There are many ways for one to be inspired without sitting in church pews for 20 years while hearing hate-fill rhetoric.

Some go to less vitriolic houses of worship. Some to yoga classes. Some poor souls venture to have their ears rung out at the opera.

For me, concerts always did the trick before I graduated to more comfortable surroundings of television and film.

But being in the crowd at Montgomery County Community College today (March 24, one day after turning the ripe old age of 43) to see and hear Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton reminded me of moments in time I thought were lost. It sent me back to when I was in my teens. Back to when concerts sent chills up my spine the second my idols would hit the stage.

Perhaps part of this is because I experienced Clinton's appearance like the teen G2 I thought I had buried.

There was the lost art of spontaneity, as I didn't decide to drive the short distance from my house to attend the political rally until I assured myself that my little girl, Sofia, had a full belly and a clean diaper while her grandpa watched her in my absence as her quest to take those magical first steps continued.

Once I arrived at the campus, I saw the line forming in the far-off distance and wondered if I had made the right choice.

I shared the tension with the nice lady from Radnor and her 11-year-old daughter in front of me in line and, by the time we made it to the door (where, of course, I set off the metal detector), I may have gotten the woman, an undecided voter, thinking my way.

Instead of trying to big-time it and flash press credentials, I waited in this long line to get in with concerns - like in those concert-going days before I had connections - that I'd be one of those parceled out to the "overflow room."

But I wasn't.

I got a spot on the floor, close to the stage, in the "real" room as the excitement built much the way it did when I saw The Rolling Stones open their world tour back in 1981 or when I saw Bruce Springsteen or U2 for the first time.

While Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel was the best warm-up act this side of the Greg Kihn Band, I was there for the real deal.

And Clinton - like those aforementioned musicians - did not disappoint, hitting every high note as she ran through her agenda in an informative, refreshing and inspiring way.

If I entered with any doubts about her being fit to lead, they were erased. They can talk all they want about the charisma of other candidates. She has plenty of it as well.

Yes, I left MCCC so silly for Hillary that I had a little stuffed animal in my back pocket to give to my princess at home.

It should be noted that the event was sponsored by a group called Pennsylvania Women for Hillary, so she tailored her remarks toward the women that I'd say made up 75 percent of the audience (no complaints about that here).

You could even go so far as to say that Clinton, who walked onto the gym's stage with a smile as broad as her lead in the commonwealth, played the "woman card" the way her Democratic rival, Barack Obama, has played the "race card" since his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, said some "stuff" about America that we're being told is common in many black churches.

As ugly as the hunt for the nomination appears to be getting between Clinton and Obama, she drew a surprising - and encouraging - eruption of applause when she assured the crowd that the party would be unified because, as she said, "none of these things I've talked about today will happen if (presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain) is president."

Clinton - whose topics not only ranged from, but ably linked, health care and economics and education and the environment - saved her best zingers not for Obama, but for the current president.

"We've been through tougher times in America," she said. "But we've never been through tougher times with a worse president."

Although I was playing the part of a civilian, I tried to sit back and take it all in without too much of a show of emotion. On that one, I had to do something. I clapped my hand against my notebook. And I nodded. And, I swear, she looked at me for a brief second and nodded back at me. Then again, I swear Tom Petty looked at me once, too.

That aside, I left the sprawling campus with an adrenaline burst born out of the fact that I had been correct in everything I'll be trying to say to all of you -- both here and in my weekly column space -- about who is the best remaining candidate (don't get me started on John Edwards) for this country.

What did hit me is how much it means to women for Hillary to be elected. This fact gets lost amid the frenzy that Obama - though half-white and not even descended from American slaves - is seen as a source of inspiration to blacks.

I never thought too much about Hillary's gender, but I understand a little more now.

I also never gave much thought to Obama's race in this whole thing, only to the rock-star status given to him by the over-adoring media.

But I saw a rock star today, too. One with songs of substance over style.

