Eagles Extend Patterson

Guess the Eagles aren’t so disappointed at the play of their d-line, particularly their tackles, not to extend the contract of Mike Patterson for years.

 

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/homeNewsDetail.jsp?id=58798

 

It didn't take long for the Eagles to realize that they want defensive tackle Mike Patterson to be a keystone of the defensive line for a long, long time.

Patterson signed a 7-year contract extension on Thursday, which will keep him in the midnight green through the 2016 season. We will have more coverage later in the day here on PhiladelphiaEagles.com.

The team's first-round draft pick in 2005, the 31st overall selection, started in seven games last season and led the defensive line with 66 tackles and all NFL rookie defensive tackles with 3.5 sacks. This season, Patterson has started in every game and has 36 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned 98 yards for a touchdown against the 49ers.

 

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.” “

 

Madden Curse Strikes Again

“League MVP Shaun Alexander cracked a bone in his sore left foot and will be lost to the Seattle Seahawks for at least a couple of weeks.

Alexander has had soreness and a bone bruise in his left foot since the season opener at Detroit. Coach Mike Holmgren said Monday that Alexander cracked a bone sometime during Sunday's 42-30 win over the New York Giants. Holmgren said the bruise in Alexander's foot led to the crack and Alexander was walking around team headquarters Monday on crutches,” reports SI.

Playoff Scenarios and Monday Night Football

From a Dodgers web site:

 

If Philadelphia finishes ahead of a tied Los Angeles and San Diego, there would be a tiebreaker game for the National League West title in Los Angeles on October 2.

 

If San Diego finishes ahead of a tied Los Angeles and Philadelphia, there would be a tiebreaker game for the NL Wild Card in Philadelphia on October 2.

 

If Los Angeles finishes ahead of a tied San Diego and Philadelphia, there would be a tiebreaker game for the NL Wild Card in Philadelphia on October 2.

 

If San Diego and Los Angeles finish tied ahead of Philadelphia, San Diego would be the NL West champion and Los Angeles the NL Wild Card.

 

If all three teams finish tied, San Diego would play at Los Angeles to decide the NL West champion October 2, and the loser of that game would go to Philadelphia to decide the wild card October 3.

 

Bottomline, if the Phils are involved in a wild-card playoff tiebreaker, the game's at Citizens bank.

 

Not only is it as Citizen's bank, but it will be held on Monday, October 2. And since the two most likely teams to play the Phils - the Dodgers or the Padres - are west coast teams, the game will likely be played Monday evening given the travel considerations of going cross country.

 

Which means that the Phillies would be playing for a berth in the post-season, while across the parking lot and at the same time the Eagles were thrashing the Packers on Monday Night Football.

 

My San Fran Prediction

Eagles 31
Niners 17

Play calling

I have no problem with Andy's play calling Sunday (save the empty-house backfield on that one 4th down, and yes I have checked with Ross, who loves the Giants but is still apoplectic over that call).

The problem was with the execution of the plays that were called and the inability - is it unwillingness? - to execute a power running game when it is needed.

It is impossible to play in the NFL without being able to kill the clock with a lead - that is the essence of the West Coast offense, what Madden so eloquently described circa 1982 as the Bill Walsh theory of throwing early in order to run late, which was revolutionary at the time. All great west coast offenses have had the pounde - roger craig, ahman green.

I didn't feel like we went conservative late in the game, we just didn't - couldn't - execute.

Tennessee?

Been thinking about that loss Sunday and I guess I'm not the only one
that's been thinking back to the similarities to the Tennessee opener in
2002, when the Eagles blew a 14 point lead after Reid started calling a
lot of running plays in the 2nd half (that were working, just that the
RB fumbled). Reid then promised not to make that mistake again and since
that time we've seen 75% pass, 25% run calls (or so it seems). Also,
some defensive breakdowns, etc.

Granted, it was on the road rather than at home, but still a collapse
against playoff caliber teams.

Below is what the philly paper had on the Titans game. Hopefully we can
bounce back and not come out flat against the Niners. Very encouraging
that for 3 quarters we dominated the Giants and moved the ball at will.
But then...

