Today's News
September 30, 2006
| By Dennis Bakay
| 
Discuss
The Phillies' postseason hopes ended today following their thrilling 4-3 win over the Marlins, when both the Dodgers and Padres won.
If there's one positive thing to say about this latest season-ending dissapointment, at least it didn't happen on the final day.
But, really are there many of us who are surprised by this?
Just who expected this team to make it into the postseason with one of the worst managers in the history of professional sports?
Charlie Manuel isn't just a bad manager; he's hideous. He probably blew 10 games for this team, and that's being generous.
This all stems back to a systemic problem with this organization and it starts with the head-Dave Montgomery. He has a propensity for being cheap. Added to that, he has a habit for putting in yes-men who won't put up resistance. When Jim Leyland was interviewed to be the Phillies manager (after a public outcry when he put it out there he was interested in the job and the Phillies still failed to contact him until 610-WIP stirred up the criticism) he recommended that the Phillies trade Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu, and sign two starting pitchers. Montgomery wanted none of this, so he had then-flunky Ed Wade hire the guy they wanted all along; Charlie Manuel. This move proved to be disastrous.
The Phillies have now left the fans of this town at the altar for 5 out of 6 seasons. It's simply unacceptable at this point.
Is it any wonder why many people including myself couldn't fully commit to this team? I found myself at odds with several of my friends who insisted that I stop being "negative" and just enjoy the ride. I can't say that I've been negative; I've just been realistic. This team is like the girlfriend who just cheats on you (let's pretend you'll put up with such behavior in a relationship) and you just continue to trust them, thinking they'll change. And, of course, you are left heartbroken. I refused to let myself get heartbroken. A week ago I said this team would make the playoffs, but I kept it in the back of my mind that a collapse wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
And, they did just that against the Astros (who threw out a scrub pitcher) and a bad Washington team. The Nationals had absolutely nothing to play for and the Phillies came up lame. The Phillies' collapse (and it was one-make no mistake about it) in the clutch, which saw them lose 3 out of 4 games can be attributed to shoddy managing by Manuel, defensive lapses, poor relief pitching, and the poor clutch hitting with runners on base.
As the song "Same Old Song and Dance" goes by Aerosmith, it's the same old story and same old song and dance with the 2006 Phillies. The past two months were a lot of fun as they played meaningful games and showed tremendous heart at times.
And, it's a shame that they didn't go to the playoffs this season, in a season when this team clearly changed following the Abreu trade. They showed a renewed passion on the field and looked like they were having fun.
Ryan Howard had one of the greatest offensive seasons in major league history. Chase Utley, the heart and soul of this team, had a hitting streak, which rivaled Jimmy Rollins' streak. Cole Hamels and Brett Myers showed us that they have two top of the rotation pitchers to anchor this rotation for the next several years. Shane Victorino, a rule-five player who the Phillies discovered, showed he belongs as a starter next year. Jimmy Rollins came up huge again down the stretch, and he broke through with 25 homers. And, is it just me, but don't you have a feeling he will come up huge in October when this team finally does make the playoffs?
All of the rumors will begin on Monday.
Will Manuel go? Will Burrel go? Who will the Phillies sign?
I think it stands to reason that the Phillies won't exceed $80 million on next year's payroll. The ownership also wants to keep Uncle Charlie for another season. This team will always be held back as long as he's at the helm.
If they won't spend money on somebody like Aramis Ramirez, a good start would be to bolster the bullpen.
But, we're talking about Dave Montgomery holding the purse strings here, and he might be the worst "President" of a team in professional sports.
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Not only will Pedro Martinez miss the rest of the regular season, but news broke that he will have rotator cuff surgery, thus keeping him on the shelf for the next eight months.
The Mets are saying that he will be ready next June.
After having a mediocre season by Pedro's standards, going just 9-8 with a 4.48 ERA, the 34 year-old former Cy Young winner appears to be nearing the end of the line.
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I was recently telling Chris White about my remarkable luck this season on wagering on games. Including my win tonight by taking Washington State over USC, I am now 8-0 on the season. If you don't believe me I'll glady take a screenshot of my bet history on bodog.com and email it to you to prove it!
Now, one thing I proudly admit to be horrible at is office football pools and suicide pools. I've never advanced past the first week in three suicide pools I've participated in.
Furthermore, I'm equally poor at football pools. I used to be pretty good in my brother's office pool, but the luster has worn off. I finished in dead last place last season. As a matter of fact, my late-father actually beat me in it by several spots and he never even paid attention to the games!
However, I am willing to go out on a limb and give some weekly tips (probably two or three games, unless I'm feeling lucky).
With much ado here are my tips for tomorrow. The Browns head to Oakland and are laying 3 points on the road. Take them. The Raiders are hideous as Art Shell is the black Charlie Manuel. He is atrocious. No not just atrocious, but abominable. There was a creature many people referred to as the "Abominable snowman." Well, Shell is the Abominable Coach. Bet against the Raiders whenever the line is right, and with the Browns laying just three, take them. Sure, the Raiders are going with a new quarterback this week and are coming off a bye, but they will be a two-win team tops.
Prediction: Browns 13-6
For my next game of the week I turn to the Carolina Panthers, who are giving 7 points to the Saints in Carolina. The Saints are coming off an emotional Monday Night victory and go on the road on a short week. It is commonplace to pick against a Monday Night victor the following week, especially a team heading on the road, and even more so-a team coming off an emotional victory. The Panthers are beginning to gel with Steve Smith back in the lineup, and the defense will be just too much for the upstart Saints.
Prediction: Panthers 24-10
And, finally I turn to the Monday game where the Eagles are giving a whopping 11 points to the Green Bay Packers. You know, I actually had one of my friends in my fantasy league offer me Brett Favre in a deal for Chad Johnson as he claimed this deal would "save my season." I retorted to say he was out of his mind and that Brett Favre would take a (expletive deleted) within a matter of weeks. Favre won't drop the kids off in the toilet this week against the Eagles, but the defense certainly will. Their defense like Art Shell is abominable and will yield minimally 34 points. I look for the Eagles to skate through this game comfortably and easily put you in the money. Added to that, Brett Favre is winless at the Linc.
Prediction: Eagles 38-21
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies bounced back with a 14-2 romp, one night after a 3-1 loss to the Nationals, which ended in the wee hours of the morning. Having scored just 16 runs in their past four games (just eight runs in the three losses) in which they lost three of four, they exploded for 14 runs on 18 hits tonight.
The Marlins were in this game for the first two innings when it was tied up at 1 run each, but then the Phillies went on to put up 12 runs in the next three innings, including 6 runs in the fourth inning when Rollins, Victorino, Utley, and Coste all knocked their teammates in.
Pat Burrell came up big tonight with two homeruns. In fact, the collective Phillies team came up big, as every starter at least had a hit or an RBI.
Shane Victorino had a career night, going 5 for 6 with 3 RBI's and 3 runs scored. Fantasy baseball players around the nation who are in championship rounds are happier than pigs in (expletive deleted).
Jamie Moyer had a nice start, going 5 innings and giving up just 1 run.
The story here is that Pat Burrell led the charge in a must-win game. Where they clutch hits? No. But, the team needed a huge win and he delivered. Burrell if you remember had a grand slam against Roger Clemens a few weeks back, so he can do these things. It's just that a number one overall pick is expected to do this more than twice a year. However, it's better late than never.
The Phillies are now 1 1/2 back and can be 1 back provided the Dodgers lose tonight. They are currently down 1-0 in the fifth inning.
The Phillies will look to continue their quest for October tomorrow at 1:20.
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The latest prospective buyer for the 76ers is local businessman Wayne Kimmel.
Kimmel is one of the founders of ETF Venture Funds, which has been ranked as a top 1 percent U.S. performing venture fund.
In 2000, Kimmel appeared in PhillyTech Magazine's "30 people under 30."
Another group, which is highly speculated to serve as a buyer is Mitchell Morgan, who is the head of Morgan Properties of King of Prussia.
It appears however that an imminent sale is unlikely considering the season is just over a month away. It would be unprecedented for a sale of a sports franchise to take place during the season.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies-Nationals game has just begun, after having been delayed by rain for four and a half hours. Major League Baseball is obviously forcing both teams to get this game in, as it would potentially put a kink in the playoff schedule if it weren't played tonight. And, that's if the Phillies make the playoffs.
Jon Lieber is scheduled to take the hill against Mike O'Connor of Washington.
The Phillies are now two games behind the Dodgers, who had a monster game
tonight-scoring 19 runs, with 9 of them coming from bench player James Loney.
The Phillies can ill afford to lose any games at this stage. They have to
win out and hope for the Dodgers to have a hiccup.
It goes to show you how important those games were back early in the season.
The chickens may just come home to roost.
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There was great news out of the Eagles' compound today when it was learned
that Jevon Kearse's injury was not nearly as severe as originally thought.
At first it was reported he suffered a laundry list of injuries including
a tear of the MCL, partial tears of the lateral collateral and posterior
cruciate ligaments, a dislocated kneecap, a torn knee capsule, a strained
quadriceps tendon, and a strained hamstring. This had many observers (including
myself) thinking Kearse's recovery would be lengthy and career threatening.
Following a surgery where only the lateral meniscus cartilage had to be
repaired, Dr. John Uribe revealed the other tears weren't severe enough
to even warrant stitching. Now, Kearse is looking at a 12-week recovery
period. If he weren't on the IR, he could return at season's end in time
for the playoffs.
The Eagles had no choice but to make the move they did, but it's a godsend
to Kearse and they about this turn in events.
He'll be all set to go next season and ready to continue where he left off
this season, and it looked like he was on pace for a monster season. He'll
be 30 years old, but recovered from a severe knee injury as opposed to a
series of catastrophic injuries. The difference between the two is light
years.
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The official police report has been changed to "accidental overdose"
with regards to Terrell Owens' latest fiasco.
Case closed.
Owens may now even play on Sunday.
There is a collective sigh of relief in the Philadelphia region and amongst
Eagles fans around the country (including yours truly) knowing that he'll
be in Philly on October 8th.
In all seriousness, it's good to see that he didn't try to commit suicide,
because he is a human being and those sorts of things are no laughing matter.
What was once thought to be a case of life and death has now turned into
yet another folly by Owens.
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The Phillies got a huge break today when the Met revealed that Pedro Martinez
would miss the rest of the season with a torn tendon in his left calf.
This is a devastating blow to the Mets' World Series chances, as they'll
now have a rotation comprised of Orlando Hernandez, Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel,
and John Maine.
Should the Phillies make it to the playoffs and face the Mets in the NLCS
they'll have a significant advantage over their top three with Myers, Hamels,
and Moyer. If you ask most of the teams they'll that three-man rotation
over Glavine, Hernandez, and Trachsel any day.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Just where do we begin to discuss the latest bizarre saga in Terrell Owens' life?
