Are you ready for some football?

Here's my take on the Eagles' season.

Wins
Browns
Cardinals (though the Eagles always play lousy in Arizona)
Falcons (Eags usually beat Penn Charter's Matt Ryan when he comes to town)
Giants home
Cowboys home
Redskins - away
Panthers – unless Cam Newton has a breakout game.
Bucs
Bengals
Redskins home

Losses
Giants away
Cowboys away – if they win this one and the home one they will be in very good shape

Swing
Ravens – huge momentum if we win the home opener and go 2-0
Steelers – could be a classic let down game following a Sunday night game vs. the Giants.
Lions – not sure where I see the Lions going this year. Building on last year's playoff spot or regressing with a harder schedule?
Saints – maybe put this in the loss column since it's away but can't help but think the Saints hang tough early in the season but implode as the weight of bountygate takes its toll and the loss of the players, head coach and gm takes its toll as the season wears on – hopefully by week 9 when we play them.

So that's 10 wins, 2 losses, and 4 undecided.

Splitting the undecided (Ravens and Lions as wins since their home games and Steelers and Saints as away losses), that's 12-4. Even if you then allow for bad game (like the Falcons or Panthers) that's 11-5. And then if you go ahead and throw in that the Eagles go 1-3 against the undecideds rather than 2-2, that still leaves the Eagles at worst 10-6.

Weird

I was just looking at the NL standings and while the Dodgers and Giants are tied for the NL West division, whatever the tiebreaker is neither runner up would be a wild card entry.  http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/wildcard.jsp?ymd=20120814

Awkward

August 21st is Hunter Pence bobblehead day at Citizens Bank Park. At least they're not playing the Giants.

The Year that Was

Whether the Phils make the playoffs or not this year, it seems that this little post-all star break mini-surge was a reminder to Cole Hamels of how could this team was and can be. The legacy of the 2012 team may be that it kept Cole Hamels here  for the rest of his career.

 

Having said that, this is already getting kind of interesting. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the Phils are now "only" 9 ½ games out of the wild card. Sure they've got a ton of teams in front of them which is the much bigger problem than just the number of games back but if they could cut it to 7 over the next week then things would really get interesting. With the Braves series this weekend, anything could happen.

Freeh meh

The Freeh report is not the final word on the investigation of what happened at Penn St. so why has there been a NCAA rush to judgment? The sanctions are predicated on what Paterno, Spanier, Curley, and Schultz did or didn't do. None has had their day in court yet nor had the opportunity to present evidence in their defense. The NCAA like it has in the past, acted prematurely and extrajudicially with no concern for due process.

Hamels

Was yesterday's standing ovation for Cole Hamels' departure an appreciation for a tough game or for a career well-served in Philadelphia?

What Might Have Been

A pity that Obama wasn't willing to take on the banksters and Wall Street in any meaningful way (remember his impotence in agreeing to the reward and retention bonuses at AIG?). He gets the worst of both possible worlds. Fewer campaign contributions from the 1% and the anger from the Democratic left. 

Elizabeth Warren's fundraising numbers show that small donors are willing to contribute to a candidate that has their back.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/politics/liberal-donors-finding-a-home-in-elizabeth-warren.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120721

The Next 2 Weeks

so having had the opportunity (or misfortune) to catch several Phillies game prior to the all-star break, i was ready to throw in the towel on the season after such desultory play.

But hope does spring eternal.

They have to go 50-25 just to get to 88 wins, which may not be enough for that second wild card spot. More improbable is a team that is currently languishing at a .427 win percentage suddenly becoming a .666 juggernaut. Having said that, I guess we should give them the champs their due and the next two weeks to show that they could do it. While everyone is focusing on the final record, don't they really have to go 10-5 over the next five series in order to avoid a RAG sell-off? They're now 1-1 in that pursuit.

(And if they don't/can't do it, the first order of business (besides giving Hamels' the 6th year on the contract he so desperately wants) is to trade Victorino and bring Brown up for an extended look for the rest of the season.)

Eagles Ranked 3rd

Eagles have 3^rd most cap space of any team in the league. But what's less heralded is how much more cap space the Skins and Cowboys would have if the NFL hadn't screwed them for violating the league's collusion agreement last year.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d7QzL?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=philadelphia-eagles

Congratulations!

You know, when the Flyers' signed Ilya Bryzgalov last summer I thought the chances of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter winning the Stanley Cup increased dramatically. I just never envisioned it being with the Los Angeles Kings, along with Simon Gagne. Congratulations to all, though, for beating the stinkin' Devils.

The Natural

In the wake of the unsurprising yet still disappointing news that Roy Halladay is headed to the DL with a shoulder ailment - and the no answers to the questions as to why if it was apparent that something was wrong with Halladay from spring training, why no one bothered to look any closer or at least perform an MRI earlier in the season - a friend writes:

My best guess on how the decisions were made to keep starting Halladay, in my make-believe exchange as it went all spring:

 

Charlie Manuel: You know my mama wanted me to be a farmer.
Roy Halladay: My dad wanted me to be a baseball player.
Charlie: Well you're better than any player I ever had. And you're the best God damn pitcher I ever saw. Suit up. 