My only regret is that my daughter was too young, at a week shy of one year on the planet, to tote along for the show.

It was, as I will tell her one day, something to treasure.

And it is only fitting that it took place as those first steps beckon.

I'm finding all the talk of do-overs for the Michigan and Florida primaries a little ironic - and on many levels.

First, we have the fact that Michigan and Florida only sought to push the dates of their primaries up to make themselves relevant to the ridiculous process this country has for choosing its supreme leader.

When it is all said and done, these states could be more relevant than they ever dreamed.

Key word here: Could.

The chances are equally real that the Democratic party, the one that fancies itself as being the advocate of the people and for the people -- as opposed to the GOP and the entities and deities it creates -- could render the votes of countless people in these large swing states null and void.

What is this disaster we wrought upon ourselves, fellow Democrats?

We are begging for four to eight more years of GOP dictatorship hidden under the guise of American flag lapel pins and prayer breakfasts.

And speaking of do-overs, how many of those swept up in Obama Mania would like to take a Mulligan on their vote after the recent revelations about his "spiritual adviser," the Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

I'm sure all the left-of-center "educated white males" -- and many other focus groups considered part of the base of the political version of Sanjaya's quest for American Idol honors -- were kicking themselves while readying their golf clubs for spring tee times.

The Rev. Wright, whose diatribes were easily attainable on CDs and DVDs (shame of the media for not doing its job and digging these up sooner), may've been trying to lift the spirits with words that, from his perspective, he believed.

Little did he know that he was delivering a virtual eulogy for Obama's bid for the White House.

Sanjaya ... oooops ... Obama still might eke out the Democratic nod, but he has much of a shot now of winning a general election as I do of dunking a basketball (I'm 5-10 with a vertical leap of a half-inch).

He only made it worse by distancing himself from Wright in the immediate aftermath of the controversy.

Hillary Clinton, perhaps by default and much to the chagrin of all those who seek to make her out as the most evil woman ever to put on a pants suit, is the best and only shot for the Democrats.

A case could be made at the convention if -- actually, when -- she wins Pennsylvania and carries that momentum to the equally gritty and blue-collar states of Indiana, West Virginia and and Kentucky. Throw in probable wins in the Florida and the Michigan primaries, Mulligans not withstanding, and we're looking at a candidate who'll have the momentum, possibly the popular vote and all the big states sewn up.

All Obama will be able to counter with his pre-Wright victories in Red states that will give him an ever so slight delegate lead.

If that is enough for the Super delegates to go with him, as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggested in a troubling weekend interview -- during which she wore this "I'm-gonna-get-those-Clintons" grin -- then it's "Hello, President McCain."

And you can lay the blame on the leaders of the party -- on the likes of Pelosi and DNC honcho Howard Dean, who royally botched the Florida and Michigan scenarios in the same manner he killed is own presidential aspiration with that awful yell after losing in Iowa in 2004.

True, a lot people don't like Hillary Clinton. I don't quite get it. At best, she is someone who should foster ambivalence. Some polls suggest that her popular-vote ceiling is 52 to 54 percent and that's considered too low (odd, since the current president was disliked by as much of the country in 2004 and still won).

However, all of her dirty laundry is hanging out on the line. We can see it. It's been there. We know what it looks like.

It's only just begun for Sanjaya ... oooops ... Obama. The GOP knows how to take sound bites -- like the ones provided by the conveniently retired Rev. Wright -- and plant them in the minds of the "undecided voters" (code for idiots) like mad scientists in a lab.

One constant the last eight years, as I've watched this country fall apart at the seam, was that I pronounced pride in being a Democrat and waited on a better day.

Anyone know how to register as an Independent?

If you're like me, you were nothing less than disgusted - perhaps sick to the stomach - to see the pictures of John McCain and George W. Yo-Yo having a pow-wow today.

If you're like me, any fleeting thoughts of flipping sides and backing McCain for president should have been deposited in the air-sick bag at that moment.