After giving it much thought, I don't see why Owens would take his own life.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if he orchestrated this incident to put
his name back in the news. Let's face it; he's been boring this year except
for his stint where he played a Tour De France bike rider in Cowboys training
camp. Owens' antics and the events surrounding him became more and more
bizarre up until last season. His body of work is impeccable and he is the
most successful disruptive athlete of this or any generation. He is the
Stanley Kubrick of disruption. But, he was slacking this season.
Then, the news broke late last night that he was hospitalized and the story
grew major legs this morning when it was reported that he attempted suicide
by overdosing on pain medication.
Suicide?
Terrell Owens committing suicide?
I think not.
For me to make sense of the logic of this situation is like trying to understand
Gary Heidnick's propensity for picking up retarded hookers and feeding them
dogfood in his infamous "House of Horrors." However, I'll make
an attempt here.
Owens no doubt took more pills than he should have. It's well documented
that he doesn't put any drugs or alcohol in his body. In this case he was
prescribed hydrocodone for his broken finger. He claims it was an allergic
reaction; chances are he probably took a few more than he should have and
got sick. And, then his genius of a publicist freaked out and called 911.
More on her in a bit.
And, so it went the emergency workers claimed Owens admitted to trying to
"harm himself." He of course denied any such attempt and retorted
that claim by saying he was incoherent. That's very likely. I don't doubt
that for a second as one can be incoherent from a few hyrocodone's-take
it from me from personal experience.
Now, back onto Owens' publicist Kim Etheredge, she was indeed the star of
Owens' latest masterpiece. She came in to the Cowboys' press conference
looking like she had been clubbing all night and was hung over. For those
of you who are in college studying to become a publicist, this is what NOT
to do when you're a publicist. She defied every law of "proper image"
and appeared to be as qualified to be a publicist as Jesse Timmendequas
is qualified to be a children's guidance counselor. She stammered through
the press conference and looked more nervous than Kobe Bryant at his infamous
press conference with his wife, where he refuted the rape charge. Etheredge
blew her career up in the matter of minutes. And, for the Cowboys to put
her up there is ludicrous. Certainly somebody had to have spoken to her
before she took the podium.
Of course, what would an Owens cluster (expletive deleted) be without Owens'
main flunky Drew Rosenhaus himself, who I shall forever call Mr. Next Question.
Owens' apologists like Deoin Sanders and Michael Irvin also came to his
aid to assist in damage control.
The finale of Owens' latest blockbuster was when his majesty took the throne
and seemed as healthy and "lucid" as he ever has. There is no
way in hell somebody would be in that sort of condition if they ingested
30 some pills the night before; they would be bed-ridden. This is not to
say Owens didn't take more than he did and he also didn't exacerbate things
by appearing to have done more harm than he actually did. I think he wanted
the attention and faked the suicide attempt. He's that crazy. However, an
egomaniac like Mr. Owens would never off himself.
That would really be irrational on his part and he would never want to end
his Show.
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Yes, the Phillies did play today. The just wrapped up a marathon game in
Washington and won a game they absolutely had to win at all costs. This
was do or die time and they finally pulled it out after 14 innings 8-7.
This game was a tug of war, reminiscent of their 14 inning marathon on Friday
night, August 11th against the Cincinatti Reds, a game I happened to be
at.
With their huge win tonight the Phillies are one game behind the Dodgers
with just four games to play.
The bullpen was again the weak spot as Cole Hamels put in a quality start
and allowed just 3 earned runs over 6 innings.
Tom Gordon came in for the same in the ninth and was largely ineffective as he blew the save and loaded up the bases, while walking in a run. He managed to escape and Geoff Geary came in the 10th. It appeared the Phillies would blow this game when Jimmy Rollins bobbled a ball and tossed it to second base only to miss Chase Utley, who failed to reach the bag to get out the runner. The Phillies again escaped by allowing just a run.
Jimmy Rollins got his redemption in the 14th inning when he launched a triple
to right field scoring Michael Bourn and Jose Hernandez.
Who scored?
It doesn't really matter; they're just a few of the 47 combined players
who appeared in this epic thriller.
After losing two in a row in one-run games, Philadelphia gutted out a huge
victory. This was a game they shouldn't have won by all accounts, where
as the past two games should have been W's. Now, they'll need to win at
least 3 games to at ensure a wildcard spot, because the Dodgers aren't going
down without a fight. They have played much better recently after a stretch
in which they lost 17 of 22 games.
The Padres lost tonight, but the Dodgers won-staying one game ahead of the
Phillies who will look to win the series against Washington tomorrow night-same
time same place at 7:05.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Today was one of those days, which makes you say to yourself, "yep, we're just screwed no matter what." First, news came that Flyers goalie Antero Nittymaki will miss several weeks and then the Phillies lost another critical game.
The Phillies lost a heartbreaker tonight to the Nationals in the first game of their three-game series. Their 4-3 loss comes on the heels of a devastating loss last night in their home finale to the Houston Astros.
Where does one begin here? Brett Myers pitched about as well as he has in any game this year, going 7 innings and surrendering just 3 runs. Really, he should have only given up one run, but Pat Burrell being the defensive invalid that he is, allowed a ball to once again go over his head, thus two runs scored.
Another critical point of the game was when Chase Utley was clearly robbed of a homerun as the ball hit the foul pole.
Utley was involved in another critical play in the eighth inning when a worm-burner went through his legs, resulting in a run scored. And, that's all the Nationals needed as they went up 4-2 at that point.
And, the Phillies of years past returned tonight by stranding 10 runners on base. Pat Burrell cemented why he shouldn't and most likely won't return next year; he stranded 4 runners on base. It was business as usual for the #1 overall pick bust.
This loss was ugly and I'm starting to reconsider my stance. They have blown it the past five years with missed opportunities and things are shaping up that way again. This team should make the playoffs, but it's looking more and more like they won't each day. There are just five games left and the Dodgers and Padres are winning tonight.
The Phillies are now a half game behind the Dodgers.
Will they pack it in tomorrow night, or will they bounce back? Stay tuned at 7:05 tomorrow night.
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Today was certainly indicative of a doom's day in Philadelphia as not only the Phillies returned to their old school losing ways, but the Flyers took a serious hit today when it was learned that Antero Nittymaki tore the labrum in his healthy hip this morning in practice.
The end result: he will miss a minimum of 6-8 weeks.
To add insult to injury (no pun intended) Robert Esche was lit up in just 30 minutes of action, giving up 5 goals in a disaster of a game. Granted, it was a pre-season game, but never-the-less things aren't looking too rosy out of the Flyers' camp.
The one luxury this team had was having two capable starting goalies. And, now the youngster whom had his right hip repaired in the off-season will now lose a good chunk of the regular season to an injury to the opposite hip.
The good news is that Peter Forsberg appears to be ready to go soon; he's a month ahead of schedule.
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There isn't much positive going on in the world of Sixers basketball right now. As a matter of fact, they made ZERO moves of any significance during the summer and with the wirlwind of Iverson trade rumors, they look poised to have a disastrous season of mythical proportions. The good news is that this draft will be one of the best in recent memory so they will have a shot at the Greg Oden sweepstakes.
They have recently picked up former Temple star Rick Brunson and La Salle's Steven Smith for their pre-season roster.
Smith is an interesting prospect as he played extremely well for the Warriors during the summer league. He did go undrafted, but remains a commodity due to his size (6 feet 8 and 235 pounds) and defensive prowess. Considering how sorry the Sixers are as a defensive unit, Smith should make the squad with no problem. He'll be a good story without a doubt.
Here's a local product with, good rebounding skills, a tough work ethic, and a hard-nosed defender. He has the makings of a Philly player and someone the fans will immediately take to.
However, he along with the rest of the young players on this team will have their growth retarded as long as Iverson holds onto the ball for 50-60% of the game.
But, we've been down that path. Billy King was gutless and was too scared to move Iverson for nothing in a salary dump.
The only hope is that this team does so poorly that King will have no choice but to trade Iverson by the trade deadline. There are some nice pieces in place, but the team will be a disaster-make no mistake about it. Iverson will be angry about the trade rumors, and they'll continue to heat up as the team descends into oblivion by mid-season.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Alas, I'm back from the beautiful confines of Arizona. I won't bore you with too many details of my vacation other than to say it was much needed and if it weren't for the sports scene in this area I'd move out there in a nanosecond!
With that said, the Phillies came oh so close to winning tonight against
Houston, but came up short 5-4 and now find themselves tied with the Dodgers
for the wildcard lead. The Dodgers are off tonight so both teams are all
square for at least another day. The Phillies and their wildcard-seeking
counterparts each have six games on the road left and six games in the next
six days, as the season will wrap up on Sunday.
Jimmy Rollins continued his clutch hitting by hitting a two-run homer off
Dave Borkowski to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. Things
went awry in the seventh inning when Rick White walked Morgan Ensberg following
a strikeout. Then, Matt Smith came in and walked another batter, then gave
up a game-tying two-run single to Orlando Palmeiro.
Things went further downhill from there when Pat Burrell overthrew Mike
Lieberthal to allow Chris Burke to reach third base. And, the Astros gained
the lead when a ball went off Chase Utley's glove.
The Phillies wouldn't score another run and it was enough for Houston. For
the second straight season Houston wins a huge game against the Phillies
during the wildcard race. Last year Harry Kalas so eloquently put it "and,
the runs are all unearned, but who cares" as he was disgusted by the
homerun which closer Billy Wagner gave up to Craig Biggio. That one was
more painful than this loss. For one, the Astros were in direct competition
for the wildcard spot. This year they are dead as a mummy. However, they
dropped the Phillies to a tie with the Dodgers and once again the Phillies'
bullpen has faltered.
This new Phillies team will make the playoffs in my opinion. In years past
I wouldn't go out on a limb and make such a statement, but they aren't the
same old bunch "led" by the likes of Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell.
Rather, they are now anchored by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. On top of
that, they are getting excellent starting pitching out of Myers, Hamels,
Lieber, Moyer, and Wolf-who gave up just two runs tonight.
They have six games remaining against both Washington and Florida.
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The injury to Shaun Alexander immediately brings to mind the infamous "Madden
curse." For those of you who don't know the following players all were
on the cover of the "Madden" football game and were injured that
season; Daunte Culpepper 2002, Marshall Faulk 2003, Michael Vick 2004, Ray
Lewis 2005, and Donovan McNabb 2006. I actually found myself cursing EA
Sports when McNabb graced the cover.
Not to wish ill will upon anybody, but isn't it funny that Peyton Manning
never appeared on the cover?
A conspiracy theorist would say that perhaps the powers-to-be in the NFL
don't want Manning on that cover, because he would be doomed by the curse,
and god forbid a member of the Holy Family of football should have his season
truncated. There are even some who believe the Eagles-Giants game was fixed
in favor of the Giants so that Eli Manning would be a savior and earn player
of the week honors along with his brother. Added to that, many feel that
the NFL wants a Manning bowl, which would trump the "subway series"
any day.
