A Wildcatter

J-Roll is a Villanova fan.

The Key Schilling Stats

Here’s Schilling’s most persuasive case for Cooperstown:

 

11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in the postseason

The real numbers

Forget about all this nonsense around the Eagles' "12" picks in the upcoming draft. At least right now, until the exact spot of the 4th round compensatory pick is specified, the real numbers are:
21, 28, 53. and 85. Those are the Eagles' overall picks in the first three rounds.

In other words, the Eagles have two picks in the first round and 4 total in the first 3 rounds. Those picks, along with the unsettled 4th rounder, will go a long, long way toward determining the success of the team in the next 4-5 years.

Will they be like 2002s: Lito Sheppard (26), Michael Lewis (58), Sheldon Brown (59), and Brian Westbrook (91)?

Or like 2005's: Mike Patterson (31), Reggie Brown (35), Matt McCoy (63), and Ryan Moats (77)?

Will 21+28+53+85= 44? As in XLIV?

Let's hope so.

Tournament

I thought Villanova would beat UCLA, but not put the beat down on them that they did. Wow!

Other random thoughts so far:

* I don't get it when people say Arizona's run shows that they "deserved" to get a bid over Mt. St. Mary's. Arizona's success speaks more about the other invited teams than it does about any of the others that weren't. To make a comparison to the Mount would require a fair evaluation of the Mount's tournament success which is impossible since they weren't invited.

* 5 Big East teams in the sweet 16?! It brings new meaning to "power" conference.

* Speaking of power conferences, for all of the selection committee's crowing about Arizona, they should be ashamed that only 2 of 7 ACC and Big 10 teams are left. Why did those weak conferences get as many bids as the Big East? And really, couldn't the ACC and Big 10 bubble teams have been excluded to allow the Mounties of the world into the big dance? I mean, would that have really been so bad for the tournament?

* The national media is asking some questions about the propriety of Villanova's home court advantage last weekend. A lot of funny stuff going on with the selection committee gaming the system for the name teams through seedings and pod placement. A bigger question than the Villanova situation is why #4 Xavier didn't play in Dayton but #8 Ohio State did.

Schilling Hall Worthy

The clock starts to tick on Curt Schilling’s five year wait for Cooperstown.

 

Are his numbers (see preceding post) Hall worthy? Should be interesting. He is right on the bubble. Another 10 wins (226 career) would have really helped his cause, me thinks. As it is, I think the three world series championships, particularly helping bring Boston their first in eons, and the legend of the bloody sock, will tip the balance in his favor.

 

Still, just like the player himself, Schilling’s candidacy will be much discussed and debated and provoke some intense feelings.

Schilling retirement

Curt Schilling announced his retirement today.

 

The best big-game pitcher of his generation.

 

216 wins

3116 strikeouts

3.46 ERA

3 20 win seasons

6 time all star

NLCS MVP

World Series MVP

2 titles

 

You Win Some, You Lose Some

So the Eagles (finally) acquire a real fullback in Leonard Weaver...and lose (finally) LJ Smith (Jim Harbaugh must have liked what he saw up close lo those years ago).

All in all, not a bad week for the Eagles.

V for Victory Indeed

Last night's Villanova game was, for most of it, a horrible reminder of their upset loss to Old Dominion back in 1995. Same deal, too. 'Nova a 3 seed, and the scrappy veteran 14th ranked squad from south of the mason dixon line hanging around, giving the Wildcats fits, etc..

In fact, I had the same sick feeling last night as I did back then. There was especially a moment in the 2nd half, about 18 minutes to go, where AU missed a big 3 that i thought would have blown the game wide open.  AU just ran out of gas at the end.

Really, the huge benefit Villanova had was playing at home and preventing a neutral crowd from tilting toward the underdog.

Someon (Phil Sheridan?) suggested that a loss last night would have been more devastating than the one in 1995. I completely disagree. The loss to ODU - in triple OT no less - was a HUGE disaster and watershed moment for Villanova.

Remember, the '95 squad had won the NIT championship the year before and was poised for big things in the tournament the following year. Indeed, they blew UConn off the court in the Big East tournament final - their rubber match with the Huskies that year - to win the conference championship only 5 days before.

The loss really exposed Lappas as a mediocre game coach, Eric Eberz as a big game choke artist (a role he reprised in the tournament the following year), really gave the whole team a tightness on the big stage that took years to undo, and prompted Lappas to take a flyer on the highly touted Tim Thomas, essentially bargaining that Thomas and his expected one year stint at the school was the missing ingredient to a Final Four worthy team and to avoid squandering Kerry Kittles', Jason Lawson's and Alvin Woodward's senior season. Instead, the Thomas recruitment  undermined the chemistry of the team and sowed confusion over who was the go-to guy, the Parade All-american and projected lottery pick, or the actual college All-american and one of the school's all-time greats.