What he meant: "Hey, remember the season-opener in '02 when we blew a
14-point, second-half lead to the freaking Titans? We ended up winning
12 games that year and making it to the NFC Championship Game. And we
had James Thrash and Todd Pinkston as our starting wideouts and
320-pound ocean liner Levon Kirkland playing middle linebacker that
year. Things could be a lot worse."

whither sports radio in DC

Driving back to DC yesterday, one of the pick me up things my friend and I were looking forward to was the skewering the Redskins were going to take on sports radio – hey if we are miserable after that terrible loss at least we can wallow in similar misery with skins fans.

 

Didn't happen. Didn't really bother with the Redskins radio network, not going to get any good negativity there, but was astounded that 980 with Zaban and Pollin did NOT cover the Skins at ALL. After I dropped Pk off at the metro, these guys spent 15 minutes talking about what the Nationals needed to do in the offseason. It wasn't until 11:49 am, I checked the clock, that they made their first Redskins reference - and that was to Peter King's column about Brunnel and why Portis should have played in a must win game. Then they said Brian Mitchell would have more at noon during his show.

 

I'm guessing these guys came on at 8 am, or maybe even 6 since they went off at noon, but cannot believe they weren't talking Redskins. Is this a directive from the station since snyder's got his own network now? Are they able to get interviews and stuff with Skinns players, or has Snyder prohibited contact with the competition?

 

BTW, Zaban today called Philadelphia "the most rabid sports city in the country."

 

Bush League?

Man, this Reggie Bush thing seems like it could be very, very ugly.  This has the potential to be one of the biggest college sports scandals since SMU got the death penalty.

 

This is really damaging to Bush as a person — there’ve been way too many Christ-like comparisons for the kid, as if he’s the savior of New Orleans — and also will hurt Carroll’s credibility.

 

I also find it kind of funny that Yahoo! Sports is breaking this investigative story – a story that has blockbuster potential.

 

First, the home is the worst, but at least Bush had a claim of plausible deniability there (as Pete Carroll put it, how many college kids know how their parents pay the mortgage?).  Not a good argument, but plausible. Second, you need to read the Yahoo! Sports article. There is much, much more than what you cited.  Including stays for Reggie at the Venetian in Vegas, $1,500 a week payments to his parents ($1,000 to dad and $500 to mom) and a pimped out Chevy Impala to Reggie.

 

Of interest to me is how the ncaa prohibits payments/loans from sports agents to players but somehow allows players, as in the case of Bush, to intern in sports agencies. Talk about temptation.

 

Think about the potential widespread impact this could have.  Hell, it may already be the reason Houston passed on him and why the Saints apparently had to have a meeting the night before the draft to discuss taking him.  It could lead to Pete Carroll coaching in the NFL, the destruction of a program that just 10 months ago I was e-mailing had to be the #1 school that any stud athlete would want to go to.  Vince Young receiving the Heisman.  And an Oklahoma team that was humiliated in the Orange Bowl being deemed National Champions. And Leinart’s college years being put under a microscope by every investigative sports journalist in the country. I’m sure he’s thrilled about that possibility.

 

and those are just the obvious starters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giant Sunday

Eags have proven nothing. Even if they beat the giants it may not prove a whole lot depending on how the game is played. Only saying that if he Eagles are to be contenders they need to beat their division rivals at home (especially since they have that brutal stretch in December playing them all consecutively on the road.). And that if the Eagles win it will be a very good start in division.

 

Regardless of play, maybe most optimistic thing is that Skins lost at home to a team many probably had them beating. Giants lost at home but many had that a toss up at best. For Cowboys, the good news is that they lost to playoff team on road.

branch

Did the patriots ploy of allowing deion branch to seek a trade with other teams blow up in their faces? Expecting no team to match the Pats’ offer – to say nothing of Branch’s exorbitant demands – it now appears that 2 teams – jets and seahawks – will show him the money. But now they have to work out a trade with the pats – who are asking for a #1 and middle round pick. Ridiculous request and now the pats are in the worse negotiating position. Trade him for less, pay him what the jets would or not trade and not pay – with branch not playing.

