Eagles unanimous pick

Joe Theismann	Merril Hoge	Sean Salisbury	Mark Schlereth
Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Mike Golic	Eric Allen	Ron Jaworski	C. Mortensen
Eagles	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles

All week 9 picks here.

Typical Philly Style

In keeping with the philly tradition of building the fans up just to let them down, the Flyers fell to the New Jersey Devils last night 3-2. During the first period the Flyers looked truly amazing. At that point they had outscored their opponets by 12-1 in the last seven periods of play! The Flyers pulled out to an early two goal lead thanks to goals from Gagne and Amonte. The devils, who had yet to win a game at home, came back with three unanswered goals. Two were from Mike Rupp and one from the Big man Scott Stevens. Hackett has let up three or more goals in his last four starts, fifteen goals all together, but:

"You can't blame [Hackett]," said Jeremy Roenick. "I thought it was a good game, there is no question."

Thanks for the insight there Styles? Esche in his last two starts has let up one goal, but Hitchcock has assured us that Hackett will be our goalie going into the playoffs. Thankfully the playoffs are a long way away. Flyers Recap can be found here. Next game will be in Toronto on Saturday at 7pm.

Flyers evil nemesis in town

Sorry "blogging" has been light. I've had to actually do work at work this week and no one else has filled in.

Anyway, Flyers easily defeated the Panthers last night scoring 5 goals in the second straight game, 3 on the (for real?) powerplay. The game was fisticuff filled as expected. From hockeyfights.com:

30 seconds left in the game and Fedoruk steps out onto the ice, skates down to Trnka, pushes, shoves and drops the glove. Fridge trys to throw a right, but Jokinen steps in. Everyone on the ice jumps in, and through the scrum Fridge pops Jokinen with a decent right. Esche and Shields had their gloves off but it was all broken up. Other Penalties: Fedoruk received an instigator and misconduct; Oli Jokinen a game misconduct; Robert Esche and Steve Shields each received a leaving the crease.

Reportedly the loudest the crowd got, despite half leaving early, was trying to get the goalie fight going.

Tonight the Flyers face their first real test both skillwise and mental. The Devils always manage to find a way to beat the Flyers. The Devils won 4-0 vs the Islanders on Tuesday and are 4pts behind the 1st place Flyers. Hackett will start for the Flyers. Look for a soft goal.

Eagles favored

11/2 4:15 PM ET BetWWTS Bet365 Intertops Skybook WSEX Philadelphia Atlanta -4.5 39 -4.5 40 -4.5 OFF -4.5 39.5 -4.5 39.5

•Matchup

Atlanta benches their secondary

I think there's a concerted effort in the NFL to prop up black quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and, reaching for any move that might help pull the club out of a tailspin the Falcons have demoted Ray Buchanan and Tyrone Williams, two of the Falcons' highest-profile defenders and a pair earning nearly $8 million combined this season in bonuses and base salary.

Thank you Atlanta, McNabb needs all the help he can get.

Sixers start it off tonight

Tonight begins another long slog of a season in the NBA. Be thankful you can watch Iverson play because even if the game is tedious and boring he can make that one play that turns time wasted into time well spent. The overall impression of the Sixers is one of optimism going into the season and the addition of Glenn "I beat up women" Robinson is the root cause. People have said for years "AI needs help" and it looks like he finally got some. (Sorry to all you big Kukoc and Keith Van Horn fans.) The big IF is can they play together or will they devolve into a Kobe Bryant/Shaq girlfight.

Other major questions are the following: Will Coleman provide another yeoman effort this season and how will he hold up? Who is backup forward/center Marc Jackson? What about that Seton Hall guy that's always hurt and never plays? Will Kenny Thomas continue his improvement? Will McKie return to his former playing level? Is Randy Ayers a capable coach? How will Todd MacCulloch do providing color with Tom McGinnis?

Here's ESPN's season preview and Sports Illustrated's for the entire league.

Flyers Humiliate the Habs!

