For Eagles' fans, a turkey of a matchup

And now to the big story of the day.

The Eagles 2008 schedule is out. That, of course, means all talk of other sports ceases, Stanley Cup or no Stanley Cup.

One glance at the Birds’ schedule makes one thing pretty clear: The grand poobahs who run the NFL expect this team to be pretty good.

The Birds will have five prime-time appearances, as well as several 4 o’clock Sunday national TV games.

Easily the most intriguing game comes on Thanksgiving, when the Eagles have been tapped to host the Arizona Cardinals in a prime-time game at the Linc, with kickoff at 8 p.m. The game is scheduled for the NFL Network, but it likely also will be offered to a local station.

But it does pose problems for many families’ holiday traditions. Of course, it’s likely a lot of fans – properly stuffed with turkey – will be in their tryptophan-induced coma on the sofa by the time kickoff rolls around.

Then again, how about starting a new family tradition? Why not pack the kids and the grandparents into the mini-van and move the Thanksgiving feast to the Linc parking lot for a tailgating extravaganza. Do the turkey right there in the deep-fryer.

And one final thought. Consider the other advantages to this holiday treat. You can go straight from the stadium to the parking lots of the big box stores to start your Black Friday shopping spree.

I can just see the marketing campaign now. Are you ready for some shopping?

Here’s the full schedule:

* Sunday, Sept. 7, St. Louis, 1 p.m. FOX
* Monday, Sept. 15, at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. ESPN
* Sunday, Sept. 21, Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m. CBS
* Sunday, Sept. 28, at Chicago, 8:15 p.m. NBC
* Sunday, Oct. 5, Washington, 1 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Oct. 12, at San Francisco, 4:15 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Oct. 19, BYE
* Sunday, Oct. 26, Atlanta, 1 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Nov. 2, at Seattle, 4:15 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Nov. 9, NY Giants, 8:15 p.m. NBC
* Sunday, Nov. 16, at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Nov. 23, at Baltimore, 1 p.m. FOX
* Thursday, Nov. 27 Arizona, 8 p.m. NFLN
* Sunday, Dec. 7 at NY Giants, 1 p.m. FOX
* Monday, Dec. 15 Cleveland, 8:30 p.m. ESPN
* Sunday, Dec. 21 at Washington, 1 p.m. FOX
* Sunday, Dec. 28 Dallas, 1 p.m. FOX

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