Positive Philly Thought Of The Day

As a UGA law school alumus, I am ecstatic that the Eagles were able to steal Max Jean-Gilles in the 4th Round. This guy is a great OG. He made the All-SEC team three years in a row. He is fat and can shove guys around and he will open huge holes in the center of the line. Between Jean-Gilles and Andrews, Runyan, Thomas and Justice, the Eagles now have a really solid OL, the only real weakness is Fraley.

The first two picks by the Birds are both potentially great players. The Eagles got both guys they wanted without having to really give up anything. Plus they were able to dump Hollis Thomas on the Saints. All-in-all a great draft so far.

I have to confess I don't know much about Jason Avant and the Div-IAA DE they drafted, Chris Gocong, but Westbrook was a great D-IAA player and he's turned out okay. Plus, it appears the Eagles are going to try to play Gocong at OLB and I guarantee he his better than those stiffs, Dhani Jones and Mark Simoneau.

The Eagles are moving in the right direction, they now have 2 Bulldawgs - Reggie Brown and Jean-Gilles. There are still a few Bulldawgs on the board and the Eagles have a few more picks, any of the following would be a steal at this point - Greg Blue (safety), Kedric Golston (DT), D.J. Shockley (QB), Gerald Anderson (DT), Will Thompson (DE).

As a Pitt undergrad alumnus, I have to mention Greg Lee (WR) as well, he would be a steal at this point. But whether or not the Birds take any of these guys, I am excited about what they have done so far.

McNabb's Successor?

Okay, my positive Philly moment is already over. I just read Les Bowen's nonsensical article about the Eagles possibly picking McNabb's successor this weekend. McNabb is 29 years old and is universally considered one of the elite QBs in the league behind only Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

What the hell is Bowen talking about? He readily admits that the Top 3 QB prospects (Leinhart, Young and Cutler) will be gone by the time the Eagles draft and that the Eagles aren't likely to think about selecting a QB until the second day. Does he honestly believe the Eagles are going to draft and groom some late round pick to be McNabb's successor? The names he tosses out as probably available during those rounds are Reggie McNeal (Texas A&M), Charlie Whitehurst (Clemson) and Tom Gradkowsli (Toledo). Do any of them sound like viable successors for a 29-year old McNabb in his prime, that has at least 5 good years in him, if not more.

I guess Bowen is running out of material. He even says at one point that it would be interesting to see if the Eagles would be tempted by Marcus Vick if he falls to the middle rounds. What the fuck? That's exactly what they need; a young headcase with less skills than his brother. Les, I'll save you the suspense: The Eagles aren't picking Marcus Vick and if they do pick a late-round QB, it will be to fill out the third spot on the depth chart with the intention of perhaps trading him to a team, like the Dolphins, desperate for a QB. They aren't, nor should they be, looking for McNabb's successor yet.

Artices like these just foster the unknowledgable fan's narrow view of Philly sports. Now people are going to either, A) be disappointed when the Eagles pass on guys like Brody Croyle and Omar Jacobs in the early rounds, even though neither as any shot of being the Eagles starting QB; or B) think that the guy the Eagles draft in the late rounds should get a shot if McNabb doesn't get off to a really hot start. Great, more idiots calling into WIP looking for McNabb's head. You can do better Les.

Positive Philly Thought For The Day

In the interests of not turning into Skip Bayless or Stephen A. Smith or any other sports hack that spews doom and gloom all the time (which is most them), I am going to post a positive Philly sports comment every day. And by every day I mean, any day that I can think of something positive to say which might only be once a month.

Today's Positive Philly Thought: For those of you that don't already know this: Peter Forsberg is really good. He single-handedly saved the Flyers' season last night. It's nice when the best player on the ice is on your team. Esche played well too. Another win Friday night and suddenly that 8-2 loss will seem like it happened in another lifetime.

The Idiot Fan

Nothing ruins a night at the ballpark like some dipshit fan sitting near you yelling a bunch of unfunny insults and making inane comments.

I was at the Phillies game Tuesday night when they lost to the Rockies 7-6 behind another stellar outing by Golden Boy Floyd. Although the Phillies fell behind 7-1 early, the weather was nice, my seats were pretty good, and all-in-all it would have been a pleasant evening at the Park if not for the moron sitting behind me.

This guy was in his mid-forties and had a killer porn stache. He sort of looked like Ron Jeremy, but with straighter hair. He was with five boys, presumably his son and some of his son's friends. Apparantely Ron was trying to impress his son and his son's friends by being funny because he started yelling out the dumbest insults I have ever heard. Here are some examples:

- After Floyd walks a batter and then throws a pitch in the dirt, Ron calls out, "he's going to need a golf club to hit that, or a shovel!! hahahaha!!" Nice one, real original, asshole.

