Philly Sports 2005

Final Post?????? Probally Not

2005-11-22T23:14:00.000-05:00

Well the Eagles season was shot down after there latest loss. I am looking forward to watching the Flyers. They are currently in second place in their division and Simon Gagne is leading the league in goals. Peter Forsberg has gotten better everygame and I have seen him make passes that made my jaw drop. The Flyers are true Stanely Cup contenders and I look forward to watching them this winter.

As for the Sixers, they are exceeding everyones expectations early and this young team, surrounding the two stars AI and C Webb, have been getting better every game this season. My hat goes off to Mo Cheeks.

Philadelphia Teams Are Not Having a Good Week

2005-11-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

The Philadelphia Eagles have lost three straight close games. These are games the team found ways to win in the past. With Sunday’s disappointing loss the New York Giants, the Eagles playoff hopes are all but extinct. The Eagles went blow for blow with the Giants before an Eli Manning pass to Plaxico Burress sealed a victory for New York. It did not help that the men dressed in stripes spotted the Giants with 10 points in the first half. Michael Lewis was called for pass interference, when clearly he was playing the ball. If there was a penalty, it was on Amani Toomer; even Troy Aikman thought that the call was wrong. The penalty resulted in over 50 yard gain for the G-men. Another missed call on LJ Smith in the end zone, Smith was clearly interfered with, for about 5 seconds straight. And Mike McMahon’s first half interception, clearly LJ was hit past the five yard allowance. He was over ten yards down field. But the Eagles didn’t deserve to win the game anyway, McMahon was worse than McNabb in the first half, the O-line forgot to show up, Lito Shepherd left the game with a broken ankle and the Giants wide receivers were open all day. Improvement is needed….next year.

The Sixers and the Flyers both lost consecutive games. The Sixers blowing a double digit lead late in the fourth quarter against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. The Flyers have now lost 2 straight after winning 6 in a row. Maybe the return of Keith Primeau soon will spark the Flyers?

Sixers' Turn Things Around

2005-11-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

The Philadelphia 76ers started the season at a disappointing 0-3, and has since turned things around under new coach Maurice Cheeks. The Sixers have now won there 4th straight game, and are in first place in the Atlantic division. The big difference in the turn around is the play of the supporting cast, stars Allen Iverson and Chris Webber did virtually all the scoring in the first three games. Since then, Andre Iguodala and Kyle Korver have both scored substantial amount of points in the Sixers current streak. Andre is shooting 50% from the field and K squared is leading the team in threes. What is most impressive about Korver is that is showing us that he can move around, he isn’t just a spot up shooter who can’t put the ball on the floor.

Chris Webber and AI are starting to lead this club of young players and turn hem into a formidable opponent. After Sunday’s victory Webber stated, "Me and [Iverson] have been trying to tell the younger guys to set small goals…. Keep on winning the small ones, we'll be OK. One of the goals needs to be to make sure we try and stay consistent; we're going to be a really good road team. When you protect home court, teams don't want to see you, don't want to play you in the playoffs.'' It is the little things that are leading the Sixers to victory, without the play of starting center Samuel Dalembert.

TO is GONE!! YES!!

2005-11-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

Finally T.O is gone!!! The Philadelphia Eagles should have deactivated the wide reciever beforer the season had started. Clearly he can not be blamed directly for the problems the Eagles have faced so far this year. It is not T.O.’s fault that the defence can’t stop anyone or that the Eagles have no running game. I personally beleive that Andy Reid is to blame for many of the Eagles problems, you cant keep doing the same thing year after year. But T.O. was clearly affecting this team’s ability to concentrate on football. It was an ESPN production, staring T.O. and day in and day out they were faced with questions from the media. As if playing under the scrutiny of the Philadelphia fans and media isnt tough enough, tthese Eagles were under the watchful eye of entire nation. Without T.O. the Eagles lose a lot of talent but before we had T.O., we had the likes of James Thrash and a young Todd Pinkston. Certainly Reggie Brown and Greg Lewis are an improvemnt to on those two. We will see how the Eagles respond to life without Terrell Owens next Monday against Dallas. NOW, maybe the team can get back to football. NOW, maybe the team will relize that they are not going to roll over opponets like they have in previous years.

Philly's Bad Reputation

2005-10-25T17:04:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia is often portrayed as having out of control fans. We have been known to throw snowballs at Santa Claus, boo injured players, have prep school fights in the bleachers during Phillies games and we are so rowdy that we had a court put into the basement at Veterans Stadium. Anytime something happens, people talk about us like we are the devil incarnate. I am sick of hearing about it.

