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Weak Trip Salvaged by Howard Signing

The Phillies return from an extended road trip tonight after going a very average 4-5. An apparently overrated Atlanta Braves team and a fluky win on getaway day against San Francisco salvaged the trip, along with the long-term signing of Ryan Howard. There’s actually plenty to be concerned about with the Phillies, but Howard’s signing certainly isn’t one of them. People complaining about the team locking up a future Hall of Fame player essentially through his career need to have their head examined. Howard is being compared to Babe Ruth by legitimate baseball people. Focusing on his number of strikeouts is moronic. The guy is already one of the all-time Phillie, has shown a willingness to work hard in areas that he once struggled like fielding, and has been nothing but a class act. Averting the nightmare scenario of ever seeing Howard in a Yankee uniform alone makes the deal worthwhile. If people wanted bitch about a lack of productivity at the end of the contract – far from a given –

Phils Tough to Judge So Far

Before Phillies fans call their ticket broker to try to score World Series tickets, everyone might want to take a deep breath. I’m not panicking over their first series loss of the season, but the idea that this team can go into cruise control until late October is being a bit overstated. I’m not suggesting that the casual fan needs to be scouring ESPN's baseball section hoping to discover that Rueben Amaro Jr. is trying to pull off a blockbuster trade, but there are some reasons for concern. First and foremost, the Phillies only have a 3-man starting rotation at the moment, and that might be an optimistic view with the news that J.A. Happ could miss his next start. I’ve seen enough of Kyle Kendrick to last the season (if not the rest of his career), and Jamie Moyer is showing his age far too often. Granted, Joe Blanton’s imminent return from injury should solve the Kendrick problem. But a bigger problem could be that the Phillies haven’t had their closer on the mound yet due to

Jordan Firing Needed More Eds; NBA Playoff Picks

Believe it or not, they still have professional basketball. Like me, you may not have noticed living in the Philadelphia area. Yesterday’s firing of Sixers’ head coach Eddie Jordan was only noteworthy for the fact that Ed Stefanski wasn’t ousted with him. I called this firing the day Jordan was hired. What this organization really needed a 3-Ed sweep yesterday with Ed Snider being shown the door by Comcast as well. I guess Comcast is too busy finding ways to put the Phillies on TCN, formerly CN8, to tick off Verizon customers. I’m still waiting for the Facebook group called Stop Putting the Phillies on TCN, but that’s probably too close to being semi-useful. With little knowledge of the current NBA season, I still find the playoffs the easiest thing to predict in sports. So, here are my official picks for round one: Cavs over the Bulls Hawks over the Bucks Celtics over the Heat Lakers over the Thunder Suns over the Blazers Magic over the Bobcats I would parlay the first five for 50 po

A Tradition of Pomposity and Exclusion Like No Other

I had the misfortune of hearing ESPN’s Mike Greenberg practically genuflect talking about the Masters as he anticipated the pending “historic” Sunday in store for us because Tiger Woods is in contention. This is the same guy who talked about umpire Joe West ripping the snail’s pace of Red Sox – Yankees games with the sole intent of introducing audio of one of the multitude of ESPN commentators trying to discredit West. The story to “Greeny” wasn’t that somebody in the game finally mentioned the mind-numbing pace of “Sox – Yanks” games that his network would air 24/7 if they could, it was that someone from his network put the naysayer in his place. I get that a lot of people love golf, and the Masters do boffo ratings. (Actually, people love watching Woods, but that’s a whole other issue.) But stop with the reverence for the game and talking about the players as if they’re athletes. First of all, the astonishment over Woods being able to contend after such a long layoff because he got c

McNabb Traded!

Attention all national football “experts” – you’re all dopes. Officially. Your beloved Donovan McNabb was traded by the heralded Eagles organization . . . not the “unappreciative Philadelphia fans” . . . to a division rival for less than a first round pick. Anybody think Andy Reid fears opposing his now former “franchise” quarterback? Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins for “a second-round pick (37th overall) in this month's NFL draft and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year,” according to ESPN. In other words, they gave McNabb away. Even the McNabb fans can’t possibly suggest that an elite quarterback, such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or even Drew Brees, would be traded for anything close to this take. Ok, they probably will argue that, but they are wrong. Deion Sanders might “love me some Donovan McNabb,” but clearly no one that matters in the NFL seems to agree. Otherwise, why would no team offer even one first round pick? Why would the Eagles trade