The Flyers have had to play from behind in their last three games. This time they got off to a quick start and never looked back! The final score was 5-0 giving Robert Esche his sixth career shutout as a Flyer. The scoring was balanced and no one had more than two points. John LeClair (who has an astonishing record against his former team: 46 points in 31 games!) led the team with a goal and an assist. Justin Williams had two assists that were nothing short of spectacular, including a neat spin move that left his defender wondering what had just happened. Simon Gagne, Tony Amonte, Michel Handzus and Marcus Ragnarsson also scored a goal a piece. Rookie sensation Joni 'I told you he was good' Pitkanen only had one assist but showed the world just how good he can be by dancing around three different players to hang on to the puck during a delayed penalty. Joni also took a nice shot that Jose Theodore blocked. However, Theodore could not control the rebound which landed right on Amonte's stick for his goal. Ribeiro played well for the Habs and had this to say:

"They were sharper than us tonight," Ribeiro said. "They beat us to a lot of loose pucks. We just couldn't recover after that early deficit."

FoxSport's full recap.

Flyers VS. 'Canes

This was the third home game of the season and the first that I had a ticket to, thanks to big sis for hooking me up with a killer seat, first row of the second level can't be beat. However the game could have been a lot better. It ended up a 4-4 tie, thanks to Mark Recchi's shorthanded goal with 3:10 left in the third. I have to give them some credit for managing to get a point out of a game that could have easily gone the other way. The 'Canes pulled out an early two goal lead. Everytime the flyers erased that lead the canes were quick to score again.

"We dug ourselves a hole and had to pick up the pace from there," said Head Coach Ken Hitchcock. "We showed a tremendous amount of character, we kept mounting comebacks in the game."

Thanks captain obvious. How 'bout you step up the defense and not let a team like the 'Canes score four goals in the first place? Late in the third they showed the "Check of the game" up on the jumbotron. It looked like a pat on the back! Was there any hitting in this game? Do these guys know that the regular season has started? And um what about that "Home Ice Advantage" I keep hearing about? A recap can be found here. Tonight at 7:00 the Montreal Canadiens Should be an easy win!

Eagles defeat Jets

In a game where the Eagles offense only had one 3 and out and approached levels of competence not seen since 2002, the usually dependable defense looked to be the ones that would blow it instead. They allowed 377 yards but in the end only surrendered 17 points thanks to timely plays, turnovers, and a great 4th down run stop. The Eagles are 4-1 since the bye and are one of the hottest teams in the league (ha ha). Of course as has been normal this year, lots of bad with the good - Westbrook suffered a high ankle sprain and Hollis Thomas is probably out for the year with a torn bicep tendon. Oh well.

Dumb Bobby Clarke

Clarke on Cechmanek:

"They made a heck of a deal. They got a top goalie for very little," Clarke said. "But from our standpoint, we didn't want to bring Roman back and get stuck in a situation where we couldn't move him because it's really hard to move a goalie.

"I like Roman and I hope it works out," Clarke added. "I read what he said in the paper - that he seems to like it better here because he's more anonymous and he feels there's less pressure. You're not going to be anonymous if you play hockey in Philadelphia - especially if you're a goaltender, and especially if the playoffs don't go real good for you."

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it Clarke that let the Kings steal Cechmanek for a second round draft pick? And of course Clarke couldn't say something nice without taking a dig. His professionalism has no equal.

Eagles might win

Joe Theismann	Merril Hoge	Sean Salisbury	Mark Schlereth
Eagles	Jets	Eagles	Jets
Mike Golic	Eric Allen	Ron Jaworski	C. Mortensen
Eagles	Jets	Eagles	AWOL

All week 8 picks here.

Will They Really Win Again?

Unlike the Cubs, it looks like the Marlins will hold on to this lead (now at 3-2) over the Yankees. For as much as the overpaid Evil Empire (the American favorite) is loaded with talent, the Marlins are well-managed and full of heart. For the modern Philly fan wondering "will we ever win," the Marlins SECOND Series win in only a short ten years ought to sicken him/her further. Heck, even the losers of this series have a fine history of winning.

Perhaps most illing about this pending Marlins win will be the words of Ed Wade and Company, that the Phils were "so close." If those words are followed by a summer of inactivity, where they do little to improve the bullpen (or starters), Philly fans will only worsen in morale.

Ah well, we've seen other odd/nobody teams win like this before (Diamondbacks, Angels...)... and we'll probably see a few more before any Philly team takes one!

Big Daddy B

Flyers lose

If anyone missed it the Flyers lost to the Mighty Ducks, 4-3. Amonte got his first goal (lucky) with one second left in the game to send it to OT but the the Ducks won 70 seconds in. Hitchcock sounds like Andy Reid here:

"We played great and deserved a better fate," said Head Coach Ken Hitchcock. "They're fast, and quick, and for us playing back-to-back on the road this time of year, I thought we really competed hard right to the end. I'm really proud of our team tonight."

