Another Freakin' Sports Blog

World Series Outsider: Genius and Hyperbole

2011-10-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Many coaches/managers have been termed ‘genius’ by an overzealous and often attention starved media. Apparently, any time a Super Bowl or a World Series is won, a genius is born.

“Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown” wrote William Shakespeare (or whoever the hell Roland Emmerich says really wrote Henry IV). This pithy bit of writing is currently getting tested by baseball’s resident genius, Cardinals manager Tony Larussa. Many things have been said about Mr. Larussa, some snide commentary; some reverential hyperbole. As with so many things, the truth may lie in the middle.

I have, more often than not, fallen on the snide side of the ledger. What can I say? I can be small minded sometimes, and my dislike of someone or something can have an inverse relationship to how much credit or how sycophantic the evaluation of the person or thing is. Often, the more the thing is built up, the more likely I am to resist. However, I am willing to give a second listen, look or evaluation to the thing, ready to be disproved or to have my opinion strengthened. And if the thing proves to be as good as, or better than what was described (very rare), then I usually become a pretty staunch supporter.

What does this rambling thought/explanation have to do with Tony Larussa? Well, he’s been anointed with the ‘genius’ label. He ‘outmanaged’ the hapless Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel (yes, this is sacrcasm) to get his team to the World Series. Larussa is credited with being an ultimate tactician, changing pitchers as if channel surfing. An inning can go on for 30 minutes as Larussa plays the matchups. And, it seems that I may be the only baseball fan who gets bored and stops watching.

Fox and their broadcasting team have joined the genius chorus of ESPN, and revel in breaking down the nitty gritty of each and every move Larussa makes. So it must have stunned anyone who fancies themselves a baseball fan that the Cardinals lost a game the other night. And that they lost this game due to… a bad (or, perhaps non) decision by Larussa??? That can’t be!

He’s a genius, you remind me. How could he possibly have a pitcher in the game that he did not want there? I have no idea – I didn’t actually watch this game. My diatribe here is pretty much based on accounts I’ve heard on sports radio – where true geniuses abound… That said – this happened because of a bad phone situation? Because he was unable to communicate to his bullpen coach which guy he wanted on the mound? Where was the Tony Larussa that told TBS broadcasters (during the game) that, against the Phillies, the Cardinals were pitching to two strike zones?

The bullpen can’t be all that far away from where Larussa was. At the very least, he could have walked out to the mound, and yelled out the name of the guy he wanted. Surely, the shortstop could have relayed the message to the appropriate outfielder and that guy could have mentioned it to the bullpen crew. People bring signs to ballgames all the time. Larussa could have made one of his own. He could have gone out to the mound and held up his very creative and colorful sign – with the name of the reliever he wanted in the game clearly written.

Perhaps there is some ancient baseball rule that I don’t care to be aware of that made it so Larussa had to stick with the pitcher he had, rather than, I don’t know, cause some phony delay to give the pitcher he wanted time to warm up? He could have volunteered to conduct an impromtu in-game, dugout interview in which he could have talked about how his team should not have to deal with the indignity of the 3-strike strikeout. And while this subterfuge was going on, someone could have alerted the correct pitcher to start warming up. Then, after the interview finished, Larussa could have bought even more time by walking to home plate and outlining a plan (with pie charts – or at least stills of the Pitch Tracker) for helping the umpire to improve his calling of a game.

Somehow, none of this happened. And Larussa and the Cardinals lost as a result. That’s what we’re told, anyway. Somehow in sports, a game can be won or lost based on one play. All the other errors, baserunning mistakes, poor pitch selections, walks and just plain dumb luck have no cumulative effect. No – it was that bullpen situation. Forget that the guy who was in the game is a professional pitcher and should be able to handle a pitching situation. This all comes down to the fact that Larussa is not twins, and therefore, was not in the bullpen at the time of the call.

I don’t really care. I have no love lost for the Cardinals, and I am glad they lost. Serves them right for defeating the Phillies. I hope they lose game 6 and draw a close to this tainted baseball season. Should Larussa and the Cards come back to win, then maybe he is a genius. But in order to be a genius, you have to take the good with the bad. You take them both, and there you have....Genius? If Larussa is willing to accept the fawning, he has to take the goatship too. And, to his credit, at least in this case, he has done so. I do dispute his genius-ness though.

To be honest, my ire here is more directed at the baseball drones who seem to have had their ability to independently evaluate surgically removed. Is it necessary to bleat on about Larussa’s skill as a manager? Is that really the most compelling thing to talk about? This idea is pretty well established. How about breaking some new ground? There are oodles of baseball-related things to talk about that haven’t already been covered in endless, hyperbolic detail, right? Like – how awesomely supreme Albert Pujols is. No, wait – that has been… Oh, never mind.

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins, I want you to know why I hate you. By Michael Hochman.

2011-10-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins:

Ok, the more I think about it, the more you piss me off. It didn't take front-office intelligence for you to get where you are. It didn't take shrewd moves or well-thought out drafts. It didn't take risks or hard work. In fact, more than anything, it took consistent losing.

In 2002, you sucked, as you had for a while, so you were rewarded with the 5th overall pick and took Ryan Whitney.

Then you still sucked a year later and had the 3rd overall pick in 2003. Florida didn't want it because they didn't' need a goalie, so they traded you the FIRST overall pick, and wham, Marc-Andre Fleury is a Penguin. The Flyers chose 24th.

Then somehow you CONTINUED to suck in 2004, but oh darn, you didn't win the draft lottery and couldn't draft Alex Ovechkin. But you sucked enough to pick SECOND overall, and had to settle for Evgeny Malkin. I feel sorry for your booby prize. The Flyers didn't draft until 92nd.

Then in 2005, the lockout year, you were rewarded for sucking over SEVERAL years. The NHL held the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes lottery with you, Buffalo, the Rangers, and Columbus given equal chances of winning. Fuck-n-a if you didn't win that lottery. You got Sidney Crosby by sheer luck, and it certainly didn't take a genius to take him when you got the top pick. Yay for finishing in last. The Flyers drafted 29th that year.

Despite all obsticles, in 2006 you still sucked, and were presented the prize of the SECOND overall pick again and took Jordan Staal. Another No-Brainer. The Flyers drafted 22nd.

And then in 2007 when the Flyers for once have the worst overall record, they don't even win the draft lottery. In a weak draft, they pick 2nd and take James van Riemsdyk. Solid, but no Whitney, Fleury, Malkin, Crosby, and Staal. The difference between the Flyers and the Penguins? The Flyers realized they didnt like losing very much, something the Pens seemed to enjoy, and decided to go back to the Eastern Conference Finals the very next year (where they lost to the we're-so-shitty-we're-stocked-from-multiple-high-drafts Penguins). Despite the opportunity to keep on losin', the Flyers decided winning was kinda important.

An amazing strategy: play like shit for many years, draft no-brainer future stars, continue to play like shit, and draft even more future stars. Wow, you guys are a hell of an organization. That took some brilliance. Fifth, third, second, first, second. It's like a freakin' fantasy draft. This is why I hate you, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Love, Michael Hochman

The 2011 Phillies: World Series Dreams Rent Asunder and Bad Nicknames

2011-10-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Now that the world series is upon us, I felt compelled to crawl out of writing hibernation to attempt to sum up my thoughts on "the one that got away" - i.e. the Phillies 2011 campaign. In one very short, very frustrating, very annoying 5-game series, the Phillies took what was inevitable (a World Series appearance) and made it something unreachable.

They were outplayed, outlasted and outwitted, succumbing to the most humbling and equalizing of all things in sports - hubris. I don't believe for one second that the St. Louis Cardinals were better than the Phillies, but the Cards are in the World Series. Perhaps there was an air of inevitability in Philadelphia - unfortunately, the Phillies transferred this trait to St. Louis by playing like a corporate softball team that had kicked the keg before the end of the 2nd inning.

Following the Phillies has been like going through the five stages of grief:

2007 - Amazement. 1st postseason in 15 years. Just happy to be there.

2008 - Joy. 1st World Series win in 28 years. Perhaps they should have disbanded the team.

2009 - Confusion. We lost in the World Series? To the Yankees? And we had a better team than in 2008? And the Yankees were really not all that good? Come again?

2010 - Frustration. A no-hitter in the playoffs? First one since 1956? Good start. Losing to a far inferior team in the San Francisco Giants? Continuing what would become a pattern.

2011 - Anger. Losing in the first round to the Cardinals? And not because of Albert Pujols - arguably the best player in the game? Because nobody was able to hit the ball and nobody could stop Ryan Theriot and David Freese?

I think the Phillies woes might boil down to one thing. A long tradition of sad, sad nicknames.

As most Phillies fans do, I loved Harry Kalas and miss him terribly during baseball season. But there were two things that Harry did that I did not like.

One was when he would sing "High Hopes." I'm sure this is considered blasphemy, but there it is. I think Harry had a great voice for broadcasting, but not so much for singing.

Two was the nicknames. They were atrocious. In a lot of cases, it was add an 'r' or a 'y' (or some form thereof) to the guys name. Laker. Krukker. Schmitty. Eisey. Inky. Really? Laker?? Lenny Dykstra was "Dude." When he came from New York, he was "Len" and he was "Nails." I liked Nails much better. This at least displayed some imagination. Darren Daulton was "Dutch." Eh. Surely such a fan favorite deserved better.

And it hasn't gotten any better over time. Year after year, the Phillies are last in the league in QNG (quality of nicknames given). Often, players are left without a nickname. It's a travesty.

Let's look at it in terms of the current players:

Jimmy Rollins - JRoll. This is at least as bad as the 'r' and 'y' mentality. No imagination. By this methodology, I should be MFran. It's like a few years back when, via the internet, you could get your own Wu Tang Clan nickname (I am "Pre-Raphaelite Shaolin" in case you were wondering). The fact that, most likely, nobody reading this remembers this indicates how interesting it was. I maintain that "JRoll" is every bit as not interesting as the Wu Tang thing.

Shane Vicorino - An exception to the rule. "The Flyin' Hawaiian" is actually a good nickname. It goes beyond adding something to a name, contracting a name or making a nickname based on a similarity to another name (which is often a stretch). This nickname is catchy, rolls off the tongue, makes kids smile and rhymes. Credit where it's due for this one.

Chase Utley - Does he even have a nickname? This is a case where he's been a great player, but there isn't a whole lot of personality. Gets tons of extra credit for "World Fu**ing Champions" though. No more need be said - perhaps Chase was so good, he doesn't require a nickname.

Ryan Howard - Where do I begin? Again, I don't know if he has a nickname, but I can think of a few - and they're not very nice. The Shift. K-Man. Mr. September. 1-2-3. A great hitter when he's on and a bowel movement when he's not. It's telling that St. Louis walked Hunter Pence to pitch to Howard, and he obliged by making an out. I really try to stay positive about Howard, but he makes it hard. Feel free to suggest nicknames in the comments (all four of you who may read this).

Hunter Pence - Not sure if he has a nickname, but I don't care. The guy's a gamer and that's good enough for me.

Raul Ibanez - Again, not sure if he has a nickname. But I do wish the fans would have come up with something with more bite than "Rauuuuuuuuuuuuul!"

Carlos Ruiz - Again - "Choooooooch" ?? Adding lots of vowels is nice, but a bit tiresome. But at least he has a decent nickname. It's better than freaking 'Pudge' - a dumbass nickname that seems to be bestowed to a catcher regardless of whether or not the guy has any pudge to speak of. Does Ivan Rodriguez seem like a 'Pudge' to you? Me neither. Carlton Fisk? Maybe.

Placido Polanco - This may be the worst transgression of them all. Polly? Polly. Oh, come on!!! The guy is a classic throwback player who has good at bats, is a good fielder and generally just plays the game right. Give him better than Polly!! Polly want a decent nickname??

Roy Halladay - What can one say? Great pitcher, maybe the best in baseball. But the nickname (and yes, I know it came with him from Toronto) - "Doc" ?? Ugh. What's up, Doc? A bad nickname is what's up. As a result of this nickname, we have had to endure Gary Matthews calling him "Holliday" for the past few years. It's not Sarge's (good nickname) fault - "Doc" Holliday is a fairly well known historical figure. It's a jolly holiday with you, Roy - except for the nickname.

Think of the nicknames out there that - when you hear them, you know exactly who the person is.

Sweetness. Magic. The Great One. The Splendid Splinter. The Iron Horse. The Big Hurt. Mr. October. Spaceman. Charlie Hustle. Say Hey Kid. Dr. J. Joe Cool. Broadway Joe. Big Mac. The Sultan of Swat.

There was (and IMHO, should be) a kind of beauty to nicknames. They should go beyond the simplistic. They should invoke a mind's eye image of the player in his salad days. And, I note with interest, that none of the above listed nicknames have an added 'r' or 'y' - but all of them should conjure up the face or achievement of the person.

Of course, in the ESPN world in which we live, folks like Chris Berman have thrown around myriad nicknames that did not stick. Which is good. The negative legacy of this, however, was when carelessness, laziness and folks just plain thinking that they are soooo clever, led to nicknames that never existed before the 1980s being retroactively assigned to greats of the past: "Teddy Ballgame" and "Donnie Baseball."

I remember the nicknames "The Kid" and "The Splendid Splinter" - But I had never heard "Teddy Ballgame" until around the time of the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. If there is any written verification of this nickname occurring prior to, say, 1980, I'd love to see it. I also do not recall Don Mattingly having a nickname during his playing days. He was just one of the best players in the game at the time. And that was enough.

Unfairly, I am mostly picking on the Phillies here, but that's because I'm a homer, and the Phillies are my fave team. I'm sure that other teams have some equally tedious nicknames. But that's their problem. I just want to help the Phillies return to World Series glory. And I think better nicknames would be a step in the right direction.

Dear Phillies: It's Been Great and All, But We Need To See Other People

2011-10-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

That's it, I can't do it anymore. I am not equipped with any more emotional resilience, can't go with the flow, can't stand steady while the boat rocks and rolls. Once, so long ago, I had it in me, but now it's too late. Years of these kinds of endings to seasons have robbed me of that give, that elasticity that everyone else calls perspective. (Apologies to Liz Wurtzel.) I can't emotionally give myself to these teams anymore. Not after the last three Phillies seasons, not after the last two Flyers playoffs, not after the last decade of Andy Reid, not even after the last [insert number here] NCAA tourney disappointments by the Wildcats and Owls and my Orange. I can't do the hype going into a regular season that means nothing when the walls come crashing down at playoff time. The tank is empty. It's time to get back to the Phillies of Len Matuzek and Tim Corcoran, the Eagles of Bobby Hoying and Chris Boniol, the Flyers of Steve Duchesne and Jeff Hackett, the Sixers of Mike Gminski and Jeff Ruland. They were bad, but they were known quantities. You got what you expected. They were who we thought they were. These teams now, all the expectations and all the excitement, it's like searching for years for the perfect girl who then runs away with the exterminator who is killing squirrels in the church on your wedding day. Or with David Freese.

At least the Eagles had the decency to free up my Sundays early in the season instead of leading me on until December.

Most likely gone: Rollins, Madson, Lidge, Oswalt, Ibanez, Gload, all free agents. Howard may be out the full season after somehow tearing his Achilles tendon while choking, putting Mayberry at first base, so now no left fielder and no first baseman to go along with no shortstop, no closer, and no fourth ace. Plus replacing Howard and Ibanez' power. Polanco still hurt, is third base shored up? Will Valdez and Mini-Mart both start for this team? No Lidge or Contreras in the middle of the bullpen, another season of Fat Joe or Kyle Kendrick (luckiest man in baseball) as one will start and one will come out of the pen, and can you count on Stutes and Bastardo (not to mention Worley)? Seems hitters figured them out. David Herndon. And they'll be setting up for whom to close? What if Dom Brown isn't any better than we've seen? What then about right field? That's 5 of 8 positions in question, plus starters #4 and 5, and the entire bullpen. (Not to mention Charlie's right hand man if Mackanin takes the Boston gig.) That infield, that outfield, that bullpen... not championship material. Money's now tight and Pence and Hamels are arbitration eligible. What do they do? And if Jose Reyes is the answer to all the Phils' ills™, we're all in trouble. Plus this team is now officially old. At least they're golfing now. That's what old people do.

My Halloween costume this year? I won't show up at all and say I'm the Phillies. Pitchers and catchers in 130 days, in case you were curious.

This is not only the end of the Phils' season, but the end of this Phils' era. They are up against the luxury tax ceiling and won't go higher. They've depleted the farm system with trades to win now, which they haven't. With two seasons of playoffs crap, who stays and who goes? Changes will be made that will be unpopular with fans. It has to and will happen (look at the Flyers.) Fans will start to get frustrated and start not going to the ballpark or buying merchandise. Revenues will fall and so will payroll. And possibly by as soon as next year, this team will fall back to mediocrity. And then what? I hope you enjoyed the five year run, this is the end of an era. It was a long time between pennants from 1950 and 1980. It was a long time between championships from 1980 and 2008. Let's hope it's not another two decades until another World Series.

That's it. I'm done. I can't give my time, money, emotions, effort, or energy to these teams again, the one in the red pinstripes in particular. It's been great, but this relationship isn't working anymore. All we do is wind up fighting (and frankly, uh, there's this premature elimination problem). I need some space. No no, don't blame yourself. It's not you, it's me (it's really you). You'll still see me occasionally, we can still be friends. I'll keep up with how you're doing on Facebook. And I don't mind some post-break-up sex every now and then. I'm come over to your place (it's nicer than mine), hang out, but I want to see other people. Really, all I want is for you to be happy. But I can't be there for you anymore in the way that you need. Is your friend the Nippon Ham Fighters still single? Don't forget your toothbrush. I don't know what a Howard-less, Rollins-less, Madson-less, Ibanez-less Phillies will look like next year, but I know I won't counting down to spring training, I won't be rushing home for to watch a business-person's special in June, I won't plan my vacations around October baseball because this team doesn't deserve it. There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again. Will I change my mind over a long winter? Soften a bit? Have a regretful summer fling with the old girlfriend? Am I writing from the heart and not the brain out of recent traumatic emotion? Will they win me back with sweet talk and shiny jewelry? Maybe. Maybe I'm not strong enough to quit you.

But I can't let the Phillies fool me again. Until they do again next year.

Michael H.
Phillies fan since 1978
Twitter @PhillyPartTwo

9/11 By The Numbers: A Tragedy In Statistics, Poetry of Numbers - by Michael Hochman

2011-09-10T22:29:00.001-07:00

I compiled this poetic essay of 9/11 statistics to be more than just a list of 9/11 statistics. I first posted this in 2009, updated today with new stats, and have posted every year on 9/11. The statistics come from various sources, compiled and edited as prose by me. Please feel free to share and redistribute. – Michael Hochman, of Pennsylvania, American.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, resulted in a total of 2,977 fatalities: 2,606 in and around the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan, 125 working in the Pentagon in Arlington Virginia, and 246 on the four airplanes: 87 on American 11 and 59 on United 175 in New York, 59 on American 77 in suburban Washington, and 40 on United 93 in a field in Somerset County Pennsylvania.

1,366 people died at and above the floors of impact in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, over 600 people were killed at and above the floors of impact in the South Tower. 110 people working below the impact zones were killed. 292 were killed at street level from burning debris.

Only 14 people escaped from the impact zone floors of the South Tower after it was hit, and only 4 from the floors above it.

Zero people from the impact zone and the floors above in the North Tower survived.

An estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning Towers. 1 person at street level, FDNY Fire Chaplain Mychael Judge, is hit by such a jumper and killed.

6,294 civilians were injured. 17,400 people were in the World Trade Center complex at the time that day.

Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center on 9/11: 36,000 . Total units of donated blood actually used: 258.

Only 8 office workers and 15 First Responders who were in the towers when they collapsed survived. Just 18 people total were found buried in the rubble alive after the collapse. The last survivor was pulled from the rubble 27 hours after the collapse of the towers. The resulting fires burned for 99 days.

Cantor Fitzgerald Financial lost 658 employees. Marsh & McLennan lost 295. Higher up in the buildings than anyone else, 6 television engineers perished in the rooftop broadcast centers. 165 people died in the Windows on the World rooftop restaurant, including 73 staff members, 16 Risk Magazine employees, and 76 other guests enjoying breakfast. 60 different companies with offices in the World Trade Center lost employees. All 35 members of the flight and cabin crews on the hijacked aircraft were killed.

343 FDNY firefighters and paramedics perished, along with 23 NYPD officers, 37 Port Authority Police officers, 15 EMTs, 3 court officers, and 1 police K9 unit dog named Sirius. FDNY Ladder 3 and Squad 1 each lost 11 members. Over 2,000 first responders were injured. 14,000 firefighters and EMS workers employed by the FDNY at the time. 11,000 of them worked on rubble pile immediately after the attacks.

372 foreign citizens were killed, representing 115 countries. 60 Muslims died in the attacks and, no, that does not include any hijackers.

The two planes that hit the towers were flying at 470mph and 590mph. Fires from jet fuel burned at 1,800°. The first impact registered 0.9 on the Richter Scale. The first collapse measured 2.3, was felt 21 miles away, and registered on seismic equipment as far as Maine. Debris from the second aircraft was found 6 blocks away. Dust from the collapse reached the Empire State Building, nearly 3 miles away. The landing gear from the first aircraft landed in and destroyed a Burlington Coat Factory at 45 Park Place. You may know this building better as the proposed site for a Manhattan Mosque.

The post-collapse debris pile weighed 1,800,000 tons. It took 11,000 truckloads to remove all of the debris, an operation which took 9 months.

New York City ordered 100,000 body bags to the scene. Almost none were used as only 289 bodies were found 'in tact'. 19,848 body parts were eventually uncovered. 15,260 remain unidentified. 65,000 personal items were recovered from the site of the two towers. Bone fragments were found 5 years later as workers prepared the damaged Deutsche Bank Building for demolition.

1,609 people lost a spouse or domestic partner. 3,051 children lost a parent. Over 1,300 were orphaned entirely. 40 people lost a twin sibling. 20% of Americans know someone injured or killed on 9/11. 1,717 families received no remains of their loved ones. 120 babies were born to 9/11 widows in the first year after the attack.

Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000. Jobs lost in New York as a result of 9/11: 146,100.

Pentagon casualties included 70 civilians and 55 military personnel. 92 were on the first floor, 31 were on the second floor, and 2 were on the third. Another 106 injured were treated at area hospitals. Resource Services Washington lost 34 of its 45 employees. Navy Command Center lost 29. The Army alone suffered 75 casualties. Flight 77 hit the west side of the Pentagon at 345mph, penetrating 3 rings. The damaged area collapsed 30 minutes after impact.

Flight 93 impacted the ground in Shanksville Pennsylvania at 564mph, inverted at an angle of 40°. The impact left a crater 10 feet deep and 50 feet wide. The plane crashed just 167 miles and less than 20 minutes away from Washington DC, its intended target.

116,000 American flags were sold nationwide by Wal-Mart on September 11, 2001. According to Pew, 97% of people in the US remember ten years later where they were when they heard about the attacks.

The victims on September 11th included 8 children. The youngest victim was a 2 year-old child, the oldest an 82 year-old man. The average age of all the dead was just 40. The ratio of men to women killed was 3:1. It takes approximately 8 hours to read the names of all the victims at Ground Zero during remembrance ceremonies each year.

In 2009, the last civilian victim was officially added to the death toll as Leon Heyward died 7 years after 9/11 from lymphoma linked to the collapse. Pat Flounders shot herself 3 months after 9/11, becoming the first widow to commit suicide.

6 buildings in Manhattan completely collapsed on September 11th. 3 more partially collapsed (plus the Pentagon), and 8 others were severely damaged. Nearly 50 buildings in New York received at least some damage.

Just 2 weeks after the attacks, the first firefighter was admitted to hospital with acute eosinophilic pneumonia after repeated exposure to dust. As of November 2010, 916 first-responders have died in the years since from illnesses related to their rescue efforts.

It took 6.3 years to build the World Trade Center. It took 1 hour, 41 minutes, and 45 seconds to destroy the towers, from first impact to second collapse, with just seconds for each tower to come down.

Currently, 24 people still remain listed as 'missing'.

________________________________________________

Here is a link to a list of all the victims of September 11th. Please do not fail to note how long this list is, and how long it takes you to scroll down to the end: http://alturl.com/5o8b

For the Birds

2011-01-06T13:26:00.001-08:00

Well, it was bound to happen when the NFL decided to split the league into eight divisions; it was only a matter of time. And here we are, with the embarrassment of a 7-9 team hosting a playoff game while two 10-6 teams are sitting at home. Almost everyone outside of Seattle agrees that this is a travesty, and, unlike some arguments I have heard, this is not an aberration—it will happen again. When you have nearly as many divisions as playoff spots, you are practically begging for it to happen again.

Even if you want to make the argument that Seattle deserves to be in the playoffs because they won their division (not much of an accomplishment considering that my cousin's midget football team could win seven games in that division), you can't possibly believe that the Seahawks deserve to host a playoff game, that the 11-5 Saints should have to travel to Seattle to play this game. And consider this: if things had fallen a little differently in the last week of the season, it would have been the Falcons with a 12-4 record heading to 7-9 Seattle. Does anyone seriously think this is good for the NFL?

So what should they do about it? They'll never go back to six divisions, so that's not an option. Ideally, only the top three division winners in each conference should be guaranteed playoff spots, but the owners would never go for that, either. At the very least, the owners should agree that winning your division should not guarantee you a home playoff game. The playoffs should be seeded according to record. Not only is this the fair thing to do, but it would also make the final games of the regular season more interesting. Think about how many teams rest players during the last two weeks because their seeding is locked up. For example, the Eagles would not have been able to rest their starters in last week's Dallas game under this proposed format because they would have fallen behind Green Bay in the seedings and lost their chance to host a playoff game. Also, the Bears would have had more to play for in the final week because a loss would have meant falling behind the Saints and losing their first-round bye. In fact, every playoff team in the league except for the Patriots would have had something to play for in the final week.

The NFL has been searching for ways to make that final week more interesting and this seems like a perfect solution. Not only would fewer teams be resting players at the end of the season, but the playoff seeding would be much more equitable. Yeah, you would still have crappy 7-9 Seattle in the playoffs, but at least they wouldn't be rewarded with a home playoff game against a much better team. They would be the 6th seed, where they belong.

But I didn't come here to talk about that :-)

Time for this week's picks. Might as well start with the team in question...

New Orleans at Seattle
Seattle might actually have a chance to win this game . . . if a wormhole swallows up the Saints' plane on the way to Seattle. I'm feeling generous, so I'll give the home team a special teams TD to go with a couple of field goals. Saints: 31, Seahawks 13.

Baltimore at Kansas City
Kansas City has had an admirable season, but they're not ready for a game like this against a team of this caliber. Ravens 23, Chiefs 14.

New York at Indianapolis
This is my slight upset pick of the week. Manning just doesn't have the weapons this year and I think the Jets will win the battle up front. Jets 24, Colts 21.

Green Bay at Philadelphia
This should be the game of the week between two teams with explosive offenses. Green Bay seems to be the popular pick around the country, but I'm going to be a homer here and pick the Birds to eke one out. Eagles 28, Packers 24.

The End of the Phillies Season: Perspective the Next Day

2010-10-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

by Michael Hochman

It's nice to see all the Phils fans sharing their thoughts and emotions on Facebook and Twitter, reflecting how we all felt, how we all feel. It helps to read others with similar emotions, and the collective sense of loss (thanks, Mike Sweeney).

Sad here too. The five stages have started. I'm still proud, and I’m already pumped for next season. It will be another long march to October, but it’s gonna end in a 5th straight division title with no doubt. (Can't wait to see a season with less injury, and can’t wait to see who'll be in the corner outfield spots and in the bullpen.)

But as for right now, I feel empty, and I'm walking around the house not knowing what to do with myself. And it's not just the watching the games that is a hole to fill; it's the day of games, and the excitement knowing that the game will be on in a few hours, what magic does Halladay have tonight, how many runs will Fat Joe give up in the first, how's Jimmy feeling, how did the Braves do, how many games up, what Phillies shirt should I wear today, getting amped up. But as for right now, I'm just lost. It’s not possible that it’s another six months until another Phils game. I'm glad I'm a Flyers fan and an Eagles fan, and college hoops are around the corner, but it's just not the Phillies. The Phillies are my team above all others, always has been, from Luis Aguayo to Pat Zachry. But as for right now, it’s five stages of grief. We should all get a drink and talk about the amazing season we’ve just experienced when we're done mourning: racing back from being seven games down, second half surge, perfect game, no hitter, Moyer's shutout, the series in Cincinnati, the loss of Robin Roberts, the comeback against Broxton, four straight division titles, not being Mets fans.

As far as I can see, no one in Philadelphia is anything but proud. Disappointed and sad, but proud. (And if you’re 'angry' at Ryan Howard right now, go down to Modell’s and turn in your Phils hat, you’re banned.) What a great season by a team that lead the league in games lost to injury. We love this team of all-stars, winners, and outstanding character (As opposed to the Mets and their rapejaculating, beating up dads-in-law, and blowing off injured veterans.) We're ready and rarin' to go for next season so we can finish what we started and make it 5 division championships in a row and 2 titles in four years. That's of course after the first place Eagles and the defending Conference Champion Flyers are finished their runs. The greatest sports city in America only gets greater. We wish congrats to the Giants, especially or even despite Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand, and it’s nice that we're guaranteed that one city will see its first ever baseball parade. Hope they enjoy it as much as we did just two seasons ago. I'd like it to be Texas, but the first time I see George Bush in the stands at the Rangers game, I'll start rooting for the Giants. I wouldn’t mind seeing overflow Cowboys fans get disappointed in an entire different sport.

The Phillies were the better team in the regular season; the Giants outplayed and the Phillies underplayed the last two weeks. The Giants are the better team right now. The Phillies suffered from the same things they suffered from a lot this year: disappearing offense, shaky relief work, pitches in bad spots, not hitting with RISP, poor timing, letting less-than-stars beat them, and collective slumping. The Giants deserve what they've earned.

Losing is easier on a team that's not used to winning. It's how we felt in '93. Joe Carter was devastating, but we got over it faster knowing we were on a run that came from nowhere and was going nowhere. It was easier to say 'wow look what we did', and that's why that team is beloved (and even Mitch Williams is now beloved). It's how it felt in '07 when the Phils lost in the DS to the Rockies too... we knew the window was opening and there was much more to come. That's the position the Giants and the Rangers are in. When you're used to winning, you lose every sense of 'at least we got this far'. You expect more, and it's harder when you lose if you know you're capable of much more. It takes longer to get back to 'we'll get 'em next year'. The over-achievement in the long run is 'easier' than the despair of unfulfillment.

Seven games back and swept by Houston to best record in baseball and one game away from the World Series. Nothing to be ashamed about. There's a reason no NL team has gone to three straight World Series since the 1940s... because it's HARD. Hey, and the Flyers won last night. Remember what they did last June?? What a time to be a Philadelphia sports fan. As far as the current Phillies, the window is still open. And I can’t wait for the parade down Broad Street in November 2011. Book it.

Until then, I still say that the pitch to Howard was low.

Bias and Spite: Mike F's football picks

2010-10-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Yes - you're right. There are a million sportswriters/sports personalities out there giving their weekly picks. So why on Earth should I pay any attention to this one - especially when it's starting in week six? Quite frankly, I can't think of a good reason. I'm quite used to writing blog entries that nobody reads, so a few more times won't kill me.

What makes my perspective different? Probably nothing. I can tell you though, that I will not hesitate to show my bias toward my favorite team - and I will not hesitate to use unrealistic and unsubstantiated personal vendetta-type language to underscore my picks. I also may decide not to talk about a particular game or games, simply because I can't be bothered to muster up the interest.

I'm guessing it won't take long to figure out what team I favor. Here's a hint - I hate the following teams: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Tennessee. Still not sure? I also hate Dallas, San Francisco, Oakland, Denver and New England. I'm pretty much indifferent to the rest of the NFL.