What the 1% Doesn't Get

See the two blurbs from Politico's Morning Money email today. The real issue isn't what MorganStanley did wrong with the Facebook IPO. The problem isn't what was illegal about all of this, but the crime is what is legal - and how the general investor gets screwed and the 1% take care of themselves..

 FACEBOOK LAWSUIT MIND-MELD: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING? - A top corporate lawyer forwarded a WSJ commentary (excerpted below) that makes the argument that despite its poor early stock market performance, there is nothing to suggest that there was anything wrong with Facebook's investors prospectus nor illegal about communications between the company's bankers and big investors. ... From the lawyer: "The WSJ piece really makes it clear that the Facebook IPO was done 'by the book' and the issue - if there is one at all - is what the current law provides. I suspect Congressional interest in this deal is likely to shift elsewhere soon - either to changes in the law going forward, or back to Nasdaq and the very odd technology glitches it faced. We may see more on that topic next week when Nasdaq's Chief Information Officer testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in a previously scheduled cyber-security hearing."
FROM THE WSJ PIECE by Ronald Barusch: "[A]t least so far, there is no indication that anything is wrong with that prospectus. ... If you bought Facebook in the IPO at $38 per share, presumably you realized that you were buying shares based on a market capitalization of the company of around $100 billion. And for that you were getting a company that has less than $14 billion of total assets ... And that last year your company had just $3.7 billion of revenue and during the last five years ... "But what about those research analysts changing their estimates? It probably could not have worked any other way under our current regulatory scheme. Analysts who work for underwriters are prohibited from publishing their research prior to an IPO. They are permitted to talk to their clients and give their views" http://on.wsj.com/MLPAPn

Hamels appreciation

A friend writes:

Setting aside that Hamels is now 7-1 with a 2.17 (or 2.18) ERA, he has literally saved the 1st 1/3 of the season. His performances in DC and then tonight in Philly, slapping down the Nats as if they're his bitches after they dominated the Phils 2 straight nights, holy shit.
If we lose tonight's game, we're 6.5 games out and just got bitch-swept by them. Instead, we're 4.5 games back, 1 game below .500, allowing ourselves to think about how/when things will turn around.
Give him whatever $$$ that he wants.

HBP?

It sure didn't look like Jake Diekman hit that Cubs' batter in the 9th inning last night. Not even ticking his loose jersey. It was telling that the Cubs announcers on WGN quickly shut up while watching the replays.

The Gay Greek Police

This photo of Athens police dealing with protesters which appeared in the NYTimes is rife with comedy, since it looks like the law enforcers captured here are a modernized version of the fashion police what with their berets, boots and sunglasses. 

Beat Boston

Watched the tail end of the Sixers-Celtics game last night, mainly cause my middle son likes to play basketball and is really getting into Philadelphia sports. ( I didn't have the heart to tell him the Sixers are low man on the family Philly sports totem pole).

 

Anyway, two thoughts jumped out: 1 – incredible officiating in the 4^th Q. Kevin Garnett was called for a travel while shuffling his feet to set for a jumper, a couple possessions later Evan Turner was NOT called for traveling when he took 5 steps and also may have committed a self-pass, and then on the Celtics' decisive offensive possession, they called Garnett for an offensive foul on a moving pick. Wow. In Boston

 

2 – it's the first time the Sixers have beaten the Celtics in Boston since game 7 of the 82 Eastern Conference finals, a game the Sixers won 120-106, and the game I believe was most memorable and incredibly cool for a kid growing up at that time for the Boston fans chanting "Beat L.A." to the Sixers as the clock wound down. Neat.

Hamels and Harper

On the Hamels thing:

 I don't understand why Hamels said he tried to hit Harper.

But I really don't understand everyone coming out criticizing Hamels and how ripped the Nats are. Just watched the espn guys all say that Pence better watch out vs. the Nats.

3)      Why isn't anyone mentioning that Hamels got hit later in the same game. According to the Nats' view, it's gutless to throw at their guy but not our guy?

Why hasn't anyone asked Zimmerman if he tried to hit Hamels? If Nats' GM Mike Rizzo expects the same rule his team goes by, if Pence gets hit by Strasburg than Strasburg should expect to get hit later in the same game.

Halladay

A friend writes about tonight's game:

He simply doesn't have any stamina anymore. He can't go deep into games. This is the 3rd straight game that he's melted down in the 5th or 6th inning, after great starts. He got to 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 6th inning -- after having retired 13 straight batters -- and then he simply fell apart. 

I would add that thought Halladay looked tired and laboring in the 4^th inning! After only throwing 44 pitches. He was cruising but looked spent, but I wasn't sure if that just wasn't the normal Halladay look.

 

And crap, now Papelbon just gave up a 3 run HR to blow the tie.

 

Bad loss

B Dawk

Can there be any higher praise for an Eagle than to be described as "Jim Johnson's 'go-to guy.'"

Next Stop, Canton

Congratulations to Brian Dawkins for a spectacular, Hall of Fame career. 