Forget that Santa Claus was pelted with snowballs almost 50 years ago, and he still claims that it was funny. Or that he was a make shift Santa thrown together at the minute because the real Santa was stuck in the snow storm that fans seemed to make it through to get to Franklin Field. Or that Michael Irvin was booed because he was busted in a cocaine/sex scandal before he came to Philadelphia to play. And the famous St. Joes Prep vs. Monsignor Bonner fight, that made high lights on ESPN, was something that happens all the time between rival high schools (I’ve seen a few).

I am not trying to justify any of those actions but recently there have been a couple of issues in sports that gets overlooked. An umpire gets death threats in St. Louis after a botched call. Tommy Maddox gets trash put on his front lawn for playing bad in Pittsburgh (Maddox is just a backup). Craig Biggio’s wife was slapped across the face by a Chicago White Sox fan. In Cleveland several years ago, referees were pelted with glass bottles, forcing many stadiums to stop serving them. This is just a few, but my point is, why don’t these cities have bad reps? Philadelphia is a blue-collar city that people love to hate. We are so passionate about our sports teams, maybe others are jealous?

Eagles Thinning at D-Tackle

2005-10-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

After a bye week you rarely expect bad news but the Eagles got it, Jerome McDougle is out for the year. McDougle needed to have emergency surgery to repair a hernia. The hernia is a result of scar tissue that McDougle got from a procedure he had in July after being shot in an attempted robbery. McDougle, a former first round pick, has not lived up to the expectations that the Eagles had hoped for, drafting Jerome 15th overall in 2003.
The Eagles are already thin at the defensive tackle position, and have a tough inter-conference game with the San Diego Chargers on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Chargers bring with them, one of the best running backs in the NFL, LaDanian Tomlinson. The Eagles have been forced to start rookie Mike Patterson the last couple of weeks, due to an injury to starter Darwin Walker. Walker is expected to make his return this and give the Eagles the depth they will need against the Chargers running game. This is only a short-term solution to the Birds depth problems at defensive tackle.
Paul Grasmanis is out for the season and Corey Simon is out of shape, sucking wind in Indianapolis. Where can the Eagles get help from? What happens when someone else goes down for the year? Not to mention, who is going to begin returning kicks? This year’s team is no different than the teams of the last three years; they face a lot of diversity. Andy Reid and management always seem to prevail, don’t count them out yet Eagles fans. (And ESPN reporters have picked against us the last three years, it is a blessing)

Goodbye Mr. Wade

2005-10-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

Finally the Philadelphia Phillies have terminated the contract of General Manager Ed Wade. After failing to reach the playoffs since 1993, Phillies owner Dave Montgomery relieved Wade of his duties. The Phillies couldn’t take another hit on season ticket sales, The team had lost an estimated $300,000 this year and expected that number to double next year. After receiving numerous letters and emails from season ticket holders, stating that they would not repurchase there tickets unless Wade was dismissed from the team, Montgomery had no choice but to fire Wade.
Flyers’ season is here and the injuries have started, winger Turner Stevenson is out 2-3 months after needing surgery to repair his injured hip. The Flyers coasted by the New York Islanders’ on Saturday, winning 5-1. Michal Handzus scored two goals and Patrick Sharp, Kim Johnsson and Simon Gagne also scored goals.
“I think we showed that if you play the system, I think we are a very good team and we can dominate the game,” said Handzus. “If we stop, we are not as effective. We didn’t talk about protecting lead, but we did talk about playing 60 minutes.” The orange and black have been great at times this season but have also given up when they have had big leads. With the new rules instituted in hockey this year, it is a lot easier for a team to overcome a three goal deficit and I believe the Flyers are starting to learn to play whistle to whistle. The Flyers play at Toronto on Saturday and hope to get some revenge against the Leafs (and Lindros) after losing earlier this season.

Phillies Fall One Short

2005-10-03T20:06:00.000-04:00

It was an exciting week for Philly sports fans!
The Philadelphia Phillies ended the 2005 season with a nice win against the Washington Nationals. The Phillies, needing a loss by the Houston Astros to force a one game playoff between the two teams, did something that they have not been accustomed to in recent years. Winning in pressure situations. A team that has blown big game after big game last year and at many points during this season. With perennial choke artists like Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu the Phils were a different team this September. Maybe it is the youth that has been injected into this team, maybe it is the new manager but this team came through when it counted most. The question now is, will Phillies management try to fill some major holes in the off-season? With no longer needing Jim Thome’s services at first base, holes in the starting rotation and the absence of a third basemen and catcher, management will hopefully have a busy off season. But don’t hold your breath. People from outside Philadelphia ask me why I am so skeptical; I tell them that you would have to be from Philadelphia to understand.