 

could they really cut gaffney?

I’m beginning to think the stallworth trade wasn’t about pinkston’s abilities so much as gaffney’s play (or lack thereof).

Bowen -- “The logjam at wide receiver might be the most interesting one needing to get sorted out before tomorrow. Let's assume Reggie Brown, newcomer Donté Stallworth, fourth-round rookie Jason Avant and undrafted rookie Hank Baskett are on the team. There probably are six spots. If Reid's words yesterday and other indications recently are any guide, you can make Lewis the fifth receiver. That means either Darnerien McCants or Jabar Gaffney is out of a job tomorrow.

Gaffney has a much more impressive resume, 171 career catches vs. McCants' 58, but McCants is a strong special-teams performer. Eagles special-teams coordinator John Harbaugh said this week that Gaffney hasn't had a special-teams role with the Eagles, and it didn't sound as if he was going to be getting one.”

Lee Suggs?

Couldn’t the Browns and Eagles make a deal.  At this point, Lee Suggs seems like an excellent option for the Eagles.  A guy with tons of potential, can be an every down between the tackles back and also has the speed and hands to be a third-down back and fill in for Westbrook.  Seems a perfect fit for the Philly offense.  The Browns could use some depth at CB and Andy Reid seems to have some expendable young talent at that position.  Just seems like a deal should happen here.

 

Suggs is about 6 feet, 210.  He is big enough to fill the Eagles’ big back role/need.  He runs hard and can carry the load as an everydown back.  He is not Duece Staley size, but I think at this point in the seasonthe Eagles are not going to do much better (when you also factor in the low cost and perfect fit for the offense).  The talk in NY is that the Jets failed Suggs on purpose b/c they thought they had a better deal lined up for TJ Duckett or Kevan Barlow.

to

Amazing that this was published before he’s ever played a game!!

 

“If the Cowboys release Terrell Owens before the start of the season, they could save $5 million and possibly use that money to make a run at disgruntled Patriots receiver Deion Branch.”
 -- Fort Worth Star-Telegra

The Temple Lock

Iron Clad Lock of the year - tonight is the worst College FB game of the year.

 

I have to think that this is a first.  The 2 worst ranked teams in College FB (Temple- ranked 119 out of 119) vs Buffalo (118) square off tonight. 

 

The Bisons (-6) tonight, but the golden era of Temple football begins tonight!

Howard and history

What this kid is doing isn't just cool and great, we're now on the verge of talking about it being one of the single greatest homer seasons EVER by someone so young. I can't even sleep I'm so blown away by what No 6 is doing (never thought I'd ever type/say those words and not be referring to Dr J).

 

A quick check of baseballreferencecom shows that there are only a hanful of young power performances that compare, in terms of age.

Arod at 26 - which has been Howard's age all season - hit 57 homers. Jimmie Foxx at 24 hit 58. Griffey Jr at 26 hit 56. Mantle at 24 hit 52. Hank Greenberg at 27 hit 58.

 

Then, the best ever: Ruth at 26 yrs old in '21 hit 59 and Maris at 26 hit 61.

(The 'roid crew - Luis Gonzales, sosa, mcgwire, bonds - all did their damage in the 30s, a sure sign of drugs.)

 

Yet some of these guys who accomplished so much so early had played several to many seasons by the time they were 26 - such as Arod's 26 in '00 or Ruth's 59 in '21.

 

This is Howard's 1st full year.

 

If he hits 58 homers, this is the greatest season EVER for a young slugger.

 

And 58 is basically now about what I expect.

Stallworth

It'll be nice to have a 2nd NFL receiver on the team

Avant looked good on Friday night. The man can catch a football.
If only LJ had his hands.

pain

Perhaps the most horrifying thing in this video is that the guys 2 friends (brothers?) continue to play after he hurts himself.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjtPkDdvkBU

 

stallworth stats

Year Team G/GS Rec. Yards TD
Avg. Long
2002 New Orleans Saints 13/7 42 594 8 14.1
57
2003 New Orleans Saints 11/3 25 485 3 19.4
76
2004 New Orleans Saints 16/10 58 767 5 13.2
45
2005 New Orleans Saints 16/13 70 945 7 13.5
43
Career 56/33 195 2,791 23
14.3 76

stallworth

From the new Orleans paper. 10 questions about saints season. Check out these questions.