Dude, the game was weak and so were the Flyers. Even the fights were lame. You had Primeau and Ward - looks like its going to be good, then some grappling with lots of swinging and missing and then the linesmen jump in early. Fedoruk and Burnett tried to go a little later but all they did was lift their jerseys up over each others heads and get Coatsey pissed because the linesmen jumped in real early again. Coatsey's right, let them fight!

Jaworski rips McNabb

And on the Eagles website no less.

Donovan has not been good. I can't remember a quarterback playing this poorly for six games and still getting the starting nod. He's banged up, there's no question, but he's got to be better. He's in a brutal slump and you wonder what Andy Reid is really thinking. He won't tell you, of course.

But then he says:

But in general, I agree with the approach Reid is taking. Keep it positive. Work harder and be as critical as possible, beginning with himself.

So he should be benched but then Reid is doing the right thing by not benching him. I don't understand. Another QB would be running things right now if I was coach.

Cechmanek shuts 'em down 4-0

Honestly though, Cechmanek probably didn't break a sweat. Afterall, the Flyers were within 30 seconds or so of not registering one lousy shot in the second. The lack of shots was helped by McCreary (who sucks) who gave the Kings 5 consecutive power plays in the period. In addition to the Flyers lousy play and weak officiating we also had Hackett getting an unscreened shot blown over his inside shoulder from below the circle and along the boards. It was the classic weak-ass shortside goal that is the trademark of Flyers goalies.

Tonight is the Mighty Ducks, the defending Western Conference champion, but current Pacific Division basement dweller with just three points (1-4-0-1). OB's preview:

Still saddled with a stupid name (can't they just go with the Ducks now that everyone, including Emilio Estevez has forgotten the films), the team surprised everyone by going to the Stanley Cup finals last year where they were beaten by NJ. This season we will see if Giguere's heavily padded goal keeping skills were an aberration or the genuine debut of a new netminding star. The Ducks lost Paul Kariya, who Rush Limbaugh believes, was an overrated product of a liberal media hungry for Asian-Canadian stars. Also leaving town were Adam Oates (Bobby Clarke's best acquisition ever) and Steve Thomas. Oates of course is over the hill and around the next bend. The Ducks did sign Sergei Fedorov and Vinny Prospal (aka another ex-rooskie, ex-flyer who blossomed away from Clarke). Fedorov is still one of the leagues top players so you have to give the Ducks a plus for the off-season additions. Defensively the team is Ozolinsh and a bunch of no names. But of course the Ducks trap and shut down opponents (and hockey fans) so lack of individual skill is not that big of a deterrent to success. Final note: If career minor leaguer Garret Burnett is dressed look for some fights out of this guy (if he ever gets a shift).

Eagles favored - Jets viewed as more pathetic

10/26 4:15 PM ET BetWWTS Bet365 Intertops Skybook WSEX Jets Eagles 37 -3 37 -3 OFF -3 OFF -3 37 -3

•Matchup

Cechmanek tonight

The Flyers play the LA Kings and Roman Cechmanek tonight. The Kings are 3-2-0. Cechmanek is 2-2 and has been playing average. Gagne might play and Hackett will be in net for the Flyers. Here's OB's preseason take on the Kings:

On paper this team should make the playoffs, but everyone keeps getting hurt and word is Deadmarsh and Allison (aka the best players on the team) still may not have recovered from concussions and whiplash. Ouch. They still have Zigmund Palffy though. In the offseason the Kings added Joseph Stumpel, missing link Trent Klatt, and Luc Robitaille. Does Robitaille have anything left in his return to LA? Klatt is supposedly a better player then what we saw here in Philadelphia, but I did not stay up to watch him play in Vancouver so I don't know. But the biggest acquisition (ok, gift) was Roman Cechmanek. No one can doubt Cechmanek's regular season stats but his play in the playoffs did hurt the Flyers and his unibrow remains quite scary to small children. On defense LA boasts Mattias Norstrom who they say is quite good, but then again you'd never know since he plays in LA. I never figured LA to be a defensive team so Cechmanek will finally get the 30 shots or so a game he likes to face. Looks like Flinn, Lapeirre and Avery will all make the team- making this a pretty tough bunch, so fight fans keep those satellites tuned to Kings games.

