For you Bonds Haters

As Barry Bonds staggers toward tying Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record (funny, no one ever mentions Sadahura Oh of the Japanese League, like we used to growing up - just to be smart-alecky), and the scorn and outright hatred continue to be heaped on Bonds I had a thought.

If Bonds really wanted to thumb his nose at the “purists” and all of those who didn’t say squat during the raging ‘roid era but are now coming out of the woodwork and are shocked – Shocked! players were using performance-enhancing drugs, perhaps the best way to get back at all of them – and truly enrage them…would be to not break Aaron’s record, but to tie it and then retire.

Think about it. In tying it and not breaking it, he dissipates a fair amount of anger at him for unfairly (supposedly) gaining a competitive advantage. Complaints would have to be tempered by the notion that he didn’t break the record, only tied it. He would also leave baseball on his terms, his way. Confident and comfortable in the knowledge that he would have broken the record if he wanted to. The gracious act would also earn him, I think, a tremendous amount of goodwill. But in true Bonds’ fashion, it would also be a supremely selfish thing to do. Not only for allowing him to take credit for a noble act, but also would forever link his name and deeds with one of, if not the most, pre-eminent baseball all-time great players and individuals. One could not talk about Aaron without mentioning that Bonds TIED his home run mark. One could not talk about Bonds without mentioning his connection to Aaron in the record book. It would be an ingenious way of embracing through history and the record book, a legendary player who wants nothing to do with him.

It’s so Bondsian, it almost makes too much sense.

Chicago Slant on Walker and Salary Cap

Fascinating take on the Darwin Walker trade to the Bear, about general salary issues, and the astute Eagles’ strategy being imitated now by other teams published in the Windy City’s Sun-Times. “It's an interesting cautionary tale for the Bears, who built their team by using the Philadelphia method of identifying young players and signing them to long-term contracts. It's a good deal for players because they get their money early and a good deal for teams because they write cap-friendly contracts that are below market value in the long run.

The problem is that the salary cap has exploded with the new collective bargaining agreement, and many contracts for players who signed early extensions are far below market value.”

The story also reveals that it was a 5^th rounder the Bears gave the Bills for Walker, and that Walker owns an engineering firm in Philly employing 1,000 people!? Which, if true, suggests that Walker is almost certainly earning more from his non-football business than he is from the $1.3 million/year he is making as a defensive tackle.

McNabb's Sal Pal

Sal Pal is going to cover the McNabb thing like a glove, so we can be sure the worldwide leader will have continual coverage of every McNabb utterance, Reid grumble, and Kolb rep from now till the end of the season. Still, it is slightly reassuring that at least someone well versed in Philadelphia sports will be the one to provide the coverage.

A couple of thoughts on the latest piece:

1)      Even with a slight salary increase next year, McNabb remains an outstanding NFL bargain at $5.5 million this year and $6.3 million next – a testament to the salary cap savvy of Joe Banner.

2)      This “NFL” = “Not For Long” is an overworn and inaccurate cliché. It needs to be put to rest.

3)      The scrutiny is such that if and when McNabb wears a knee brace or taking snaps from the shotgun formation are BIG deals.

4)      Sal Pal digs a little deeper to offer an insightful counter argument about McNabb’s MVP pace last year. The shock was in seeing in print that the Eagles lost 4 of the last 5 games McNabb played in last season.

5)       Of course Reid’s plan is to ensure McNabb is ready to start when the games begin to count on 9/9. Why would anyone expect any differently?

6)      McNabb’s first media availability with newly hired PR flack Rich Burg in May was a “rocky start?” How so Sal Pal?

Are you Ready for Some Football?

"Eagles are in training, Get your liver ready!"

Sign outside of Duffers in West Chester, Pa. I am not kidding.

Poll Question

Will Mike Vick play at all this season?

 

1)      Yes

2)      No

75% McNabb

Even a 3/4s complete McNabb is better than most of the NFL’s current starting QBs and certainly better than untested rookie Kevin Kolb at 100%.

Bill Walsh Dies

Football genius Bill Walsh has lost his fight with leukemia.

