Today's News
March 31, 2007
| By Dennis Bakay
| 
Discuss
A fugly win
Sixers hang on to defeat the lowly Celtics despite blowing 4th quarter lead
The Sixers hung on for an 88-82 victory last night despite a season-high 24 turnovers.
This game was garbage.
This game would certainly rank as one of the uglier wins by the 76ers this season and that's saying a lot considering the lows this team has experienced.
Such Sixers specials included the 50-point home loss to the Houston Rockets and their 12-game losing streak that lasted from November 25th to December 22nd.
Last night was fugly, which is a combination of the "f-bomb" and ugly. The only reason why they didn't lose this game is due to the fact that the Celtics are throwing games at the rate that militant protestors throw molotov cocktails at World Bank and IMF protests.
Here are some numbers from last night that should wet your whistle.
24-as in the number of turnovers committed by the Sixers.
15-as in the lead that they managed to blow in the 4th quarter.
12-as in the number of missed free throws.
43-as in their field goal percentage. I cheated; it was rounded up from 42.6%.
The few bright spots in this game were Kyle Korver's 26 points, Sammy D's 13 boards, and Andrew Iguodala's 23 points and 12 assists. But, they were overshadowed by just purely sloppy play by both teams.
Suffice it to say that games like this make you wonder why the NBA drags this season on so long.
Anybody in favor of shortening the season to 60 games like I am?
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McNabb under fire again
Gee, who could see this coming? Donovan McNabb spoke his mind on ESPN about how he feels he has to prove himself more than any quarterback in the league and off with his head.
Who gives a damn, really?
I really have no problem with him saying that. There is this strong minority of fans and people in the media who have been rallying against him for years now and will do anything to discredit him.
The team went to four straight conference championships because their defense was great.
McNabb came up small in the clutch moments, despite the fact that he single-handedly locked up the NFC Championship against the Falcons on that final drive. I know, because I was at the game.
McNabb isn't tough enough. I call this the Bernard Hopkins school of thought. This despite the fact that he played with a broken leg and a litany of other injuries throughout his career.
McNabb isn't a leader. And, he's not serious enough. After all, look at his facial expressions on the sidelines when the camera focuses on him for a few seconds.
Donovan McNabb is probably behind the surge in crime throughout the NFL according to these naysayers.
I think he has been rather tame in his responses. Sure, I can understand the frustration with the Eagles not winning a Super Bowl. That is not solely McNabb's fault.
Was he the coach who decided to abandon the run when Duce Staley was CLEARLY getting it done against Tampa Bay in 2003 and Carolina in 2004?
Was he the coach who decided to abandon the run against the Patriots in the Super Bowl?
Did he play on the defense that gave up two critical scores on back-to-back possessions in the second half against the Patriots?
Sure, he gave the ball up in the first half, but they still would have won that game had the coach and the defense done their jobs. He certainly deserves part of the blame for the loss, but not all of it.
McNabb is the greatest QB in franchise history. End of story. I ask these naysayers if they would like to see the likes of Bobby Hoying, Brad Goebel, Pat Ryan, and the rest of the schleps in the Eagles QB Hall of Shame under center.
May I see a show of hands from the lot of you?
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Close but no cigar
Sixers fight back from 15 down in fourth, but fall 111-108 to the Wizards
The Sixers came to within a point with just under 6 seconds left. And, then the Wizards went back up by three with a pair of free throws by Gilbert Arenas. As the buzzer sounded, Andre Iguodala's three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim. Iggy finished with 26 points and 15 assists on the night.
In fact, the Sixers even held the man, the legend known as "0" a.k.a. Gilbert Arenas to 20 points.
This team has made some great strides this season after they jettisoned Allen Iverson. The youngsters play with an enthusiasm that didn't exist while he was here, because now they see the ball routinely. They play a style of basketball that works in the NBA. Had the won last night they would be a .500 team without Iverson. I've made no secret about how I wanted the Sixers to tank it and it's tiring to continue talking about it. However, it's very encouraging to see that this team has a good, young core group of players in place.
And, after next season when they rid themselves of that albatross known as Chris Webber's contract they'll be well under $20 million under the cap.
They made some mistakes last night, and will continue to have their growing pains. Considering they were the worst team in the league for the early part of the season they have grown light years in three months.
They may not win the number one pick or even get in the top-three, but at least the future is looking brighter for Iguodala, Dalembert, Korver, et al.
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Flyers make the defending champs look like chumps
The Flyers blew out the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 last night in South Philly.
The Fly-guys have been the worst team in the league for the entire season. They resembled a carcass of a club for the better part of the past month. Last night though they embarrassed the defending Stanley Cup champs at the Wach, dismantling them and jeopardizing their playoff hopes.
In fact, this may be the first time in NHL history where two teams who appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals last year may not even make the playoffs this year. Edmonton if you recall made it as well and they have been eliminated.
The Flyers played arguably their best game last night in blocking 22 shots, getting 20 hits and 13 takeaways.
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McNabb sounds off today on ESPN
Donovan McNabb was on ESPN today and in my opinion said all the right things. However, the nay-sayers and the haters will use it as ammo against him like they usually do.
When he was asked about what he likes most about the fans he stated he liked their passion and when asked about what he likes least he said they get caught up with stuff on talk radio. It's true that a lot of these people who get fired up by Angelo Cataldi's Morning Show on 610-WIP fit that billing. There is a small segment of the haters who will bash McNabb no matter what and like I said before, he could win a Super Bowl MVP and they'll still bitch about him.
One comment that will surely fire up the haters is when McNabb said he feels like he has to prove himself every year and if he has to do it for "18, 20, or 30 years" then so be it. I don't have a problem with him saying that. It's true. He does have to prove himself every year. Sure, quarterbacks like Jim Kelly and John Elway were also maligned, but there is no quarterback as maligned in the NFL in their own market as Donovan McNabb is.
And, most of the criticism is garbage. He's too sensitive. Or, he doesn't have the right facial expression on the sideline. Or, his Mom is a problem. Give me a break.
Once he returns from his injury and performs at a high level (I'm confident he will) he'll once again prove himself to be the best Eagles quarterback in franchise history.
Now, he needs to win the big one. You won't get an argument from me there.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
TKO in Philly
Takeo Spikes excited to be part of the Eagles
He's been an Eagle for a shade under 24 hours and already we have a nickname for him. If he plays close to the level he played at when he was with the Bengals and just after joining the Bills then he'll become a fan favorite. I can hear the chants of "TKO" now echoing throughout the Linc.
Just which Takeo Spikes will the Eagles get? Will it be the one who averaged 115 tackles a season in his first seven seasons while picking off 12 passes, notching 19.5 sacks, and 9 forced fumbles? Or, will he be the player who lost a step last year after coming back from a torn achilles?
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait and see. Some players take more than a season to come back from that injury, even as much as 2 years. It is imperative for players who depend upon their explosiveness like Spikes to regain most of that explosiveness.
The Bills think they took the Eagles to the cleaners in this trade though.
They just don't think he has much left.
And, of course many people think the Eagles robbed the Bills as they gave them a mediocre defensive tackle in Darwin Walker and next year's 7th round pick for Spikes and back-up Kelly Holcomb, who has become a forgotten man in this deal. Holcomb let's not forget stepped in for the Browns a few years back and threw for over 400 yards in a playoff game against the Steelers. He's a very capable back-up and a quality replacement for Garcia.
