Yesterday, Howard Zinn ("A People's History of the United States"). Today, J.D. Salinger ("The Catcher in the Rye").

The world has lost two great voices, but their impacts live on.

Both forced ordinary people to think outside the box.

Is there any epitaph more great?

Each day that passes since the Eagles' annual demise -- and subsequent cliche-laden platitudes that take the wind of out the sails of those of us hoping for the substantive change that will get us over the hump -- off-season hope grows.

The blogosphere is abuzz with speculation that makes Donovan McNabb all but a goner, which A-OK here. He had his time, and his chances, and has climbed to the top of the franchise's run-of-the-mill chart by collecting numbers in a pass-happy offense. He has also done a lot of his best work against bad teams, particularly since his one Super Bowl appearance.

He is about to play in his sixth pro bowl (although most of those appearances have been as a replacement for the QB who side-stepped that given year en route to the Super Bowl).

McNabb has a lot of chips -- ones the Eagles will hopefully cash in for trade value -- that still cannot buy him a Super Bowl ring at the NFL's high-end jewelry counter.

It has been written that this Sunday's Pro Bowl may very well be the last time that McNabb wears an Eagles' helmet (players wear their team's helmets in the Pro Bowl).

It is what goes under the helmet that just won't fix -- not here, not anymore. He has shown physical toughness by playing through injuries, but McNabb's mental fortitude -- his willingness to get tough in crunch time -- just isn't there.

Example: When center Jamaal Jackson went down with a season-ending injury, McNabb bemoaned it beyond what was needed in order to quickly move on to a showdown Dallas that set the stage for a quick playoff exit. It was in his head that there would be a bad exchange -- either on a snap or in the shotgun formation -- and, sure enough, McNabb's self-fulfilling prophecy of doom came to be at a crucial time.

Enough, I declare.

I was as big a McNabb supporter as there was the first half of his career. I have his jersey in my closet and one my cats his named after him.

My opinion began to change during the 2006 season when Jeff Garcia came in and ran the offense the way I had not seen it run previously -- until Kevin Kolb did the same in two starts this year.

So, here we go. I personally think there are more teams that would like to have McNabb, at the right price, than those being commonly mentioned -- Arizona, Cleveland and Minnesota.

I can see Arizona, as McNabb's spends his downtime there either bulking up with muscle or losing weight to add quickness -- depending on the year and his mood -- although that franchise has kept Matt Leinert on ice a while (kind of like Kolb, the guy whose career McNabb has quietly sought to sabotage).

As is the case with Arizona, the theoretical need for a quarterback is based on a retirement. The difference Kurt Warner is going to do the right thing at the right time, doing right by the league and the Cardinals, while diva Brett Favre will surely do the opposite in Minnesota after turning into himself at a vital time in the NFC title game.

Favre had not yet taken his fake limp into the locker room to meet with his ESPN sycophants to plot the offseason drama when speculation about McNabb going to Minnesota -- thus reuniting him with former offensive coordinator, Brad Childress -- kicked into high gear.

While it makes sense on paper, including the late first-round pick that is about what McNabb is worth, it makes no sense otherwise. The Eagles were in the championship game last year, beating a quarterback-starved Minnesota team in the first round. This year, the Eagles were the team exiting in the wild card round and Minnesota was the one losing a championship game it should have and could have won. Why would the Eagles help another team with Super Bowl aspirations stay on a par? Not going to happen, period. While McNabb is McNabb, and will always be McNabb, he would have it good in Minnesota. He would have a consistent running game and powerful defense to overcome his bouts of on-field depression. I just don't see his next life being lived in that northern town -- not unless the Eagles have a death wish.

That leaves Cleveland -- although the 49ers and Carolina Panthers are two teams on the precipice of making the playoffs and might believe, falsely, that McNabb can get them there -- as the best bet.

The Browns stink, but need a PR jolt. McNabb will struggle there without weapons, which will be hilarious to watch from afar. Cleveland's second-round pick (high in the round, because they stink), along with another in the middle rounds -- and maybe one of their two overpaid QBs, Derek Anderson or Brady Quinn, to be Kolb's backup -- would do the trick.

Will it? Who knows? The frustrating part is that it is all out of hands. But it's all good.
This is what makes the off-season fun. You can dream, instead of dealing with weekly thuds of reality that hit the ground as hard as a McNabb bounce pass to an open wide receiver at a key part of a crucial game.