It's probably best to refrain from trying to figure out the logic behind most of these likes/dislikes. There are some twisted reasons in some cases, and some totally illogical thought behind others. At any rate, I think you might find it entertaining to see what nutty thing I have to say about a given team/game.

Wendy, shall we begin? And yes - I will probably be using lots of obscure quotes and references (like the one at the beginning of this paragraph) in each and every article. Extra points to you if you can figure out the source.

Seattle at Chicago

Ho hum. This one should be pretty boring - I have no real opinion about either team. I do think that Seattle is overrated (and I think this every year), and that Chicago will eventually wind up faltering at the end of the season no matter how they start. I'd expect a relatively low scoring affair, maybe 20-17 or something like that. Unless Jay Cutler decides to throw four touchdown passes or four interceptions. Either way, I'll be happy to spend my time Sunday afternoon watching/doing something else.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume Chicago, unless Seattle has another team play the game for them.

Miami at Green Bay

So Green Bay is 3-2, eh? So much for ESPN and their opinion that GB was going to be a force this year. More often than not, you can count on any team/player that ESPN gets heavily behind to not live up to expectations. Even if those inflated expectations are the property of ESPN only. Without the wildcat, Miami is about as exciting as ... reading this article?
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume Miami. GB has issues (and I can't be bothered to look them up. They have issues - leave it at that).

Kansas City at Houston

Not much to say here except that I am stunned that KC is anywhere near being the best team (according to record) in the NFL. This is a sad state of affairs. Rest of NFL, you should be embarrased. Houston is tough to root against, considering they've pretty much sucked since their inception. I suppose I'd root for Houston in this game, but, honestly, neither team will matter come December.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume Houston, as I think KC is a total fraud.

Cleveland at Pittsburgh

Now we're talking. The Mistake By The Lake against the greatest team in the history of the NFL. Should be a no-brainer, right? Ben Roethlisberger is back, and ESPN would have you believe that everybody is amazed that the Steelers went 3-1 without him. Clearly, they didn't check with any Steelers fans, because all the Steelers fans I talked to felt the Steelers would go 4-0 and can't believe they lost to pissant pretenders like Baltimore. The Browns look like they're all set to fall behind early and watch as the Steelers rack up 101 unanswered points. This is a divisional game and the Steelers tend to play down to the level of their opponent. Don't be surprised if the game is close, or if the Steelers lose. They shouldn't lose - they should kick the snot out of the Browns, but that never happens.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume the Steelers, of course! It will probably be close, but come on!

San Diego at St. Louis, Detroit at N.Y. Giants

Why even bother? Does anyone really care?
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume St. Louis and The Giants.

Baltimore at New England

Baltimore should never have beaten the Steelers. I will be rooting for New England to come out and rip the Ravens a couple new ones. This is just the kind of thing that Bill Belichick loves. A cocky team that believes the hype. Expect Baltimore's suddenly dynamic offense to become pedestrian and expect Tom Brady to prove that he's more than capable of winning without Randy Moss.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume that New England will win, and that we'll be able to hear Belichick bore us at game's end telling us that the offense and defense did some good things, they learned a lot about their team and that there's still plenty of areas in which the Patriots can improve.

Atlanta at Philadelphia

I keep hearing how great Atlanta is, but they struggled against the Roethlisberger-less Steelers. They're 4-1, but, honestly - it's a pretty weak four wins. Also suspect Arizona, winless San Francisco and hapless Cleveland? Even their 'legit' win came against a reeling New Orleans team. Eagles - hear me now, believe me later. You should win this game going away, and you should simply accept that - long term - Kevin Kolb should be your quarterback. Mike Vick is not the answer. Trade him now and get what you can for him.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume the Eagles will 'doggedly' prove they are the better team.

Okay, that's enough for now - seriously, I have other things that I should be doing. Really! The only other game worth mentioning at this point is the Dallas at Minnesota game. Both teams are a snoozy 1-3 (nyahh nyahh), both teams are looking for that elusive winning formula to push them in the right direction. No matter which team wins, not much will change. They will both still stink.
What? You want to know who I think will win? Let's assume Minnesota will win, unless Randy Moss retires before game time.

All right, that wraps it up. Thanks for not reading this article. It's been great fun sharing my vast football expertise with nobody. Tune in next week for another edition (maybe - we'll see).

This weekend, I'll also be rooting for the Phillies to win and for the Yankees to lose. Nothing personal - I just hate the Yankees with a passion.

Craig's List Post: WANTED: Runs. Philadelphia. Style points not a consideration.

2010-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

As I write this, the Phillies are down 9-0 after three innings to the Red Sox. You'd think that this would prompt a commentary about the Phillies pitching. Not a chance. It's all about the hitting.

The sports radio commentators are full of advice for Phillies faithful. No need to panic. They've done this before. It's just a slump. They'll come out of it. And they use many words to describe how they see things. Concerned. Upset. Disappointed. Surprised.

I am none of these things. In fact, I think that my word is the one word that I believe that the Phillies would not want to hear. I feel that no organization that is involved in entertainment of any sort would want to hear.

Bored.

That's right. I'm bored by the Phillies. They're boring. This is my third season of not being able to watch Phillies games because I don't have Comcast. I've been listening to the Phillies on the radio and had developed an appreciation for taking in baseball games in this manner.

Last night, I went to Citizen's Bank Park for the first time this season. I saw Roy Halladay pitch for the first time this season. He was great - a little rocky in the first inning, but otherwise, great. No problem there.

The problem was that the hitters were on vacation or something. As I walked though the concourse, hunting down french fries for my son (remember the Bugs Bunny Easter cartoon? "I want an Easter Egg. I want an Easter Egg. I want an Easter Egg."), I was listening to the broadcast. They actually referred to this game as a pitcher's duel.

If the Phillies had previously - within, say the last three weeks or so - displayed any grit or pizzazz, then I'd agree with this assessment. Instead, I laughed. This was no pitcher's duel. This was Josh Johnson mowing down a lineup that should be capable of knocking him out by the 5th inning.

Instead, it was quick at-bats. Inning after inning. At-bats so quick that I missed a few of them due to turning my head away to talk to my son or my father. The Phillies halves of the innings might as well not have been played.

This much maligned pitching staff has performed well above expectations. Far better than this "study in moppishness" that is the current Phillies lineup. Three consecutive shutouts against the hated (and, frankly, pretty lame) Mets? Of all teams, the Mets? Come on guys!!

It's sad to say. I love my Phillies. And I'll be there at the end of the season to see how things turn out. But they bore the crap out of me right now. I can't even be bothered to pay attention. It's the same old, same old with them. If they right the ship, and manage to make me care again, that would be great.

But right now - I'm too bored to pay any attention. Wake me when the offense makes its way back to Philly.

All Flyered Up! Sort of...

2010-06-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Call this "confessions of a non-hockey fan who happens to live in a hockey mad region." A region that had the pure sports bliss of witnessing their local team valiantly battle for the NHL championship. Lord Stanley, are you listening?

During the NHL playoffs, I have found myself in an odd position. I never watched a minute, but as a result of friends who were fans and updates on ESPN radio (I still listen despite Mike Greenberg's increasinlgy fawning and annoying delivery), I managed to keep in tune with what was happening.

I am not a hockey fan, but I am a sports fan. So I get the significance of what the Flyers did. To me, regardless of how many other teams had done it, coming back to win after being down 3 games to none in a playoff series (against the Boston Bruins) is remarkable and worthy of some hype. I actually enjoyed the Flyers' story a lot more because I wasn't immersed in it.

I can contrast this to the endless and meaningless hyperbole associated with Stephen Strasburg's impressive debut. Yes, Strasburg had a fantastic performance. If you based your opinion of that outing solely on ESPN's (and in my case, the Mike & Mike in the Morning's perspective) coverage, you'd assume that no pitcher had ever had a pitching performance as great as that one was. The fact is that there have been a few other great performances, and Greenberg, Tim Kurkjian et. al. seem to conveniently forget all that when it suits them. As for Strasburg - it was an amazing pitching line - 14 strikeouts (Ks) out of 94 pitches. Amazing. But let's see how he's doing after his 7th or 8th start. He may still be pitching fantastically, but I doubt it will be as spectacular as his debut outing. I don't think we'll be seeing 14 Ks out of 94 pitches again anytime soon. I do think he has all the makings of a very good pitcher, though.

Get back to the ice!

Right. Okay, coming back to win the last 4 games of a playoff series is an incredible feat. I remember 2004, when the Red Sox did this to the Yankees, and how against-all-odds that seemed. To see it happen again so soon after that - and to a team that is regionally significant to me is really cool. One could argue that the comeback against the Bruins was the most significant happening of the 2009-2010 NHL season. If one chooses to argue this point - please take it easy on me. I'm a hockey novice...

Something like an incredible and a historic comeback can really make the most hardened, post-season disappointment-expecting Philadelphia fan (and we expect disappointment for good reason) take note and start to believe that, "Yes! a Philly team can win a championship!" Much national and local ink was wasted - before and after the Phillies scintillating run to their awesome 2008 World Series win - about the 25 years of dormancy in Philadelphia championships. (Actually, for me it was 28 years, as I am, in addition to not being a hockey fan, I am also not a basketball (NBA in particular) fan, so the 1982-1983 Sixers title holds little true value for me.)

But I digress...again!

Next up for the Flyers were the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that I later learned was even more snakebit than the Flyers, having last won the Stanley Cup in 1961. Add this to 100+ years of Chicago Cub baseball championship futility, and you can see that Philly and Chicago fans have some common ground.

Of course, with news of tasering, fans premeditated throwing up on fans and kids with beer bottles fresh on the media circuit, it wasn't long before the alleged loutish behavior of the Philly fan started to surface. But I blocked all that out and waited with an unexpected anticipation for the second-hand updates of the Flyers games.

Keep in mind that I didn't watch any of the games, so all I can tell is how I experienced these games. It didn't start out well, as the Flyers dropped the first two games by one goal in each, in what look like close matches when I see them in the box scores.

Then the Flyers got their mojo and won the next two games, including an overtime win in Game 4 that I actually listened to on the radio - the closest I had come to actually personally witnessing any of this series. Looking good, right? Well, it was good while it lasted.

Consigned to the ranks of history is the knowledge that the Flyers lost the last two games of the Stanley Cup Finals and then they and their fans had to endure the Blackhawks celebrating their win on Flyer ice. I have heard over the years (mostly in baseball stories) that when this has happenned to other teams, that they forced themselves to stay and watch every moment of the celebration. To burn that moment into their minds and remember forever how it felt to be that close to their dream and then have to watch someone else walk away with their trophy. In short, to use that experience as motivation for the next year. The idea here being that if they ever get back to the championship round, they'll rememeber last year and things will be different. After all, who'd want to relive such an unpleasant experience?

So what does all this mean? This Flyers playoff run has been really interesting to me, as one who is not a hockey fan. I was not following it day-to-day as I do with football or baseball, so I feel I had a refreshing view of the whole thing. I was still able to feel the excitement of the Flyer wins and the disappointment of the Flyer losses. I was able to hold conversations with die hard hockey fans - as long as the discussion didn't get too involved - and I enjoyed hearing and feeling their passion. Some of my best friends are hockey fans!

Postscript: Again, I am talking strictly from second-hand information here, but I'd have to think that the NHL must be thrilled with this Stanley Cup playoff. It went six games (as opposed to a quick four-game sweep), and held a high position on ESPN's radar in terms of coverage. After decades of pretty much (perhaps this is only in my eyes) being a second-tier sport - this series was just what they needed. And the Flyers and their dedicated and spirited fans were an integral part of that.

So give yourselves a pat on the back, Flyers fans! And who knows? Maybe next year, the Flyers will have earned themselves another crazed fan. If this makes me a bandwagonner, then I can accept that. I only hope that my fellow bloggers MPH and Michael Rappa (rabid hockey/Flyer fans both) can forgive me this indiscretion.

Special thanks to my lovely wife for suggesting the topic of this article.

An Open Letter to Pessimistic Flyers Fans the Day after Losing the Cup

2010-06-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Flyers ‘fans’ jumping off the bandwagon after last night’s loss:

All you negative bandwagon people are ridiculous, and you might not expect this position from me, but you’re looking at the Flyers run – and devastating end – through hangover glasses. Wake up this morning and realize that you were witness to history, and take a real look at what this team has done over the last eight weeks. They gave us a playoff run for Philadelphia to cherish for generations.

No, they didn't win. And it sucks. And losing is not comparable to winning, and losing makes the Flyers no more of a Stanley Cup champion this year than the last-place Oilers in that neither won it all. No one is saying much less hinting that this is as good as winning, nor are 'satisfied' with it. We'd rather be celebrating a parade down Broad Street on Monday. Did the Flyers fail in a quest for the ultimate prize? Yes, and they’re no more "winners" than the Rangers, Devils, Pens, and Caps. But that's the argument of the bandwagon jumper, not the true fan that knows that the game is more than wins, losses, standings, and OT goals.

What this team did, a team that was in complete disarray after the Olympics, a team with a big new goaltender that flamed out due to injury, a team who fired their coach mid-season, a team who was 2-7-1 after the coaching change, was legendary.

This was a team, that through eight starting goaltender changes, fell and fell in the standings until it took a last-game miracle to make the playoffs in a shootout with the team's biggest rival.

This was a team that dominated the favored (even for the Cup) Devils in 5 games, highlighted by Dan Carcillo's memorable OT goal.

This was a team, and I won't belabor the point, that without injured stars Carter and Gagne and later Boucher, became the 3rd team EVER to come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a series, and the first team EVER to go down 3-0 in a Game 7 in the road and win the game.

This was a team that then faced a Canadiens team that already knocked off the President's Trophy winner and the reigning Stanley Cup champions where the Flyers THIRD STRING goalie had three shutouts in 5 games, and capped the series with Richard's highlight short-handed goal.

This was a team that was now in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 13 years, facing a team that finished 24 points ahead of them in the standings who just swept the number one seed, where they get dominated in Games 1 and 2 yet only lose by a goal each game. The team-that-never-dies comes back from 'oh they're finished' to capture both games at home to tie the series, highlighted by Giroux's OT thriller. Once again dominated by the Hawks in Game 5, they come back again to stay in the series with a Daignault-like goal by Sideshow Scottie Hartnell with under 4 to play to force another OT, one of the great moments in Flyers history. Sadly, no miracle occurs in OT, and yes, the Flyers fail the ultimate goal when a Calder Trophy winner, All-Star, and Olympian scores on our - did I mention - third-string goalie.

Did it end in victory? No. Did it end in disappointment? Yes. No one is celebrating second place, we're celebrating honor, faith, determination, grit, pride, teamwork, resilience, overcoming obstacles, and heart. No one wants to lose, but in absence of that, we'll take what this team did, the special gift they gave us this spring. They gave us a two-month roller-coaster run that no one expected. They gave this city all they had, and much more. This was a seven-seed that squeaked in to the playoffs on the last day of the season and found a way to ride momentum and miracle all the way to overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. This was more than a nice story, this was history.

I hate losing as much as anyone. We're disappointed, even heart-broken. The '93 Phils hurt, Joe Carter was crushing, but damn do we love that team in hindsight. Overachievers, defying expectations, capturing hearts with determined, gritty play. Sound familiar? We're not Cubs fans, we're not lovable losers; we're not fans of snake-bit teams the nation feels sorry for like the pre-2004 Red Sox. We're the proud, allegiant fans of the Orange and Black. And you can take your antagonism and your 'standards' and jump on someone else's bandwagon. The real Flyers fans, the real Philadelphia fans, don't need you. And I, for one, would welcome a parade (well, at least a rally at City Hall) for this team and what they accomplished, and a place among Philly sport's greatest seasons.

And I can't wait for October to get this all going again, because next year, I'm still not satisfied with second place as great a story as it may be. I'm ready to go all the way.

Love, Philadelphia

My prediction on the Phillies 2010 roster and off-season moves

2009-11-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

My prediction on the Phillies 2010 roster and off-season moves. This roster includes 12 pitchers and 13 position players. Charlie likes to keep a lot of pitchers around.

We know Lee, Cole, Happ, and Blanton. The fifth starter position comes down to Antonio Bastardo, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Drabek, Andrew Carpenter, Kyle Kendrick, or a free agent. I think Bastardo is the most ready now and with upside and ML experience. I love Jamie, but maybe it's time for him to take a position in the organization. Carp and Kendrick are right in Lehigh Valley when needed, and Drabek will be a starter, this season or next, depending on injuries and how the staff pitches. I would also like to see Rubén trade Blanton for someone serviceable, and then give Drabek a shot in the rotation or keep Jamie (28 wins in the last two seasons people) starting. And Cole needs a battery of sessions with a sports psychologist, and an early trip to spring training to work on his curveball.

Starting Pitchers
• Cliff Lee
• Cole Hamels
• J.A. Happ
• Joe Blanton
• Antonio Bastardo

Lidge and Madson still anchor the bullpen. My hope for Lidge is that after his surgery, he will have an excuse for 2009. If he can point to his elbow and say ‘oh, ok, that’s why I sucked’, he can psychologically move past 2009, so he doesn’t have to blame his actual pitching. I still think a visit to a sports psychologist is a good idea. Park and Eyre are free agents that I think the Phils should resign. Both of them, and Romero, need to get healthy, and I’m satisfied with a bullpen that mirrors last season, and looks a lot like the one that was stellar in 2008. God bless Scott Eyre who said "I promise you, I'll either wear a P on my hat next year or (pitch) nowhere else”.

Relief Pitchers
• Brad Lidge - R
• Ryan Madson – R

• J.C. Romero - L
• Scott Eyre – L
• Chad Durbin - R
• Chan Ho Park - R
• Clay Condrey – R

We love Ruíz, and so do Dubee and the pitching staff. Paul Bako is a free agent, and I’m not really sure why he was here in the first place. He certainly wasn’t any better than Coste. We need to get Carlos more rest though. Rod Barajas was not the answer, and neither was Sal Fasano. I think that Jason LaRue of the Cardinals is a gettable free agent and a righty bat off the bench.

Catchers
• Carlos Ruíz
• Jason LaRue – R

Pedro Feliz, and his glove (excellent despite the most errors for him since 2006 for him), is gone, at least for now, and there are quality third basemen to be had. Chone Figgins is an all-star and a free agent that can be had for a reasonable price because at 31, he’s not a youngster anymore. Figgins becomes your lead-off hitter and Jimmy moves down to 7th with a great bat to protect Raúl, with speed at both ends of the lineup. The Phils keep Dobbs as their primary left-handed bat off the bench, mainly because Charlie loves him. I don’t see any way Charlie let’s Rubén dump Dobbs. And if he can find what he had in 2008, he’s a link again. And even more importantly, Utley and Rollins need someone on the bench to spell them because if it was up to them, they’d play 200 games a season. Mark DeRosa, a free agent from the Cardinals, is an excellent righty bat off the bench that can play all the infield positions, and a serious upgrade from Eric Bruntlett. Toronto free agent Marco Scutaro can fill that void too. They were both starters last season, but I think the time has come for both to find a home as key bench players.

Infielders
• Ryan Howard
• Chase Utley
• Jimmy Rollins
• Chone Figgins

• Greg Dobbs - L
• Mark DeRosa - R

The starting outfield can stick around for another four years as far as I’m concerned. It’s the best in the NL. Hopefully surgery and rest will put Ibáñez back to where he started the season. And Shane is only going to get better. Remember how people thought that he’d never be able to replace Aaron Rowand, much less Bobby Abreu? Ben Francisco will stick and is a decent fifth outfielder, both offensively and defensively. I love Matt Stairs, and so does Charlie, but I don’t see him being resigned. And I think that John Mayberry Jr. has a lot of upside, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him traded in a good deal for another need (maybe in a package with Blanton?). Michael Taylor and Domonic Brown are both quality prospects that deserve a shot at the majors, depending on who has a better spring. I think that player will be Dom Brown, especially considering that I think the Phils would prefer to have Taylor play every day in the minors and learn rather than sit on the bench.

Outfielders
• Raúl Ibáñez
• Shane Victorino
• Jayson Werth

• Ben Francisco - R
• Domonic Brown – L

So who’s gone? Both Pedros, Feliz and Martinez. Brett Myers, and thank god. Probably Moyer. The Kyles, Kendrick and Drabek, go to Lehigh Valley for future use, as do Sergio Escalona, Drew Carpenter, and Drew Naylor. You’ll be definitely hearing from Scott Mathieson again, and possibly Mike Zagurski. And if Tyler Walker wants to stick around and take an assignment to Triple-A, I’d love to have him available, same with Jack Taschner.

Shed no tears for Eric Bruntlett. If I remember correctly, he had two errors replacing Rollins in his first game as a Phillie. I will miss the beard though. I will be sad to see Matt Stairs depart, but seriously, he’s a 42 year old bench DH. He’s a folk hero here, but last season was poor. Thanks for the homer against the Dodgers, Matt. Go retire back to the Maritimes. No more Pedro Feliz, and Miguel Cairo, although Cairo was a good pick-up and did what he needed to do. Andy Tracy, John Ennis, and Paul Hoover were roster-fillers. And I think we finally get Antonio Alfonseca, Adam Eaton, Jose Mesa, Geoff Jenkins, and Jim Thome off the books this season to free up free agent money.

And despite giving up a lot to get Cliff Lee (and worth every penny and every Marson), there is still a ton of talent in the minors, and even in the high minors. This is how I see it as of a week after the Series.

Phillies World Series 2009: A Year Later, and They Still Don't Want Us

2009-10-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

So now that the Yankees and the Phillies are both up 3-1 in their respective League Championship series, the buzz about these two teams meeting in the Fall Classic is really starting to heat up. And so is the deliberate ignorance of the media types.

Mike Greenberg, of the Mike & Mike in the Morning 'sports' talk radio show, was prattling on about the potential for violence, arrests, etc. should the Yankee fans and the Phillies fans be in the same stadium at the same time. Nothing like reporting the news as opposed to generating it.

Why not pull out your long-dormant journalistic chops and wait until there's an incident before starting this conversation? Then Mike Golic chimes in with speculation about Philly fans who would attend both the Eagles/Giants game and World Series game 4, both scheduled for November 1st.

The theory goes that they'll tailgate, go to the Eagles game, come back to the parking lot, change jerseys, tailgate, and then go to the Phillies game as boorish drunks ready to fight with Yankee fans, cause mayhem and headaches for the cops and create lasting images for Fox to show endlessly for the duration of their - sure to be spectacularly captivating - World Series coverage.

All 60,000 fans. I think it's safe to say that Phillies fans and Eagles fans are a different sort of person. There is some mixing of the two, but, by and large, the fans that attend Phils games are not the same as the ones that attend Eagles games. I'm guessing that there will be a lot more peace in Philly on November 1st than the national media would like.

LA Times Recycles

Last year, TJ Simers of the LA Times made some stupid comments about Philadelphia and it's fine fan base. Before I get into his journalistically challenged 'writings' of 2009 regarding these same people, I'd like to mention his humorous foray into MannyWorld.

From the October 19th LA Times:

"The crowd starts chanting, "You took steroids," and just to prove to everyone he's no longer on the juice, Manny Ramirez whiffs.

Later I ask Manny, "Where did they get this crazy idea you took steroids?" "Next," he says, whiffing again."

Now that's funny. I almost believed that Simers might be able to avoid ticking me off.

Then, this gem from the October 20th LA Times:

"As you know, Fox will be broadcasting the World Series and it likes to put the camera on the face of every single fan sitting in the stands, these fans as ugly as any in the country.

Nowhere in America are people more angry than those living here."

And "...the only bright spot if they draw the Yankees now, getting a look in the mirror at fans who might remind them of themselves."

And so it goes. I guess the LA Times doesn't want to let nuisances like facts or objectivity get in the way of a potentially entertaining story.

The Enemy Within

Sadly, the Philadelphia media also got into the act. This traitorious exceprt is from the October 20th Philadelphia Daily News:

"It's all fun and games until someone starts a fire. Then trash cans get tossed, windows get shattered and a city's reputation gets sullied once again. At least, that's how it played out last October when some fans turned the Broad Street celebration of the Phillies' World Series victory into an ugly, unruly mess."

Very disappointing to see this in a paper where they should know better. Where the writer (David Gambacorta) should be keenly aware of the twisted national perception of Phillies fans. A few isolated incidents does not a fan base damn. And these paragraphs also happily leave out the fact that this sort of fan activity is not unique to Philadelphia. It just seems that way, as some media outlets just seem to love to focus on these isolated incidents (in Philly), rather than doing some work and getting a new and, perhaps different (and more representative) story.

Reluctantly, Back to TJ For the Close

Believe me, TJ, I get it. If my team sucked and choked as badly as the Dodgers have these past two years, I'd be bitter too. We Phillies fans have a lot of experience with teams that suck. How do you think we got so "ugly" ?

We may be ugly, but we're more than likely going to the World Series. Again. Past the wreckage of a Dodger team that chose to believe it was better than it was. A team that chose - like the national media - to disrespect the Phillies.

Keep on disrespecting the Phillies and their fans. We kinda like it. It makes looking at that 2008 World Series trophy all the more enjoyable.

Random Thoughts

2009-09-15T17:23:00.001-07:00

In lieu of a new article, here's a compilation of my sports-related thoughts from this past weekend...

Saturday at 7:07pm
Wanted: Closer. Location: Philadelphia. Job Description: Get people out. Must be willing to travel.

Sunday at 12:01pm
I'm ready for some football!

Sunday at 2:45pm
Can't ask for a much better first half. Stupid penalties at the beginning, but they more than overcame that. The defense was awesome!

Sunday sometime after 3pm
It's so nice to see McNabb running again . . . oh no!!!

Sunday at 4:22pm
Today's game ball goes to Sean McDermott. He answered any questions about the defense without Jim Johnson in a HUGE way.

Sunday at 4:38pm
Fractured ribs! How quickly euphoria can turn to despair. Anybody who watched the offense today with Kolb at the helm better hope that McNabb can return sooner rather than later . . . and I don't even want to think about having to root for a Vick-led football team. With all apologies to Westbrook (who I love), McNabb is the most irreplaceable player on this team.

Sunday at 5:11pm
It sure looked like an unflagged late hit that caused the injury. McNabb was clearly on the ground and the TD was already called, but the #92 a-hole kept coming and pounced on him. Freakin' Carolina. They did the same thing to him in the championship game a few years back: pounced on him with a late hit and knocked him out of the game. I hope this one gets fined at least. So much for protecting the quarterbacks.

Sunday at 8:26pm
I'm glad the Phillies won today, but nearly another blown save! What's Mitch Williams doing these days?

Sunday at 11:10pm
A month ago Pedro was pretty much an afterthought . . . not anymore.

Monday at 8:15pm
I like the Garcia signing. He's a veteran and knows the offense. If McNabb is going to be out for the next two games, which is highly probable, I'd much rather have Garcia in there than Kolb or Vick, though unfortunately Kolb will still be starting this week. Here's hoping he proves me wrong.

Tuesday at 9:30am
Good first week for my fantasy team, The Untouchables: 162.5 points, thanks mostly to Brees and the Eagles defense/special teams, who combined for about 90 of those points. Good first week for me in the pick'em pool as well: I went 13-3; could have been even better if I had gone with the Jets as I had been tempted to do.

Tuesday at 2:56pm
So Andrews is done for the season. It doesn't look like this guy is ever going to live up to his talent. Apparently, at least one medical doctor thinks he may never play again. Justice played well this week, but it's time to bring back Runyan.

On Vick and the Eagles

2009-09-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Damn you, Andy Reid. Damn you, Jeff Lurie. Damn you both for putting me in the position of rooting for a team with a dog murderer on it. Let me make this clear: I don't want Vick on my team. As a dog owner, I abhor him and the horrific things he did. Anyone who gets off on torturing helpless animals has something wrong upstairs. What Vick did was the behavior of a sociopath, plain and simple.

I would be all for second chances, even for a thug like Vick, if I truly believed he was remorseful. However, I don't think he regrets what he did; I think he just regrets getting caught. I don't see how the Eagles can justify signing Vick after firing T.O. because of his character. Reid always talks about having character guys but I guess his standards have significantly lowered. As much of an a-hole as T.O. is, he has never been a criminal like Vick. And as others have pointed out, if they're so big on second chances, why not rehire Dan Leone, the handicapped employee who had the audacity to criticize the Eagles on facebook for not resigning Brian Dawkins?

And I won't even get into why I thought this signing made no football sense, that's for another article.

That being said, I am going to watch and root for the Eagles this Sunday. A lot of people have said they will never watch another game, and a lot of people from other towns have said that if their team had signed Vick, they would have stopped rooting for them. Well, that's easy to say when you're not actually faced with the situation, and even easier to say if you live in a city with multiple teams to switch your allegiance to. It's also easy to say if you were only a casual fan of the team to begin with. But for those of us who have bled Eagle green our entire lives, it's not such an easy thing to abandon the team you love and grew up with. And Eagles fans are not alone in this: nobody in New York stopped rooting for the Knicks when they signed Latrell Sprewell after he tried to strangle his previous coach to death, and nobody in Philly stopped rooting for the Phillies when Brett Myers beat his wife.

Why? Because the team is bigger than any single person. You can hate certain members of the organization all you want, but in the end, when it comes down to game day, they're still your team. You're not going to suddenly start rooting for the Cowboys. The Eagles are bigger than Vick or Reid or Lurie. This football team was around long before those guys got here, and it will be around long after they're gone. For me, the Eagles are Jaworski, Montgomery, and Bergey. They are Cunningham, Quick, and White. They are McNabb, Westbrook, and Dawkins. These are the players I have rooted for my whole life. I have never rooted for the coach or the owner, so there's no reason I can't continue to follow my football team in spite of my disgust with Eagles management.

Does that mean that all is forgiven? Hell no. I don't think I will be approaching this season with the same gung-ho enthusiasm that I have in the past. Maybe the disgust will wear off at some point, but it will take time. I definitely will NOT cheer when Vick takes the field. Does that mean I will boo if he makes a big play? I can't honestly say, but if I had my wish, he would never set foot on the football field in the regular season. When Vick is on the field, do you hope he gets sacked even if it means the Eagles lose? Once again, damn you Reid and Lurie for putting me in this position.

I won't go to the games this season and I won't buy merchandise, but I will watch on TV. Some of you may say that still puts money in Vick's pocket, and while the Eagles do get revenue from television broadcasts, it is a deal in which all NFL teams share equally, so anyone who watches ANY football game on television is technically putting money into Vick's pocket. But I'm not here to argue about the nuances of NFL finances. I'm just here to declare that the Eagles are still my football team, and I intend to continue rooting for them to win on Sunday afternoons. I'm going to root for McNabb and Westbrook and Cole and Jackson and everyone else on the team who deserves my loyalty.

If you are among those who will never watch a game again, I respect your feelings. I just ask that you respect mine as well.

Banner Must Go

2009-09-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

Let me begin this by saying, I absolutely HATE the Philadelphia Eagles. In the interest of full disclosure, it hasn't always been this way. Being born and raised in Philadelphia, I had always been a fan of all of our teams. That has since changed. I remain a die hard fan of both the Phillies and Flyers. I used to be just as big of a Sixers fan, but in recent years the NBA has come to more closely resemble the WWE, it is all a show except that the ending is not scripted otherwise last year's Finals would have been LeBron vs Kobe.

Which brings us to the Eagles. Again, used to be a big fan, that is until Joe Banner wandered into town. This guy's arrogance is only exceeded by his ineptitude. If you were to listen to this guy talk, not knowing a darn thing about the NFL, you would think the Eagles have won more Super Bowls than the Cowboys, Steelers, and 49ers combined. The reality is that the Eagles have won a grand total of ZERO Super Bowls. In fact, they have not won a championship since 1960. The Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers have won a combined total of six in that time.

Just last week, Joe Banner was on with Mike Missanelli on 950 ESPN for an interview. During this interview Mr. Peabody...er, Banner said that the media does "a poor job in covering the Eagles and their popularity". I was in my car and darn near drove off the road. Has this babbling idiot lost his mind. Let me provide just a few examples of the "poor coverage" the Eagles get from the media:

- When reading the Daily News, I have to get through 10 pages of Eagles news before I get to any other sports coverage, and that's in the offseason.