A More Public McNabb

The Donovan McNabb public outreach campaign continues with the unveiling of his new blog here. Great, just what Eagleseye needs, more blog completion and from someone with an inside the huddle perspective (literally). Very interesting, though unsurprising development, given McNabb’s moves over the past six months with respect to circumventing the official Eagles PR channels. Clearly this has been in the works for a while, and a fair amount of effort has gone into it if the first few entries  - with videos (!) -  from “McNabb camp” where he works with his receivers in Arizona are any indication. Unfortunately, the meager paragraphs suggest not a lot of depth or insight (“I invited the boys over for some food and to swim”) – certainly not like the voluble 38 pitches, but that may change as training camp and the season get underway. And the choice of hosting it on Yardbarker.com I find strange. Why not set up your own website/blog at donovanmcnabb.com? Why be just one of thousands of yardbarker bloggers? Is this some sort of trial balloon? Will he move over to his own domain if he likes it? Is he even writing these entries (actually, I find it hard to believe someone is currently ghost writing what has been written so far.) Stay tuned.

Jason Jennings "Pitcher"

Jason Jennings' stat line from yesterday:

39 PC, 0.2 INN, 8 HA, 3 BBI, 11 ER, 148.500 ERA, 16.500 WHIP, L

It takes at least 4 pitches to walk someone, but he literally gave up
one run for every 3.5 pitches, and everyone he put on base scored. On
the bright side, he's now fully vested in the MLB pension plan.

Walker to Bears

Interesting trade of disgruntled DT Darwin Walker from the Bills to the Bears. Does the Bills’ trade condition with the Eagles about Walker reporting/playing for camp or the Bills’ get a draft pick back from the Eagles’ convey to the Bears now? What pick did the Bills get in return and is it more or less than what was traded for the Eagles? With the Bears dearth of d-tackles, it would seem that Walker has a little more leverage in his contract negotiations. Finally, interesting round robin that has left the Eagles with former Bears tackle Ian Scott, and the Bears filling the hole left by Scott’s departure (and that of Tank Johnson) trading for Walker, who became expendable when Scott and Montae Reagor were acquired.

Touch for Attetion

This short NY Times piece about a possible Tim Donaghy fixed call unintentionally highlights the larger problem with NBA officiating, the huge amount of discretion they have, and the notion of letting the players decide the game.

 

“The Bulls-Warriors game of Feb. 9, played at Golden State and broadcast on ESPN, was tied, 112-112, with 23 seconds remaining,” explains the Times. “While a Bulls guard dribbled between midcourt and the 3-point shot line — clearly working the clock down for an attempt at a final shot — Warriors center Andris Biedrens stood in the lane without guarding anyone for about seven seconds, which is grounds for a defensive three-seconds violation.

Donaghy, stationed behind Biedrens on the baseline, clearly stepped forward and tapped Biedrens on the waist with 16 seconds left. Biedrens, by then at the edge of the lane, then immediately moved clear of the paint, and play continued… A veteran official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because speaking with the news media violates the referees’ collective-bargaining agreement with the N.B.A., said that in such a situation he would not have blown the whistle because the violation was too trivial in a crucial moment. “I would let the players determine the game,” he said… The official added that touching a player or providing any sort of a warning that a whistle is imminent — from either that referee or another on the floor — is forbidden.

I would never touch him — it would show up on tape,” the official said. “We used to be able to say something like ‘Get out! Get out!’ But they said that was cheating. We considered it game management.””

 

Got that? Players can camp out in the lane without fear of a 3-second violation because even the good refs don’t want their calls to determine the game. Donaghy’s big indiscretion in this instance was touching the player. Presumably, if he still hadn’t called the lane violation after, say, 15 seconds, that would still be ok with the league. Nobody, least of all the NBA, wants refs to enforce basic rules of basketball that might affect the game (sarcasm intended.). This could be one of the other big fallouts of the Donaghy scandal. Close scrutiny of officiated games is going to reveal that the calls, mindset and philosophy of the refs is, uh, uneven at best.