The former Pro Bowl linebacker is excited to step in and play with the likes of Jeremiah Trotter and Brian Dawkins.
And, so it goes. The "bowtie guy" era is over. It's time for TKO to step in.
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Flyers extend Biron for 2 seasons
The contract will pay him roughly $3.5 million per season and gives the Flyers a legit starting goal tender.
After Robert Esche wore out his welcome and Antero Nittymaki has struggled (probably that hip has something to do with it) the Flyers had to lock down their goalie position.
They will now have stability at the position for another few years, with a capable young back-up in Nittymaki.
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Howard insists the pressure isn't getting to him
Despite a rough start to the spring the Phillies' star insists he isn't pressing.
Ryan Howard has had anything but a great start to the spring.
.218 average. 20 strikeouts. 8 walks.
And, he's just 1 for his last 23.
This is in stark contrast to last spring training when he started off like a runaway freight train, hitting .341 with 11 dingers, and 23 RBI.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Joe out Jaws in
Joe Theisman has been fired from Monday Night Football and replaced with Ron Jaworski
First he was a quarterback of the Eagles who led them to their first Super Bowl. Then, he set the NFL record for consecutive starts. Then, he went to NFL films and joined the ESPN team where he distinguished himself as a great football mind.
And, then he and Bon Jovi bought the Philadelphia Soul and brought Arena football to Philly.
Now, Ron Jaworski will replace the most annoying broadcaster in the history of sports...well pretty darn close to it.
There were some rumors that Bill Parcells would replace Theisman, which would have been ironic considering he's the man who coached the player (Lawrence Taylor) who ended his playing career. It was for naught though; the Polish Rifle, the jack of all trades, Ron Jaworski will head to the booth and hopefully reinvigorate a Monday Night broadcast that has been lackluster for years.
Don't get me wrong Al Michaels and John Madden do a nice job, but they are tired and old. It's time for some new blood. Jaws should provide a nice counter to Kornheiser's shtick as the non-commentator, the fan in the booth. He is also a brilliant football mind, who is younger, and somebody that doesn't pull any punches.
Kudos to ESPN for making a great business and entertainment move.
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Eagles acquire outside linebacker Takeo Spikes
Whoa! Now, that's the move we've all been waiting for.
Anthony Gargano first reported on this on his show on WIP on Friday that the Bills were in discussions with some teams in regards to outside linebacker Takeo Spikes. And, the Eagles were the front-runners.
Turns out the man known as "The Cuz" was corrrect and then some.
This immediately improves the Eagles' defense, which has sorely been lacking a presence at outside linebacker since Carlos Emmons' departure following the 2003 season.
To illustrate how ineffective their outside linebackers have been, the Eagles starting outside linebackers have had a combined for 1 1/2 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 0 forced fumbles in the 2005 and 2006 seasons!
Suffice it to say they needed some playmaking ability at the position. Dhani Jones has been dreadful in the past two years accounting for just a half a sack and 1 interception. That's amazing. It's even more amazing that they brought him back for the 2006 season.
The Dhani Jones era is now over and Takeo Spikes will now make the Eagles a contender in the NFC.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Many questions
With the season upon us, there are many questions surrounding the Phillies
It's been a tale of two seasons for the Phillies so to speak. The winter was rife with optimism. Both the majority of fans and the media were putting a lot of faith in this team; they were expected to finally reach the playoffs and possibly go further. This would be their best team since 1993.
They replaced Mike Lieberthal with a top-notch defensive catcher in Rod Barajas. We all know what they did at pitcher by acquiring Freddie Garcia and signing Adam Eaton to be their #5 starter. Wes Helms was brought in to be their starter at third.
And, then there are the usual suspects who were expected to pick up right were they left off in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins. Shane Victorino would take a step further. And, Burrell was saying the right things at the beginning of spring training. Cole Hamels and Brett Myers were set to become the twin aces of this up and coming pitching staff in the NL.
The one glaring weakness was the bullpen, but fear not; they would be able to move Lieber or Rowand for relief help.
Despite that weakness, they were seen as the front-runners by many to win the division. Finally this could be their year. And, baseball couldn't come soon enough after the disappointing end to the Eagles' season, and the disastrous seasons of the Flyers and Sixers (who defy us by winning when they need to lose).
Once spring training rolled around it all changed. They have been dreadful. They have the fourth worst record in the majors, and although it's conventional wisdom to not put a lot of stock into spring training, they have been notoriously slow starters the past few seasons. Had they not had poor Aprils, they would've made the playoffs. All signs are pointing to another bad start this April.
And, the injuries are starting to mount. They once had the luxury of sporting 6 starters. Well you can forget that now. Freddie Garcia went down the other day and has been atrocious this spring, throwing his fastball in the mid-80's. We're talking about a guy who has thrown 95 miles per hour throughout his career. He obviously isn't healthy. So far he seems to be yet another Phillies pitching acquisition that is a clunker.
Pat Gillick then acknowledged on the Howard Eskin show late last week that he doesn't expect to get any relief help before the season begins. That means no Aaron Rowand for Scott Linebrink swap. That also means no Jon Lieber for Derrick Turnbow trade.
And, today the news came out that Jon Lieber is out indefinitely with a strained abdomen. This comes just days after he whined about being moved to the bullpen.
The mood has changed and many of us are now in wait-and-see mode.
Will this team win 90 games?
Can they even win 88 games?
Will they even be good enough to win 86?
Will Ryan Howard cut down his strikeouts and hit even 45 homeruns?
Will Ryan Howard be distracted by his contract situation?
Will Pat Burrell hit in the clutch?
Will Jimmy Rollins continue to excel as a hitter and be Philadelphia's answer to Jose Reyes?
Will Cole Hamels step up and become the other ace on this staff?
Will Brett Myers continue his evolution as one of the better young pitchers in the majors?
Will Shane Victorino emerge as a quality lead-off hitter?
Will Chase Utley be the NL MVP this year?
Will they get that set-up man to serve as an insurance policy to Tom Gordon?
Or, will some of these things happen? Or, all of them? Or, some?
The problem is we've all been strung along by this team in the past 6 years. They're like that girl who leads you on and makes you "think" she's interested in you, only to blow you off and disappoint you in the end.
Truth be told, they should win this division if they have a healthy starting 5 in the rotation and cut down on their strikeouts some, and learn to win those 3-2 and 2-1 games on a consistent basis. If they can enter June with 30+ wins and pull off a deal for Chad Cordero (since the Washington Nationals will surely suck) then they're in business.
There's a lot of ifs with this team. We really won't know just what team they are until the end of April.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Sixers rebound
Sixers knock off Bobcats to get off the schnide
There will be no special photo for today. The only thing that came to mind was a photo of a dead bobcat, but that would be in bad taste so I took the high road.
They did this without Andre Iguodala, who missed the first game of his 3-year career.
It certainly helps that they were playing a team who is a shade worse then them in the Eastern Conference. Both the Rockets and Pistons are leaps and bounds better then them.
The Sixers scored a season-high 69 points in the first half and sputtered a bit in the second half, but still won the game comfortably.
They will face off against the Heat tonight.
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Al Wilson trade no longer happening with the Giants
According to Profootballtalk.com Giants officials acknowledged that Al Wilson will not be heading to the Giants. Other teams said to be interested in his services are the Eagles and the Detroit Lions.
In fact the Lions were willing to trade their #2 overall pick in the deal for the 8-year veteran.
If the Eagles make a deal for him, this would mean the end for Jeremiah Trotter.