- That same paper publishes a 30 page guide for every game, and a guide for training camp and the regular season.

- Every sports cast (approx. 5 minutes per news cast) has at least 60% dedicated to the Eagles.

- Darn near every member of the Eagles organization short of the pissboy has their own TV / Radio show every week.

- And lastly, this is the topper, they have their own radio station in 610 WIP. That station is so full of Eagles lackeys and lap dogs it's disgusting. And as a special added bonus they have several former Eagles on the air staff. In fact, one former 610 personality has even said publicly that practically nothing goes out over the air on that station unless it is approved by the Eagles. One of their current personalities even said that Eagles management calls the station to complain if there is not enough Eagles talk going on.

The one incident that totally threw me over the edge with this team was this. When the Phillies won the NLE in 2007, there was an article in the playoff guide in the Daily News that said an "Eagles Official was calling the paper to complain that the Phillies were getting too much coverage". That person was Joe Banner. Another media member sold him out.

Listen up Banner, because I am going to set you straight. First of all it is not the media's place to be your team's cheerleader. These people have jobs to do, and if that means that they have to rip your sorry ass team then so be it. Second of all, if another team is getting more coverage than you it is because they are doing better than your team - deal with it. Why don't you try this instead of crying about being ignored by the media - why don't you put a team on the field that is capable of winning a couple of Super Bowls? Until then, and until you and your "Gold Standard" parade a couple of Lombardis down Broad Street, shut the hell up.

The Phillies And Their "Problem"

2009-08-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

So the Phillies have a problem on their hands. They're eight games up in the NL East, outpacing the Marlins and Braves. The Marlins have been cooperative enough to not be able to beat bad teams like the Padres. Add in a two losses to the Braves and a loss to the rueful Mets, and the Phillies are lucky enough to benefit from what they themselves were unable to do.

Yes, it wasn't that long ago that the Phillies had a chance to bury the Marlins in the NL East standings. All they had to do was win two of three games. In Philly. Instead, they lost all three games, cuminating with a wretched 12-3 loss that inspired a closed door team meeting with Charlie Manuel.

Then they seemed to right the ship. Three wins over the Cubs. Two of three from the Braves. A three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks. Three of four from the hated Mets. And then, the easiest mark of all - the Pirates. Surely, a three-game sweep was in order, right? Yeah. That should have been a gimme.

So the Phils lose two of three to the Pirates, wasting three excellent pitching efforts in the process. The Phillies starters against Pittsburgh - Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels and JA Happ gave up a total of 6 runs. And all three either lost or "earned" a no decision.

So what's the "problem" the Phillies face?

Most Phillies fans would tell you it's Brad Lidge's problems with nailing down saves. Yes, this is a problem, but it doesn't seem to really be the main issue with the Phillies. Long term, it could be a big problem, but it's not something that I am worried about at this time. I can assume that Lidge will come around or that Manuel will stop trotting Lidge out there in situations that he's proven unreliable thus far this season. There are other pitchers to take on the closer role.

I think that the problem is that the Phillies leave too many freaking runners on base. They get baserunners - that isn't the problem. Despite Chase Utley's cavalier "the hits will come" attitude, this is a problem. If the hits will come, where have the hits been for the past, oh, five or so years???

The Phillies are leaving too many runs on the field. Period. That's as simple as I can state it. And there is no shortage of Philiies fans that are okay with this. The excuses are easy to come up with. Even I am guilty of the excuse game - I give Lidge a lot of space, based on his dominance of last year.

But the hitting has ticked me off for a while now, and something needs to change. I suggested that the Phillies might try bunting. "You can't have them bunt. They're not built for that" is what the Phillies fan will tell me. Why can't you bunt? I agree it might not sound like the best option, but when you are a team that is so crappy with runners in scoring position, why CAN'T you bunt? If your players (who are major leaguers, right?) are not skilled enough to lay down a decent bunt, then that is a different problem entirely.

Moving the runner along? Hitting to the right side of the infield? No thanks. We'd rather strike out or hit into a double play. We'd rather load the bases, leave everybody on base and score no runs. This is a team built for hitting - they live and die by the longball. And lately, they've died an awful lot.

It's cool, though. Why should Cliff Lee, Blanton, Hamels or Happ expect to win a game in which they've given up only three runs? This is a team that hits the longball. They score runs. Except when they don't.

Last night's game was 4-2. The Phillies scored four, four and two runs against the last place Pirates.

The starting pitching was considered a weakness for this team. Lately, it's been more than up to the task. The same can't be said for what should be a potent offense. The potent offense has left a lot to be desired, quite frankly.

What would be desired? How about scoring some of those runs? How about not leaving so many damn men on base? Eight men left on base in the 6-4 loss to the Pirates. Nine men left on base in the 4-1 (extra inning) win. Eight men left on base in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates.

It's nice that Ryan Howard has suddenly started hitting home runs at a fantastic clip. Some of the homers have even provided the margin for victory for the Phils. But do you want to count on that continuing? I sure as hell don't. I'd rather see some strike outs, gound outs and fly outs become baserunners. And then I'd like to see some clutch hitting turn that into runs. Think about it. If the Phils had left six, seven and six men on base, that Pirates series has a totally different outcome.

Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. It's great that the Phillies can get runners on base. But there's another part of getting runners on that they seem to be missing. I am getting so so tired of the Phillies half of innings ending with the bases loaded. It seems like it happens twice a game.

If Phillies pitchers give up three runs in a game, they should expect to win. And if the offense would get it's crap together and perform as they are capable of performing...the Brad Lidge situation would have plenty of time (and a lot less pressure) to work itself out.

So I am not excusing Lidge - he's been pretty bad. Instead, I will call out the hitters. How about some more timely hits? How about some smarter at-bats? Let's get those runs across the plate - however it needs to be done - and give those pitchers the runs and the wins they deserve?

Goodbye BLAHseball. Hello College Football!

2009-08-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Keeping the Philadelphia atmosphere alive...despite all the parity these days, nothing beats the pageantry, the lore, the colors, the patriotism, the emotions of the Army/Navy game in Philadelphia every December. It's a rivalry that will always be important because of history, tradition and what the men and women do after their is no more college and no more football....that is something to remember.

I know for some baseball is a great sport and it gets more exciting since the Fall Classic is upon us but come on...all that matters now with baseball is the World Series. Before you know it, the NFL and the illustrious college football seasons will begin and it all starts with the 2009 College Football season, the greatest sporting spectacle sport in the world.

There will be some intriguing games to kickoff the season and here is how I see them......

Boise State over Oregon, 40-31

Baylor over Wake Forest, 31-28

Illinois over Missouri, 45-38

California over Maryland, 27-23

Oklahoma over Brigham Young, 41-24

Oklahoma State over Georgia, 38-28

Virginia Tech over Alabama, 24-20

LSU over Washington, 31-13

Miami over Florida State, 28-27

Expect there to be a lot of drama again, especially in the SEC now that Lane Kiffin will be coaching and we shall see how the coaches and programs react to his already shaky entrance. It is quite possible for Florida to make a run for a 3rd national title in 4 years and we shall see if Ole Miss is worthy of their top 10 preseason ranking.

The Big XII South alone will experience a lot of dramatic excitement between Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas and if the same thing happens again this year like last year....Texas will be on the outside looking in because of their weak, pathetic out of conference scheduling.

There will be a lot to talk about before and after each week throughout the season and I will keep my smart banter up and going. For right now.... my major bowl predictions are:

ROSE- Southern Cal vs. Ohio State
FIESTA- Utah vs Texas
SUGAR- Tennessee vs Penn State
ORANGE- Oklahoma vs Pittsburgh
NC GAME- Virginia Tech vs Florida

Regular season game of the year.... no doubt it's the Red River Rivalry (two top 5 teams)

Hide Your Dogs: One fan's disgust with the Eagles and Michael Vick

2009-08-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Philadelphia:

My opinions on Michael Vick are my opinions. I know there are people that disagree. But this Eagles fan has lost all respect for my team and has cashed in my green jersey and will not be supporting the team further. If the Eagles feel it is good business and good football sense and good community relations to decide not to pay an upstanding citizen like Brian Dawkins or Jon Runyan or Tra Thomas and give it to a reprehensible thug like Michael Vick, I will no longer be donating to the coffers. For crying out loud, they wouldn’t even give the city the money they owed and help keep public pools in poor neighborhoods open. Michael Vick over poor kids. Good decision.

I represent no one but me, but judging by comments on social networking, online, on the television and radio, and among my friends, the large majority empathizes with my opinion. Maybe if this was the Lions or Raiders something, I'd feel different. But it's not. And how the Eagles have always preached about taking the moral high-ground and how that they're not like other teams, how character matters? Out the window. Gone. I'm joining PETA.

Change that. I wouldn't feel different if it was the Lions or the Browns or the Saints. I just wouldn't care or take it to heart. I'd just throw my hands up and say those teams only care about money and not their morals or fans and wait for them to sign the repeat-offender child-molesting priest that runs a 4.0. This is not a troubled franchise. Other teams can sign Michael Vick, but this is my team. The one I root for. The one I schedule into my week. The one I give my hard-earned money to. I'll be keeping my money now, Mr. Banner and Mr. Reid.

Someone said that I haven’t provided one ounce of evidence as to why this is a bad football decision. Exactly right. I have not provided any evidence to why this is a bad football move because to me, as a human being and animal lover and citizen of the planet, it doesn't matter because I cannot forgive Vick. At this moment, I don't care about football. I care about the Eagles signing a morally-reprehensible human being (I use the term lightly).

I'll take 9-7 without Vick than 12-4 with him. It's not about football, it's about being a member of the human community. Would the Vick defenders have felt the same way if the Phils had signed juice-headed Barry Bonds even if he could have still hit 50 homers? Would you have signed Rafael Septien after he was convicted of producing child porn if he could still boot a 55-yarder? Would you have signed OJ Simpson if he still had a 1000-yard season in his cleats? And stop with this second chance crap. What he did was no accident nor lapse in judgment. Don’t forget, they found the dogs on Vick’s property because the cops were searching for drugs after he was caught trying to sneak pot on to an airplane. It was a long-term, controlled decision to participate in brutality, he knew exactly what he was doing. And, as Brian Startate pointed out, if the Eagles are all about second chances, why then not re-hire Dan Leone? Hypocrites. All hypocrites.

Defenders point at the Eagles taking on Terrell Owens. Terrell Owens is no Michael Vick. Not even close. TO is a jackass. Vick promoted the torture and killing of dogs. Thanks Michael Vick for turning me in to a Terrell Owens defender.

Defenders also want to point fingers at Phillies fans about Brett Myers in light of the Michael Vick signing, claiming hypocracy. Yes, I'm still pissed at Myers for what he was accused of doing, but his wife, the victim herself said the situation was overblown and completely forgave him. When the dogs that were beaten, tortured, electrocuted, shot, and drowned forgive Vick, maybe I will too.

What about football? A) He hasn't played since 2006, there's no saying he's any good. B) He wasn't that good in his last season he did play. C) He's not even eligible to be allowed to play until possibly after Week 6. Oh, and D) He advocated and promoted the killing of animals. Almost forgot about that one. The Eagles have. Andy Reid said that Kolb and Feeley aren't going anywhere. Vick is not your backup quarterback. He's Kordell Stewart with a rap sheet and blood on his shoes while Neil O'Donnell was leading them to the Super Bowl.

Maybe the Eagles should re-sign Donté Stallworth now for 2010. He’s apparently an advocate for stopping overpopulation. When's Ray Lewis available? Can Plexico Burris bring his gun to training camp? What's Mike Tyson up to? Are there any baby-seal clubbers available for special teams?

Time and time and time again the Eagles have talked about taking the moral high-ground and talked about leading by example and about how being upstanding members of the community was as important as playing football. Reid's uses the exact phrase 'character players'. ‘Character’ Michael Vick bankrolled the beating, shooting, electrocuting, drowning, torture, and murder of animals. Defend that. Michael Vick is not remorseful about doing that. He’s remorseful about being caught. In my opinion, he's more concerned about having hurt his career than hurting innocent dogs.

I hope that Tony Dungy is right about Vick. Society will be better if he is. Will I eventually soften up on this? Maybe. Will I still root for the Eagles come opening day? Probably. Will I still be excited when the Eagles score with Vick on the field? Fly Eagles Fly. Have the Eagles irreparably damaged my feelings for them in my mind? Absolutely. Will I root for Michael Vick? Never. To quote James Brown in his interview with Vick, “What about the dogs? What about the dogs?”

Michael from Monto

Happy To Be Proven Wrong By The Phillies Pitchers

2009-08-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me that I'd be writing so much about the Phillies pitchers. With hitters like Shane Victorino, All-World Chase Utley, Ryan "the K" Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth, you'd think it would be all about the hitters. But not so. Maybe it's true that great pitching beats great hitting.

After all, the Phils had a starter (Joe Blanton) give up 2 runs in a game against the Giants only to lose to Tim Lincecum. The Phils got great pitching. But the Giants pitched better, and the Phillies potent offense was a non-factor for most of that series. I am still puzzled at how they could have lost to Barry Zito.

Back in April, I was among the Phillies fans moaning about the sorry state of the pitching staff. The ERAs at that time were appallingly high and homers were leaving Citizen's Bank Park at an alarming rate. Brett Myers: 4.91 ERA. Jamie Moyer: 5.09 ERA. Prima Donna Cole Hamels: 7.27 ERA.

And my assessment of Blanton? "He's been pretty....awful thus far, but he did have some great moments last year. Time to get going, dude. Sooner the better." Well, you can't be right all of the time.

I was kind of ahead of the curve in some of my ramblings: "Chan Ho Park. Why? All I have to say. I got nothin' else. I'm ready to see what JA Happ can do in the starting rotation. Or Pedro Martinez. Anyone." Partially right - Happ's been great as a starter - easily one of the most consistent pitchers.

Park has proven to be a pretty good relief pitcher. I feel a lot more confident in him than I have in Brad Lidge or Ryan Madson. And don't even get me started on Chad Durbin. As for Pedro - I am looking forward to his first pitch as a Phil. I hope it's against the Mets. And look at that...the Phillies visit the Mets for a 4-game series starting Friday, Aug 21. Maybe that's longer than they will wait to find a spot in the rotation for Pedro, but that would be fun to see.

A lot has changed since then. The Phillies have righted the ship, benefitted greatly from much better quality pitching and the somewhat surprising collapse of the Mets. As I write this, the Phillies have a 7-game lead over the Marlins in the NL East, a Cy Young winner on their pitching staff and the 'problem' of having more quality pitching options than they could have expected.

Sending Happ to the bullpen to make room for Martinez would be pretty lame. Then again, sending Moyer to the 'Pen would be pretty lame. He may be Methuselah and somewhat ineffective, but he's a classy veteran who leads the team with 10 wins and he deserves the respect of remaining in the starting rotation. I'd rather see the Phils go with a six-man rotation than send Happ to the bullpen. What the hell? It'll give the pitchers plenty of rest between starts until the end of the season.

Amazingly, Blanton has put together a pretty solid season. I didn't expect much more than we got last year from him, but he has exceeded my expectations. In his past five starts, he's gone 4-1 (with a tough, not-his-fault 2-0 loss to the Giants and the aforementioned Lincecum), given up six runs, gone at least seven innings in each game and dropped his ERA from 4.69 to 4.02. Especially impressive given that his ERA was 5.08 at the end of June.

And Cliff Lee? What else is there to say? Two starts, and he's 2-0, racking up Ks and giving the Phils that much needed ace presence. When this season started, I figured Hamels would be the ace, and that Brett Myers, Moyer, Blanton and Park/Happ would round out the staff. Didn't even sound all that good on paper.

However, a rotation that boasts Lee, Happ (8-2, 2.74 ERA), Blanton, Hamels (7-6, but his ERA is DOWN to 4.68 since April), Moyer and Martinez is a lot more potent and sounds good however you state it. It's amazing that Hamels would be the number four pitcher on this staff, but at this time, it's simply stating reality. He's not pitching very effectively.

I'm thinking he'll snap out of it and be the machine he was in the postseason last year - but he ain't got it right now. Someone needs to tell him that he did NOT pitch too many innings last year and that sports commentators should stop trying to supply excuses for him. Come on, Cole. Let's see some of that magic you showed us last year!

Kudos to Ruben Amaro Jr.!

Phillies Pitchers Acquit Themselves In Wins Over Padres, Cubs & Cards; Halladay Still On The Offing

2009-07-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Good news for the Phillies this past week, as they took two games apiece from the two best teams the NL Central has to offer - the Cardinals and the Cubs. This, after starting July by ripping the reeling Mets, taking three of four from Cincinnati, pummeling the triple A Pirates and throwing the Marlins back to sea. Oh, and they also scored a win against the hapless and Jake Peavy-full (how ya likin' Philadelphia now?) Padres.

Prior to the Cubs and St. Louis wins, Philadelphia sports radio and my fellow fans were quick to tell me that the Phils weren't beating anybody and haven't really been tested yet. So they go out and clobber the Cubs 10-1 behind a strong 6-inning outing from Rodrigo Lopez, who is 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA, but more importantly than that, is enjoying a ridiculous amount of run support. Including the 14-6 pasting of the not-as-impressive-as-I-was-told-they-were Cardinals, Lopez has enjoyed a 31-9 edge in runs scored in his three wins.

The guy who is quickly becoming my favorite Phils pitcher, Joe Blanton, pitched 7 innings of 1-run baseball against the Cubs in a game the Phils eventually won in 13 innings on a Jayson Werth 3-run walk-off homer. He then followed this up with an 8-inning gem against the Cardinals (limiting the 3-4-5 hitters to 2-for-10 in the game), scattering seven hits and surrendering only two earned runs. Blanton's last four outings have all been at least seven innings, and have resulted in three wins, four earned runs and much-needed relief for a well used Phillies bullpen.

Unfortunately, Jamie Moyer has not fared as well. His last four starts have been uneven to say the least. He's 3-1 over that span, but he surrendered 1, 6, 0 and 4 earned runs and 22 hits in those games. His ERA is well north of five and he is routinely only getting five or six innings into games. He pitches tomorrow against the Diamondbacks, so we'll see where he is after that. If the every other game thing holds, he should throw a good game.

Cole Hamels is the most disconcerting pitcher on the Phils staff. He, Like Moyer, has been up and down and all over the place. He's 2-1 over the past five games, but he's been so inconsistent, it's hard to imagine he's the Phillies ace pitcher. His ERA has been dropping lately, and he's on the good side of a Moyer-like every other game rhythm, so I am hoping to see something more like 2008 Hamels and less like the 2009 edition.

And finally, no discussion of Phillies pitching would be complete without a mention of J.A. Happ. Here's a guy who is 7-1 and gets no respect from the Philly radio stations. Would-be sports talk show host Mike Missanelli has dismissed Happ, saying that he hasn't beaten anybody. Whatever - Happ has pitched well in July, Earning two wins and having pitched well enough in two other games to have earned two more wins (3 and 2 earned runs, both in seven innings of work).

Why All The Talk About Phillies Pitching?

Roy Halladay, of course. It's plain to even the most ardent Phillies fan that they could surely use a legit #1 starting pitcher like Halladay. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays have rejected a 4-for-1 offer from the Phils that included Happ and prospects Michael Taylor, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald. Even though I would prefer that the Phillies not let Happ go, it would be foolish to not make an offer. I'm also leery of an offer that would include both Kyle Drabek and Happ, so I am glad that the Phils also seem unwilling to part with both.

Like a lot of Phillies fans, the aforementioned Missanelli dismisses any and all talk that does not result in Halladay coming to Philadelphia. It seems that he'd be fine with giving Toronto Happ, Drabek, Taylor, Carrasco and Donald. I am not so comfortable with that. But maybe I shouldn't be so worried. The Phils have a deep farm system now, and they've drafted fairly well in recent times. Perhaps they could make this trade, go for that 2nd consecutive World Series win and everybody would love them for making such a bold move. Halladay in Philly. Sounds great - but is it too high a cost? I'm glad I don't have to make this call.

The Sad Truth In Philadelphia

Mike Missanelli is the #1 sports radio show host for the evening drive time in Philly. To fully appreciate how sad this truly is, you'd need to understand how bad his competition, Howard Eskin, is. Eskin's had it pretty good in Philly for quite some time, being the default sports personality in this town. It's pretty sad, because he's as lame, if not lamer, than Missanelli. Anyone who wonders why Philly fans can sometimes be so aggressive, moody and somewhat belligerent need look no further than the state of Philly sports radio to know why that is. And don't even get me started about Angelo Cataldi and how sad and annoying his mind-numbing morning show is. Take my word for it...it's bad.

Why Bother Doing A Proper Representation?

Really - why bother with facts when you can just generalize and make up crap? This, apparently, is the approach that Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky took for his July 23rd 'column'. It includes such 'factual' and 'professional' content as " I DON'T have a blog. If I did blog, this is what it would be like. (To make it seem like a real blog, I'll include typos and factual errors.) " I guess I shouldn't be surprised that unwarranted attacks on blogs would continue as newspapers shut down and readership drops. Seriously, why would I think that a guy who's been a columnist for 22 years would bother with professionalism? Stupid generalizations are so much easier to write. IMHO.

Resources: ESPN and philly.com

Manny's Grand Slam - Greatest Moment In Dodger History?

2009-07-24T20:08:00.001-07:00

Maybe I should just stop listening to Mike & Mike In The Morning. I often find myself talking to my radio at some of the dumb things that Mike Greenberg says. And I've been talking to my radio a lot lately.

Yesterday, he went on a rant because of something a reporter (they said his name, but I am sorry to have to report that I do not remember what it was. I was in my car, and, really, it's immaterial for this article) said when talking to Manny Ramirez.

As you may have heard, Manny hit a pinch hit grand slam on Wednesday night.

Regarding Greenie's take though, please bear with me while I set the table. He was all tsk tsk before he told this story. He made it out to be this big, big deal. About how broadcasters have to be very careful with what they say, and how sometimes things will be said near an open mic that maybe would not have been said had said person known that mic was open. Regrettable things.

Then he told the story. And any of you who also listen to Mike & Mike can probably understand what I mean when I add that Greenie often blows things up to ridiculously extraordinary levels - like his station breaks. "Something happened in baseball yesterday that had never happened before. And I'll tell you about it after this..." Cut to commercial.

Then he'll come back and tell you that Yankees hat wearing Jack Nicholson was in the crowd in Chicago. Really riveting stuff comes after these station breaks, believe you me.

So back to the story. If you didn't hear it - and now I'm dragging it out - perhaps you're wondering what was said that shouldn't have been said? Like me, you probably think it's some insult or some snide remark about a colleague.

Ready? The interviewer proclaimed Manny's homer to be "one of the greatest moments in Dodgers history" or something very much along those lines.

Yes, that's it. I sure was expecting something else. But that's what it was. Hardly regrettable in a "job threatening" or "take out to the woodshed" way. Overstating things, perhaps, but hardly regrettable.

Then Greenberg and Mike Golic went into a mocking discussion of where this really ranks in Dodger lore, snidely putting it at number 600.

I agree that it wasn't one of the great moments in Dodger history. My objection here is the length of time Greenie dedicated to this non-story and the intensity he dispatched to poo poo the reporter.

As if Greenie himself is devoid of needless hyperbole. As if many many other reporters/interviewers are not given to the occasional hyperbolic nonsense.

And to top things off, I found a Bill Plaschke column from the LA Times that ranks this homer 3rd in Dodger history.

Behind Steve Finley's game-winning grand slam in 2004 that vauted the Dodgers to the postseason. It was a 9th inning blast, so that drama and the importance of the homer can't be missed.

Behind Kirk Gibson's overdone blast off Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 World Series. And before anyone flips out about this characterization, I say it's overdone, not overrated. Although I think it's overrated as well. I'm just tired of hearing about it. It gets so much press and I've heard the call so many times I think it's burned into my brain cells. I can believe that I saw it, why can't the guy who called the game??

So if Bill Plaschke, who is frequently cited (and fawned upon) by Mike Greenberg on his show, says that the homer is that important, who am I to question it?

I am far from innocent of blathering on with hyperbole dripping down my proverbial chin.

Who is Greenberg to question what an interviewer says on the field, in the moment, with fans screaming, after a game in which a fan favorite player hit a bomb in a noteworthy situation?

Does Greenberg know what he sounds like after he speaks with Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, Jayson Stark and Bill Curry? You'd think a proposal was forthcoming. Greenie fawns and deposits hyperbole about these men being "the best at what you do" with the best of them. It's pretty revolting most times.

Let he who is bereft of hyperbole cast the first critical stone.

Roger Goodell And Michael Vick: Together Again?

2009-07-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

All right, so Michael Vick has served his time and paid his debt to society. So now it's just a matter of time before he signs with an NFL club, right?

Not so fast. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that now that the legal part of Vick's woes have reached an end, it's the NFL's turn to pronounce a judgment.

Mike & Mike In The Morning had former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent on this morning. Vincent said something along the lines of why should the NFL punish Vick any further than the law already has? The judge handed down a sentence, Vick served it, and in the eyes of the law, he's served his time.

I will freely admit that I have wavered on Vick quite a bit, unable to decide if I felt that Vick should be allowed to play or not. I think I am now leaning toward the idea that he should be allowed to - if he can.

There are a bunch of NFL teams that could use a quarterback, even one as raw as Michael Vick. He was an exciting and talented player, no doubt, but I don't think he would be mistaken for a traditional, pocket passing, ball control quarterback.

And that's fine. His style of play was good enough to land the Falcons in the playoffs and to score impressive wins in 2002 (27-7 over the Packers) and 2004 (47-17 over the Rams). I may be going out on a limb here, but I suspect that the Falcons could not have won those games, let alone been there to even play them, without Michael Vick.

So give him a shot. Training camps start soon, he'd be able to get himself in there and try out for a team. He'd have to deal with whatever controversy follows him, but I feel he should be given a shot.

Do I condone his actions? Of course not. Neither did the judge who presided over his trial. But that judge assigned a punishment, and now that punishment is finished. It seems that this action might not be good enough for Goodell.

And I can see his point. The NFL is a business after all, and it's in Goodell's (and the team owners) best interest to eliminate any potential PR problems, be they past, current or potential. There's no getting around the fact that Vick is now a 'controversial' figure.

Goodell wants him to demonstrate that he has reformed himself and that he can and will be a productive member of society. In the interest of protecting the multi-billion dollar entity that is the NFL, Goodell's thinking here makes lots of sense.

But if Vick has been punished by the law, while he is hardly innocent, he is, theoretically, available to rejoin the workforce. And his profession happens to be football player. Despite my personal feelings about what he did, I think the NFL should back off and see what happens.

This isn't like other situations that Goodell has had to preside over. This case actually has an ending. Vick was convicted, sent to prison and released. If Vick does something dumb and gets himself in trouble in the ensuing weeks, then Goodell can pounce, and he'd be in the right. He is correct that the NFL brand is a very valuable one, and one that cannot afford to be tarnished by the players that are the most visible face of that brand.

Personally, I think Vick should seek out other options. The CFL or the UFL would certainly be interested in having an exciting, talented player like Vick in their midst. The CFL offers distance. The UFL offers newness, a lack of the bright spotlight that is constantly on the NFL, and most importantly, the need for a splash.

I think that Vick and the UFL would be a good fit. They have some good, experienced former NFL coaches there (Jim Fassel, Dennis Green, Jim Haslett and Ted Cottrell), any of which would surely be able to deal with Vick's notoriety.

The other great thing the UFL would offer is a chance at redemption. Vick could ply his trade, earn money to pay off debts and possibly work out any issues that might be plaguing him. If all goes well, he could spend two or three years there, and then look to the NFL again.

It's a shame that ESPN has reported that Vick has little interest in either of these two leagues. If Vick did go to either league and was a model citizen and demonstrated "genuine remorse" (I find this notion of Goodell's distasteful), I think Goodell would be more than willing to listen.

After all, if Vick does well, and becomes the crowd pleaser he once was, the dollars will follow. And I can't imagine that there is any dollar that Goodell would allow to escape the NFL's coffers.

Resources: Mike & Mike In The Morning, Pro Football Reference and the article "For Vick, Freedom Rekindles Debate; Return to the NFL Remains a Question" from the July 21 Washington Post.

Some Old School Reflections on Joe Mauer's .400 Chase

2009-07-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

What do Rod Carew, George Brett, Tony Gwynn and Joe Mauer Have in Common?

Doesn't seem like anything, does it? All four have five letters in their last names. Three of four are American Leaguers. And four out of five dentists would recommend them as your team's leadoff hitter.

No, up until Mauer went 0-for-9 in his last at-bats before the All-Star break, lowering his average from .388 to .373, they all had the real possibility of being the first player since the great Ted Williams to hit .400.

I think this is one of those baseball achievements that will never happen again, and I have had lots of thoughts on this over the years, some of them rational, some of them lucid.

Rod Carew

Left: Rod Carew's 1977 Topps Baseball Card

I'm a little too young to really remember Rod Carew's attempt to hit .400. I mostly remember it from reading about it on baseball cards and in the Scholastic Baseball All-Star books I would get in school.

I wonder if others remember doing this? In school, they'd give you this form to fill out that offered all sorts of books. I'd always go for the Dynamite Magazines, any maze or puzzle book and any baseball or football book. Between these books and Baseball Digest I thought knew Carew's 1977 season inside and out.

Here's some stuff I didn't know - It's amazing. Carew started 'slow', finishing April at .356 and May at .365. Not that these are not great batting averages, but they don't really hint that someone was flirting with .400.


Player Year G   PA  AB  R   H   2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO  BA 
Carew  1977 155 694 616 128 239 38 16 14 100 23 13 69 55 .388

Left: All-Pro Baseball Stars 1978 - An excellent baseball reference in the pre-internet era

In fact, he didn't even reach .400 until June 26th, when he went 4-for-5 against the White Sox to push his average from .396 to .403. Then he moved up to his highest average of .411 on June 29th, maintained that for one more day, then staying on the plus side of .400 until gradually fading back below, to .398 on July 11th.

He wouldn't see .400 again that season, and in fact, dipped to .374 on August 25th. But then he rallied, raising his average steadily until he settled on .388 with a 3-for-4 performance on the final day of the season.

George Brett

As a kid, I always took it away from Brett, because in my mind, he didn't have as 'complete' a season as Carew. To me, Brett's .390 wasn't as legitimate as Carew's .388. I mean - 239 hits to 175 hits? 616 At bats to 449 at bats? Does 449 at bats even qualify you for a batting title? I believe that 500 plate appearances does...


Player Year G   PA  AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO  BA 
Brett  1980 117 515 449 87 175 33 9  24 118 15 6  58 22  .390

The image to the left is George Brett's page inside the 1981 All-Pro Baseball Stars book.

But I came to realize that Brett's .390 was a lot more legitimate than I'd given him credit for. For one thing, he triumphed over 'roids (hemorrhoids, of course. Yes, I am totally juvenile) to have this great achievement, and also, I saw the numbers of Williams' incredible 1941 season:


Player   Year G   PA  AB  R   H   2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB  SO  BA 
Williams 1941 143 606 456 135 185 33 3  37 120 2  4  147 27  .406

But what I didn't notice until now is the amazing number of walks Williams had. I zeroed in on the hits - 185 to 175 - clearly, I had it wrong about the legitimacy of Brett's .390. Now that I see the walks, I think maybe I was right... :-)

George Brett's 1980 Topps Baseball Card

Like Carew, George Brett's 1980 season didn't start particularly well. He didn't hit .300 until achieving a .301 batting average on May 31st. Then he played in only 9 games in June, but was able to raise his average to a more George Brett like .337 before missing time from June 10th to July 10th.

During July, he steadily increased his average (with some dips as well), ending the month strong with a fantastic 8-for-10 hitting show against the Red Sox that pushed his average up to .390, 59 points higher than the .341 he was hitting after going 2-for-2 upon his July 10 return to the lineup.