4 plays immediately come to mind:

1. The interception of Brett Favre in OT that lead to the game winning FG in the 4th and 22 divisional playoff game.

2. The turnover against the Cowboys at Dallas on Christmas in a must win game for the Eagles that led to a playoff spot.

3. The heat seeking missile who stopped Mike Vick on the goal line in the divisional playoff game against the Falcons at the Vet.

4. The flying leap, strip and fumble recovery against the Steelers. My kids were watching that game with me and when they showed Dawkins leap over the lineman and go horizontal -  with his arms outstretched it really did look like he was flying. My kids asked, "Daddy, is that Superman?" 

Yes, children. Yet it was. You got to watch Superman play for the Eagles.

Phillies Preview - A month late

so i was watching a long ago taped version of espn's 30 clubs/30 days preview about the Phillies.

2 things jumped out.

1. Shane Victorino bats 70 points higher when he is 2 (.306) or 5th (.308) in the order compared to lead off (.236)

and 2. baseball prospectus projected the following records for the NL East this year

88 wins

Phillies and Braves

87 wins

Marlins

83 wins

Nationals

71 wins

Mets

The Best for Howard?

My friend also writes:

Meanwhile, assuming that he can come back from the Achilles injury and again become a 35-homer guy, or more, for a few more seasons, let me say something controversial: The Achilles injury is the greatest thing to happen to Ryan Howard since we won the World Series.

Here's why: When he grounded out to end the 2011 season against StL, 96% of the Phils phans blamed one person and one person only: Ryan Howard.

Now that we've started out this season so incredibly sluggish offensively, 96% of the phans are blaming one thing: Howard's absence from the middle of the lineup.

A Tale of Two Teams

A friend writes:

I think it's unequivocal what's going on here -- 1 team with a long history of having a very good eye at the plate, the Phillies, has lost its marbles; another team with a history of having a terrible eye at the plate, the Nats, now has one of the best in MLB.)
 
HITTING
Team batting averages:
Nats, .249
Phillies .248
Team slugging %s:
Nats .334
Phillies .331
Team home runs
Nats 6
Phillies 6
Team stolen bases
Phillies 12 (caught 1 time)
Nats 7 (caught 2 times)

PITCHING
ERA
Nats 1.92 (best in NL)
Phillies 2.48 (2nd best)
BB
Nats 39 walks issued (best of teams that played 13 games so far)
Phillies 24 (best of teams that played 12 games)
WHIP
Nats 1.01 (best in NL)
Phillies 1.10 (3rd best)

So, these are two insanely balanced teams. The Nats have an almost negligible difference tipped in their favor offensively; pitching wise, their ERA is better, clearly, but the Phils are walking far fewer people. Anyway, these are 2 teams that are incredibly balanced and -- by all these measures -- should have roughly the same record. They don't. The Nats are 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies. Why is that case? For one reason, and one single reason alone: they take pitches and walk.
HITTING
Bases on balls:
Nats 57 walks (No. 1 in NL)
Phillies 20 (tied for last with Pirates)
OBP
Nats .335 (tied for 2nd)
Phillies .284 (14th)

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#sectionType=st&playerType=QUALIFIER&statType=hitting&page_type=SortablePlayer&season=2012&season_type=ANY&sportCode=%27mlb%27&league_code=%27NL%27&split=&team_id=&active_sw=&game_type=%27R%27&position=&sortOrder=%27desc%27&sortColumn=avg&results=&page=1&perPage=50&timeframe=&extended=0&last_x_days=&ts=1334859863229&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Team+hitting

Scheduling good news

Remember this now.

The Phillies play 6 of their last 9 games of the season against the Nationals. And with Stephen Strasburg limited to 160 innings this year, it's practically assured that the Phils' won't have to face the Nationals' ace at all in the homestretch.

Stat that may be of interest only to me

How is it that Shane Victorino didn't attempt a bunt the entire 2011 season?

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20120228_Pierre_leads_Phils_in_the_art_of_bunting.html

3-4

Wow, Utley-Howard didn't even make the honorable mention in Jayson Stark's column about the best 3-4 lineups in baseball while discussing Fielder's new contract.

Not sure if it's cause Howard's hurt or Utley's been struggling.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove11/story/_/id/7500071/miguel-cabrera-prince-fielder-pack-powerful-3-4-punch

Media elite

John King = Bernie Shaw?

Newt Gingrich shows Mike Dukakis how to answer a personal debate question

TO?

The Patriots hiring of free agent coach Josh McDaniel last week in the middle of their playoff run had plenty of people chiming in about the appropriateness of a coach, particularly a former head coach for the team the Patriots are playing, joining a staff just prior to the playoff game. Some tried to equate it with free agent players joining teams during the post-season.

Of course, that is the reason why player contracts run through March - to avoid this possibility. But there are players that have been released who aren't contractually bound by these restrictions. 

And then there is one player who wasn't even under contract this year and could conceivably still join a team.

How crazy would it be if the Niners won tomorrow's game and then signed Terrell Owens for the super bowl?

TO is a former Niner. The Niners need help at WR. And with the two week super bowl break, he would have time to learn a fair amount of the plays - certainly way more than if he had only a week to prepare.

Truly circus maximus.