QUESTION 7: Can these linebackers play?

ANSWER: This remains an even bigger concern, as the Saints continue to mix and match even more.

They traded a seventh-round pick to Dallas for weakside linebacker Scott Shanle last week, then immediately installed him as the starter for Saturday's game against the Colts.

The Saints also are continuing to explore a possible trade for San Diego Chargers veteran middle linebacker Donnie Edwards. If San Diego is willing to accept a fourth-round pick for the All-Pro, a deal could be done before the season starts. If not, the Saints are hoping second-year pro Alfred Fincher can continue to step up and develop into that role.

QUESTION 9: Who will drop the ball?

ANSWER: The battle at wide receiver has turned into one of the most fascinating -- and positive -- story lines in training camp.

While Joe Horn has looked as strong as ever, the next 10 guys behind him are in a free-for-all for the remaining roster spots.

It appears as though veterans Donté Stallworth and Devery Henderson will win jobs based on their track records, while youngsters Marques Colston and Jamal Jones will win jobs based on their outstanding training camp performances.

stallworth

We're kind of thin at lb - even if no one likes simoneau. They must be
really high on omar gaither.

Do you think he starts immediately?

I think Gaffney makes the team. Can't believe they signed him as FA only
to cut him.

I think Pinkston gets put on PUP. And lewis and mccants fight for the
last spot.

It's a conditional 4th round pick. Have to pass physicals.

Stallworth was the 13 pick overall in 2002!!

6 ft. 196 lbs.

Stallworth recorded career-bests in receptions and yards and became the
most dependable wide receiver in New Orleans last season. A speedster
who can stretch defenses and make plays after the catch, Stallworth
should benefit from the addition of Drew Brees in an offense that has a
chance to be explosive

Burrell

It pains me to watch him swing, pulling off on every single pitch, then desperately extending/flailing his arms out because at the very last second he's realizing -- oh no, not again! -- that it's a low and away slider, desperately trying to just make contact with the ball.

 

The other favorite Burrell picture is the a$$ stick out on the inside strike.  It's uncanny how many times he gets rung up looking and the a$$ stick out is always there

Favorites in first 10 games

Going through the schedule, it looks like the Eags will be the favorites, via Vegas, in all 10 games. Maybe just the first 6, though.

 

Clearly, we're favorites in week 1 against the Texans, and if we take care of business and look fairly OK against them, I'd expect us to be 2-point

favorites against the Giants at home the next week.

 

We then would definitely be favorites over SF and GB, and then we should be 3-1 at worst heading into the Oct 8 matchup with Dallas.

 

Now, I guess it's possible that TO will not be a distraction and will actually lift the Cowboys to new heights, but all things being equal, I

think it's fair to assume that a 3-1 or 4-0 Eagles team playing a division rival at home, we'll be the favorites.

 

Then we're definitely the favorites over the lowly Saints, even in the new 'Dome.

 

Week 7 is the first chance I see the Eagles being 'dogs, at Tampa. And that will depend on how their season evolves (i.e., Chris Simms starts reverts into playing like Chris Simms). At worst the Birds should be 5-2 heading into that game.

 

After that we host Washington and Tennessee. Could you imagine what sort of schemes, packages and blitzes Jim Johnson will run at Vince Young if he's starting at that point? God, he loves rookie qbs, and he loves QBs who think

they can out-scramble blitzes.

 

Let's put it this way, whatever the lines are, I think the Eagles should be 7-3 when we roll into Indy for our 11th game. And that's being conservative, with the right breaks, 8-2.

 

Yes, they might get killed there, but then we just have to take care of business in our division down the strecth and win a couple games on the

road.

 

If the eags just go 4-2 in the division, I can easily see 7-3 outside the division. There are 5 non-East games that should be locks --

Texans, Niners, Packers, Saints, Titans.