Here's a newsflash. Those of us outside of Indy and New York are sick and
tired of the NFL's love affair with the Manning family. At any rate, one
should find it funny that Manning didn't grace the cover of Madden in 2005
after his record-breaking campaign when he threw for 49 touchdowns. Why
in the world did Ray Lewis get the nod? Sure, he won the defensive player
of the year award, but that hardly trumps a record-breaking season.
In all seriousness, I think the Madden curse is a series of unfortunate
events, which happen to players who invested a lot physically in their respective
seasons, which earned them the right to grace the cover. Then, a few nicks
later and they're on the sidelines.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
What's that smell? Somebody's cooking cupcakes. The Eagles beat the 49ers 38-24 Sunday afternoon. Yes, it's absurd to call any game "must win" in Week 3 (though I think I did yesterday), but a loss to San Francisco would have deflated the locker room and probably caused riots in the streets. The 49ers made a little noise in the 4th, enough to make stomachs turn as the thought of last week's collapse entered the city's consciousness, but this time the Eagles were resilient. Now, the birds are in first place -all alone- in the NFC East.
NFC EAST |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
PF |
PA |
STRK |
DIV |
CONF |
2 |
1 |
0 |
.667 |
86 |
64 |
Won 1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
.500 |
44 |
34 |
Won 1 |
1-0 |
1-0 |
|
1 |
2 |
0 |
.333 |
81 |
92 |
Lost 1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
|
1 |
2 |
0 |
.333 |
57 |
61 |
Won 1 |
0-1 |
0-2 |
The offense, minus an inactive Donte Stallworth, had little trouble with San Fran today, led by Donovan McNabb who was 18 for 33, 296 Yards and 2 TDs without throwing a pick. Reggie Brown stepped into Stallworth's spot and caught 5 passes for 106 yards. LJ Smith had only 3 catches, but one for a 1 yard TD. TE Matt Schobel had just 1 catch, but it was a 60-yarder that set up a score by #36 who, as he often is, was the center of the offense.
How 'bout Brian Westbrooks' swollen knee? If he plays like this with a bad knee one more week, may we suggest that Andy Reid smack it with a ball-peen hammer the week it starts feeling good? Westbrook ran for 117 yards and 2 scores and caught 4 passes for 47 more and another score. He also had a 71-yard run – the longest of his career. Keep hobbling Brian.
The Eagles' 38 points were the most they've scored since the 42 they put on San Francisco last season.
The defense, playing without Lito Sheppard and Jevon Kearse, kept the Niners in check the first half despite a strong showing from QB Alex Smith -he would end up reaching career highs in completions (27), attempts (46) and yards (293).
Sophomore stud RB Frank Gore on the other hand had a dud of a game gaining just 52 yards on 16 carries. He also had a costly fumble. How costly? It allowed 300lb DT Mike Patterson to "run" for a 98-yard touch down. The birds stopped Gore three times inside the 5-yard line before Brian Dawkins knocked the ball loose on a play from the 1-yard line allowing Patterson to recover it. Watching Patterson rumble 98 yards for the score was reminiscent of watching Ralphie May exercise on Celebrity Fit Club. Former Penn State standout Michael Robinson would replace an injured Gore and become an annoyance scoring 2 touchdowns on just 5 carries.
The D-line continued to pile up the sacks with 2 on the day as Tent Cole recorded his NFL leading 5th. Both occurred as San Francisco attempted to mount their comeback that never was.
While Rod Hood tried to gut it through his heel injury, (he left in the first half) the secondary took another hit as Brian Dawkins left the game with 4:01 left in the 3rd and did not return. Dawkins took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Robinson and had to be helped off the field. Can Vince Papale play safety?
Interesting to note, the 49ers ended up controlling the clock for 59% of the game and only gained 24 less net yards than the Eagles. Too bad that didn't translate to the scoreboard.
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The Phillies took care of business with the long ball and broke out the brooms in South Philly this afternoon beating the Marlins 10-7 behind 5 home runs to sweep the 3-game set. Jamie Moyer improved to 4-2 (10-14 overall) as a Phillie though it wasn't pretty. He allowed 5 runs in 6 innings including being scorched for 4 in the top of the 1st thanks to taters by Hanley Ramirez (#15) and Cody Ross (#13). Thankfully, Scott Olsen (12-9) didn't bring his A-Game. Or his B-Game. Or his…you get the idea. Olsen gave up 7 runs on 3 bombs in just 2 2/3. As they have done often lately, the bullpen kept it interesting as Rick White gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th via a 2-run job by Mike Jacobs (#20) but was able to finish out the inning with no further damage. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Chris Coste had 3 hits apiece and all homered in the 3rd, Utley would go yard again in the 6th (#30,31). The Phillies have won 5 in row, right when they've needed to. The Marlins are all but mathematically done. Goodbye and good riddance baby fish.
The Dodgers just won't cooperate. The wild card situation remains the same (Phillies up on the Dodgers by a half game) as Nomar Garciaparra hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to break a 1-1 tie and give Los Angeles a walk-off 5-1 win.
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Trevor Hoffman became the all-time saves leader today as he closed out a 2-1 victory for the Padres over the Pirates. He passed Lee Smith with number 479. Saves are an odd statistic and certainly overrated to some degree – or is it underrated? Look no further than the Hall of Fame voting to punctuate the confusion of the value of a save. Lee Smith (478) is not a Hall of Famer, but Bruce Sutter (300) and Rollie Fingers (341) are. Back when relief pitchers like Mike Marshall, Dick Radatz and Hoyt Wilhelm were going 2, 3 and sometime more innings to pile up 20 some odd saves, the relief pitcher's job was much tougher. None of the afore mentioned guys would start the ninth with a 3–run lead, in fact, their roles were much more like that of today's set-up men. They got the tough outs and finished the game, today, too many times the set-up men do the hard work (and all they get is a worthless "hold") and the closers just trot out without the pressure of men on base and often times with that comfy 3-run cushion. I don't mean to take anything away from Hoffman's accomplishment. He's a great relief pitcher, but I can't see how he (forgone conclusion), Sutter, and Fingers are Hall of Famers, but Smith, Rich Gossage and John Franco are not. To further confuse the issue, did you know Jeff Montgomery (304) has more career saves than Bruce Sutter?
Contact Ben Whitman at bwhitman@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Week 3 sees the Eagles travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers. If you looked at the schedule before the season, you probably didn't find this to be a particularly significant game because let's face it, the 49ers have been "rebuilding" for years now and even on the road, the Eagles are a 6.5-point favorite. That was before last week's meltdown.
The Eagles must win this game. If you think the Giants game was deflating to the fan base, I can only imagine what it did to that locker room. Residing in the ultra competitive NFC East means the Eagles definitely need to beat the cupcakes if they expect a playoff birth. The 49ers are a cupcake. I think Jeremiah Trotter summed it up best, "We have to take advantage of opportunities when we get a team down. We have to put our foot on their throat." That goes for Giants and 49ers alike.
San Francisco (1-1) played a solid Arizona Cardinals team tough in Week
1 and beat St. Louis 20-13 in Week 2, but are an NFL worst 7-27 since the
start of the 2004-05 season. They haven't been to the playoffs since 2002.
Furthermore, they haven't opened the season with back-to-back wins at home
since 1999. They have only five wins in their last 18 home games. All that
said, they do have some weapons.
Second year Quarterback Alex Smith has thrown for 521 yards in the first
two weeks and has connected for a score twice without yet throwing a pick.
His QB rating is 93.5 entering the game (40.5 in 9 games last year). The
biggest improvement to the offense appears to be Frank Gore. First of all,
I can't think of a better name for an NFL running back and the way he's
played, you'd think he has a horn on his helmet. He has 214 yards and three
touchdowns on the ground and has added 8 receptions for 93 yards in two
games. His 307 total yards is already 42% of his 2005 total tallied as back
up to incumbent Kevan Barlow. The other side of the ball has improved as
well. Last week, the defense sacked Marc Bulger 6 times, and already has
9 sacks this season after finishing last year with just 28.
The good news is the Eagles aren’t Arizona or St. Louis. The birds
are 21-8 after a loss since 2000, that's 2nd best in the NFL. Last season,
Donovan McNabb absolutely scorched San Francisco throwing for 342 yards
and 5 touchdowns (0 interceptions) in a 42-3 Eagles laugher. They'll also
be depending on a hurting Brian Westbrook, but he seemed to play pretty
well with his injured knee last week. This could be Correll Buckhalter's
opportunity to show he can carry the load when Westbrook is hurt. He had
just 6 yards on 6 carries in Week 2. The Eagles play their first game without
Jevon Kearse who was lost for the season in last week's debacle. Darren
Howard will shift to left defensive end and Trent Cole will start on the
right side. Howard will move inside in nickel packages, which will move
Juqua Thomas to the left in those formations. Keep a close eye on the d-line
and just how much the loss of Kearse will affect the pass rush. The Eagles
had 13 sacks in the first two games (Kearse had 3.5 of them).
Ben's prediction: Eagles 31 - 49ers 14
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INJURY REPORT
EAGLES
Doubtful – CB Rod Hood (heel), CB Lito Sheppard (ankle)
Questionable – LS Mike Bartrum (knee), RB Brian Westbrook (knee)
Probable- G Shane Andrews (shoulder), WR Reggie Brown (hamstring), DE Darren
Howard (knee), SS Michael Lewis (Quad), RB Reno Mahe (ankle), FS Quintin
Mikell (thumb), TE L.J. Smith (shoulder) WR Donte Stallworth (hip)
49ERS
Out- G Larry Allen (knee), TE Delanie Walker (shoulder)
Doubtful – WR Taylor Jacobs (hamstring)
Questionable – NT Anthony Adams (ankle)
Probable- TE Vernon Davis (shin), DE Ronald Fields (shoulder), T Jonas Jennings
(ankle), G Justin Smiley (shoulder), T Adam Snyder (foot)
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ODDS
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|
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Sad news for the Eagles family last night as Vic Sears passed away at 88. The tackle played 13 seasons for the Eagles (1941-53) appearing in 131 games. He was on two NFL Championship teams in 1948 and '49 and was also a member of the wartime "Steagles" in 1943. Our condolences to the friends and family of Vic Sears.
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The Phillies continued their playoff push Saturday with an 8-6 win over
the Marlins. This ended up being the slugfest I predicted on Thursday, but
not because of Jon Lieber. Lieber improved to 9-10 as he pitched extremely
well giving up just 2 runs over 7 innings and striking out 6. He didn't
walk a batter and more importantly for him, did not allow a homer in the
bandbox. Brian Moehler picks up the loss (7-10) as the Phillies lineup was
clicking all day. Every starter reached base at least once except for Pat
Burrell (0-for-4) and Shane Victorino and Chase Utley had 4 hits apiece.