After dipping a bit in early August, Brett again started to increase his average, until he hit .394 after goin 3-for-4 against Toronto on August 16th. The next day, a 4-for-4 performance pushed him above .400 for the first time that season, as his average settled in at .401.

He topped out at .406 four days later, then saw a decline, and his average slipped to .399. But not for long, as four days later, on August 26th, he'd reach his season high, .407. This time he managed to stay above .400 for nine more games, and then re-entered the sub-.400 realm. He'd hit .400 one more time on September 19th, and then that was it for the .400 chase. But not a bad run at all - having a .400 average as late as September 19 (with 13 games remaining in the season) is awesome.

Tony Gwynn

Then along comes Tony Gwynn, who, along with Wade Boggs, had pretty much set the standard for batting titles in the 1980s, winning four titles in the 80s and four more (four consecutive) in the 90s.


Player Year G   PA   AB R  H   2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO  BA 
Gwynn  1994 110 475 419 79 165 35 1  12 64  5  0  48 19  .394

If my pre-teen self had seen this, it would have been 'not legit' all over again, baseball strike be damned.

Unlike Carew and Brett, Gwynn started strong, fashoning a .395 average by the end of April. It's hard to say whether or not Gwynn's foray into .400 was legitimate. It happened so early in the season - .402 on May 2nd, which was 33 hits in 82 at-bats. I'm thinking this is not enough of a season to say that a batter truly flirted with .400.

His last dip into the .400 waters came on May 15th, when he was batting .408 - 49-for-120. I am also noticing the wild fluctuation in his average at this time - .419 the day before, .398 the day after - based on this, I think this is more indicative of the kind of ups and downs seen in the early parts of a season.

That said, I am hardly downplaying Gwynn's spectacular batting prowess. He dodged, dipped, ducked, dived and dodged between .376 and .394 for the remainder of the season. It's amazing to have that type of consistency from a .294 hitter, let alone someone who is on the verge of .400.

Unfortunately, the big question when it comes to Tony Gwynn will remain unanswered forever: could he have hit .400 if the 1994 strike hadn't ended the season two months early? While I think that Gwynn was, perhaps, the best pure hitter of the 90s, I don't think he would have hit .400 for the season. No reason here, just what I think.

And then again, perhaps he could have. If I consider that Brett didn't top .400 until mid-August and Carew didn't get to .400 until June and had his last .400 day in mid-July, maybe. Sadly, it's all left to speculation now. I will say that if I thought anyone could have hit .400 at that time, Tony Gwynn would have been the guy on whom I'd have put my money.

Joe Mauer

Like Brett, Mauer has missed a significant amount of time in the season in which he chased/is chasing .400. He missed all of April (22 games), and a few other games here and there. He did finish May strongly, attaining a .414 batting average on the strength of a 41-for-99 performance.


Player Year G  PA  AB  R  H  2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO   BA 
Mauer  2009 64 282 241 49 90 13 1  15 49  1  1  35 35  .373

He stayed above .400 for a good part of June, holding on with a .407 average as of June 21st. But then his average saw a steady decline until he ended June with a .383 average. Not bad at all, but he's going the wrong way where .400 is concerned. As for July, he pushed his average back into the .390s, only to see that average dip, before bottoming out at .373 after an 0-for-9 drought in his last two games before the All-Star game.

Mauer still has 73 games to ply his trade, and I, for one, will be interested to see how he does coming away from the All-Star game. Even if he doesn't hit .400 this year, the fact that he was as close as he was, and the fact that he was hitting over .400 well into June is an endorsement of his belonging in the conversation with the four other great hitters mentioned earlier.

Again - as with Gwynn - the question: Can he hit .400? And again - as with Gwynn - I don't feel that he can. I'd love to see someone hit for that lofty an average again. And Mauer has already spent some quality time north of the Williams line this season. But I'll be watching the box scores to see how he does. And I'll be rooting for him.

A Comparison of the seasons


Player    Year G    PA   AB   R    H    2B  3B HR RBI  SB  CS BB  SO   BA 
                                
Williams  1941 143  606  456  135  185  33  3  37 120  2   4  147 27  .406 
                                
Carew     1977 155  694  616  128  239  38  16 14 100  23  13 69  55  .388 
Brett     1980 117  515  449  87   175  33  9  24 118  15  6  58  22  .390 
Gwynn     1994 110  475  419  79   165  35  1  12 64   5   0  48  19  .394 
                                
Mauer     2009 64   282  241  49   90   13  1  15 49   1   1  35  35  .373

Resources: Baseball Reference, of course.

Diamondbacks Are A Phils Best Friend

2009-07-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

So we close the book on the first half of the season, and the Phillies sit atop the NL East by four games. The weekend started with the Phils leading the pesky Florida Marlins by two games, but the Arizona Diamondbacks had the decency to split a four game series with the upstart Marlins - starting with a 14-7 win on Thursday - and give the Phils a chance to help themselves.

When the Phils entered this weekend series against the Pirates, I was cautiously optomistic. The Pirates are pretty poor, but they have good young pitching, and this sort of thing can sometimes derail an otherwise finely tuned Phillies machine. They seem to thrive against established pitchers (ask Johan Santana or Josh Beckett), and struggle against lesser known quantities.

Phillies 3, Pirates 2

D'Backs 8, Marlins 0

Against the Buccos though, the Phils came out and did what they needed to do. After surrendering a first inning run, Joe Blanton settled down and held the Pirates close, while the offense gave him three runs in the 3rd inning with the main blow delivered by newly minted All-Star Jayson Werth.

Blanton held the Pirates scoreless for the next 6 1/3 innings before turning it over to the 'pen. JC Romero turned in a scoreless, 13-pitch performance and then it was up to Brad Lidge to slam the door. He gave up a run to enable the Buccos to draw within a run, but then managed to get it done and earn his 18th save.

And getting back to an old stick of mine: the Phillies left four men on base. Not bad. I can live with 4 LOB.

Oh, and the Marlins were shut out that same night, falling 8-0 to the Diamondbacks. Happy to have a three-game edge in the division standings.

Phillies 8, Pirates 7

D'Backs 5, Marlins 1

Game two featured another rocky pitching performance by the Phillies ace, Cole Hamels. Yikes - five earned runs in six innings is not a pretty scene. Lucky for him that the Pirates bullpen, that had held the Phillies scoreless for 2 1/3 innings was unable to hold the lead.

Matt Stairs homered to start the 9th inning scoring (his ability to hit homers cold is amazing), and the oft-maligned hacker Ryan Howard (3-for-3 on the night) belted a 3-run homer to tie the game. It was almost inevitable when Paul Bako drove in the winning run.

It may not have been pretty, but it was a win. And the 11 LOB was a trend I was not happy to see. But...they won. And, for the second time in two days...so did the Diamondbacks, taking the second game against Florida 5-1. Oooh - that's a real humdinger! Now we're talking - Phillies are now four games up.

Phillies 5, Pirates 2

Marlins 8, D'Backs 1

The final game was pretty much owned by two guys - JA Happ and Pedro Feliz. Happ is such a wonderful surprise at 6-0. It pretty much offsets Hamels' struggles, but wouldn't it be great to have them both pitching well? Who knew the pitching staff would prove the be the saving grace of the Phillies? They've pitched pretty well these past few weeks.

Pirates pitcher Virgil Vasquez took it on the chin, lasting just 1 1/3 innings, surrendering five first inning runs with the coup-de-grace coming in the form of a Feliz grand slam. And beseiged Jimmy Rollins has raised his average to .229 - not bad, considering he was teetering on the verge of dropping below .200 (he was batting .205 on July 1).

Now - the All-Star game takes center stage and the Phillies can bask in the glow of a 4-game lead in the NL East. And then things get interesting.

The Phillies head off to Florida to duke it out in a four-game set with those Pesky Marlins. It's a golden opportunity to bury their foe. They need to take at least three games to stake their claim as the class of this underwhelming division. And if they manage to take all four...well, an 8-game deficit gets harder and harder to erase as July and August wear on.

Meanwhile, The Mets head off to face the tough Atlanta Braves. After wiping the floor with the Phillies just last week, I think the Braves owe it to the Phils to at least split the series with the Mets. Assuming the Phillies win all four games, that would leave the Braves 6 games out, the Mets 6 1/2 games out and the Marlins 8 games out.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Get some rest, boys - you're gonna need it. Enjoy the All-Star break, and come back refreshed and ready to roll. It's time to create some separation.

Go Phils!

The Phillies - Can We Believe?

2009-07-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last year, on July 8th, 2008, the Phillies lost to the Mets 10-9, capping off a missed opportunity to bury the Mets by sweeping a 4-game series. Instead, they lost the last three games, and enabled the Mets to draw within 2 1/2 games.

Of course, the 2008 season turned out just fine for the Philadelphia phaithful, and now that we look at 2009, the nemesis is the Florida Marlins, who currently sit 2 games out, after scoring a win in the last of three games against the resurgent Giants. Thank you, San Francisco, for taking two of three. We'll pay you back next call...

After some shaky baseball that included three humbling losses to the Braves, one loss in three games to Toronto and two more losses to Tampa Bay - a 3-6 stretch, things weren't looking so good for the Phils. Like their jaded fans, I'd wager that Charlie Manuel's team was probably all too glad to be done with the American League.

But we'll take our chances against the AL in November, won't we, boys? :-)

Of course, as mentioned earlier, the return to NL competition didn't start off all that well, as Atlanta kicked the snot out of the Phils' bullpen, savaged ace Cole Hamels and survived a gutsy 7-inning gem by J.A. Happ. In the midst of Sherman's march through Philadelphia, something good did come.

Continuing a surreal batting slump that inspired a wretched reworking of a classic song and included an 0-8 log in the first two games, Jimmy Rollins made like Lazarus and went 2-for-4 in the third game. It's true that a .209 average was nothing to write home about, but the performance was a welcome respite as they headed into the maelstrom of a three-game weekend series against the hated rival Mets.

This time, it would be different. No more would the Phillies lose in spectacularly bad fashion to their rivals. Nay, an unknown Rodrigo Lopez pitched a terrific 6 1/3 innings and enjoyed a scoreless performance by the bullpen to take game one by a 7-2 count. And... Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-5 and raised his average to .212.

Yes, it's true that the Mets have been decimated by injuries. But that aside, the Phillies need to start winning games that they should win. They've lost too many winnable games already, and now they had the Mets by the throat. Could they send them packing again on Saturday?

The elder and wise statesman Jamie Moyer came, saw and conquered the Mets, scattering five hits and surrendering one earned run in 6 1/3 innings. Moyer also enjoyed a scoreless relief effort from the uneven bullpen, including a 13-pitch, 8 strike pitching outing from the once invincible, now merely very good, Brad Lidge.

Now the stage was set for that most delicious of things: a three-game sweep of a hated rival. What could possibly be more demoralizing than that? And what could possibly take the wind out of the Phillies sails more than the Mets salvaging a win?

But it was not to be, as Joe Blanton came storming out and silenced the Met bats, limiting them to four hits over 7 1/3 innings, and protecting a slim 2-0 margin - fueled by solo homers courtesy of Rollins and All-World Chase Utley. What made this one all the more impressive was that the Phillies felled arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Johan Santana.

So the sweep was complete. And now Phillies fans had something to cheer. Will it last? Considering they are in a very similar position as they were last year at this time, it certainly seems possible. I'd like to believe in the Phillies... and a series like the one they had against the Mets goes a long way toward restoring one's faith.

Go Phils!!

How do you solve a problem like J-Roll?

2009-06-30T20:43:00.001-07:00

♪♪♪♪

How do you solve a problem like J-Roll? 
He climbs the order and gets an ofer 
His uniform has got a tear 
He whiffs on his way to .207 
And pitch selection ain't there 
And underneath his Oakleys 
He has bravado in his heart 
I even heard him singing in the dugout

He's always loathe to take 
But his lack of patience is unreal 
He's always loathe for walking 
Only 16 times this year 
I hate to have to say it 
But I very firmly feel 
Right now, he's not an asset to the Phillies

I'd like to say a word in his behalf 
J-Roll is a fan favorite!

How do you solve a problem like J-Roll? 
How do you stanch a proud man of renown? 
How do you find a word that means J-Roll? 
A fielding whiz! A baserunning threat! An MVP!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him 
Many a thing he ought to understand 
But how do you make him stay 
And listen to all you say 
How do you get Charlie on board?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like J-Roll? 
How do you hold a talented mofo in your hand?

When I'm watching him I'm confused 
Out of focus and contused 
And I never know exactly why he's there 
In the leadoff spot - despair! 
He's swinging like a tether 
He's a player! He's a leader! He's a fan fave!

He strikes out with some zest 
Drive a manager to his rest 
He could throw a whirling dervish out at first 
He is talented! He is wild! 
He's a riddle! He's a child! 
He's a headache! He's a problem! 
He leads off?!?

How do you solve a problem like J-Roll? 
How do you stanch a proud man of renown? 
How do you find a word that means J-Roll? 
A fielding whiz! A baserunning threat! An MVP!

Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him 
Many a thing he ought to understand 
But how do you make him stay 
And listen to all you say 
How do you get Charlie on board?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Charlie? 
Please, Charlie move Jimmy down in the order!

Sing it to the tune of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein song "Maria" from the great movie The Sound of Music.

I apologize heartily to Mssrs. Rodgers and Hammerstein for what I've done to their fine creation.

Philadelphia Phillies SWOT Analysis

2009-06-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Overview

The Philadelphia Phillies are among the oldest baseball teams in the United States. The company is also one of the least sucessful franchises in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, having won only two World Series championships in 126 years of existence. The company actively markets baseball, captive audience and nigh on prohibitively costly parking, overly expensive and watered down beer and reprehensibly pricey food; as well as owning and operating several minor league baseball teams.

The company's strength lies in its strong and growing young hitters, which (a good amount of the time) give it a significant competitive advantage. However, the Phillies face the threat of the expected slowdown of their pitching staff and the increasing Met and Brave burden and the volatility in Florida and the rest of the National League (NL), which could affect the company's level of production and lead to decline in overall top of the divison standings.

Strengths


* Expanding Market Share in Division 
* Strong Win Margin 
* Strong Growth Prospects 
* Away Games Operational Performance 
* Expanding Market Share in Divison

The company's compounded annual playoff rate (CAPR) for seasons was 40% during 2004-2008. This was below the National League East sector average of 60%, but equal to or above any individual team average, which was 40% for rival company the Atlanta Braves and 20% for bitter, hated arch rival firm the New York Mets.

A higher than sector average CAPR may indicate that the company has outperformed the average sector growth and gained league share over the last four years. The company achieved this growth as a result of better competitive position players due to getting their heads out of their butts, bucking conventional wisdom and hiring the unconventional Charlie Manuel as manager, building a kick-ass new stadium and catering to the fan - with the clear knowledge that catering to the fan is always the most important component to any successful team.


Totally objective chart of 2004-2008 NL East division leaders

Year    Ranking    Wins    Divison Winner

2008    FIRST!     92       PHILLIES * 

2007    First!     89       PHILLIES 

2006    second     85       Mets ** 

2005    second     88       Braves

2004    second     86       Braves 

* Won World Series and proved they were the best team 

** ##!@!##!#@!!!!

Strong Win Margin

Put simply, the Phillies won more games than the Mets did in both 2007 and 2008, and this led them to the postseason. That's all you really need to know.

Strong Growth Prospects

After winning the World Series, the Phillies allowed wily veteran Pat Burrell to walk, replacing him with the far more mobile Raul Ibanez, who is a fielding improvement, a speed upgrade and is far less prone to streaky batting performances. Even though he was a fixture in Philly, and we kinda miss Pat - but we're likin' this Ibanez guy.

Away Games Operational Performance

Who the hell can figure this out? The Phillies are freakin' 13-22 at home and 26-12 on the road. Discussions are ongoing to change the appearance of Citizens Bank Park to look more like whatever stadium it is that the Washington Nationals play in. It's also been discussed to bus in rude New York Met fans to provide the proper level of booing to ensure the Phillies do not feel at home when playing in Philadelphia. Of course, the likelihood of Arlen Specter meddling in these efforts and effing it all up is strong, so the discussions are being held in a secret location unknown to the author. Pity.

Weaknesses


* Dropdown in Run Support 
* Rise in Home Runs Surrendered 
* Geographic Consternation

Dropdown in Run Support

Like any smart operation, you try to strike a balance. Anyone who looked at this team from last year to this could see that the pitching was a bit suspect. But did they take any major steps to upgrade the staff? Nooooo. I mean, Cole Hamels is great and all, but what's behind him? Ahem. As I was saying, the Phillies have suffered from an inability to push runs across the plate. As is well known in baseball, you can't win if you don't score more than your opponent. You could look it up.

Rise in Home Runs Surrendered

For whatver reason, balls are flying out of the park faster than you can say "Not again!" Needless to say, this increase in home runs by opposing teams (which leads NL pitching staffs), has contributed mightily to more than a few freaking Phillies losses. It would be nice to see fewer homers surrendered, guys. Just sayin'

Geographic Consternation

No. Can't say it again. It aggravates me. Please see the "Away Games Operational Performance" section under "Strengths" - you get the idea.

Opportunities


* Expansion into American League Markets
* Positive Outlook for Second Half of Season
* Leading In All-Star Voting

Expansion into American League Markets

This could have been a positive area for the Phillies, but noooo....they lose two of three to Boston, three to Toronto, three to Baltimore (!), two of three to Tampa Bay and then, by some too late miracle, take two of three from Toronto. Maybe this section should have been under the "Weaknesses" heading.

Positive Outlook for Second Half of Season

Holy crap! Could it get much worse? If not for the Mets injuries and their overall ability to match the Phillies crappy loss to teams they should be beating, the season would be shaping up quite differently. With any luck, the Phillies will get to the All-Star break and get things together. Then a nice 10 of 12 win streak would go nicely to help increase the division lead.

There is also talk in Pennsylvania of having the Phillies play the Nationals for the remainder of the season. Hey, it sounds good to me. The Phillies own them, after all. Oh right - like you wouldn't want that for your team. Fine - so there's no discussion like that going on. But there should be.

Leading In All-Star Voting

Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez are leading at their positions. Nice job, voters. For once, you got it right. Not that the All-Star game means anything, but go ahead and win it anyway, NL. Just in case. Nice rule, Selig, you...

Threats


* Playing the Mets
* Playing the American League
* The Pitching Staff
* Not Scoring Enough Runs
* Playing Home Games

Look, this has gone on long enough. Suffice it to say that they don't play well against the Mets; they suck ass against the American League; the Pitching Staff gives up too many homers, too many runs and needs to have more quality starts; the offense is often guilty of leaving too many frigging men on base; and they stink on ice at home. What more do you want? If you read any of this, you'd know all this already!

Note : The author should have used a wide range of research methods to gather and verify his information. These would have included sports related web sites, team websites, written reports on the teams and press releases. The author lazily contented himself with cursory checks of data on ESPN's web site.

2008 World (you know) Champions: The Sequel

2009-06-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's the summer movie season, and like most summers, there are plenty of movies to see, including a few sequels.

Unfortunately, also just like most summers, there are some really tired and unappealing offerings in the theaters.

I was high on the new release 2009 Philadelphia Phillies. It looked like a sure thing... and then the movie season started. But before we get into that, let's have a look at some of the other contenders in this summer's movie mix.

* 2009 Tampa Bay Rays - currently ranked 4th in the AL East box office. Has a chance to put on a summer surge and move up a few spots, though.

* 2009 Boston Red Sox - This franchise is on it's 5th sequel, and has hit the top of the money list twice. It came close to the top spot last year, but fell to a somewhat disappointing 3rd on the list.

* 2009 New York Yankees - Almost not worthy of making mention, but since this franchise always stirs the pot, I'll dash off a few words about it. Since finishing 2nd in the AL East box office in 2007, and falling off the list following the release of that year's surprise hit the Cleveland Indians last year's Yankees opus floundered to a not-really-even-that-close 3rd place in 2008.

You can always count on silly and unwanted drama when talking about the Yankees. Studio heads made the questionable - and in hindsight BAD (although many critics, including yours truly questioned this decision the second it was made) - decision to replace Oscar (R)-winning director Joe Torre with the unproven and volatile Joe Girardi.

Let's just say that the jury is still out, but it looks like the 2009 Yankees will be a make-or-break outing for Mr. Girardi. My money is on the Yankees making yet another directorial change in 2010. Unless Girardi is replaced before the 2009 sequel's run is even completed - a very likely possibility. He's over budget, and behind schedule. And the money men are not known for their patience... or judgment.

* 2009 Phillies - Where to begin? Some sequels just suck. This one looks to be the most disappointing of all. They stink on ice in home theaters and can eke out a good performance the further they are away from tinseltown. Sure, the original had all the right elements - timely performances, career making effort and just the right amount of luck.

But this film has been out for over two months now, and except for a strong showing the week of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets releases about two weeks ago, this sad sequel has been on autopilot... and all the instruments are dead.

There are plot holes you could drive a truck through, there are few compelling characters besides Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez and they can't seem to draw at the box office with any consistency. Add in the .217 lead off weekend that started in Rollinsville and the 86 strikeout fiasco in Howard County and you've got a flop in the making.

Is there hope for the 2009 Phillies sequel? Many experts (not yours truly) didn't think this film would even compete for 2nd place in the NL East box office. But this plucky film has managed to hang in there, holding on to a slim lead over the aforementioned Mets, who have put together an equally inept film.

Like the Phillies, The Mets flick consistently fails to capitalize on opportunities. For three weekends, the Phillies couldn't buy a win. They lost money and moviegoers to the Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. It wasn't even close.

But the Mets, looking like they are headed for a third consecutive poor showing (how did the first sequel get a green light, let alone this one?), were only able to scratch out modest wins while the Phillies floundered in pathetically spectacular fashion.

Back to the Phillies now. It would be refreshing to see some fundamental changes made to the marketing efforts of the Phillies. PR Manager Charlie Manuel has stuck with the same tired formula through thick and thin. Even tonight, leaving the plan intact, to the tune of 0-5, in effect dropping the weekly take to .214. It almost seems like they are TRYING to lose money.

Going with the guy who brung ya is noble, and justifiable when that guy wins an Oscar (R) and gives you great returns like .296, 30 and 94 in the start of the lineup. But when it dips to .277, 11 and 59, and then plummets to the putrid levels that have been on display thus far... it's time to seriously consider a change. Maybe shake up the lineup a bit. Move some folks around.

As badly as the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies have played, it's still tops in the NL East box office. But it's way past time to stop remembering how great the 2008 film was and focus on the 2009 edition.

It's not too late. All of these films are still competing for the moviegoers dollars and the coveted Oscar (R). It's anyone's game. If the Phillies can get their crap together, they have a very good chance of making a run at the type of earnings they had last year. Imagine that, a sequel worth seeing. Two thumbs up.

Originally posted on armchairgm on June 24, 2009.

Phillies Pitching Settles In; And Some Offense Never Hurts...

2009-06-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well, let's see...earlier, I complained about the Phillies and their lack of solid pitching. Now that they've rattled off four consecutive wins with some decent pitching outings, I might have to change my tune a bit.

Last week hit a lot of bad notes, starting with Brett Myers' thoroughly wretched line against the Marlins:


IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA 
5.2 7  5 5  1  3  2  94-57 4.66

Ugh. Enough to make you want to freakin' hurl. Five earned runs on seven hits and two homers surrendered. Then add the lackluster offensive performanace: eight hits and two solo homers accounting for whatver signs of life the Phils had (and there were not many) in a 6-2 loss. To a pitcher (Burke Badenhop) who has a grand total of five wins (and five losses) in his career. Emetic.

And then the news that we will be losing Myers for the season? Not exactly like losing Steve Carlton, I admit, but the Phillies losing any pitcher with an ERA less than 8 can't be a good thing.

Cue Sj-rantocycloid....

But wait, what's this? Here come the Nationals. But not so fast, my friend. The Phils have proven that they are quite capable of losing to teams they should be beating. Remember a two game sweep against the Padres earlier this season?

But what happens? JA Happ throws a gem and the Phils get a tight 5-4 win over Washington.


IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA 
5.1 3  3 3  3  5  1  96-62 3.00

Well, it's not a 2-hit shutout with 9 Ks, but for a Phillies pitcher, it's pretty damned good. And - look at that - offense! Thanks, All-Star Raul Ibanez and your two RBI. Hey Phils - see what can happen when you score some runs?

Next up - a bit of a slugfest, but the Phils come out on top, registering a 9-6 win punctuated by two Ryan Howard homers (one a grand slam) and an RBI courtesy of pitcher Cole Hamels.


IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST  ERA 
6.0 8  6 6  1  7  1  104-67 5.21

His line was a bit rough, but it was good enough for the win. And he's the only pitcher I'm not concerned about, so we'll move on to the next game now.

And the sixth time is the charm, as the Ancient Mariner Jamie Moyer nails down that elusive 250th win. Moyer surrendered one run, but other than that, a very good outing:


IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA 
6.0 3  1 1  0  4  1  102-62 6.75

And this game was just what the doctor ordered. Chase Utley drove in a run in the bottom of the 1st, and Chris Coste added a homer in the 2nd to give Moyer the early lead. It's a formula that works. I am hoping to see more of this concoction as the season goes on.

Finally, we get to Joe Blanton, who has struggled a bit this year. And lo and behold, here's his stellar line from a 5-3 win over the Padres:


IP  H  R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA 
7.0 6  3 3  1  5  2  95-62 5.86

I could have done without the two homers (I'm sure Blanton would say the same thing), but if you give up 3 runs in the MLB, you should still reasonably expect to have a fighting chance to win. Utley and Howard provided just the right kind of offense: the home run kind. Utley drove in two runs, and joined Howard in a back-to-back extravaganza.

All this coupled with some Mets losses, and all is right in the NL East again. Thank you, Pirates!

Now that the pitching and hitting seem to be working hand-in-hand, I seem to have run out of things to moan about. Not to worry - this is the Phillies we're talking about. They never seem to go too long without giving me something to bitch about.

And tonight - A debut outing for Antonio Bastardo against the crafty veteran Jake Peavy. Sounds like good fun to me. Go Pirates! And more importantly - go Phils! Don't change a thing.

ESPN Scooped! News Related To Brett Favre "Retirement" That You Will Only Read About Here

2009-05-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Madden out of retirement!

That's right folks. Now that Brett Favre (TM) has indicated that he may be returning to the NFL, John Madden has indicated he will return to broadcasting. However, he has stated that he will only be available to broadcast Minnesota Vikings games...or "whatever freaking team Favre winds up on this time," the great broadcaster was quoted as saying. "There's no better quarterback than Brett Favre (TM)."

Madden 2010 - Discontinued If No Favre

Spokespeople for John Madden have indicated that Mr. Madden is prepared to sit out the 2010 gaming season if Brett Favre (TM) remains retired. "We just can't see the point of even having the game available if the greatest living football ambassador will not even be available to shill the game," the gaming genius said in a statement. No word from the Favre camp on rumors that Brett Favre (TM) was insisting that the game - and certain key elements of the game - would have to be modified if Favre were to be expected to continue to lend his likeness to the game. No details were available at press time.

All-Madden Team Now Will Be All-Favre Team

Brett Favre (TM) is taking over! CBS has announced that even if Madden comes out of retirement, the All-Madden team will cease to be. But fear not, sports fans! It will be replaced with the newer, hipper All-Favre (TM) team! CBS spokesman Al Michaels told us that "it was time for a change. I mean really - the All-Madden team? Everyone knows if it weren't for Brett Favre (TM), there would be no All-Madden team."

Steve Madden to market new footwear, called the Favre

A Google search reveals this about Steve Madden's product lines: "With enough attitude for even the sassiest fashion diva and the most discriminating and stylish men..." and he means it. What you won't find in your search, however is that Madden (Steve) and Brett Favre (TM) are in talks to release a new shoe called "The Favre."

It will be available in stylish green and white (no, it's not Yellow! bellows the high quality catalog (printed on recyclable paper, of course)), with shoelaces that have every NFL teams colors on them (just in case). The shoes will cost $44 each and will come with a cool sticker that has a Calvin & Hobbes-like drawing of #4 peeing on a Green Bay Packer helmet.

But you must act quickly, as the shoe will be retired at the end of this NFL season. Or...will it? ;-) Mr. Madden (Steve) was not available for comment.

Wrangler vs. Lee

Brett Favre (TM) has released a statement saying he will be retiring from the business of advertising jeans. It was reported last fall that Favre felt that "that ship had sailed." Relations between Favre and Wrangler were strained when it was reported in "Retire?" magazine that a highly placed Wrangler executive was photographed wearing a #4 Packer replica jersey at a golf outing. Favre was reportedly so upset that he couldn't even focus on retiring during his tenure with the Jets and accidently played the whole 16-game schedule.

What you didn't hear in "Retire?" magazine was that the Favre camp have been in talks with the Lee Jeans Company since August 2008, trying to convince the devil-may-care Favre to jump ship and schill Lee Jeans. Word outta Kiln is that the two sides are very close to announcing a deal! Watch this space...

There's Something about Mary - Favre Wants Famous Scene To Be Removed

Astonishing, isn't it? The hilarious scene that proved once and for all that nobody really knew how to pronounce the name Brett Favre (TM) is to be excised from the film "There's Something About Mary" and will be used in the next Judd Apatow film. Mr. Apatow had no comment. Favre did, but it was nothing you haven't heard before. He just used a comment he'd made after a 2003 Packers/Bears game, and simply changed a few nouns and verbs to describe this bombshell.

When we hear more, you can be sure you'll hear it here first!

Brett Favre (TM) Reportedly Wants "revenge" on Green Bay

Yes, Yahoo reported that Brett Favre (TM) is seeking re-entry to the NFL to gain revenge on the team that made his career possible in the first place. His plan is simple - he will tire out the Green Bay secondary by throwing six "pick six" interceptions in first half of each Viking/Packer game, thereby enabling All-Pro running back Adrian Petersen more room to run. Head Coach Brad Childress bristled when a reporter asked him if even Petersen could overcome a 42-0 first half defecit by himself.

College Football

2009-05-05T07:46:00.001-07:00

If all of you are getting sleepy from all this baseball talk, then I can understand because sometimes it just makes you feel a little constipated. While the game is considered America's pasttime, it certainly has lost its luster and for me and others who do agree with me, 1869 and present and will always going strong is the greatness that is college football.

The 2009 season is still a ways out but it doesn't hurt to get a little interested right now. There are always developments in the offseason that lead up to an always exciting season. Things to look out for will be...

The start of the Lane Kiffin era in Knoxville
SEC drama between Kiffin, Meyer, Richt, Miles
Florida possibly becoming the 3rd school to win 3 national titles in 4 years
Encore seasons for Colt McCoy, 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford and 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow
Who will come out of the Big XII (Texas or Oklahoma)?
Will USC win an 8th consecutive conference title and make another BCS game?
Will Utah or any other mid-major finally get respect and be considered for the NC?
And of course, you never know what Joe Paterno has up his sleeve

There are other things to look out for when the season begins and plays through. We shall see when it all begins. Right now I will pick my conference champions and BCS predictions.

Pac 10- USC
Big XII- Oklahoma
Big Ten- Penn State
Big East- Pittsburgh
ACC- Miami
SEC- Florida

Orange- Pittsburgh vs Miami
Sugar- Utah vs Georgia
Fiesta- Oklahoma vs Ohio State
Rose- Penn State vs Texas
BCS NCG- Florida vs USC

Just for the hell of it..... Colt McCoy wins the Heisman. The 2010 NFL Draft will feature 3 Heisman winning quarterbacks!

