Foxsports pegs these 9 players as poised for breakout years. Alas, no Eagles on the list. Fortunately, only 3 of the 9 are NFC players and only one – Justin Tuck – plays in the division. The other NFC players are Greg Jennings (Packers) and Barrett Ruud (Bucs).
Devin Hester is exhibit 1A (behind exhibit 1, Brian Westbrook) as to the unfairness of the NFL’s salary cap and structure. And I tend to agree with Pro Football Talk’s advocacy for some sort of performance pay supplement to rookie contracts. But while Hester is an ideal example of the unfortunate vagaries of the salary cap, he is the worst example for performance pay.
First and foremost, he’s a punt returner. An electrifying, game-changing punt returner, but a punt returner nonetheless. So how much more performance pay could Hester earn – over fellow punt returners – that would accurately compensate him for his abilities. Hint: not enough. Why: cause he’s a punt returner. As game-changing as he is, how can you actually quantify his statistical worth accurately? Someone get Adam Schefter on the case.
Great. Westbrook showed up, but Shawn Andrews didn’t. That contract unhappiness came out of nowhere. Or is it just for “personal” reasons. Who knows, it’s not good.
A friend writes:
Last night (Wednesday night) was a real missed opportunity. The Tuesday night comeback was a huge deal in New York. The papers and the talk shows were all talking about last year collapse, yada, yada. And then Myers comes out and walks four people and gives up 2 runs on no hits right out of the gate. I think the Phillies really could have hammered a mental nail in last night, and they didn't. Bullpen has been great this year, but Madson's pitch to Reyes was reminiscent of a BottomFeeder park meatball. Still, the only thing I am really annoyed about is that the next batter didn't catch a fastball in the ear for Reyes' antics. LA and Wheels were going nuts watching his crap.
Hopefully, if we get a halfway decent outing out of Myers tonight, on national tv no less, than maybe the Phils can build on last night's 9th inning come from behind victory and really make it a season-turning point - for both them and the Mets.
Great article by John Smallwood about the prospects for the 2008 Eagles and the “preparations” they’ve made for a championship run.
How you see the article (and the Eagles this year) depends on whether you accept Smallwood’s premise that “The Eagles' championship
aspirations for 2008 lie almost exclusively on McNabb returning to the form he had in 2004 when the Birds went 13-3 and advanced to the Super Bowl.”
Are the Eagles, especially on offense, still counting on #5 to carry them all the way? And if so, what does that say (or not say) about Kevin Kolb?
Smallwood’s analysis: “The problems are that after his serious injuries, McNabb is not individually capable of being that player, and in lieu of that, the Eagles have not upgraded enough things around him to make up the difference. The debate about whether it is McNabb or the receivers is moot. What is clear is that at a time in his career when McNabb needs great receivers, he only has good ones.”
Could the coaches and front-office improved the situation? Probably.
Certainly the Eagles’ grip on the city has loosened in the past couple of years. But they are still the king of the Philadelphia sports scene, and will remain so. Still, it is interesting to think that like the NFC East, the Eagles have had their way with their intra-city rivals over the past decade because their opposition all fell on tough times. And like the NFC East, the Phillies and Flyers have rebuilt and are more of a challenge to the Eagles supremacy than earlier this decade.
Not sure why Packers’ fans are clamoring to have retired/not retired Brett Favre “reinstated” as the starting quarterback in Green Bay. Have they all completely forgotten the NFC Championship? When sainted #4 basically through the game away in OT with the worst playoff/OT INT since, well, since he threw up a similarly wounded duck right into the hands of Brian Dawkins in the Pack-Eagles divisional contest?
At some point, Green Bay has to make a clean break with Favre and get on with the business of the post-Brett era. And really, Favre’s annual waffling over whether to play another season is getting old. And that’s from a distant fan’s perspective. It must be absolutely hell for the Packers’ front office in trying to figure out personnel moves, offensive strategy/game planning, and salary cap management when the hall of fame and former franchise QB keeps them guessing as to whether he’ll play again each year.