Hometown Boy

Starting to see stories noting that allegedly crooked NBA ref Tim Donaghy was a local boy. Cardinal O’Hara grad and Villanova alum. As if those credentials shouldn’t have set off alarm bells, there is the glaring fact that he is a Delco boy, the biggest mark against him.

Still, in the small world department it turns out that I have friends that know Donaghy as he used to live in West Chester. They say that Stern and the league failed utterly in their due diligence, bordering on willful negligence.

My friends tell me that Donaghy was a notorious hot head. Getting into fights with his neighbors, driving a golf cart into the water at Radley Run, etc. They all say he was certifiable. So how did the league not know that one of their refs was unstable? Shouldn’t a simple background check about whether he actually played varsity baseball at ‘Nova set off some alarm bells about the guys veracity?

Running Away from the Problem

It is telling how out of whack the Andy Reid-play calling offense has become when Inside Man Dave Spadaro writes that the durableness of Brian Westbrook, the return of strength and health to Bucky, and the intriguing potential of Ryan Moats, blah, blah blah suggest the Eagles will run the ball more. But then comes this from Spads: “The mix is likely to be in the range of 55 percent passing and 45 percent running, but I don't know that for sure. Game action dictates a lot of strategy after the first half.”

Huh? 55/45 is basically the ratio we endured under Reid’s playcalling. This is going to be the new commitment to the running game? And then the great out, game action dictating second half strategy. You know, like when the McNabb was suffering from his sports hernia and the Eagles were thrashing the Niners by 4 touchdowns…and Reid still felt compelled to pass the ball 45 times!

NFC East QBs

Two NFC East QB’s make this top 10 questions of the NFL season. #8 Donovan’s return from injury. And #9 will the real Tony Romo please stand up.

G. Cobb's Questions

So now Gary Cobb officially goes by the moniker “G. Cobb?” That’s how his byline reads in this Bulletin article about his key questions to the Eagles 2007 season.

Hint: McNabb’s knee, running the ball, and stopping the run. Really, aren’t those the questions every NFL team has – is your QB good enough, are you good enough to run the ball consistently, and is your defense good enough to prevent being run all over.

Nevertheless, G. Cobb does make some interesting suggestions – like running more no-huddle and letting #5 call the play at the line of scrimmage – and that if he were head coach Jim Johnson would be on a very hot seat. And this insight: “The Eagles could probably make the playoffs with A.J. Feeley starting - just on their running game. But they can't win the Super Bowl without McNabb because he's the only true playmaking quarterback on their roster, and he gives them a quick-strike capability.”

Asked and Answered?

Here’s your chance to get YOUR training camp question asked of Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, et. al. Submit it to the Pocono Record here and “if they're insightful, fun and entertaining, I'll do my best to get answers for you.”

Kicking Dick Nixon

A fantastic presidential memo sent from Richard Nixon to his Chief of Staff regarding press portrayals of the notoriously aloof President is now available online – here. What a treat to read Nixon’s own ramblings, paranoia, criticisms and perceived slights. As a historical document and how Nixon viewed Truman, Ike, and Kennedy is fascinating. The irony of his citing personal examples of his warmth, and suggestions about ways in which to leak it to the press are hysterical.

 

My favorite lines from the Nixon memo:

 

“No President could have done more than I ha ve done in this respect and particularly in the sense that I have treated them like dignified human beings, and not like dirt under my feet.”

 

“All of this must be handled subtly and under no circumstances am I going to sit d own with anybody and start telling them all the good deeds I have done.” [as Nixon goes on to cite chapter and verse his good deeds]

 

“Again, such things, to be believable, have to be discovered, and one of the great factors that should be emphasized is that the President does not brag about and the good things he does for people.”

 

“There is a mystique which goes far beyond that which has to do with basic elements of character and, due to the fa ct that we have had no one on our staff who understood public relations, we have been utterly deficient in creating that mystique.” [this is a pretty savage criticism to the memo reader, HR Halderman, who was a noted PR executive before signing on with Nixon].