The spin coming out of the organization and permeating throughout the media is that Trotter was a big part of the problem and can no longer play 3-4 downs. I find this to be complete BS. Trotter had to bear the burden on his shoulders because of the lackluster play of the interior tackles, Dhani Jones, and Sean Considine.
Trotter is not the problem. If they would finally get it through their thick skulls and bring in a 340 pound defensive tackle and a stud outside linebacker like a Julian Peterson then Trotter can flourish like he did in 2004 when he had Hollis Thomas.
I don't think the Al Wilson trade would make them a whole lot better. Trotter can still hang with the best of them.
He needs help around him and at this point it doesn't look like they are ready to give that to him.
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Brett Myers named opening-day starter
The Phillies have given Myers the nod for starting on opening day.
It doesn't come as much of a surprise to me. He proved in the past two seasons that he is the ace of this staff, and if he continues to evolve then we're looking at a possible 18-20 game winner with 250+ strikeouts.
You can't name too many other pitchers in the bigs who have been as durable as he has (over 200 innings pitched in '05 and '06) with over 200 strikeouts in each campaign.
It's a no-brainer decision to make him their #1.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Big Red is back
Andy Reid is back in the saddle after a 39-day hiatus
He acknowledged that the thought crossed his mind that he should step away from coaching and reiterated that family is the most important thing in his life.
He wasn't completely evasive, but at the same time when he won't throw a player under the bus in a press conference it's not practical to think he'd get too deep with the details. And, really that's between he and his wife Tammy and their children to know.
"Family, obviously, is the most important thing in my life," Reid said. "To say walking away, I can't say it doesn't cross your mind. I knew I needed to take some time and to make sure I addressed the issue."
He will now resume his full-time duties. And, really he wasn't that far away from the team anyway. He still had final say on all football matters.
This has been, is, and will remain his football team until he decides to walk away.
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Gillick on the air today
Phillies GM Pat Gillick was on the Howard Eskin show today. He acknowledged that they are working the phones to try and get bullpen help, but since it's a commodity that's being sought after by many teams, they are having trouble pulling off a deal.
One very interesting thing he said is that they'll listen to teams about any of their players when Howard Eskin asked him even if that group of players would include Freddie Garcia.
It's certain that they won't be making a move for bullpen help just yet though. He doesn't seem willing to overpay for it.
And, if the team starts off 4-8 then just might be forced too.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
On the fritz
Garcia to miss at least one start
Garica left the Wednesday night game against Toronto after just one inning when he was tagged for three runs and his fastball barely reached 85 miles per hour.
In Philadelphia history our teams are cursed with bringing in players who are great somewhere else and then they flounder here with inury-riddled seasons. Case in point; Peter Forsberg.
Will Garcia be the next in a long line of disappointments? It's certainly starting to look that way after having a rocky spring training and throwing in the mid-80's. This is a pitcher who throughout his career had a fastball in the mid-90's.
The Phillies will shut him down for at least one start to allow him to get healthy.
We shall see...
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Iguodala banged up?
Speaking of players on the fritz, Andre Igoudala's back is said to be taking a toll on him.
Despite never missing a game in his career, it may be time for him to shut it down, especially since they are playing meaningless basketball at this juncture.
The pain was said to be "at its worst" during their blowout to the Pistons on Tuesday night.
"The back pain has been there before, but it never really bothered me the way it did [Tuesday]," said Iguodala.
He remains optimistic that he'll be able to play tonight against the Bobcats.
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Fedoruk out
Flyers uncertain how long Fedoruk will be out.
By now, you have certainly heard about it if you haven't seen the hit that knocked Todd Fedoruk out cold against the Rangers.
GM Paul Holmgren just said that he'll need time to recover from it.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Whaaaa!
Lieber gets moved to the bullpen; cries about it
Jon Lieber told MLB.com that he's disappointed to be moved to the bullpen because he signed to be a starter.
Well, boo hoo.
Is he complaining that he's going to make $7 million this season, or that he made $14 million over the past 2 seasons?
Obviously not.
He certainly won't give back any of that money, which is what he should have done with the way he pitched for much of the season last year-carrying a 5.00-plus ERA into September. I'll give him this much though; he pitched well down the stretch.
The fact is no teams are interested in Lieber and he's the odd man out. The Phillies committed $24 million to Adam Eaton, thus making him their number 5 starter.
This won't last long though, because as soon as an arm on another team goes down (and they have a tendency to drop like flies) Lieber will be sought after.
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Garcia leaves game early...
610-WIP's Brian Startare just reported that Freddie Garcia had to leave a game early today due to arm trouble. He will be examined by a team doctor tomorrow.
This may mean that Lieber has been reprieved for now.
Stay tuned for more on that situation.
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Eagles sign DT Montae Reagor
When you look at this signing on paper, he appears to be another undersized tackle, who is a middle of the road talent.
He had 11 sacks combined in 2004 and 2005 and missed most of last season after getting in a car accident.
This move means the end for either Darwin Walker or Sam Rayburn. Doesn't it seem like ages when Rayburn was an effective pass rusher?
My money is on Rayburn getting the axe.
Either way this isn't what the Eagles need. They don't need a 285 pound defensive tackle. They need a 340 pound run stuffer.
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Sixers lose again
Can we now cease with the playoff talk? The Sixers are not heading to the playoffs this season. I don't care how bad the Atlantic Division is.
They fell to the Detroit Pistons at The Palace last night 96-75.
The Sixers appear to be mailing it in now. And, I couldn't be happier. Why in the world would I want to see them make the playoffs and face the Pistons? This is what would happen for three straight games.
For them to give up their lottery chances to be cannon fodder would be one of the worst things that ever happened to this franchise.
Keep up the good work fellas.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Deja Vu?
Right now it looks like the Eagles are primed to give us another season of the "air guitar"
Like myself I'm sure those two images have stuck inside your mind and you would love to rid yourself of them. Well, you might have to wait another year.
I know you're probably cursing your computer screen as you're reading this. Well, don't take it out on me. I'm just the messenger. I won't throw out that cliche that you were thinking I was gonna say.
Seriously though, what has this team done to improve their linebacking corps, which resembles a corpse more often then not? Aside from Trotter and Gaither they were woeful last year. The spin coming out of the organization is that Dhani Jones played better at times. Are you kidding me?
I found it funny that radio show hosts and even fans were buying into this bunk.
There are some that didn't buy into it and acknowledged that he can't play. Ike Reese even said it, "Dhani Jones stinks." And, Hugh Douglass (a former teammate of his) alluded to it.
And, the Eagles have done nothing to improve there. As close as they came to "upgrading" the position was when they attempted to sign career back-up linebacker Ryan Fowler. That fell through though when his agent played them like a banjo.
The word coming out of the organization is that they are depending on Chris Gokong to step up who is going to be converted from a defensive end to outside linebacker. Garry Cobb said that he was so bad in training camp that the Eagles had to invent an injury for him to sit the whole year.
Things are looking just peachy for the linebacker situation aren't they?
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Lieber or Eaton may head to the bullpen
As you probably heard GM Pat Gillick said the Phillies are likely to head into the season with six pitchers. And, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that one of them will be the odd man out.
Thus, Jon Lieber or Adam Eaton will likely head to the pen.
Right now, there just isn't any interest in Jon Lieber amongst teams. This will certainly put the Phillies in a quandry. Sure, it's a luxury to have 6 starting pitchers.
