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· I watched my beloved Eagles fall to the worst franchise in the history of American sports two weeks ago in the NFC championship game in Phoenix. This is the second defeat of the Eagles in the NFC Championship game that I've witnessed in person, though the 2002 debacle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the last game ever played in Veterans Stadium) was far more damaging to my life and, I assume, the collective psyche of Eagles fans. This year's loss hurt, but there's a ceiling on my vulnerability ever since that miserable day in January of 2003. A few extra thoughts from my trip to Phoenix:

1. I always knew the Cardinals played in "University of Phoenix Stadium," but since it was in Phoenix and all, I sort of figured that there was an actual University of Phoenix football team that shared the stadium with the Cards. Turns out, the stadium is simply sponsored by that fake online "University of Phoenix." I suppose this is the first instance of stadium sponsorships becoming more than merely commercially absurd, moving into the realm of outright confusion.

2. Two 12-year-old kids sat in front of us and had their faces painted like Cardinals. Every time the Cardinals got a first down, they turned to us and flapped their arm, you know, like Cardinals flapping their wings. When we were down by 18 in the first half, I calmly told a friend that, when the game was over, I was going to politely pull the boys' mother aside to say "ma'am, I'm sorry to say this, but you have two very ugly children." As it turned out, the game ended and the boys tactfully turned to us, offered a firm handshake, and said "great game, guys. Great game." For the record, this means I'm officially less mature than two 12-year-olds with painted faces. Hmm.

3. We took a "party bus" to the game that departed from Scottsdale's official Eagles bar and was loaded with drunk Eagles fans. This was not a fun bus. If there's a bus that takes all the sinners from the golden gates of heaven to the fiery pits of hell, the culture on that bus probably mirrors the one on this bus. A rogue band of pirates would be better behaved than this group of misfits. There was a time in which I truly feared for the well being of our bus driver. You see, the bus ran into stadium traffic en route to the stadium (surprise, surprise). This was unacceptable to the Hell's Angels with whom I was riding. Verbal threats and vulgarities of all kinds were hurled at this guy simply because he was not able to make the traffic disappear. When the trip got a little too long for these modern-day Vikings, everyone decided it was time to start smoking as they pleased (legal and illegal alike). They opened the emergency exit windows to yell at senior citizens (there's a lot of them in Phoenix) and those who weren't near emergency exits simply banged on the windows as hard as they could. This wasn't a fun trip. Needless to say, when we got off the bus we declared that, win or lose, we'd be finding another way home.

· When I got back from the 80-degree weather of Phoenix at 11 p.m. on Monday night, after a full day in the airport, I drove directly to my brother's house on Capitol Hill to attend the inauguration. There's not much to be said about that day that hasn't already been slathered with hyperbole by the national press, so I'll just say that there was indeed a transcendent feel within the crowd, although I saw a handful of chippy moments that came dangerously close to actual fights. I didn't hear anyone in the press mention these things, but I guess it shouldn't be surprising that sometimes people grow impatient when they're pushed by a throng of 3 million people for 5 hours straight.

· One more thought on the inauguration. During Rick Warren's invocation, he attempted to illustrate the ideas of tolerance and diversity by stating "Jesus" in multiple languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. Is it actually possible that when he conceived this idea, he was convinced that he had succeeded in displaying tolerance or diversity? Mr. Warren, let me help you out by translating what you're saying when you say Jesus in five languages. Here it goes: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Diversity achieved, I suppose?

· There's a new pro-life advertisement that I consider the most affective ad of any kind that I've ever seen. Whoever created this thing deserves some sort of Emmy, even if I don't really agree with their product. CatholicVote.com funded the spot, which you can watch here.

 
· I'm planning an expanded preview of the Oscars with full reviews of my favorite films of the year, but here's a quick look at my five favorites, in order: Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, Wall-E, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I plan to watch Milk this weekend, and I have high hopes that it will be a movie I can  include in the above list. As is, there are really only 4 movies this year that I really liked.

· On second viewing, The Dark Knight was a very average movie. Its attempts to thematize the Joker as a personification of terror and a new brand of evil didn't amount to anything, it was at least 30 minutes too long, and Maggie Gyllenhall's character was essentially worthless. I prefer Iron Man as an action flick from this year, and I prefer Batman Begins in the Christian Bale world of the caped crusader. If ever there was a film guilty of riding the hype of tragedy, this is it.