Some people think they're cursed. It's been years since they've had the opportunity to play for a championship. It's been even longer since they've won one. They are a charasmatic bunch who love playing the game - and it shows. Some of them have wild hair. Some of them are outspoken. Some of them are easy to hate if you're playing against them and easy to love if they're on your side. And most importantly - this year, they have a chance to put history behind them.

No, not the Red Sox. This time, it's the Philadelphia Eagles. Just a few months after the greatest championship run in sports history, demons can once again be overcome.

After spending decades mirred in mediocrity, the Eagles finally found a winning combination: Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb. A team that spent so many years hovering around the .500 mark was rejuvinated by new ownership, a new coach, and a new franchise player. Then came three consecutive trips to the NFC Championship game and, well, everyone knows the story.

In 2002, the Eagles lost a close game to a much more talented St Louis Rams team that deserved a trip to the Super Bowl. No worries - we had a 25 year old stud quarterback and would surely find our way to a Superbowl in no time. Or so we thought.

In 2003 we lost a heartbreaker to Tampa Bay. At home. This one was nothing less than devastating. The numbers were on our side. The weather was on our side. It was the last game at the Vet, so sentiment was on our side. Everything should have fallen into place for the Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, Joe Jurevicius didn't get the memo. The Birds were down 7-3 in the first quarter when Brad Johnson found Jurevicius running across the middle. He hit him for the first down, but Jurevicius kept running. And running. And running. 71 yards and a lifetime later, the Eagles finally took Jurevius down* on the 1 yard line, but the Bucs scored on the next play. The crowd was silent and the Bucs never looked back. Hearts: broken.

We were still numb by the time the 2004 Championship game rolled around. The entire thing still seems like a bad dream, details of which have been erased from my mind after several counseling sessions. McNabb injured his ribs (there was some mumbling about a late hit, but details are fuzzy), Westbrook was sidelined with a season ending injury, there were interceptions, there were more interceptions, and without even scoring a touchdown, the Eagles lost to the Carolina Panthers (yes! The Panthers! The fucking Panthers!) by a dismal score of 14-3.

This brings us to the present day Eagles. After much crying about a lack of trustworthy, consistent recievers, the Eagles went out and got Terrell Owens. Addressing defensive needs, they signed Jevon Kearse, and Jeremiah Trotter came home to play where he belonged. If they could stay healthy, we whispered, they have a great chance to go to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, staying healthy in Philadelphia is harder than it sounds.

The season started out as expected. One week after another, the Eagles scored their way to victory. Their run defense received a necessary makeover after the Birds lost their first game of the season to the Steelers when defensive coordinator moved Jeremiah Trotter from special teams into the starting lineup and moved Mark Simoneau to the weakside spot. With their new and improved defense, the Eagles continued their winning streak and despite a handful of injuries, things seemed to be going according to plan.

Then came the start of the second quarter of the mid-December win over the Cowboys and suddenly, everything was up in the air. When Terrell Owens limped off the field early in the third quarter, Eagles fans everywhere wondered if we were going to be left, once again, watching the possible become the impossible.

But the Eagles never stopped believing. "This is our year," they all said. They all maintained that they were on a mission to find a way to Jacksonville, with or without TO, and if their leader never stopped believing, neither woud they.

And Donovan never stopped believing. He spent hours upon hours watching game tapes. He practiced in subzero temperatures, testing the wind from every possible angle. Heading into the playoffs, McNabb knew the Eagles would win a berth in the Super Bowl.

And win they did. First they took down the Minnesota Vikings, silencing critics who predicted a rusty start for the well-rested Eagles. Then, yesterday, they defeated Michael Vick's Atlanta Falcons, silencing critics who predicted another failure for the Eagles and their can't-quite-win-the-big-one Quarterback.

And so, generations of Eagles fans will watch their team play in the Super Bowl for the very first time. They'll meet a team who is on the verge of creating a dynasty, trying to win their third Super Bowl in four years. The New England Patriots are 6 point favorites and Tom Brady is undefeated in the playoffs, but the Eagles aren't concerned with such numbers. Listen to them speak and you'd never know they just won their first trip to the Super Bowl in 24 years. Over and over, they say that they haven't won anything yet. Their goal was not to get to the Super Bowl, but to win it. They say they are on a mission and that they won't be happy until they complete it. They say they want to make a city proud.

Little do they know, they already have.

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*Or, did they? Last I heard he was still running and was spotted on the I-95, heading south.