But, it's anathema to have a shoddy bullpen and be stuck with more starters than you need.
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Sixers getting the job done
The Sixers are currently losing to the Detroit Pistons 88-65
This is what many of us have been clamoring for a month now. Just tank it baby!
Get more of those ping pong balls baby.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Unstable pen
The Phillies' bullpen is very unstable heading into the season
Pat Gillick stated today that the Phillies will likely head into the season with the bullpen as-is. And, this isn't good news at all if he's telling the truth.
The Phillies' bullpen has an aggregate ERA of 6.19 and is the achilles heel of this squad.
For them to head into the season with 6 starting pitchers would be assanine. Or, perhaps Gillick is just saying this to posture. That could be the case. After all, why would he want to look desperate to unload one of his starting pitchers for what he needs.
However, it's painfully obvious that this club is two relief pitchers away from being a serious contender. Could they win the NL East with their offense and starting pitching staff? Absolutely. Can they contend for a World Series when you add up the sum of the parts? I would say no at this stage. And, the season hasn't begun. There are many moves to be made before and throughout the season.
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Sixers idle tonight
The self-proclaimed playoff contending Philadelphia 76ers, coming off the heels of their worst home loss in history will not play tonight.
They are off until tomorrow night when they look to further screw up their lottery chances against Detroit.
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Still no upgrades on defense
The Eagles missed out on another quality free agent in Cato June, who signed with the Tampa Bay Bucaneers over the weekend.
Lance Briggs is there for the taking though, as he told the Chicago Bears organization he will never play another game for them after they put the franchise tag on him.
Wait, this is the Eagles we're talking about. Why would they ever invest a lot of money on a top-notch outside linebacker?!
Dream on.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Sixers crumble
Sixers get demolished by the visiting Houston Rockets 124-74
From the opening moments of this game it was never a game. As close as it came to becoming a game was when the Sixers were outscored by just 2 points in the second quarter, thus trailing 59-40 at halftime.
And, from there the onslaught got worse and worse and worse. Ultimately, this was the worst loss for the Sixers in the Wachovia Center.
Anybody who has followed my comments on the Sixers lately will see that I'm rooting for them to compete and lose as many games as possible. I'm not rooting against them; I'm rooting for them to be good in the future.
However, this is just quite pathetic. I could understand them losing by 35 points on the road, especially against Houston whom they have not had any luck against since Yao joined the team in 2002.
Kyle Korver was the only Sixer who showed up to play tonight; he had 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
Andre Iguodala had arguably his worst game of the season, scoring just 6 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Philadelphia had no answer for Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady, who both combined for 45 points.
The Sixers will look to rebound on Tuesday night when they head to Detroit.
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Chris Coste on the bubble?
During the spring Coste hasn't received much playing time as he's been sitting behind Rod Barajas and back-up Carlos Ruiz. Both Barajas and Ruiz are very good defensive catchers, while Coste is much stronger at the plate; not behind it.
Coste is hitting .278 in just 18 at-bats this spring.
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Flyers fall to Senators 3-2
The Flyers are now 1-7 in their last 8 games on the road.
Mark down the Senators as another team that has swept the Flyers this season.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
One and done
Battle of Wildcats results in Nova making a first-round exit
Villanova, playing with an injured Mike Nardi, clearly needed his A-game to pull this one off last night as Kentucky came to play.
Kentucky's lethal combination of center Randolph Morris and their perimeter players were too much for the Wildcats.
This was the final game of Curtis Sumpter's career and he ended up with 19 points and 8 boards.
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Sixers knock off Utah in the final second
Kyle Korver has elevated his game this year in a few ways. He not only has developed a solid mid-range game, but he knocks down the big shots.
Last night he stuck the dagger into Utah's collective hearts by knocking down a 21-footer with 5.1 seconds remaining. The result was an 89-88 victory.
What was more impressive was Samuel Dalembert's block on Gordon Giricek, which enabled Korver to get the open look. Sammy D also had 17 points, but the biggest play of the night for him was that pick.
The game was back-and-forth and there were a whopping nine lead changes in the final four minutes.
On a night when the sleet and snow kept many home, the Sixers certainly showed up.
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Eagles re-sign Buckhalter for 2 years
After drawing no interest on the open market the Eagles re-signed running back Correll Buckhalter for 2 seasons.
While on Howard Eskin's show on Thursday Joe Banner acknowledged that they would know "within 24 hours" whether they would sign Ron Dayne or not.
Turns out Buckhalter was their guy. He will once again back up Brian Westbrook at tailback.
You don't need me to say that the Eagles need a big back that can pound it. Everyone who has any semblence of vision can see that this team needs that.
They seem to think differently and passed up the likes of Jamal Lewis and Corey Dillon to re-sign Buckhalter, who is a nice back-up, but very much an injury risk despite having an injury-free season last year.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Curtis signed!
The Eagles finally signed a free agent player of significance that isn't one of their own
The Eagles and free agen wide receiver Kevin Curtis have agreed to terms on a 6-year contract that will pay him up to $32 million. He will receive a $7.5 million signing bonus and there are $2 million in other guarantees.
This is just the signing the Eagles had to make. After the debacle with the Donte Stallworth non-signing (and it turns out Rosenhaus deserves much of the fault) the Eagles had to upgrade at wide receiver.
Curtis provides them with a deep threat who two years ago played very well in place of Isaac Bruce when he was injured. He wasn't the go-to guy for the Rams, so his numbers won't blow you away, but he fills a need and gives the Eagles an immediate upgrade.
As far as the Donte Stallworth situation goes. Joe Banner was on the Howard Eskin show on 610-WIP tonight and claims Stallworth wasn't entirely aware of the Eagles' offer.
That's not surprising; this is Rosenhaus we're talking about here. Just why he wouldn't be totally upfront with Stallworth is anybody's guess. Howard Eskin claims he first went to the Eagles with a demand for $5 million and the Eagles said it was too much and put up their offer. He said he'd get back to them and never did.
So it goes, Stallworth walks and the Eagles get a downgrade, but it's a hell of a lot better than trotting Baskett and Avant out there with Reggie Brown. He'll have a legitimate deep threat starting alongside him in September.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Streak ends
The lowly Atlanta Hawks end the Sixers' 7-game winning streak
The Sixers were defeated 104-92 by the Atlanta Hawks, thus ending their 7-game winning streak, which drove many of us nuts (including yours truly) and reinvigorated many fans.
Many fans were no doubt cheering that they lost. There were some of us like myself who felt, "I never like to see my team lose, but they really need to lose as much as possible." And, of course, there were some fans who are blinded by the fool's gold, which was this 7-game winning streak.
Andre Iguodala led the way with 18 points.
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Flyers extend GM Paul Homlgren for 2 years
No longer will you be referring to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren as the "interim GM." He is now the GM of the team for the next few years.
And, he deserves it. After taking over a club that was in disarray in the beginning of the season he has made a series of excellent trades that will provide the team with a multitude of prospects (notably defensemen) and high draft picks.
Not to mention, they are going to be sitting pretty come the off-season as they are looking to be roughly $25 million under the salary cap.
Kudos to Holmgren for leading this rebuilding effort. This is how you do it. And, something tells me that this season is an aberration. It's been an ugly year, but don't count on this being a pattern. This is a man with a plan in place that will have this team back in contention come next season.
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Hats off to the Phillies for their tribute to "Vuke"
For those of you that have seen what I've written about the Phillies, you'll know that I've been rather tough on them at times. No doubt.