It's desperation time now. We have to free ourselves from the shackles of the GOP leadership that has us mired in ridiculous military action that some call a "war" while, on the home front, working Americans struggle to keep roofs over their heads while striving for better lives for their kids.

There is a ray of hope. Tuesday's primaries - "Super Tuesday, The Sequel" - provided it.

With each passing day, more elaborate polls are showing that Hillary Clinton - whose campaign seems to have stopped Barack Obama's momentum - is the only viable option to knock off McCain come November.

Better yet, a Clinton-Obama ticket may be the only solution to trump any running mate that Johnny B. Sad can conjure up.

It makes sense. Obama is 46 years young. After eight years of grooming (during which he may learn a second speech) he will be a prime age to be president, at 54, in 2016. That will give the Archie Bunkers out there more time to realize that world was not knocked its axis with a half-black man one heartbeat away from running the show.

And he sure would sure up some of Hillary's weak spots, like with young voters who may go back to playing Wii and shrugging their shoulders if he is not the nominee.

Right now, the obvious math favors Obama. But can't be viewed as the front runner anymore. The time has come to get realistic about this. It was cute for a while to spurn the system and make a statement - kind of like when Sanjaya got all those votes to stay on "American Idol" - but this is not a silly reality show.

The long-term "blue" print - an electoral college map with "blue" states - does not bode well for us "leftties" in a general election that would see Obama taking on McCain. The party's elders (perhaps even a sober Kennedy or two) - not to mention super delegates - will know this come the moment of reckoning at the Denver convention this summer.

If Clinton wins Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia after the April 22 showdown here in Pennsylvania ... well ... it'll be hard not to have second thoughts. Likely Obama wins in places like Mississippi and Wyoming will rightfully pale in comparison.

And we're not even mentioned the twin elephants in the room - the states of Florida and Michigan. Unless the Democratic party wants to go back using flags with 48 stars, these large - not mention general-election battleground - states will have to be accounted for in some manor. They were both stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee for daring to be as relevant as Iowa and moving up the dates of their primaries. Saying "the rules are the rules" isn't fair to the construction worker in Dearborn, Mich. or the retiree on a fixed income in Hollywood, Fla.

The candidates all agreed not to campaign in Florida and Michigan when the primaries were held and Clinton took each delegate-rich state. There is sure to be a court challenges, but the party can avoid that embarrassment with a simple re-vote. Obama's camp may balk, but there will be no other choice. If Clinton has all the momentum by then - and she should, considering that Obama-mania seems to have peaked out - she'll win them all over again and possibly be at or close to the number of delegates she needs to be the nominee.

But she won't be winnable unless she reaches out to Obama at the convention.

This is how it has to happen, if it's going to happen at all.

If not, get ready to be disgusted.

Live, from New York, it's Saturday night!

In the late 1970s, with the clock ticking toward 11:30 on a Saturday night, my heart would be pounding with anticipation of those words.

Part of the anxiety would be not knowing if I was going to get to feel like a real teenager and watch the show.

It was at the whim of another.

In the next room, on a small black and white television, a glimpse into being "with it" was about to unfold.

Panicked, I used the best form of communication I knew: A note.

"Is it OK if I watch SNL in your room?" it said.

And I waited.

At about 11:29 and 59 seconds, there would be a knock on my door. It was my step-sister, from years my senior, usually nodding "yes" and gesturing toward her room with her head.

SNL, in case you live on a cloud or in Nebraska, is Saturday Night Live.

In those days, the late-night show was cutting edge. It held back nothing and featured a talented cast of characters known as the "Not Ready For Primetime Players."

More than 30 years later, and through some ups and downs, the show still stands. The cast has changed numerous times, with mixed results. It has given us Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler - not to mention Wayne's World - but also regrettable many busts.

I rediscovered SNL two or three years back. It failed to match its glory days, but I found enough humor in it - particularly with the Weekend Update segment and animated cartoons by someone named Robert Smigel - that I deemed it worth watching again.