Jimmy Rollins hit his 23rd home run of the season driving in his career
high 74th RBI. That was more than enough to batter Moehler (lasted only
3.1 innings) and the Florida bullpen. By the time Leiber was out of the
game, the Phils had a very manageable 7-2 lead. The Phillies bullpen had
other ideas. Ryan Madson gave up a 2-run bomb to Joe Borchard (10th) in
the 8th and then Tom Gordon, pitching on back-to-back days and with no save
situation gave the city a collective coronary by giving up solo homer to
Miguel Oliva (16th) to start the 9th and a one out solo shot to Hanley Ramirez
(14th) before settling down to close out the game. It was a two-run double
in the bottom of the 8th (between the Madson and Gordon meltdowns) by Jeff
Conine that ended up providing the eventual winning runs.
The lineup has been piling up runs. The starting pitchers have been pulling their weight. With every game heading toward a potential post season birth, the Phillies bullpen becomes more and more worrisome.
The Phillies are now a season best 8 games over .500. They are tied, for the moment, in the wild card lead with the Dodgers who host the Diamondbacks at 10:10 EST. Tomorrow, the Phillies and Marlins conclude their series at 1:35 PM with Scott Olsen (12-8, 3.87 ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (9-14, 4.27 ERA)
Contact Ben Whitman at bwhitman@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies took another step in their march towards the post season Friday night with a 5-2 victory over the Marlins. Ryan Howard also inched closer to the National League MVP. With two on in the third, Howard launched home run number 58 into left center off starter Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco would last just 3 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Yesterday I said that Cole Hamels was auditioning for a potential post-season start as he took the hill for tonight's game. Well, he got the part. Hamels was stellar once again, giving up just 1 run over 6 2/3 while striking out 10 to improve to 9-8. Chase Utley added 3 hits while Jimmy Rollins and Chris Coste added 2 each of their own. Tom Gordon closed it out for his 33rd save.
The Dodgers have a 10:40 EST game vs. the Diamondback in Los Angeles tonight. Best-case scenario has the Phillies with a ½ game lead by the wee morning hours and worst-case they remain a ½ game back. Tomorrow at 1:20 PM in South Philly, the Phillies once again host the Marlins. Brain Moehler (7-9, 6.09 ERA) vs. Jon Lieber (8-10, 5.03 ERA).
Meanwhile, Howard continues to make his mark in the record books. Howard's bomb was his 29th at home, tying Chuck Klein's team record set in 1932. Howard also drove in RBI number 143, matching Don Hurst's record for Phillies first basemen also set in '32. Poor Jimmie Foxx, who just lost the Red Sox team record for homers to David Ortiz last night, has Howard join him as the second Philadelphia player to hit 58 homers in a season. "Double X" did it in, you guessed it, 1932 for the Philadelphia A's. Quick math- those records stood for 74 years folks. Cherish every moment of Ryan Howard's magnificent season.
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Brian Westbrook practiced Friday and says he intends to play Sunday in San Francisco. While that is certainly good news, Westbrook is still listed as "questionable" on the injury report as there is fear the knee may react adversely to the cross-country plane ride to the west coast. "It's one of those things with the long trip. Any time you have any injury like this, it tends to swell on an airplane," Westbrook told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "So I have to find a way to keep the swelling down, ice it on the trip." He gutted it through last week and I fully anticipate another solid contribution on Sunday. The only player that Andy Reid says is definitely "out" for the 49ers game is Lito Sheppard who continues to recover from a sprained right ankle. Roderick Hood (heel strain) will make the trip west even though he's listed as "doubtful." I will have a full preview of the game here tomorrow.
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Tomorrow Peter Forsberg will take the ice for the first time since his May 15th ankle surgery – it will also be his first time on the ice as the Flyers' captain. It was originally feared Forsberg would miss the first half of the season, but he'll play in tomorrow night's exhibition vs. Ottawa at the Wach Center.Contact Ben Whitman at bwhitman@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Dennis is on a well deserved long weekend so I'll be at the helm of the Purge for the next few days.
The Phillies are at the stage of the season where every game is a "must win" situation. They are enjoying the off day today in preparation for the visiting Marlins that come to the Bank for three this weekend. The Dodgers have a west coast night game tonight against the lowly Pirates so by the morning the Phillies will either be the sole owners of the wild card slot, or a measly half game out with ten to play. The Marlins visit with their wild card hopes hanging by a string. Following a 5-2 victory tonight over the lame duck Mets, the fish are 3.5 games out. This series is a chance for the Phillies to put the Miami wonder kids to bed once and for all. As they always say (whoever they are) pitching wins championships (and wild cards). So let's look at the pitching match ups.
The first game of the series features a match up of young guns - then again, just about all of the Marlins are young guns. Ricky Nolasco (11-9, 4.56 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (8-8, 4.21). Hamels is coming off of one of his best starts of the season, a win over the Astros where he went 7.2 innings and struck out 11. Hamels showed some growing pains in earlier appearances this year, but since August 1st, he's 5-3 with a 2.54 ERA. Hamels K/9 rate is a very impressive 9.6 and even at just 22, this is his audition to prove to the Phillies that they can rely on him in a potential post-season start. Hamels is 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in two starts vs. Florida this season. Nolasco, 23, has faced Philadelphia three times this year but only once as a starter. He pitched 7.1 scoreless innings in a win over the Phils back on July 28th.
EDGE: Phillies
Game two of the series sees the Phillies juggling their rotation. Randy Wolf, who pitched pretty well last time out on three days rest, has been bumped to Monday and Jon Lieber will take the ball on just three days rest himself. He'll face Brian Moehler who, at 34 years old, is the cranky old vet (Eddie Harris for you Major League fans) of the Marlins rotation. The Phillies hitters have to like this match up as Moehler is just 7-9 with a 6.09 ERA. He's also given up 18 yard balls in just 115 innings which of course makes the Phillies wide eyed in their home park. He gave up 2 in 5.1 in Philadelphia on way to an 8-5 loss on July 30th. Lieber has limped to 8-10 in his 2nd season in South Philly and has certainly seen better days. He's allowed 59 homers as a Phillie over the last two seasons, but has some big game experience with his brief stop in the Bronx in 2004. On the other hand, in 3 starts vs. Florida in '06, he's given up 17 runs in just 18.1 innings. This one could get ugly quick.
EDGE: Who the hell knows?
Game three has Jamie Moyer, also moved up a day, facing another bright young pitching star in Scott Olsen. Moyer, using smoke, mirrors and scotch tape, dazzled the Marlins back on September 8th allowing just 1 run over 8 innings. In his 20+ seasons in the Majors, that was Moyer's lone start vs. Florida. Moyer is 3-2, 3.79 ERA since being acquired from Seattle. Olsen, just 21, has been a huge boost for the Marlins this year. He's 12-8, 3.78 ERA in 29 starts. The Phils have beat him twice in three starts this year.
EDGE: Phillies
So, the Phillies should take at least 2 out of 3 and continue the wild card hunt right into next weekend.
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Some concern from Eagles camp as Brian Westbrook did not practice on Thursday for the second day in a row and is listed as "questionable" for this Sunday's game with San Francisco. Westbrook is still suffering with a swollen knee. Last Sunday, he nursed the knee through the devastating loss to the Giants and ended up with 124 all purpose yards- not bad for a guy with a bum wheel. It goes without saying that Westbrook is a necessary cog in the Eagle offensive machine. Yes, it is only Week 3, but the Eagles absolutely cannot let the 49ers steal this week's game. They must beat the cupcakes.
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Today a judge sentenced two parties involved in the scandalous book "Game of Shadows" and the BALCO fiasco to jail time and neither of them was named Barry Bonds. San Francisco Chronicle writers Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada refused to release the source of a grand jury testimony leak that contributed information to a series of articles the men penned over the last few years. The testimonies of Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds and others were, for the most part, responsible for the BALCO designer steroid controversy that has gripped Major League Baseball, forcing their hand in tougher drug testing and tarnishing the names of several big name sluggers. The writers repeatedly have said they would rather serve jail time than reveal their sources and today they took their first step toward their wish. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered both men to serve a maximum of 18 months in prison pending an appeal. This really is a gray area for me. You have to respect the metal of these two guys for sacrificing themselves in order to protect their sources, but at the same time, what they got their hands on was in fact sealed court documents that were illegally in their position. There is a fine line between martyr and criminal.
Contact Ben Whitman at bwhitman@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Brett Myers dominated the Cubs tonight, tossing his first complete game in over a year as the Phillies defeated the Cubs 6-2 to pull within a 1/2 game of the Padres, who are in the wildcard lead.
Myers also tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts, and only allowed just
6 hits and 2 runs in this electric performance. Myers has pitched extremely
well of late going 4-0 in his last 6 starts and never surrendering more
than 3 runs in each of those starts. Added to that, he has gone at least
6 innings in those contests. It's obvious after tonight's performance; he
is peaking at the right time.
Jimmy Rollins went 2 for 5 tonight and Chase Utley had his career-high 29th
homerun. Pat Burrell also came up big, by knocking in two runs-one night
after he was booed off the field when he struck out with bases loaded. Ryan
Howard is still stuck at 57 and had one hit in four at bats.
This complete game was huge in that it will give the bullpen two days off
since the Phillies won't play again until Friday night, when they face the
Marlins.
The Marlins series is extremely critical since they are right on the tail
of the Phillies and they will need their starting pitching to continue delivering
quality starts. The onus will fall upon the bullpen to pick it up from there.
The Phillies have tomorrow off and face the always-pesky Marlins on Friday
night at 7:05.
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Some injury updates for the Eagles include Brian Westbrook being held out
of practice, Roderick Hood being listed as doubtful, and L.J. Smith being
held out of practice.
The Eagles are the walking wounded and it's only the third week of the season.
Westbrook will need to be healthy for this team to go deep into the playoffs.
It would behoove Andy Reid to hold him out of practice over the next few
weeks and use him sparingly in games until he is past the knee inflammation.
Should he injure it worse, they will be up a raging river without a boat.
Roderick Hood is another important injury, as they will look to Joselio
Hanson to start at cornerback against the 49ers. These aren't the same 49ers
of last year that struggled to put 10-14 points on the board. Alex Smith
is progressing and they will attack Hanson's side of the field. Hood will
only be out for this week's game and should return the following week for
the Green Bay game.
The Eagles will bounce back and win this game by two scores. I see them
winning 35-20 on Sunday. And, it goes without saying that they can ill-afford
to take the 49ers lightly. After the calamity on Sunday they won't be taking
anybody lightly anytime soon, not if Jeremiah Trotter can help it. He stated
that collapse would rally the team and force them to focus from here on
out.
As I said before, it's good that it happened in week two and not week 14
or even worse the playoffs.