- After Clint Barmes hits a home run making him 2 for 2 with a single and HR, Ron calls out, "this guy is going to hit for the cycle man, at least we'll get to see history tonight!! hahaha!!" First, I'm not even sure why he thought this was funny. Maybe because he was an idiot. Second, Barmes still needed a double and triple for the cycle, not the two easiest things to do, especially when you are Clint Barmes. Lastly, some guy hitting the cycle really wouldn't be history-making. Plenty of guys have done this in the past, but when you are dipshit, Ron Jeremy wannabe, you probably don't realize this.

- After Floyd throws a few more bad pitches, one in the dirt, two high and outside, dickhead yells out, "he's going to need a tennis racket to hit those!! hahaha!!" Huh?

And if Ron's comedically-challenged catcalls weren't bad enough, his baseball "expertise" was even worse. Here is some of the wisdom he imparted on his son and his son's friends:

- when Pat Burrell comes to bat in the first inning, Ron wisely informs his son, "they gave Burrell way too much money, it was the worst money spent by this organization." I guess Ron was too busy trying to resurrect his porn career last summer to notice that Burrell lead the 2005 Phillies in HRs (32) and RBIs (117). He currently leads the 2006 Phillies in HRs (6) and is second in RBIs (16) behind Abreu (20). He is also batting .288, has a cannon for an arm and is our only right-handed power hitter. I don't think that qualifies Burrell as a waste of money, especially when you consider the big bucks the Phillies have spent on guys like Kevin Millwood, Greg Jefferies and Lance Parrish. So Ron, I think you are a little off on that observation.

- when a hump-back liner drops over Utley's head and lands roughly fifteen feet in front of a charging Abreu, Ron a.k.a. Howard Eskin, sagely notes, "typical Abreu. That guy never hustles on defense. He could have had that if he dove." It was a sinking line drive single that barely made it past Utley on the edge of the infield. How the hell was Abreu supposed to catch it? I guess if this was beer-league softball and Abreu was playing shortfield he could have had it. I suppose I really shouldn't blame Ron for this dimwitted sentiment considering Abreu routinely gets killed for his defense on WIP, even though he is the best player on the Phillies by far, his defense included. So, instead I'll just chalk that statement up to Ron's inability to form an independent thought and move on.

- now my favorite, the Phillies have runners on second (slow-footed Fasano) and third (slow-footed Bell) in the bottom of the second inning with two outs. Gavin Floyd is up and the score is 4-1, I believe. The infielders are playing in their normal position. Genius yells out, "he should be drag bunting. This is the perfect situation for a drag bunt. The thirdbaseman totally won't be expecting it. It would definitely work. Why isn't he bunting?? Charlie is such an idiot, this is the perfect situation for a drag bunt." Do I even need to comment on this? I was actually very proud of myself for not turning around and punching him in the face at this point.

The thing that bugs me the most about guys like Ron is not that they are morons, he can't help his cluelessness. What bugs me is that he is passing on his idiocy to his son and his son's friends. In essence, he is creating at least five future Ron's. While this may be good news for the porn business, it is horrible news for sane sports fans. Not only were these kids looking up to a poor-man's Ron Jeremy, by the third inning, they were making completely unfunny jokes and laughing at them too. My only hope is that the other kids not related to Ron have parents with brains that will inform their kids that Ron is an idiot and a horrible dresser with ridiculous facial hair and should not be looked up to or emulated. Unfortuantely, Ron's son is a lost cause, maybe he will grow up to not like sports or he'll join the porn business and move to Southern California where he can mold some future Angels or Dodgers fan into an idiot instead. Heaven knows we already have enough Ron's in Philly, just listen to WIP for awhile, you'll hear what I mean.

8-2

Nice....what an embarassment.

At least Hitchcock got off a few choice comments to the Sabres gay coach, who called the Flyers' players "idiots".

"Tell Lindy to fuck off. Tell him to mind his own fucking business."

Perfect.

Lindy Ruff is actually a complete jackass, and I don't understand why he would take a chance and perhaps rile up the Flyers by making comments about them being "idiots". Your team in up 2-0. You legally destroyed one of the Flyers better players, Umberger, in Game 1 and then your team took what was left of the Flyers heart in Game 2. The Flyers have been called for 21 penalties to your team's 8.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just not say anything or say something along the lines of, "the Flyers are playing really well...I am surprised we have been kicking their ass so easily...really, I mean it."

