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.