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Showing posts from January, 2011
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Reid’s Criticism of Akers was Classless

I didn’t really need another reason to dislike the fact that Andy Reid was the head football coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. But this weekend may have given fans who dislike the coach one of the most unexpected reasons to do so. Ashley Fox of the Inquirer revealed the heart ache that David Akers was going through during the end of the Eagles season. Like many Eagles fans, something I feel less and less comfortable calling myself, I almost immediately remembered Andy Reid calling out Akers after the playoff loss against Green Bay. Reid, typically one of the dullest coaches in the league precisely because he never calls players out after the game, made a point to criticize his kicker. I don’t even know how to follow-up that sentence. I’m just some guy with a blog, and I went back to read what I said about Akers after the game. I feel iffy about having written, “David Akers missed two very makeable field goals. (Sal Paolantonio is reporting that Akers had personal and contract i

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Cutler, A Sixer Win is a Win, Barkley’s Wrong, Fisher’s Overrated, Flyers Rolling, more

There’s no football this weekend – no, the Pro Bowl doesn’t count – but there’s a Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: • I was screaming at my TV last Sunday calling out Jay Cutler – and Lovie Smith, thinking he had benched the quarterback – like a lot of football fans, and I had picked the Packers. But I didn’t go on Twitter to do it because I didn’t know what the deal was. I still don’t think we have the true story, but I don’t know. I can’t believe NFL players, who will be babbling about unity all spring and summer, were ripping the guy. It took someone from the Bears front office about two seconds to question their unity. • The 76ers won 3 straight games. Sure they beat up on some scrub teams, but that’s fairly irrelevant at this stage. Their progress is genuine this time. • I’m officially over Charles Barkley. Note to the media – stop asking him for opinions on Philadelphia sports. Once again he’s babbling that the Sixers shouldn’t try to win games, and hope for a higher draft pick.

Reviewing Last Week’s Picks

It was a short week in terms of the number of picks I had, but oh, so sweet. I went 3-1, but a 2-0 sweep of the AFC and NFC Championship Games for 100 points each to win 181.82 points made it a huge week. A Saturday split in college hoops with Kansas -7 losing outright to Texas and Villanova +6 winning outright over Syracuse only dropped the total .45 points on the 5-point picks. The +181.37 point total was my largest point total ever for one week (excluding last year’s NBA Finals), and I’m now 4-0 this season on 100-point picks. With just one game left in football, the Super Bowl will determine whether or not I have a winning record in the NFL as I sit 44-44-1 on the season. However, at +169.54 points in the NFL this season, and +224.11 points when college picks are added in, I will definitely have had a winning football season. (As promised, I finally figured out my record per sport for 2010 picks in the original post revealing the year’s overall record.) Obviously, I’ll have mu

Steelers Envy

Apparently, I wasn’t the only Eagles fan having Steelers envy on Sunday evening. In fact, I’ve heard enough people talking about it that I’m beginning to wonder if it’s an epidemic in the area. Two days after the team across the state sealed yet another trip to the Super Bowl, the thought of jumping ship isn’t fading. I’m trying to come up with legitimate grounds to dawn the black and gold. I mean, c’mon – they’re going for their seventh Super Bowl win. Not just seven appearances. The franchise is looking for their seventh championship ring. Yeah, I know. Andy Reid has one . . . as a quarterbacks coach. Which by the way is the last job he held before he became our, I mean, their head coach. This could take some adjusting. S@#!t! Mother f#$%! I just can’t take it anymore. The Steelers just do it the right way. They run the ball. They smack you in the mouth on defense. They go from Bill Cowher who wore his heart on his sleeve and looked like he was dying to still be playing,

Striking Before Super Bowl Would Fail

Over the weekend I saw a proposition on Facebook that originally had me rolling my eyes, then surprised at the number of people who “liked” it, and finally realizing that it definitely had me thinking. And, yes, it was sports related. Sorry to disappoint. ESPN’s Sean Salisbury, or someone claiming to be him, put the idea out that if the NFL players were serious about settling the labor dispute quickly they should go on strike – now. As in just under two weeks away from the Super Bowl. A few disclaimers are in order before I continue. I found the post via a Facebook link indicating that a Facebook friend of mine had liked the status, and I cannot find it again. (That’s actually driving me nuts right now.) Salisbury appeared to get into a heated exchange with someone else commenting and disagreeing with him, though I could only find Salisbury’s responses to the commenter. Possibly this lead to the post being deleted? I don’t know. I’m not trying to be mysterious about this, I’d l

