Foles should have the honor of starting Eagles’ opener

As often as possible in recent days, the propaganda has been allowed to leak from the NewsControl Compound.

Almost daily, video has been permitted of Carson Wentz running, of Carson Wentz cutting, of Carson Wentz throwing. Because the Eagles do not allow anything to leave One NovaCare Way without having first snapping a chalk board and yelling “action,” their message is clear: On some level, they want it out that Wentz is progressing toward an Opening Night start.

The problem: Carson Wentz doesn’t deserve the Opening Night start.

He wouldn’t deserve it if he were running a halfmarathon while juggling. He wouldn’t be qualified for it if he were limber enough to earn a black-belt in judo. He would be out of place for the honor, even if his knee were strong enough to land him a spot on the Olympics high-jump team. That distinction of being introduced with the starters at 8:20 p.m., in the Linc, Sept. 6, before a game against the Atlanta Falcons belongs to Nick Foles.

That doesn’t mean Wentz isn’t the more talented quarterback. That doesn’t mean he won’t be the starter even by Game 2, or for the next 14 years. It doesn’t even mean that, should Foles throw two interceptions and the Birds are behind by 17 by halftime that Wentz shouldn’t start loosening. But when a franchise that hadn’t won a championship since before the British Invasion finally wins a Super Bowl, the quarterback invited to Disney World should also be invited to start the next meaningful game.

That will probably happen anyway. Wentz is not likely to be fully fit for NFL regular-season contact by the first week of September.

Being a Week 1 starting NFL quarterback isn’t exactly like being appointed the Opening Day starter in baseball. Different culture. But in some cases, it’s close. The Eagles are facing one of those cases. So Doug Pederson should cut some tension and schedule Foles to start the opener.

The Eagles have to know that would make for great video, too.

You get the people who take 67 supermarket items through the self-checkout line while the customer with one package waits in line?

The onrushing legalized sports gaming in racetracks and casinos is not going to be as popular as believed. Sorry.

Since the house holds a mathematical edge, of course the books about to hit Delaware, the Jersey shore and, eventually, Pennsylvania will win money. But the visions of non-vacationing working people crowding sportsbetting rooms all day, as they do in Las Vegas, is not practical.

Delaware will begin taking single-game bets this week. That will require investors to drive to one of the casinos, park, walk in, take money out of their pockets in exchange for a ticket, and either wait four hours for the result of a game or leave and, if so fortunate, come back and go through that routine again just to collect. It’s not like a slot machine or a blackjack table, where a gambler might run in for an hour or two for some fun. Even horse races only take two minutes.

East Coast dabblers in (illegal) sports wagering have been conditioned to play on credit. That allows them to place 10 $100 wagers on a weekend without touching their wallets. So instead of being made to dig for $1,100, as will be required in a casino, that kind of gambler could enjoy a 4-6 football Saturday while eventually only fishing for $260.

Good luck requesting that accommodation from the teller in Atlantic City.

And, no, I don’t get the phrase “it won’t be the same without you.”