Various hockey stuff

I missed the Flyers vs. Coyotes game late Saturday night, a 5-4 win, but apparently there were lots of cheap shots in the game. Hitchcock said afterword, "They play in our building this year, don't they? That'll be a good game. You won't want to miss that one. We should have some heavyweights back there. It should be a lot of fun."

Hopefully this isn't just part of the Flyers new marketing campaign that celebrates violence and intimidation and instead Hitchcock actually means what he says. I'd like to see more than just Boyd Kane vs. Cale Hulse next time.

- - - - -

I went to a college hockey game this weekend at Penn State. One of the new rules this year I noticed was "roughing to the head". It reads:

A player shall not make contact to an opposing player's head or neck area in any manner.

PENALTY - Minor or major or disqualification at the discretion of the referee. Contact to the head shall be assessed in front of the infraction (i.e. contact to the head - elbow)

Note: The Rules Committee instructs officials to use a zero tolerance policy in this area.

This rule is an obvious attempt to stem the tide of concussions as players become more reckless with their hitting. I'd like to see this rule in the NHL as well. While the Stevens hit on Lindros was legal and Lindros shouldn't have had his head down, hitting a guy in his head is wrong in my view. Especially since it can lead to a severe and/or lifelong debilitating injury.

And yes I am aware of the contradictory nature of this post. Violence is cool until someone gets hurt. right?

West-What Offense?

The Eagles pulled out a last minute 14-10 win over the NY Giants today. However the only "West" in this supposed West Coast offense was Brian Westbrook, who scored an early rushing touchdown and the game saving 85 yd punt return for a touchdown with only 1:34 left in the game. The heroics of Westbrook could have salvaged the season with the Eagles now at 3-3 instead of 2-4. The former happened in 1995 and 2000, where the Eagles finished 10-6 and 11-5, respectively, and made it to the second round of the playoffs both years. Bottom line, there's hope for the Eagles after a win like that if they can find a solution to the ailing offense / quarterback. Not so sure how they'll manage that, given this problem goes back at least eight games now with absolutely no sign of improvement (in fact, a worsening if anything). But Eagles fans should be content with at least a win at this point.

With the obvious issue at quarterback (and not worth the type, just check out his 29.X passer rating, and the big drive for a touchdown that was helped by a questionable PI call against the Giants after McNabb couldn't hit Pinkston 3 strides ahead of the backup NYG CB, Brooks), there were a few notables during this game:

1. This defense is for real with or without its starters. On the field for nearly 36 minutes (most in the second half), they finished strong enough to force a key Collins fumble and to shut down the Giants on the last drive. Welcome back, Bobby T!
   
2. Brian Mitchell was a total non-factor, while on the other hand the Eagles return team broke open its first big big play of the year.
   
3. LJ Smith looked excellent.
   
4. Andy Reid acknowledged after the game that he thought about taking McNabb out of the game at the half and for the first time left open the potential that he would not start next week (due to his thumb, of course, not his horrid play).

The outcome of the game certainly topped the alternative, where a loss would've left the Eagles with a 2-4 record - a situation that has not happened since Reid's first year coaching, where they finished 5-11 (but with a Doug Pederson at quarterback, rather than a $115MM Pro-Bowler).

Fly, Eagles, Fly!
Big Daddy B

Next up, Phoenix

Flyers play the Phoenix Coyotes tonight. It's your sports alternative to the World Series no one wants to watch. Here's OB's take on the Coyotes:

Big news is they got new uniforms and will get a new arena. Phoenix still has got my boy Daymond Langkow as the number one center. I love Langkow and all, but that ain't gonna make the playoffs. On the former Flyer watch Brian Boucher appears to have tanked, and the Coyotes may go with Sean Burke as the number one guy. Also Chris Gratton (aka the 15 million dollar bust) is on this team and Mike Sillinger, but he's on IR. There is actually a rising star in Phoenix and it is this 24 yr old dude Nagy. If he he is teamed with some other skill players he should be able to improve on his 57 points. I believe the Russian bear Andrei Nazarov is still with this club. Nazarov is always willing to fight, and usually lose, so the Coyotes have at least one other entertaining player on the squad.