 

Then there are 3 non-East games that are pure toss-ups -- Tampa, J'ville and Atlanta.

 

Of those 3, the Eagles have had very, very good success against Atlanta (even in last year's opener, their offense couldn't move the ball) and mixed success against the Bucs. We should go 2-1 in these games.

 

And then 2 non-East games where we're 'dogs, at Indy and Carolina at home.

 

If we win 4 games in the division, we'll win 6 outside it. Possibly 7.

Meaning 4-2 in division gets you to 9 wins with 3 toss-ups and 2 'dog games.

 

Jaguars/Bucs are the swing games. The final game against Falcons could mean a lot also, but at home with something on the line (9-7,10-6, 11-5 - how can it not mean something) then the eagles should take care of business.

 

Considering Dallas is already at the stage of fining TO for missing meetings, hard to envision a better set-up for the Eagles’ season.

 

howard and lefties

Not sure if  everyone realizes this,  but the big reason why Howard is having an MVP-type season is because he’s now hitting lefties really, really well.

He’s .276 with 13 HR and 38 rbi with a .551 slugging in 156 at bats against lefties this season.

abreu

God I hope phils win wildcard so they’ll have to be some explanations in all the articles about how great abreu is for the Yankees but the phils started winning once they got rid of #53.

 

Subtle criticsm has already started. From Rich hoffman
 
 
 
The Phillies' great sale was completed a little more than 3 weeks ago, and no one yet has offered a definitive explanation for what has transpired since. David

Bell, Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier, Ryan Franklin, Sal Fasano: You know the names, and you know what has happened in their absence. But why? Why did the Phillies start winning without them?

Slap in the face, wake-up call, name your motivational cliche; that has been a popular offering, but it still seems lacking. There has to be something else. You say that to Jimmy Rollins and he nods. He has thought about this, clearly.

"It's the attitude of the team," the Phillies' shortstop said, and it sounds like the beginning of another cliche. Except it isn't.

"We have great players," he said. "We also lost some great players. And, you know, it seems funny to say that any bit of it is selfish. But in the way they played the game, they wouldn't expand outside their discipline. In sports, sometimes you have

to do something you wouldn't normally do in order to help the team win. Some of the players, they came here, they did their job, and it was in the box. It was never outside the box."

Rollins is pantomiming now, drawing an imaginary box with his fingers, drawing in the air.

"Now we have a group of players who are outside the box," he said. "They play, scrap, I don't care, let's just win. It's a different attitude. It's definitely been the key to this great run so far."

Yeah, Jimmy’s only talking about Abreu when he’s saying that, maybe a little bit about Bell, but the other guys, no way. He’s crapping on Abreu.

 

trade

Duckett to Skins makes me think they are more concerned about portis’ shoulder then they’ve let on.

 

Certainly want to lessen the pounding in short yardage/goal line?

 

What’s plan b now that lelie isn’t on the trade market?

Unfamiliar team

I watched some team beat the cubs last night but don't think it was the phils. The team in red hustled (victorino's infield hit), had solid d (notwithstanding delluci's misplay of ramirez's fly to rf), clutch hitting, and strong pitching. Couldn't be the.... Phillies?

 

Wgn announcers were all over kalas last night. "greatest announcer ever"? that was a little strong.

 

Howard's got unbelievable oppo. field power. Thank gosh they test for steroids now or I would wonder.

 

Jroll at #2 is a thought. But who would hit #1.

 

Utley and howard are our Ortiz and Ramirez - if they can get at bats in the late innings - we have a chance.

 

Howard: MVP, MVP. MVP

A friend writes:

 

Well, our problem now is we can't bat Jroll at No 2 because we gave away what should have been the greatest leadoff hitter in Phillies history:

Abreu.

 

Jesus, if Bobby hit leadoff, JROll in the 2-hole followed by Utley and Howard, then Burrell -- sometimes flipping Burrell and Howard against really

tough lefties -- that would have been a great lineup.

 

I'm telling you, I love Victorino and Delluci. They've got hustle and they fight and they scrap, and they look like the anti-Abreus out there.