Be Afraid

Game 6 of the 2002 Kings-Lakers series

Game 7 of the 1993 Suns-Sonics series

The Knicks infamous Hubert Davis Game in 1994

Dwayne Wade in games 3 & 4 of the 2006 Finals

Game 3 of the Suns-Spurs 2007 series

 

Those are just a sampling of NBA playoff games in recent years that exhibited EXTREMELY QUESTIONABLE refereeing. Officiating so bad that many casual fans such as myself can cite the specific instances. For me, the foul discrepancies in the Kings’ series and last year’s invincibility cloak the refs put on Wade are the most obvious. Bill Simmon’s tackles the potential fallout of the burgeoning Tim Donaghy scandal as only he can.

But while even the great Sports Guy is missing the more immediate danger to David Stern’s league. It isn’t the evaporation of the last ounce of trust, respect, and credibility the NBA was barely clinging to. No, the real danger right now is that this thing could EXPLODE! At this point, David Stern’s mission is to do everything in his power to ensure that it all stops with Donaghy and everything is pinned on him. But the very real possibility exists that Donaghy could name names. Of other refs, of the unwritten league policy concerning playoff officiating (i.e., call whatever you have to to boost the ratings), perhaps even of players.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. You really think Donaghy was all alone in fixing games? The problem has been pervasive for more than a decade now. The league and mainstream press have been willfully ignorant of the questions fans have been asking about the integrity of its playoff games. Donaghy is now the hook to get the press and law enforcement to look at an issue everyone has tried to avoid. My gosh, the league’s credibility is so bad that there are still concerns that the 1985 draft was rigged. If I were an NBA fan, I would be afraid, very afraid of what might be revealed. And if I were Tim Donaghy, I would be fearful…for my life.

Taking a Knee

Interesting story on the mental aspects of McNabb’s recuperation from his knee injury.

The Worldwide Cheerleader

Finally, some news organization has finally noticed and written a piece on the rampant boosterism that now passes for journalism and commentary at ESPN. My gosh, the “espys” are the very embodiment of this self-referencing and self-glorificating culture in Bristol.

Writes Newsweek: “Some of this is inevitable. ESPN's lucrative partnerships with the NFL, the NBA, MLB and NASCAR, among others, have put its news operation, and "SportsCenter" in particular, in a unique bind. "Imagine The New York Times owning half of the Broadway theaters whose plays it reviews. Or imagine CNN paying billions of dollars for exclusive ... rights to cover the War in Iraq," wrote ESPN's own ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, in a May 10 Web column titled "At ESPN, Conflict of Interest Is Business as Usual." It has led to the occasional gaffe, like ESPN's decision to cancel its well-regarded drama "Playmakers" after the NFL complained about the show.”

The truth is, ESPN can no longer afford to bite the hands that feed it. Thus, we get schlock and jive from hosts such as Stu Scott and nary a word of criticism of the leagues with which the network has deals. Kobe rape trial? What rape trial? Tim Donaghy? Never heard of him.

2 Week Training Camp

When you have fancy training digs like the NovaCare complex, Lehigh University training camp can seem, well, amateurish. But only holding a 2 week training camp seems somewhat short-sighted. I’m not sure a fortnight at a remote Lehigh Valley location is enough time to bond teammates. Really, if it is only going to last for two weeks, it is probably fair to ask if all the trouble of uprooting the Eagles office and staff and equipment for such a short time. At this point, training camp from the fans’ perspective looks like nothing more than a PR stunt and publicity opportunity.

Jail Break

The Smoking Gun has a photo lineup of perp mugshots wearing their favorite team’s jersey. There’s even a guy with a Kearse uni. Not exactly the support the professional leagues had in mind. And why is it that most of those in custody are wearing either Denver Broncos gear or an NBA jersey. It’s FANtastic!

Justice and Jean-Gilles Issues?

Fox SPports rates the Eagles’ O-line as the 7^th best in the NFL. It rightly calls Shawn Andrews the best guard in the league. And while the analysis suggests that backups Winston Justice and Max Jean-Gilles are “great young talents” there “have been concerns about work ethic for both.” Say what? Is that why Justice never dressed for games last year? He dogs it?