And, I'll call it as I see it.
The Phillies deserve serious accolades for what they've done in regards to John Vukovich's final goodbye.
From Dave Montgomery on down, they all deserve some serious props for the display they put on, and it was much needed as John Vukavich was not only a fixture in this organization, but a great man who by all accounts was loved by many.
There were over 700 people who attended his viewing.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Flash flies home
Phillies' closer Tom Gordon flew back to Philadelphia yesterday to see the team doc.
The Phillies insist nothing is wrong, and some would suggest that he merely flew up to see the doctor first and then pay respects to John Vukavich, who was laid to rest today.
However, we would be remiss if we didn't at least question why he would not just wait to fly up with the rest of the team if that's the case and then see the doctor while he's here.
It sets off a red flag for him to fly 1,500 miles for just a "routine check-up and nothing more."
Gordon, at age 39 broke down in the second half of last season. The claim here is that he gets this routine check up every year during spring training.
I don't think anybody expects Gordon to remain healthy for the entire year. If the Phillies get anything about 30 saves from him, it's gravy.
It's alarming that he's taking a flight in mid-March to see the team doctor. Maybe that Aaron Rowand for Scott Linebrink trade wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Consider this; they can move Victorino to center, and make a move for Alex Rios on Toronto and have him play right field. If, and only if they can also get Rios then they should pull the trigger on the Rowand trade.
They'll need to make a move soon either way for a set-up man. For them to rely on Gordon and Alfonseca (who's had his share of injury woes in recent years) is a huge risk.
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Could Lieber be headed to the White Sox?
It's no secret that Lieber has enjoyed a very good spring training. The White Sox are said to be interested in trading back for Aaron Rowand.
If the White Sox were to make a move for both players, set-up man Mike MacDougal would certainly be included in the deal.
After that it's all conjecture at this point.
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Victorino savoring the opportunity
“If I don't do well in the spring, anything can happen,” said Victorino.
Considering the fine job he did last year he needn't worry about that. He'll be starting in the outfield and batting leadoff or second this season.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Eagles get played
Ryan Fowler's agent plays the Eagles like a banjo
Looks like the banjo player Dhani Jones still has a job, thanks to the Eagles getting played like one.
Well say it aint so. The Eagles' prized acquisition of this free agency period, career back-up linebacker Ryan Fowler said thanks but no thanks to the Eagles and signed with the Titans.
Yesterday it was reported that he signed an offer sheet with the Eagles and the Cowboys would have 7 days to match.
It turns out there was a verbal agreement and they had to get the paperwork in to the NFL today. The agent called the Eagles and said he was going to take the Titans' offer.
According to Howard Eskin on 610-WIP, Fowler took a better offer with the Titans and this whole fiasco was the agent's doing. The Titans apparently were prepared to give up a draft pick in a trade once the Cowboys matched the Eagles' offer sheet. However, once the agent saw it was a verbal offer he screwed the Cowboys by playing the Eagles and having the Titans simply outbid them for more than the Cowboys would be willing to match.
In my humble opinion it looks like the Eagles are getting off the hook. They were going to pay $2-plus million per season to a career back-up, hoping he'd eventually start for them at linebacker. Added to that, they were going to pay him more money in his first year than Donte Stallworth is receiving from the Patriots (they will pay him $3.5 million in the first year). Sickening isn't it?
Considering everyone aside from Cato June (the Eagles won't even try so don't even get your hopes up) has been snatched up, they might as well draft a linebacker like Paul Posluszny out of Penn State or Patrick Willis out of Mississippi in the first round of the draft next month.
That would be a much better option considering they didn't even bother to go after Joey Porter or Adalius Thomas. I personally don't subscribe to this theory that 3-4 linebackers can't play in 4-3 systems. If you're a football player, you're a football player. And, the Eagles clearly lack football players in the linebacker department sans Jeremiah Trotter and Omar Gaither-who showed some promise as a rookie.
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Rod Hood signs with the Cardinals for 5 years
The contract will pay him roughly $15 million. And, it has incentives that could reach $23 million.
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Tom Gordon heads back to Philadelphia for an exam
This falls into the category of those "things that make you go hmmm." Just why is Gordon reluctant to discuss what is ailing him?
Why would he fly 1,500 miles back to see the Phillies' team physician.
I'm never one to start up the rumor mill, but where there's smoke there's fire. We saw that Gordon had his share of arm troubles last season. For him to travel back to Philly during spring training is a tad bit alarming.
Stay tuned.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Lurie and Son
Donte Stallworth signs with New England for just $3.6 million guaranteed in 2007
The Eagles decided to let Stallworth go to the Patriots for less than $4 million guaranteed. This despite an obvious need for a speedy receiver in this offense. Meanwhile, the consolation prize for this loss is Cowboys career back-up linebacker Ryan Fowler.
Woo hoo!
The Eagles have signed Fowler to an offer sheet that will pay him $4 million in the first year of his contract. The deal is for 4 years and $10.5 million.
Aren't you just stoked that they're bringing in another bargain basement linebacker?
At first glance the Stallworth contract looked like an insane amount of money (over $30 million for 6 years), but then you see that the real money won't kick in until after 2007. The Eagles are making a mistake by not matching that.
They had better hope they can sign Kevin Curtis now. He doesn't have the pedigree of Stallworth, but is a speedy receiver who would fit in well with this offense.
The bottom line is he's a cheaper option, like Fowler, and like Bethel Johnson.
Don't even think about the Eagles signing Cato June. Not happening.
Get ready for a healthy diet of Ryan Fowler and Chris Gokong (assuming he's healthy).
This isn't a team that appears prepared for a Super Bowl run this season.
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Drexel snubbed; not one of the 64 teams
This would have been their first appearance in the tourney since 1986.
Villanova drew a 9-seed and will face the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round; not an easy road at all.
Penn drew a 14-seed and will face Texas A & M in the South Regional on Thursday.
The local teams aren't getting much love this year; just two of the Big 5 have made the tournament.
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Two Phillies pitchers struggling with finding a pitch
Garcia struggles with fastball and Madson trying to find a consistent third pitch.
Freddie Garcia has struggled this spring with the Phillies. His fastball has only been clocked in the mid to upper 80's. He admits that his fastball is only at "75%."
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Flushing away
You hear that sound? That's the sound of the Sixers' lottery chances being flushed down the toilet.
The Sixers won their 7th game in a row tonight, knocking off the Pacers 100-96. That's great.
I'm starting to beat this thing to death like every other writer or personality out there, but there are two schools of thought on this. There are those of us like myself who are annoyed with this winning streak. And, there are some who love it and want this team to go to the playoffs.
Really, what good would it do this franchise to go to the playoffs and get annhilated by the Pistons in the first round?
What, so the young players can get playoff experience?
Please.
It would be an abomination.
This team needs to do what the Memphis Grizzlies are doing and just lose games. They don't have to make it look shady like the Celtics' epic 16-game losing streak, but they need to get the job done.
It would set this team back YEARS to do make the playoffs. Think about this. They will lose their first round draft pick if they make the playoffs. That is the condition of their pick this year. And, it's the deepest draft in years. To miss out on that would be a travesty.
Sure, they have two other first round picks, but one belongs to Denver and the other belongs to Dallas. Both of those teams will make the playoffs and Dallas's pick might as well be a second round pick since it will be the last pick in the first round or second to last if they make it to the NBA Finals or win.