Just two guys talkin' Phillies baseball

2009-05-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

From: Sj-hypocycloid
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-friend
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 11:19 PM

awesome! it's over - a 6-1 final! nice. And a mighty 12 pitch outing for Durbin. And the Mets beat Atlanta 6-4. Not sure if we should be happy about that or not. too bad they can't both lose! Well, the result puts the Mets (11-13) in 3rd place and the Braves (11-14) in 4th, so all is well. Worst case scenario for the Phillies is the Marlins win, and the Phils are 1/2 game out. the Marlins are in extra innings (the 13th - go cincinnati)

No homers, and only five men left on base (and 10 for the Cards! nice to see a team other than the Phils doing that). All in all, not a bad night at all for the Phillies. Howard and Werth leading the way on offense - 4 for 7 combined with 6 ribbies. Gotta like it. And gotta hope that this pitching performance will start a trend!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-friend
Subject: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-hypocycloid
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 10:49 PM

dude, you moan too much about the pitching. it's not the freakin' 1970s anymore. deal with it! LOL. If these guys even tried to throw 300+ innings, their arms would fall off! Just enjoy the game. oh yeah, you can't! ;-) well, enjoy listening.

And they're into the 9th....and frakin' Durbin is in now? wtf? come on! what happened to madson? maybe you're right... LOL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Sj-hypocycloid
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-friend
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 10:40 PM

Hell yeah! Headin' to the 9th! up 6-1 and eyre and madson with scoreless innings! I don't know why they took eyre out. he threw a scoreless inning, for christs' sake! 11 pitches! WTF? He's a major league pitcher and he can't throw more than 11 pitches??? I mean, yeah - madson threw seven to get his inning over and done with, but still....why not save madson for another day? Too many pitching changes!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-friend
Subject: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-hypocycloid
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 10:27 PM

Dude, you're such a tool. Pujols is great....even if he is on roids. I noticed that your mvp struck out again. He must be leading the league again in that...does he have 200 yet? LOL

And Blanton! wow - I can't believe he didn't give up a homer! hardly any phils pitchers can say that. I think only moyer has a start that he didn't yield a freakin' longball! Looks like the Phils might be closing this one out soon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-hypocycloid
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-friend
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 10:21 PM

Dude, are you watching this? I'm so annoyed at comcast! They suck. All I can do is listen or keep checking espn.com. Holy crap! 6-1 and Pujols has been pretty quiet. 0-3 with a walk. That's exactly what you gotta do.

And look at freakin' blanton! 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks and only one earned run??? What's up with that? Who cares? The Phils 'pen can certainly use moreo f that! Nice. Werth and Howard went deep. Howard's 4th of the season and a .293 batting average. If not for 'roid man pujols, he'd be an mvp candidate! LOL way way too early for that kind of talk!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-friend
Subject: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-hypocycloid
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 1:13 PM

Yeah, that dude's gott abe on roids! No way he could put up numbers like that without help. Or maybe he's just that good. Just like A-Rod - ha! what a freaking cheater that dude is. A-Fraud is more like it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-hypocycloid
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-friend
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 11:49 AM

Yeah, the Cards are tough. But some people thought the Marlins were tough before the Phils swept 'em. And look at all the preseason prognosticators who picked the Mets, going on about their pitching, and forgetting that they were talking about Maine and Pelfrey! Who cares how good your bullpen is if you can't get to it!

Look at the Phillies - they're gonna wear that bullpen out by the All-Star break. They need to get someone to come in and eat up some innings. Not gonna be easy against the Cards, though. Pujols is having another monster year: .344, 9 homers, 29 ribbies, .460 OBP and .700 SLG. Can you say 'roids' ? LOL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-friend
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-hypocycloid
Date: Monday, April 17, 2009, 11:56 AM

Yeah - 1-1. Way to go Phils! Who do they play tonight? The Cards? Man, that's tough. They're pretty good.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-hypocycloid
Subject: RE: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-friend
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 10:16 AM

Nice to see them winning some games now. And a winning April - that doesn't happen every year. Glad they managed to get that win over the Mets. A walk with the bases loaded. That's a demoralizing way to lose. Ha! Take that, Mets! After last freaking year, splitting with the Mets would be a bonus. They're on their way at 1-1 LOL....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Sj-friend
Subject: freakin'phillies
To: Sj-hypocycloid
Date: Monday, May 4, 2009, 9:41 AM

I agree with you totally that the Phillies pitching has been pretty wretched this year. Chan ho's pitching friday was pathetic! I'd take don ho over that dude at this point.

Mad Libs, Phillies vs. Mets Style

2009-05-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Phillies played a _______________ game against the New York Mets - a _______________ 7-4 loss. In the first inning, Chan Ho Park, who is a very _______________ pitcher, gave up a 2-run homer in the first inning, the 41st homer given up by the _______________ Phillies pitching staff.

Just when it seemed that Park would settle down, he went ahead and gave up 2 more _______________ runs in the second inning, adding insult to injury by allowing the _______________ pitcher, Mike _______________ Pelfry to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Park continued on his wretched pace by giving up yet another _______________ run in the third inning, again on a sacrifice fly. This time, at least, it wasn't a _______________ pitcher that drove in the _______________ run.

Just when _______________ was almost overtaking me, the Phillies roared to life and scored three runs in their half of the third inning. With the _______________ Raul Ibanez furthering his case for being named Phillies _______________.

Incredibly, Park had a _______________ fourth inning, somehow managing to not give up a run. But in the fifth inning, it was back to business, as the _______________ Mets scored another run on a _______________ David Wright single. 6-3 stood the score.

Then later in the fifth, _______________ Pelfrey singled, driving in yet another run. Mets 7, Phillies 3. Park's _______________ night over, after 4 2/3 _______________ innings.

Curiously, the _______________ Mets did not score for the rest of the game, once the Phillies relievers took over. Could the Phillies chip away at this lead and stage one of their 8th or 9th inning comebacks?

Uh, no. Other than a solo Chase Utley home run in the 7th inning, the Phillies went out like lambs. Adding insult to _______________ injury, the Mets bullpen actually saved a _______________ game.

The only saving grace here is that the Marlins had already lost to the Cubs earlier in the day. But giving renewed hope to the _______________ Mets is not the best way to have started this _______________ _______________ weekend!!!

Now, the Phils need to grow a set of _______________ and win the next two. They need to smother that _______________ hope that they've given to the _______________ Mets...and quickly. Or they could be looking back at this _______________ game and thinking about what could have _______________ been.

Yo Phils! Dude, Where's My Pitching??

2009-04-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, Phillies, so you listened. I called for you guys to sweep the Marlins, and you went out and did it. Nice job.

But now we gotta talk about the pitching. Dudes, seriously? I've been told by an endless array of other writers how y'all had career years last year, and how this pitching staff was no great shakes, and how - beyond Cole Hamels - y'all ain't got much going on.

And you're proving the point! Doesn't that kind of smack talk tick you off? It ticks me off and I'm not even the focus of the criticism!

I think it's awesome that you can get down by four runs, come back, give up the damn lead again, and then score the win on a grand slam. It's a great way to end a game, and Raul Ibanez is the shiznat....but, come on guys. I mean, 13-11? That's great stuff for highlights, but not so great for fans that would prefer 13-2 laughers. Does anyone remember laughers??? (does anyone remember Led Zeppelin?)

All right, check it:

* Brett Myers leads the starters with a 4.91 ERA going into tonight's game. And he's given up eight homers. This was a problem last year too - and that demotion did him a world of good. Just sayin'...Tell you what - go a game without giving up a homer and I'll ease off the gas a bit.

* Jamie Moyer (and I will refrain from making a joke about his age because he is currently the best Phillies pitcher) is next with a 5.09 ERA. But he gets a pass because he is also 3-1. Keep up the good work, buddy.

* Cole Hamels is tied with Brad Lidge with a 7.27 ERA. Despite his chiropractor, Hamels has been oft injured and we're still waiting to see the pitcher who was lights out in the playoffs and World Series last year. Now Lidge is nursing an injury. The fool national broadcasters always prattle on about "If they can avoid injury" - I guess there is something to this.

Oh yeah, I'll give Hamels and Lidge a pass because...well, because they were lights out in the playoffs and World Series last year! But - I'd still like to see some quality outings, boys. Okay?

* Joe Blanton? Hmmm...I'll give him some space. He's been pretty....awful thus far, but he did have some great moments last year. Time to get going, dude. Sooner the better.

* Chan Ho Park. Why? All I have to say. I got nothin' else. I'm ready to see what JA Happ can do in the starting rotation. Or Pedro Martinez. Anyone. Bueller? Bueller? Frye?

But it's not all doom and gloom. Ryan Howard has a .273 batting average, which is about 100 points higher than last year. Chase Utley and the aforementioned Ibanez have been...spectacular. Nothing new there. Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino have been steady as well. Offensively, the Phillies are starting to roll.

And then there's the Mets, who were the darlings of the prognosticators when the season began. So...I ask the question again: Beyond Johan Santana and Fransisco Rodriguez, who do they have for pitching? Amazingly, they may have a more underwhelming pitching staff than the Phillies do.

All that hand wringing over whether or not the Phils could keep up with the Mets, and it was the Marlins that were the problem. Well, after running into the buzzsaw that is the Pittsburgh Pirates (a three-game sweep), the Fish were swept by the Phils, and suddenly, the NL East was within 1 1/2 games.

And the Mets (mired in 4th place) are hardly a factor. If this keeps up, they will at least spare their fans the ignominy of choking away the NL East in the last week of the season. Oh, and...was that the Met bullpen that blew that save tonight? Maybe some more tinkering is necessary.

Of course, I mock at the Phillies peril, as the two teams open a three-game set this weekend, presumably to duke it out for bragging rights in the NL East. And it may not matter, as the Marlins square off against the Cubs this weekend, so I doubt that the standings will change much for any of these three teams.

And Atlanta? At 10-11, they hold third place in the NL East, and certainly warrant some conversation. They're just as inconsistent as the Phils, Mets and Marlins. At this point, any of the three could win the division. The Braves, in my mind, have an edge this weekend, as they take on the struggling Astros.

Yes, so far, it's been a crazy, fun season. I hope that May is a little more stable for the Phillies, but I'm sure we'll see more of the same. And that's fine - nothing wrong with a little excitement in baseball. But it would be nice if they won some games before the 8th and 9th innings.

And with an 11-9 record, and no more games in April, the Phillies have guaranteed their second consecutive winning April. Well done, boys - here's to ya. Now for the tough love part - get yer heads outta yer butts and get that pitching straightened out.

A low-scoring sweep of the Mets would go a long way to repairing my fractured confidence in the pitching staff.

Go Phils!!!

An Open Letter to the Phillies: Get Yer Heads Outta Yer Butts!

2009-04-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

Come on! That pretty much sums up my reaction to what my radio was telling me last night. A no-hitter? To Dave Bush? Who is 44-46 for his six year career? At least they had the decency to wrap it all up before I even got home from work!

No disrespect to Bush, but - come on!!! What the hell's up with the Phillies?

Here are two statements that emphasize my level of negativity toward them at this moment:

1) Ryan Howard went 0-4 last night...but at least he didn't strike out. Yay! What a consolation.

2) I am not even going to moan about their LOB numbers.

You lollygag to first! You lollygag to second! You know what that makes you? A sorely underwhelming and uninspiring team!

And Phillies fans are funny. We're conditioned to bring out all the usual cliches and reasons why it's okay that the Phillies aren't looking like defending World Series champs right now.

* Cliche/Reason: It's April. They always start slow.

* Retort: Not always. If I am remembering correctly, they started 17-5 in 1993 and never looked back. Last year, they posted a winning April (15-13) - barely.

* Cliche/Reason: They're a warm weather team.

* Retort: Who isn't? And...since when? They're not a warm weather team from a geographic perspective. And don't give me that a lot of the guys are from California. Most of the guys on the team have at least one year of playing baseball in crummy Northeast weather. And if you're not a cold weather team, how on Earth did you win the World Series??? Newsflash: Baseball is played in April, May, September and October - none of these are summer months.

* Cliche/Reason: It's a marathon, not a sprint. There's still 148 games to go.

* Retort: Well, you're 6-8 with six games left in April - three against the Marlins (11-4) and three against the Nationals (3-11). And before any aspersions are cast at the Nationals, let me point out that the Phils are only three games better than them right now.

I don't want to hear it. I get the impression that the Phillies fans in general are okay with how things are going. I do not necessarily agree. A saving grace is that the Mets are also struggling. But Florida ain't.

And just because the lowly Pirates just finished a sweep of the Marlins, that don't (or shouldn't) mean diddly for the Phils. After all, before that series, the Marlins were cruising along at 11-1.

Clearly, I don't expect Florida to keep up a pace like this, but, honestly, I doubt I am the only one who believes that the Phillies going into Florida playing like they are now could really turn this season on it's ear. It's very likely that the Marlins could emerge with a sweep.

Time to wake up Phillies. Time to forget about that trophy and concentrate on the 2009 season. Sadly, their pitchers have given up at least one homer in every game this season. Ryan Braun feasted on Phillies pitching, batting .800, slamming three homers and driving in six.

I'm not giving up or renouncing my Phillies fandom. I'm far too committed for that. Go Phils! But they're really pissing me off right now.

A three game sweep in Florida would go a long way to repairing my fractured confidence in them.

Voice in My Head: Thoughts About Harry Kalas

2009-04-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

How does one describe what someone they've never met means to them? It's more an amalgamation of memories for me. Countless spring, summer and fall evenings (and an occasional afternoon) spent watching channel 48, 29 or 17 to catch the Phillies.

In the pre-cable, pre-internet, pre-cell phone (can you believe there is such a thing?) days of following baseball, there was the daily newspaper, the evening news, This Week In Baseball (...with Mel Allen...), baseball cards and the clock radio that my parents had in the kitchen.

I listened to many a game on that radio, blissfully content that this is how baseball games are supposed to be enjoyed. The rich, vibrant descriptions, the sound of the crowd, the crack of the bat and Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas.

There are no specific calls that I remember, but I know that any and all significant Phillies moments are peppered with Mr. Kalas' classic voice. I remember watching every game of the 1980 NLCS between the Astros and Phillies and hanging on every pitch, every swing, and finally - the sweet final out that sent the Phillies to the World Series.

I remember watching the 1980 World Series: Peter Rose's save of Bob Boone's drop (is it any wonder I am such a Pete Rose fan?), Tug McGraw's strikeout of Willie Wilson to end the series (with the cops on horesback lining up behind the plate, anticipating this great moment) and the parade. Awesome. "We Win" in giant font on the front page of the Philadelphia Daily News (I have a copy somewhere in my basement) and Mike Schmidt's words to the crowd "Take this World Series and savor it. 'Cause you all earned it!" (I think that was it...I apologize if I've misquoted - I'm just writing from memory here).

Then there are smatterings of other Phillies memories - coming home from school just in time to watch the Phils and Expos square off in day games in the 1981 playoffs. Watching the 26-7 game in 1985 (I think) in which Von Hayes hit two homers in the first inning.

The lean years - 1985-1992. The 1993 playoffs in which Curt Schilling could not have been more spectacular. Pretty much willing the Phillies to defeat the Braves. On to the World Series, where Joe Carter's homer still haunts Phillies fans like myself. I don't know about other Phils fans, but the win in 2008 doesn't ease the disappointment of Carter's bomb. But we move on, and see what the future brings.

The Francona/Bowa years where the Phillies finally started to show some promise. The hiring of Charlie Manuel, which left me (and I'm certain plenty of other Phils fans) scratching my head. But the rewards came quickly - the NL East crown in 2007, and, of course, the World Series in 2008.

And through it all, the voice of Harry Kalas. I didn't realize until the last couple of years just how much a part of my childhood Harry Kalas was. I think it started when Richie Ashburn died. I realized then that I'd never hear Whitey's witticisms and his down-home, practical approach to calling a game. He knew when to remain silent.

Harry Kalas joked, laughed, entertained and brought the game to life. When something great was going on in the game, you, as the listener had no doubt that it was great. His excited screaming about Mike Schmidt's 500th homer, the final pitch of the 1980 World Series, the pitch that propelled the Phillies into the 1993 World Series, the call for the last out of the 2008 World Series.

Even the more mundane calls became "Hammer of the Gods" like when Harry intoned. He could call a strike out or a ground out as well as a homer or a game winning single. ESPN's Mike Greenberg said this morning that listening to a Harry Kalas montage is listening to a baseball game as it's supposed to sound. As it's supposed to be called.

Seriously, I don't think I would have the same great memories of these events if not for Kalas climbing out of my radio, sitting down next to me and sharing his enthusiasm for these great moments he was witnessing. He was a storyteller of my favorite kind of stories. Baseball stories.

It's hard not to sound corny here...I will miss Harry Kalas. This great friend that I've never met. The baseball moments we shared. Rest easy, Harry - and thanks for fostering my love and enthusiasm for this great great game.

What I Remember About 2008: A Phillies Year To Remember

2009-04-08T17:24:00.001-07:00

I remember IMing with a fellow Phillies fan shortly after the World Series had ended, bringing euphoria and joy to the rudderless, unwashed masses known to the baseball world as the worst fans in baseball. For the stretch of a few weeks...we were the best fans. Effin' A.

Chase Utley said it best, in all his [expletive deleted] glory. I couldn't have said it any better myself. It was a feeling of relief, happiness, joy...and, something I can't quite put my finger on.

In the days that followed the 2008 World Series I almost felt like - it's about freaking time. It's been 28 years, what the hell have you guys been doing? Where is another World Series win? The Twins won two World Series since 1980. The Marlins won two! The Red Sox won two. So...where the hell was ours?

But I got over it real quick in late October 2008. Finally, Finally. I work in central New Jersey, and have to deal with Mets and Yankees fans. For once, I could just tell them all to shut up and let me enjoy this moment. And to think, in September, I exchanged an email with my carpool guy about how done with the Phillies we were.

So, what do I remember about 2008? Just a few things:

* Adrian Beltre's prediction - didn't pan out. Jimmy Rollins he ain't

* Telling my son about the 1980 Phillies. Some of you might remember reading this.

* Not being able to watch a game because I have DirectTV - no Comcast. Hate them.

* A positive April (more wins than losses) - The first one in a long time.

* LOB, LOB, LOB - Too many men left on base...continued all season and into the WS

* Brett Myers demotion to the minors and his triumphant return.

* The Mets meltdown - always fun to watch and write about.

* NLDS - Victorino taking CC downtown. Never a doubt after that.

* NLCS - Myers hitting against LA, Matt Stairs' blast. Never a doubt after that.

* WS - Howard finally coming to life. Brad Lidge slamming the door.

So that's what I remember about 2008. The Phillies finally delivering the World Series that their crazed fanbase has been yearning for all these years. And doing it in style. What a great year. The best freaking fans get a prize they'll never forget. Awesome!

Fun (mostly Philly-related) facts about October 29

* October 29, 1981 - Bill Giles becomes CEO of Philadelphia Phillies

* October 29, 1942 - Branch Rickey named president/GM of Brooklyn Dodgers

* October 29, 1931 - Lefty Grove, A's pitcher who won 31 games, is named the AL's MVP

* October 29, 1682 - William Penn lands at what is now Chester Pennsylvania

* October 29, 2008 - The Phillies win their second World Series.

Phillies 2009: Rough Start, But Salvaged In The End

2009-04-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true - I reverted back to my typical fan mode and moaned about the pitiful performance by the Phillies in their first two games.

While 4-1 and 4-0 losses are not the end of the world, it's just not a good way to start a season. Especially when the team has a history of bad Aprils. I wrote a very similar article last year at this time. No need to go over familiar ground.

Well, maybe a little. Sunday's 4-1 loss: 4 men left on base (LOB). Tuesday's 4-0 loss: 11 LOB. Today's 12-11 slugfest: 11 LOB again. I suppose it could be argued that if you score 12, then leaving 11 men on base isn't so bad. I disagree, but you could argue this point.

But I'll walk away. The season is young, and World Series rings have been distributed. So everyone in the Philadelphia area ought to be feeling pretty optomistic overall. There are 159 games left - plenty of time.

Not much has changed between the way 2008 started and the way 2009 is starting. The Phillies lost winnable games in both years and I moaned about it. Now they're 1-2 and on their way to Colorado....last year, they were 1-2 and on their way to play Cincinnati.

Last year, the Phillies struggled to take 2 of 4 from the Reds. I'm hoping this year they'll surprise the crap out of me and take all three games from the Rockies. Cole Hamels will take the mound in a much-hyped start Friday afternoon amid talk of his ailing left elbow. He says he's fine, and I hope that turns out to be the case.

We need a typical Hamels outing: less than 2 runs, 8-10 Ks and 7-8 innings pitched. Of course, that also means that the Phillies need to score more than 0 and 1 runs in the game as well. But they just scored 12, so my thinking here is that they should be able to muster 3-4 runs. That would be a good start.

It's time to put the World Series win in the back pocket and get back to the business of playing the type of baseball that made them October winners. At least this year...I feel comfortable that they know the way.

Two Stories I'd Be Happy to Hear Nothing More About

2009-02-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

Exhibit A: A-Rod & Roids

This whole A-Rod thing has made me a bit reflective. I have found that I no longer care about this crap anymore. I don't want to hear about it, and I want it to go away. I know that won't happen, so maybe it's time for me to go away. But I can't do that - not with the Phillies being defending champs.

So - what conclusions can we draw from A-Rod? His actions will not hurt baseball in the slightest. His numbers will stand - and they should, as should the numbers of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens - because MLB has a long history of looking the other way, and making A-Rod the sacrifical lamb is a bit silly, considering he is not the first roider and will not be the last.

ESPN's Mike & Mike have been whining and arguing about this all week, and it's getting kind of annoying. The local Philly radio guys (who are tools) have been wondering why roids in football is not a big deal, but it is in baseball. I am not really sure why that does seem to be true, but I have my half-assed theories.

I think that the two things that come to play here are baseball's holier-than-thou attitude. Simply put, I've always felt that baseball believed it was better than all other sports. This is just my perspective. It's likely that many will disagree, and that's fine. But when MLB has a problem, I think that people love to tear them down...and I think it's due to this attitude.

The other thing is that when someone in baseball gets popped, it's like a celebration. It's usually someone with a big name, someone who rubs fans or reporters the wrong way or someone who plays/played for the Yankees. What do Pettitte, Clemens and A-Rod all have in common? Pinstripes. The idea that winning is expected in pinstripes. Win at any cost. No judgment here - many teams should adopt this philosophy. But the Yanks are a lightning rod when it comes to fans. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground - they're either loved or hated. They're a great team just for their ability to spark such passion.

And as for the idea that it's a bigger deal in baseball and not so much in football...I think that if a roid guy was exposed in the NFL, and he played for the Cowboys....then there would be a pretty decent uproar.

And so it goes...I'll just wait for this to blow over, as these things always do, and wait for the season to start. Go Phils!

Brett Favre retires - part two

This is getting out of hand. So he retired. What else is new? He did that last year, and talked about doing it every year for the five or six seasons prior to this one.

He was a great player, and lots of fun to watch. He won a lot of games and genuinely seemed to enjoy playing football. The Packers are a much better franchise for having had him in their midst.

The Pack moved on, and so should fans and sports experts. Say your piece, and get on to other matters. Stop trying to rank his place in history. It's too soon - why not wait until he is inducted into the hall of fame? It's not really something that can be quantified anyway.

Brett Favre was an excellent football player, and was great for the game. He had many memorable moments and always seemed to say the right thing. He seems like a good guy. Really, what else is there to say? Farewell, Mr. Favre. It's been real.

Screw Yahoo's "blogger"

2009-02-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

I normally go with the idea that one shouldn't write when angry, but this tool ticks me off.

I am tired of hearing about the officiating in Super Bowl 40. it's over - the Steelers won, get over it. That goes for you too, Mike Holmgren (aka Walrus).

Now there are jerks like this putz (Chris Chase) moaning about the officiating in Sunday's just-ended Super Bowl:

* "officiating controversy threatens to overshadow the stellar play on the field."

Ridiculous. The game was fantastic and the officiating doesn't overshadow anything.

* "Frankly, it's remarkable that there was no booth challenge to review the play. It was certainly close enough to warrant a look from upstairs. In all probability, the call on the field would have been confirmed. But why not appease the masses and nip any talk of controversy in the bud?"

It's not remarkable at all. I'm quite sure that the guys in the booth looked at the play a number of times after it occurred and determined that it was a fumble and there was no need to review the play. To "appease the masses"? What the hell is that? "nip any talk of controversy in the bud" ? I suppose he thinks the NFL is covering something up? This guy's been reading too much Dan Brown.

* "disparity in penalties (106 yards for the Cardinals against just 56 for the Steelers)"

What disparity? 106-56 is not really all that unequal. And, quite frankly, I saw about 110 holds committed by the Cards O-line that were not called.

* "a preposterous roughing the passer penalty on a play that wouldn't have been uncommon in touch football"

A preposterous attempt to write an article. Please, somebody take this guy's keyboard away before he drops his wittle baby bottle on it.

Don't try to stir up controversy where there is none. The officials called a tight game, and they nailed the Steelers as well. They took away a touchdown, after all. Oh, wait - they got that call right, didn't they?

Chris Chase, please do me a favor - stop writing. There's enough pollution in the environment already.

Rant over. Enjoy the win, Steelers fans.

In Defense of McNabb...and...Deion Sanders is a Tool

2009-01-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

As if anyone needed Deion Sanders' toolness to be articulated, he's been going into overdrive to prove it. He's been mouthing off on NFL Network about how Donovan McNabb wants out of Philadelphia. I hope this doesn't come to pass just so Sanders will have to shut up.

I don't think that the Eagles' front office is ready to part ways with McNabb. If they are smart, they will listen to Andy Reid, who proclaimed that McNabb is the "best quarterback in the NFL" or something to that affect.

Since it seems very likely that the Eagles front office will not be changing head coaches, it follows that this same management team, which has lived and died with McNabb, will not be making a QB change either.

In the playoff loss against the Cardinals, McNabb was 28 of 47 and passed for 375 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He led the team on an improbable comeback and deserves props for not allowing the game to get out of hand - and in fact, almost leading the Eagles to a win.

With Brian Westbrook and Desean Jackson (finally - a very good receiver) in place, I think the future is bright for the Eagles. They have a lot to build upon, considering the way this season went. I didn't think they'd even make the playoffs, let alone the NFC Title game.

Even if McNabb hasn't been able to win the NFC Title games, at least the Eagles are getting there. There are at least 15 teams in the NFL that would love to say that they even had a shot at a title game, or even a playoff game.

If anyone - Sanders included - thinks that the Eagles will be parting ways with McNabb - or, more laughably, be better off without him - I suggest reliving the Eagles/Ravens game. That's Philly's future without McNabb. Pretty scary. I suspect that McNabb and Reid will both be back next year.

And, despite what a few, loud naysayers will bleat (and what ESPN will surely focus on, because...they lack objectivity or judgment...?), the Eagles will be better for it.

SJ's Title Game Madness: Devil's Advocate

2009-01-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

What would be the worst case scenario for a Steelers fan who also pulls for the local-team Eagles? Why, a Ravens/Cardinals Super Bowl, of course.

Could that happen? Sure it could. Arizona and Baltimore didn't get here because they lost games. They're here because they won games. Some pretty good ones.

The Ravens beat the Lazurus-like Miami Dolphins and the AFC's top-seeded Titans to get here, causing all sorts of havoc on defense and taking the ball away from these two teams, that, prior to facing Baltimore did a good job of taking care of the ball.

The Cardinals beat the surprising - and should be good for years to come - Falcons and the suddenly turnover-prone Caolina Panthers. On paper, both teams are better than the Cards. But as the Talking Heads once intoned: "Go ahead, tear it up...rip up the paper."

Let's look at some Raven facts for a moment. They've already lost to the Steelers twice this season, and they are 1-3 against the Mike Tomlin-led Black & Gold. As if they needed anything to stoke their hatred of the Steelers, all they need to do is remember November 5, 2007 - a Monday Night Football game in which the Steelers destroyed the Ravens 38-7. How could you ask for more in terms of hate than to be humliliated on national television? That was then, this is now.

As for the Cardinals, they could use that 48-20 Thanksgiving Day loss as a stick. I can tell you that the Philadelphia media and fans are never more annoying than at times like this.

And before we go down that road, let me state here that Philadelphia fans are great fans. They don't take losing lightly and they expect their teams to give their all. The fans get a bad rap, and I am not, in any way, saying anything negative here. What I said earlier is merely the impression one can get when listening to a Philly-based sports radio show. It seems that only the losers and loonies call in. Write it down - Philly has a great fan base.

Now, on to the rhetoric that I am hearing...Arizona has no chance. The evening drive guy on ESPN radio, Mike Missanelli, dismisses without any hope of refutation any talk that the Cardinals even have a chance. As though the very notion is patently impossible.

After hate, there's nothing like disrespect to get a team going.

The Ravens come at you. Dare you to TRY to move the ball on their defense. They hit hard and intimidate and they prey bloodthirstily on opposing quarterbacks. Especially inexperienced ones. They pride themselves on limiting running backs to sub-100 yard days and on creating turnovers.

With bright, shiny talent on defense - names we all know - like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs (maybe) and lesser known names on offense like Todd Heap, Joe Flacco and Le'Ron McClain (who ripped off numerous solid runs to the tune of 23 carries for 87 yards against Pittsburgh's number one defense in their December 14th 13-9 loss), the Ravens are not going to be cowed by streaks or a historical numbers and what they say about teams beating teams three times in the same season.

Let jerks like sj-hypocycloid predict that the Steelers will score 30 points on that D. We'll see who gets the last laugh when there are four zeros on the clock, won't we?

As for the Cardinals, they're playing with house money, right? They barely won a crap division, lost badly to the team they're going to face and have gotten so so so lucky in the playoffs. I mean, who, besides Nostradamus, saw Carolina turning the ball over six times?

With a Super Bowl winning (and losing) quarterback in Kurt Warner, a playoff-experienced running back in Edgerrin James, a playoff-experienced head coach and assistant head coach in Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, why should the Cardinals feel they have anything other than a great chance to win?

In addition to that QB, RB and coaches, they've got a couple of great-to-very-good receivers in Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston. I'm quite sure they're going to get their fair share of catches.

No team has been more disrespected during this playoff run - and especially this week - than the Arizona Cardinals. I'm sure they've heard and reacted to all the knocks and posted some bulletin board material. Will it be enough?

No matter what happens, all four teams have given us some good football to watch and have provided their fans with many great moments to savor forever. Two will lose - it's just the nature of the beast.

I, of course, am rooting for the Steelers and Eagles. But I would not be shocked at all to see things go another way. Since 1994, Pittsburgh (2-4) and Philadelphia (1-3) are a combined 3-6 in title games and 1-2 in Super Bowls. Quite a dubious result from two teams that have won so much in the past 15 years.

The Bill Cowher-led Steelers exorcised their demons by winning Super Bowl XLII in January 2005. Can Tomlin match his predecessor? The Eagles have known little more than heartbreak in the NFL's biggest game. Could this be their year?

Or is this the year of the Cardinals/Ravens Super Bowl? I don't know about you, but I can't wait to find out!

Next Stop, Super Bowl!

2009-01-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

So here it is - the last weekend of football before the Super Bowl. Only four teams left - The Arizona Cardinals, The Philadelphia Eagles, The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Baltimore Ravens.

Each team had their own way of getting here - but make no mistake. All of these teams earned their spot. They had their struggles and problems throughout the year, but they proved they belonged as they advanced through the postseason.

Only the Steelers have had the good fortune to have played only one game thus far, having earned a first round bye. This could be seen as an advantage. Or not. The other teams that had earned a first round bye are now preparing to watch the games on TV this weekend, just like I plan to do.

These teams have a few things in common, some of which have been mentioned more than a few times:

There are three bird-themed teams playing this weekend.

The teams with the top three defenses in the NFL are playing this weekend.

And one interesting (well, to me, anyway) to note: The Cardinals are kinda Pittsburgh south. Their head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, is a former Steelers offensive coordinator. Their assistant head coach and offensive line coach is Russ Grimm, who held these positions for the Steelers. And their dynamic receiver, Larry Fitzgerald is a product of Pitt.

What does all that mean? Nothing. Just something I felt like noting.

As for the games, I think that my record of picking the playoff games so far tell a lot about which way I am leaning. I was 1-3 in week one with my picks, being right only on the Eagles game. I was 2-2 this weeekend, correctly picking the Eagles and Steelers.

So I think I'll keep with that stategy.

