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2011 MLB Playoff Preview, Wild Card Picks

          I’ll just get it out of the way at the beginning – I think the Phillies will win the World Series.           Call me a homer if you must, but I just don’t see any other team in the playoffs matching up with their pitching. The odds makers are with me (and I’m certainly not going out on a limb) as the Phillies are the favorite at +160, the lowest odds of all the playoff teams. It’s actually a better number than I expected, but not quite high enough to make me want to make a month long pick on the Phils.           Now, back to the beginning and the Wild Card round. Despite yesterday’s post I am flopping on the Yankees-Tigers series. The Yankees are only favored at -150, and Justin Verlander almost ensures Detroit of two victories in the 5-game series and knocks out at least one appearance by C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees. That makes Detroit very enticing at +130.           In the other American League series I like the Rangers to beat the Rays, but the price of -16

Week-in-Review: Mets Suck, Cheney, Rollins, Wild Card, more

A lot to get to this week in my Rapid Fire Week-in-Review, so let’s do it: *In case you were wondering why the Mets suck, Jose Reyes summed it up for the world to see in their last game. He lead off the Mets’ half of the first inning with a bunt base hit, then pulled himself out of the game to ensure himself the NL batting title. Enjoy the token of what a loser you are, Jose. *According to a Facebook post by Daily News Sports the man who threw a banana peel at Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds as a racist statement was arrested. Kudos to whomever helped point out the jackass. *Eagles linebackers don’t just stink, they’re dumb. Well, at least Jamar Cheney is. He was quoted by Philly Sports Daily saying, “We’re getting tested right now, and as long as we stay strong we’re going to be alright. . . . The season ain’t over yet. We’re 1-2 right now. The Miami Heat started out the season 8-8 and everybody was jumping on them like it was the end of the world, and they ended up making i

Second Straight Winning Week

          My second straight winning week with picks was actually a little disappointing. I had won my biggest two picks of the week, and felt very comfortable with the other games I had made picks on. Unfortunately, a collapse by New England and Indianapolis finally deciding to show up cost me a pretty big week. I still went 3-2 for +18.10 points, which puts me at 11-9 for +35.86 for the football season. I’m still climbing out of the overall crater-like hole I created in the NBA playoffs.           I kept things simple in college football with just one pick on Saturday. Alabama kept it interesting but eventually covered -11 against Arkansas on a 15-point pick for +14.29 points. For the college season, my picks are 5-4 for +20.32 points.           I took a split on Sunday, but luckily my 15-point pick on the Ravens -4 over the Rams was good for +14.29 points. The Packers -3.5 over the Bears was also a winner as a 10-point pick. But the Patriots defense reared its ugly head in

Historic Night for Phillies, Baseball

          Last night was simply the best night of baseball anyone has seen in years. And it was just awesome to actually see all of it unfold thanks to the MLB Network instead of having ESPN’s SportsCenter talking heads overhype the drama and make it about themselves.           First off, the Phillies went to the 13 th inning in a game that was essentially meaningless to their season but meant everything to the Braves. Atlanta had to win to force a playoff with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had already won their game before end of the Phils and Braves. Yet, the Phillies, pitching Joe Blanton, who missed most of the season, and Cole Hamels and Vance Worley in relief just to get them some innings, finished off a sweep of the Braves.           Phillies fans have to be relieved that the September swoon that came after the team had clinched the National League’s best record appears to have been nothing but the result of boredom and resting players. As promised, they played their

What is Jon Gruden smokin’? And other thoughts from NFL Week 3

          Yesterday I just happened to hear the beginning of Jon Gruden’s interview with Tony Romo on ESPN and was dumbfounded. I’m even more shocked by the lack of response. A buddy of mine asked what he was smokin’ when he heard the question Gruden asked. Here’s my thoughts from Week 3 in the NFL: *Jon Gruden to Romo: “Isn’t it all about Tony Romo now, someway, winning a world championship? Isn’t that all that’s left?" Aren’t we skipping the part where Romo doesn’t suck?? *Last night’s Monday Night Football broadcast seemed like three hours of Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico trying to prove Gruden isn’t an idiot. They went on and on about what a leader Romo is. Are they kidding? I really lost some respect for Jaws last night. I understand Romo was hurt but Dallas didn’t even score a touchdown last night. By the way, Romo has one playoff victory. One. If he wasn’t the media creation that is the “Dallas Cowboys quarterback” no one would even know who Romo is. *How the hel

