Rapid Fire Week-in-Review: Phils Don't Stop, Vick Reactions, Randall Cunningham, more

I’m going to rip off the Rapid Fire Week-in-Review in the hopes that someone actually reads it before people start tuning out for the Labor Day Weekend.

·       Apparently, two days off for the Phillies wasn’t a big deal as they won four straight against the Reds after Hurricane Irene caused two rainouts. No scheduled days off for the rest of the season with two double-headers could cause some problems, but I just don’t think it will matter because they’re so far ahead in the standings. 

·       Watching Roy Halladay hit a 3-run, base-clearing double on Tuesday night to break the game open was just one more reminder of how amazing this pitching staff has been. I didn’t look it up yet, but I believe I heard that they are the second-best hitting staff in baseball. They are a historically good pitching staff (career wise), and they can hit.

·       I saw plenty of tweets from fans like this one from dipsetmikeymike, after Mike Vick signed his new contract, “Shout out to @MikeVick on proving these haters wrong. #Salute my G.” Two thoughts: Why the hell are fans so eager to butt munch athletes on Twitter? You’re really not friends, and you’re not going to be enjoying any of their money! Secondly, enough with the “hater” BS with Mike Vick. It’s just that so-called “reverse racism” at play, which is simply racism. It’s not reversed when it comes from black people. No one calls critics of white players haters. If you’re supporting Vick just because he’s black you’re a dope. People have a right to criticize Vick for what he did. His success or failure actually has zero to do with it, so the idea that this contract proves anyone wrong in that regard doesn’t even make sense. And, I’ll reiterate what I’ve said from the start – he has every right to pursue his career after serving his time in jail.

·       Before Vick signed his deal, ESPN The Magazine posted an upcoming story online called, “What if Michael Vick were white?” The pointless debate with a purposely confrontational title managed one salient point, “[The question] is so facile, naive, shortsighted and flawed that it is meaningless. Whiteness comes with great advantages, but it’s not a get-out-of-every-crime-free card. Killing dogs is a heinous crime that disgusts and frightens many Americans. I’m certain white privilege would not be enough to rescue a white NFL star caught killing dogs.” I don’t know why the rest of the article gets written when this is understood, but at least they got something right. 

·       The Eagles will reportedly not even start their re-shuffled offensive line in tonight’s preseason finale even though the projected starters haven’t had a single play as the group. If anyone needs more evidence that four preseason games are too many, they’re just not paying attention.

·       Possibly my yearly complaint that Temple – Villanova is not on local television tonight is stymied by the fact that it’s on espn3.com. But I just don’t get it otherwise. Comcast SportsNet is running the Phillies game from this afternoon tonight. I get that the Mayor’s Cup is no big deal, but considering all the junk that reaches TV these days a little local college football would be just fine with me on September 1.

·       Randall Cunningham is still, well, Randall. Quoted on the700level.com, he told Howard Eskin and Ike Reese on 610 WIP that he would not sell his jersey number 12 to Steve Smith – and that he essentially bought himself a “Super Bowl ring” of sorts. “No, I would not take it for a million bucks. . . . For Jeffrey Lurie to put me in the honor roll like that, that’s not something I take for granted. I went out and I bought a ring, like a Super Bowl ring, because of that honor and I put Philadelphia Eagles on it. That’s my ring I show everybody. People ask me if that's a Super Bowl ring and I say, ‘No. This is the ring they let me know that I was one of the players in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles and they honored me.’” Seriously? “Like a Super Bowl ring?” 

·       The NBA and its players’ representatives met for the first time in a month to try to resolve their lockout. I don’t think they get it. They’re not the NFL. No one’s going to care if they don’t play until about April. They might not want to give people a reason to completely forget them.

·       The Tweet of the Week comes from Chris Johnson, the Titans running back who at the time was holding out for a better contract, “Can these fake Titan fans STFU on my timeline I don’t have a regular job so don’t compare me to you and I can care less if uthink I’m greedy.” Stay classy, Chris. And, by the way, it’s “I couldn’t care less.”

·       A close second for the Tweet of the Week came from Arian Foster, who was injured in a preseason game, “4 those sincerely concerned, I'm doing ok & plan 2 B back by opening day. 4 those worried abt your fantasy team, u are sick.” I love these guys who simply don’t comprehend where their money comes from – the fans.