Wierd only to me?

NFL referee Gene Stenatore is also a college basketball referee?!?

Nice Al

Al Michaels just referred to the Saints 4th quarter TD as a "kill shot" touchdown. Nothing like referencing gun violence and murder - in New Orleans no less - to the nation's game.

Flag?

Congratulations to the University of Michigan for winning last night's Sugar Bowl on a field goal in overtime. The announcers didn't mention it - other than to marvel at the ability of the Michigan kicker to make the field goal after a stutter first step BEFORE THE BALL WAS SNAPPED.

My question is shouldn't the kicker have been flagged for illegal motion or a false start because of his stutter, false step just before the snap?

It's ironic that some football plays are endlessly scrutinized and reviewed in slow motion to determine if a pass was actually caught, but a kicker can commit an infraction in front of the world (and the refs) and not a word is said about the lack of a penalty call.

Revival or Collapse?

One of the things (among many) that is driving me crazy about all the articles now being written about whether Reid keeps his job or not is this (and this is a question the reporters should be asking themselves before they write the story as well as Lurie should ask himself): What is the purpose of firing Reid? Is it to "punish" him for a poor season that was the result of some of his pre-season moves? Or is it that there is a belief that another coach can make the team more of a success in 2012? And if it is the second, then the follow up question is who is that coach?

My own take is that we're the 2008 Saints (or the 2009-11 Packers - lost a playoff game one year (to those same 2008 Saints), then snuck in to the playoffs as a wildcard (what the Eagles almost did this year - sneaking in), and then dominating the league the following season).

There's too much talent on this team to "blow it up" and "rebuild," though as my brother has long noted there is no such thing as "rebuilding" in the 21st century NFL.

We lost a lot of close games, some on flukey plays (Ronnie Brown's goal line "pass" vs. the Niners, missed FGs, and others on turnovers).

On offense, you've got a franchise-caliber QB, an all-pro RB, a couple of skill position playmakers and a solid O-line.

The D improved steadily throughout the season as much as the Juan Castillo haters hate to admit it. And he did it with a bunch of lousy LBs, terrible safety play, and an at times non-existent DRC (and Nnamdi for that matter). Let's face it, Samuels was the best corner on the team this year, and they're probably unloading him this offseason. I've come around enough to believe Castillo deserves another year as coordinator. Related to the questions above re: Reid, who are they bringing in to replace him? I don't believe the Spags rumors.

I guess the larger answer to your question is that this team is on the verge of a revival. Now where they are next year depends entirely on Vick and whether Reid gets an heir apparent to groom between now and then.

Revival or Collapse

My friend PK asks the question:

I've been a bandwagoner for how this was the 2008 Saints, that we're a super talented squad that will bounce back from 8-8 (just as Saints were in '08) and go 13-3 (as they did in '09). What's more intrinsic to us as Eagles fans, I think, is whether this is 1991 or 1994.
In '91, we had the greatest D ever but no QBs, as Randall and McMahon got hurt. We finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs. Bounced back the next year to make the playoffs and beat Bobby Hebert in NoLa. In '94, however, we had that amazing start and then folded, missing the playoffs. While we scratched our way into the '95 and '96 playoffs, the truth is, we never were contenders for anything with Mr Holly Robinson and Koy Detmer's older brother as our QBs. Truth is, our "era" ended with the collapse of '94.
Where are we now? On the verge of a revival or complete collapse?

Best Move

Lesean McCoy is inactive today vs. the Skins, one of the best decisions Reid has made all year.

The fact is that this game is utterly meaningless to the Eagles 2011 season. All actions now are geared toward making the 2012 playoffs and Super Bowl. So, just like playoff teams right now are resting their starters in preparation for this year's playoff push, the Eagles should be resting their starters to avoid injuries that could in any way impede next year's playoff campaign.

Reid's Clock Mismanagement

My friends and I recalled the 2008 Skins-Eagles game in which Reggie Brown was stopped at the goal line for what would have been the game tying score as time expired. It got us thinking about how Andy Reid's clock mismanagement has cost the Eagles at times, though there is no definitive account of how many points/games it has actually cost.

In any case, this game from 2008, a Redskins 10-3 victory is definitely one of them. While they may not have won the game, his brutal use of timeouts helped them lose the game.

Below are highlights from the ESPN play by play of the game.

Reid called his first second half timeout AFTER THE SECOND PLAY OF THE HALF! At the 14:05 mark.

They called their second timeout to stop the clock on 2nd down of the skins last offensive possession. They didn't have to use their 3rd TO on 3rd down because of a skins penalty.

they used their last timeout on their last offensive drive.

Clearly as you can see by the play by play, had they had their last timeout they in all likelihood would have been able to run at least one extra play from the 1 yard line after the Brown catch (probably in place of the McNabb spiking though they may have called it earlier in the drive. Either way, it would have saved enough time for an extra play).

Of course they may not have scored but without the TO they had no chance to do so.

Fascinating that Brown/McNabb are the goats of the game for not running the route into the end zone (deservedly so) but the larger issue that went unaddressed is Reid's carelessness with the timeouts that was just as important as the final play.

