Entourage visits the NFC East

September 25, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

This time of year my two loves are the NFL (specifically NFC East divisional games) and HBO’s hit show Entourage. There’s nothing better then sitting around all day Sunday watching teams beat the hell out of each other and then top the night off watching Vince and the crew. After the last 3 episodes of Entourage, I’ve started to notice some similarities between the show and the teams in the NFC East. Each team within the division could easily play a role as a character in the show, some of the teams could actually play a few different ones. So who would I cast as Vinnie, Ari, E, Drama and Turtle?

First off you have the shows star, Ari Gold. Yes, the show is centered around Vincent Chase but who would argue that Ari makes this show? Without Ari this show would just lack the life it currently has. So who plays Ari? None other then the Dallas Cowboys. According to the Entourage website at HBO.com, Ari is “ruthless, relentless and always at the top of his game”. Well doesn’t this sound a lot like Cowboys owner Jerry Jones? Jones is on a never ending quest to get the Cowboys back on top of the football world. The division is not enough, he wants a championship. He’s willing to spend whatever he has to and take on any player despite the issues they may come with (Terrell Owens and Adam “Pacman” Jones). He wants the spotlight on his team and he doesn’t care what his team does to get it. He wants people thinking about the Dallas Cowboys. Ari has no fear when it comes to dealing with his rivals, and as we saw this past Sunday, he has no problem walking into his old agency and smacking the hell out of his top rival, Adam Davies. Again isn’t this the Cowboys? They had no problem Sunday walking into Green Bay and smacking the taste out of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Ari and the Cowboys go perfectly together, they are the guy/team you love to hate but yet love to watch. They can be the biggest jerks in the world but yet always will put on a show that you can’t help but watch.

Next we have good old Vincent Chase, the “movie” star who everything is centered around. If you ever visit Philadelphia you’d leave with the impression that the NFC East is all centered around the health of Donovan McNabb. Meaning if he’s healthy there is no one better and it’s the division to lose. So this makes the Philadelphia Eagles the perfect team to be Vince. Looking deeper into the character of Mr. Chase thou you would see that the similarities don’t end there. Vince was originally a kid struggling in Queens. Well, in the late-90’s the Eagles were a struggling football team, playing so bad even that a good amount of their fans were ready to turn their backs to them. There were two significant things that changed the future for both, for Vince it was the making of Queens Boulevard. The Eagles? It was a full season of #5 Donovan McNabb running the show.

Things couldn’t have gotten better for both. Vince became a huge star after his role in Aquaman. This was the movie catapulted him to the top of the box office, breaking all the records and making him the biggest A-lister in Hollywood. The Eagles went on a run of dominance winning 11 or more for 5 straight seasons, 3 conference championship games all culminating in a Super Bowl appearance in 2004. Then things began to change, Vince makes a dud of a movie in Medellin and the Eagles missed the playoffs in 2007. Now both are fighting for their lives. Vinnie wants to prove that he is the actor everyone thought he would be. McNabb and head coach Andy Reid desperately want to bring the Eagles back to the top of the heap in the NFC and bring a Super Bowl Championship back to Philadelphia. For all the clock is ticking. Vince needs to get back on track as fast as possible as careers in Hollywood could be over before they truly started. Some believe the days of the McNabb/Reid era in Philly is coming to an end, so these two definitely want to finish the job they started. Doesn’t this match make too much sense?

One of my personal favorites is Eric Murphy aka E. E is the one person who doesn’t take Ari’s shit and is actually not afraid to give it right back to him. Being a favorite of mine there is no choice but to make this my New York Giants. Ari always makes fun of E, mainly his height and boyish looks. Doesn’t this sound like the media the past couple years making fun of Eli Manning? Just like Eric thou, the Giants and Eli threw it back in the faces of the people who made fun of them. Eli gained much confidence with his Super Bowl run of last season and has become more vocal and even more of a leader for the Giants. E has also gained confidence throughout his time in Los Angeles. In his brief time there, he’s helped pick Queens Boulevard for Vince and even had a short stint as the manager of Anna Faris. After all of that, Eric has now become more vocal himself to the point where if Ari & Vince won’t go along (Nine Brave Souls) he’ll go out on his own and take care of business.