AFC, NFC Championship Game Picks: Steelers vs. Jets, Bears vs. Packers

It could be our second-to-last NFL Sunday for quite a while, and it is the last of any football for two weeks. My main concern all week with these picks has been the health of the Steelers offensive line. Honestly, I haven’t heard much talk about it in the media, so I’m hoping there is not much reason for concern. Here’s my picks for Championship Sunday: AFC Championship Game: Green Bay -3.5 over Chicago (100pts. to win 90.91) AFC Championship Game: Pittsburgh -4 over the New York Jets (100pts. to win 90.91)

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Tom Jackson Embarrasses Himself, Old Time Hockey is Dumb, More Pressure Needed on Reid, more

The Rapid Fire Week-in-Review is my attempt to comment on all of the sports stories of the last seven days that caught my attention but weren’t quite worth a post. This week the first story doesn’t really fit that description, but I heard about it just yesterday so I do get a bit long winded for a weekly review item. But stupidity on the level displayed by ESPN analyst Tom Jackson deserves special attention. On another day, it would have been a solo post. • Tom Jackson, called out by Jets player Bart Scott for picking the Patriots to win over New York, actually went on Mike & Mike to say that he picked the Patriots because he knew the “guys” were watching and wanted to keep the early season drubbing by the Pats fresh in the mind of Jets players. He wanted to motivate them, he indicated, going so far as to say he was playing a “psychological game” with the Jets to enhance their bunker mentality of feeling like it was them against the world. This is the most asinine thing I’ve e

Preview of AFC and NFC Championship Picks

The parlay pick giveth, and the parlay taketh away. I split the four NFL Divisional Playoff games last weekend, and even split the two 20 and 15-point picks, losing 5.36 points thanks to a heavy price on the Steelers -3 (20 points to win just 16). Ironically, I also won with the Jets +9 for 13.64, and lost with the Falcons -1.5 for 20 points and the Seahawks +10 for 15 points. The Jets win was ironic because their outright win killed my week. I took the Steelers, Bears, and the Patriots, for a 50-point money line parlay pick. Obviously, picking the Jets +9 and the Pats to win I was playing with a little fire, and got burned. On Monday I jumped in on some basketball with all of the games going on celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Picking three games, I managed to split. I lost with the Sixers -4.5 over the Bobcats in infuriating fashion after they blew a big lead and won by 4 in overtime. Then I pushed on the Celtics -3 over the Magic as Dwight Howard hit two meaningless fre

Tasteless Onion Sports Bit Mocks Philadelphia Fans

It’s time for another Hump Day Distraction, and running video of the bit from last night’s episode of The Onion Sports Network on Comedy Central seems unavoidable. If you missed it, my apologies for bringing it to your attention. Everything else I found for the midweek post was rather weak, and I decided this was at least current. The bit was all over Facebook and the other Philly sports blogs this morning. It’s about a little girl with cancer who gets to fulfill her dying wish . . . of booing David Wright. Call me a prude if you must, but the clip goes over the line of good taste in my opinion. Mock Philly fans all you want, but if you can’t do it without using kids with cancer, get a job you don’t suck at. Other thoughts are always welcomed in the comments section.