The Eagles are Back

2005-09-27T11:45:00.001-04:00

After a disappointing start to the 2005 season, the Philadelphia Eagles have turned up two good performances in a row. They crushed the San Francisco 49ers in the second week of the season, giving that franchise one of its worst defeats ever. In the third week the Eagles, hobbled by a slew of injuries, managed a 23-20 win over the Oakland Raiders.
Many might not see the Oakland victory as an impressive one but the Eagles were hampered by injuries on both sides of the ball. Donovan McNabb is still suffering from a bruised chest, a injury sustained in the first game of the year. Adding to McNabb’s injuries was a sports hernia. A sports hernia is when the intestines breach the stomach muscle wall. The muscles need to be tightened in a surgery to correct this problem, a surgery that McNabb hasn’t had yet. McNabb had a rough first half of the game but managed to lead his time on a game winning drive with under three minutes left in the game. This drive showed that the Eagles could manage the clock at the end of a game, A criticism brought on by many after the Super Bowl loss.
David “green” Akers reinjured his hamstring on the games opening kick. This gave Oakland good field position all day, after long snapper Mike Bartrum was forced to take over the kick off duties. 0akland failed to capitalize on the good field position all day long.
Darwin Walker missed the game defensively for the Eagles. His position was filled impressively by rookie, first round pick, Mike Patterson. Patterson recorded his first sack of the year and helped the Eagles defense limit Oakland to under 50 rushing yards on the day.
Kansas City is up next for the Birds, it will be interesting to see how the Eagles deal with the already mounting injuries.

The Eagles are Back

2005-09-27T11:45:00.000-04:00

Phillies Not Winning Over the Fans

2005-09-16T08:36:00.000-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies are only a game out of the wild card spot in the National League, yet fans in Philadelphia still don't show up at the ballpark. Whether it is the ownership or the players, Philly fans know better than to invest there heart in a franchise that falls short every year. An ownership that does not deliver anything at the trade deadline, despite having obvious holes in the starting rotation and line up. Despite, not filling these holes every year, Ed Wade got a contract extension. Only if we all got rewarded for doing a satisfactory job?
The Phillies have the third highest payroll in baseball, and yet they have a catcher and a third baseman that are batting under.250. Not only is Wade unwilling to make a deal at the trade deadline, he signs players like David Bell and Mike Lieberthal to long term deals, when they have produced only one good year(if that). Not to mention signing Jim Thome to a long term contract, when he is 35 years old and overweight.
Ed Wade and the Phillies ownership are from Philadelphia and yet they don’t have a clue about Philly sports fans. Until a new ownership is installed in this organization, it will be hard for Philadelphia fans to invest there heart into a franchise with no heart. With a young core like Chase Utley, Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard, this team has a chance to build themselves into a dominant franchise but only if this ownership decides that winning is more important than making money!!!

Eagles Open the Season with a Loss!

2005-09-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah Trotter was ejected before the game even started, allegedly for throwing a punch. The replay clearly showed that Trotter didn’t throw a punch at all (in my mind it is questionable whether Mathis threw a punch as well). I understand that after a player is ejected from a game, there is no reviewing that rejection on instant replay. But the NFL had plenty of time and resources to clarify the situation. The incident happened before the game even started, NFL authorities should have stepped in and solved the problem. I am by no means blaming this loss on the absence of Trotter or the referee that claimed to see the punch thrown but when a person claims to see something and is clearly wrong about it, the problem could and should have been solved.
Mike Labinjo stepped in for the ejected Trotter and looked like a lost puppy. This is why NFL teams have 53 players, so that you have people capable to back up your starters. Labinjo did manage to make a couple plays but it was clear that the Eagles were soft up the middle. They gave up over 200 yards on the ground, despite rookie Mike Patterson having an above par first NFL game. Combine the Eagles lack of capacity to stop the run, and there own non-existent running game and it was a very disappointing start to the 2005 season. Maybe with Trotter back next week things will change? For more info on the eagles got the Philadelphia Inquier online

2005-09-01T14:23:00.000-04:00

Philadelphia has the most passionate fans in America!