Greetings

This is my inaugural post to Another Freakin' Sports Blog. I decided to begin contributing when I realized how much time I waste talking sports in e-mails; I figured I might as well convert them to blog entries. I want to thank Mike for allowing to me join. We agree on some stuff and disagree on plenty as well, so it should add an interesting element to the blog. As a South Jersey native (though I live in Central Jersey now) my focus will be primarily on my favorite sports teams, such as the Eagles and Flyers, some Phillies, and maybe the Sixers on occasion. I'm not reinventing the wheel here, just having some fun . . . or more likely, as a long suffering Philadelphia sports fan, venting :-)

Speaking of venting, I guess it's only fitting that my initial post will be a rant about the Eagles. This is what I had to say following the Eagles/Bears debacle on Sunday night:

The Bears were a team of great fortune tonight. Their first touchdown was caught out of bounds, their second was gift-wrapped by Jackson's muffed punt, their third TD drive was only kept alive by a horrible spot on third down, their field goal was made possible when the refs failed to flag Orton for intentional grounding, and the top view of Buckhalter's carry at the end of the game showed the ball clearly breaking the plane.

That being said, the Eagles did everything in their power to lose to a vastly inferior team tonight. This game was an utter disgrace and one of the worst coaching performances of Reid's career. Why is he suddenly afraid to throw the red flag??? He could have challenged three different plays: the Bears' first TD that was out of bounds, the spot of the ball that kept Chicago's third TD drive alive, and Buckhalter's 4th down carry, but he kept the flag in his pocket all game. He did the same thing against Dallas two weeks ago when Baskett recovered that fumble in the end zone. I just don't get it. Maybe the refs wouldn't have had the guts to overturn the Buckhalter run, but how can you not even try? Everything was on the line there; screw saving the timeout.

Of course it wouldn't have been necessary if the play calling hadn't been so horrible at the goal line. The McNabb-hating morons are going to blame him again and call him a choker, but this one is entirely on Reid. McNabb got the team down to first and goal with a chance to win the game but he wasn't even given ONE opportunity to throw the ball. He's your best player, put the ball in his hands!!! Whatever happened to rolling him out and giving him the option of throwing or running it in? Or how about spreading the field and letting him sneak it in? It's a higher percentage play than trying a tight-formation run into the middle of the Bears defense! I never thought I'd see the day when Reid would try four straight runs; he sure picked a hell of a time.

I am sick. It's almost impossible to lose a game where you force four turnovers and outgain the opposition by nearly 100 yards, but they found a way. Westbrook or no Westbrook, championship teams don't lose games like this. That Bears team stinks—and what does that say about the Eagles?

Some other observations: Akers is no longer reliable outside of 40 yards, Rocca is still too inconsistent, and Booker is a waste of a roster spot.

Al Davis Gets Me To Thinking...

...And it's not in a good way...of course. Apologies to Raiders fans, as I am about to generalize and bash your fearless owner.

I'm sitting here enjoying the Steelers/Ravens slugfest (heh) and ESPN breaks away for an update. They tell me that the Chisox have won and earned the right to battle Minnesota for the AL Central. Cool.

Then they tell me that Al Davis is interviewing candidates to replace Lane Kiffin as Raiders head coach.

Then for a second, I wondered...I heard about Linehan. Did I miss an announcement? Nope - Kiffin's still the coach.

Now that's class. Davis is interviewing coaches and he still has a coach. Any coach who would actually take part in something this scummy deserves to be the coach of the Raiders. I'm not surprised that Davis would do this...I'm surprised that any worthwhile coaching candidate would do this.

Perhaps it's just me. I'm sure I'll get condescending comments (I know, I know...nobody is reading this) like "That's the nature of modern football, dude. Get over it."

But I don't think I will (get over it, I mean). This situation stinks...and whether or not Kiffin is a good coach...Davis hired him! Kiffin should at least get the 'privelege' of finishing the season without having some withered, leathery asswipe undermining him and disrespecting him so openly.

As if I needed any reasons to dislike the Raiders. May there be many more 1-15 seasons in their future. How the mighty have fallen.

It's Been A While...

Since April, in fact, since I last posted anything.

Now things are really starting to get interesting. The Phils have really started to make a claim for the division. It was only a week or so ago that my carpool buddy and I had decided that we had already expended enough energy on the Phillies, and it was time to move on.

After all, they were three games out, and not playing well at all. They were coming off a particularly wretched stretch that saw them lose two of three to Washington, take two of three from the Mets (well, that was cool) and then lose two of three to Florida.

And then...they swept four straight from Milwaukee. And followed that up with a three-game sweep of Atlanta. Viola! Suddenly, Milwaukee fired their manager Ned Yost, the Mets were losing two of three to Atlanta, then two of four to Florida.

Right now, Milwaukee and Atlanta are the Phillies best friends. Suddenly, the Phillies are interesting again. Could there be another playoff appearance for this forlorn team and it's hungry and yearning fan base? It'll be fun to watch and see.

Go Phillies!

And that brings me to....Football season! And today's Steelers/Eagles contest (which, thanks to my brother-in-law, I will be attending with SJ-dad).

Things are looking good for the Black & Gold. The Stillers are 2-0 after scoring a lopsided 38-17 win over the unfortunate Texans and a tight 10-6 win over hated rival Cleveland dsepite monsoon-like conditions.

Now comes a good test for both teams. The Eagles are coming off a tough tough, defense-free shootout with their hated rivals, the Cowboys. Both teams are primed and ready to go, and have visions of playoff wins in their heads.

But only one PA team can win. I know who I'll be rooting for. But since I'll be in unfriendly confines, I'll be rooting more on the quiet side.

Go Steelers!