Another Week w/ an Ex-Eagle

Philly Fans whined it was all over the day Trotter was let go, only to find out that he didn't even make his presence known when Philly first stomped into his new home and kicked his butt. Turns out, Trot (Stats Here!) hasn't done much since leaving Philly for a team with an 8-10 record in games he's started for them. Other than his interception against today's ailing McNabb (who regularly throws deflected passes into the hands of opposing linemen), Trotter has been quiet this year for the Skins - unless you count his personal foul at the end of the Giants game (3rd and way long for the Giants), which lost it for Spurrier. Realistically, Mark Simoneau's 2003 numbers (Stats Here!) are as good as Trotter's.

Then last Summer the Birds let go of Hugh Douglas, and the fans again cried it was all over. Week One almost proved the fans right when Hugh got his first sack in a Jacksonville uniform (as the Birds lost to Tampa). But, this year's numbers show the fan-favored Douglas performing at a low level (Stats Here!): Only ten tackles and that single sack from week 1. Cry as the fans might, Hugh's other than locker room presence was rightly dismissed for the money he wanted. And even without Hugh, the Eagles "D-line" is for real, despite the injuries of rookie DT McDougal and DE's Burgess and Grasmanis. What's Hugh's record in Jacksonville? At 1-5, it's actually worse than the underperforming Eagles.

This week, Brian Mitchell lines up against the Midnight Green averaging a mediocre 21+yds / kickoff return (13th best in NFC for those with 200+ return yards) and a mere 6 yds / punt return (16th best in the NFC for those with 50+ return yards). With Brian Westbrook outperforming Mitchell in both categories (22+ yds / kickoff return and 9 yds / punt return), the only question to ask about Brian Mitchell being a Giant is: Will he hurt the Eagles? His time had certainly come, as had that of Trotter and Douglas. And, the Eagles rightly moved on, despite the loss of the locker room presence of all three!

Fly, Eagles, Fly!
Big Daddy B

Hackett the next Pelle?

Well, Hackett is not the next Pelle Lindbergh but he's the first goaltender to play to a scoreless tie on the road since Lindbergh did it in 1982, aka the good ol' days. Hackett had 27 saves and was "the difference". The Sharks had the best chances to score as the Flyers defense left Sharks alone in front of the net several times. San Jose also seemed to maintain pressure for longer stretches as well. Each team had a 5 on 3 but couldn't score. The Flyers had a 4 minute double minor powerplay in the last 5 minutes of the game but the closest they came was Desjardins hitting the post. So much for the powerplay rebirth we've heard so much about. Fedoruk kinda lost his battle with Rob Davison but the fight overall was pretty weak.

Hackett actually looks for real. He seems to be in position at all times to make the save and doesn't look awkward. He's not flashy but he's steady. Even if he doesn't react to a shot the shot tends to hit him and he gets credit for the save. Maybe Hackett is the right goaltender for this team.

Only former Eagles like them anymore

Joe Theismann	Merril Hoge	Sean Salisbury	Mark Schlereth
Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
Mike Golic	Eric Allen	Ron Jaworski	C. Mortensen
Eagles	Giants	Eagles	Giants

All week 7 picks here.

The Redsox really, really suck

Another non-Philadelphia team finds a way to lose in the most excruciating way possible, to their most hated rival.

We're not alone.

Flyers begin westcoast swing

Tonight the Flyers play the first game of four against Pacific Division opponents. The game is the Sharks home opener. They've lost to Edmonton and Calgary but beat the Minnesota Wild.

For the NHL season preview OB volunteered to do the Pacific division but missed the deadline. So instead of letting this vast resource of hockey and goon expertise go to waste here is his review of tonight's opponent, the San Jose Sharks.

After totally tanking last year and ridding themselves of several players (notably Brian Marchment and Owen Nolan), the Sharks hope to turn it around this year. Whatever. Basically they hope that goalie Nabokov can regain his form and lead the team to the playoffs. Oh yeah and the Mike Ricci will get healthy and get a freaking haircut. And Kyle McClaren will finally play up to his capabilities. But seriously I can't really think that a team boasting Scott Thorton, Ricci and Vincent Damphouse as its top forwards as a playoff team. Especially if Brad Stuart is now your top defenseman. On the fight front look for Colorado transplant Scott Parker to drop the gloves for the Sharks.

The Cubs really, really suck

As a fan of some of the losingest teams ever is it possible to find solace in the fact that there are teams out there that are even bigger losers than the Philadelphia Foursome? In the realm of All-time Chokes this is up there but I still think the 1986 Redsox still retain the top spot. Locally, last years Eagles debacle was pretty pathetic. Then of course theres the the Flyers blown 3-1 Conference Finals lead vs. the Devils, and the Flyers "choking situation" vs. the Red Wings in the Cup finals. I'm sure there is more.