1st and 10 at PHI 17	B.Westbrook right tackle to PHI 20 for 3 yards (C.Horton; A.Montgomery).
2nd and 7 at PHI 20	(Shotgun) D.McNabb pass incomplete deep middle to D.Jackson (L.Landry, M.Washington).
	Timeout #1 by PHI at 14:05.

4th Quarter

2nd and 10 at PHI 45	C.Portis left tackle to PHI 41 for 4 yards (C.Gocong, S.Bradley).
	Timeout #2 by PHI at 04:01.

A skins holding penalty on 3rd down (declined). Skins punt.

Final Eagles drive, got the ball on their own 9 with 3:48 to go in the game.

the last several plays

3rd and 10 at WAS 29	(Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short middle to B.Westbrook to WAS 23 for 6 yards (L.Fletcher).
	Timeout #3 by PHI at 00:27.
4th and 4 at WAS 23	(Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to B.Westbrook to WAS 18 for 5 yards (J.Taylor).
1st and 10 at WAS 18	(No Huddle) D.McNabb spiked the ball to stop the clock.
2nd and 10 at WAS 18	(Shotgun) D.McNabb pass deep middle to R.Brown to WAS 1 for 17 yards (F.Smoot, L.Landry).The Replay Assistant challenged the runner broke the plane ruling, and the play was Upheld.
	End of Game

Concussions

Here's something I find curious and wish some intrepid reporter would look more into - hopefully the NY Times which has helped raise national attention about the problem of concussions in the NFL and all professional sports.

To wit, how is it that NHL players like Sydney Crosby and now Chris Pronger are losing entire seasons to concussions and yet not a single NFL player misses more than a week or two? Is there something about the hits the hockey players take that are different than football? Is it related to the head protection each wears? Or is it a different culture among the players wear NHLers aren't afraid to speak up while NFLers hide concussions?

It's worth exploring further.

Playoffs!?

Crazy to see that the Eagles are eliminated from the wildcard but at 6-8 still have a decent shot at winning the division. My friend Scott puts the odds of everything breaking the Eags way - winning the last two games, the Giants losing this week, and beating the Cowgirls next week - at 50%. Not great odds but ones you would certainly take a week ago.

My brother and I started to talk logistics of a playoff game (I know we're getting ahead of ourselves, but still).

In any case, have the Eagles sent any info out about playoff tickets because as a division winner they would host a game in the first round of the playoffs? Complicating things is that Monday is a national holiday so that the earliest a letter could go out to season ticket holders is Tuesday the 27th. And then the ticketholders' response would be delayed by the next national holiday on Monday, January 2nd. Which wouldn't give the team much time to turn around such ticket orders because it's entirely possible the Eagles could play on SATURDAY, January 7th.

Compounding the sensitivity and logistics of the issue are: 1) Reid fatigue. 2) Asking ticketholders to pony up for playoff tickets at a time when said team will still have a losing record. 3) The fact that the team doesn't refund playoff ticket payments but applies them to next year's bill and 4) and a not insignificant point, as a division winner the Eagles have the possibility of hosting the NFC Championship so the ticket appeal is for payment for TWO playoff games - a situation that only reinforces points 2 and 3.

Anyway, here's hoping that everything breaks the Eagles way today. They may not make the playoffs when everything is said and done, but it would be a fun week to see Cowboys fans catatonic, Giants fans despairing of another late season collapse, Eagles fans euphoric that a season which was lost 2 months ago could yield a playoff berth, and national attention to the possibility that the previously written off Eagles could be playoff bound.

Awesome!

Happy holidays.

Which is it

Last week's Bloomberg article on the Fed's massive $7.7 trillion loans to wall street banks included quotes from Judd Gregg and Barney Frank saying they had no idea of the magnitude of the Fed's lending. (interestingly, the quotes from the now retired Gregg and the soon to retire Frank are the EXACT SAME. Are they using the same talking points?)

In any case, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has now issued a letter refuting the Bloomberg report and asserting that Congress was kept apprised of the Fed's loans. So which is it Mssrs. Gregg and Frank? Were you completely unaware of the Fed's loans or did Ben Bernanke keep you updated on all of this? Obviously, if it is the latter, Bernanke is lying.

Eagles-Giants halftime

Random thoughts from the first half:

Isn't the DeSean Jackson taunting penalty a dead ball foul? The Eagles would decline the Canty hands to the face penalty and then the Giants would accept the taunting/unsportsmanlike conduct from the point where Jackson went out of bounds?

The Eagles stopped a 3rd and 1 or 2 running play for the first time all year.

Steve Smith has been the only Giants WR to make the pro bowl in forty years!?!?

A very chippy game out there tonight.

Police Powers

Peaceful protesters at UC Davis get pepper-sprayed in what law enforcement calls "standard procedure" for non-resistant individuals.
Per Huffington Post:

a law enforcement official who watched the clip called the use of force "fairly standard police procedure." ...

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters.

After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.

Bias against Boise

ESPN's bias for the BCS plays out in a number and often subtle ways.

Like running a survey about the best 1 loss football team in the country and not including Boise St. as an option.

This is America?