Eagles / Cardinals

The early game matches The Eagles and The Cardinals. Both teams had nine regular season wins and had impressive wins in their second playoff matchups - Philadelphia defeating the defending Super Bowl champ Giants and Arizona defeating the favored (and home team) Carolina Panthers.

So both of these teams are up and running and ready to go. As has been the case often in these playoffs, this game is a rematch. As I'm sure most of you reading this know - the Eagles beat the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving evening.

I expect an Eagles win again this time, but I don't see it being such a wide margin. In my mind, the Eagles need to pressure Kurt Warner and force the Cardinals to play the game on the run. I think that the Eagles will control the running game, so the Cards need to get their passing game going in order to win. Anquan Boldin is expected to play this weekend, so that means that the Eagles will have an extra deep threat to worry about.

If I was the Cards, I'd run an offense that had a lot of 5 to 7 yard dump passes, with the occasional long pass. This might be able to disrupt the Eagles a little bit, as they will surely be blitzing and this would enable Warner to get rid of the ball more quickly.

For the Eagles, I think it's pretty simple. Do what you did last week - run enough to keep the defense honest and go to your strength. Pass the ball around, in that patented Donovan McNabb style - using all your receivers and finding Brian Westbrook when things get tight. With that defense, if you score 20-24 points, you will more than likely win.

Final Score: Eagles 31, Cardinals 20.

Ravens / Steelers

This is the third time that these two teams are meeting this season. The Steelers won both matchups, and you can bet the Ravens hate hate hate to have to admit that. The Steelers probably love to say this. It's pretty safe to say that these two teams hate each other. It's amazing how a lot of hate can make a game so damn interesting.

I've heard all the moaning from Bart Scott about how Hines Ward is a dirty player. They'll say that he put a cheap shot on the Bengals receiver Keith Rivers, breaking his jaw and ending his season. See this for your own look. It looks like a totally clean hit to me.

My favorite part of that is the other videos that come up. "Hines Ward Jacks Up Ed Reed!" or "Hines Ward Destroys Bart Scott" - no wonder the Ravens hate him. I'm sure it ticks them off to no end to have an offensive guy who applies crushing hits. Too bad.

When I hear this, I think of Rashard Mendenhall - whose season was ended after a crushing hit from Ravens All-World linebacker Ray Lewis. Then there was all the chatter of bounties from Terrell Suggs. Whether or not any of this is true is immaterial. The Ravens defense means business. But the Steelers boast the NFL's number one defense. So the Ravens have one more thing to stew about. And another distraction.

Then there's all the hand-wringing about Santonio Holmes' game-winning score in the 13-9 Steelers win. The Ravens, especially Ray Lewis, will tell you that it wasn't a touchdown. Well Ray - that pass to Todd Heap...against the Titans...you know, the one that enabled you guys to make it to this game...the one that has been all over the internet because everyone thinks it was a crap missed call...yeah, that one...

So they're even. If Holmes' TD was a bad call, so was the Heap catch. Let's not talk about either of these two plays anymore. Old news.

Last week, the Ravens defense gave up more ground than Napoleon Bonaparte's Louisiana Purchase. The Titans shredded them, surrendering 281 passing yards and 116 rushing yards.

By contrast, Pittsburgh gave up 308 passing yards - 41 of them in the early stages of the first quarter and 62 more in garbage time at the end of the fourth quarter. But the eye-opener is the 15 total rushing yards. Darren Sproles went from 105 yards to 15. That's two less than the Steel Curtain gave up in Super Bowl IX.

The Ravens are a defense-first, second and third team. If their offense gives them anything, that is usually enough. Pittsburgh knows this. But the Steelers are bit more balanced than that. Willie Parker scored two touchdowns and gained 146 yards rushing last week, in perhaps his second healthy game of the season. Add Ben Roethlisberger's 17 of 26 passing for 181 yards and a TD, and you've got enough points for a win.

The Steelers struggled to get 20 and 13 points in the first two games. Points will be at a premium again this week. I just think that the Steelers are more likely to score points.

Final Score: Steelers 30, Ravens 17.

Battle of the Birds

2009-01-14T03:14:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe we're sitting here talking about the Eagles in the NFC Championship game after the season they had. On at least two different occasions I was convinced the season was over. The first time was after the Ravens debacle, when McNabb was pulled and the team imploded. How did the Eagles respond? By coming back four days later and destroying the Cardinals on Thanksgiving, kicking off a three-game winning streak that put them back in the hunt . . . until the second occasion when I (and almost everybody else) thought the season was over: the Washington game. We all know what happened after that: the Eagles bounced back to annihilate Dallas and Tampa Bay lost at home to Oakland. Absolutely improbable, but here we are, and through two playoff games, the Eagles have proven that they belong here.

Not too many people gave them a chance to beat the Giants, but the game played out pretty much how I thought it would. I knew that if the Eagles contained the running game and forced Manning to beat them, he would fold, and that's exactly what happened. The Eagles were actually fortunate to have the lead at halftime as the offense had not done much, but once again, the defense came up huge and kept them in the game until the offense found its rhythm. And like the Minnesota game, the Eagles took over and dominated the second half. The defense allowed nothing but a field goal, and McNabb fought through the fierce wind to lead the Birds on three more scoring drives, making several key third down throws in the process.

So here we are, in an NFC Championship game that NOBODY predicted: the Battle of the Birds. It's only a shame that the higher seed automatically goes to the division winner, because the Eagles, having the better record, could have hosted the game, and there's no way the Cards would have won in frigid Philly. I still believe the Eagles will win, so do most experts (as the Eagles' road favorite status will attest to), but this game will not be as easy as people think, primarily because the Eagles have played two brutally physical playoff games while the Cardinals have had a relatively easy time of it, but also because we will not see the same Cardinals team that the Eagles blew out in November. They will be at home, on eight days of rest, and brimming with confidence after two impressive victories over Atlanta and Carolina. Also, they are no longer one-dimensional after discovering that Edgerrin James is still on the team, so as I said, this will not be easy.

Still, this game, like most games this time of year, will come down to defense, which is where the Eagles are the far superior team. It's no coincidence that the top three defenses in the league are still playing on Conference Championship weekend. The lone exception: the Cardinals, whose defense was in the middle of the pack. Meanwhile, the Eagles defense has given up 14 points or less in six straight games. The last team to score more than that on them? Arizona. So I'm expecting a fairly high scoring game in this one. Both offenses are capable of putting points on the board, but the red-hot Eagles defense will hold Arizona down enough to secure the win. Eagles 28, Cardinals 20.

As for the AFC Championship, another team of birds, the Ravens, travels to Pittsburgh, where their season will end. I just can't see Baltimore staying in this game unless Pittsburgh completely self destructs, like the Titans did last week. Flacco has had a nice rookie season, and even though he has already seen the Steelers twice, I don't think he has any idea what he'll be walking into on Sunday evening. Baltimore's great defense may keep it close for a while, but Pittsburgh's defense is even better, as is their offense, which will eventually pull away. It would not surprise me if Baltimore fails to score a TD in this game, but I'll give them the benefit of a defensive touchdown. Steelers 20, Ravens 10.

And on to the All-PA Super Bowl I predicted at the beginning of the season!

These go to 11

2009-01-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

So the number 11 is having quite a time of it lately. Before this season, it was quite an elusive number. And I thought One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.

First, the Steelers defeated the Chargers 11-10, registering the only 11-10 game in the 87-year history of the NFL.

Then the Eagles defeated the Giants 23-11 in their NFC Divisional game yesterday, notching the only 23-11 game in NFL history.

Yes, good old 11 - it's a fine number. It takes 11 players to field a football team. When I was growing up, my house number was 11. My current house number is a multiple of 11.

Pat Haden, Joe Kapp and Phil Simms wore 11. So did Luis Aparicio, Carl Hubbell, Jim Fregosi, Paul Waner, Sixto Lezcano, Lenn Sakata and Joe Garagiola.

And, of course, being 11 - it's the loudest number in the universe as well.

One loss. One win. Now all we need is an 11-11 game to make the number 11 the sporting world's preeminent prime number and restore the proper balance to the universe.

Rant of the Week

2009-01-10T15:47:00.001-08:00

Once again the NFL is the subject of my rant. Last week, I criticized the playoff seeding; this week, it's the scheduling.

Normally I couldn't care less about the Baltimore Ravens, but they are getting shafted by the league as the only team in the divisional round of the playoffs being forced to play on six days of rest. This is a subject close to my heart because the NFL did the same thing to the Eagles two years ago when they forced the Birds to travel to New Orleans on six days of rest. And like the Ravens this year, the Eagles were the only one of the eight remaining playoff teams forced to play that week on six days of rest. If you don't think that extra day makes a big difference, especially this time of the year after a season's worth of bumps and bruises, then you don't know football. The short turnaround was definitely a contributing factor to the Saints being able to rush for so many yards in that game; the Eagles just looked spent.

It would be one thing if there were other teams playing on six days of rest, but to force only one team to do this is blatantly unfair, especially when the scenario is so avoidable. Instead of letting the 8-8 Chargers play on eight days of rest tomorrow, the NFL could have scheduled the Pittsburgh/San Diego game for today, so that both the Chargers and Ravens would be playing on seven days of rest. All they needed to do was adjust the scheduling after the matchups were known last week. Would that have been so difficult?

It's a Pennsylvania Kinda Weekend, Steelers Style

2009-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

I tried to be objective on this one. I really did. But I hate the Chargers. And it all dates back to that ridiculous playoff game in 1995. Maybe I am one of the few who will remember.

Steelers up 13-3. Then San Diego scores a touchdown with 6:57 left in the third quarter. 13-10. Then they score again with 9:47 to go - 17-13. WTF??? Alfred Pupunu?? Tony Martin?? Stan Humphries??? Gah! It pains me to think of this game. And the Chargers getting pummeled by the 49ers in the Super Bowl didn't help.

But after losing the lead, Pittsburgh, led by Neil O'Donnell, marched down the field. This I remember well. After a season where the Steelers played a conservative, run-oriented game, head man Bill Cowher goes nuts and has O'Donnell drop back to pass 54 times! That's right, 54 times! To O'Donnell's credit, he completed 32 passes and had no picks. Sadly, his last throw, from the Chargers 3, was batted down and the Steelers lost.

No bitterness here. Really. Fast forward 14 years....

The Chargers are back. Coming to Pittsburgh after compiling an 8-8 record and beating Denver on the last day of the season to seal their playoff appearance. Props to the Chargers for eliminating another team I hate. But now, after a week of indifference, I am back to hating the Chargers.

Like the other three games this weekend, this one's a rematch game. The last time these two teams met, you might remember, we had the only 11-10 game in NFL history. I'll mention Troy Polamalu's touchdown that would have made it 18-10 only to attempt to forestall it coming up again. It's done, I'm ready to move on.

So - that game. It was an odd one. The Steelers started pretty lamely, surrendering a 3-yard TD run to LaDainian Tomlinson with 6:46 to go in the first quarter. They looked out of sorts, and, just for a few minutes...I wondered.

But I needn't have worried. The Black N' Gold came back and scored a safety early in the second quarter, then closed out the half with a field goal to make the score a Pirates/Padres-like 7-5. The second half was a lot of up and down the field, netting only three field goals - two from the Steelers and one from San Diego. Jeff Reed's 32-yard boot with 11 seconds on the clock provided the points needed for the win.

Aside from the odd score, another oddity is the fact that Ben Roethlisberger passed for 308 yards - with Hines Ward accounting for 124 of those yards - and Willie Parker ran for 115, and the Steelers failed to score a single touchdown in this game. Unless you count...yeah, I said I wouldn't mention that again, didn't I?

Beyond the TD run, Tomlinson had a pedestrian 52 yards rushing, and Philip Rivers had a game he'd probably rather forget - 164 yards passing, no TDs and two picks. He's done much better for the season, and it would be foolish to think that the Steelers will see that again.

One thing we most likely won't see is L.T. - word on the street is that Tomlinson has a g-g-groin injury (anyone remember that Cheers episode?) and won't be playing. His fill-in, Darren Sproles, had a breakout game last week, accounting for two TD runs, 105 yards rushing and oodles more yards on receptions and kick/punt yardage. Game of your life type of performance.

I think that the Steelers can keep Sproles under control in the running game, but their special teams is often nothing special. I hope they can keep that under control. Add to this Roethlisberger's concussion and Parker's injuries, and the Steelers look vulnerable. But I think the Steelers will do fine even if they have to play Byron Leftwich and Mwelde Moore. These two are more than capable backups and will answer the bell with quality play if needed.

San Diego has come on strong, reeling off five consecutive wins - against some underwhelming competition. Tampa Bay choked big time down the stretch and Denver, as I mentioned gleefully before, blew their playoff chances by losing by 31 points.

Their three games prior to that? Losses, all three times - To Pittsburgh, Atlanta...and Indianapolis. So the Chargers paid the Colts back, didn't they? Perhaps they're thinking that they owe the Steelers, now too?

Well, 14 years of hate trumps seven weeks of hate. Realistically, I feel that the Steelers should have this thing wrapped up by the middle of the third quarter. However, that is not the Steelers way. As I have watched this gallant - and heroically flawed - team over the years, the one thing that carried over from the Cowher era to the Tomlin era is the team's seeming inability to put their foot on an opponent's throat and let the blood flow.

I've seen enough 20-13, 17-13, 27-20, 24-20, etc. games in the past 17 years to last me a lifetime. When the rare blowout occurs, it's great. But - don't go to sleep on a Steelers game. You pretty much have to watch the whole damn thing to make sure they've wrapped it up.

I'm going to go out on a limb. My pick: Steelers 23, Chargers 9. That's about as close to a blowout as you're likely to see from the Steelers.

Unlike Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, I am looking ahead. And I will mention here that I am root, root, rooting for Tennessee in the other game. The Chargers aren't the only team that should feel like it owes someone payback. Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher can say that his players stomping on the Terrible Towel doesn't mean anything, and, in reality, he's right. But, football players aren't like non-football folk. They often need motivation and bulletin board material. And I know that towels and such don't win games. But it's the principle of the thing.

Here we go, Steelers! Here we go! Luv Ya Black N' Gold!

Eagles Fly On

2009-01-10T02:38:00.001-08:00

This entry is late, so there's not much point in going into heavy details of the Eagles' win in Minnesota. To be honest, it's a game they should have won. They were the better team. The fact that it took them until the 4th quarter to finally break away was mostly the result of a very lackadaisical first half (the kind of half they can ill afford if they hope to beat the Giants this week). But they came to play in the second half, completely dominating the Vikings on both sides of the ball. McNabb handled bad field position in the third quarter like the veteran he is, twice leading the Eagles on long drives that, while they did not produce any points, ate up the clock, wore down the Vikings' defense, and shifted the field position. The Birds' defense and Westbrook did the rest.

Peterson had a good first half, but he basically disappeared in the second half as the Eagles defense shut him down. Meanwhile, Westbrook's brilliant touchdown run is the type of highlight that will be replayed for years to come. Yes, there was great blocking on the play, but there are only a handful of backs in the entire league who could have taken that screen pass all the way to the house. Okay, so I guess I wrote more about the game than I was planning to. Anyway, on to the Giants.

This is going to be a tough game for the banged-up Birds as they must now travel to the Meadowlands after a very physical game in Minnesota to face a well-rested Giants team, especially if the brutal weather being predicted for the game comes to pass. An optimist would say that the Eagles just dominated the Giants a month ago and they can do it again. A pessimist would say that it's very difficult in the NFL to beat the same team twice in such a short span, especially a division rival. An optimist would say that the Eagles have been on a roll over the last month while the Giants finished the season 1-3. A pessimist would say that a bad weather game favors a running team like the Giants.

All of the above points are valid, but in the end this is a game that will largely be decided by the Eagles' defensive line. In the first matchup this season, the Giants won the game by running all over the Eagles' defense. In the second game, the Eagles shut down the Giants' running attack and dominated the game from start to finish. If the Birds can shut down the Giants' backs, they should win the game, because Manning will not beat them. Of course the wildcard, as always, is Andy Reid. If he tries to throw the ball 40-50 times in blustery conditions, it could get ugly. However, if he sticks to the running game even if it's not working (as he admirably did last week), I like the Eagles' chances.

As for my prediction . . . come on, do you really think I'm picking against the Eagles? Whether it's my head or heart speaking doesn't matter. This is a blog, not a newspaper. With that in mind, we're looking at a close game, as every Eagles/Giants matchup seems to be. In a defensive struggle, I will go with the Birds' defense, which is playing as well as any in the NFL right now, having given up 14 points or less in five straight games. The weather will keep the final score fairly low: Eagles 20, Giants 16.

It's a Pennsylvania Kinda Weekend, Eagles Style

2009-01-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

Praise whatever god you fancy, the weekend is finally here. All the conversation ends and the games begin. Whew! Since I've spent the better part of the week listening to Eagles and Giants fans mouth off about this game, I figured it was time I put my thoughts out there.

Eagles at Giants

As I said, I've heard so much about this game, you'd think it WAS the Super Bowl. As it is, it's a real tasty appetizer for the big game.

Giants fans drone on about their consistency, their defense and the fact that they are the defending Super Bowl champs. Brandon Jacobs is back in the lineup, so the Eagles are toast. Earth, Wind and Fire will take the Eagles D by storm, and that's that.

Eagles fans drone on about the last six games - with the 44-6 Dallas drubbing and the Playoff win over Minnesota taking center stage. There's rhetoric about Donovan McNabb having something to prove since he was benched. Then there's the beards.

But this is one of those divisional games. The Eagles lost at home to the Giants. The Giants lost at home to the Eagles. That won't happen again, say Giants fans. Both teams downplay the negative aspects of their situations.

For the Giants, fuggedabout the loss to the Browns (35-14? yikes!) and the close shave with the Bengals (overtime?). Forget about Plaxico Burress and his excellent marksmanship. Forget about the listless losses down the stretch, including a loss to the Eagles, the fading Cowboys and the Vikings, a team that the Eagles just dispatched.

For the Eagles, pay no mind to the maddeningly inconsistency of the season - weak losses to Chicago and Washington, a tie against the Bengals and a nearly crushing, boring 10-3 loss to the roadkill 'Skins in a must-win game. And forget about all this pass-run ratio nonsense. All is well.

So here it is. In the first Eagles/Giants game, ESPN.com's Matt Mosley called it this way: "If there's such a thing as a dominant narrow win, that's what we witnessed Sunday night." A dominant narrow win. In a 36-31 game that ended on a failed Eagles 4th-and-1 attempt. I don't see any domination in that score.

Let's check the stats:

Manning: 17 of 31 for 191 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
McNabb: 17 of 36 for 194 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT

Pretty even there. Jacobs had 126 yards rushing and two scores, for which the Eagles had no answer. The Eagles had 106 yards rushing total that day. The Eagles had one sack, the Giants none. For the most part, the stats are about even, with a slight edge to the Giants for their superior rushing totals. And after all this, it was a five point game that could have gone either way.

Matchup number two, in Philadelphia ended 20-14, but it wasn't really that close. The Giants scored a TD in garbage time, a 1-yard TD catch from Eli Manning to Darcy Johnson with 15 seconds left.

McNabb passed for 191 yards this time, and had a TD pass and no picks. Manning had 123 yards passing, a TD pass and no picks. The difference here was All-Eagle Brian Westbrook's 131 yards, 30-yard touchdown run and 40-yard touchdown reception. Jacobs had 52 yards on the ground and no TDs. Amazingly, neither team had a sack. Surprising for two teams with such stout defenses.

It all looks pretty even to me. But all of that means nothing. Last year's Super Bowl win means nothing. The last six games mean nothing. Last week's playoff win means nothing.

As always, it comes down to this: These teams know each other very well, and it will probably come down to who has the ball last. For both teams - if the defenses plays come out with their usual excellent performances and the offenses avoid turnovers and dumb mistakes, then the game is won. This could be a 6-3 game, but I am thinking that these two teams will really want to pound the snot out of each other.

Given probable weather conditions - cold and windy - the passing games should be a bit subdued. Westbrook versus Brandon Jacobs should take center stage. The defenses both know this - and they welcome the challenge. But then....Andy Reid usually can't resist scratching that passing itch....

The pick: Eagles 26, Giants 17.

I just think that the Eagles have been playing better late in the season and they haven't had a break. The Giants have been resting, and sometimes that layoff can carry over. Add to this the fact that I suspect that the Giants feel that they will win this game easily and are looking to see who they'll face the following week. I think the Eagles feel that they are just not finished yet. And I don't think they are either.

Homeristic? You bet. And what's wrong with that? E-A-G-L-E-S. Eagles!

Mile High Surprise: Mike Shanahan Out In Denver

2008-12-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

Mike Shanahan is out as the coach of the Denver Broncos. Wow. That was unexpected. I looked around the league and made a mental list of the coaches I expected to get fired. Rod Marinelli. Romeo Crennel. Tom Cable. Wade Phillips. Herman Edwards. Two names I did not expect to see were Eric Mangini and Mike Shanahan.

Not so much Mangini, as I had heard the chatter about him and a firing, especially as the Jets flamed out once again this season.

I was all set to write up a little piece about how I think that teams are frequently too hasty in making coaching changes. How these changes are often within three or four years of the coaches tenure, and how this is not enough time to properly evaluate a coach. After all, it took Chuck Noll six seasons to win his first Super Bowl. For Bill Parcells, it was four seasons. For Bill Walsh, it was three seasons. Ditto for Vince Lombardi.

Then there are coaches like Bill Cowher, who won his Super Bowl in his 14th season. And then there are coaches like Marty Schottenheimer, Dan Reeves, Chuck Knox and Bud Grant, who all won more than 150 games, but never won a Super Bowl. Reeves and Grant account for six Super Bowl losses.

The point, if you're still reading, is that these coaches all had one thing going for them. Consistency and continuity. There were good years, and there were down years. Even Cowher, the coaching candidate du jour, had three losing seasons in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Some owners would have fired Cowher after that third losing season. And then what? No Super Bowl win five years later.

I'm not arguing that Crennel, Marinelli and Mangini didn't contribute to their own downfall by fielding middling to outright crappy teams. But I am saying that given the length/status of player contracts, and owner preferences, a coach could come in and be stuck with some players that he doesn't want. It was pretty well established that Parcells didn't want anything to do with Terrell Owens, but he had to deal with TO in order to coach the Cowboys. It's interesting to note that the Cowboys have gone downhill since Parcells left. Coincidence? Probably. It's too bad TO wasn't cut loose instead. I'd wonder if we'd be seeing Dallas collapses like we've seen these past couple of years.

I think it's something of a disservice to the fans and players to fire a coach after three seasons. Noll's first three seasons: 1-13, 5-9 and 6-8. Today, he might have been fired mid season. Tom Landry started out 0-11-1, 4-9-1, 5-8-1, 4-10, 5-8-1 and 7-7 (I guess he knew there were ties in the NFL, huh?). I think he may not have lasted through that second season in today's NFL. Even Jimmy Johnson had some tough times: 1-15, 7-9 and 11-5. Not so bad in year three, but I'll bet those first two are forgettable for Cowboy fans.

Not every coach starts out a winner like Cowher (11-5, 9-7 and 12-4), Lombardi (7-5, 8-4 and 11-3) and Don Shula (8-6, 12-2 and 10-3). As often as a coach has a brilliant run his first three seasons, a coach will have a totally wretched run in his first three.

What coaches would you rather have coaching your team? Noll, Landry and Johnson? Or Cowher, Lombardi and Shula? Hard to argue with either list, right? That's a lot of Super Bowls right there. And they all got there in different time frames.

And then there's Mike Shanahan. He coached 14 seasons, and won his first of two Super Bowls in his fifth season - his third with Denver. His teams won 10 or more games seven times, and his teams finished first or second 11 times. You'd think after 14 years, 146 wins and two Super Bowl wins, he'd have been safe. Obviously not.

Don't get me wrong. I can't stand Denver, and I am glad to see Shanahan and his arrogance taken down a peg. But, to me, it doesn't add up.

Somehow, Norv Turner, Herman Edwards, Dick Jauron, Mike McCarthy and John Gruden are still coaching. And Andy Reid is under fire in Philadelphia. Tom Coughlin was nearly run out of New York last year. I've heard Marvin Lewis and Jack Del Rio's names come up in the "will he be fired" guessing game. It's nuts.

Meanwhile, Jeff Fisher in Tennessee, looms large these days. His team lost the Super Bowl in his sixth season. In 15 seasons, he's had six seasons of 10 or more wins, four 8-8 seasons and two 7-9 seasons. His overall record is 128-102 for a .557 percentage. Nothing special here, right? But he's having a great year isn't he?

By comparison, Cowher had a .623 winning percentage, Walsh had a .609 winning percentage, Bud Grant had a .622 percentage and Schottenheimer had a .612 percentage.

Parcells (.570), Noll (.566) and Fisher all have lower win percentages than Shanahan (.598).

I find it hard to believe that Shanahan will not be coaching again in 2009, assuming he wants that. Maybe he'll follow Cowher's lead and take some time off.

So what's the answer? I'll be damned if I know. But I do think that all coaches should be given at least five years to determine whether or not they can make a team a viable contender. I just don't think that three years is anywhere near enough time.

Oh - and I also must give props to the 49ers. I am no fan of theirs by any stretch, but their decision to retain Mike Singletary draws applause from me. This has to be one of - if not THE - smartest coaching moves in many years. I look forward to seeing what happens with this team next year. Good one, San Francisco!

Rant of the Week: NFL Playoff Seeding

2008-12-30T16:03:00.001-08:00

How screwed up is the NFL when a 9-7 team (Arizona) is hosting an 11-5 team (Atlanta), and an 8-8 team (San Diego) is hosting a 12-4 team (Indianapolis)? And even though Miami and Baltimore have identical records, Baltimore technically finished ahead of Miami because they beat them head-to-head, so that makes three of the four road teams this weekend with better records than their home opponents. And if the Eagles hadn't blown the Washington game, all four road teams would have had better records than their home counterparts. I'd be surprised if that even happened twice in one playoff week before this season.

It's a consequence of the eight-division alignment the NFL now employs: you get a weak 8-8 division winner like San Diego hosting a playoff game while New England at 11-5 is sitting home (not that I feel sorry for Belechick). I know such occurrences happened occasionally in the old six-division alignment, but that problem was largely resolved when they added a third wildcard to each conference. Things were running pretty smoothly from that point on until they decided to realign into eight divisions. Unfortunately, the NFL has backed itself into a corner. They can't add more playoff teams (that would just dilute the quality and turn the NFL into the NHL), and they'll never return to a six-division alignment, so it will probably become fairly common to see teams with double-digit wins sitting at home for the playoffs while 8-8 teams move on. We may even one day see the unthinkable scenario of a 7-9 team hosting a playoff game against a 13-3 team--it could happen, and that would be a major embarassment for the league.

At the very least, the NFL should rethink giving automatic higher seeds to division winners, because there's no way that San Diego and Arizona deserve to host playoff games.

Sometimes the Long Shot Comes In

2008-12-29T14:11:00.001-08:00

Who would have thought we'd be sitting here on Monday talking about the Eagles' upcoming playoff game? Nobody. Who in their right mind thought Tampa would lose at home to a lousy team like Oakland, blowing a ten-point lead in the process? Nobody. Who thought the Eagles would put a spanking on the Cowboys the likes of which have rarely been seen in Eagles history? Nobody. The Bears losing in Houston wasn't terribly surprising, but the chances of both Chicago and Tampa losing were pretty small. In fact, you probably had a better chance of winning the lottery than witnessing the confluence of events that occurred yesterday to allow the Eagles to sneak into the playoffs. Then again, it's been that kind of wacky season (the Chargers rallied from a 4-8 record to win their division for god's sake).

I'm not surprised the Eagles beat the Cowboys (though, in my understandable dejection after the Washington debacle I said something much different), but the way they did it was certainly shocking. Playoffs or no playoffs, that was one of the more enjoyable games in Eagles' history. The Cowboys, with eight days of rest and a playoff spot on the line, flat-out choked like the frauds they are. Of course the Eagles had something to do with that, particularly the defense that is playing as well as any in football right now. It doesn't get much sweeter than demolishing the Cowboys, especially given the bonus of sending them home for the postseason. I'm glad Reid finally discovered that Buckhalter is still on this team. He and Westbrook would make a formidable tandem if Reid would just use them. I hope he has finally gotten the message that you have to run to win, but how many times have I said that in the past? I won't hold my breath that he's suddenly a changed man, but we can at least hope that he'll continue the trend for the playoffs.

The Eagles have been largely representative of this year's NFL as a whole. One game they look unbeatable, the next they look like they can't get out of their own way. Thankfully, against the Cowboys, we got the former. Now the question becomes which Eagles team we'll see in the playoffs. When they play like they did against Washington, they are capable of losing to anyone, but when they play like they did yesterday, they are capable of beating anyone. And really, does anybody in the NFC playoffs scare you? If the Eagles can get on a roll with the way the defense is playing, they have just as legitimate of a shot as anyone. The Giants proved last year that if you get hot at the right time, it doesn't matter how many road games you have to play.

As for the game itself: Minnesota is a very beatable team. Defensively, the Eagles just need to stack the line and force Jackson to beat them through the air. Peterson is a monster, but the Eagles did a good job of stuffing him last year, and I have faith in Johnson to come up with an effective scheme for containing him once again. On offense, they may have to throw more than we want them to because Minnesota is so good against the run, but it would be a mistake to abandon the running game altogether, so please, Andy, learn from your past mistakes for a change!

My prediction: I just don't see Minnesota being able to put that many points on the board against the Eagles' defense, and I think McNabb and the offense will do just enough to pull this one out, even if Reid goes brain dead and throws 80% of the time again. Experience wins out in this one: Eagles 20, Vikings 10.

A Win and A Loss in Pittsburgh and E-A-G-L-E-S!

2008-12-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

It's been an interesting day for Pennsylvania football, hasn't it?

Western PA

The Steelers pounded division rival Cleveland 31-0, which normally would be greeted with cheers all along the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny Rivers - otherwise known as "the confluence" by Al "I talk (a lot), therefore I am...annoying" Michaels.

However, I, for one, was a bit upset seeing our star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, carted off the field on a stretcher. He suffered a concussion in the second quarter, but is expected to be okay for the Steelers playoff run. Pittsburgh had already clinched a playoff spot and their seeding was set, so it was, essentially, a meaningless game.

I will not question Mike Tomlin's decision to have Roethlisberger in there in the first place. All Tomlin has done in his first two seasons is ring up a 22-10 regular season record and two division titles. He's earned the right to do what he thinks is right in guiding my beloved football team. I will admit my first thought when hearing about Ben was "Why is he even in the game?" - but I'll let it go. And Mike, please keep up the good work!

The Steelers won, so all is well. Now, time to focus on the playoffs. Congrats, Black & Gold! And get well soon, Big Ben. We need ya!

Eastern PA

And in a glorious and surprising fashion, the Eagles pasted the Cowboys 44-6, and, in the process, shined a dubious light on the team and, fairly or unfairly, Tony Romo. With near endless references to their December record, the 'Choker' label they were trying desperately to shake is back in Dallas along with the 10-gallon question of "What happened?"

Nobody asked me, but I'll tell you what I think happened. Jerry Jones, in a very New York Yankee style, lined up all the talented players he could find without bothering with the detail of whether or not they could properly function as a team.

Romo takes it on the chin again - and maybe it's true that he buckles under end-of-season pressure. But he's not the whole problem for that team. Terrell Owens drops passes. The offensive line surrendered near-constant pressure. And the defense and special teams couldn't get out of their own way.

Add it up, and you get a team rife with talent settling down for a long, cold winter. Questions about Wade Phillips and his future are resurrected, ignoring the fact that Jerry Jones is the one who deserves to be sacked. He assembled this bunch of misfits, and he's the king misfit.

I rarely feel sorry for Dallas fans, but in this case, I do. A little, anyway. I don't see any positive changes coming for that team. They can fire Phillips, but that won't solve the problems.

All of this downplays the excellent performance by the Eagles. The offense scored three touchdowns, and the defense answered with two of their own. The Eagles outscored the Cowboys 41-0 over the second and third quarter.