Let's hear it for the losers!

Is McNabb's Hurting Thumb Really A Factor?

As reported on Eagles.com (Read Here!), McNabb would have us believe that his thumb is a significant factor in his recent poor play. He insists he is out there anyway, "enduring" so that he can be a good example to his team. Meanwhile, the team is suffering from the ineffective play of McNabb.

I took a few minutes to see if the data supports McNabb's latest explanation of the problem. I found quickly that the latest comments are but another set of lipservice from the Eagles and company. In his games since his return from ankle injury last year and pre this year's thumb injury (ATL, TBY, TBY, NEP), his completion percentage was 51.6%, with 0.25 touchdowns per game, and a td/int ratio of 0.25:1. In his games since his thumb injury (BUF, WAS, DAL), his completeion percentage was 52.9%, with 0.67 touchdowns per game, and a td/int ratio of 1:1. While stats on either side of the thumb injury are both unimpressive and FAR from a marquee quarterback, if anything they point to a higher performance of play since his thumb injury. So, what is the problem? We're still back to the same question and the same hypotheses as week 2-3.

Big Daddy B

Giants favored in battle of NFC Least also-rans

9/28 1 PM ET BetWWTS Bet365 Intertops Skybook WSEX Philadelphia Giants 37.5 -3 37.5 -2.5 OFF -2.5 37.5 -2.5 37.5 -3

•Matchup

The Day After Words of Reid

"It was a good football game to watch." [What game was he "watching? Perhaps he shoulda turned off the KC/GRB game and coached our game.]

"I take full responsibility for the on-sides kick." [Who else should?]

"I need to do a better job coaching." [I've been saying that for years, even the good years. I'm tired of hearing AR say it.]

"I need to do a better job of putting those guys in situations where they can be successful. I will take the brunt of that." [Blah, blah, blah... you've had eight games to figure that out, going back to last year's NYG game... Will you ever figure it out, Andy? Where is the media during these press conferences?]

"We've been very successful in the past just doing it the way we've done it." [Yes, very successful riding the success of a great defense. What about the offense? It hasn't been very successful even when they could score.]

"We've won a lot of football games with this group. We will continue to do that." [Ditto above. Stubborn mule, have you ever heard of making changes? Not even to the extent of thinking outside "the" box... just your narrow everyday thinking!]

On the other hand, Bill Parcels actually had an intelligent and informative press conference. Listen here!

Big Daddy B

Flyers Blow 3 goal Lead To The Penguins

On Saturday the Fly boys played an awesome first period to give them a 3-0 lead only to let that lead slip away in the third period. Click here to hear it straight from the horses ass, I mean mouth. In better Flyers news it appears they have selected 10 reasonably hot girls to be the new Delta Dental Ice Girls. Slide Show of Girls Here.

One more half

Seeing how McNabb is basically the worst qb in the league right now based on statistics it is time to think about sitting him down. I'd give McNabb one more half to snap out of it and if things haven't turned around by halftime vs. the Giants it's time for the best field goal holder in the game to take the reins.

I don't put all the blame on McNabb however. His own terrible play has been amplified by horrible offensive schemes and play calling, mediocre at best receivers, and porous pass protection. But just like in hockey when the coach pulls the goaltender, even when the goals against aren't all his fault, something must be done to shake these fools up.

NO

The clock needs to be moved back to 9pm. Right now all the Philly teams are better than average, but still quite far from winning a championship. With the Eagles making it to the NFC champs the last two years, they were the closest, but will their fall back into the mediocre region of the NFL, that is over. Turn back the clock.

Why don't you have some more cookies Andy?
Cassie

Andy Reid SUCKS

Thanks coach Reid. Thanks for gifting us 10 points. Thanks for your moronic onside kick call. Yeah it made sense 2 years ago when you were the underdog and our offense was led by Aikman. But you act like you fear Quincy Carter. And thanks for the 2 incomplete passes at the end of the first half that gave us enough time to kick a field goal. Most people would have run the ball knowing that a punt would probably give us the ball on the 50. But not you 'cause you're a moron.

- Dallass

p.s. You suck.

Baseball Wants You Back! NOW!