Eagles Lose to Giants; Defense Embarrassed

          I don’t have the stomach to go through a detailed breakdown of yesterday’s Eagles loss to the New York Giants, mostly because I had an inkling that they were going to lose (see Friday’s post ) and didn’t have the stones to make it a pick.           The Eagles lost the game, 29-16, and likely lost their quarterback for several weeks.           This was a classic Eagles home opener. People were talking all week about how the Eagles should rest Mike Vick due to the concussion he suffered the previous week and “just play Mike Kafka.” Well, they got plenty of Kafka when Vick went out with a broken hand, and might see plenty more of the inexperienced quarterback for a while.           Kafka was 4 of 7 passing for 35 yards and 2 interceptions. The alternative at quarterback is Vince Young, who many agree was outplayed by Kafka in the preseason.           But the Eagles were already losing this game when Kafka was forced into action for the second straight week. Every an

Week-in-Review: Phillies Concerns, Clueless Fans, LB Shuffle, more

          It’s time to rip off another Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: *The Phillies have not won a game since they clinched the division, which doesn’t have me overly concerned. They’re resting players and probably bored. What does concern me is that they weren’t hitting before they clinched. This core group of players has always been streaky. Anybody who thinks they can just “turn it on” come October hasn’t been paying attention. *It’s amazing how many fans are confident the Eagles could beat the Giants with Mike Kafka at quarterback. They see one decent drive from the guy, which came up short by the way, and they’re all convinced that the Eagles are “fine” if Kafka plays Sunday. We need Howard Eskin’s famous response as a sound drop – get a clue. Reportedly, Vick will play, and I’m still not convinced the Eagles win. *The Eagles are reportedly shuffling all three linebackers to new positions, but nobody’s getting benched. Great, now Lamar Chaney and company can suck in new spo

A Winning Week of Picks

I finally had a decent week of picks, going 6-3 for +26.19 points. The winning week puts me in the black for the season in both college and NFL football. I’m now at 4-3 for +11.73 points in the NFL and 4-4 for +6.03 points. The NBA playoffs and Finals are still weighing down the point total for the year, which is -300.50. I’m at +161.76 without the disastrous spring. On Thursday night LSU -3.5 over Mississippi State for +9.09 points got things off to a good start. Then Penn State couldn’t cover a -7 spread against Temple and Auburn +3.5 was blown out by Clemson. Later in the day Notre Dame -5 was good for +9.09 and Oklahoma -3 over FSU capped things off for +8.33 points. Sunday started with a split as the Ravens -6 lost outright to the Titans for -10 points and the Saints -5.5 over Chicago was a winner for +9.09 points. I capped off the week with two straight wins as the Patriots covered -6.5 over the Chargers for +9.09 points and the Falcons +115 on the money line came

SportsNet Offers Glimpse of Tests for Returning after Concussions

I was trying to find video of Dunta Robinson talking about how his hit on Jeremy Maclin inspired his team to victory and was therefore worth the $40k fine he received for the cheap shot for today’s post. Various reports have cited the idiotic comment that offers more proof that stupid really is as stupid does and that fining millionaire athletes thousands of dollars is meaningless. However, Comcast SportsNet did an interesting piece on the post-concussion testing that is getting so much attention this week after Michael Vick suffered a concussion. His status is still up in the air for this week’s game against the Giants. The story offers some insight into what the tests are all about. Check it out as our Hump Day Distraction.

Reviewing Week 2

A few things I noticed in the NFL’s Week 2: I think I’ll be checking this all season. This week 2 out of 5 of the leading passers, including the first and third place guys lost their games. The same is true of the top 5 leading rushers, with the first and fourth ranked guys losing.   The top 4 receiving leaders on the week lost, with the fifth guy losing. Unlike last week, I don’t think these statistics are very telling, but it will be interesting to watch week to week.   Pittsburgh gets crushed by Baltimore, then Baltimore is beaten pretty thoroughly by Tennessee. It’s not completely inexplicable, but the NFL can be incredibly hard to figure out especially early on.   The NFL has to get its act together on the way they penalize illegal hits. The Saints got a penalty for an absolutely nothing hit on the Bears’ Jay Cutler, and Dunta Robinson gets the exact same penalty for launching his head at Jeremy Maclin’s head. It makes no sense.   I never need to

