles' interest in hosting matches is unclear, but the stadium has been used for international soccer events in the past and will host a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal doubleheader July 18. Six of the stadiums used for the 1994 tournament were contacted, including Soldier Field in Chicago; the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The Temple Owls have their own locker room, complete with cherry-red metal lockers, at Lincoln Financial Field. Temple's 2003 schedule scrolled on the electronic boards during a media open house at the new stadium yesterday. Yes, it looks as if the Owls will play their home football games at the Eagles' new stadium after all. The two sides have agreed to the basics of a deal, a source familiar with the negotiations said. There were some details to work out, and they are holding up an announcement, but it would be a shock if Temple played its games anywhere else this year.

The inaugural event at Lincoln Financial Field will be a football game, but not the sort local fans might have expected in the new home of the Eagles. A match between British soccer power Manchester United and another international club team will be the first game played next year in the new stadium, Eagles president Joe Banner announced yesterday. The soccer match in Philadelphia, the last stop in a planned four-city U.S. tour by Manchester United, is scheduled for Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. The opponent is expected to be announced later this week.

What consists of 55,000 cubic yards of concrete and 18,000 tons of steel, and includes eight miles of heating coil? Here's your hint: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue loves the place. The answer, of course, is Lincoln Financial Field, the soon-to-be-home of the Eagles. Tagliabue, in Philadelphia for the NFL owners' meetings that begin today, was given a tour of the Eagles' palatial new digs last night by team owner Jeffrey Lurie. Shortly before Tagliabue and a group of the league's owners appeared at the north end of the stadium, one of the construction workers took a break and played the role of fan with the E-A-G-L-E-S cheer that became so popular at Veterans Stadium.

They trickled in all day, thousands of them, Eagles season-ticket holders eager to get a look at their new seats in the new stadium. And Doreen Baker, a part-time supermarket worker from Northeast Philadelphia, spoke for the overwhelming majority of them. "I'm speechless, to tell you the truth," said Baker, who was wearing an Eagles necklace, pale green Eagles blouse, black Eagles pants and bright green Eagles nails. "It's absolutely gorgeous. I'm so close to the action I feel I could catch an overthrown pass.

For an NFL franchise, moving into its own stadium creates many ways to make money. One of them involves concessions. The Eagles announced yesterday that Lincoln Financial Field will have an official hot dog, an official salty snack, and an official ice cream. Those titles were bought from the team by Dietz & Watson (the hot dog), Utz Quality Foods (the snack), and Turkey Hill (the ice cream). For their money, amounts undisclosed, the companies will have their products sold exclusively at the new stadium and their logos displayed on signs throughout the concourses.

The first game of the Women's World Cup will be held at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 20. However, tournament organizers are saying that the official opening cermonies will take place the next day in Washington, with the U.S. team's first game at RFK Stadium. "Washington, D.C., is an historic place for soccer in the United States and we are thrilled to be able to open the Women's World Cup under the shadow of our nation's Capitol," U.S. Soccer Federation president Robert Contiguglia said yesterday during a news conference in Washington announcing the schedule.

To Patrick Moeller and his family, flying the colors at Eagles away games is a sworn obligation. With or without game tickets, to tailgate on the enemy's asphalt is worth ducking the occasional bottle chucked by a hostile homer. In four years, Moeller has piloted Eagle One, his 38-foot RV decorated with flashing green lights, team decals, and a rocking sound system, to virtually every game in the Birds' regular seasons. The Moorestown resident has logged 22,000 miles - and paid $5,000 for gas - this season alone, often making the trips with his wife, Monica, and their four children, ages 6, 12, 14 and 16. "It's really fun when we first get there and we turn on the lights and play the music," said Moeller, 46. The Rocky theme blares after victories.

Who: Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers When: Tomorrow, 4:15 Where: Lincoln Financial Field TV: Fox Radio: WIP (610-AM); WYSP (94.1-FM)

So you think you can sing? Melodiously enough to please thousands of cantankerous Eagles fans? Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday — a little after the dawn's early light — you could have your shot at becoming a National Anthem singer at a National Football League game at Lincoln Financial Field. The tryouts could last into early afternoon. A panel of judges will pick 25 competitors to move to the final round, at a later date, when three individuals will be chosen to perform during the coming season.