And, in most recently, SNL's original fighting spirit has returned in such vigor that it may as well be our very own Rocky running up the art museum steps.

It started two Saturdays back, when no punches were pulled while spoofing what was then the most recent Democratic debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It depicted CNN falling all over Obama, which they clearly did in more subtle ways, while dissing Clinton.

During Weekend Update, the segment's former writer and co-anchor Tina Fey (the host of that show, the first since the writer's strike) went on a diatribe about the stupidity of Clinton's fall from grace in favor of a media darling and encouraged women to stop listening to Oprah and get behind Hillary before it's too late.

In the intervening week, clips of the two skits received considerable hits on the worldwide Web. Meanwhile, CNN endeavored to make itself feel better by seeking out experts to explain there has been no bias toward Obama or against Clinton.

The print media wasted little time lambasting the show for, get this, using an actor who is half-white and half-Asian - Fred Armisen - to portray Obama. The fact that Armisen's face was darkened with makeup was likened to a minstrel show.

Lest we forget that Obama is a half-white man who never really knew his Kenyan-born father and is not even a descendant of slaves. He was raised by his white mother and Indonesian stepfather before his white grandparents took over the full-time raising gig.

If a black actor were used with makeup to make him look lighter, would there be the same outcry?

Methinks, not.

To his credit, the show's longtime head honcho, Lorne Michaels, not only supported the skit but promised another, which came this past Saturday and was equally critical of MSNBC's handling of the more recent debate.

While not as funny - in a "ha-ha-ha" sense - as the previous week, I like the stance. When the skit ended, the real Hillary Clinton appeared alongside Amy Poehler, who portrays her with aplomb, for some more joking around before Hillary said those famous words that still ring out from so long ago.

Live, from New York, it's Saturday night!

As many of you know, I have an obsession with HBO's original programming.

And, if you are like me, you know that HBO - first with the late great show "The Sopranos" and now with the compelling "In Treatment" - is obsessed with the concept of deploying psychoanalysis as a dramatic vehicle.

So - as Archie Bunker would say - "ips-fatso" ... that means I, too, am into psychoanalysis.

I don't know if I'd be willing to subject myself to such a scenario - even though some of you are screaming at your screen right now, urging me to go while searching through your phone book for a name "a friend" recommended.

There is the fear of not knowing what we'd find and the larger fear of what the co-pay would be, so I have an alternate plan.

I can work out some of my issues right here with y'all.

Ain't you lucky?

Before you run for the hills, don't be afraid. Nothing too sensitive will be discussed. My biggest issue is, well, that I will perish before the Philadelphia Eagles - in whom I've invested emotional energy and currency - reach the Promised Land.

So, this evolving blog entry - which will undergo changes along with the team's trials and tribulations - is my way of trying to work it all out in my head.

So, as I stretch out across a figurative couch, break out your legal pads and nod along.

Where do I begin? Perhaps with my frustrations to be able to do more about it.

Football is the only one of the four major sports that I never played an organized version of - unless two games of intramural flag football in college count. I couldn't get into chasing another guy's behind to pull a flag off of it - not that there is another wrong with it - so I gave it up.

Growing up, my friends and I played football all the time. And in all forms - two-hand touch, rough touch, tackle ... in the mud, in the snow.

In elementary school, it was the game of choice at recess (although we used to kick a tennis ball a lot and call it foot hockey). In junior high, it was what we did at lunch.

In high school, we played against a group of black kids every Friday after school on an unforgiving schoolyard blacktop. Those games were intense and heated, but we formed a bond with our regular opponents that carried over in a positive way during school hours that would make the Rev. Jeremiah Wright have to rethink his view of the world.

But I never got to put on a uniform and shoulder pads and be part of an organized game with coaches and refs and cheerleaders and parents fighting.

Believe it or not, I was once too slight - at 155 pounds, soaking wet - to even put myself in position to be cut from the high school team.