There's 15 more weeks left in the regular season and plenty of time to get
on track and get the momentum needed to make a run for Miami in February.
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This is it for me for a few days as Ben Whitman will take over today's news
until Sunday. I am heading to valley of the sun to hang out with my girlfriend.
Enjoy Ben's work for the next few days. He really does a hell of a job.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Although Jamie Moyer was acquired to replace Scott Mathieson as the fifth starter, he has resembled a number two starter for the most part since coming to the Phillies from Seattle on August 20th.
His record since coming to the Phillies is 3-2 with a 2.67 ERA and 17 strikeouts to just 3 walks (good for a near 6:1 K/BB ratio) in 40 1/3 innings pitched.
Tonight he continued his magic as he went 7 innings and yielded just one run to the Cubs.
Early on it appeared this game would be a pitching duel as Wade Miller had eight strikeouts in the first four innings and allowed just one hit and no runs. And, then he was yanked in the fifth inning after throwing a whopping 92 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings, following an RBI double he surrendered to Dellucci. Rollins and Utley added two hits apiece, while Ryan Howard remained at 57 homers.
Geoff Geary continued his great relief-work by pitching a perfect 8th inning. Gordon looked very good in the ninth innings notching his 32nd save. Suddenly the bullpen is pitching very well again (except for the hiccup last night).
Again, the story here was 43-year old Jamie Moyer who came up big and went deep into the game. This makes you wonder why such young pitchers like Francisco Liriano, Scott Kazmir, Mark Prior, and Kerry Wood visit the DL with regularity and you see a pitcher like Moyer who can go deep into games at this stage. The answer is simple; he's a finesse pitcher like Greg Maddux and pitchers like that go on and on like the Energizer bunny. His younger counterparts all throw very hard and just aren't made to do that. One begs to ask the question; will there be a resurgence in finesse pitchers now that there is a growing number of younger power pitchers who hit the DL with such regularity?
At any rate, this victory tonight puts the Phillies one game behind the Padres, who are currently up on the Diamondbacks 4-0 early on their game.
The Phillies will send Brett Myers to the hill tomorrow night at 7:05.
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The Eagles made a series of roster moves today in anticipation of Kearse's season-ending knee surgery to repair three torn ligaments. Trent Cole will now take over as starter at left end.
Jerome McDougle will take Kearse's place in the defensive line rotation. This could be a blessing in disguise as he'll finally have the opportunity to deliver for the Eagles. McDougle has been the biggest bust in recent Eagles memory, considering they surrendered a first and second round pick to move up in the draft to take him. McDougle's career numbers are horrific; 2 seasons (missed last season due to the gunshot and subsequent infection) 19 games, 23 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. If history is any indicator he'll likely get injured as he just seems to have trouble staying on the field. It goes back to his rookie season when he had a freak injury in the first game of the season and missed half the season.
Another move the Eagles made today included resigning Bruce Perry and placing him on the practice squad. Perry changed positions and was brought onto the team initially as a cornerback and return-man. He'll hang on by a thread for insurance should another cornerback go down.
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It wasn't 104 after all. Ah, Steelers fans rejoice you can't blame Roethlisberger's poor performance last night to a 104 degree fever.
It was debunked by Bill Cowher and he had a 100.4 fever. Even Joe Theisman tried to use that excuse last night, by stating "he'll either finish the game or he won't."
Brilliant observation Joe.
That's right up there with your statement that "Jesus wants Joe Theisman to be happy" when asked why you cheated on your wife.
The Steelers were manhandled last night by the Jaguars 9-0 and were exposed for the frauds they are. They caught lightning in a bottle last year and were certainly not the Super Bowl champions. In fact Hines Ward wasn't the Super Bowl MVP, that honor belongs to head linesman Referre Billy Leavy who headed that awful officiating crew, which gave the Super Bowl to the Steelers.
One thing is certain, the Steelers won't have a chance at being handed another title. It will take Roethlisberger a few weeks to get back and they are just not that good of a team this year. The Jaguars are clearly superior and they aren't even the best team in their conference.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Today the after-effects of one of the worst losses in Eagles history are still being felt as it has been learned that Jevon Kearse will miss the rest of the season due to a series of sprains to left knee. He sprained his media collateral, lateral collateral, and posterior cruciate ligaments during overtime yesterday on a play when he collided with defensive tackle Mike Patterson.
Not only should the Giants have never even made a game of this, but this game should have never gone into overtime. And, now the overtime that shouldn't have been has cost the Eagles their best defensive lineman and arguably their best defensive player. What's worse yet is Kearse is in the third year of an 8-year 64 million dollar contract and was disappointing for much of his tenure here. He had some great games in his first season here, but last year was largely ineffective. His aggregate sack totals were 15 sacks as he compiled 7 1/2 in both 2004 and 2005.
However, this season he started out on a tear, amassing 3 1/2 sacks in his first two games, including 2 1/2 yesterday. He was healthier than ever and primed for a 12-14 sack season that has sorely been missed since the days when Hugh Douglas roamed the trenches. As you put this into perspective further, Kearse will be 31 years old next season in the fourth year of his contract and won't be fully healthy until another year after that. Knee injuries of this magnitude usually require a 2-year recovery time and Kearse will be in the fifth year of his contract and 32 years old at that point. It's very disappointing and the odds are stacked against him ever fulfilling the the lofty expectations placed upon him. In two years this will be a bad contract.
In addition to Kearse being shelved for the season Shawn Andrews will have an MRI for a shoulder strain. Roderick Hood, the back-up to injured starting corner Lito Sheppard, has a heel strain. And, L.J. Smith has a shoulder sprain. Oh yeah, Brian Westbrook is bothered by that inflamed knee. It's only week two and the Eagles key players are dropping like flies.
The M.O. of this team seems to be a broken record; they lose key players to injuries every season, while the bottom feeders such as the Reno Mahe's make it through the season unscathed.
This game was a calamity of calamities and hopefully will light a fire under the posteriors of the Eagles. Jeremiah Trotter said on his "Unnecessary Roughness" show with WIP's Anthony Gargano tonight that they will rally together and use this loss to fuel the team.
That thinking is a good start and knowing Trotter his attitude will permeate that locker room like a scent of fine cologne.
And, now it's time for them to get back to work and take care of business on Sunday in San Francisco.
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One had to assume a letdown would occur at some point for the Phillies. After all, they just completed a grueling road trip and swept their nemesis of last season, the Astros-on their home turf.
Their pitching got shellacked tonight by the Cubs, led by Aramis Ramirez, who had 7 RBI's in tonight's affair at "The Bank."
Jon Lieber lasted just 2 1/3 innings and gave up 4 earned runs.
Eude Brito came in the game and wasn't much more effective in his 1 2/3 innings of work as he gave up 3 earned runs, and it begs one to wonder just why is he on the team? Brito has an ERA of 7.36 in 19 2/3 innings. He has 9 strikeouts and 12 walks. I recall a game earlier in the season against the Dodgers' Brad Penny when his body language and overt lack of confidence were only exceeded by his sheer ineptitude and horrific control in the game. Needless to say it was a throw-away game for the Phillies, much like this game. But, if you're going to throw away a game like tonight, why would you put a pitcher in the game who has no business even being on a AA roster? Brito brings to mind the infamous Paul Abbot who's very appearance in the game was a harbinger for very bad things to come.
Note to Gillick, dump Brito.
Other than the 7 run shellacking by the Lieber/Brito contingent, there isn't much else to say about this game other than it's a letdown and probably an aberration. The real Phillies team is the one that just swept the Astros. They aren't the one that recorded just 7 hits tonight and saw their core of Howard, Utley, and Rollins go a combined 1 for 11 tonight. The only real scary thing about this team is their bullpen sans Geoff Geary. They will be the x-factor on that final weekend, and rest assured the season will come down to the wire. They have a great shot at taking the wildcard, but need to regroup from tonight's hiccup.
They will look to take the second game of this series tomorrow night at 7:05 at The Bank.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Before I get into a breakdown of today's crushing loss for the Eagles allow me to establish something to set things in perspective. This was their first game of the year; last week's game was nothing more than an extended pre-season if you will. This game was for real-last week, not so much; it was against a college football team. Consider this their season opener. And, during the Andy Reid era they were just 2-5 in season opening games. This one conjured up memories of their season opener against the Tennessee Titans in 2002. That was a game where they held a 24-10 lead at halftime and like this game went conservative, failed to pound the ball, went to sleep on defense, and collapsed. Oh yeah, Jevon Kearse happened to get injured for the season in that game. And, from the sound of things he'll unlikely play again this year.
The similarities end there between these two crushing losses.
This game was a debacle of colossal proportions. What makes it worse is that it happened against a division foe. It's certainly better that it happened at this stage of the season. A loss like this can rally a team. They took the Giants lightly in the second half when they held a seemingly massive 24-7 lead. And, then the Eagles did what they've done so many times in the 8 years of the Andy Reid regime; they went into a shell, failed to pound the ball, and thus went into a bigger tailspin and fell faster than Enron's stock.
The defense got to Eli Manning early and often. During the first half they amassed five sacks against the young Manning who is hyped up more than Lebron's James' first line of Nike's. Is he a good quarterback? Absolutely. But, he's certainly not the second coming of Jesus Christ like so many members of the football networks would have you believe. Just where does their interest lie? Hmmm. At any rate, Manning was befuddled and looked like a deer caught in the headlights against the relentless pass rush. And, like so many quarterbacks in this league he was made to look superior when the pressure stopped coming. He picked apart a decimated Eagles' secondary in the fourth quarter who had Dexter Wynn on the field, after an injury to back-up Roderick Hood.
The problems went hand-in-hand for the Eagles. The play-calling was abominable in the final 19 minutes of the game. They were out gained by the Giants 314 yards to 45. I don't care if you're coaching a junior varsity football team in middle school, your team shouldn't be out gained by such a wide margin at the end of the game. Never. But, it happened. The offense went into their proverbial shell, by producing just two first downs in the fourth quarter.
There were no doubt some fluke plays, which went the Giants' way, like the one play where the ball seemed to be kicked down the field and in comedic fashion (for Giants fans) the Giants hopped on the ball and got a free touchdown. There were countless calls, which went the Giants way. Still there's no excuse for the offense and defense laying down like a group of sorority girls on designer drugs at a fraternity party.
You had stupid plays too, like the one where Trent Cole gave the Giants a first down and field position when he was called for taunting. That falls upon the coaching staff. It's simply a lack of focus in a stage of the game where it's needed most.
This game was a tale of two games. There is no doubt the Eagles are a better team than the Giants. The Giants are a mediocre team at best and were made to look far worse for three quarters. However, the Eagles gave them this game. They weren't defeated, but rather lost it. The entire team from the coach to McNabb, and on down went from a dominant team to a junior varsity team in those 19 minutes. The positive thing is this loss occurred at this point in the season and not in week 17 as they head into the playoffs.
