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Sixers Disappoint; Hire Eddie Jordan

Ed Stefanski might as well have done this on his first day as the Sixers general manager. I just heard Comcast SportsNet report that Eddie Jordan has been given a 3-year contract to be the Sixers new head coach. Ho-hum. Jordan might do a great job, but this is the typical “hire who you know” move the NBA produces time after time. He previously worked with Stefanski in New Jersey. I wrote this before, but according to Wikipedia Jordan has a .444 winning percentage. His coaching career highlight is getting the Washington Wizards to the playoffs pretty regularly. That’s a decent feat in the National Basketball Association, but nothing to do cartwheels over. Again, his relationship with Ed Stefanski seems to be his main qualification. I haven’t understood the love affair Stefanski has enjoyed with the media since he got here. His one big move, besides what now amounts to firing Mo Cheeks to bring in his buddy, was shelved when Elton Brand went out for the season. I can’t imagine Eddie Jor

Week-in-Review: Doin' Work, Earlier Series Games, T.O., Vick, and more

I saw all but about 40 minutes of Spike Lee’s so-called documentary, Doin’ Work, about Kobe Bryant on a game day during the season. Forty minutes may sound like a lot to miss until you see this ridiculous waste of film. It’s essentially Bryant doing a voice over of a Lakers game against San Antonio in which he also wore a mic or had a mic aimed at him to pick up his in-game chatter. I’ve never really had the opportunity to play team sports, but I have to believe that anyone that talked non-stop during a game as if he knows absolutely everything would be annoying to play with. I don’t care how much you are a fan of the guy, he talked more than the coach, Phil Jackson, even during halftime. I understand that having a microphone and a camera specifically aimed at an individual automatically makes the person act differently than they normally would, but the suggestion was that this was typical Bryant. His ego only increased with the commentary. Bryant’s ability to kiss his own ass was min

NBA Conference Finals Predictions

Despite the Boston Celtics running out of gas a game too soon, I still went 3-1 in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Granted, I never thought the Lakers would struggle with the Houston Rockets as much as they did, but I’ll take the win in 7. My overall 9-3 record isn’t all that impressive considering the NBA playoffs are about as predictable as it gets. At least my Finals match-up – and most other people’s Finals match-up – of Los Angeles versus Cleveland is still alive as a possibility. In fact, even with Denver suddenly becoming an in vogue pick and Charles Barkley getting caught up in the moment on TNT and picking Orlando to make the Finals, I think an L.A. / Cleveland Finals is a foregone conclusion. Whenever the Lakers looked interested they simply destroyed Houston, and Cleveland just doesn’t look like they will receive any competition in the East. In fact, they’re making me a bit nervous about my pick of the Lakers over the Cavs in the Finals, but I’ll deal with that in June

Not Panic, But Concern for the Phils; Week-in-Review

In what has been a season of ceremonies commemorating last year’s World Series and the death of Harry Kalas, the Phillies have finally come to the last one. Today he Phillies met President Barack Obama in the traditional trip to the White House for the Series champs, a ceremony that was postponed when Kalas passed. I’m not really one of those fans in a hurry to put the Series in the rearview mirror. It took 25 years to get a parade in this town, and we should enjoy it as long as possible. I think Cole Hamels is fine. He had two freak injuries that helped him get off to a slow start, and he’s had two straight starts that were very good. It’s only reasonable to assume the hitters will come around. That said, I am sick of seeing the Series patch on their home uniforms, and there’s no guarantee this is going to turn around. The Phillies are close enough to first place to tame anyone thinking of getting too crazy with criticism, but they enter May 15 at 16-16 without a series win at home an

Week-in-Review: Favre, Ramirez, Lingerie Football, and more

Our winter teams are done, the Phillies are hovering around first place but it’s still early May, and even the Eagles’ first mini-camp is in the rearview mirror. So, all I got is my fifth straight weekly recap of the stories that caught my attention and my quick fire opinions on them. Hey, I was even writing things down this week. Week-in-Review: · Brett Favre is coming back. No he’s not. Yes he is. The fact that he met with Minnesota head coach Brad Childress was the top story on SportsCenter at 6 o’clock on Wednesday night. It’s ridiculous. Why does Minnesota even want him? He’s not going to bring the Vikings to a Super Bowl this season, and he’s too old to count on beyond one year – just ask him. He’s also never been on the level of most quarterbacks considered great. He’s the gritty guy that John Madden made into a folk hero, and he’s quickly becoming a clichéd old athlete whose best days are far behind him but can’t live without the spotlight. The worst part is all the media memb

Second Round NBA Playoff Predictions

Now that the Celtics have finally put away the Bulls in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs, I can make my predictions for the next round. I still need Miami to win Sunday afternoon to give me a 7 of 8 in the first round, including calling the number of games in the Sixers-Magic series and eking out all three “locks.” (UPDATE: The Hawks won, dropping my picks to 6 of 8.) However, with the second round starting right after the Heat-Hawks is scheduled to end and the fact that I wouldn’t pick either one to beat Cleveland, the outcome of the game doesn’t impact my picks. Obviously, I haven’t come off of my prediction for the Lakers to defeat the Cavaliers in the Finals. As I said before, I don’t like picking the number of games in which a series will end, but there’s little else to do with these series. I still won’t make the number of games “official” picks (as if that matters), but I’ll say the Cavs sweep the Heat or the Hawks, and somehow Houston steals one as the Lakers take them out in five g

Gutless

Pick your own adjective from last night’s close-out playoff series loss to the Orlando Magic by the Philadelphia 76ers, but I’m going with gutless. The Magic were without 3 out of 5 of their regular starters, and waltzed into the Wachovia Center (or whatever it’s being called today) and simply destroyed the Sixers. Dwight Howard, their superstar center, was suspended, while Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson sat out with injuries. Granted, Nelson’s been out a while, but if anyone wants to use that as an excuse they need to get a grip on reality. The Sixers didn’t just lose, they got crushed, 114-89. The Magic was the team with a Game 7 at home in their back pocket, and their center back in the hotel, but the Sixers played like that. Andre Miller was the only Sixer who made more shots than he missed. Andre Iguodala’s final stat line actually looks acceptable, but he only shot 4 foul shots, which is a clear indication he wasn’t nearly aggressive enough. Willie Greene, your town your team you