In my opinion, the thing that makes these two so compatible is how they approach their work. When it’s time to take care of business, that is all thats on the mind of both. They know there is time for fun and games, but when its time to work they’re all focused. Drama and Turtle like to have fun and party, but E is the one who keeps Vince on track when its needed. Case in point, two weeks ago Turtle wanted to head out and party but Vince decided to stay in and read scripts. The Giants? They’re all about business, head coach Tom Coughlin has them focused on taking each week one by one. After winning the Super Bowl the players celebrated while the coaching staff went back to work. Once mini-camps hit thou the players made sure to turn their focus to where it belongs winning another Super Bowl. Michael Strahan decides to retire, the players just stay focused. Osi Umenyiora gets injured, they keep on fighting. They’re all about their business, just like E is becoming. Wouldn’t it be nice to see E to have the same success and see The Murphy Group grow larger then 2 clients.

Ok, so this leaves the Washington Redskins with possibly Turtle or Drama. Does anyone really think the Skins deserve that role? I don’t. I have a better role for them, and that is Ari’s assistant Lloyd. I mean really lets look at Week 1 of both the NFL season and Entourage. In the season opener, Lloyd had a sprint across the office to find Ari. That school girl run reminded me so much of Jason Campbell scampering away from the Giants defensive line. But on a serious note the Skins really are like Lloyd. Lloyd plays a major role in keeping Ari’s career and personal life in tact and going. The Skins play a key role in making sure the NFC East is the best division in football. How could this be? Well one they did make the playoffs last year. And two, they make sure to beat up on all the teams not in the NFC East in turn keeping them with a very nice record. There isn’t to much more to say about similarities, but unfortunately this is the only character I could really consider for the Skins.

Turtle is probably the most loyal to Vince out of all characters. So when you think about it, if I have the Philadelphia Eagles as Vince, then the Eagles fans have to be Turtle. Turtle would do anything for Vinnie, he’s his most loyal and dedicated friend. Eagles fans have to be the most loyal fans in football. Even in those late-90s when some fans turned their back, the most dedicated fans, those in the 700 level still showed up to the game. They were still rowdy and still brought hell to opposing teams and fans. They supported and they were loyal to their team. Another reason? Weed. Turtle loves his weed, and I know plenty of Eagles fans that love their green. So yea Eagles fans you’re the only ones mentioned here, and you’re the only ones who can accurately take the role of Turtle.

You also can’t talk about Entourage without mentioning the beautiful women. Every episode there are multiple hotties, the ones we all wish we could meet and dream that we can one day score with. Well you know what? The NFC East also has those, we’ve got the best cheerleaders in the NFL by far. I think we could all agree that the Cowboys and Eagles have the top 2 squads in the NFL (that is not in order, and also it’s not saying the Eagles are the top too).

And finally it’s time to talk about most peoples favorite character, Drama. There is only one person I could think of that could play Johnny Drama and that is himself. Drama is such a unique character that in a way every team is a little like him. He’s been on Melrose Place, for the older heads you know what guys were like on there. He’s been on Vikings Quest, so he’s played the tough guy. He’s now on Five Towns, where he’s a little more street. In the end every fan, every player can relate to him. And here is one great Drama quote to emphasize that.

Eric: We had breakup-sex, all right?
Johnny Drama: Breakup-sex? Never heard of it.
Eric: Yeah, I mean… you know… you have sex and… that’s it - you say goodbye.
Johnny Drama: [pauses to think] That’s the only kinda sex I have.

So there we go the Entourage cast meets the NFC East. What do you think? Do you agree, disagree? What changes would you make? I know you Washington Redskins fans would have plenty of changes to make. So comment it up boys, whats your thoughts!

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