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The Phillies came up big and finally had a series sweep. This game was won by Randy Wolf, who had just three days rest for the first time in his career, yet he won his ninth straight decision and remained undefeated (4-0) on the season.
Wolf went 5 2/3 innings and allowed just three runs and struck out five. Sure he gave up two long balls, but to put in a performance like that on such short rest after coming off elbow surgery is pretty remarkable. Pitching wins in September and the Phillies are getting that type of starting pitching.
Ryan Howard hit his 57th homerun and this time it wasn't stolen from him by an umpire. Mike Lieberthal came up huge as well, by hitting two homeruns.
When is the last time Mike Lieberthal hit two homeruns in a clutch game? I couldn't even tell you.
The Phillies are getting clutch performances out of different players, which is indicative of a playoff team. One day Burrell hits a grand slam, another day Victorino or Rollins comes up big, and today it's Lieberthal. Howard is a given, but they are getting performances across the board. The team is playing like a team on a mission. And, the root of this change in behavior was the Abreu trade. Make no mistake about it Howard and Utley are the leaders of this team. Gone is the poor attitude, which permeated throughout the clubhouse like a stench of rotten meat.
Tom Gordon came in the ninth to notch his 31st save.
On a day when the Eagles gave the fans no reason to smile, the Phillies rose up and put a nice lining on that cloud.
The team on a mission takes on the Chicago Cubs Monday night at 7:05.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Cole Hamels pitched another gem for the Phillies today as they defeated the Astros 7-2. Hamels flirted with a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings before surrendering a double to Adam Everett in the seventh inning, which also spoiled his shutout bid as he scored Jason Lane. Hamels was brilliant overall going 7 2/3 innings and allowing just 2 runs and striking out 11, with just 3 hits allowed.
Ryan Howard was robbed of a homerun (literally) in the sixth inning when he hit an obvious homerun, which was caught by a fan and subsequently dropped, thus falling back onto the field. Replays showed the fan catching the ball and dropping it, and umpire Larry Poncino even acknowledged the error. It's about time major league baseball adopts instant replay. Not only will this be a travesty if Ryan Howard ends up with 60 or 61 homers to tie or break the real single-season record, but if this were to happen in the World Series all hell would break loose. For major league baseball to not incorporate instant replay would be akin to the major automobile manufacturers failing to reinvent the engine to use hydrocarbon fuel cells.
Oh wait-they already have.
Fortunately, Hamels was lights out today and Howard's homerun wasn't needed today. Jimmy Rollins and Abe Nunez each had 2 RBI's and David Dellucci tacked on to the lead with a homerun in the 7th inning.
The Phillies tagged Astros' reliever Brad Lidge who used to be one of the elite closers in baseball. My, my, my what a difference a season makes. He is 1-5 with 32 saves, but a 5.21 ERA this season.
The Fightin's are now one game behind the Padres for the wildcard lead, as they are two games behind in the loss column, but tied with them in wins. The Padres have a game tonight at 10:35.
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The Eagles have a huge game tomorrow against the New York Giants in just the second game of the season. Many feel that this is a critical game for the Eagles in that they can go 2-0, while the Giants will fall to 0-2 and have to go on the road to face Seattle.
The "experts" are coming out and saying New York will win this game on that basis; they have a must-win game and cannot afford to lose.
Whatever happened to the best team winning? And, whatever happened to a team having a statement game?
Let's face it the Eagles played the Giants twice last year with one of the worst quarterbacks in their history. Their team was decimated, yet they still played the Giants very tough in the second game, losing in overtime 26-23, with Mike McMahon at quarterback.
This year the Eagles will have a healthy McNabb, semi-healthy Brian Westbrook, and reloaded offensive and defensive lines against a Giants team, which won the division during a down year. Sure, Eli Manning had a nice season. Tiki Barber has lit the Eagles up for an average of 140+ yards in his past several meetings against them. But, the fact remains the Giants won one of their meetings by 10 points, when the Eagles held their own much of the way, and skated by in overtime against an Eagles team decimated by injuries.
Since when did the Giants become the 1993 Dallas Cowboys?
There are some different variables in this game, which weren't present last year. For one, Donovan McNabb and not Mike McMahon is going up against the "G-men", who happens to be one of the top three quarterbacks in the NFL. And, secondly, Brian Westbrook will take the field as opposed to the likes of Ryan Moats and Reno Mahe. And, oh yeah there's a receiver named Donte Stallworth who will go up against the Giants cornerbacks.
And, going back to the statement game question, the Eagles will look to make a statement here. They will be fired up and look to take the division back. What better time to do it than now? They face the division winners of last year this early and they'll have a two game lead on them at this juncture. Not to mention, the Eagles haven't won a division game since 2004; this is quite a while in football years.
It will be a close game, but the Eagles will prevail comfortably at the end: 24-14. My friend and colleague Chris White will hold me to that as he has the Giants defeating the Eagles 24-19.
Above all one of the third best quarterbacks in the NFL will look to tell his counterparts in the NFC East that, "we're back!"
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies won their first game in Houston Friday night 4-3. And, news flash here: Pat Burrell hit a grand slam in the first inning off Roger Clemens.
I like many other people in the media and the fans as well have berated
Burrell all season long. How could you not? He's been the baseball equivalent
of Raider's coach Art Shell-just a total zombie out there. There were countless
clutch situations this season where he struck out looking with runners on
base, or a "Burrell special" as I call it when he (expletive deleted)
up with bases loaded. The best is when he allows a ball to hit the wall
or drop in front of him. Tonight I grant Burrell immunity from bashing for
48 hours. I don't care if he strikes out five times with bases loaded tomorrow
and allows three balls to go off his glove for homeruns, he is granted amnesty
from my wrath for 2 days. For him to hit a grand slam off Roger Clemens
is in a sense amazing. I don't know if it was intentional or a freak occurrence.
It could be akin to a Total Solar Eclipse. Hell we may never see Burrell
accomplish such a feat ever again. For him to hit a grand slam off a ham
and egger is one thing, but off one of the greatest pitchers in history
boggles the mind. What caused this extraordinary event to take place? Is
it possible Darren Daulton channeled his cosmic energy into Pat Burrell
during that instant? Only Pat knows.
In all seriousness, it was a huge moment for Burrell and he single-handedly
won the game tonight, so my hat goes off to him. And, I will grant him 48
hours immunity.
Now, onto the rest of the game, Clemens went just five innings, while allowing
just three hits and striking out four. He did walk season-high five batters
though. Brett Myers clearly out pitched him in this game, going seven innings
and allowing three runs and five hits.
They say the most exciting play in sports is the penalty shot. These days
the most excruciating thing in sports is the Phillies bullpen. Now, I never
watched a snuff film (nor would I admit to it if I did-that's rather seedy
you know), but it must be similar to watching the Phillies bullpen in a
game. The relief pitcher is akin to the drugged up female victim who is
held captive by a gang of rapists who are hopped up on crystal meth, PCP,
and gallons of vodka. You just hope they escape alive. In the bullpen's
case, most times they don't. Hell the turtles have a better chance of making
it back to the beach from the ocean upon hatching. Geoff Geary is the one
who always escapes unscathed; he's done a remarkable job this year and compared
to the rest of the bullpen he's Mark Davis in 1989.
And, after Geary exited Charlie Manuel brought Matt Smith in the game. Now,
whenever Manuel makes a tactical decision you brace yourself because that
can often be as bad of a decision as ESPN chopping "Primetime"
all to hell like a Charles Manson murder victim and spreading it all throughout
Sportscenter, usually his decisions turn out to be (expletive deleted).
You get the idea.
Tom Gordon came in the ninth inning giving up two hits, but he escaped and
more importantly the Padres lost. So, the Phillies are now 1 1/2 games out.
Today they escaped the snuff film. Tomorrow who knows what can happen. And,
that in and of itself makes this wildcard chase exciting.
--------------------------------
Bernard Hopkins called into Howard Eskin's show on WIP today and once again
he couldn't refrain from bashing Donovan McNabb.
He's made it clear that he's on T.O.'s side as they are "boys."
Several months ago he trashed McNabb while he was on Angelo Cataldi's show,
and said the Eagles quarterback has "no heart" and that he was
in poor condition in the Super Bowl-echoing the childish nonsense that Terrell
Owens spewed publicly.
Now, today Hopkins reiterated those points. I think one thing is clear;
Bernard Hopkins has been hit in the head way too many times and probably
has brain damage. He's out of his mind to believe anything Terrell Owens
says. I would be more apt to believe the Nigeria banking schemes, which
fill up my inbox are legit. Hell, I'd rather take stock advice from the
countless spam emails I receive every day. You know the ones with the random
words in the subject line, then you have some jackass telling you "we
have great news, Company A is a great buy..." And, I would believe
this why? Because you had to evade my spam filtering system to get me such
wonderful information.
Anyhow, T.O. is that guy. He's a lunatic and for Hopkins to believe his
psychobabble is foolish. It's even more foolish for him to go on the radio
running his mouth about probably the greatest quarterback in Eagles history
of the modern era.
Yeah, I said it.
So my message to Bernard Hopkins is this, first get your head checked out
for brain damage. And, then get rid of that fool T.O. from your posse. The
guy is poison, bad news. Stay away. Terrell Owens is like Alfred Molina's
character in "Boogie Nights" minus the drugs, guns, and the Asian
boy throwing firecrackers in the room. They share one common bond though;
they're (expletive deleted) crazy!
Hopkins also stated that this is the year for McNabb to get it done. Don't
all of McNabb's detractors say this every year? They are usually the same
people who bitch and complain about Andy Reid and how "he's not a game
day coach." They are a very loud minority, but these people are ingrates.
Would they rather have Rich Kotite and Bubby Brister running the show? And,
no offense to Buddy Ryan, but would they rather have him coach the team?
He wasn't a good NFL coach. He understood the fans here and was a great
defensive coach, but as a head coach he was a moron. Hopkins' psychobabble
echoed what all of the McNabb-Reid haters have been saying for a few years
now. "This year will be the beginning of the end." My message
to them is go root for another team if you want to see your team fail like
that.
I still have trouble figuring out the logic of this very loud and vocal
minority. What did Reid and/or McNabb do to rub these people the wrong way?
Is it because Andy Reid isn't like Buddy Ryan? I could care less what the
guy says at his press conferences. Win me some damn games and I'll stay
off you. And, McNabb single-handedly carried that Eagles offense in the
early 2000's before the T.O. era. But, the detractors point out the defense
carried the team.
You still need a quarterback to win and a coach.
But, they say Trent Dilfer won it all. With anything there's an exception.
Again you need a quarterback and a coach to win and they've done that. They
just haven't won the big one...yet hopefully.