Ipso-fatso time again. Having never played, who would take me seriously as a coach? Having never coached, how could I ascend to the front office in the player personnel/scouting realm that would be my fantasy job?

That leaves me powerless; an armchair GM who spent years getting a sub-fix playing fantasy football (four championships ... cough, cough).

I quit playing fantasy football last year (although a comeback is always a possibility).

Maybe, a better way to scratch my itch would be through writing. My long-term goal, once upon a dream, was to be the Eagles beat writer for any paper that would give me the chance. When I covered high school football with verve, I motivated myself with this dream made in pipes. The closest I ever got was covering the Sixers, which was not exactly what I had in mind.

How about my own Web site dedicated to what the Eagles should and shouldn't do?

The Eagles, as some of you know, have their own official Web site that is considered one of the best of its kind in the league. The guy who runs it used to write for this paper as a correspondent to make extra bread after he left the West Chester Daily Local for what was a start-up project and a gamble for a guy with a wife and kid.

He is a nice guy, that Dave Spadaro fella, but he is a non-objective employee of the team. He lobs softballs at press conferences and leaves a lot of issues unresolved.

By being more critical - while still hoping for more wins than loses - I could surely fill a void. But running a Web site is a time-consuming process (particularly when you are a computer illiterate). And one doomed to failure. It's kind of like opening a restaurant. You know, at the end of the figurative day, it's going to eventually close.

So that brings me here.

If I had my own site - or the Eagles beat - I would keep a positional depth chart with running commentary.

So, starting with the offense, here we go:

Quarterback: I didn't decry drafting Donovan McNabb and, for or better or worse, he has been the best Eagles QB of my lifetime. Randall Cunningham remains my favorite, but McNabb has done it longer and better. That said, the recent history - puking during the Super Bowl, the season-ending injuries and the insecurities that don't mesh well with playing the position - had me poised to jettison McNabb and put my No. 5 jersey in the next bag for Purple Heart to pick up. But I saw enough good things at the end of last season that I think the prudent thing is to give him one more year before his contract explodes in 2009. It'll be pretty clear, I think, if he'll be worth the money. More inconsistency and/or injuries, and it'll be time to turn the reins over to young Kevin Kolb. A deep playoff run, and Kolb will have to wait his turn. There is talk that Kolb will be the No. 2 ahead of sports-bar favorite A.J. Feeley, meaning that Feeley could be gone. I'd play it safe, all the way around, this year. However, with a few extra draft picks pending, grabbing a young QB late in the draft would not be a bad idea.

Running Back: Brian Westbrook, from the middle of the 2006 season and into 2007, was finally used how he should be - like the Rams used Marshall Faulk. That needs to not only continue, but even increase. Maybe 93 catches is a red flag for the rest of the offense, and a healthy tight end might take away some of those catches, but the carries still need to be there. Correll Buckhalter, a solid backup, has a year to go on his deal. It'll be interesting to see if he gets pushed by Tony Hunt, who'll be in his second season and should know the offense better. Don't forget Ryan Moats, who flashed promise in 2005 when Westbrook and Buckhalter were on the shelf. Moats, a third-round pick in 2005, broke his ankle during the last pre-season. I wouldn't be opposed to adding a draft pick here to the mix, creating competition in camp for playing time behind Westbrook.

Fullback: Thomas Tapeh, the starter the last few years, was signed by the Minnesota Vikings. That left the Eagles with Jason Davis, who has been drawing a paycheck the last two seasons (2006 on injured reserve; 2007 on the practice squad). He's more of a threat out of the backfield than Tapeh but not as strong as a blocker. There are some fullback prospects in the draft, but don't look for one to be grabbed in the middle rounds - even though a fullback who could catch 30 to 40 passes, like the West Coast offenses of yore, would take added pressure of McNabb and Westbrook. The Eagles instead chose to hedge their bet by adding a science project to the mix in the form of former Temple standout Dan Klecko, who already has three Super Bowl rings (two with New England and one with Indianapolis). Too short and squat (5-10, 275) to play his natural position of defensive tackle, Klecko is looking to turn part-time gigs as a short-yardage fullback into a career-extending ambition as a starter. It's worth a try, but my money is still on Davis.

