Hello fellow Philadelphia Eagles fans!
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni and I’m a life-long resident of Berks County. Many of you might know me from my years of playing drums and clowning around for my late parents the iconic Dolly and Shorty Long. You may also know me as co-owner of the WIN Outlet store in Reading for 34 years with my Uncle Lou. To say that I'm a diehard, crazy over the top Philadelphia Eagles fan would be a huge understatement. I have been a "Wack Job" fan since 1954 (ouch, I'm old!) and will be until the day I die. Three years ago I was blessed to win the Dunkin Donuts Philly's Coolest Sports Fan Contest, which has led to so many wonderful things for me. Two years ago I was chosen by the nice folks at ESPN as a Top 10 finalist for the Sports Fans Hall Of Fame from tens of thousands of people.
After selling our business, I chose to build a 2,000-square-foot addition onto our home, now known as the famous Eagles Locker Room! It has been dubbed by the Philadelphia Eagles TV Network as the World’s Most Ultimate Fan Cave. Each game we host between 100-125 friends (only Eagles fans)! I built it for my children, grandchildren and friends and it is my pride and joy. I am super excited to be blogging about my Eagles each week this season at berkscountyliving.com. Look for discussion on each upcoming game as well as a recap of the previous week’s goings on at the Locker Room.
Love, Luck, Lollipops & Linguini, Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni
3 Things to Know Before This Week’s Eagles Game
Week 1: Cleveland Browns vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Wow, talk about shaking things up with the team. There are more question marks going into this 2016 season and it should be very interesting. Things to ponder as we approach Sunday…
- A New Head Coach. How are rookie head coach Doug Pederson and his array of assistant coaches going to manage the game, clock management and play calling? Coach Pederson has learned from the winningest Eagles football coach in Eagles history, Andy Reid. With all those wins though, we all know the problems that Andy had on game day; it will be interesting to see how it goes this Sunday against the Browns.
- A New Quarterback. On the offensive side of the ball, Eagles first round pick and highly touted rookie Carson Wentz takes over the reins for traded quarterback Sam Bradford. He’s had limited play in the preseason due to broken ribs, so I’m wondering how he will handle the pressure of his debut game when live bullets are flying. Everyone is anxious for the Carson Wentz era to begin. Let’s hope he lives up to all the hype and that he stays healthy as our season hinges on Wentz being the real deal.
- A New Defensive Coordinator. I’m very anxious to see how our new (and hopefully improved) defense under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is going to perform. I feel that this is going to be the strength of our team until Wentz gets his feet wet in the NFL. Coach Schwartz’s philosophy is “seek and destroy, get after the quarterback and put him on his butt.” I believe we have the players on defense that can be dominating. If you look at last year’s Super Bowl Champions, it was their defense that got them to the big game.
Fly Eagles Fly!