This winning streak is nice and a good confidence builder. Now, it's time to do what's in the best interests of the franchise and begin playing guys like Bobby Jones, Kevin Ollie, and Louis Williams 25 minutes a night.
If they make it to the playoffs it's nothing but fool's gold.
They are now just 4 games out of the 8th playoff spot in the East.
This is what happens to us in Philly. When we want our teams to win they fail us, and when we finally want a team to lose, they keep winning.
Only in Philadelphia can this type of thing occur.
I'm not rooting against the Sixers. I'm rooting for their future and that's more important than a few meaningless wins right now.
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Flyers rout the Bruins 4-1.
The Flyers defeated the Bruins today 4-1 in South Philly this afternoon.
Martin Biron is now 3-1-1 since being acquired in a trade with Buffalo two weeks ago. Fellow newcomer Scottie Upshall scored again for the Flyers, scoring his 5th goal since being acquired on February 15th.
Simon Gagne had another goal, his 37th of the season and his 6th goal in the last 9 games.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Iggy wins the duel
Andre Iguodala wins his battle against Kobe; takes a giant leap forward
There are certain games in a player's career when they take that proverbial step forward. Friday night it was Andre Iguodala's time.
The new "A.I." outscored Kobe 31-30. And, more importantly he got the W as the Sixers knocked off the Lakers 108-92.
He followed up his triple-double from the other night with a fantasy geek's dream; 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Sammy D followed up his 20-rebound performance with 12 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Kobe Bryant had 30 points, but on just 12-of-27 shots. Iguodala forced Kobe to take the amount of shots that Allen Iverson normally takes to get to the 30-point mark.
The Sixers have now won a season-high 6 games. In fact, it's their longest winning streak since 2005.
Billy King also announced before the game that Mo Cheeks will return.
Now, the Sixers are 4 1/2 games out of a playoff spot. There's no doubt that they're a fun team to watch and their chances of winning the lottery are dwindling.
A week ago, they were the third-worst team in the NBA. Now, they're playing better basketball than anybody in the East right now, with the longest winning streak in the conference.
Personally, I'm torn. I like to see them play better and they are fun to watch. However, I still feel they have a chance of a generation in landing one of those two franchise players.
Regardless, it's good to see that they have a bright future.
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Eagles court Kevin Curtis today
Rams free agent wide receiver Kevin Curtis visited the NovaCare Complex today.
Suddenly the Eagles are becoming a little more aggressive in the free agent market. Bethel Johnson is hardly Devon Hester, but he's a minor upgrade over Dexter Wynn in the return game. And, then today the resigned William James.
Today, they brought in Kevin Curtis for an interview. He will be their back-up plan should they fail to resign Donte Stallworth, who according to 610-WIP's Howard Eskin, could sign a one-year contract to once again "prove himself."
Kevin Curtis is a very speedy receiver and would give the Eagles a downfield threat. He doesn't have the gaudy numbers that Stallworth has when he's healthy, but he's a very solid receiver.
He had 60 cathces for 801 yards and 6 TD's in 2005 and 40 catches for 479 yards and 4 TD's in 2006.
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Eagles resign the cornerback formerly known as Will Peterson
The Eagles have resigned cornerback William James to a one-year contract. They originally picked up the former-Giant back in October. He ended up playing in four games, including one in the playoffs.
James will give them some much-needed depth in the defensive backfield. Since Rod Hood will most likely leave it leaves them thin in terms of the back-ups behind Lito Shephard and Sheldon Brown.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
1947-2007
Former Phillies player and coach John Vukovich passes away at the age of 59
John Vukovich sadly lost his second battle with brain cancer this morning at Thomas Jefforson University Hospital. He was 59 years old.
The coach known as "Vuk" spent a total of 41 seasons in professional baseball including 31 with the Phillies. His career started out like most baseball people; as a player and he coached with the organization for 18 years and most recently served as a front-office advisor to Pat Gillick.
Mr. Vukovich had a ten-year career in the bigs and was a member of the Phillies' World Series team in 1980.
In 2001 he had surgery to remove a brain tumor, but another one surfaced a few months ago. It wasn't discovered by many until recently that Mr. Vukovich was sick. In fact, I didn't even know about his brain tumor until learning of it yesterday that he was gravely ill.
Mr. Vukovich was known by many as one of the truly classy and great gentlemen in baseball. He wasn't afraid to tell players the truth and would never back down from anybody.
The Phillies players will wear black patches on their jerseys with the letters VUK on them in memory of John Vukovich.
When I hear stories of cancer it really hits home as my father recently passed away from colon cancer in August. We knew something was terribly wrong and urged him to go to the doctor's and by the time we finally got him in there it was too late. 3 weeks after he was admitted they discovered he had a tumor in his colon. And, within 6 weeks it had spread to his liver and lungs and he had passed away. It's hard to verbalize what it's like to see a loved one die from cancer, let alone my father, but one word to describe it would be horrific.
Mr. Vukovich is survived by his wife, the former Bonnie Loughran, whom he met at Veterans Stadium; his two children, Nicole Stolarik and Vince; and triplet granddaughters Anna, Lena and Stella Stolarik. He is also survived by two brothers, Rich and Bill, of California.
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Sixers doing everything they can to worsen their lottery pick
The Sixers won another tight game last night, defeating the Seattle Sonics 92-89. As Kyle Korver knocked down the game-winner it gave many people a lot to cheer for at the Wachovia Center last night.
But, then there were those of us (myself included) watching at home, who went "Damn! Not again!"
I'll be honest. I'm hoping the Sixers take a dump at the end of this season. They need to compete and develop their younger players. Check and check. Those two things are being accomplished. However, they shouldn't do everything they can to win. This is their first chance in nearly 10 years to get a franchise player in the draft.
So, what do they do? They screw up their chances by winning.
Nobody will give a (expletive deleted) about how they finish up this season five years from now.
However, plenty of people will care if the Boston Celtics land Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in the draft. That will haunt them for years.
I'm pleading to GM Billy King if he reads this. Please go in and tell Mo Cheeks to tone it down a tad.
Keep competing, but start playing the likes of Kevin Ollie 20 to 25 minutes a night.
If you land one of those franchise players you'll be thanking Kevin Ollie for a championship down the road.
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Eagles finally sign a free agent
The Eagles have finally signed a free agent that isn't one of their own players.
Drum roll please...
Keep it going...
Ok, you can cease now. I hope you're sitting down for this one.
The Eagles have signed WR/KR Bethel Johnson to a one-year contract.
What? You're not stoked over this signing?
Bethel Johnson is a former New England Patriot, and not just any Patriot. He was drafted in the second round in 2003 so he has to have some sort of pedigree.
Johnson has 39 catches in his career for 606 yards, with 24.6 yard average on kickoffs with two touchdowns. Still not excited?
Last year for the Vikings, Johnson returned 45 kickoffs for a 23.4 yard average.
Really, it's a nothing-move for the Eagles. They needed to improve their return game some and Johnson gives them a little upgrade over Dexter Wynn. If he stinks it up in camp the Eagles can cut him like the Saints did last year, since he's only signed for one year.
Hardly a splash in free agency for the Eagles. What did you expect? They only had $8 million to spend on free agents when you consider they have to spend money on rookies.
It's another snoozer of a free agency period for the birds.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
HGH FAILS
David Bell is the first known case of HGH having the opposite effect on a player
This is the latest photo of David Bell. Not only did his body break down and his skills totally erode over the last few years, but his body now resembles Mini Me's.