 

The whole character and makeup of the team feels different. Oh, except for the fact that Burrell still has to play. God, does he stink now more than

ever.

It pains me to watch him swing, pulling off on every single pitch, then desperately extending/flailing his arms out because at the very last second

he's realizing -- oh no, not again! -- that it's a low and away slider, desperately trying to just make contact with the ball.

 

Crazy, but the $30-40m that we saved for next year by unloading Abreu and Lidle -- along with Bell gone and Lieby's contract ending -- some of those "savings" are gonna have to be eaten by paying a HUGE portion of Burrell's contract next year to whatever AL is remotely willing to take him off our hands.

 

Seriously, I'd give Burrell away for free at this point.

 

wide open?

Lieber

Myers

Hamels

Wolf

Moyer

 

That's really not a bad 5 especially condiering where they were all year.

 

Hamels looks like the real deal and Lieber is starting to pitch like expected (Hamels has more wins then our preseason #1 pitcher)

 

Need Myers to get back on track.

 

With the Mets having issues is it possible that the NL playoffs could be wide open come October???

 

Absolutely!!!

 

The nl wildcard could EASILY win a short series against one of those weak division winners, which would be great cause then there'd be this huge debate about the wildcard and the fairness of a .500 team in the nlcs.

 

Still, they've got to do something about nunez hitting .200 at 3b

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but after the mets this week the philllies don't play a team above .500, of course, lots of games vs. marlins and braves who have our number, but still.

hard to believe

From yesterday’s Inqy.

 

Numbers hard to believe

 

 

“Since the start of the 2004 season, there are only seven players with more National League RBI than Burrell: Albert Pujols,

Andruw Jones, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Lee (now in Texas), Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu (now with the Yankees), and Aramis Ramirez. That's it.

The concern about hitting behind Ryan Howard is real and legitimate, and Burrell has been awful this season. (For context, though, with runners in scoring position, Burrell was hitting .239 going into last night, and Howard was hitting .240. Burrell has struck out 18 times to end innings with runners in scoring position, and Howard has struck out 20 times.) The only point to be made here is that these are uncharacteristically bad numbers. There is reason to expect better. In 2004-05, Burrell hit .292 with RISP.”

That’s amazing.

 

game

Not bad overall. Bucky didn’t get hurt. Basket looked like a rookie – did he ever get open? Did any wr get open?

 

d-line got some pressure but howard got handled too much by ogden’s backup. They should be ok though as long as they get decent push up the middle – kearse and cole can speed rush for sure.. Secondary looked good. Lb’s, eh.

 

And man does Jeremy bloom look like he’s running three gears faster than jr reed? Bloom is fast!

 

I liked the no huddle. With the Eagles base package, Westbrook causes match-up problems if the d can’t sub based on down and distance.

 

Also, eagles’ “shotgun” is like a minigun McNabb is so close to center.

 

McNabb looked good.

 

No injuries!!!

3 in 13

Not only did the NFL scheduling office screw the Eagles with 3 straight road games vs. division rivals in December, but tonight’s exhibition game (sorry Pete Rozelle) is the Eagles 3^rd game in 13 days. That's just completely stupid.

 

from bad to worse

Gotta love, again, how the rest of the division is already having terrible camps. The TO situation is already simmering in Dallas, Portis is mad at the entire NFL for his injury, Brunnell just looks as bad as he did at the end of last season without having taken a single hit this season and their backup in DC, Todd Collins, looked even worse.

 

Still Bird Time

The amazing thing is that the Abreu trade and sitting Burrell is proving the Idiots Theory that have been saying for 2 yrs - that those guys are cancers and, despite their numbers, they were/are losers.

 

We actually are BETTER without them.

 

Still, I'm paying more attention to the crumbling Skins, the infighting Cowboys and the surging Eagles - Collinsworth has already picked Birds to win NFC East!

hate myself for loving you

Is anyone else watching the ticker and baseball tonight??

 

I almost hate myself for doing it, but I can't stop.  I'm like an abused spouse at this point.  I think they really have a chance.  The NL sucks and the Dodgers are beginning to run away with the West.