Andy Reid . . . By the Numbers

While Andy Reid vacations after his defensive coordinator was fired and candidates for the job of running the Eagles defense are scooped up by other organizations, I thought it might be a good time to put some numbers to all of the complaints about the head coach. Since the Super Bowl appearance in 2004, the Eagles record is 54-41-1 in the regular season and just 4-4 in the playoffs. That’s not exactly the “gold standard” of the National Football League. But if the numbers are examined just a little closer, Reid’s apparent job security with an organization that claims to want to win Super Bowls – that’s plural – yet hasn’t won even one, is baffling. At the risk of bringing back nightmares for fans, let’s start with the raw numbers of the record for each season: 2005 6-10 2006 10-6 2007 8-8 2008 9-6-1; 2-1 in the playoffs 2009 11-5; 0-1 in the playoffs 2010 10-6; 0-1 in the playoffs There’s a very interesting fact within these numbers for a guy who was hired based largely o

McDermott Fired; Replacement Will Tell a lot about Reid's Standing

In a surprising but much needed move, the Eagles fired defensive coordinator Sean McDermott during the weekend. They also fired their defensive line coach, Rory Segrest. (Let’s face it, 90% of Eagles never heard of Rory before.) The real story that will come out of this is whether or not Andy Reid still has as much power as ever within the organization. Inquirer stories fully embraced the McDermott firing as a Reid decision even though the head coach claimed to want all of his coordinators back just last Monday. The firing was also announced with Reid on vacation. While the media seems to want to debate the meaning of Reid supposedly lying again (as he seemingly did last year with Donovan McNabb), I wonder if he did. My hope as a fan would be that the decision was taken out of Reid’s hands. The answer will come when McDermott’s replacement is named. This move means absolutely nothing if the Eagles don’t bring in a guy from outside of the organization that is recognizable. Repo

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Reid Staying, Sixers Take Step Back, McDermott Should Be Going, more

Here’s my weekly, rapid fire look back at the sport stories or events that caught my attention in the last seven days that didn’t quite get a post: • Sal Paolantonio reported Thursday that Andy Reid is not only not on a “hot seat” as coach of the Eagles, but the organization is looking to extend him beyond his current contract that reportedly ends after next year. That’s simply horrifying news for Eagles fans. • The Flyers recently waived Michael Leighton, yet they gave up 5 goals in the third period last night in a 7-5 loss last night. Hockey continues to baffle me. Then again, I have as many Stanley Cups in my trophy case as Ed Snider has in his office since the mid ‘70s – zero. • The national media and the Eagles keep mentioning how many Reid assistants have become head coaches in the National Football League as if it’s indicative of Reid’s coaching prowess. Now that Pat Shurmur took the head coaching job in Cleveland, the number is up to six. The number of Lombardi Trophies w

Previewing Picks for NFL Divisional Playoffs

I should have taken my own advice and not put out as many big picks as I did last weekend. But after a couple of wild swings, I ended up +25.23 points for the last seven days, with a 5-4 record. Saturday was a nightmare even though I actually felt as though I had been somewhat cautious. As I said last week, I didn’t love either NFL Wildcard Game that day. So, I picked the Colts -2.5 over the Jets for 25 points, going a small step above 20 because the price was high, and I basically talked myself into picking the Saints -10 over the Seahawks for 20. I didn’t like giving that many points on the spread, but I was pretty confident both picks would win. In an effort to cover myself, I picked a parlay of the Colts, Saints, and the Ravens in the first Sunday game, on the money lines for 50 points. That one was obviously dead before Saturday night’s game ever even started. Dropping 95 points on Saturday, I was a bit timid going into Sunday. I also hated picking against the Eagles, but if I

Rendell Still Talking Birds

There’s not much available in the line of sports hilarity at the moment, but how often do you get the governor of the state talking football? Oh, wait, this is Philadelphia. The trick seems to be getting the governor to talk about something besides football. Anyway, our Hump Day Distraction comes from Comcast SportsNet. Governor Ed Rendell is apparently already missing his Post Game Live duties, so he took time out from his final days as governor to offer even more thoughts on the Birds. He offers his opinion on the final game, the draft, Michael Vick coming back, Vick’s desire to own a dog, and the Eagles chances to win the Super Bowl next season. I know Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner appreciate the input.