Bell went from playing in the World Series with the Giants in 2002 to hitting just .195 in his first season with the Phillies. After that first awful season he was booed relentlessly by the fans despite hiting a .291 average the following season. Most of the time he was booed because of his poor defensive play.
Bell came up with many big hits in his tenure with the Phillies and played hard, but represented the segment of the Phillies players who were poisoned by Bobby Abreu's attitude.
Now, Bell is proving to be another fraud, another in a long line of players who have been exposed for taking performance-enhancing drugs and not fessing up to it.
In his case he probably should have laid off the juice. Think of all those errant throws that might have been on target.
Things that make you go hmmm.
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SHOCKER! Flyers win again in OT 5-4.
All season long it appeared that the Flyers' bain was overtime. After knocking off the Bruins last week in OT, they have come up with another win in OT and this time they defeated a real opponent in the Devils.
It feels good to see them win a game like this against their rivals.
This was the battle of the Martins as Martin Biron and Martin Brodeur squared off, and Biron came out the winner.
Biron previously had a 2-6-0 record against the Devils in his career with a 3.14 GAA.
Gagne won the game at 1 minute, 47 seconds into OT.
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Former Phils coach Vukovich is gravely ill
And, onto a very sad story.
"Vuke" was one of the most popular Phillies in their history. He also coached on the team for 17 seasons before moving to the front office in 2004.
This is the first time in 40 years that Mr. Vukovich wasn't in Florida for the start of spring training. He won his first batttle with a brain tumor, but doctors have discovered a second one.
And, this marks the second time in the last five years that a former Phillie has fallen victim to a brain tumor. Tug McGraw passed away at the age of 59 in 2004 after a two-year battle.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
DONTE'S U.S. TOUR
Donte Stallworth's U.S. Tour to span 4 cities
First Drew Rosenhaus and prized free agent wide receiver visited with the Eagles after "the leak." And, today their tour took them to Boston to visit with the Patriots.
Peter King was on Rueben Frank's show on 610-WIP last night and said that the fact that this is known by all of the NFL teams could cause him to lose half the money he originally would have gotten.
Those figures are a little drastic, but it's still awful timing for Stallworth. Added to that Hugh Douglass said on Angelo Cataldi's morning show also on WIP that players are tested for drugs randomly in mini camp. Therefore, if that's the case he had already failed the test and the Eagles had known about it prior to trading for him last summer.
There is no doubt that this will hurt him in the pocket, but there is still some interest. Today when he visitied with the Patriots, they reportedly offered him a contract. He will head to Tennessee next and then to Miami.
One has to take any sort of contract figures that get thrown out there with a grain of salt since the information is coming from Drew Rosenhaus. The chances of Rosenhaus telling the truth are the chances of Milton Street becoming the next mayor of Philadelphia.
Let's just assume at this juncture that he's scheduled to visit with two more teams and that the Eagles and Patriots made him offers. Anything else and it's bull (expletive deleted).
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Say What?
Billy King named 3rd best GM in professional sports by Forbes Magazine
Ok, I love the job BK is doing this year by blowing up the Sixers thereby putting them in a position to have their cap in the mid-$20 million range after next season.
However, whoever was involved with this article at Forbes magazine must be smoking some serious stuff.
He was named the 3rd best GM in all of professional sports, by Forbes Magazine. This is not a misprint, he was named the 3rd best GM in all pro sports, not just the NBA, but all four major sports. And, they allegedly used winning as a major barometer in their analysis.
And, the funniest thing is that Kevin McHale was rated #1.
Maybe this thing was backwards, but to have two mediocre GM's at best to be among the top 3 on your list is pathetic.
There's no need to run down the list of bad moves by Billy King but there's just no way in hell you can say a guy who ran through 3 coaches after Larry Brown, traded for Chris Webber (then "bought him out" for just 5 million less than what he was owed), held onto Allen Iverson two years too long, and made a slew of bad signings is even the 13th best GM in the NBA.
Now this year he appears to have turned a page, but he still has a long way to go before proving himself to be anything more than a mediocre GM. If he hadn't been so successful in the draft with what little he's had to work with (just two first round picks since taking over thanks to Larry Brown's bad trades) then he'd be as bad as Ed Wade.
If you notice, Forbes is giving Billy King credit for 8 years served as a GM. Really it was Larry Brown running the show until he left in 2003, but who's counting.
Forbes certainly isn't.
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Jon Lieber auditions for the scouts
Lieber pitched two scoreless innings in front of a hoard of scouts
If Jon Lieber realizes his days as a Phillie are numbered he certainly is taking it in stride. When asked about how much he weighs he said "Two-ten." Of course he followed it up by saying, "Aw, I'm just bleeping with you."
Lieber is coming off the worst season of his career and has been linked to trade rumors for months now. The other player being linked to trade rumors is Aaron Rowand and that deal would involve the Padres sending the Phillies set-up man Scott Linebrink.
There are currently no rumors involving Lieber. There doesn't appear to be any talks going on with the Brewers who reportedly were going to send the Phillies outfielder Kevin Mench and reliever Derrick Turnbow.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
LEAKED!
Donte Stallworth's participation in the NFL's substance abuse program leaked.
First there was Watergate. And, years later the identity of the source known as "Deep Throat" was revealed.
And, now there's Stallgate.
The timing is extremely suspect considering free agency just started on Friday. And, now Stallworth will stand to lose millions.
Just who leaked that information is anybody's guess, but the Eagles are now in good position to land the receiver as nobody will bang down the doors to sign him.
Teams often shy away from receivers who are a step away from a suspension. Should Stallworth even get a DUI he'll face a 4-game suspension.
Stallworth acknowledged that he was smoking weed. An anonymous source just informed me he was last seen hanging out with Ricky Williams. Just kidding.
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Falling out of the chase.
The Sixers win their fourth in a row, defeating the Nets 99-86.
Ok, this winning thing is officially annoying. I like to see the young players improving and developing on this team. However, there is a point when winning too much is just plain foolish.
This team is the third-worst team in the NBA record-wise, albeit by a hair, but they are still the third-worst team in the league.
And, now they're going to even entertain the possibility of going to the playoffs.
Are you kidding me? Should they make the foolish mistake of going to the playoffs they would forfeit their draft pick this year. When Andre Iguodala was asked about it he replied.
"Why not? Look at the Orlando Magic last year," Iguodala said. "They were in a similar position. Nobody was looking at them and they sprouted up and finished ninth and surprised everybody. You never know."
Billy King should tell Mo Cheeks to lay off the pedal a little. If they keep this up they'll play themselves right out of the top 3 of the NBA Draft.
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Hitting the weights.
Cole Hamels turning to the weight room to improve his chances at winning 20 games.
One has to love the confidence on the young left-hander's part. Hamels stated his goal is to win 20 games this season.
And, if you look at the way he pitched last season and how hard he's working this season, it wouldn't be totally out of the realm of possibility.
He just needs to stay healthy and pitch 200-plus innings.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Garcia leaves birds officially and flies south for the Bucs.
So much for "what if" the Eagles had negotiated with Jeff Garcia? There was absolutely no chance of him re-signing with the Eagles considering the Bucs have inked him to a contract that will pay him $5 million a season over the next 2 years. And, since the Bucs are paying him that he will be their starting quarterback.
Make no mistake about it, back-up quarterbacks do not get paid $5 million a season.