That boy potter

for what it's worth, my prediction for the fate of harry potter. He lives, vanquishes voldemort, dumbledore is alive, & harry becomes the defense against the dark arts teacher at hogwarts.

---------------
Sent from Treo Verizon Wireless

Byrd Dogging Mike Vick

Good thing for Ron Mexico, er, Mike Vick that Senator Robert Byrd is not the NFL Commissioner. Here’s the story from Washingtonpost.com’s intrepid congressional reporter (and Eagles’ fan) Paul Kane:

 

In a floor speech Thursday, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) lashed out, indirectly, at Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who was recently charged with running a dog-fighting ring in Virginia. The speech might have seemed unusually apocalyptic to those who don't know how much the octogenarian senator loves dogs (view the video here).

In biblical terms, Byrd -- wearing a navy-blue tie spotted with dog images -- attacked animal cruelty in ways that only he can.

"It is a brutal, sadistic event motivated by barbarism of the worst sort and cruelty of the worst, worst, worst, sadistic kind," Byrd said in a 24-minute address on the matter. "One is left wondering: Who are the real animals? Who are the real animals, who are the real animals -- the creatures inside the ring or the creatures outside the ring?"

Byrd did not specifically address the charges against Vick, a graduate of Virginia Tech, a rival of the West Virginia University Mountaineers, but attacked the nature of Vick's alleged crime in soaring rhetoric usually reserved for war speeches or Supreme Court confirmation battles: "The training of these poor creatures -- weigh those words -- the training of these poor creatures -- weigh them -- the training of these poor creatures to turn themselves into fighting machines is simply barbaric. Barbaric! Barbaric! Barbaric! Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land. Barbaric, barbaric!"

Philadelphia Today

USA Today profiles the Eagles prior to their training camp start. The opening paragraph is as succinct a summary of the success Donovan McNabb has had as Eagles QB that I’ve ever come across, and a stern rebuke to the #5 naysayers.

“For the last seven years, the Philadelphia Eagles have averaged more than 10 regular-season wins a season and suffered one losing campaign. In that span, the Eagles have played in the NFC Championship Game four times and been to the Super Bowl once,” says McPaper.

Other interesting tidbits in what I think is a pretty accurate summary and analysis of the team (you never know what you are going to get from far-away journalists who just drop in to do the team snapshot):

·         A great quote summarizing Jim Johnson’s defensive philosophy:  "’I like to get as many players involved as possible,’ Johnson says. ‘I like rotating people. I like rotating tackles. If you have good depth, then I like playing six or seven defensive backs sometimes. I like matchups and I like to have as many players involved. They compete harder, they play harder and they're fresher.’"

·         The offensive line started all sixteen games together last year?!

·         Kearse is going to report to camp at 245 lbs! – 20 lbs under his playing weight.

·         Sean Considine has put on 15 lbs!?

Really, the only thing missing would be to note that Morhinweg has taken over the play calling duties, with an expected better balance between run/pass plays.

And I love his wrap up. One of the only national reporters I’ve ever read who correctly notes that the Eagles have endured significant injuries during their playoff runs (TO, McNabb, Buckhalter, Westbrook, Sheppard, Kearse) that have plagued the team during the Reid years. “The Eagles could be a dark-horse Super Bowl choice. Injuries have hit this team hard over the years; if the Eagles can ever stay healthy, watch out. Other than a home-run-hitting deep threat, this team has talent — young and old — everywhere.”

Let’s hope so.

Harry Who?

While the muggle world awaits the July 21 release of the final book of the Harry Potter series, men in the Delaware Valley and across the country are much more interested in the July 17 release of the Eagles’ Cheerleader calendar. Indeed, with their previous lingerie calendars they have set the pace for the rest of the NFL cheer babes and also surpassed the Dallas Cowhags for most popular sideline distraction.

Greg "Olden"

Would you card this college "freshman" if he were buying alcohol?