Suffice to say i was a drunken mess the night of the triple OT debacle...which occurred on St. Patrick's Day no less. I vaguely recall switching to white russians after the keg was kicked and the game was headed into OT. Only to be tossing the empty barrel around the fenced in city patio after ODU had shocked the Main Line.

Andy Reid Speaks!

Funny, the mumbles don’t come through in the transcript.

 

Basically, the interview boiled down to explaining how and why Brian Dawkins left, the relationship with Donovan McNabb, and the status of Brian Westbrook post-surgery.

 

Here, I think is the most relevant question and answer of the interview, where Spadaro asks a surprisingly pointed question about why the Eagles didn’t just pay Dawkins some extra money to stay given how much room they have under the cap. Reid’s answer: the Eagles don’t overpay and “it’s just business.”

 

DS: Some fans wonder, though, why the Eagles, who have so much room under the salary cap, would not just do anything it takes to keep a player like Dawkins here. Why not go the extra mile and keep him here?

AR: "I understand that and we're obviously in a business where change takes place. You set the money aside and we did what we thought was fair and Denver did what they thought was fair and they did a great job with it. And we move on. That's how these things work. There is no animosity towards Brian. That's just business. I think Brian understands that, we understand that and you just go on."

 

 

Smith Elected New Union Boss

This is one of the biggest upsets since Douglas knocked out Tyson. An outsider with no NFL playing experience, Smith beat out player favorites Trace Armstrong and Troy Vincent for NFLPA Executive Director. That must have been one hell of a business plan Smith presented to the executive council.

LT Smith's Draft Value Continues to Plummet

At this rate, maybe the Eagles will be able to get Alabama tackle Andre Smith with one of their pick’s in the 20s. Then again, maybe it would be better if they didn’t draft him at all.

Its' Official

Tra Thomas signed with the Jaguars.

 

Major reshuffling of Eagles offensive line to continue.

 

With the departure of Dawkins and now Thomas, there is no longer anyone on the roster who played or was selected during the Ray Rhodes era.

Adieu G - Lew

After the TO debacle, now former Eagles WR Greg Lewis became a favorite fan punching bag as the personification of the team’s historic stance in undervaluing the WR position. In many eyes, Lewis was just the latest in a long line of receiving stiffs like Na Brown, Freddie Mitchell and the inimitable duo of Trash and Stinkston.

 

And yet, in the week leading up to the Eagles-Patriots game in November 2007, it was shocking to hear Bill Belichick praising Lewis as one of the Eagles’ offensive playmakers that his defense would have to stop. Greg Lewis?

 

Then again, maybe it wasn’t so surprising given Lewis’ 4 catches/53 yards and 1 TD in the super bowl vs. the Patriots.

 

What was surprising was that with AJ Feeley at QB in that 2007 regular season game, Lewis proved Belichick prophetic, leading all Eagles receivers in yardage with 4 catches for 88 yards and TWO touchdowns.

 

Now the most shocking thing is to realize that Belichick was serious and perhaps Lewis’ skills were underappreciated given the trade the Patriots just made to acquire G Lew.

 

Alas, I think I speak for most fans when I say he won’t be missed.

 

Note to Belichick – he can’t return punts.

We Are...Penn State

Here’s a link to the vote tally of the house of representatives resolution congratulating the USC Trojans Rose Bowl win over Penn State.

 

Five Pennsylvania reps – all Dems – voted against it: Altmire (PA-04)  Dahlkemper (PA-03)  Murphy (PA-08),  Doyle (PA-14), Carney (PA-10), and Kanjorski (PA-11) 

 

Interestingly, all of the Republican Pennsylvania members voted for it.

 

And I love the cross-border love W. Virginia’s Nick Joe Rahall gave to PA by voting against it too.

Amazing Stat of the Day

From the Times:

 

Since the mid-1960s, college men’s players have made about 69 percent of free throws, the unguarded 15-foot, 1-point shot awarded after a foul. In 1965, the rate was 69 percent. This season, as teams scramble for bids to the N.C.A.A. tournament, it was 68.8. It has dropped as low as 67.1 but never topped 70.

Brian Dawkins Reflection

As usual, Rich Hoffman gets it perfectly:

"...When they look at Brian Dawkins, what they see is themselves.

"Thirteen years. It is a long time to be carrying a municipal legacy onto the field every week. It is forever, in many ways - and Dawkins will be a forever kind of player for this franchise, cherished, remembered, all of that, long after the No. 20 is put away.

"Part of it is because he has been so good, a seven-time Pro Bowler, the best safety in the history of the franchise. Part of it is because of how hard he hits people, how he just pulverizes them, even now. Long after the details are forgotten, the visceral remains. You wince when Dawkins really launches himself at somebody. That is what people will always remember - the wince, and then the wow.

"But it is more than that - and, no, not that ridiculous, indescribable routine he goes through when he emerges from the tunnel and goes onto the field. It is simpler than that. It is visible passion, visible to all.

"No Eagles fan can possibly doubt that Dawkins cares more than they do. That's it. That is the connection between a man and a city. That is the bond."