Much has been made of a highly anticipated Sox-Cubs World Series. So much in fact, that Glen Macnow today opened his radio show with a challenge to indentify a more anticipated finals in all of sports history (assuming that Sox-Cubs should indeed come to pass). However, with the Yanks edging out the Sox today and taking a 2-1 lead in the ALCS, some of that excitement may have been quelched. Yet, baseball added an exciting new twist to the game in Beantown. Never before have the beanballs and brawls been so pervasive and integral to the game as they were today (Read Here!). With Martinez and Clemens throwing at batters, benches clearing, and ole' Don Zimmer himself getting into the scuffle (heck, stadium beer sale was halted), one might think that baseball has added a little old-time hockey to the game. So, as the game of hockey heads toward lockout and persists in the boredom of the trap and European speed, maybe it's time to give baseball a second look. And, the time is NOW - regardless of whether the Cubs or Sox get to the finals - as two of the greatest rivals in all of sports are ALREADY battling out a great one.

What is the most anticipated finals in all of sports? Have you found yourself currently watching more baseball than ever in the past?

Big Daddy B
Fly, Eagles, Fly!

Law-abiding white citizens are over-rated by the media

Limbaught admits to painkiller addiction.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told his listeners on Friday he is addicted to prescription painkillers and that he would immediately check himself into a drug treatment program.

Limbaugh also acknowledged that "authorities are conducting an investigation" but gave no further details.

Limbaugh, 52, said he would check himself into a drug treatment center for the next 30 days immediately following his broadcast "to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me."

The disclosure follows recent media reports, first surfacing in the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer, that Limbaugh was under investigation by the state attorney's office in Palm Beach County, Florida. The Enquirer story quoted Limbaugh's housekeeper as saying her boss was addicted to prescription drugs, which he sometimes bought in secret handoffs in parking lots.

The revelation was the latest controversy to engulf the nationally syndicated radio personality. Earlier this month, he resigned as a football commentator on ESPN's "NFL Sunday Countdown" amid a public uproar over his on-air comments suggesting Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated by the media because he is black.

Hackett Shuts Sabres Down

Bobby Clarke jettisoned Roman Cechmanek over the summer, clearly passing the blame to the Crazy Czech's helter-skelter goaltending for a yet again another early playoff exit. Upon advice from top scout Ron Hextall, Clarkie signed the oft-injured Jeff Hacknutt. Last night at the Wackovia Center, his move might have paid off. He played a solid game recording a shut-out on 17 shots.

The Flyers played a dominating defensive game employing Hitch's 5-on-5 checking system. So dominating that I can't remember any good scoring opportunities other than 666 Satan's wrist shot from in tight with less than a minute left.

For all the haters out there, scoring came on the Power Play last night. Getting a nice cross-ice feed from Freshman Phenom, Joni Pitkanen, Mark Recchi chipped in a wide-open wrister. The next power play goal came from Michael Handzus, on a blind backhand, off of a rebound created by an Eric Desjardins slapshot.

By the way Tony "South Philly" Amonte had about 10 shots on net and couldn't put the biscuit in the basket. Is this guy done or is it the rust? He looked like he had the stone hands of Tony Twist. Of note, the Woods' favorite player, Preems failed to score on a breakaway. He most likely heard both brothers screaming, "Primeau, you suck." through the tele.

Ex Post Facto:
Hacknutt had a very cool mask, the Holy Trinity of Flyers Goaltending - Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall were represented.

Every time I see Lauren Hart, she looks better and better. I guess she gots her moms genes.

ESPN's "experts" slightly favor Eagles

Joe Theismann	Merril Hoge	Sean Salisbury	Mark Schlereth
Eagles	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles
Mike Golic	Eric Allen	Ron Jaworski	C. Mortensen
Eagles	Cowboys	Eagles	AWOL

Mortensen's membership in the "expert" club appears to have been rescinded by ESPN. All week 6 picks here.

Opening Night and Other Stuff

The flyboys begin the season tonight. Looking forward to it 'cause they're going to win the Stanley Cup this year, just ask Jonesy.

If Hitch's system begins to bore you or if that soft goal by Hackett just makes you mad, the Jamie Kennedy Xperiment show is on at 8:30 tonight on the WB.

He's visiting Philly this show. They do a gag on Preems and of course, a cheese steak eating contest gone awry.

For nighttime reading, visit the City Paper's article on the teflon-tested Bobby Clarkie. He's a softie.

