Destiny’s Child leads the Eagles to New Orleans to face the Karma Kid

Destiny’s Child - “We” do not control our own destiny, because fate is predetermined. Nick Foles to Golden Tate out of Notre Dame for the go-ahead and eventual winning touchdown in a 16-15 Eagles win over the Bears had to happen. That is St. Nick’s destiny. It makes no sense and only works in Philadelphia. And the unfortunate one, Cody Parkey, was the last page in the story, and he had to know it. His potential game-winning kick for the Bears hit the upright and crossbar and bounced back in the field of play. A double doink. The Eagles survive to play at New Orleans in the next round. The Saints are 13-3, which included a 48-7 win over the Eagles on Nov. 18. The Eagles have won six of seven since that loss, and Sunday they are back in the Cresent City. Drew Brees has good karma on his side. The universe likes him. He is the most productive NFL quarterback in league history, but Destiny’s Child is at the controls for the Eagles, yet he’s really not in control at all. Foles is the trackless trolley rolling down Broad Street picking up all passengers for one more postseason ride.

Flacco A-Go-Go - Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has always been so cool the trainer takes his pulse between quarters. Flacco has led 18 fourth-quarter comebacks in his career. He can stretch the field. He was the 2012 Super Bowl MVP. Lamar Jackson was in over his head against the Chargers, and the Ravens did nothing to help him. They gave him the Kordell Stewart treatment and allowed him to work out of jams created by a poor game plan. Someone needed to coach the kid up. Flacco turns 34 in January. He has one more big payday coming. Joe was quoted, “I want to be a starter in this league.” Many teams will pitch him an offer. Who knows, he could end up in Washington.

Kaepernick and Nike - Last week, the stock market tanked 700 points in one day after some report about poor iPhone sales in China. Not to merge sports with politics, but it was also reported that Nike sales in China have hit record levels. The worldwide advertising blitz using Colin Kaepernick in an ad campaign was a stroke of genius, according to Wall Street analysts, as reported in the New York Times. Last week, Nike’s stock closed at an all-time high of $85 a share. I don’t know what any of it means, but when the ad campaign started, I understood the demographic, realizing that Nike was writing off all middle-aged and older grouchy people who prefer New Balance because they come in widths.

Scary angry people - Dan Cook and I were at the last Eagles game at Veterans Stadium, an NFC Championship game loss to Tampa Bay, and the next season at the Linc, an NFC Championship game loss to Carolina. I told him to look sad and despondent and not to make eye contact with anyone. There were grown men on the far side of a long day of drinking that were so angry they didn’t know where to put themselves. Some of those same men drive home aggressively drunk, so how do you think they behave when they walk through the front door? I saw some online videos of Chicago Bears square-headed men cursing into the night. Those people are dangerous. The Philadelphia Inquirer years ago did a season-long study and found that shelters for battered people who can’t fight back were the most crowded the Sunday night and Monday after an Eagles loss. How incredibly pathetic is that?

Snippets - If you are a varsity high school athlete and your name regularly appears in box scores and results and then your name disappears, those who track results and may even go to games want to know why. And as a sports columnist, my job is to tell them, if I know, but I can also pretend I don’t. Sometimes the reason for the departure from a roster may be highly personal, and because they are high school athletes, I often choose not to reveal all I know. Social media is like “blab central,” but it’s also intentionally vague, provoking some “detectives” to write me to let me know what’s going on. I once asked a high school principal, “Hey, what happened to so and so? I haven’t seen him around.” “I can’t really talk to you about that,” the principal said. My response was, “Look, any loop you’re in, I already ran around three times and left.” It’s all kind of fun, but I’m never looking to embarrass anyone. Confidentiality must be taken seriously. Big doings on the Big House sports schedule. You can see unbeaten Dover boys’ basketball Tuesday and Smyrna wrestling Wednesday. Go on now, git!