 

BTW - everyone talks about the joke that is the NL WC, but other then the Mets the other races are close meaning the central and west winners aren't that good either.  The Dodgers have won 15 of 16 and have like a 4 game lead on the brutal Padres who are barely .500.  Same with the Cards over the Reds.

 

Hamels was awesome last night.

 

The Reds series w/ back to back last inning losses is going to hurt down the road.  We take 1 of them and we're 1.5 back, both and we're ahead of the Reds.  Ouch!

 

Lastly, read in the paper a few days back - Burrell has sat in 8 of the first 25 games after the all-star break.  Not starting 1/3 of the games.

Definitely worth 13 million.

 

Skind and Portis

Good thing the Skins don’t need a running game.  Brunell is awesome.  The Jags always had Taylor getting hurt and they were still very good.  Remember 1996 when Brunell took the Jags to the AFC Title game.  Seriously, he’s proven he can get it done.  Heck, even if he struggles Todd Collins understands Saunders offense really well so you guys won’t miss a beat.  That’s the benefit having such great depth.  Lucky Bastards.

J Roll

Um, does he love August and Sept, or what?

If he hit like this in the spring, we'd win 5 more games a year.

He's up to .278 with 18 hour, 52 rbi and 95 runs scored.

Crazy, seemed like he was having a terrible year.

King on Lelie

Chimes in on the le’Affaire Lelie and thinks “Sam Rayburn and a four for Lelie” is a good deal for both the Broncos and Eagles. Make it a 5^th or a 4^th without Rayburn and I agree. (Javon Walker was only worth a 2).

Have Your Tickets?

We’re a week away from the Eagles’ home preseason opener, and if you’re a season ticketholder like me, you’re probably wondering where your tickets are. I haven’t gotten mine yet.

 

A rep I spoke to today in the Eagles ticket office today said that supposedly the Eagles mailed out the tickets this week and should be arriving by Friday, Monday at the latest.

 

Why did the Eagles wait so long to mail out the tickets? They sure like to get their payments for the tickets well in advance. A pity they don’t share the same concern about timing when delivering the tickets.

 

Tsk, tsk Mr. Lurie.

Hall of Fame Game and Late Season Swaps

NBC has the Hall of Fame game this Sunday. Big roll out preview for their Sunday night package.

 

Important note to remember on the Sunday night game. In weeks 10-15 and week 17 NBC can move a game from earlier in the day that would have been shown on Fox or CBS. The switch has to be made at least 12 days in advance.  There are some constraints on the swap. I don’t think a team can be chosen more than once and I think CBS and Fox get to reserve one game or something like that.

 

Interestingly, week 16 is NBC’s Eagles-Dallas game, so not sure how that would affect the opportunity for NBC to pick another Eagles game, but here are the games that in theory would be eligible.

 

Sun., Nov. 12 Washington 1 p.m. FOX

Sun., Nov. 19 Tennessee 1 p.m. CBS

Sun., Nov. 26 @ Indy 1 p.m. FOX

Mon., Dec. 4 Carolina 8:30 p.m. ESPN*

Sun., Dec. 10 @ Washington 1 p.m. FOX

Sun., Dec. 17 @ Giants 1 p.m. FOX

Mon., Dec. 25 @ Dallas 5 p.m. NBC*

Sun., Dec. 31 Atlanta 1 p.m. FOX

 

Obviously the Monday night game is out, but here’s betting that either one of those Redskins games or the Indy game makes the switch. Fortunately, that is only one home game out of three possible. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. (Sunday night games are almost as bad as Monday night games for ticketholders.) In fact, let’s hope for the Indy game. Moving the game from 1pm to Sunday night would be terrific for those Eagle fans traveling back home after the Thanksgiving holiday, giving them time to unpack and then watch the game.

 

 

Phillies Small Market Team

A priceless insight from the New York Times' baseball writer Murray Chass about the Abreu trade and plight of the Phillies. Phillies fans have known this truth for sometime, it’s just a revelation to see that the ownership group’s reputation is now nationally known.