Eagles Free Agents To Be

Earlier tonight philadelphiaeagles.com listed the team’s pending free agents. With the exception of Michael Vick – and Stewart Bradley for those who act like they know more than they do – it’s a fairly humdrum list. Whether that’s good news or bad news, I’m not sure. Here’s the list: K David Akers LB Stewart Bradley G/C Nick Cole LB Omar Gaither S Antoine Harris RB Jerome Harrison CB Ellis Hobbs G Max Jean-Gilles LB Akeem Jordan DE Bobby McCray SS Quintin Mikell CB Dimitri Patterson P Sav Rocca LB Ernie Sims QB Michael Vick G Reggie Wells

Eagles Season Ends on Familiar Note

Another Eagles season ends the same way all the others in my life have – without a Super Bowl championship. Quite frankly, nothing else matters. The Eagles lost a very winnable game to the Packers, 21-16. True, this season wasn’t supposed to be about a Super Bowl. But as another Eagles loss helped end my personal 38th year, I think I’m old enough to say that teams don’t have the luxury to assume that they will build on their progress. In fact, if they weren’t so arrogant, the Eagles organization barely has to look over its shoulder to know that. Their youthful core was even more youthful a year ago today, and they are exactly where they were 365 days ago. They are done their season without even a playoff win. They do not know the identity of their quarterback of the future. Many are questioning whether Andy Reid should be the head coach. In all likelihood, Mike Vick will be back next year – if the NFL has a season – either on a one-year deal or as the ordained “quarterba

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Sixers as Playoff Contenders, Leighton Waved, Vick's Percentages, Tweet of the Week, more

It’s a snowy Friday with some potentially great football ready to go for the weekend. For the first time in 2011, I’m taking my look back at the sports stories of the last 7 days that caught my attention but didn’t quite get a post, and offering my rapid fire opinion on each topic. This week was all about the E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles heading into the playoffs, but there really were a few other things going on. Here’s my Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: • These words haven’t been uttered in a while, but if the season ended today . . . the 76ers would be in the playoffs. I don’t want to hear any idiots calling sports talk radio to say it would be better if they were in the Lottery. • I’m not a hockey guy, but how does Michael Leighton go from a stud goaltender to waivers in less than a year? The sport just makes people nuts when they’re trying to get into it. Making sense of it from the outside is impossible. • Mike Vick has been offering updates on his thigh all week. Between Tuesday and W

Previewing Picks for Wildcard Weekend

I already offered an overview of how I think the playoffs could go from a wins and losses standpoint. Now it’s time to recap the last week of picks and look at the Wildcard Games by the spreads. First though, let’s reveal the final tallies for 2010. Overall, I went 91-83-3 for a surprising +406.23 points based largely on the NBA playoffs. The biggest mistake of the year was actually in baseball, where I put 50 points on the Yankees to win it all when reports were running rampant than he was going to be traded to New York. I’ll try to add the yearly breakdown of each sport later. UPDATE 1/26: It took way too long to actually sit down and do it, but I finally have the per sport totals for picks in 2010. NFL: 40-43-1, -76.46 points NCAAF: 22-20-2, +80.45 points Football: 62-63-3, +3.99 points MLB: 4-9, -70.49 points NBA: 23-10, +477.73 points NCAAM: 1-0, -5 points (I did make a few tournament picks here ; I don’t have totals for them.) The New Year looked like it was getting

2011 NFL Playoff Preview

The most wonderful time of the year may have just passed for many, but for football fans it’s just beginning. It’s playoff time. There are already Super Bowl props posted – fans can bet on anything from the national anthem to the commercials, but the odds on who wins the Most Valuable Player Award are the most popular, according to an e-mail I received on their behalf. It went on to report that only eight defensive players have won the award, while receivers and tailbacks have combined for just 13 MVP trophies. But taking a quarterback seems to be the best bet, as I’m told QBs win the MVP 52% of the time. I’ll preview my picks against the spread in another post, but right now I’m just looking at the way I think the games are going to play out. I’ll start with the AFC, because I think it’s a little easier to predict and I don’t have to leave my heart out of it like I do on the NFC side. The Wild Card weekend has potential to live up to its name. I may be underestimating the Kansas C