The Eagles would have paid him between $2 and $3 million to be their back-up. And, let's follow things through here. If the Eagles had waited until the start of free agency to negotiate with him, there's no chance in hell he would've accepted half the money and a back-up job when a better opportunity presented itself in Tampa.
Jon Gruden is well known for resurrecting the career of Rich Gannon during his tenure in Oakland. Gannon thrived in his West Coast offense and Garcia has many of the same qualities as Gannon in terms of age, experience, leadership, and accuracy.
This certainly will take the heat off the Eagles. But, now there's another controversey in town and that surrounds Ryan Howard...
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If you listened to 610-WIP at all this weekend you'd notice the majority of the callers who called in had one thing on their mind, and that's how the Phillies apparently shafted Ryan Howard.
Caller after caller would say "why not just give him $100,000 dollars more?"
"Why couldn't they give him the $1.4 million?"
"This makes me sick that the Phillies would do this to him."
Call me crazy, but didn't the Phillies pay him more than they had to? And, there's another fact that most people are leaving out who are critical of the Phillies, and it's that Ryan Howard refused to sign the one-year deal the Phillies had on the table.
It's unknown how much more money was in that one-year deal that the Phillies pulled off the table.
He could have signed that deal, so it's on him for not signing that deal. Why in the world he would refuse to sign a one-year deal is beyond me.
And, there's another thing people are forgetting to see and that's that every baseball player has to pay their dues. Many will point to Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu getting big money deals, but they had to play more than a season and a half before getting their huge contracts. Albert Pujols had to play more than two seasons before getting his big pay day, and so do the rest of the stars.
Sure, Ryan Howard languished in the minors for probably two more seasons than he should have (another blunderous move by Ed Wade) but Howard still shouldn't receive special consideration.
The players union put this system in place where players have to put in their "service time" before being arbitration eligible and eligible for free agency. Ryan Howard will become arbitration eligible after this season and he'll begin making the big money. Then, they can work on a long-term deal during next season.
I am the biggest Ryan Howard fan out there. Just ask my buddies and they'll tell you that. I have him on two of my fantasy baseball teams in my money leagues.
However, it would be a bad business decision on the Phillies' part to give him a mega-deal at this juncture. And, let's be honest here; they paid him more than they had to. They could have paid him the minimum, which is under $400,000.
Like all stars Howard will get his pay day, he just has to wait it out. That's part of the deal with being a major league baseball player.
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Buckhalter and Hood to visit with other teams.
Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter is scheduled to meet with the Broncos this week. And, cornerback Rod Hood is scheduled to meet with the Giants and Browns.
Hood is not expected to return to the team as his asking price will probably be too high for what they're willing to pay.
And, Buckhalter can always be expected to return to the Eagles as they love to get back-up running backs in there on the cheap.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Sixers knock off Grizzlies in OT to win their third straight.
After Mike Miller knocked down that game-tying 3-pointer with just under 5 seconds left in regulation it appeared the Sixers would be swept in their season series against the NBA's worst team.
But, it was for naught as the Sixers took over in OT to win the game 117-112.
This was a very exciting game between two of the three worst teams (record-wise) in the NBA, although the Sixers are 11-9 in their last 20 games. There were over two dozen lead changes between both teams if you did the math.
The usual suspects came out in force tonight for the Sixers as Andre Iguodala had 27 points. Kyle Korver had yet another great game with 27 points, including the first four points in OT. Andre Miller had 11 points and handed out 12 assists. And, Sammy D had 10 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks. Joe Smith who isn't usually on this list came off the bench to score 18 points, grab 12 boards, and blocked 2 shots.
The Sixers have now split the season-series with the Grizzlies and have fallen 6 1/2 games behind them in the lottery chase. But, remember only 4 teams in the past 15 seasons who had the worst record actually got the first overall pick.
For those of you following up on the Sixers' position in the lottery standings, here is the latest.
Memphis 15-45
Boston 15-42 | 1 1/2 GB
Philadelphia 21-38 | 6 1/2 GB
Milwaukee 22-37 | 7 1/2 GB
Charlotte 22-37 | 7 1/2 GB
Atlanta 22-37 | 7 1/2 GB
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Eagles sign Juqua Thomas to five-year deal.
The Eagles emphatically stated that one of their priorities heading into free agency would be to retain the services of up-and-coming defensive end Juqua Thomas.
While he is slated to be a back-up to Jevon Kearse and Trent Cole, he is seen as an emerging player on this team. In fact he was one of their best pass rushers in the second half of the season and ended up with 6 sacks and 1 1/2 sacks in both playoff games. I won't spin those numbers like Dave Spadaro and say he was on pace to have 24 sacks if you look at his playoff games, but it's clear the Eagles retained a pretty good player for a number of years.
We have seen what Derrick Burgess has done in Oakland upon signing there and Thomas has similar skills to the Pro Bowl defensive end for the silver and black.
It's clear that Darren Howard can't really be relied upon and he'll probably be out of here after this coming season. While, I won't hail the Eagles as being perfect at the free agency game, they have come out winners here.
Now, let's see what they can come up with at linebacker. Considering the 49ers just threw out money foolishly to Nate Clements-to the tune of $80 million over 8 years, you can certainly expect that the Eagles won't sign top-tier free agent linebackers Adalius Thomas or Cato June.
And, how can they when they have already eaten into their $8 million of cap space? They'll need to find a second-tier linebacker though, and that will be a challenge. But, they can't sleep during this free agency period.
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Phillies renew Ryan Howard, as he sets a new salary record.
Fear not, Ryan Howard will step onto the field this year. There will not be a hold out or anything of the sort.
And, really how could there be?
He understands the salary game. He and his agent know that everybody has to wait. Even Albert Pujols had to wait to get his due.
Howard was renewed today (even though he didn't sign the deal) for a record $900,000, which is the record for a player with two-plus years of service time. Albert Pujols received $900,000 from the Cards in 2003 when he had two-plus years of service time.
Once Howard reaches 2 1/2 years of service time he'll become salary arbitration eligible and then he can start earning the big bucks.
Really, why should the Phillies throw him crazy money right away? He needs to pay his dues and show he's for real for more than just a season and a half.
Remember, isn't that the mistake Ed Wade made when he overpaid Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu prematurely?
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Flyers finally win in OT-defeat Bruins 4-3
Finally, the Flyers have come up with a win in overtime. Newly-acquired Flyer Scottie Upshall came up with the game-winner with 9.9 seconds left in OT to seal the win for the Flyers.
And, had they not won in OT their chances of winning would have been greatly diminished since the Flyers are just dreadful in shootouts. Then again, they have been dreadful period, but let's not rain on their parade. Forget that they beat a lowly Bruins team. They still won the damn game.
And, that's the bottom line.
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Despite some big names being out there on the market, the Eagles won't have much to spend.
This would be a great opportunity for the Eagles to get an outside linebacker. The Steelers released Joey Porter yesterday, but there's one problem; the Eagles don't have much money to spend.
And, the other problem is they'll probably say he wouldn't "fit their system" since he played in a 3-4 for his entire career.
I personally don't care. If a guy can play football, he can play football. Joey Porter is a badass. The guy is a warrior and certainly can make an impact in any system. There are certain players you look at and go, "that guy can play on any team."
However, the Eagles are said to only have a cap number of $8 million. Considering they had $20 million last year and only signed Darren Howard, Matt Schoebel, and Jeff Garcia, don't count on them signing Porter or any free agent linebacker.
They'll still need some of that $8 million to sign their draft picks.
Look forward to a boring free agency period.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