Maybe he figures we are finished after that total and complete collapse last night, and he is probably right. Hitchcock's swearing aside, the Flyers showed zero fight last night, unless you call the crap they were pulling late in the game, heart. A victory Wednesday may change perceptions, but right now it seems hard to imagine the Flyers making it out of this round.....and so the count continues...92 seasons....

91 And Counting . . .

With the demise of the current version of the 76ers it has now been 91 straight seasons since one of the 4 major franchises in this town has won a championship. I count the strike years in this total because the cancellation of the World Series in 1994 and the NHL Season in 2004-2005 didn't alter the chances of a Philadelphia championship in those respective years (o%), all it did was spare us the agony of another possibly heartbreaking finish.

I have hope for the Flyers, but let's face it, this wildly inconsistent team is a long shot right now to even get out of the first round, much less go on the road and knock off the Sabres, Senators and Devils (or Hurricanes). And once the Flyers are knocked out, we as a City will have reached an even 23 years (92 seasons) without a championship.

But hey, hope springs eternal...at least the Phillies are off to another hot start.

Is Skip Bayless Ever Happy?

I just read an article by ESPN Page 2 columnist Skip Bayless about what a huge mistake it would be for the Texans to pass on Vince Young.

Leaving the absurdity of this premise aside, I have one question: Is this guy ever in a good mood? Every article Bayless writes is about some team or player that has screwed up, or is overrated (Bayless also makes a comment in this article that he will be writing a column about how overrated Leinhart is, surprise), or won't win even though everyone thinks they will. His articles are always negative. Maybe that is his thing or his hook or whatever, but I have to say that it gets old. I guess being forced to appear on that crappy morning show, Cold Pizza, has driven Bayless insane.

Whatever the reason, is incessant need to contradict everyone else and his constant negativity have lead to some ridiculous pronouncements in his articles. Take yesterday's article for instance, the premise of which was that the Houstan Texans would be morons for passing on Vince Young and selecting Reggie Bush and so would any other team. Why? Why would the Texans, who just gave David Carr a contract extension, traded for Eric Moulds and signed Jeb Putzier to go along with Andre Johnson, be stupid for adding the most explosive player in college football (Bush, not Young)? Wouldn't picking Reggie Bush make sense? Or, in the alternative, wouldn't it make sense for the Texans to trade down to someone who wants Bush, Leinhart or Young, and then select some offensive lineman, so Carr can finally feel what it is like to remain upright for more than 2 seconds per play? Picking Vince Young would create a QB controversy from Day 1. It would mean the Texans are paying a boatload of money to both the starting QB and the back-up, regardless of which player filled each role, and their OL would still stink, meaning that Young or Carr would continue to get murdered. And this strategy makes sense?

Bayless conveniently tosses aside this logic by stating, "[t]hey don't know quite what to make of Young because, quite simply, there's never been anyone quite like him. He's not Randall Cunningham, or Doug Williams, Michael Vick or Donovan McNabb. He's simply Jordanesque. Conventional NFL evaluators should quit thinking of him as a quarterback and just consider him a playmaker. An igniter. A moneyback, with a guarantee." Really? Isn't this the same crap they said about Mike Vick? Do you think the Falcons wish they could cash in on Vick's moneyback guarantee right now? And stating that Young will be better than Cunningham, Vick, Williams and McNabb doesn't really support Bayless' notion that Young will be an MVP QB. I don't recall any of those guys ever winning the NFL MVP.

I am not anti-Young. I watched the Rose Bowl. Vince Young was awesome, he was unstoppable. He is a winner. Whichever team picks him, if it develops him properly, will have a very good QB for many years. If they are lucky, he will develop into another McNabb or Steve McNair. However stating that Young made the best defensive coach in college (Pete Carroll) look stupid, which Bayless does, is a total misrepresentation. Pete Carroll is not the best defensive coach in college football, he's not even close. Anyone watching that Rose Bowl could tell you that, and certainly any New England Patriots fans would back you up. Young had a great game against a coach who refused to alter his gameplan. Young had a less spectacular game against a legitmiately great defensive team, Ohio State (although Bayless would have you believe dominated the entire time), but he won, and that's what's important. He is a very good player and if he drops out of the Top 5, the teams that passed on him after Bush and Leinhart are gone, really will be making a mistake. But, I just find it hard to believe that anyone would consider the Texans stupid for taking Reggie Bush.

But I guess that is Bayless' thing: finding the negative in every situation.

The Best Player on the Phillies....Seriously

Here is a picture of the best player on the Phillies. Unfortunately most people, especially the local media, don't realize this. If you also don't realize this, you are stupid.