Wide Receiver: The fans want a stud. The team says they don't need to add anyone to the stable. There is a middle ground. Kevin Curtis had a solid year with 77 catches and over 1,000 yards and the enigmatic Reggie Brown came on strong at the end of the year and finally seemed to get on the same page with McNabb. One more receiver would really, really help. There were too many plays when McNabb took coverage sacks because neither Curtis nor Brown could get open against single coverage. One reason the team is hesitant to create too much competition in camp is because they don't want to end up cutting a player like Jason Avant or Hank Baskett only to see them blossom elsewhere. If they shed themselves of Greg Lewis, a veteran who is never going to get any better, then Avant and Baskett can stay and battle it out for the fourth receiver job. There are some terrific receivers in the draft. I particularly a kid named James Hardy from Indiana who, at 6-7, reminds many of a young Harold Carmichael. Still, the Eagles wouldn't hurt themselves by adding a veteran free agent who can move the chains. This team has too many three-and-outs and struggles too much in the red zone. The Eagles took an alleged run at Randy Moss and inquired about Larry Fitzgerald, but those were pie-in-the-sky shots. Realistically, they should consider trading for disgruntled Bengal Chad Johnson. They won't, but they should.

Tight End: Whenever I think of L.J. Smith, I think of the movie "A Bronx Tale." The line is ... "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent." But it's not too late. Smith has one big payday left in his career and he can only get it by staying healthy and focused this season. Second-year man Brent Celek would be a solid, pass-catching No. 2. Matt Schobel remains as an above-average third tight end. There is talk that Baskett (see above) or maybe career practice-squad guy Mike Gasperson may get looks as a motion, Shannon-Sharpe-style tight ends and make Schobel expendable.

Offensive Tackle: I've seen some bad tackles over the years, so I still have no real complaints with William "Tra" Thomas on the left side and Jon Runyan on the right staying until the hair gets gray. But the time has come to think about their rightful heirs. Winston Justice was made to look foolish while playing on the left side last year. He may work out on the right side, but no one should go to the bank on it. While offensive lineman make boring draft picks, one is needed. Also keep in mind the two starting guards, Todd Herremans and pro-bowler Shawn Andrews. Herremans was less than stellar last year and - at 6-6, 320 - is built more like a tackle. Andrews should spend the next decade right where he is, but I have a sinking feeling the Eagles are Jonesing to move him to right tackle when Runyan retires.

Offensive Guard: Andrews is a stud but Herremans took a step backward after playing well in 2006. It may be time to force feed 2006 third-round pick Max Jean-Gilles into the lineup. Scott Young is a veteran who needs to challenge for a job, maybe even at center, or look for a new line of work. Don't forget the name Stefan Rodgers. The coaches were high on him during camp before he tore up his knee.

Center: Jamaal Jackson, after playing well in 2006, hurt the team with bad penalties and missed assignments. Bang-for-the-buck contract aside, the Eagles may have to come to the realization that the Delaware State product is not long-term solution as a NFL center. The team seems infatuated with backup Nick Cole, who can play some guard and, they claim, short-yardage fullback. A draft pick is in order here, maybe even a high one.


DEFENSE


Defensive Tackle: A third tackle to rotate with first-round picks Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley is a must. Defensive end Darren Howard remains on the roster and could be used inside on passing downs, unless they shed his contract. LaJuan Ramsey - though stout in short-yardage situations - is a fourth-tackle, at best. If Klecko wins the fullback job, that's one more guy in uniform on game day to maybe play a few snaps on defense. Also keep an eye on Jeremy Clark, who was impressive last preseason and somehow made it through 2007 on the practice squad without being snatched away by another team.

Defensive End: The addition of Chris Clemons gives the Eagles a nice rotation of undersized pass rushers, led by pro-bowler Trent Cole. Juqua Thomas and Victor Abiamiri are the others in the mix.

