As a Villanova alum, I'm pretty pleased that Villanova beat Temple last night to claim the city championship (4-0!). But as a huge Big 5 fan, I'm even more pleased that both teams met while they were nationally ranked - the first time it's happened since Temple was #1 in '98.
Another Inspector Closeu-like "investigation" by Goodell. Nothing to see here, move along....hey, look it's the NFL playoffs over there!
My brother suggests a new NBC graphic for David Akers:
"Akers says his range is 58 yards in this direction, but his actual range is 49 yards."
Lost amid all of the recriminations for the poor defensive play was the two most salient points to a successful Eagles' playoff run.
1) Vick looked hurt and horrendous - he could have easily thrown 3 more INTs which would have given him 7 turnovers for the game!
2) The offensive line can't pick up pressure.
That critical last 3rd down spot last night was one of the worst of the season, compounded by when the linesman moved the ball forward another two feet after the already generous spot. And while I give credit to Torico for explaining why there wasn't going to be any booth review, that play typified some of the absurdities of instant replay. To wit, that play can only be booth reviewed if the Saints actually got the first. Ironically, the Falcons got screwed by the linesman not moving the ball 4 inches more.
If the Eagles do wind up with the #3 seed, do you think the NFL really screws them by scheduling their wildcard game on Saturday and giving them another short week - and their 3rd game in 10 days?
My friend views last night's game as a "win-win."
He writes:
Tonight was a win-win. If Saints lose, there's a chance they fall to 6 seed, beat StL/Seattle, then take down Atl. Giving us possible NFC title home field.
Now, screw it, roll the dice. Beat Minne, beat Dallas. Then let's see how Bears handle Lambeau and how Smith/Ryan/Falcons handle pressure of knowing they've gotta win against Carolina.
Shit, we could leap frog up to No 1.
Is the NFL is setting itself up for future trouble with its pious explanation that the postponement was out of concern for the traveling safety of the fans. Cris Collinsworth seems to think so.
How much (or how little) snow does there have to be for the NFL to concern itself with fan traffic in future games?
4 inches?
6 inches?
8 inches?
10 inches?
a foot?
My brother's take on the Vikings-Eagles postponement.
I believe the invention of thursday night football helped change this game. 20 years ago u played on sunday and 2 teams played monday night in the marquee game of the week. Now there are 2 games the first monday night, many thursday night games, etc. 20 years ago they would never give that short of rest to players. It would be considered too short. Now since thursdays are common (yes I know thanksgiving was around 20 years ago, but that was the ONLY exception) they can play whenever. Sucks.
Have you guys seen how over the top Ed Rendell is in criticizing the postponement?
my favorite quote
"My biggest beef is that this is part of what's happened in this country," Rendell said. "I think we've become wussies."
"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything," Rendell added. "If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."
Penna. Governor Ed Rendell is letting it all hang out in his last days of elective office. My favorite part of his quote about the postponement of the Vikings-Eagles game is the part about calculus.
"My biggest beef is that this is part of what's happened in this country," Rendell said. "I think we've become wussies."
"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything," Rendell added. "If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."
The postponement of the Vikings-Eagles game wouldn't have even been an issue except for the NFL and NBC "flex" scheduling the game to 8pm. Now, because of the impending foot of snow Philadelphia is forecast to receive tonight, the game has been pushed back to...Tuesday!?
What the?!
Why not move the game FORWARD to 4 pm (1pm wasn't realistic because of each team's preparation needs, but a 4pm start would have given both teams plenty of advance notice to get ready if the call had been made earlier this morning).
And why Tuesday? i presumed it was because of concerns about the inability to clear the snow from the Linc's stands (hello snow bowl II) and the parking lot, but preliminary explanations are that the league didn't want the game to conflict with the ESPN Monday night game.
What a mess. Clearly NBC and their need/desire to broadcast the "national" game of the week is driving all of these decisions - from the initial scheduling change to the postponement, the Tuesday night game).
Great, now the Eagles get to face the Cowboys on really short rest. Thankfully it's a home game, but there's a nagging fear that all of this will negatively impact the Eagles' playoff chances and the possibility of the #2 seed.
My friend PK's reaction to the stunning Cliff Lee re-acquisition:
Righty-lefty-right-lefty -- Doc, Lee, Roy, Cole.
Here's my back-of-the-napkin calculations on those 4 guys combined for 2010:
882 innings pitched
807 Ks
164 BBs
I'm too mathematically disinclined to figure out the combined ERA.
But think of it this way: The guy we just gave $100 million had the WORST of the quartet.
Lee's ERA was 3.18 for the whole season, worse than Cole's 3.06, Oswalt had 2.76 and Doc had 2.44.
A Phillies friend forward this picture to me with the following message:
Somebody posted this on their Facebook page asking for comments
The first person wrote the following: I'm afraid to be honest but sorry I feel this way but think its horrible to mix commercialized sports into a Jesus nativity scene......Christmas is loosing its value within peoples hearts ....
And then this is what I wrote: And I think it's Sacrilegious because the picture does not contain the archangels Harry Kalas and Whitey Ashburn looking down on the scene from heaven! (LOL)
Today they sold 28,000 - 'nuff said!!!!!
What was more impressive - that the eagles called a bunch of running plays to run clock at the end of the game or that they actually gained significant yardage?
Cris Collinsworth calls him like he sees them, and he and I are in full agreement about the threat of head trauma to the ultimate fate of the NFL. This is THE ISSUE for professional football moving forward.
"The very fundamental question for the long road is, Do you want your kids playing football? That's the scary question, especially for the N.F.L. I think we're talking about the survival of the game to some extent."
I was surprised to see the NY Times describe Ray Davies as just a "songwriter" and author of a forthcoming book, and not as the founder and lead singer of the legendary Kinks, in his paean to John Lennon today.
Wow, didn't see that coming.
The Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was widely reviled as a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street titans, is now expected to cost the federal government a mere $25 billion - the equivalent of less than six months of emergency jobless benefits.
Ok, in his post-game on the field interview, did anyone else find it both strange and disgusting that LeSean McCoy placed his mouthpiece behind his ear?!
It was a loss, but still a triumphant return to his hometown for WC East grad, Matt Schaub! Not to be confused with Eagleseye classmate and starting offensive tackle Rich Schaub.
Up by 10 with 1:45 to go...so why is Reid/Mohrninweg calling running plays for LeSean McCoy now?
