John Gonzalez is doing some work for The Ringer now and he put together an oral history of Jeff McLane getting kicked out of the press box. Some might say this is the definitive account of what happened, but I’d point out that it tells only the media’s side (very well, I might add). In fact, it’s almost like you can see why the Eagles might feel compelled to tell them to quiet down in the press box from time to time:

Bob Ford: “People bark at each other now and then in a press box. But that’s just part of working in close proximity with a hundred people who are under a certain amount of work pressure. Everyone is tweeting and blogging and writing and trying to figure out what comes next and look at replays and everyone shouts. It passes. It’s part of the working environment. It’s not that dissimilar from working on the floor of the stock exchange. There’s a lot of yelling going on.”

“It’s a boisterous fraternity. There’s no question. There’s a lot of egos. There’s a lot of opinions. There’s a lot of history. A lot of this press corps has been together for 30 years. That environment was misunderstood by someone who didn’t understand the environment. I was certainly surprised that he was ejected.”

It’s not that dissimilar from working on the floor of the stock exchange. Imagine how awful it can be to be in a room with Eagles writers? Eliot Shorr-Parks described it:

Parks: “I’m usually on “the media is wrong” side. We’re the worst. For sure. You’ve been there. The media in general in Philly, when you go to different things, like the NFL owners meetings, there’s like 20 times more of us than any other group. We’re by far the most aggressive. Some teams will only have three or four writers. We’re always 15 deep. We’re the most cliquey. Certain reporters don’t like other reporters. We all talk shit about each other behind each other’s backs. We’re obnoxious usually. But not this time.”

He’s right about Philly media being the worst sometimes. I once watched an Eagles writer openly complain when a food truck provided by the team ran out of grilled cheese and gave him a different sandwich instead. He literally complained about a free lunch.

I asked Gonzo who complained about the lunch. He said he’d give me three guesses and that if I got it, he’d tell me. I can tell you it’s not Les Bowen, Reuben Frank or Mark Eckel.

Anyway, go read the piece. It’s like erotic fan fiction for those of us who follow the media. If only someone would’ve grabbed Eskin’s milky white breasts.