 

 

“Sometimes, though, teams are grateful for the Yankees’ existence. The Philadelphia Phillies are the latest. They wanted to dump Abreu’s contract, which has a guaranteed $21,475,409 remaining for a season and a third, and they found a willing taker in the Yankees.

 

The Phillies are more disgraceful than the Yankees. They play in one of the largest markets in the country, and they act like a small-market team. Their payroll reached a high of $95 million on opening day last year, but they reduced it to $88 million this year.

 

That does not mean the Phillies have a small payroll — it was 13th among opening-day payrolls — but it demonstrated their mind-set. Last year their payroll was fourth, and they finished two games out of first in the division and one game behind the wild-card winner. So what do they do to try to make up that little bit of ground? They cut the payroll.

 

They stumble and bumble in other ways, too. Instead of hiring Jim Leyland as their manager before last season, they hired Charlie Manuel. Now Leyland has turned the Detroit Tigers into the best team in baseball, while the Phillies have faded from view in the face of the Mets’ demolition of the National League East.

 

Acknowledging their most recent futility, the Phillies decided to become more flexible. That’s a baseball euphemism for dumping salaries. It’s a popular game at this time of the season. Teams that have no chance to win a playoff spot trade players who can be free agents at the end of the season or whose salaries are higher than the teams want to keep paying.”

Burrell Rejected Trade to O's?

Thomas Boswell, baseball columnist for the Washington Post, dropped this little nugget of information into a longer commentary on the Nationals not trading Soriano that I had not seen previously reported in any news outlets--

 

“Just within recent days, Phils slugger Pat Burrell reportedly vetoed a trade to the Orioles for pitcher Rodrigo Lopez. No specific reason given, just ‘no.’”

 

Abreu "for" Lieber?

Who on the Phillies do you think gets traded this week? Seems like there's a lot of interest in Burrell. Will anyone eat Abreu's contract?

 

How about Abreu and Lieber to the Yanks. For nothing. They get pitching help in Lieber and in return have to take on Abreu's contract as well.

Burrell to Cards?

Joe Morgan and Jon Miller said it last night during the Braves-Phillies game. Said the Cardinals had a lot of interest in Burrell and that the assistant to the GM was at the ballpark last night to look at Burrell. (this was several innings after Miller pondered the hometown reaction to Brett Myers, making his first start at home since being arrested for beating his wife. He suggested that Phillies fans, “like fans in all other big league cities, will be cheering him if he wins.” Which, if you step back for a moment, is an incredibly inflammatory and insensitive thing to say about fans and domestic violence (and I also think somewhat erroneous. Philly fans are many things, but one of their positive attributes is a high moral standard. They don’t tolerate hitting women, which is why the whole Myers thing has become the highly publicized and controversial incident it is.)

 

If A-rod had pressure in NY, imagine the pressure in Philly the first time he goes 0-fer with that $25 million contract.

 

Gordon is a nice player, but not a must-keep. They can get someone of his caliber this offseason.

 

The importance is to unload Abreu and Burrell’s contracts (unfortunately, there is no hope of foisting Lieberthal’s $10 million contract onto some sap of a team). That would free up $30 million of salary to go out and remake the roster for next year. They can’t afford to carry Bobby too far into the future cause at some point Howard and Utley will be making far more than their current $500,000/year rookie contracts.

 

Here’s a link to a story in the St. Louis paper about how the Cards may be looking for hitting before pitching and lists potential Phillies trades

.

 

“Poker playing becomes an art form at this time. The Cardinals have closely followed the Phillies, believed by many to be the catalyst for next week's madness. Outfielders Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell and David Dellucci are intriguing. However, their pitching stable includes Cory Lidle, John Lieber and lefthanded relievers Arthur Rhodes and Rheal Cormier.”

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/BEC55CF73FC7B82D862571B40014CDFE?OpenDocument

 

Lelie Dreaming

Lelie looks like a younger Pinkston on a team that usually leads the
league in rushing w/ the Steelers.

Pinkston averages about 15 per catch and Lelie around 19 per catch
(actually
a pretty big difference)

Best year - Pinky 60, 798, 7TD's
Lelie 54, 1054, 7 TD's