Linebacker: I could break this down between middle and outside linebackers, but the Eagles seems have blurred all those line anyway. Second-year man Stewart Bradley will likely start somewhere, having looking real solid at the end of last season. But mixed signals are going up over whether it will be in the middle or the outside. Where Bradley goes, look for Omar Gaither - last year's middle linebacker - to go to the other place. Takeo Spikes, who provided leadership last year and also a lot of dropped interceptions that could've turned games around, was released. That leaves us with Chris Gocong and Akeem Jordan. Both are outside linebackers. Gocong, a defensive end in college, is at his best going forward and will hopefully be let loose more as a blitzer. Jordan is an undersized hustler the team was lucky to get back after stupidly cutting in training to make room for Pago Togafau. Togafau remains on the roster, but could easily be bumped by a draft pick.

Cornerback: Asante Samuel is in, with hopes that he will help a secondary that was dead-last in the league in interceptions last season. Lito Sheppard, who I think is as good as Samuel when healthy and focused (see L.J. Smith under tight ends and think "A Bronx Tale" again), is on the trading block. If they get something for him, I'm OK with the whole shuffle. If they pull one of those vintage, Spadaro-approved Eagle moves where they just release Sheppard, under the guise of creating cap space they'll never use this season, I won't be a happy - and educated - Eagles fan who knows better. Sheldon Brown is the other corner, with Joselio Hanson likely to return as the No. 4 guy. A spot is open for a stud rookie - and there are several - to take over the nickel job and push Brown for time. Nick Graham, who made the team last year as an undrafted free agent rookie, is in the mix as well.

Safety: This spot could be addressed in the draft, but don't be surprised if it isn't. Brian Dawkins probably has one more good year in him at free safety and Quintin Mikell will come in as the starting free safety. Sean Considine, if healthy, is OK as a backup at both spots. Ditto for J.R. Reed, who can also be your second kickoff returner. Marcus Paschal, who was on the active roster for a few games last year after making the team as an undrafted rookie, would be a more inexpensive option than the enigmatic Considine - his college teammate at Iowa.


SPECIAL TEAMS


Returner: If we have to look at Reno Mahe again, there should be a boycott. An upgrade is needed, but I fear the Eagles are not going to address the need directly. If they draft a receiver or running back or defensive back who can double as a return man, they'll give the guy a look. There are some others on the expanded off-season roster - like Tanard Davis, Bam Childress and Bill Sampy - who will also get shots, but they will have to make the team at their regular positions first. I don't agree with the policy, but I'm stuck up in Section 133 suffering with the rest of you.

Kicker: A friend described David Akers as a delicate genius, and I agree. Unless everything is perfect - the holder, the snapper, the wind, the karma - he gets moody. Let's hope he gets it together again. Many kickers hit a mid-career lull and then come on again (although it is usually with other teams).

Punter: Sav Rocca, the Australian Rules Football legend, did OK last year (no major gaffes as a holder, although Akers may disagree). He gets another year, but improvement will be expected.

Holder: I don't know why it has to be Rocca, but that's the way this team functions. I can't believe there are no receivers (Kevin Curtis?) or quarterbacks (Kolb?) who can do it but ...

Long Snapper: I think they're wasting a roster spot here on Jon Dorenbos because he can't play another position. I'd rather use this roster spot on a return man and have a center who can snap the ball, but I suppose that would be asking too much. Can Klecko do this, too?

Time's up. This ends today's session. Check back as I break down the draft after compensatory picks are awarded.

Is there anybody alive out there?

A great prophet has posed this question of his rock 'n roll audiences and, taking his lead, I've sought to carry the water to my loyal Sunday flock.

And I was starting to get worried.

Either my Sunday column, entering its fifth year, was losing its punch or the readers were no longer taken aback by anything enough to respond through our many venues - the "Your 2 Cents" line, my work e-mail or snail-mailing a letter to the editor.