Or a police state?

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/248677/

Frazier Monument

I gotta say I agree with Jesse Jackson

From the NY Times:

 In his familiar, incantatory style, Jackson said that if Rocky, a fighter that existed only on the movie screen, deserved a statue in downtown Philadelphia, so did Frazier, a somewhat forgotten figure whose former gym in north Philadelphia is now a store that sells furniture and mattresses.
Michael A. Nutter, Philadelphia's mayor, has said he was working with the Frazier family to build a memorial, an idea that seemed to gain momentum with the rhythm of Jackson's eulogy.
"Rocky is fictitious; Joe was reality," Jackson said. "Rocky's fists are frozen in stone. Joe's fists were smokin'. Rocky never faced Ali or Holmes or Norton or Foreman. Rocky never tasted his own blood. Champions are made in the ring, not in the movies."        

More Frazier

Sorry, but I don't think Frazier ever got the recognition he deserved as a Philadelphia icon.

The SI article of that fight is fantastic sports writing - what SI used to be before it was all pro basketball/football, etc.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/centurys_best/news/1999/05/05/thrilla_manila/

From wikipedia.

As Ali began to tire from all the energy he had expended in the searing heat, Frazier turned up his own offense and began punishing Ali to the body and the head with his trademark hooks. By the sixth round, Frazier had staggered him in turn and seemed to be gaining control of the bout. At the beginning of the seventh round, Ali reportedly whispered in Frazier's ear, "Joe, they told me you was all washed up" Frazier growled back, "They told you wrong, pretty boy."^[4]
In round 14, Frazier was almost blind as he stepped in, and was met once more with punishing blows from Ali. With the punishment from Ali closing his right eye, Frazier was effectively fighting blind in the last rounds of the fight. By the 14th round Frazier was virtually helpless, and although Ali was desperately tired and hurting, he was able to summon the energy once again to give Frazier a fierce beating, and once again Frazier was staggered and nearly knocked down before the bell ended the round.
Seeing the results of round 14, Eddie Futch decided to stop the fight between rounds rather than risk a similar or worse fate for Frazier in the 15th. Frazier protested stopping the fight, shouting "I want him boss," and trying to get Futch to change his mind. Futch simply replied, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today", and signaled to referee Carlos Padilla to end the bout. Unknown to Frazier's corner, Ali had walked back to his own corner after the 14th and instructed Dundee to cut his gloves off. Ali later said that "Frazier quit just before I did. I didn't think I could fight any more."^[5]

Frazier

Jeremy Schapp's Frazier tribute glossed over the Ali taunting, phrasing it as "called him a loser...and worse" - while at the same time Frazier loaned Ali money as he was broke after refusing to be drafted.

You can't understand Frazier's hatred of Ali unless you know how Ali personally and, let's face it - racially demeaned him in the media.

The Original Rocky

RIP Smokin' Joe Frazier. Was there anyone who epitomized Philadelphia - both in personality and in professional career - more than Frazier? 

He was the real life Rocky.

ESPN

USA Today expose on the dark influence ESPN has on college athletics, and particularly the dismantling of the Big East.

What really caught my eye was the fact that ESPN owns and operates 7 (!) college bowl games.

Nobody!

Nobody circles the wagon like the Philadelphia Eagles!!

the day almost couldn't have gone better for them (aside from the Giants beating the Bills). The skins went into their bye 3-1 and 1st in the division, they come out 3-2, in 2nd place and with a QB controversy.

Cowboys lose a heartbreaker - that in the scheme of things from the Eags perspective they had to lose - to the Pats on the road. If they win that, that is a huge advantage they gain over the rest of the division who have to face the pats too.

Howard vs. Pitchers

Real quick in 2011. Based on the most at bats on each staff.

Howard vs.

Lincecum, 0-7, 4 Ks

Cain, 0-6, 3ks

Baumgarner, 0-3, 2ks

Zito, 1-3 (double)

Marlins

Sanchez 3-11, 3BBs, 5 ks

Dunn, 3-6, 5 rbis, 3K

Nolasco 1-7, 3 K

Vazquez 3-6, 2 BB, 2K

Mets

Pelfrey, 5-13, 2Hr, 2 BB, 2K

Byrdak, 2-8, 1BB, 4K

Niese, 0-7, 3K

Dicky, 1-6

Nats

Hernandez, 7-13, 2HR, 2BB, 2K

Lannan, 4-10, 2 BB, 2K

Marquis, 0-6, 1K

Braves

Hudson, 3-11, 1BB, 1K

Lowe, 2-11, 2BB, 1K

Beachy, 1-9, 1BB, 2K

Jurrgens, 1-5, 1BB, 1K

Venters, 1-5, 3K

Hitting Beats Pitching?