While I think that people went a bit over the top with talk of the NFC East being the most competitive/toughest division in the NFL, I think there is no question that the second best team in that division won today.

If that was Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb's last game in Eagles green, then they served their fans well. As with the Cowboys, the departure of the coach will not solve the problems that still exist in Philadelphia. And the Eagles without McNabb? Wow. Better prepare for some low-scoring games in Philly in 2009.

Thanks for that finale, Eagles. I am one of the many fans that love to see the Cowboys lose. Now everyone is 0-0. Let the fun begin!

Half A Yard Short: A Microcosm for the Whole Season

2008-12-22T22:34:00.001-08:00

First, let's face facts: the Eagles season ended in Washington. They're not going to the playoffs. Tampa Bay is not going to miraculously lose at home to the hapless Raiders. And even if the unthinkable happens and Tampa loses, the Eagles still need either Minnesota or Chicago to lose. And even if the miracle of all Christmas miracles happens and both of those scenarios come to pass, the Eagles still must beat the Cowboys—and after watching that pathetic effort against a bad Washington team, does anyone believe that is going to happen?

The Eagles were already given the opportunity to control their own destiny when Tampa lost to San Diego—and they flat-out blew it. They came up smaller than small when everything was on the line. The game itself isn't even worth writing about, so I won't rehash what happened, other than to marvel at Reid's undying stubbornness in throwing the ball 80% of the time on a blustery, windy day while giving Westbrook all of ten meaningful carries. This blurb from Phil Sheridan's article says it all:

"Take away the two junk runs at the end of the first half and the Eagles called just 12 runs while attempting 48 passes (not counting two McNabb spikes). That's an 80/20 split, if you're interested in percentages. That's just stupid, if you're interested in adjective."

I've outlined in several previous blog entries why Reid should be fired, so no need to go there again. This season has convinced me more than ever that Reid's past success was due primarily to Jim Johnson's defense and Donovan McNabb's talent. Now that McNabb, several years and major injuries later, is no longer capable of winning games by himself, Reid's shortcomings have been laid bare. I don't know how many more times he has to miss the playoffs, how many more times his team has to fail to show up in big games, before Lurie will finally pull the trigger.

If I thought there was any chance Reid would be fired, I would strongly consider rooting for them to lose this week. But as it is, we should savor what could well be McNabb's final game as an Eagle. The greatest quarterback in franchise history will no doubt be made the scapegoat this offseason—not the receivers who perpetually lead the league in drops, and certainly not the coach who thinks a running game is some movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. If nothing else, the Eagles have the opportunity to drag the stinkin' Cowboys down with them into playoff oblivion, and that would at least be some small consolation.

Eagles Still on the Outside Looking In

2008-12-20T17:19:00.001-08:00

Last week the Eagles pummeled the Browns into submission, but their third consecutive win still wasn't enough to get them back to the inside track of the playoff hunt, thanks to Tampa Bay, whose loss to Atlanta just closed the window of opportunity a little more. The Eagles now must hope that either Atlanta loses to Minnesota or Tampa Bay loses to San Diego, because both teams have very easy games next week.

Things haven't changed for the Birds—they still must run the table to have any shot at the playoffs, and to do so, they must play better than they did last week. Even though they blew out the Browns, it was a very sloppy game (they probably should have won by 40 points against a Browns that barely even showed up). Nevertheless, the Eagles should beat a slumping Redskins team, which (if things fall right) would have them battling Dallas in the last game of the season for that final playoff spot—and nothing would be sweeter than securing a playoff spot by sending the 'Boys packing.

But for this weekend at least, the Philly faithful will be huge San Diego and Minnesota fans, because if Atlanta and Tampa both win, the season is probably over.

Play-Action, Anyone? And Other Football Observations

2008-12-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Please...Pass The Ball!

What's the deal with teams not being able to convert 3rd-and-1? Or worse yet, 4th-and-1. I am thinking of the Steelers and Eagles - and now the Colts - as I wonder about this. Why not try that new-fangled pass thing? I am hardly a football tactician, but I can see that this might be something worth a shot. Just sayin'...

There was the Eagles-Bears game when the Eagles turned the ball over on downs after a failed 4th-and-1 (on the Bears 1 yard line) against the Bears. This after two failed run attempts for the same yard prior to that.

Then the Eagles did it again against the Redskins. After getting nothing on a 2nd-and-1 run on the Redskins two yard line, they lost three yards on another run, then kicked the field goal.

The Steelers didn't want to be left out, and they were stopped inside the Dallas five yard line on fourth down - again on a failed run attempt.

At least the Steelers managed to win the game, but the fact remains that running for it when a yard is needed is no longer a gimme. Not that it ever was, but it seems that this one yard is harder to get than ever in 2008.

Now the Colts have joined this dubious fraternity, failing on 3rd-and-1 from nine yards out against Jacksonville.

And more from Jacksonville: Do broadcasters even listen to one another? Seconds before Adam Vinateri missed a 30-yard field goal, Cris Collinsworth's booth partner said that Vinateri was lining up for an extra point try. Nothing from Collinsworth.

That WAS a touchdown

The league has backed the officials who called Santonio Holmes 4-yard catch a score. Steelers win, time to move on. It's too bad it had to be a close call and slightly mar an otherwise great win for the Steelers, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

I sure hope the Ravens don't make the playoffs. I'd rather the Steelers not have to face the Ravens a third time. Two wins is pretty sweet, but three....that's tough. But they did it before, beating the Bill Belichik-coached Browns three times in 1993, so anything can happen. The way they're playing, I think the Steelers can beat anyone right now.

It sure would be fun to beat the Ravens a third time. But first the Ravens will have their hands full this weekend with the surging Cowboys. That should be a fun game, and I am not sure who I am rooting for. Can both teams be credited with a loss?

Eagles Manhandle Giants

2008-12-13T21:58:00.001-08:00

It's late to be posting this so I won't write much, but I couldn't let the week go without celebrating a victory over that hated team from North Jersey. The Eagles dominated the game from start to finish; the Giants' offense didn't so squat until garbage time. I hope Reid took some notes. This is what happens when you don't abandon the running game and you keep pounding it in there: you wear the opposing defense down and dominate in the second half, though we probably have Mornhinweg to thank more than Reid since he was clearly calling the plays again.

It's great to see them playing this well now, but I still fear it may be too little, too late. You can't help but wonder where the team would be if Reid hadn't gone brain dead and pulled McNabb against the Ravens. Oh well, at least they control their own destiny within the division now (thanks to the Cowboys' meltdown against the Steelers). If the Eagles run the table, they will finish second in the division. However, that still may not be good enough to reach the playoffs because they still need Atlanta to lose one more time, though that could happen as early as this week against Tampa Bay.

Bottom Line: the Eagles are in much better shape than they were two weeks ago, but they still need a little help and obviously have zero margin for error.

Eagles Crush Cardinals . . . and I'm Mad

2008-11-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

It was a dominant effort from start to finish on both sides of the ball . . . so why am I angry? Because it's probably too little too late, because this is the team they should have been all season, because this is the way they are capable of playing when their heads are in the game and the coach isn't going brain dead. The Cardinals were overrated anyway coming out of the dismal NFC West, but to dominate any NFL team like that takes the type of talent we've known they possessed all year. That's what makes this victory more frustrating than gratifying, knowing what should have been. Yeah, it was fun to watch this game (Westbrook gets more than one consecutive carry and look what happens!), but also bittersweet because they still have almost no shot at the playoffs. It reminds me of last season when the Eagles were playing the best football in the NFC over the final third of the season when it didn't matter anymore.

So Reid may get them playing well enough down the stretch to save his job (not that his job is ever in much jeopardy with Lurie being so in love with him), but what's the point? It's going to be the same crap next year when Reid reverts back to his stubborn, pass-happy self, making the same lousy decisions he makes every year . . . only this time he won't have McNabb to scapegoat since Donovan will likely be somewhere else helping some other team make the playoffs . . . and we'll see for perhaps the first time in Reid's career what kind of coach he really is when he doesn't have a stud quarterback to make his predictable, one-dimensional offense look good.

By the way, the refs were flat-out awful in this game. This has to be one of the worst officiated seasons I can remember.

Re: Eagles...So I Was Wrong. As Were Many Others

2008-11-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Philadelphia media must be in a crisis mode after the Eagles scored a decisive 48-20 win over the still-seeking-a-division-clinching win Cardinals.

What will they do now? They spent four days talking and writing about all the problems with the Eagles and suggesting all the great ways they had for the Eagles to right the ship. And then, Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid - with a little help from Bryant Westbrook - went and righted the ship themselves.

This underscores the idea that one should take sportswriters and their comments with a grain of salt. And it shows how much I know. My prediction of a 31-7 Cardinals win indicates that perhaps I spent too much time listening to the dullards that inhabit Philly radio stations.

"McNabb redeems himself in rout of Cardinals" says the headline on the ESPN summary. I don't feel that McNabb "redeemed" himself, nor do I think he needed to. He had a fine game by most measures - 29 of 37 passing, 260 yards and four TD passes.

For the season, McNabb has 3,030 yards passing, with 18 TDs and 10 INTs. The INTs could stand to be a bit lower, but this is not a bad performance for a QB.

Especially an aging QB who has been around for 10 seasons in an offense that hasn't really changed all that much. It's fine to have a pass-happy offense with a young, mobile quarterback who can escape from pressure.

McNabb is now a wily veteran who should be able to enjoy a more cerbral approach to things. Look at Kerry Collins. Once considered washed up, he has re-emerged as a solid QB who does just enough to help his team win.

His calling is now to protect the ball and hand off to the young running backs. Collins' numbers are somewhat pedstrian: 2,125 yards passing, nine TDs and four picks. But...the Titans are 11-1, proving that this methodology is at the very least a valid formula for putting a winning team on the field. It may not be exciting, but a lot of Ws lead to good things.

A humorous sidebar: Mike Misinelli, formerly of 610 WIP in Philly, now barking on 950 ESPN, has proposed that the Eagles front office has deliberately surrounded McNabb with a bunch of second-raters in order that the Eagles will put out a subpar performance, thus making it easier for them to release McNabb at season's end. The theory being that the fans will agree that McNabb was ineffective and therefore, won't question the FO's decision to simply let him go.

This is a nice theory except for two things:

Who are the Eagles planning to go with at QB next year?
Does anyone think that Joe Banner and Jeffrey Lurie are savvy enough to have hatched a plot like this?

For point one, they've groomed nobody to take McNabb's spot. If they cut McNabb due to salary cap pressure, they will be hard pressed to find a QB to replace his ability. Many teams will be happy to sign him. And, consider this - can you think of another 10-year period in Eagles history that was this successful? I can't.

For point two, I don't believe Banner and Lurie are smart enough to run a going-out-of-business sale, let alone hatch a forward-thinking scheme like this.

No...I think that the answer simply lies in the fact that the Eagles have turned too much over to Andy Reid, and he isn't able to come up with all the answers. I think Reid would be a fine coach, GM or player-personnel director. But I don't see dividends in having him be so instrumental in all three disciplines.

I'd rather see how the Eagles would do next year with McNabb playing for a different head coach, rather than see McNabb playing for a different team.

Easy for me to say, as I have no say in the matter...and I'm not really an Eagles fan.

Perhaps the idea that "Players play and writers write" should be extended to this situation. But recent history indicates that the status quo is more likely what troubled Eagles fans will get. And people wonder why these fans boo. They're totally justified.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

2008-11-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the schedule strikes again. We have three Thanksgiving days games to...look forward to.

As usual, we have the lame slate of lame Dallas/Detroit games and a third game that the NFL at least tries to make a good matchup.

I think it's time to entertain the idea that Detroit and Dallas should no longer have it as a given that they play on Thanksgiving. In fact, I'd bet that a lot of the players and coaches would prefer that.

When was the last time Detroit had given the impression that they would actually win? It's hard to imagine that the game won't end with something along the lines of a 30-10 Tennessee win.

Then there's the Dallas/Seattle game. Again, Tony Romo has proven to any who inquire that his injured pinky is more than capable of putting up points against stiff teams. Unfortunately for the fine fans of Seattle...the Seahawks are the stiffs this week. I expect this one to end with Dallas putting up about 38 points and holding Seattle to about 6.

And the game that 2 weeks ago would have been considered a real barn-burner looks like it will be little more than a coronation for the Cardinals. With what's happened over the past few weeks, I can't see the Eagles being in this one. No matter who starts at QB. I expect this to be a 31-7 Arizona win.

It's too bad, really. Most Turkey games are not very entertaining at all. It would be better if all the turkeys stayed home this year and sent in some better teams.

Reid Loses His Mind

2008-11-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

First off, I would like to thank the Ravens for putting Eagles fans out of their collective misery. Now that we know the playoffs are over, we don't have to spend the rest of the season biting our nails only to have our hearts broken at the end. And better yet, we can now enjoy Thanksgiving with our families without worrying about getting home in time for the game against Arizona.

On to Reid. I knew it would happen eventually and he finally did it. Reid finally made Donovan McNabb the scapegoat for all of his own shortcomings, and in the process he threw away the game and the season just to make a point about nobody's job being safe. Only a complete moron would pull his starting quarterback at halftime of a 10-7 game with the season on the line. Was Donovan playing well? No. But the defense was playing well and they were THREE POINTS DOWN!!! That's not the time to make such a drastic change when you still have a shot at the playoffs! Who in their right mind would throw an inexperienced quarterback to the wolves like that against a defense like the Ravens? Did Reid honestly think Kolb would provide a spark? Please. It was nothing but a desperate move by a desperate man who has simply run out of answers.

Most coaches get better with experience but Reid has regressed (a delay of game penalty when you're running a no-huddle offense? Really???). He makes mistakes that rookie head coaches make. He doesn't know what the hell he's doing anymore and it's painfully obvious that things will never get better as long as he's the coach. Yes, he brought us several successful seasons, but this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league and he will now have missed the playoffs for three out of the last four years. At some point you have to realize that it's not working anymore and that it's time to move on. I wish Lurie would show some guts and fire him tomorrow. The season is already lost anyway, so what's the point of keeping him around? Let Jim Johnson take over. Even if it's just for the rest of this season, he has earned the opportunity to finally be a head coach in this league. If Lurie lets Reid keep his job after this embarrassment, he's an even bigger idiot than Reid.

As for McNabb, he is not blameless in what has become of this dismal season, but no quarterback is going to be successful in a system that requires you to drop back to pass 60 times per game while paying nothing but lip service to any semblance of a running game. I really don't want him to go, but perhaps a change of scenery is what he needs. In any event, it looks like the cabal of McNabb haters in Philly will finally get its wish after this season. If this is indeed the end of the McNabb era, I wish him well. I am sure that he will start somewhere else next year and have tremendous success . . . and those same McNabb haters suffering through a 4-12 season with Kolb at the helm will rue the day he left.

Pujols Named MVP after Powering Cardinals to 4th Place!

2008-11-18T06:52:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Albert Pujols on your second MVP award. You sure...deserved it.

If there was a "Best Player" award, I'd have no argument with this. There are few players that can claim to be anywhere near as skilled a baseball player as Pujols is.

That said, I'd like to make a case for the overrated Ryan Howard. It's true that he was just farting around and lollygagging his way to 48 home runs and 146 runs batted in. Anybody can get lucky, am I right? And, well, despite Howard's shortcomings, the Phillies won the NL East division title.

Now, I understand that the Cardnials soared their way to a 4th place finish in the NL Central. And they would not have been able to attain that lofty position without the contributions of their star slugger. Hell, who knows? They might have finished in 5th or 6th place if not for their MVP.

Lord knows, you can't expect to put forth the excellence of a 4th place finish unless you get an MVP year. I'll bet the Cards wish they had more players like that. Maybe they could have finished in 3rd place! The mind boggles!

You know, now that I have made the case for Howard, I think that the baseball writers made the right choice after all. It's pretty clear to me that the Phillies could have finished in 2nd, 3rd or even, gosh, 4th place without Howard.

And it's totally true that Howard lacked consistency all year, and only excelled in September, when his team needed his production most. But who cares about that!? He struck out 199 times! Think of all the runs that could have been scored.

Howard's 146 RBI, mostly achieved in garbage time situations, is child's play compared to the 116 that Pujols put up. Obviously, Pujols' runs were more pivotal. They certainly led the Cardinals (86) to have more wins than the Phillies (92) had.

Pujols said it best in 2006: "I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP." You tell 'em, Albert!

Clearly, the baseball writers agree. Since that's what it takes to win that award, then I certainly hope Howard does the right thing and hits 25 less homers next year and drives in 35 less runs. Then, as long as the Phillies finish 11 games out and in 4th place...he'll be a shoo-in for MVP.

Eagles Beat Bengals

2008-11-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

At least that's what the headline should read. Today's game has caused my mind to break with reality, and I now live in an alternate universe. In this happy place, my beloved football team did not tie the cellar-dwelling Bengals, they blew them away. The Eagles' offense did not look like crap all game, they came out and took care of business like the playoff-bound team they are.

In this blissful nirvana, McNabb did not drop back more than 60 times to pass. On the contrary, Andy Reid took the pressure off his struggling quarterback by giving Brian Westbrook more than 20 carries . . . and he actually handed him the ball more than once in a row on several occasions!

In this euphoric world, Reid finally discovered that running the ball is a strategy, not an afterthought. He realized that he has the largest offensive line in the NFL and he rode them to victory. He allowed them to fire off the ball instead of dropping back into pass protection all game, wearing the other team down so that when he needed to convert a third-and-short, it was no problem because the Bengals' defensive line was on its heels from being pushed backward all game.

Yes, all of this happened in my happy place.

Now, back to reality.

They say in sports that a tie is like kissing your sister, but I don't think that applies here. When you need a missed field goal to barely escape losing to a 1-8 team, you are kissing something much worse than your sister. And to quote Forrest Gump: "That's all I have to say about that."

Ban the Shootout

2008-11-15T20:41:00.001-08:00

Once again this week we had to watch the Flyers lose an overtime game via the dreaded shootout, one of the many idiotic "improvements" Gary Bettman has made to the NHL. I won't even get into the myriad other ways he has destroyed the sport (like expansion run wild, turning the NHL into the No Hit League, or letting stick-swinging cheap-shot artists run amok because players can no longer police such incidents without facing suspension . . . and does anybody remember the glowing puck?). It's as if Bettman's ultimate goal is to turn the NHL into a live-action video game.

I'm not just against this format because the Flyers' all-time shootout record is 8-20 (though that certainly contributes to my discontent), but because it's ridiculous to decide a professional sporting event with a gimmick that favors individual achievement over teamwork. It doesn't matter that the teams battled back and forth all game to arrive at a stalemate, we're going to decide the winner by letting a bunch of finesse players flash their skills. It would be like deciding a basketball game with a slam dunk competition, a football game with a field goal contest, a baseball game with a home run derby . . . or home field advantage in the World Series by the winner of the—umm, never mind.

In the Flyers' latest shootout loss, they had stormed back from a 3-goal deficit against the high-flying Penguins to take a one-goal lead, only to have the Pens tie it late and send it into overtime. A game like that deserves to be decided by the teams on the ice or not at all. Expand the overtime from five to ten minutes, and if it's still tied, let it remain a tie. Don't reward one team for having more finesse players—it's an insult to true hockey fans as well as to the players who busted their tails all game long. The NHL would never decide a playoff game with a shootout, so why should the regular season standings be affected by such a farce?

Not One Of Big Ben's Best Days

2008-11-11T09:06:00.000-08:00

Now that I've had a day to sit on this, I think I can make some slightly more objective commentary about the Steelers 24-20 loss to the struggling Colts game Sunday.

Forgetting about the fact that they lost for a moment, I think it is noteworthy to focus on how they lost. In what looks like a trend with the Steelers (6-3), they outgained the Colts 326-290, had more passing yards (271-228), had a greater time of possession (34:05-25:55) and were penalized less.

All sounds good, right? Good enough to win, certainly. So...what happened?

Two important, Steelerific things did not go their way.

One - They had less success running the ball (26 attempts for 55 yards, as compared to 19 attempts for 62 yards). And I don't think the inclusion of Willie Parker would have made much difference here. Simply put, their injury-challenged offensive line cannot produce the chunks of yardage to which Steeler Nation is accustomed. Doing without Alan Faneca doesn't help either.

Two - Big Ben. Three picks - one of these, of course, is the end-of-game-what-did-you-expect-desperation-interception - and 42 pass attempts. Sure, 30-of-42 passing looks efficient, but it isn't what the Steelers are supposed to be doing.

The Steelers also weren't helped by a tipped ball that landed right in Reggie Wayne's hands and another ball that bounced off a Steeler helmet - again into Wayne's waiting hands.

But give the Colts credit. They have All-Pro caliber players like Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne and they did what they needed to do - take advantage of Steeler blunders and make enough good plays on their own merit - in order to secure the team's first win in Pittsburgh since 1968.

That said, let's compare this game (42 passes, 26 rushes) to the 38-17 opening day win over the Texans. I can't speak for Steelers Nation, but I'd rather have 18 passes and 39 rushes - and the no-doubt-about-it win.

The 15-6 loss to the Eagles featured 32 passes and 19 rushes.

Of course, this little observation is not an absolute. The Stillers had 28 rushes and 31 passes in the 38-10 win over the Bengals. The numbers were 26 and 41 in the 26-21 win over Jacksonville.

The main differences? No picks against Cincy and only one pick against the Jaguars....and a total of three sacks. As opposed to the 1 pick and 9 sacks Pittsburgh gave up to the Eagles. In my humble opinion, out of their losses, the Eagles were the only team that truly outplayed the Steelers.

So what's the answer? If Mike Tomlin asks, I'll happily tell him what I think. Clearly, I'm sure he's spent a great deal of time trying to answer this very question. I won't pretend I have an answer.

The AFC North used to be the Steelers division to lose. Now that Baltimore has pulled even with them, they could be in trouble. If they have any more losses in winnable games, that would certainly minimize my optimism for a prolonged playoff run - assuming the Steelers get there.

In the first 6 weeks of the season, that looked like a foregone conclusion. Now...not so much.

One thing to note is that there is a lot of press talking about Ben Roethlisberger and his injured shoulder. I seem to reemember that he had suffered some malady once before and was pressed into action. I believe that was in 2006, Bill Cowher's last season, and a season in which the Steelers were 8-8.

I'm thinking that if Ben really is hurting, would it be the worst thing in the world to start Byron Leftwich? Might as well give it a shot, right? If he throws three interceptions and the Steelers lose, is that any worse than the Colts game? That is why they signed him, isn't it?

Let Ben get a few games where he isn't getting hit by 350 pound behemoths. Then he'll be healthy for that stretch run and the playoffs. That's really when we want him to be healthy, right?

Here We Go Again

2008-11-10T13:31:00.001-08:00

The media just can't resist a juicy story about those "boorish" fans from Philadelphia booing somebody. In this case, the claim is that they booed our Vice President-elect...
Biden Booed

Yeah, they're really going to boo the guy they just voted for. This is another idiotic non-story by media morons who don't do their homework.

The fans were booing the call on the field. Eli Manning had just thrown a ball into the dirt that should have been intentional grounding. It wasn't called, which caused the fans to boo at the same time NBC happened to be showing Biden on TV. Then the fans saw the replay on the jumbo screens and began to boo even more. And each time the replay was shown, they booed even more. In fact, I doubt the fans even knew Biden was on camera at that time. When you're at a sporting event, you don't see what the people see on TV at home, and any reporter doing just the tiniest bit of research would know that. But they'd rather just jump on a sensationalist story, because hopping on the "bad Philly fans" bandwagon is the easy thing to do—it doesn't require any actual journalism.

I remember when I was watching it last night thinking, "Oh great they have to show Biden at the exact moment the fans are booing a call. The media is going to jump all over that." And sure enough, they did. Nice job, CNN.

By the way, according to some people who were actually at the game, Biden was cheered when he was shown on the big screen at a different moment in the game. Nuff said. Next non-story, please.

I'm Done with Reid

2008-11-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

When Reid called those two runs at the end of the game I literally screamed. As badly as the Eagles were outplayed for most of the game and as horribly as their run defense was gashed by the Giants' running game, they still had a chance to win at the end. McNabb had just led them to a score, the defense came up with a huge stop, and McNabb was marching them down again for the potential game winning touchdown . . . so what does Reid do? He takes the ball out of McNabb's hands, just as he did against Chicago and Washington, and the results were exactly the same—a loss. How can you not give McNabb the chance to win the game???? Again????? And people wonder why he hasn't had a 4th quarter comeback in so long.

Here is what I wrote after the Chicago game: "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!!!"

And here is what I wrote after the Washington game: "On top of that, pass-happy-Reid has suddenly become Mr. Smashmouth at the goal line, as the Eagles were once again stymied from in close on consecutive running plays. Has Reid lost all confidence in McNabb's ability to make something happen?"

Sound familiar? Reid did the same thing again tonight, only this time it was on his own 43-yard line and he had no timeouts, which makes the run calls all the more mind boggling. I have to ask again, does he not trust McNabb to win the game for him? Or is he just incapable of learning from his mistakes? My vote is for the latter. Case in point: he once again made a frivolous challenge that cost his team a pivotal timeout. The second challenge was necessary, but the first one was just plain dumb.

His mismanagement of Westbrook throughout the game was a disgrace as well. I love Jackson as much as the next guy, but Westbrook is what makes this team go. Sometimes Reid gets too cute with Jackson (like with that ill-fated screen pass in the first half) and completely forgets about Westbrook. Reid should have been running lots of screens to Westbrook to counter the Giants' pass rush, but the Eagles' most dangerous weapon only had three receptions all game. He didn't catch his first pass until the last drive of first half and had just one catch in the entire second half.

The broadcasters kept talking about the running game not working, but that's just B.S. Of course the running game isn't going to work when you NEVER try to run (except when the game's on the line, of course). When the 4th quarter began, Westbrook had a grand total of NINE carries—in a game they were never out of. And the carries were so spread out that he never had the chance to get into any kind of rhythm.

Despite all of that, the Eagles still could have stolen this game at the end, but as I've said before, "woulda coulda shoulda" is the realm of mediocre teams, which the Eagles have proven themselves to be. Even with a 5-4 record, the odds are against them making the playoffs. Forget about the division, that's over, but their wild card chances are looking pretty remote as well. The Eagles have the third toughest schedule for the remainder of the season, they have three teams in their own division ahead of them, and they have horrible division and conference records. They need to go at least 5-2 (maybe even 6-1) for the rest of the season to even have a shot, but the more likely scenario is that the Eagles will miss the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Reid is obviously not the only reason they lost tonight (the so-called 8th-ranked run defense played the biggest part), and he's not the only reason they are sitting at the bottom of the NFC East, but his awful decisions add up over the course of a season (and a career), and those two running plays at the end were the last straw for me. He has driven me crazy over the years with his often baffling play calling, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt because his teams were always competitive and he reached four straight championship games and a Super Bowl. But it is painfully apparent that he has reached a plateau as a coach and he's not going to get any better. He doesn't learn from past mistakes and rarely adjusts to what's happening during the game. He still has good qualities in a coach, but play calling and game management have never been among them, and he's had ten years to improve. Unless he is willing to give up the play calling once and for all (which he won't), I want him gone.

Notes from the Championship Parade

2008-11-05T08:31:00.001-08:00

By now everyone has seen the amazing footage of the Phillies' championship parade through streets filled with what some estimates have put at over two million people, so I'm not going to spend time rehashing what other journalists have already discussed. Instead I am going to write about my experience from a personal perspective.

When the tickets became available online for the parade I tried simultaneously for tickets to both Citizens Bank Park (the main show) and Lincoln Financial Field (where, at the time, all we knew was that we would be able to watch the festivities on the giant screens with the possibility that a couple of players might stop by). I was unable to obtain tickets to the Bank, but managed to score two lower-level tickets to the Linc. The tickets to both parks, by the way, were free, so kudos to both parks for not gouging the fans. At the same time, shame on some of the parking vendors who were charging as much as $30, and an even bigger thumbs down to the a-holes who were selling tickets to both parks online for hundreds of dollars within moments of getting them for free. Most of the true fans were shut out of the celebration because of these greedy bastards. One guy actually made the trip to the Linc and had his young son stand outside the gate holding up a sign that said: "Have Tickets, Make Offer." Real classy.

So I printed out the two tickets to the Linc and crashed at my buddy's house that night in South Jersey so I wouldn't have to wake up as early (being a very late night owl, getting up an extra hour early to make the trip down from Central Jersey would have been rough). As it was, I only managed three hours of sleep, but I wasn't driving into the city so I didn't care. We decided to leave around 9-9:30am to avoid the worst of the traffic. We had considered taking the high speed line in, which many city officials were recommending due to the expected heavy traffic volume but I'm glad we didn't—reports had waits of over two hours to even get a seat on the train.

By driving we got into the city very quickly, though parking was already filling up everywhere. We entered a free parking lot, but when no spots were available we decided to park on the side of a road exiting the parking lot behind a locked gate. The guy who parked in front of us said they never ticketed there and he was sure the gate would be open at the end of the day, so we took the chance, and it wound up being a good move as we were able to zip right out of there on our way home.

Anyway, it was around 10am and we decided to walk around for a while soaking in the atmosphere. The streets and lots around the stadiums were already flooded in a sea of red— people cheering, high-fiving, and waving at all the cars driving by beeping their horns. Everybody was friendly, chatting with strangers as if they were the oldest of friends. It's amazing what a championship can do for a city, though I would point out that, contrary to popular myth, the majority of Philly fans are always friendly, but it was definitely ratcheted up on this day.

A man was walking around snapping photos for the Phillies web site, and he took the following shot of me and my friend, Bruce. The Linc is in the background and we're holding championship signs that were being handed out for free. It wasn't until later that I realized the signs were from a [gag] country music station. Oh well. I'm wearing an old raggedy Phillies hat barely held together in the back, as it is the only piece of Phillies paraphernalia I own. Most of my stuff is Eagles and Flyers, which is why I am wearing an Eagles jacket over a McNabb jersey, but I wasn't the only guy there with Eagles gear on, so I didn't feel out of place, and since my tickets were for the Linc anyway, it seemed an appropriate mixture of the two sports.

They put a giant "PROOF" over the picture in order to force you into buying something, but it's good enough for the purposes of this blog. I foolishly forgot to bring my camera, so this is currently the only shot I have, though Bruce and my uncle (who we met up with later) both took a lot of photos throughout the day and have promised to send them to me.

After a while of walking around we met up with my uncle at the Linc gate. He had managed to secure six tickets for his entire family, though the tickets were only available in pairs so we would all be sitting separately. In the meantime we got lunch at the concessions (a cheesesteak, fries, and snapple for $16!) and then hung out together in the lower level since the stadium wasn't full yet. After a while we realized that the stadium probably wasn't going to fill to capacity as many people had likely got the free tickets and then decided not to come, while others had only got the tickets with the intention of selling them and had hopefully ended up stuck with them. Thus, my uncle decided to stay where he was with his family while Bruce and I headed to our assigned seats.

We were about 20 rows up from the field in the shaded end zone so it was pretty cold. I noticed many empty seats down lower in sunny sections, so we decided to move all the way down to the bottom of one of these sections right next to an entrance tunnel and hang out there until somebody came to kick us out. As it would turn out, nobody ever came to boot us out so we got to enjoy all the festivities from fantastic seats. My uncle and his family were able to eventually join us (the beauty of cell phones) so we all ended up getting to sit together.

We soon learned that not only were some players dropping by the Linc, but the entire team would be coming to do a victory lap with the trophy and make speeches, so although we were shut out of the main event, we were getting a nice ceremony of our own, making the trip more than worth it. Then we just sat back and watched the parade on the giant screens, reveling in the cheers of the crowd as each new player showed up on screen. This was when the championship really hit me. Of course I was happy and jumped out of my seat when Lidge threw the final pitch to clinch the World Series, but over the next day I wasn't feeling as euphoric as I thought I would. That all changed when I was able to experience the celebration among thousands of fans in the stadium, and millions in the streets.