Eagles Lose to Falcons; Vick Hurt

Fears about Michael Vick not making it through the season healthy have already been realized for the Eagles. The quarterback went out with a concussion in the second half last night, and the team eventually dropped a 10-point lead and lost to the Falcons, 34-31.           The fact is that the defense came up small in the end. When Vick went down, Mike Kafka came in and the Eagles finished off a scoring drive with a LeSean McCoy touchdown run to go ahead 31-21 with just under 2 minutes left in the third quarter. The defense had to step up and finish off the win at that point, and they simply failed despite looking dominant at times in the game.           As usual, the Eagles offense was a little too cute for me at times. Their second play from scrimmage was a “wildcat” that essentially put another hit on Vick. It didn’t help that DeSean Jackson looked like he gave up on the play almost instantly, but I just don’t understand calling plays that expose Vick even more than he alre

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Phils Clinch, Palestra’s Soul in Jeopardy, Bruschi, more

It’s time for another Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: The Phillies are so good that they clinched a playoff spot this week and it was barely a blip on the sports radar. That said, the Phils scored 5 runs one time this week, and otherwise didn’t score more than 3 runs in the last seven days. Granted, there’s little to play for until October, so maybe they’re bored. But I’m just a little concerned about the offense. The soul of the Palestra may die on September 25, when LeBron James will be allowed to host a game of NBA All-Stars. The event was just announced. Donovan McNabb’s first pass as a Minnesota Viking set up a touchdown . . . for the San Diego Chargers. If he fails in enough cities, maybe the national media will finally get that he’s just not that good. Even ESPN couldn’t manage to make a big deal out of Tim Wakefield winning his 200 th game. It was his first win since July 24, and he’s in his 18 th season. That’s just over 11 wins a season on average.

Kicking Off Picks for Week #2 of Football

It hasn’t been the best start to the football season with my picks, but little damage has been done because I’ve taken it slow to get a feel for the teams this season. I saw two known handicappers offer big picks on the Steelers last week and lose the game as easily as I did. The difference is I kept it as a pick just above my minimum. Why anyone offered big picks in Week #1 of the NFL season is beyond me. Overall, I was 2-3 for -3.43 points. I actually started on the right foot with the Packers -4 .5 over the Saints for 5 points to win 4.55. I followed that with Alabama -10 over Penn State for 10 points to win 9.52. Notre Dame choked away the college sweep against Michigan as a 3-point favorite for -5 points. And Sunday had little suspense as the Steelers (even) were crushed by the Ravens for -7.50 points and the Falcons at -2 may not have shown up yet in Chicago as they were also thrashed. Once again I’m starting the week right here on the blog, picking LSU -3.5 over Miss

How ‘bout dem Cowboys . . . and dem Cowboy Fans!

There is just too much to love about this rant from a Dallas Cowboys fan not to have a bonus Hump Day Distraction. Many, many thanks to John Tayman of Bang Cartoons for posting this on Facebook. How ‘bout dem Cowboys! And how ‘bout dem Cowboy fans!

S*#!@ Chad Henne Stinks!

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In what may have been the strangest moment of the weekend in the NFL, Ron Jaworski couldn’t hold back when talking about Chad Henne’s play on Monday Night Football. At one point the former Eagles quarterback said, “Shit, you have to get rid of this ball just a split second quicker.” It was truly a “Did I really hear that?” moment. “Jaws” is one of the more polished analysts in professional sports, and it was especially odd because the comment didn’t really come during an emotional part of the game. Miami was down 14 points, and though threatening to score ended up getting blown out. Apparently, Henne frustrates people who know the quarterback position at some core level us commoners can’t understand. Jaworski later apologized.

NFL Week 1 Review

While my focus was on the Eagles this Sunday, the RedZone and primetime games offered plenty of glimpses at the rest of the NFL in Week 1: A very interesting stat came out of Week 1: Among the five leading passers, only Brady won his game. Memo to Andy Reid: All five leading rushers won their game, including LeSean McCoy.   Donovan McNabb threw for 39 yards in his debut for the Minnesota Vikings. I’ll say it again: McNabb was 7-15 for 39 yards in the game. Stop telling me how good this guy is. McNabb lovers need to get a clue.   Tom Brady threw for 517 yards. To put it in perspective, McNabb wouldn’t reach that total for 13+ games based on his performance on Sunday.   I never thought I’d see the Pittsburgh Steelers destroyed 35-7 by any team. I think it’s a bit of a misnomer as the game got away from them early. It will be interesting to see how they respond.   Kevin Kolb passed for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns. It’s tempered a bit by the fact that Cam