Makes Him Wanna Holla

The increasingly voluble B. Dawk just wants to holla. - about the return of the Freak and the addition of TKO. Heck, he’s even got me excited about his evaluation of Sean Considine’s off-season improvements and career arc comparisons between Tiki Barber and Brian Westbrook.

Old Oden

Clearly a clever ploy to continue the charade that Greg Oden really is a young college student and not the 40 year-old man he appears to be.

Dawk Talks the Talk...

…And walks the walk. B. Dawk thinks the Eagles are a Super Bowl-caliber team….If – the big if with any NFL team, really – if they can stay healthy.

The media focused on Jeff Garcia’s capable stewardship of the Eagles offense during the 2006 late season push. But lost amid that feel good story was #20’s play. The all-world and half of fame safety stepped it up and practically by sheer force of will improved the defense and made critical plays that helped decide games (i.e., forcing a Giants fumble and intercepting Romo in Dallas to name two). Indeed, the News Journal neatly summarizes the one man wrecking crew Dawkins was last year. “Over the last five games, Dawkins registered two double-digit tackle games -- including 16 against the Giants at the Meadowlands -- picked off three passes, forced two fumbles and sacked Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell on a critical third down to prevent a go-ahead touchdown as the Eagles went 5-0 to rebound from 5-6 and win the NFC East.” The article also gives props to Lito Sheppard whose play also was decisive, but notes that neither were really a factor in the Saints playoff loss. (the article does not note that Sheppard did not play due to an ankle injury.)

Interestingly, this is the first article I’ve seen that references the “personal issues” for which Andy Reid has excused Dawk from off-season activities. His wife gave birth to premature twin girls.

Blacks and Sports

Warning: the following link is to a somewhat racist column, yet contains several nuggets of truth which is perhaps why it is so controversial.

McNabb Best in East, Says Redskins Report

Say what you will about McNabb, but he is still the best QB within the division. Even the Redskins’ fan websites think so.

Sloppy Second Saints

The Eagles' LBs have been the weakest position among all on defense AND offense going on at least three years. So how bad must the Saints LBs be that they continue to take our castoffs...or is it sloppy seconds?

www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-31/1183704532306690.xml&coll=1

Pat the "Bat"

Jim Salisbury tackles the Pat Burrell issue (i.e., he stinks and he's pulling in $13 million a year to be platooned in LF). Pretty fair article. Hits the disappointment (pun intended) and also fairly notes that everyone - everyone - thought the Phillies were very smart in locking Pat up on the verge of stardom. At which point, his career went off a cliff.

What really jumped out at me, though, was the stat that there have been only 74 MLB contracts worth $50+ million. I can't believe there have only been 74. That number seemed low to me.

Anyway, 55 of the contracts went to position players, the rest to pitchers. Burrell is one of only four +$50 million contracts to never have made the all-star team. The others are Eric Chavez, Adrian Beltre, and our friend J.D. Drew.

All of which means that in consecutive years the Phillies drafted two of the four most overrated players in history. Think about that for a while. And thank gosh Drew and his agent Scott Boras put the screws to the Phillies or we'd have more than $100 million wrapped up in these two outfield losers. Throw Bobby Abreu into the mix and it would likely have been the most overhyped/underachieving outfields of all time. The antithesis of the DiMaggio/Mantle outfield.

Incredible.

The Phillies: MIsevaluating talent since 1883.

More Eagles Schedule

The thing that gets me the most about the schedule – especially from a ticket holder perspective - is that the Eagles go nearly a whole month from late September to late October without a home game.

I quickly glanced at our division rivals’ schedules. The Giants’ is similarly quirky with only 2 of their last 7 games (though 3 of their last 8) against division foes, and they end the season with two straight against the AFC east (@ Bills and season finale at Giants stadium vs. the Pats).

The Skins and Cowboys each have 2 of their last 3 games vs. division rivals, partly cause they play each other and then each plays against the Eagles (Cowboys) and Giants (Redskins). For the Skins, 7 of their final 8 games are against NFC teams and for the Cowboys it is 8 of 9 vs. the NFC.