My friend's analysis of the Phillies' playoff flame out:

I'm sure there's a way to break it down to figure out how Howard hits
against aces. It'd be complicated, but you can find situational
hitting stats for any batter against any pitcher, so you'd then have
to add those up. My presumption is that the entire team feasts on bad
teams, bad pitching.
Let's face it, the reality is that great pitching and average hitting
is The Worst profile for playoff runs. We are the Braves now. Those
Braves teams won 100+ every season because they had the best 4 and 5
pitchers in the game. Well, those guys are bullpen mates in the
post-season.
Denny Neagle doesn't mean jack in the playoffs. Yet those Braves teams
never had real bats. Just Chipper and some OK guys like Javvy Lopez.
Well, look deep at that Phillies lineup. Polly went from an All Star
to an also ran. Utley is a helluva ballplayer but he's never gonna hit
30 homers again. Rollins is a 6-hole hitter masquerading as a lead-off
hitter.
Look at the last 10 seasons and see how rare it is that great pitching
- teams with 3 or 4 All Star-caliber arms - win the Series. The 2010
SFG are the only example, depending on how you grade the '01 D'backs
(2 Hall of Fame arms and then junk, but great offense).
Once you get to the playoffs everyone - everyone - has 2 pitchers who
can pitch effectively. What wins is great hitting matched up with good
pitching. Like the '08 Phillies and '09 Yankees and '07/'04 BoSox.
Otherwise, you're just the Braves.

A Role Hole

Dare I say that the Phillies need more role players?

Also, is it fair to ask whether Howard should be in the lineup against a leftie in a playoff series given how horrible he is and how it affects his subsequent swing against righties?

This team will partly be remade next year with natural transitions: Raul leaving, Lidge gone among the certainties. The rest - Rollins - who knows. 

why they go into an offensive funk during the playoffs needs to be addressed.

look at this:

Hunter Pence batted .211 in the series. Raul Ibanez .200. Placido Polanco .105. Carlos Ruiz .059.

Thomas Boswell

Well Boswell the supposed baseball expert has some strange column out about the lessons the Nats should learn from the Phillies $170 million payroll - basically don't spend that much.

When you've spent and acquired so much talent as the Phillies have, and fail to win the pennant, much less the world series, you can expect the kind of "I told you so's" that WaPo baseball guru Thomas Boswell writes about yesterday.

It's a particularly odd column since Boswell doesn't really explain why the Nats shouldn't spend as much as the Phils other than it doesn't work out. If by "doesn't work out" you mean 5 division championships, 2 pennants, 1 world series championship and a franchise record 102 wins this year.

Boswell doesn't suggest that a big payroll hamstrings future personnel moves, nor says that it leads to a rise in ticket prices. Really, as a fan - what do i care if a team has a payroll of $150 million?

Boswell's suggestion is that the Nats need to go with OBP hitters, draft smartly, and develop homegrown talent. Duh. Though none of that has much to do with a $170 million payroll, particularly when $100 million of that is on homegrown talent.

Worse, he actually seems to suggest that the Nats write off the next 2 seasons while Strasburg matures and has his innings limits removed and Harper comes up. Not sure where that came from or if that plan is any better than forking out a really high payroll.

holy cow

jesus christ, halladay's going to pitch till his arm falls off!!!

please

Furcal should have been out stretching that triple. Please don't let that be the winning run.

Big Game

PK writes:

I've actually now gone through the entire 130-year history of the Phillies.
In that period, this organization has had just one climactic post-season game like this, a win-or-go-home game for either team.
Oct. 1980, in Houston, game 5 of that LCS. Otherwise, we were swept by the Yanks in '50, the Babe Ruth Red Sox smoked us in '15. Then in '76 the Reds swept us and in '77/'78 we lost to the Dodgers in 4. We won the '80 WS in 6 games, beat LAD in 5 games in '83, then lost in 5 to the O's in the WS. In '93 we took the Braves out in 6, then lost to the Jays in 6.
Then on to the Charlie era, in which every series had ended in 3 or 4 (in the LDS), 5 or 6 (LCS) or 5 or 6 (WS).
Here's to hoping that we conjure up the ghosts of Del Unser, Manny Trillo, Dick Ruthven and Gary Maddox in tonight's game.

Legacy?

Kind of crazy to think the NLCS used to be a 5 game series.

Nothing will ever take away the championship this team won 3 years ago, but this team - right now - is built to win this exact game - a veteran, championship caliber team loaded with all-stars and throwing their cy young worthy ace out there to win the must game.

if they don't.....crushing disappointment. Like I said, nothing will take away 2008, but losing tonight would definitely cause a lot of second thinking about this team and many of its players.

And to think, just looking at the yankees game last night - that often the best team does not win the game (how does team with the bases loaded and no outs not score more than 1 run with their 2-3-4 hitters up) and weird things happen to determine the outcome.

Lindros

Finally, someone - in this case Ken Dryden - calls Scott Stevens' hit on Eric Lindros for what it was... not old-school hockey, but "a crushing hit to the head (e.g., Stevens on Lindros) is nothing less than an attempt to injure."

More Game 1

PK continues:

Also, after the Berkman homer, Roy's pitch count showed 13 Ks, 9 balls. Somewhere in the 5th or 6th inning, it showed 66 strikes, 17 balls -- he had gone on a run where he threw 53 Ks to just 8 balls. That's insane.

Game 1

My friend PK was at Game 1. He writes:

Inside the park the Howard at bat reminded me of Victorino's slam against CC. A long AB, fouling off, fouling off, crowd went bonkers.
Complete deliirum as the ball clears the ATT sign.