Eagles Beat Rams for Opening Act

          Only time will tell if the Eagles season opening 31-13 victory came against a good St. Louis Rams team or something less than that. For now, it looks like a solid but not great “W” to start the season.           The first couple series were less than promising. The Eagles offense featured a run by Michael Vick followed by some “trick runs.” I guess beggars shouldn’t be choosers – at least Andy Reid was running the ball.           His decision to hire Jaun Castillo seemed a lot more damaging than his typical pass high offense after the Rams took over at midfield on their first offensive series. Steven Jackson took a handoff 48 yards for a touchdown. In fact, any success that followed for the defense has to be tempered by the fact that Jackson would leave the game on the next Rams offensive play from scrimmage with an injury. The Eagles second offensive series likely offered a glimpse of what’s to come this season. The first ridiculous timeout of the season was cal

Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Brian Kelly, Sports Talk, DeSean, more

It’s been a long week for me, so let’s wrap it up with a Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: * I was purposely trying to make this week all about football on the blog, but I almost feel weird not having mentioned the Phillies. After they swept the Braves, their biggest threat until the World Series seems to be avoiding rainouts. * Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly looks like he is absolutely losing his mind. He looked like he literally wanted to choke his quarterback last week, and he wasn’t much different last year. I’m actually trying to root for ND these days, but he makes it difficult. * I gave the new Mike & Ike show on 94 WIP a shot on Tuesday and was very disappointed. Michael Barkann seemed to be deferring to Ike Reese as the “radio veteran” and it just didn’t work. I’ll give it another shot soon, but they have to get their roles straight. Reese is the former athlete who can add insight, but he can’t do the radio host thing. * If I could predict games as well as radio h

2011 NFL Preview; Pick on Packers-Saints; Thoughts on Other Games

Raise your hand if you thought the NFL was going kickoff tonight back in June. Now stop lying if you raised your hand. It’s always difficult to predict anything in the NFL, and I’m guessing this year will be especially hard. The lockout has just made it harder than ever to really get a grip on what teams are all about. Nationally, our hometown Eagles look like Super Bowl contenders, but most people aren’t hearing about the mess that has become the offensive line.           The teams that jump out are pretty much the old standards. In the AFC, the Patriots, Jets, Steelers, Ravens, and Chargers, are the obvious contenders. Peyton Manning’s injury shelves the Colts, although their division is so weak, they could still win it if Manning comes back at all. But I don’t think they’ll be much of a factor with the Colts giving no timetable for when Manning will return.           From the group listed above, I’ll take the boring, somewhat obvious pick of the Steelers to return to t

Finally, A Troy Aikman Philly Will Love

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A national sports commentator has finally stepped up to slap ESPN resident idiot Skip Bayless, and it can only leave a true Philadelphia sports fan conflicted. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman shot back at Bayless for his claim that the quarterback was gay in a book he wrote years ago. Bayless has made a name for himself at least in Philly for running his mouth with no substance to what he ’ s saying, and it ’ s just good to see a national figure finally call him out for it.

2011 Eagles Game-by-Game Prediction

It’s that time of year when everybody goes down the Eagles schedule and picks “wins” and “losses.” It’s generally a fruitless exercise forgotten shortly after kickoff for Week 1. I don’t think I’ve ever actually done it on the blog, but I figured I’d give it a shot this year. Obviously, the below are not official picks on the individual games. Part of what is taken into account in this exercise is the “ebb and flow” of a season. For example, I think the Eagles could lose either of the first two weeks at St. Louis and Atlanta. But I don’t think they will start out 0-2 (though I’m not convinced of that). Hence my giving them a win at the Cardinals followed by a loss at the Falcons. If they lose the opener, I think they win in Atlanta. Plus, there’s the annual “choke” (in the regular season) that is impossible to really predict. I’m going with the ever popular home opener against the Giants as the game they should win but lose selection for the year. All of that said, I feel good abou

Reviewing Replay-gate

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It’s as if the Phillies couldn’t have left their final game at the Florida Marlins soon-to-be ex-home field without the threat of having to return. It’s always looked like a dump for baseball on television, and the Phillies seem to struggle when they go there. Plus, one rain delay per game is practically a requirement. But the Phillies may actually have to return to Sun Life Stadium (originally Joe Robbie Stadium, aka Dolphins Stadium) thanks to a Hunter Pence fly ball that was interfered with by fans reaching over the fence and interfering with Marlins outfielder Bryan Petersen’s attempt to catch the ball. If you actually haven’t seen the video, I’ve embedded a YouTube video of the play below. (Here’s a link to it on mlb.com for when Major League Baseball yanks it off YouTube.) The Phillies seemed to have runners on second and third in the top of the sixth inning of a 2-2 game. Instead, after umpires – led by the infamous Joe West – looked at the replay, Pence was called out and