Finally, the players arrived. The coaches led the procession, coming right up to the stands, where I high-fived Milt Thompson as he walked by. Next came Charlie Manuel on a cart that held the championship trophy. Then the rest of the players followed on foot, doing a victory lap around the stadium before winding up at the podium, where we heard speeches from Manuel, Victorino, and Moyer, to thunderous cheering and applause. After the festivities ended we decided to leave and listen to the main ceremony on the radio so we could beat the worst of the traffic. We got to see a championship ceremony live, so we didn't feel the need to watch another one on TV from across the street, and we could always catch the highlights later.

Beating traffic, however, was easier said than done. It still took us a good hour to get out of the city, but considering how bad it would later get, that was nothing. Overall, it was a tremendous experience and I'm glad I went. If you live within driving distance of your favorite sports team and they win a championship, I highly recommend attending at least one victory parade in your lifetime, especially if it's in Philly, where our two-million-strong, multi-stadium celebration dwarfed any other city's.

Now I want to see another parade in February—Go Eagles!

Solid Win for Eagles over Seahawks

2008-11-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

It took a while to get going, as the Eagles once again played a shaky first quarter, allowing a long touchdown and doing virtually nothing on offense. After that, however, it was all Eagles as they dominated the rest of the game on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams, with Akers finally seeming to get on track after a two-season slump. McNabb was near perfect after the first quarter and Curtis looks like he is back at full speed from sports hernia surgery, but the star of the game was Celek. I've liked him from the beginning, and remember thinking last year that he could be special if given the chance.

Celek was a big reason why I couldn't have cared less whether they re-signed LJ this past offseason. He doesn't have the speed and physical gifts of the elite TEs, but he catches everything you throw at him, and he was certainly fast enough to make some big plays today. However, we need to be realistic—Celek is not going to put up huge numbers like today very often, but I'll settle for a guy who's dependable and can stay healthy, something LJ has never been able to do. Chad Lewis was a guy without great physical tools, but McNabb knew he could count on him when he needed a big catch, and that is something that has been missing from the Eagles' arsenal ever since Lewis left. I believe Celek can be that guy for McNabb, and sooner rather than later. LJ may have the talent of an elite tight end, but we have rarely seen it during his tenure in Philly, whether due to injury or inconsistency. I know LJ is making a lot of money, but at this point Celek has earned the right to show whether he can be the long-term option. We already know LJ won't be.

It's still hard to get a good bead on the Birds though, as they have now won three straight over mediocre-to-lousy teams. Next week will certainly give us a good idea of where the Eagles are when they host the Giants. I am still not convinced the Giants are as good as their 7-1 record, but it will nevertheless be a big test for the Eagles, and it is a must-win game, as a loss would essentially knock them out of the division race.

World Champions!!!

2008-10-29T23:35:00.001-07:00

Curse, schmurse!

The Phillies were not going to be denied tonight. Every time the Rays tied it, the Phils grabbed the lead right back, and fittingly, Lidge clinched the championship with a strikeout. Then the fireworks started, the champagne flowed, and the streets flooded with Philadelphians in a massive party that is probably still going strong as I write this. I've never seen anything like those crowds in the streets. It was like Times Square on New Year's Eve.

What an incredible postseason the Phillies put together. The so-called experts picked them to lose every single series, and all they did in response was rack up an 11-3 record and go undefeated at home. Everybody on this team contributed at some point in the playoffs; there were no weak links. And Manuel, who I've never been the biggest fan of, deserves a lot of credit as well. He pushed all the right buttons and got this team to play like champions.

By the way, it turns out the Tampa fans were right after all when they sang "na na hey hey goodbye" . . . that was indeed the last time they were going to see the Phillies :-)

I was 12 years old the last time a Philadelphia team won a championship (and 9 when the Phillies did it). Although I have memories of those moments, they are somewhat fleeting. This championship, after 25 years of close calls and heartbreaks, is the first one that really belongs to my generation. How sweet it is!

The parade to celebrate the Phillies' heroic slaying of the city's 25-year-old demons will appropriately take place on Halloween. I plan on attending . . . hope to see some of you there!

Don't Let The Rain Change The Game

2008-10-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

The rains came to Philadelphia, and with them comes a controversy that ensnares Bud Selig. This guy can't seem to get away from controversy.

From revenue sharing to interleague play to the wild card to the now-tainted 1998 home run chase to the the All-Star game ending in a tie to the Mitchell Report to the 2008 World Series game 5 ending in a tie.

Some of these things have turned out to be nightmarish PR issues for Major League Baseball.
But some of these things worked out pretty well. I clearly can't speak for everyone, but I like interleague play, wild card teams and the Mitchell Report.

I was never all that thrilled with the 1998 home run chase, and the revelations of the Mitchell Report certainly didn't soften my stance.

The 2002 All-Star game ending in a tie didn't bother me so much at the time. It's an exhibition game. Honestly, who cares if it ends in a tie? A good way to make sure that doesn't happen again...allow free substitution in the All-Star game. Why not? You have two different sets of rules already in MLB. Is this such an outlandish suggestion?

It's better than having an exhibition game decide which team (League) gets home field advantage in the World Series. "This Time it Counts" ? Hardly. It's a stupid outcome from a stupid situation, and shines a dim light on MLB's inability to plan ahead.

MLB frequently reacts rather than acts. And the 'solutions' they come up with are often worse than the problem they were trying to fix.

This is why I am not going to fuss too much about the events of Game 5. We all knew they were going to start the game come hell or heavy rain. We all suspected somewhere in the third inning that there was at least going to be a rain delay. There are suppositions that MLB let the game go on until there was a tie so they could save face.

Whatever the case is, word on the street is that the game would have been played out to the full nine innings no matter what. If that is the case, why not call a delay/suspension after the fourth inning when things really started to get dicey?

I'm sure that MLB just wanted to get as much of the game in as they could. Whatever. What's done is done.

As a Phillies fan, I am disappointed at how things went down. I am more irritated that the Phillies have already left nine runnners on base through the first six innings. I was really really annoyed with three weak-ass pop ups in the bottom of the 5th with two men on.

I do feel that Cole Hamels has been denied his chance at history (first 5-0 postseason pitcher) by MLB's shortsightedness. The rain certainly affected his pitching. This is not sour grapes - any pitcher would have been adversely affected by that downpour.

And it is the World Series. So MLB would want the players to keep going longer than they would in the regular season.

But the problem will come if MLB and Selig react to this. Who knows what kind of crap they'd come up with? Their solution the All-Star game tie sucked.

Even though it is a basackwards way of doing things, I'd rather just let it go. Chalk this up to "An Act of God" or "circumstances beyond our control" - but don't ask MLB or Selig to do anything to change/fix things.

That would just make things worse.

The St. Petersburg times has an article in today's edition that looks at the rain suspension situation thusly:

Headline: "FOR THE RAYS, NIGHT NOT SO MISERABLE"

"If you are a traditionalist, you may believe that baseball did the right thing. Eventually.
If you are a romantic, you can imagine that the Tampa Bay Rays have just received one more bit of fortune in their wonderful story. Magically.
And if you are a Phanatic, you can feel free to worry that Bud Selig has extended the black cloud over Philadelphia for a little bit longer. Accursedly."

Interesting. I see it like this. If the Rays truly believe that MLB did them a favor, then they are in trouble. The Phillies should be furious and ready to kill when the umps call "play ball!"

"...the rain seemed to have awakened the Rays" ? If they needed to be "awakened" then perhaps they shouldn't be here? Why would they need to be awakened? It's the friggin' World Series!

I don't see this as a momentum killer. If not winning a World Series since 1980 didn't kill the momentum, this certainly won't.

So - Bud Selig, do what you do best. Nothing. Continue to sit on your hands and let the adults figure this out.

And Phillies - Don't lose your focus. Don't sweat the small stuff. Forget about the rain. The fans will be there behind you, as they always have.

Go out there and play the way you did in game 4. If you do that, all this rain crap will be washed away and be nothing more than a distant memory. And next thing you know, you could be World Series champs.

Go Phils!

Phils Foiled by Mother Nature

2008-10-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

Well, we'll have to put that parade on hold for at least another day, as tonight's game was suspended due to rain. Contrary to what the broadcasters were blabbering about (more on them later), this blustery rain delay has clearly favored Tampa. There's no doubt in my mind that under normal conditions Hamels would have shut this team down.

For those inclined to believe in curses, they can't be too comfortable with a game in which Hamels was cruising until the downpour and subsequent horrible conditions caused Rollins to bobble a ball that might have prevented the Rays from ever scoring that second run. And one can't help wondering how much the downpour had to do with the Phillies hitting three straight popups in the top of the 5th with two men on. However, both teams had to play in the same conditions so I'm not going to blame rain for the Phillies' consistent inability to bring home runners in scoring position. One thing that can be blamed on the rain, though, is the loss of Hamels, who had thrown only 75 pitches through six innings. He was clearly on his way to at least an 8-inning performance, but now the Phils must turn to the bullpen much earlier than they otherwise would have—and that clearly benefits Tampa Bay.

But you would never know that listening to the biased broadcasters. I don't know whether McCarver is overcompensating for being an ex-Phillie, but he has been terrible; they both have been blatantly one-sided. Listening to these guys talk, you might think that the Phillies have done absolutely nothing to win in this series except to be the beneficiaries of a bunch of bad calls. All these broadcasters did for the entire game was whine about bad calls against the Rays and then boohoo about how the sloppy conditions really hurt the Rays: "Whaaa! No fair, this rain affects their running game!" As if the Phillies don't have a strong running game of their own that would be impacted. And then later on: "Yipee! The Rays just tied the game under horrendous conditions, aren't they great?"

They've been like this all series: playing up Tampa; playing down Philly. We'd get more balance if we were listening to a broadcast out of Tampa Bay. These guys are a disgrace.

Anyway, we must have faith. The rains pouring down may lead some to believe that the curse of William Penn is once again rearing its ugly head—sports fans in general are a superstitious bunch, especially in Philly where our championship futility has reached near mathematically impossible proportions—but the Phils are still ahead 3-1, they still have the better pitching and defense, and they have hit better than the Rays for the entire series. There's no reason why they shouldn't still win this thing. So take a breath and come back Tuesday night to watch our Fightins make history. Go Phils!

Steelers Lose to Big Blue - Oh Snap!

2008-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

What the heck is going on with the Steelers? It's hard to tell from one week to the next if you're going to get the good Steelers team or the Evil Twin Brother.

In a showdown of 5-1 teams, the Steelers again came up short against a team that is, in my humble opinion, no better than the Steelers. In fact, I'd even go as far as saying that the Steeler are better than the Jints.

After all, en route to their 5-1 record, the Jints fattened up on underachieving teams such as the Rams, Seahawks and Bangles (oops Bengals) and San Francisco (combined record: 6-24). They lost to Cleveland (3-4). They looked ripe for the picking.

Meanwhile, the Black & Gold scored nice wins over Baltimore and Jacksonville, and a blowout win over Cincinnati. I figured the Steelers should be able to take it to the Giants. I've not been convinced that Big Blue was really a good team, and this seemed like a great chance for that to be proven.

After some great defensive stops, and two challenges, in the first quarter, the Stillers seemed to have things under control. Clearly, they were not dominating or anything like that, but after they took a 14-9 lead in the third quarter, they seemed well on their way to the win.

The defense was holding the Giants to field goals, despite the good field position the Giants enjoyed most of the game. Note to Pittsburgh (and any team, really): If you give a team enough chances, they're going to break out.

Sadly, the offense did little worth noting. Ben Roethlisberger's 4 interceptions and his exasperating habit of holding the ball too damn long and getting sacked didn't help. They just struggled to get into any kid of rhythm.

In Big Ben's defense, his O-line has been a swinging gate for certain games this season (notably, the NFC East matchups), and it is difficult to set up for the pass when you're on your back or running for your life.

However, that line was good enough to give him time to connect for a 65-yard TD to Nate Washington in the third quarter and also good enough to provide running lanes for Mwelde Moore's 84 yards and a 32-yard TD in the first quarter. It should have also been sufficient for the Steelers to actually gain a yard in the last two minutes of the game.

And don't even get me started about missed opportunities like the Washington TD nullified by a penalty or the errant snap that effectively killed the Steelers mojo. Dumb setbacks like that are part of the game and teams should be able to overcome these things.

To be sure, a 6-2 record is nothing to sneeze at. They're in fine shape in their division, and it would take a monumental collapse for them to be kicked out of the driver's seat in the AFC North. One can only hope that the Steelers will figure some things out to prevent this from even becoming a concern.

Next week they face another NFC East team in the Redskins. Then the Cowboys complete the NFC East swing in early December. I, for one, will be glad the Steelers are done with the NFC.

Phils Bats Spring to Life as they Clobber the Rays, 10-2

2008-10-26T22:01:00.001-07:00

Is this really happening? Are the Phillies really just one win away from a championship? Are they really just 27 outs from breaking the curse of William Penn and releasing this city from 25 years of championship futility? As Philly fans whose hearts have been broken so many times in the past, we have learned to take every step toward salvation with a grain of salt, but with a 3-1 lead, the odds are overwhelmingly in our favor. If we don't win this year, we never will.

The bats came alive big time tonight, and Howard could not have picked a better time to go on one of his patented hot streaks. It's also no coincidence that the runs finally started coming when Rollins finally started hitting. Up and down the lineup, almost everyone contributed.

Meanwhile, Blanton, except for a couple of mistakes, was absolutely dominant tonight, and how about going deep? You know it's your night when that happens. When all the big-name trades happened back in the summer, Blanton largely flew under the radar in most people's eyes as yet another half-hearted acquisition by a franchise not willing to pull the trigger on a major deal (I admit to being less than excited myself, though I never hated the move), but all Blanton has done since arriving in Philly is win. Meanwhile, the more glamorous acquisitions like Sabathia and Ramirez are currently watching the series on TV.

On a side note, thumbs-down to this umpiring crew for some big-time blown calls against both teams. During the previous couple of games those bad calls mostly favored the Rays, but tonight one bounced our way after the third-base ump called Rollins safe when he was clearly out, leading to the Phils' first run. Thankfully, the bad calls have not determined the outcomes of the games, but come on, this is the World Series—blowing that many calls is simply unacceptable—both teams deserve better.

Anyway, this was the Phillies' night, and now they have a chance to close this series out in front of the hometown fans with their ace on the mound. You couldn't write a better script. Go Phils!

Baby Steps for the Eagles in Victory over Atlanta

2008-10-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

This one was a little close for comfort but a win's a win. The Eagles caught a break with that bad muffed punt call, but I don't think Atlanta was going to score again anyway, and the Birds had their share of bad calls go against them (like the brutal roughing call on Cole). The inability to score from in close continues to be worrisome, though I think Westbrook was in on 2nd goal with his second effort (the same play as the offsides penalty), but the refs blew the whistle early. Still, Reid better figure out a way to punch it in. Stop with the fancy wishbone looks and shovel passes and just put the ball in the hands of your best players. He finally tried a sneak but he didn't spread the defense out and it failed—now we'll never see another one.

Anyway, what a difference a healthy Westbrook makes to the offense. They still have a ways to go before my confidence is restored (relatively close wins against mediocre teams like Atlanta and the 49ers aren't exactly awe inspiring) but they seem to be headed in the right direction.

Two down...

2008-10-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Phillies managed to scratch out a last minute victory doing what they failed to do most of the season: playing a little small ball. Great baserunning by Bruntlett (for once I was glad that Burrell wasn't still in the game) put the Phils in a position to win on what amounted to a glorified suicide squeeze by Ruiz (who has actually been one of the more valuable offensive players in this series). It was fitting that Tampa helped give away the game after that horrible call at first base in the 7th gave them two free runs. The umpiring in this series overall has been well below the standards one would expect in the World Series, though it thankfully has not affected the outcomes of any of the games.

I had a feeling Moyer was going to pitch well in this game and he didn't disappoint, though the aforementioned horrible call cost him perhaps his only chance at a World Series win—Moyer busted his butt on that play and deserved a better fate. Still, I know he'd much rather have the championship ring anyway, and thanks to his performance (along with big hits by Ruiz, Utley, and Howard), the Phillies are one step closer.

It's a Series, Phils Fall, 4-2

2008-10-23T21:39:00.001-07:00

The story of Game 2 was stranded runners. The Phillies got away with it last night with Hamels dominating, but not tonight. This was a very winnable game as Myers did not pitch badly (three earned runs over seven innings should have been enough to win the game), but the offense was woeful with runners in scoring position. Of course it didn't help that the home plate umpire was atrocious—he cost the Phils a run in the second inning with that non-strikeout call and he cost them an out in the 9th with that horrible missed call on Rollins. But the bottom line is that the Phillies should never have put themselves in the position of needing good calls by umpires. Championship teams take care of business regardless of any calls they may or may not get. If the Phils want to stay in this series, the offense better find a way to start knocking in runs. Twenty-two stranded runners in two games is a disgrace.

At least in the 9th inning the Phillies put a little scare into those obnoxious Tampa fans who started singing "na na hey hey goodbye" in the 8th inning. Apparently they forgot that their team blew a 7-run lead late in a game last series, and they obviously are too ignorant to realize that you don't sing that song unless your opponent is about to get eliminated, not when you're down 1-0 in the series. Great sports fans down there in Tampa.

Anyway, we get the next three in Philly. A home sweep is probably too much to ask, but we should at least take two of three and head back to Tampa with a 3-2 lead. We really need the Moyer who pitched so well in the regular season to show up on Saturday . . . and the offense better wake up.

Good First Win

2008-10-23T19:11:00.001-07:00

Three to go, as the Phillies took Game 1, 3-2. I was getting nervous with all the runners the Phils were stranding, but the pitching from Hamels, Madson, and Lidge was phenomenal, as was the defense with a couple of key double plays. Utley's two-run blast set the tone, and Hamels did the rest. After a slow start, Utley is putting together one hell of a postseason.

They can't keep getting away with stranding all those runners, though. One thing I would change is the DH. Coste has really slumped in the second half of the season. I would go with Dobbs, Jenkins, or Stairs. And even though he got a couple of hits, I still disagree with Werth hitting in the 2-hole instead of Victorino.

Anyway, the first game in any series is huge and the Phillies found a way to win. Here's hoping Myers pitches well tonight and the Phils' big bats wake up.

World Series, Baby!

2008-10-20T13:59:00.001-07:00

I have to admit that of all the Philly teams with the potential to win a championship, I would have placed the Phillies third behind the Flyers and Eagles. That was prior to the season, before we saw how good the Phillies' pitching staff was to become, particularly the bullpen. As the season began, most people thought the Phillies would give up a lot of runs and score a lot of runs, but virtually the opposite happened. The pitching staff kept the Phillies in almost every game, while the supposedly potent offense would go through long stretches of struggling to score runs and a frustrating inability to manufacture runs without the benefit of a home run. That has continued in the postseason to some degree, but the offense has also found a way to produce runs when it counts, particularly with two outs, as they showed again in Game 5 against the Dodgers.

Another sometimes unappreciated aspect of the Phillies postseason success is their fantastic defense, especially the infield. Feliz, for instance, may be mostly a waste at the plate, but at third base you know he's going to gobble up almost everything that comes his way. Also, the ability to easily turn a double play to escape a jam cannot be underestimated—it can often mean the difference between winning and losing—and Utley and Rollins are among the best at it. Meanwhile, Victorino covers so much ground that he could practically play the entire outfield by himself, ala Bugs Bunny against the Gas House Gorillas. People can talk about offense and home runs all they want, but defense and pitching wins championships. The Dodgers found out the hard way in Game 5 what can happen when you don't play good defense.

Speaking of pitching, Hamels is showing the world why he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Even when he didn't have his best stuff early on in Game 5, he fought through and eventually dominated. When he's on the mound you never have to worry about being out of a game. The outcome of the series with Tampa, however, will hinge on the performance of the 2-4 pitchers. Myers has actually been more of a hero at the plate than on the mound, but he has also pitched effectively enough to help the Phillies win his two starts. Unfortunately, he won't be able to add to his postseason legend at the plate since both of his scheduled starts are DH games, but it also may allow him to pitch more deeply into games. Since coming back up from the minors, he has been mostly dominant (except for a couple of late season starts), so the hope is that we'll continue to see that Myers and not the one who began the season. Moyer is perhaps the biggest question mark, as he has been shelled in his two postseason starts. He is the consummate professional, though, so I have faith that he can recapture the ageless magic he displayed during the regular season. Blanton, for his part, has been solid since coming to the Phillies. He eats innings and keeps the score manageable, and there's no reason why that shouldn't continue.

It's hard to make a prediction because I admittedly know little about Tampa as I don't follow the American league much. What I do believe is that the Phillies' pitching and defense will keep them in almost every game, and if the offense can keep coming up with clutch hits, they have a great chance. Everyone seems to be picking Tampa, but they also all picked the Dodgers, and we know how that worked out. I'll say Phillies in 6.

Go Phils!

Phillies One Game Away

2008-10-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

Breaking with the 'home team wins' MO that has characterized both teams, the Phillies scored a potentially crushing 7-5 win over the Dodgers.

The win was propelled by LA fan-favorite Shane Victorino's 2-run homer in the 8th. That quieted the crowd - that pretty much booed each breath Victorino took - and set them up for the coup-de-grace, a towering 2-run homer off the bat of Matt Stairs.

With the win, the Phillies take a solid 3 games to 1 lead in the NLCS, and also take back the momentum that was lost after Sunday's loss.

En route to becoming the first road team to win in this Phils/Dodgers season series, the Phillies scored runs in multiple innings, doing so in the 1st, 6th and 8th innings, alternately giving the Dodger faithful hope and then snatching that hope away.

They don't make it easy. Every time the Phillies left a runner on base, I groaned. Then the Phillies seemed incapable of having an inning that didn't include at least two Dodgers reaching base.

There were many close calls, and the Phillies got the better end of the stick this night.

Of course, it could also be argued that the Phillies simply played better when it counted.

Chase Utley pulled off a clutch - and momentum killing - double play to end a 6th inning that had already seen the Dodgers score two runs, with the definite potential for them to do even more damage. But, as he has done many times before, Chase saved the day (er...night). And, he contributed three hits. Not a bad day at the office.

Their bullpen pitched scoreless 7th, 8th and 9th innings. And they took advantage of Joe Torre's frequent - and puzzling - pitching changes.

When he took Hong-Chih Kuo out of the game, I think that was the turning point for the Phils. He was mowing the Phils down pretty good, getting Jayson Werth and Chase Utley on swinging strikeouts to close out the 7th.

After two Dodger baserunners in the bottom of the inning (but no scoring), Kuo came back out and gave up a single to Siberian-like Ryan Howard. Then he was pulled for Cory Wade.

Wade then gave up Victorino's homer, tying the game at 5. Wade then recorded an out and gave up a single to Carlos Ruiz, at which point he was lifted for Jonathan Broxton, who then surrendered the moon shot to Stairs that sent the Phillies home happy. I still am wondering why Kuo was lifted.

But who cares? Phillies fans, have a Yuengling! As Mike Schmidt said in 1980 "Take this win and savor it! You all earned it." ... or something along those lines.

Now they only need one more game. I wrote earlier in the year about telling my son all about the 1980 Phillies and how I hoped he'd be able to enjoy a Phillies World Series with me. I am pleased as punch that this is very close to becoming a reality.

Go Phils!

Phillies Climb 'Stairs' to Victory

2008-10-14T01:14:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, horrible pun, but I couldn't resist. The Fightins are now one win away from the world series after tonight's gut-check come from behind victory. They trailed by two and were down to their last five outs, but one thing about this lineup is that, even when they are struggling, they are never out of a game. It's always only a matter of time before they have one of those offensive explosions in an inning. Sure, you'd like to see them score in more innings, but they're getting it done when it counts--three more runs tonight with two outs.

Tonight's heroes: Victorino (arguably the Phillies' playoff MVP to this point) and Stairs, whose massive two-run blast put the Phillies ahead to stay (now there's a little late season acquisition by Gillick that has paid huge dividends). Also providing heroics was Utley who, besides getting three hits, made an outstanding defensive play in the 6th that saved two runs and kept the Phillies in the game. At the time I thought that could prove to be a turning point, and indeed it was. Things got a little dicey with Lidge when yet another inning was kept alive by a strike-out-wild-pitch (the same thing happened to Myers in Game 2—I've never seen that happen twice in such a short span of time—isn't Ruiz in the lineup because of his ability to block those kinds of pitches?), but in the end Lidge closed the door as he has all season.

Now the Phils enter Game 5 with a chance to clinch their first World Series berth in 15 years. It's a shame it won't be at home (I'm not a fan of the 2-3-2 format; it should be 2-2-1-1-1 like the other sports) but this team is more than up to the task of taking another one in LA, especially with their ace on the mound. Go Phils!

Well, we knew it wasn't going to be a sweep...

2008-10-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

The Phillies fell in Game 3 thanks in part to a listless performance from the offense, which pretty much went to sleep after the Phils found themselves in a 6-1 hole. Kuroda certainly had a lot to do with it, but some of the problems with this lineup are becoming magnified in the postseason (i.e. all of the strikeouts and the inability to manufacture runs). For his part, Moyer, after being the Phillies' second best pitcher during the regular season, has been a big disappointment so far in the playoffs, though you also have to give credit to the Dodgers for jumping on him early and knocking him out.

The only real drama in the game came from the retaliation shenanigans as the Dodgers overreacted to a couple of perceived intentional hit batsmen. Now let's get real: Myers' pitch in game two obviously slipped out of his hands; he's not going to throw behind Ramirez, despite his fiery reputation. And Moyer clearly had no intention of hitting anyone when he was ahead in the count 0-2 with no outs and a run already in. But the Dodgers did what they felt they had to do, fine, and Victorino reacted understandably after having a ball aimed at his head (there's a right and wrong way to retaliate), and after the inning the benches momentarily cleared, giving resident punk Ramirez his chance to act like one of those drunk guys at a bar who says to his buddy, "hold me back," and then proceeds to act like a wild man.

Oh well. The Phils need to put this one behind them and get back to the business of closing this series out. They get Lowe on short rest in Game 4—that would be a good time to start.

Eagles Finally Show Signs of Life in Victory over 49ers

2008-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing to get too excited about here; they beat a team they were supposed to beat, but they do deserve credit for showing some character in coming back from nine points down in the 4th quarter, and the defense came up huge in the 4th quarter after playing crappy for much of the game (way too many missed tackles). There are still plenty of things to be concerned about (the suddenly porous run defense, the inability to kick a long field goal, leading the league in dropped passes, etc.), but in a week when Washington and Dallas did the Eagles huge favors by losing to inferior teams, it's a step in the right direction.

Phils Take 2, Head to LA With Momentum...and Cheesesteaks!

2008-10-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it ain't over yet, but it's a pretty good start. The Phillies, who were given virtually no chance whatsoever, took both home matchups - a 3-2 win over the Dodgers and the unbeatable Derek Lowe and an 8-5 win over the unhittable Chad Billingsley.

The wonderful sound of the "Beat LA" chant rained down like a glorious single voice from an animated fan base that has seen more than their share of dissapointment, but has been treated to some fine baseball thus far. Cheesesteaks for everybody!!

As a Phillies fan who is oddly allowing himself to have total faith in this team, I am just hoping they can keep this great mojo going. All they need to do is take one game, and it's cool. I do think they could certainly do more damage than that. But... that remains to be seen.

Thursday Night

In game one, Chase Utley awakened from his postseason cocoon and blasted a shot into the right field seats that tied the game at 2 and brought the Phillies back from a post season jet lag. After a Ryan Howard out, Pat Burrell followed that up with a blast of his own, depositing a Lowe pitch into the left field seats.

"Yeah, it was looking pretty dicey for the first five innings," said long-time Phils fan, Sj-hypocycloid, sipping a Dinkel Acker in his living room. "But they came through. I love seeing a great plan come together.

"All those experts who picked against the Phils, well...it might be time to re-evaluate those picks. And, so far, the Phils have been able to stave off the mighty Man-Ram, despite Fox's efforts to make him into the greatest player in baseball history. Please. Go Phils!"

The Phillies then held the Dodgers off the rest of the way, and came away with the win. Brad Lidge came in after a scorelss 8th courtesy of Ryan Madson and needed 13 pitches to put L.A. away.

"It's nice to see him get a damn save without loading the damn bases," opined Sj-dad. "Now let's go get three more and give this town a World Series groove."

As runs and hits were in short supply Thursday, it was nice to see Utley and Burrell each get two hits. If we could only get Ryan Howard contributing, the Phils would be quite a force to reckon with. They pretty much are that now. The good news: he was 0-for-4 Thursday, but he didn't strike out. It seems stupid to mention, but considering the flack he's gotten all season... this is a good thing.

Friday Night

Brett Myers, who was supposed to suffer a severe meltdown or something, started game two and pitched five innings, giving up a three-run homer to All-World Malcontent Manny Ramirez. But it wasn't his pitching that carried the day.

Myers led all hitters in this 8-5 Phillies win with three hits, and also drove in three runs to boot - including two of the runs that guaranteed a Philadelphia win.

Shane Victorino redeemed the hitters somewhat, pounding out a single and a triple that resulted in four RBI. The Phillies bullpen did the rest, pitching four scoreless innings to preserve a game two that started out looking like it would be a shootout.

"Holy crap, man," Sj-hypocycloid grunted between sips of some domestic crap beer he'd found in the fridge. "That was one nutty game. I loved that Myers. He's awesome. He pitched well enough, but look at the at-bats. He pretty much drove (Milwaukee pitcher) CC Sabathia to distraction, and did even more damage here."

Hard to argue with that.

Over to you, LA...

Now the series shifts to LA, where the Dodgers were supposed to close things out and await the eventual ALCS winner. Now, predictions of "Dodgers in 5" will have to be modified to "Dodgers in 6...??" or... "Can we try for best 6 out of 11?"

While it would be foolish to say that the Dodgers are done, they are certainly not in a great spot. Down 2-0 is not where they planned to be, and I'm sure that many Fox executives are trying to figure out whether or not they can broadcast the games and simply report that the Dodgers have won, despite the actual result.

Sorry, Joe Torre - you're the man and all, but you need to pull out all your magic tricks to get the LA Express back on track.

I, for one, will be rooting against that. But... no hard feelings, okay? You're still the best manager the Yankees have had in the last 13 years.

Go Phils!!

Brett Myers: Offensive MVP?

2008-10-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

Just kidding, but it's pretty amazing what Myers has done with the bat—he's hitting .800 this postseason and his three-hit, three-RBI performance tonight was a big key to the Phillies victory. On top of that he pitched well enough to win in spite of likely being worn out from all the base running he did. There were many other heroes tonight as well. Victorino continues to get it done at the plate and in the field: his catch in center field may have been even bigger than the four runs he knocked in tonight.

The rest of the offense is finally showing signs of life, too, after being mostly dormant in the Milwaukee series. They batted around in two consecutive innings and scored eight runs without needing a home run to do so. Now they will never be accused of playing small ball to manufacture runs, but they have shown an impressive ability this postseason to get key hits with two outs--and those are the types of things that win in the playoffs. Howard, however, continues to struggle mightily in the postseason. If he ever gets going, look out.

The first game was vintage Hamels. For a while it looked like he might get his typical run support but he kept them in the game long enough for the offense to finally break through in the 6th. The bullpen has been stellar, with Lidge closing the door on consecutive nights, and the Phillies find themselves heading to LA just two wins away from the World Series. There's a lot of baseball left to be played, and I'm trying to temper my excitement, but as infrequently as the Phillies have been in this position in their history, I'm going to enjoy the run as far as the Phils can take us. I'll save my apprehension for the Eagles :-)

On a more sour note, I have to give a wag of my finger (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert) to Flyers' owner Ed Snider for having Sarah Palin drop the first puck in the team's home opener. He's free to support whoever he wants, but by inviting her to the opening day ceremonies in the middle of an election, he's blatantly injecting his personal politics into sports . . . where it doesn't belong. It's in poor taste and I've lost a lot of respect for Snider as a result. He's not doing Palin any favors, either. Has he forgotten that Philly is a blue city? The fans will boo her mercilessly.