Unfortunately for Favre, the two best teams he fits with right now – good defenses, underperforming offenses, currently terrible QBs – are the Bears and Vikings. It’s completely understandable and only prudent that the Pack not cut Favre loose and let him go to either of those two teams.
Could he play this year for someone else? Probably. Carolina? But could we all get past watching Favre in some other jersey besides the green and gold? And what if he’s not only not wearing Packer green, but isn’t wearing #4? Would Carolina kicker John Kasay be willing to part with #4? Kasay has been in the league two years longer than St. Brett.
Stay tuned.
The perennially maligned Pat Burrell gets some props for being the steady Eddie of the first half of the season. Some of these numbers are kind of surprising for a guy with a reputation as a whiff king and choke artist.
From the Inqy: “Burrell has remained one of the most consistent presences in the lineup. He leads the team with 93 starts, and his on- base percentage has been over .400 since the fourth game of the season. He is hitting .275, with 23 home runs and 57 RBI, and in moments like his eighth-inning at-bat against Chad Qualls, has shown a penchant for putting the team on his back at opportune times. Thirty-eight of his RBI have occurred in tied or one-run situations, and he is hitting .320 in "late-and-close" situations (plate appearances that occur in the seventh inning or later with the score tied or the tying run at least on deck).”
Professional sports owners have no shame. In Washington, the new owners of the Washington Nationals, the Lerner family, is withholding its rent payments to the city because their new stadium- which they’ve been using – is “substantially incomplete.” As if to add insult to injury, the Lerners are also seeking $100,000 per day in damages from the city.
That’s the thanks the city gets for building and paying for a $611 million state of the art baseball facility that was in time for opening day.
The Lerner’s largesse knows know bounds. This story reveals that they even wanted the city to pay for the team’s uniforms?!
One man (not me) ranks the NFL’s fan bases and concludes that the Eagles’ fans are the league’s best. Of course.
(typical Eagles fan (not Eagleseye))
In order:
10. Dallas Cowboys
9. Chicago Bears
8. Buffalo Bills
7. Denver Broncos
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Green Bay Packers
4. Cleveland Browns
3. Oakland Raiders
2. Kansas City Chiefs
1. Philadelphia Eagles
In this television age, I didn't think it possible that a major professional sports team - in this case MLB's Washington Nationals - would have more fans personally attend the games than watch them on TV.
The Nationals, whose games are broadcast on either MASN or MASN2, are drawing a 0.39 average rating and an average of 9,000 households in the Washington market, according to the report.(Note "MASN" is the local sports channel available on most basic cable/satellite programming packages in the greater DC region).
"saw their local ratings spike during their late-season surge last season. The Capitals broadcasts drew a 0.78 rating and an average of 17,940 households on Comcast SportsNet and CSN+."In other words, the Nationals' TV ratings are HALF that of the city's hockey team. Does it get any worse than that as far as fan interest in baseball? Doubtful.
In fairness to McNabb, he has had reconstructive knee surgery. Though one would think a player so careful with his image would be sure not to park in a handicapped parking spot.
Terrific team profile of the Eagles in the nation’s newspaper. An insightful analysis by McNabb on the infamous “window of opportunity,” a great quote by Reid about his draft philosophy, a telling statistic about the offense (and Reid’s red zone play calling), and an encouraging stat about how McNabb closed out the season and perhaps foretelling his complete recovery in 2008 from his ACL injury.
Alas, a couple of minor quibbles. To wit, no in Philadelphia is expecting offensive contributions from Desean Jackson this year, or if they are it is as a bonus to what he can/should contribute on special teams. It pains me to say this, but Akers is not playing at a pro bowl level right now, though he has through most of his career. And finally, even if this team “stumbles out of the gate,” there won’t be any quick move toward Kolb and “youth movement.” If the Eagles have shown anything over the years is that NFL season is a looooong campaign, where anything can happen and no team is truly out of it until they are officially eliminated from the playoffs.
Almost raising a lot of money for charity. Interesting that Jay Fiedler, Jon Runyan, and Ron Jaworski participate in his golf tournament. Seriously, good for Mamula for doing something for someone other than himself.
