With the dawn of America's new Golden Age, one problem for columnists is that there are not as many crises exploding around the nation and the world. On the one hand, we writers have fewer sources of fodder this week. On the other hand, it is nice to take a break from watching the thunderstorms constantly gather on the horizon. Besides, I have to deal with the Utah State Tax Commission later this afternoon. I'll save the fear and panic for then.
I'm all for civic pride and rooting for the home team. As a boy, I was thrilled to watch the exploits of the Big Red Machine with Johnny Bench, Cesar Geronimo, George Foster, and, yes, God bless his misbegotten soul, Pete Rose. I loved sitting in the stands at Riverfront, a pile of peanut shells at my feet, the grease from a ballpark brat running down my chin, and the scent of spilled beer filling the air. You could even get cigars back then, too.
When I was in radio, I used to get press passes to cover the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center. This was back when the Jazz made two playoff runs against the mighty Chicago Bulls. I'm not ashamed to admit that back in 1997 — when John Stockton hit that buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat the Rockets and send the Jazz to their first NBA finals trip — I, like the rest of the state, went nuts.
Of course, there is "catching the fever" and then there is letting the fever go to your head. Granted, the names "Reds" and "Jazz" have fewer letters than the word "Eagles," but how do you explain this?
Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker tried to start an Eagles chant but can't spell the word. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/6z7LYTPVzA
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 21, 2025
The Philadelphia Elgses? I'm not even sure how to pronounce that. What was that old spelling rule? "G before S, except after L, or when forgetting the A."
Well, at least she got most of the letters right.
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Of course, the gaffe did not go unnoticed:
To repeat the Philly Mayor here… Did I hear ?
— RMacs (@PhillyHotspur) January 20, 2025
E - L - Z -S - E - S
😂😂
What's your favorite song by The ELGSES?
— Flappr (@flapprdotnet) January 22, 2025
Ours is "Hotel CLAFORNA"pic.twitter.com/U5wQLylJWL
Every drunk Eagles fan I've ever met https://t.co/vKglYT0ZY7
— COMMANDERS FOOTBALL (@HogsHaven) January 20, 2025
The Seahawks should be grateful that she is not the mayor of Seattle. Of course, the PNW has enough to be going on with right now.
Outkick noted that, unlike many blue city leaders, Parker was at least willing to play along:
To Parker's credit, she took her mistake in stride when she addressed it a couple of days after the fact, saying, "We don’t promise perfection, I’m so happy that I never have, especially after I couldn’t spell Eagles right."
Perfection doesn't equate to spelling six-letter words correctly, but at least she's laughing it off.
All in all, it makes me proud to be a fan of the Cincinnati Blengoes. And I didn't even have to look up "Cincinnati." Hey, I wasn't the sixth-grade spelling champ for nothing, you know.
The mayor's creative spelling aside, the Elgses went on to knock off the Rams Sunday and are looking ahead to a matchup with the Commanders, with a Super Bowl appearance at stake.
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