BRIAN DAWKINS did not limp into retirement. There were lots of things the Eagles' all-time greatest safety expressed gratitude for Saturday at the NovaCare auditorium, and that accomplishment was near the top of the list. "I know I'm shedding tears because I'm thinking back and reminiscing, but this is a happy time for me. I chose to walk out the way that I'm walking out," Dawkins told a group that included about 15 former teammates, a bunch of Eagles employees from all levels of the organization, team chairman Jeffrey Lurie, dozens of reporters, fans from the season-ticket advisory board, his wife, Connie, and their four children.

Connie Dawkins didn't know what to expect. Her family was flying back to Philadelphia from Colorado for some sort of Saturday news conference at the NovaCare Complex, because her husband was retiring from football. They'd been in Denver three years. This seemed like a lot to go through just to pose for pictures and talk to reporters. "He's been gone for a while. I just said, 'I hope they haven't forgotten you.' We're in Denver, we don't hear the [Philadelphia] radio or see the papers," Connie said Saturday, after the Eagles announced they will retire Brian Dawkins' No. 20 in a Sept.

Despite the open invitation, Brian Dawkins said he had not yet decided whether he would retire as an Eagle. It was almost as if he were saying to the Eagles: "You had your chance. " Yet Dawkins, 38, spoke with Philadelphia-area reporters during a conference call organized by the team and agreed to travel to the NovaCare Complex for a Saturday news conference, which showed that the wounds were healing. Dawkins, who announced his retirement from football earlier Monday, said there was "always going to be pain" over the end of his 13-year run with the Eagles when he departed for Denver via free agency three years ago. "You forgive and you forget or you forgive and you still remember and it does not hurt as bad as it did at the time because you're in the moment," Dawkins said.

Love them or hate them, the Eagles' draft picks on the defensive line usually have been memorable. They are rarely boring. They have been stars who set standards of Eagles excellence. They have been colorful. They have been busts of historic proportions. They have been hated and loved and have died tragically early. Start at the top, with Reggie White, who was taken in the 1984 supplemental draft and became one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. He made seven Pro Bowls with the Eagles and six with the Green Bay Packers after leaving as perhaps the most sought-after free agent in NFL history.

Love them or hate them, the Eagles' draft picks on the defensive line usually have been memorable. They have been stars who set standards of Eagles excellence. They have been colorful. They have been busts of historic proportions. They have been hated and loved and have died tragically early. They are rarely boring. Start at the top, with Reggie White, who was taken in the 1984 supplemental draft and became one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. He made seven Pro Bowls with the Eagles and six with the Green Bay Packers after leaving as perhaps the most sought-after free agent in NFL history.

Come fall, Lincoln Financial Field may embrace more than just the Eagles and their legion of fans. For the first time, ads for Parx, SugarHouse, and the region's other casinos likely will grace the Linc, too, thanks to the NFL's reversal of a long-standing policy. Under rules set last week that allow the 32 NFL teams to tap into the $35 billion-a-year U.S. commercial casino industry, advertisements for gambling halls will be permitted on signs in stadiums, in game programs and brochures, and on local radio broadcasts - though not ads for a particular game such as slots or blackjack, or promotions such as a tournament.

Perhaps it was a good thing that the announced crowd was only 2,500 at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday. That's because, for the most part, Temple's spring-practice-concluding Cherry and White scrimmage failed to live up to the buildup. But there's always a silver lining. "When you can walk into that locker room and you haven't had any major injuries, you feel like, wow," Temple coach Steve Addazio said after the Cherry squad's 17-10 victory. "We had 15 days [including]

The Eagles will open their preseason schedule against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 9. In a development that is sure to please South Philly traffic cops, the Phillies are off that night. The Birds make a visit to New England on Aug. 20 in a nationally televised Monday nighter. After a quick turnaround, the Birds are back on a plane for a game at Cleveland on Aug. 24. The final exhibition contest is the night of Aug. 30 when the Jets come to Lincoln Financial Field. (The Phils have a day game against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park.)

A Rider University student who claims she was injured during a brawl among drunken fans at an Eagles-Houston Texans game at Lincoln Financial Field in 2010 has filed suit against the Eagles. The suit by Amanda Mulheron, 21, contends that the Eagles and the stadium were negligent in failing to provide adequate security for fans, and that Aramark Food Services was negligent in selling beer to obviously intoxicated men. Mulheron says she wound up under a pile of brawling men in the stands during the game on Dec. 2, 2010, and suffered an injured ankle.