Off the top of my head, not sure what the ramifications of the schedule are then. It will be tougher to make up ground within the division late in the season since you won’t be playing head to head. On the other hand, early leads could evaporate as the common opponents basically swap in the middle of the season for Eagles/Giants and Skins/Cowboys. Also, it will be interesting as far as wildcard implications within the division and across the conference with all those NFC games in December.

I think the 3 game string in early October could very well determine the fate of the season: @ Giants, bye, @ Jets, Bears.

McNabb Update

From MSNBC. Includes a reminder that McNabb was putting up MVP numbers in the first half of the season and comments from one scout about concerns about the return.lingering effects of the knee injury.

Eagles' Schedule Quirky?

Nothing like losing 3 of 4 to the Mets to drop to 6 games out of first to turns one attention to the Eagles.

 

A friend writes:

So I was about to break down the schedule and really think about what kinda season awaits us -- but I couldn't even digest it, it's so weird.

Is there something going on with the NFL's schedule  this year? Or just a weird quirk with the Eagles? Of our final 7 games, there are just 2 against our division rivals.

Even weirder, we play 3 of those last 7 games against the AFC EAST!!! More games against the AFC than our own division.

It's nice not to have to go win 3 straight games on the road in December against division rivals, the way we did last year, but what the fuck? We're barely playing our own division down the stretch.

Random Weekend Thoughts

· Code Red for Lt. Kendrick. Big-time win for the LT yesterday in maybe saving the season. A 4 game sweep by the Mets would have been disastrous. Maybe Kendrick can counsel JA Happ, who clearly suffered from stage fright in the Fox national game of the week Saturday. Fortunately, once out of the 1^st inning, he seemed to calm down…a little.

· McCarver really seemed upset/angry in recounting the 1977 Game 3 LCS debacle vs. the Dodgers. He called it the “worst” or “most crushing” loss in Phillies history, which is really saying something. I needed to hear that like a kick in the nuts. Making it worse, I actually attended that game at the Vet back in ’77.

· Ryan Howard’s bomb. Distance calculations really should not figure from where it lands in the seats, but where it would have landed had it not hit the bleachers. Howard’s HR nearly landed in the third deck. It would have traveled a lot farther than 450 ft had it been allowed to come down.

· Speaking of Howard’s homers, how does Fox – in this day and age- not have video to show of Howards’ 505 foot shot earlier in the week that would have been perfect to run immediately after this homer Saturday?

· How/why did Comcast relent and allow some home Phillies games to be shown on the MLB package? My neighbor suspects the other teams got on the Phillies for collecting 1/30^th of the revenues, but not providing 1/30 of game contributions. Anyway you cut it, though, it’s nice to be able to hear/see Harry the K.

· Good FA signings by the Flyers. But I still can’t escape the nagging feeling that Holmgren wants Dave Schultz and Bob Hounddog Kelly players who take the body, when that game is no longer played in the NHL.

· Speaking of NHL, a 3^rd generation Sutter was picked in the NHL amateur draft. Just what the league needs, another 15 goal body checker.

Corey Simon Update

Here’s a story about the possible fate of Corey Simon, and the bizarre situation he is in. It’s all but certain that the Colts will release him, the only question is whether they would take his entire cap hit this year ($9 million!) or in two installments over the next two seasons. On the other hand, Simon has two pending grievances against the Colts, one of which is related to him being placed on the non-football related injury list last season. He’s 30 and out of shape (the Colts all-white uniforms were not flattering to Simon and may have accentuated his girth growth.).

The Colts signed Simon after the Eagles removed the franchise tag from him (a la Jeremiah Trotter). What’s remarkable is that, once again, the Eagles appear to have show some prescience in talent evaluation and investing in their players. I don’t blame them for letting Simon walk. What I do hold them guilty of (if people can even remember) is that the team clearly had no plan B when it let its biggest interior D-lineman (read: run stuffer) leave. The run defense has been downhill ever since, a deficiency the Eagles have only now rectified with Bunkley, Scott, and Reagor.