This is Philly and we're waiting after 23 miserable years.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Keith Primeau said goodbye today in an emotional press conference in which he announced his retirement from hockey following a series of concussions and a concussion in a game last season in late-October.
He acknowledged that during the Tampa Bay series in 2004 he sustained several concussions. The straw that broke the camel's back occurred in a game at the end of October.
He made several attempts to return, but the effects still lingered. At this point it's about his health and the doctors didn't give him clearance to return. Thus, he decided to hang up the skates.
Primeau was the Flyers captain since 2001 when he took the reigns from Eric Desjardins.
He was a great leader on this team for many years and will be sorely missed. He will be remembered for the game-winning goal he had in a five-overtime game against Pittsburgh in 2000. However, his legacy will be for his play in the 2004 playoffs, when he single-handedly led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ironically that series is what ended his career as he sustained several concussions during the seven game series against Tampa Bay.
It has already been announced that Peter Forsberg will take over as Flyers captain. This is the first time in Forsberg's career that he will be a captain.
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The Phillies lost against the Braves tonight 4-1, failing to sweep them, and thus putting them 2 1/2 games behind San Diego for the wild card spot.
They got a decent start out of Jamie Moyer, who gave up four runs in six innings.
The story of this game was the utter dominance displayed by Atlanta starter Chuck James. He pitched seven shutout innings and had seven strikeouts, while giving up just five hits and two walks. He has won four straight starts, and is 6-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his past eight starts. The Phillies are the latest victim for him.
Jeff Conine had the only RBI for the Phils when he singled in Chase Utley in the eighth inning.
This was one of those games where the Phillies just had nothing offensively. Their pitching was decent, but just not enough. They are now 2-3 on their critical road trip and can't afford to lose more than one or two more games on this road trip. They have just 16 games left and will need to go 12-4 to get in the playoffs. The Padres simply keep winning and winning and playing .550 baseball just won't cut it.
They will travel to Houston tomorrow to take on the Astros at 8:05. It will be the first game of a three-game weekend series against the underachieving Astros.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies finally got onto the field today and continued their road trip with a pair of very nice wins against Atlanta to gain some ground against the surging Padres.
In the first game they came back despite being down 5-0 after just two innings, when Randy Wolf had his worst start since coming back from Tommy John surgery.
It seemed as though all things were going against the Phillies when Andruw Jones robbed Ryan Howard of a grand slam early in the game.
The Phillies came back with three runs in the third and the eighth innings. Jimmy Rollins had three hits, as well as a hit in the eighth inning to start the rally. Shane Victorino then had an RBI single, and Jeff Conine singled. And, then Dellucci hit a liner to left field to score Victorino and Conine after the ball skipped off Diaz's glove.
From there it was smooth sailing as Rick White struck out two in 1 2/3 perfect innings for his first quality relief appearance in what seems like eons. Added to that, it was the first time the Philllies' bullpen didn't have a hiccup in a key situation in...well eons.
Tom Gordon came in the ninth inning to get his 29th save.
This was just the type of win the Phillies needed. They were buried by their starting pitching early on and then their offense had to pick them up in a pressure situation. And, the bullpen was nearly flawless. Perhaps, the four days of rest facilitated that.
And, then came the latter half of the double-header...
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Jon Lieber turned in yet another quality start by allowing 2 runs over 7 1/3 innings, as he is 4-1 with just 18 ER in 57 1/3 innings over his last 8 starts-good for a 2.80 ERA in that span.
This game wasn't nearly as dramatic as the first game as Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run shot in the second inning and they never looked back.
Carlos Ruiz added on to their lead by hitting a two-run homer in the third inning and following it up with an RBI single in the fifth.
The Phillies have had some trouble with Tim Hudson since he came over to Atlanta in the trade last off-season. Tonight wasn't the case as they got to him early and he would exit the game after just 5 innings upon giving up 5 earned runs.
The big story again was the pitching. Not only did they get a quality start (unlike the first game) but their bullpen was flawless-literally. Fultz, Geary, and Madson combined to go 1 2/3 innings with 1 hit allowed and 0 earned runs.
The 3 days rest was just what the doctor ordered and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.
They now trail the Padres by 1 1/2 games in the wildcard.
They will look to sweep the Braves tomorrow night at 7:35 and hopefully close that gap to a game or better.
--------------------------------
And, lastly this story you are about to hear is further proof that human civilization is further declining and we are ultimately doomed as humans.
Mitch Cozad, the backup punter for the Northern Colorado football team allegedly stabbed starter Rafael Mendoza in the leg this week.
This reminds me of a scene in the show Oz when one of the C.O.'s was playing in a jailhouse basketball tournament. In fact he was so good he was on the verge of trying out for the NBA. Before long the inmates were betting on the games and one of inmates took out the rising star by stabbing him in ankle.
Cozad did his teammate dirty here, but wouldn't get away as his car was identified by a witness near the parking lot. It was traced back to him and now Cozad will have his 15 minutes of fame as the most embarrassed teammate in America.
Maybe in 10 years Cozad will be on celebrity boxing much like Tonya Harding.
Or, maybe he'll become a figure skater upon realizing his true identity after some time in the joint?
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Flyers captain Keith Primeau is expected to announce his retirement within the next 48 hours according to various sources.
He was never able to come back from a concussion he suffered at the end of October last year, as he experienced post-concussion syndrome. Primeau flirted with the idea of returning for the playoffs last season, but he still experienced headaches and dizziness while practicing with his teammates. It was rumored that he would try and make a go of things this fall, and even while he was on the Glen Macnow show as a special guest a few weeks ago he seemed optimistic about returning.
This will mark the end of a career of one of the most popular Flyers who fell out of favor with fans when he was involved in the Barber fiasco, when he along with various teammates threw the former coach under the bus. His play was lackluster up until the 2004 playoffs and it seemed he would be maligned much like Chris Therian. And, then he turned in one of the greatest playoff performances ever by a Flyer during their 2004 playoff run, which saw them ultimately lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. Primeau had 9 goals and 7 assists in 18 games.
It appeared Primeau had turned a corner and thus the Flyers rewarded him with an extension in the 2005 season after the NHL was back in business following the one-year lockout. And, then he was injured in the first month of the season and would never suit up again.
Primeau's ultimate legacy will be his performance in the 2004 playoffs. It wasn't just his scoring either that was so remarkable. He played great defense and was the leader of that team. They may not have gotten to a Stanley Cup that year, but it was a special year for the Flyers. They weren't expected to do much heading into the playoffs, but they turned it on when they had to, but came up oh so short against the Lightning.
Primeau ends his career with 312 games played for the Flyers and 87 goals, 126 assists, and 213 points.
And, now Bobby Clarke will look to sign Vancouver center Ryan Kesler to a $1.9 million offer, who is seen as an up and coming center, but only had 10 goals and 13 assists in 82 games last season.
Peter Forsberg is expected to become the next Flyers captain following Derian Hatcher's disappointing interim as the captain during Primeau's absence last year.
--------------------------------
The Phillies had another day off tonight as they were rained out in Atlanta. These two days off are the best thing for a team that is in near burnout mode.
There were two positives thus far on the road trip.
One, they split with the Marlins and didn't get beat 1 out of 3.
Two, Arthur Rhodes won't pitch again this year. I use the word "pitch" loosely as he was easily the worst Phillies' relief pitcher since Roberto "Horrendous" Hernandez, who you might remember from the debacle of 2004.
Gone will be the trips to the mound when you have to hang onto the edge of your seat because of the fear of Rhodes blowing another game.
Gone will be the aggravation of seeing Rhodes walk a litany of runners, or give up key hits, or get bombed worse than Kerry Collins in his New Orleans Saints days.
Better days are ahead as my late father used to say. Better days are ahead for the Phillies.
These two days off break up a torrid schedule, which would have seen them play 14 games in just 12 days.
They'll be refreshed and ready to take on an Atlanta team that finally won't win a division championship. It's a crying shame it has to be the Mets hoisting that division crown at season's end and not the Fightins.
They are scheduled to take on the Braves tomorrow night at 7:35 and Randy Wolf will take the hill.
--------------------------------
As you may have heard, Jerry Porter was seen pumping his fist and laughing on the sidelines last night just after Raiders quarterback and teammate Aaron Brooks was sacked for a seventh time in the game.
There is no secret that plenty of acrimony has developed between he and Raiders' coach Art Shell-a.k.a the worst coach in the NFL not named Rich Kotite. If you are wondering why he never got another coaching job, then think back to the days of his tenure when the Raiders would consistently have 12-15 penalties per game and look like an unfocused motley crew of bumbling fools.
At any rate, Porter seems to be trying to talk his way out of Oakland. This is just going too far and a complete no-no in professional sports. I was talking to a good friend of mine today via email, who is a life-long Raiders fan and he basically condoned Porter's actions since Brooks is such a (expletive deleted) quarterback. I must say I was quite entertained by his rant, as it resembled my rants and ravings following such Eagles defeats as "The Debacle" (2003 NFC Championship) and "The Worst Game I ever spent more than $100 on" (2004 NFC Championship). At any rate, I retorted to say, "that's a complete no-no in professional sports" and his response was "they're not a professional football team!"
Good point. This team of sad sacks is already in a tailspin and I'd be surprised if they win 5 games. As a casual gambler, I fully intend on betting against the Raiders as much as possible. I'm putting the over/under on Raiders wins this year at 3. Currently Vegas has them at 6. I think I'll put my money where my mouth is.
Back onto Porter though. He came up with the most ridiculous excuse next to Dennis Rodman's excuse to Carmen Electra that "they fell through the ceiling" when asked why he was in bed with two women as she walked in on him. Porter claimed he wasn't even paying attention to the game at the time and rather was laughing in reaction to some fans who were talking to him on the sidelines.
Sure, Jerry we believe you.
Art Shell gave the perfunctory response that he would be disappointed if it's true. Wow. Really? As if that will really make a difference at this point. Never in my entire life have I seen a team in such disarray after just one game. It's going to be a fun year for anyone but Raiders fans. This soap opera is just starting to get interesting. Just think how great it will be when Randy Moss walks off the field during the first quarter of a game in the middle of the season when they're down 28-0 to the Broncos or another AFC foe.
That my friends will be must see TV.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Today marks the five-year anniversary of the worst day in the history of the United States. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, reflecting upon it can make you appreciate your friends in family. There are many happenings both domestically and internationally, which dwarf sports and other forms of entertainment. It's a clear reminder that living in fear is a real possibility should this happen again, and that would be the biggest travesty.
--------------------------------
Now, here's today's news. The Eagles reported that Lito Sheppard would likely
miss the next two games and possibly even more time as he injured his right
ankle during the first series of the game yesterday. The X-rays were negative,
but it's disturbing that Sheppard injured his right ankle this time. Last
season he missed the final six games with a high-ankle sprain on his opposite
leg. Pretty soon he'll earn the tag "injury prone."
