PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Schmidt, the Phillies Hall of Fame third baseman, once said that when you play a professional sport in Philadelphia, "You experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about the next day."

In many ways, it's still true. Just ask Joe Banner.

The president of the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has played in back-to-back NFC championship games, has been like a political candidate on the stump lately, appearing on local sports talk radio and local television, dressing down the media at the team's Novacare Complex, pleading for less offseason criticism of his team.

	Free agent Hugh Douglas has been courted by several teams this offseason.

Since the Eagles lost to the Buccaneers in the NFC championship game at Veterans Stadium, Banner has been catching all kinds of flak -- for losing that historic game, for the way the team demanded full cash payments up front from season ticket holders in the new stadium, and for what appears to be another year of frugal free agency.

"I'm not sure you can win even if you win," said an exasperated Banner. "We had a discussion the other day, asking if we won the Super Bowl, how many days do we get before the criticism starts. We haven't won a Super Bowl, but we have the best record in the NFL over the last three years and played in the NFC championship game the last two years. When was the last time Philadelphia had a professional team do that? It's a long time, whatever the answer is. And I've got to go on the radio to defend us for an hour every other week? It's kind of crazy."

Interestingly, it is Andy Reid who holds the title of executive vice president of football operations and head coach and who is the face and voice of the team during the regular season. But it is Banner who has felt compelled to defend the organization -- defend it in a way he's never done before while the Eagles have been severely criticized the last two years for their strict adherence to salary-cap restraint.

"I can't really explain what's going on -- I honestly can't," Banner said. "The reality is that we're returning virtually the whole team, from a starters' perspective."

Why this winter of such discontent? Well, it has been an awfully bad winter in the Philadelphia region. But that only explains some of the funk. It appears that the Eagles loss in the NFC championship game -- as the No. 1 seed in the NFC, in the last football game at the Vet, to a team that couldn't buy an offensive touchdown in South Philadelphia in three straight games -- has left deep psychological scars, which the Eagles organization has been unable to comprehend and far too quick to dismiss.

"I'm still depressed over it -- I think every Eagles fan is," said U.S. representative Robert E. Andrews, the Democratic congressman who represents South Jersey -- the heart of Eagles country.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell recently went on WIP sports talk radio to question how the Eagles -- particularly Banner -- perceive the region's reaction to recent events.

Many critics say that what Banner just doesn't understand is the level of dismay over the loss in the NFC championship game. That loss, they say, erased any chance Eagles fans would display the same blind faith in what the Eagles do ever again -- and, more important, that only a trip to the Super Bowl could erase the doubts.

Banner is pleading for one more year of that trust. And his motives are partly economic. The Eagles are moving across the street to the new $365 million Lincoln Financial Field, and the organization wants to maximize that opportunity from both a football and financial standpoint. He doesn't want the collective funk to follow the team into the new stadium.

"The reality is we should go into next season with people having every reason to be very hopeful and excited," Banner said.

But many Eagles fans have serious doubts. And those doubts have been amplified by the last two weeks of free agency.

Future Hall of Fame returner Brian Mitchell was allowed to leave and signed with -- of all teams -- the New York Giants. Mitchell left after Banner, in a local television interview, insisted that Mitchell was not worth a penny over the veteran minimum -- even though Mitchell was a leader in the locker room, a highly productive player despite being 34 years old, and the only Eagles player who made any noise in the NFC championship game. His opening kick-off return set up the Eagles lone touchdown.

Shortly after Mitchell left town, weak-side linebacker Shawn Barber left for the Kansas City Chiefs, who signed him to a $30 million contract with a generous bonus. His replacement is Mark Simoneau, who couldn't even play his way into the Atlanta Falcons' starting lineup.

And defensive end Hugh Douglas, who led the team with 12½ sacks last year, could be the next one to leave town. He has visited Seattle, Kansas City and the Giants, and according to a report in Sunday's Trenton Times, returning to Philadelphia is his fourth choice. Who would replace him? Maybe Derrick Burgess, coming off two foot surgeries. Perhaps N.D. Kalu. Maybe Philadelphia will make a play for 25-year-old restricted free agent Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, the defensive end who has had 25½ sacks in the last three years in Green Bay. But that will take some serious cash.

	“	I'm not sure you can win even if you win. We had a discussion the other day, asking if we won the Super Bowl, how many days do we get before the criticism starts. ”
		— Joe Banner, team president

And for the last three years, the Eagles have been shopping in free agency's bargain basement. And the record shows that when the Eagles go bargain hunting, it ends up hurting them. Let's look at four examples: