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My son Greg has been an Eagles fan for as long as I can remember. Honestly, I&rsquo;m not sure how his love for the Eagles started, just that it&rsquo;s always been there. I remember my first Christmas as a single parent. The one big thing on his list for Santa was an Eagles football helmet. I worked two extra jobs to make ends meet and to come up with the money to make his wish come true. He wore that helmet everywhere. In fact, he&rsquo;d sit on the living room floor in front of the TV to watch of all the games wearing his helmet and surrounded by all of his other Eagles memorabilia. He basically built his own shrine during the games, and he was definitely passionate about his team. I remember him flinging the helmet out the front door after a particularly tough loss, or worse yet, the loss where he got so mad he ran outside and tore his Randal Cunningham jersey in half. I was not happy, and it was not easy to sew that jersey back together.
				Another person who was passionate about the Eagles was my brother-in-law Ted Wampole&rsquo;s father, Ted Sr. He passed away in 2009 and was a diehard fan until the day he died. In fact, I remember the Eagles memorabilia on display at his funeral. My brother-in-law, on the other hand, was and still is a huge fan of the arch-rival Washington Redskins or Washington Football Team as they are now called. Ted has been a Redskins fan since his childhood days of visiting his aunt and uncle who lived outside of Washington, back in the days of Sonny Jergensen and Billy Kilmer. Ted&rsquo;s family would have big football watch parties whenever Philadelphia played Washington. He told me that when he was old enough to drink, he and his dad would bet a case of beer on every Eagles/Redskins game. He said other friends of his who were Eagles fans would get in on the action as well.
				Shortly after Ted Sr. died, Greg and Ted started betting on the games. Greg told me it meant a lot to him to fill the void left by Ted&rsquo;s dad and help carry on the family tradition of the gameday bets. He said that growing up, Ted was a big part of his life and a positive influence. He felt their friendship came naturally through their combined love of sports. Ted included him in fantasy football when he was just a kid and even invited him to help coach Tee-ball.
				Greg and Ted&rsquo;s bets weren&rsquo;t about beer, but rather about humiliation. That&rsquo;s where things got interesting. Although they would take turns coming up with the bet, Ted said he would always need to be careful, because if he lost, he would end up doing whatever crazy thing he decided on. The first bet, made prior to Thanksgiving many years ago, was one of the most memorable for me. My mother-in-law used to host the entire family for Thanksgiving dinner. Prior to dinner, we would all gather around the table and take turns saying what we were thankful for. Most of us were thankful for family, health and togetherness. That Thanksgiving, the bet was the loser would need to read a paragraph written by the winner when their turn came to say what they were thankful for. Greg lost that first bet, and we all laughed when he read Ted&rsquo;s pre-prepared statement. If you&rsquo;re a Washington fan, you&rsquo;ll enjoy this.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m thankful that one of the most underrated teams in the NFL, the Washington Redskins, led by one of the most dynamic players to ever play the game, RG3, was able to humiliate, destroy and embarrass my Philadelphia Eagles last weekend. It was a truly humbling experience. Hail to the Redskins.&rdquo;
				The most interesting thing to me through the years is that no matter how crazy the bet, the loser never backed out of doing whatever humiliating thing was agreed upon. When I owned Cork Bar & Restaurant, they used the bar for a couple of their bets. Once with the loser having to stand up in front of everyone in the bar in the opposing team&rsquo;s helmet and jersey and sing the winning team&rsquo;s fight song. Another included a charity guest bartending stint in the winning team&rsquo;s jersey and other gear. Everyone always enjoyed the show of sportsmanship.
				A recent memorable bet included Ted appearing on Public Square in an Eagles Jersey holding up an I Love Carson poster made by Greg. Another loss had Ted walking around the square in the same jersey with a megaphone singing the Eagles fight song. A lost bet at the beginning of the season had Greg wearing a Washington Football face mask all around Philadelphia for an entire week. He had to take pictures of himself in the mask wherever he went. I told him he was lucky he didn&rsquo;t get shot. The most recent bet from last week&rsquo;s game, will feature the loser, Greg, appearing on video reading a script prepared by Ted. The video will be on social media by today for all to share.
				Ted said the bets are a way to show the passion they both have for their teams and for others to get in on the excitement of the games as well. He added that in addition to the humiliation of the loss, the shame of their awful singing when it comes to the singing of the fight songs just adds to the embarrassment.
				Ted said his dad was the ultimate home team fan growing up in NEPA. He was a diehard Eagles fan his whole life and he&rsquo;s so thankful that Greg helps carry on this special tradition he had with his dad. Ted has held on to his dad&rsquo;s Eagles memorabilia because of the wonderful memories of their shared love for the game. In fact, when he loses a bet, it&rsquo;s his dad&rsquo;s old Mike Quick jersey that he wears, so Ted Sr. is still there with him in spirit taking part in the win. Ted is such a good sport, that to honor his dad when the Eagles won the championship, he visited his dad&rsquo;s grave with an Eagles championship jersey. He said he just knew how much his dad would have loved the occasion.
				While Greg didn&rsquo;t know Ted&rsquo;s dad very well, he told me that from the type of person Ted is, he knows his dad must have been a fantastic father. I hope to see this friendly rivalry between these two loyal fans continue for many years to come.
				Ruth Corcoran is a professional marketer, former restaurant owner, and community advocate. She resides in Bear Creek. Readers can reach Ruth by emailing ruth@corcoranpr.com.

Life at Full Throttle: A friendly rivalry helps remember a loved one