This certainly leaves the team in a lurch as Rodrick Hood will step in to
replace Sheppard for the next two games and he's hardly a reliable cover
guy. Jim Johnson will have to get creative with his schemes to mask Hood's
weaknesses, so he's not a liability. The good news is Andy Reid said it's
not a high-ankle sprain, but it's a pretty serious sprain on the inside
of the ankle. Sheppard will be "week to week" at this point.
--------------------------------
The Flyers resigned Simon Gagne to a five-year contract today worth $26
million. There was widespread speculation that Gagne would be signed to
a one-year deal and traded as soon as possible. The reason being is that
Gagne wanted a contract, which would pay him more than Peter Forsberg, thus
making it harder to keep both players on the team, as they would have to
commit nearly one quarter of their salary cap to both players.
The Flyers seem committed to Gagne with this signing. Things will be interesting
when it comes time to resigning Forsberg after this season. He signed a
two-year $11.5 million contract last season and will look to resign for
comparable money.
With the NHL salary cap slated to be $44 million, roughly one quarter of
the payroll will be committed to Gagne and Forsberg. And, in due time they'll
need to commit to one of their goaltenders. It will be very difficult to
build an entire team when so much is committed to two star players. The
salary cap, which resembles a hard cap in the NFL prohibits teams from stacking
their teams with high-salaried players as in years past (i.e. the Rangers,
Flyers, and Avalanche).
The good news is they retain the services of one of the bright, young stars
in the game, and a player who at just 26 years old, appears to be entering
his prime. Gagne set career highs last year in goals with 47 and points
with 79. Much of it can be attributed to the presence of Forsberg, but make
no mistake about it, Gagne was a player the Flyers had to retain.
Next up, Forsberg. He has one year left on his deal and will look to stay
in Philly if possible.
--------------------------------
The New England Patriots traded disgruntled receiver Deion Branch to the
Seattle Seahawks today for what's reported as a first-round pick.
That's a high price to pay for a number two receiver. One can say Donte
Stallworth is a better receiver than Branch, yet the Eagles just gave up
a fourth rounder and Mark Simeneou for him. Now, that fourth rounder becomes
a third if the Eagles resign him, and based on yesterday's performance that
may be a reality before long. Branch had a career high 998 yards on 78 receptions
last year, with 5 touchdowns last season. Stallworth played in a horrible
offense, with a horrible quarter in Aaron Brooks and had 70 catches for
945 yards and 7 TD's.
I like Stallworth better. Branch is a nice receiver, but he had the benefits
of playing in a great system and with the best quarterback in the league.
The Seahawks paid way too high of a price for him.
If this were a player such as John Abraham, Richard Seymour, Casey Hampton,
or Walter Jones, then a first-round pick would be justified, but to pay
that much for a number two receiver is insane. One has to wonder what Holmgren
is thinking.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Eagles officially have turned the corner from the season known as "The Debacle" and won convincingly over the Houston Texans 24-10.
Ok, it wasn't exactly the Indianapolis Colts, but a win is a win, and with the way things started out in this game one could feel the stomachs turning amongst the collective members of Eagles nation. The Texans marched down the field with remarkably fluidity on the first drive and it seemed like the Eagles' pass rush was a step behind. They capped the opening drive off with a 25-yard touchdown to new acquisition Eric Moulds-whom pundits such as Angelo Catalidi felt the Eagles needed to sign this past off-season otherwise their season would be doomed.
And, the Eagles started off very slowly as they ended their first two drives with a punt and an interception by McNabb. It seemed as though they might have their hands full, but it was for naught.
The onslaught began in the second quarter when Jim Johnson let the dogs loose and Donte Stallworth played like a man possessed as he caught a 42-yard touchdown pass to tie it up at 7 all. Things just got started at that point. The gauntlet continued as Jevon Kearse, Michael Lewis, Juqua Thomas all recorded a sack apiece, and second year standout Trent Cole recorded two sacks.
Two words about Trent Cole: utter madman.
Jeremiah Trotter led the way on defense with 9 tackles and Matt McCoy recorded 8 in his first career NFL start. Rookie Brodrick Bunkley had a quiet game, finishing with 3 tackles and no sacks.
The biggest story today was Donovan McNabb clearly...well a tie between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook...well no a three-way tie between McNabb, Westbrook, and Stallworth. Ok, my mind is made up.
McNabb lit up the Texans for 3 TD's on 24-35 passing and displayed remarkable precision and mobility. Now, can we all say for certain that he's healthy? What "sports hernia?"
Gone.
Bye bye.
Donte Stallworth did his best Terrell Owens impersonation by hauling in 6 passes for 141 yards. To say he looked great would be an understatement. One has to think that he could very well be a Pro Bowl type receiver who played in an (expletive deleted) offense with a (expletive deleted) quarterback for the first four years of his career. For him to come in after just 2 weeks and barely any time in the new system, and to put on a display like that is remarkable.
And, last but not least Brian Westbrook looked like the healthy Westbrook, the one who is the dual engine of this 747 jet of an offense. When he and McNabb work together nobody can stop this team.
It's a bit early to say this, but the Eagles did look like a team that has that special something, that ability to just turn it on at will. Sure, it's the Texans. Sure, it's the first game, but you have to admit they looked like men amongst boys on both sides of the ball from the second quarter on.
--------------------------------
The Phillies lost their second consecutive game to the Marlins today 3-0 as they were dominated by Dontrelle Willis who recorded a shutout and tossed 12 strikeouts and only allowed three hits.
Ryan Howard recorded two of those hits, but failed to hit number 57.
This isn't exactly what they need at this juncture as they split with the Marlins to open up their season-deciding 10-game road trip. It puts them in a rather precarious position, as they'll need to win 4 of their next 6 to go 6 and 4 on the trip; anything less is unacceptable and will make their wildcard run exponentially more difficult.
The offense failed to do much of anything against the pitcher known as "The D-Train", who was connected to more teams in trade talks this year than Dick Cheney has been connected to shady business dealings. The Marlins opted to hang on to their young ace and now are tied with the Phillies in the wildcard and can be the first team in major league history to field a team of rookies essentially (sans Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, and a few minor players) and make the playoffs.
Cole Hamels was largely ineffective today as he gave up two runs, six hits, and five walks in just four innings of work. Charlie Manuel made the smart decision of yanking Hamels after the marlins stranded eight runners, including two bases-loaded situations where Josh Willingham pulled a Pat Burrell and failed.
The Fightins will get a much-need day of rest tomorrow and continue their road trip Tuesday against Atlanta at 7:35.
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The final topic tonight is not so much of a sports topic as it is a problem I have with the NFL and NBC.
After NBC inked a 6-year deal with the NFL for 3.6 billion over 6 years to televise Sunday night games, it was agreed upon that ESPN would not televise their show "Primetime", which was a fixture after Sunday's games for 19 years.
The agreement between ESPN and NBC is that ESPN can't offer any NFL content before the "Sunday Night" game, thus a truncated version of the show "Primetime" would be shown after the game during Sportscenter when many people are asleep. And, let's face it the east coast market is the market, which should be pandered to. Not to make it sound like the east coast is better, but we are at a time disadvantage and we're constantly screwed by playoff games (particularly NBA and MLB) being shown way too late. This is another example of that.
For NBC and ESPN mutually agree to a move like this is an abomination. For one, it's senseless and contradictory as there are various pre-game shows before NFL games on Sunday. CBS, Fox, and ESPN all have their pre-game shows. There isn't a single network that has exlusive rights to showing a pre-game show. And, secondly it's an abomination that the American public is deprived of a wonderful show, which has become a part of the NFL viewing experience.
There isn't any harm whatsoever in allowing ESPN to continue airing Primetime at 7:30.
To further illustrate how ludicrous this move is; ESPN will air another version of Primetime tomorrow at 4:00 PM when pretty much most of the male viewers are still at their jobs.
Why even bother having the show period? The version of the show after the game on Sunday night is chopped down significantly, and the extended version is on when most people are at work.
It is an absolute and utter disgrace for the NFL and NBC to force ESPN to yank the show from Sunday nights and a clear example of a corporate pissing contest.
And, the American consumer clearly gets screwed here.
The heart of free enterprise and capitalism in America is competition. If you aren't good enough to compete then get off the damn field.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
The Phillies dropped an important game to a wild card foe on Saturday as they lost 4-3 to the Marlins in 10 innings. The Phils wasted another solid outing from Brett Myers who went 6 innings scattering 9 hits for 3 runs (2 earned) and fanned 5. Ryan Howard did not go deep and nowadays that is news. He did go 2 for 2 with 4 walks and I hope this was not his audition for the Barry Bonds Show. No, there's no evidence of steroid use (though fairly or unfairly there have been whispers) but if the opposition gets to the point where they just walk him when the game is on the line, things will get old around here very quickly. "The Cleaner" can't clean if you take the mop out of his hands. David Dellucci and Jeff Conine do not qualify as protection and Pat Burrell is a stretch too. That meant that Chase Utley was pretty much all of the offense today has he homered twice (28), both solo shots, amounting for two of the Phillies 3 runs. Marlins pitchers, many of which have are still being potty trained and others just getting their training wheels off, struck out 10 Phillies in what was a lackluster day for the offense outside of the 2-4 slots. Shane Victorino, Utley and Howard were 7 for 11 with 7 walks while the rest of the lineup went 4 for 28 with all 10 Ks. They had the bases loaded in the 5th and failed to score. On the bump things were very solid until Arthur Rhodes took the mound for the 10th. He walked pinch hitter Chris Aguila (.221) with one out and then Aguila moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Rhodes intentionally walked Miguel Oliva (not exactly Hank Aaron) then threw another wild pitch to allow both runners to advance. Rhodes' night would be over, but not due to the shrewd moves of Charlie Manuel, but rather because he injured his shoulder. The next batter, Alfredo Amezaga was walked by new pitcher Brian Sanches who then faced Cody Ross and allowed the game-winning hit to center. No news on Rhodes' injury, but at 0-5 with a 5.32 ERA, he likely won't be missed very much if he can't go. San Diego lost to San Francisco this afternoon, so the Phillies keep pace, but with the victory, the Giants are now tied with the Phils 1.5 games back.
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Week 1. It's finally here. The Eagles open the season at Houston to take on a Texans team that finished an NFL worst 2-14 last season. Meanwhile, the Eagles look to at least flip last year's 6-10 (first losing season since '99 but I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir) around and a cupcake like the Texans is a good place to start. The Texans are still a mess. Their offensive line has never allowed them to see what they really have in QB David Carr and the shocking decision to IR Dominick Davis, arguably their best offensive weapon, makes them look even weaker. I won't even mention Reggie Bush. Veteran Ron Dayne joins a backfield that features a rookie (Vernand Morency) and a 2nd year player (Wali Lundy). Assuming Donovan McNabb continues