Terrible Loss

Did something turn last week with the Eagles under Reid or was it just the anger from the fans leaving the stadium? Something feels different.

 

They are not a very good team right now, especially on defense. Can't stop the run.. Their vaunted secondary is only slightly better in defending the pass (which is to say not much) and the pass rush just isn't there.

 

On offense, Vick is getting knocked around way too much and  the O-line is a patchwork.

 

Pathetic loss to a bad team. You could excuse the last two losses - on the road to last year's #1 seed, and to a tough division rival. But to give up 21 unanswered points to Alex Smith and unable to stop Frank Gore on 4 straight carries when the D knew they were running? Terrible!

 

Does Castillo keep his job?

 

Funny, here's what sport's guy said about the game. Makes loss even worse given how they were ahead 20-3.

 

 

EAGLES (-9) over 49ers
 
… the Niners might be this year's Good Bad Team (a.k.a. a forgettable team that beats all the other forgettable teams). That won't help them this week, though. Here's why this line is so high: Vick or no Vick, San Fran averages 3.7 yards per play and gives up 5.0 yards per play; Philly averages 6.0 yards per play and gives up 5.5 yards. San Fran can't throw the ball at all: 505 passing yards total, no wide receiver has more than 80 yards. San Fran is built to play tight games, so if Philly blows it open, literally, there's no way San Fran can come back unless Ted Ginn starts ripping off kick returns. I'm laying the nine. Cautiously.

Phillies Good and Getting Better

Courtesy of Tim Kurkijian.

It is the only team in major league history to improve its victory total five years in a row, with the beginning of that streak starting with a plus-.500 season. That says they were good, they got better and they keep getting better every season.

Reid and Vick

Forget about the broken hand. It was the fact that Mike Vick played at all that should be the real source of concern and controversy with Andy Reid's coaching.

Vick clearly wasn't himself at the start of the game and probably still feeling the effects of his concussion the week before. Vick took a couple of hard hits that may have aggravated his condition in the first half. Indeed, the hypothesis of us in the stands was that on the helmet to helmet hit Vick took in the 2nd quarter that he was a little groggy and that the Eagles didn't want to call attention to it and force them to re-test his cognitive baseline as part of the concussion protocol.

How else to explain the 8 straight running plays Reid called to end the 1st quarter and begin the 2nd - a streak over two possessions?!?!?

Reid NEVER calls that many running plays, certainly not IN A ROW!!!

Indeed, for a coach who is famous for his incredibly unbalanced 65/35 pass/run ratio, it is remarkable that Reid called an even 50/50 game. The Eagles ran 33 times. Add in Vick's 2 QB sneaks and that is 35 running plays. I can't remember if Vick's 5 other carries were scrambles or designed runs, but including all of them as original pass plays with the rest of the Vick/Kafka attempts totals 35 passes. When was the last time the Eagles ran the ball the exact same number of times they passed it?

Thus, the most criminal part of last week's game, besides Reid starting Vick at all, was calling for 2 QB sneaks from Vick at the goal line: 1) cause he had suffered a head injury concussion the week before and 2) likely aggravated it earlier in the game. The fact that Reid thought it best to plunge one of the fastest players in the league into the middle of the line is just icing on the cake for his ludicrous play calling. With as many playmaking speedsters the Eagles have, why not spread the defense at the goal line?

Hopefully Vick won't have long-lasting damage from Reid's negligent mismanagement of a player's injury. 

Game 1

I love when Jayson Stark gets to write about the Phillies.

A moment of panic in the 2nd inning when Halladay gave up that lead off hit and though he just might not have his stuff today. A feeling that went into the 5th and the fear the Cards would steal game 1.

Another reason it was smart to move Utley to 2nd and Pence to 3rd in the order: La Russa replaced his leftie after Utley hit with a rightie to face Pence. The rightie stayed in to face Howard. Obviously, in the old order the leftie stays in to face both Utley and Howard and them maybe there's a switch for Pence.

Also, I liked Charlie not messing around and bringing in Madson in a non-save situation to nail down the win after Stutes allowed them to cut the lead in half.

162 game madness

My friend PK writes:

Crazy fact: Yankees were 1 strike away from beating the Rays in bottom 9; Sox were 1 strike away from beating the Orioles in bottom 9. Both lost. Wow.
And the Johnson homer in the 9th to tie, and the Longoria homer to win, wouldn't have been homers in almost any other park.

3.5 the Magic Number

WaPo baseball writer Dave Shenin puts the Phillies' post-season magic number at 3.5. As in, if the Phillies can score 3.5 wins/game then they should win the Series, based on the ERA of their pitching staff and their 2011 record of 94-68 when going above that mark.

Stormy Selig

What i do know, is that MLB (Bud Selig) doesn't have the balls to call the Sox-Orioles game in the 7th to give Boston the wildcard. Could be a looong night in Baltimore if the weather doesn't change.

162?

are we rooting for Phils to beat Braves and give Cardinals wildcard or lose and force 1 game playoff?

better to have Cardinals in or exhaust both teams.