Hump Day Distractions: A Madden Eagles-Packers Simulation and 4th-and-26th

I’m still a little nervous about Sunday as an Eagles fan, so I went surfing for some inspiration for the weekly look at something a little different from the sports world. To start off the year with the newly-titled weekly post, Hump Day Distractions, I ended up going into the future and the past of the Eagles-Packers matchups. (Hey, I offered to let readers name it.) I found a couple Madden simulations of the upcoming playoff game, but let’s just say the below version will be the most palatable to Birds fans. The final score is more than a little unrealistic – I don’t see this game becoming a shootout – and the graphics didn’t seem as good as the other simulation that I saw. I haven’t played Madden in years, so I can’t say for sure if the simulation is from the latest version of the game. Of course, Eagles fans will never forget FredEx, Freddie Mitchell, or 4th and 26! Mitchell famously thanked his hands after the game. Philly Sports Daily talked to the “People’s Champ” a

Scouting the Packers through Links

It’s playoff time, and the Eagles are headed for a rematch of their Week 1 matchup with the Green Bay Packers. We all know the Eagles are a different team, but what about the Packers? Here’s some interesting facts and stories I’ve found: How good are the Green Bay Packers? : In many ways, the Packers' offense has been an all-or-nothing outfit this season," writes Seifert. "They've scored at least 27 points in nine games this season, winning eight of them. On the other hand, their six losses this season have included these point totals: 3, 13, 17, 17, 20 and 27. Keys vs. Packers: Pressure and Protection : If I can oversimplify Sunday’s wildcard matchup between the Eagles and Packers for a second, the game basically is going to come down to two things – protection and pressure. Protection in two respects. Protection of Michael Vick and protection of the football by Vick. Time for Eagles to Look Ahead to Packers : The preferred matchup would have been either

Eagles to Face the Packers

The Eagles lost a meaningless regular season finale to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, 14-13, and will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 PM. Yesterday’s game meant absolutely nothing. I was watching it through a haze of a growing flu, anyway, but I wouldn’t have been offering a review of this game anyway. it simply offered nothing in the way of gauging how the Eagles might do in the playoffs. I’m dumbfounded by the back page of the Daily News with today’s headline: “Paging Mr. Vick – It’s all about No. 7 now after another Kolb klunker.” They even have a poll on their website asking, “How much confidence do you have in Kolb?” as if yesterday’s game was a referendum on his talent. Maybe Daily News has the flu running through its staff. To try to judge Kolb based on yesterday is absurd. The Eagles essentially played their backups, and the Cowboys had their regulars playing and a head coach who was basically looking to solidly his job for next year. The only s

Write for the Ink

Do you like Philadelphia sports and have the skill to write a quality blog post? I’m interested hearing from anyone interested in writing for Rob Q. Ink – A Philly Sports Blog. If you have enough of a passion for Philadelphia sports to write at least a weekly post for the Ink, and consider getting some exposure enough of a payment, send me an e-mail through my Facebook/Twitter accounts to discuss the possibility. A Flyers commentator would be especially welcomed. Thanks.

About the Ink

Beginning my seventh calendar year of blogging – with a few changes along the way and one “sabbatical” between July ’07 and September ’08 – I thought it might be time be time to re-introduce myself and the blog. My sports blog has always included an effort to combine my passion for the local teams as a lifelong Philadelphia sports fan with the ability to see beyond the emotion of fandom and a love of writing. I don’t look to “break” news, though recently social networking has allowed me to inch closer to connecting with information faster than ever. Instead, since Day 1, I’ve tried to offer a unique yet heartfelt response to what’s going on in the world of Philly sports and beyond. That’s not to suggest I don’t offer original content. My Week-in-Review offers a quick hitting response to the stories that caught my attention in the previous seven days. I offer picks on games that I will put up against any of the shysters screaming into a video camera and telling viewers how brilliant

New Year’s Day College Bowls Picks

Happy 2011 everyone! After taking a second look, and listening to some of the “experts” as I freely admit I do every week, I decided to make some official picks on the New Year’s College Bowls. Here they are: Alabama -9 over Michigan State for 20.00 to win 18.18 Wisconsin +125 on the money line over TCU for 15pts to win 18.75 Penn State +7 over Florida for 15pts to win 13.64 Mississippi State -3.5 over Michigan for 15pts to win 13.64