So, before we go any further into this, I'd like extend a heartfelt thanks to a reader - we'll call her MKE - of West Norriton. She was so outraged by my Feb. 24 column "Stop, in the name of values" that she wrote a letter to the editor that the editor wasted no time approving for printing in the Feb. 27 edition under the headline "Glantz's take on illegal immigration 'just plain stupid.'"

I couldn't have been more thrilled.

Somebody is alive out there.

Too bad that the reader appears to be somewhat misguided.

I say "somewhat" because Ms. E said she agreed with a lot of the points I made in the column, so she is ripe for salvation and redemption.

She misunderstood what I wrote about school prayer, but that was my fault for not being more concise. I never said I was against a kid praying before, during or after school. They should, I suggested, keep their prayers to themselves.

That aside, the real gist of her concern was what seems to be the gargantuan issue on our area - that being illegal immigration.

She joined the growing chorus of third- and fourth-generation immigrants in the Greater Norristown area by taking offense to my assertion that the illegals from Mexico and other Central American countries are seeking the same American dream of our forefathers.

I said that our forefathers didn't have a trademark on that pursuit and she responded that I was being "stupid."

I think, no offense, that being stupid is better than being dumb because being dumb means you are ignorant and the first cousin to ignorance is arrogance and it is arrogance, nothing else, stirring this drink of hate.

I'm not directing this at Ms. E, who has some valid concerns about strains illegal immigration places on the health care system, as much as I am at many readers who have deeper issues that amount to little more than history ironically repeating itself.

Not counting slaves and Native Americans, most of the rest of our ancestors traveled by sea to get here and were met at places like Ellis Island before being allowed to pass. And unless they were carrying a disease, few questions were asked. These white-skinned immigrants, many of whom never bothered to learn English or really had the proper paperwork, were needed to toil in the coal mines and steel mills born of the industrial revolution so that the WASPs didn't have to get dirt under their fingernails.

And still, despite their whiteness, it took generations - and willingness to fight and die in a few world wars - to be accepted.

The same venom spewed today was spewed at our forefathers, too.

It's kind of like when the kid who was bullied in elementary school becomes the bully when he grows bigger and stronger in middle school.

In the context of my column, I asked many of what Charles Barkley recently termed as "fake Christians" to ask themselves what their Jesus would do with the illegal immigrants.

While I'm not a Christian, it's a fair question.

If we give a little - from our hearts and souls - we just might get more than a little in return.

It happened before in this country, and it can happen again.

A little work ethic from a new breed of American wouldn't hurt anyone.

So what if they have brown skin? Studies have shown that the sons of daughters of these immigrants are speaking English first and Spanish second faster than the sons and daughters of turn-of-the-century immigrants.

Ms. E also wandered down the familiar path of associating the word "illegal immigrant" with "illegal," in the criminal/Charles Manson sense.

OK, good.

Thanks again, MKE.

I just so happen to have in my hands a study released on Feb. 26, two days after my column ran and one day before your letter appeared, revealing that immigrants - legal and "undocumented" - commit far less crime in California (the nation's most populated state) than those who were born in the U.S.A.

In California, according to the study conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, 35 percent of the residents are born outside of the United States (a figure Norristown may be looking at soon) but only account for 17 percent of the adult prison population.

The study, which flat-out states that "fears of immigration being a threat to public safety are unjustified," reveals an astounding finding: men born in the U.S.A. are incarcerated at a rate 2 1/2 times greater than those who many of you want to label criminals for the sport of it.

The numbers are even more staggering for men between the ages of 18 and 40 (the group in which men from Mexico are likely to have sneaked into the land of the free and home of the afraid). In that age group, U.S.-born men are - get this, Marion Kay and friends - 10 times more likely to be sent to jail.

"From a public safety standpoint, there would be little reason to further limit immigration, to favor entry by high-skilled immigrants, or to increase penalties against criminal immigrants," the study said.

Hello?

Is there anybody alive out there?