Are You Rah-Rah?

My God. Rutgers will be coming off a bye when they play Louisville, who should still be recovering from their war with W. Va this Thursday.

 

If they were to win that one…..could they be playing W. Virginia in the last game of the season (12/2) to go undefeated and get a BCS bowl berth?!?!?!!?

Our Eagles Beirut Table

Torture

More from Peter King, “I think the Eagles fan, already a tortured soul, must be really feeling it today. Imagine being tied 24-24, tied 24-24 and up 21-20, with 10 seconds left three times in the past month -- and losing every one of those games on the last play of the game.”

B-Dawk Talks the Talk and Walks the Walk

From Peter King of SI, “I really like how the Eagles aren't making excuses. I talked with Brian Dawkins after the heartbreaker in Tampa and he said, "We can't afford to think anything other than this is a bump in the road. We're too good a team not to. We've got to realize if we don't play a 60-minute game, anyone can beat us, and that's what happened to us.''

Down at the 1

In last night’s game, the Giants had one of the best special teams plays I’ve ever seen. They downed a punt at the 1 millimeter line. And the player who did it was careful not to have accidentally stepped on the goal line or in the end zone. So why did the refs then spot the ball on the 1 yard line, essentially giving the Cowboys an extra yard? ESPN’s troika of geniuses didn’t notice the play nor commented on the spot (I doubt even if they had they’d have had a rationale or coherent explanation. Why don’t announcers know the rules?).

 

Anyway, a friend suggests that perhaps on punts the ball is spotted where the downing player’s feet are, not where the ball is. If so, it is one of the few instances in football where it matters where the player is and not the ball.

Sunday Morning Massacre

Pretty good ESPN analysis of the clarke years. Shrewd trader early, not so much late. Always liked size over speed which is death in new nhl. Never got a goalie, which prob. Cost them 1 cup. & no mention of lindros- his greatest trade & nemesis

 

 

Highlights:

 

“As a GM, Clarke did a pretty good job. But, as he admitted on Sunday, he couldn't deliver the Stanley Cup. During his two tours of duty as Flyer GM,

his teams advanced to the Cup finals on three occasions. Each time, the Flyers couldn't get over that final hump.

 

During his long tenure, he made some good trades and some bad ones. He stole John LeClair and Eric Desjardins from the Canadiens in 1995. In recent years, however, the bad deals seemed to outnumber the smart ones. And, despite those many trades, he never could acquire a franchise goalie.

 

In the months after the lockout, Clarke made some bold moves, signing free agents Peter Forsberg, Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje. Going into last

season, the Flyers looked like a serious Cup contender. But, they were undone by several factors. The club was crippled by injuries, losing 355

man-games (third most in the league) to injury and some of the big offseason signings -- namely Hatcher and Rathje -- proved less valuable in the "new" NHL. By the end of the season, the Flyers seemed old and slow compared to top Eastern Conference clubs the Hurricanes and Sabres.”

 

 

 

TO Reception?

Eric Allen is way off the mark. Hoge might be right, but Schlereth nailed it.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2611669

Questioning a Win

Don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, BUT…..

 

-          Why didn’t Akers attempt the 54 yarder just before the half? That’s makeable for him. Not guaranteed, but doable. Besides, the fake kick call made absolutely NO sense. 1 second left and they run that play? I would think a direct snap to your kicker and then a pass from him to the backup TE is riskier than trying the FG. And if you’re not going to kick it, why even bother calling timeout. Or if you reconsider during the timeout, why not have McNabb hiked the ball, take 3 steps back and take a knee.

 

-          Why didn’t Westbrook play? Hopefully it is because they could beat the Packers without him and gave him an extra weeks rest for the must win game vs. Dallas (must win to get one victory in the division).

 

-          Why doesn’t Moats play more? He is the heir to Westbrook, with his speed to the edge. I understand Bucky is listed as #2 on the depth chart, but he is more of a change of pace back to Westbrook. Moats only saw the field after Bucky fumbled twice, and even then didn’t get a lot of playing time in the 2^nd half. Last year, Moats didn’t see the field for quite a while after Westbrook got hurt. And when he did, he was electrifying, especially in the Giants game. So why doesn’t he play more? He’s a second year guy now. Can’t he pick up the offense? Is he a discipline problem? What’s the deal?

 

 

 

 

 

Defend this House

Hysterical story in yesterday's NY Times about how Giants’ fans got beat up by Eagles fans after the OT loss. Michael Irvin’s comments are too funny (and accurate… yes, Philly fans still hate you).

 

 

From the article: “Michael Irvin, who won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990’s, listed Philadelphia, Oakland and New Orleans as the rowdiest stadiums he ever played in.

“Philly was just a horrible place to play,” Irvin said. “They’re still cursing me out whenever they see me, and I retired more than six years ago.”

Irvin also said, “Raider fans like to paint their faces and pretend to be crazy; Eagles fans really are crazy.”

Martocci, who has accompanied fellow Giants fans around the country since 1990, said that no stadium came close to Philadelphia’s.

“It’s sad,” he said, “because it takes the whole enjoyment out of going to a game.” “