Dallass Sucks

Alex R., Staff Reporter

Andy Reid has earned many credits to his name during his 4+ season tenure. His most important achievement however is his superb record against the Dallass Cowboys - 7 wins, 1 loss. Let us take a walk down memory lane:

Week 5, 1999
The Doug Pederson era had already produced a spike in suicides. Cowboys are a crumbling dynasty. Rainy Sunday morning. Only game Pederson won as an Eagle. Vet turf ended Michael Irvin's career. Fans were not unhappy. Events surrounding the injury (I was there):

1. Pass, body flip, and drop. Irvin is down and not moving.
2. Eagles fans cheer loudly
3. Crowd excitement dies down
4. Deion begins healing dance (shaking hands in the air, circling Irvin and doctors, dancing)
5. Crowd becomes riled once again, begin "Deion sucks" chant
6. Ambulance peeks out of corner garage
7. Crowd cheers
8. Irvin is put on stretcher
9. Crowd cheers
Final Score: Philadelphia 13, Dallass 10.

Week 1, 2000
Unbearably hot in Satan's Armpit aka Dallass. Pickle juice. Eagles onside the opening kickoff and recover. Andy wins steak dinner bet with himself. Duce rushes for 201 yards. Aikman is 0-5 and knocked 3/4 of the way into the announcers booth. 5 Eagles rush the ball. 10 Eagles make a reception. Total Yards: Eagles 427, Cowboys 167. Cowboys fans sit in stunned silence, knowing the dynasty is finished, for real.
Final Score: Philadelphia 41, Dallass 14.

Week 10, 2000
Randall Cunningham returns to the Vet as a Cowboy, ran 9 times for 22 yards. Fans booed. McNabb runs for 58 yards. Fans cheered. Eagles drive 54 yards and tie the game with 13 seconds left. Darnell Autry, 122 total yards, 1 TD. Akers kicks FG to win it in OT.
Final Score: Philadelphia 16, Dallass 13 (OT).

Week 3, 2001
Few, if any, Cowfans buy tickets to game. Anthony Carter starts at QB. Three 2nd quarter fumble recoveries become 21 Eagle points. Dat Nguyen makes five unassisted vietackles. New QB Clint Stoerner leads two late Cowboy scoring drives. Due to pitiful personnel, god asks the roof at Texas Stadium be closed for Week 10 contest.
Final Score: Philadelphia 40, Dallass 18.

Week 10, 2001
Ryan Leaf starts for Dallas. Buckhalter suspended for blunting. Duce rushes for 102. Emmitt fumbles. With seven seconds left in first half, Leaf throws interception returned for TD. TV announcers try not to laugh. Dave Campo voted NFL Clown of the Week for Week 10.
Final Score: Philadelphia 36, Dallass 3.

Week 3, 2002
Last Dallas game at the Vet. No Cowboy fans are in attendance. Another debacly embarrassment for Dallass.
Final Score: Philadelphia 44, Dallass 13.

Week 16, 2002
A.J. Feeley starts for the Eagles. Chad "Hutch" Hutchinson starts for Cowboys, has feet of lead. Emmitt Smith's last game at Texas Stadium. Dallas 0-12 on 3rd down. Emmitt 30 yards rushing, sulks. Hutchinson reconsiders decision to quit baseball. Campo visibly perplexed, resumes alcoholism. Emmitt sitting on bench with legs crossed. Emmitt sprints immediately into locker room after final gun for a perfect ending.
Final Score: Philadelphia 27, Dallass 3.

1999-2002: Eagles 224 points, Dallass 94.

Kobe Bryant

Newsweek has an article on Kobe Bryant this week.

16-year-old Jocelyn found herself spending the evening in the Bryant family den, watching videotapes of Kobe's hoop exploits as a kid in Italy. "He wanted to watch them all the time," says Ebron. "I didn't mind, because I wanted to do what he wanted to do." In four years of dating Kobe Bryant, Jocelyn Ebron spent many a chaste night as he sat glued to the TV, watching the same videos and highlight reels of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson over and over. "Looking back," says Ebron, now a 24-year-old social worker, "it was sort of selfish of him."

The article starts with saying Kobe is a social retard. It notes his selfishness and blind focus on his career. It also describes his taking Brandy to the prom as a big publicity stunt in which he dissed his girlfriend, Ebron.

Of course it is these "qualities" that the Philadelphia fans recognized years ago and were of course excoriated for by the national media. Now that Kobe has been exposed, I expect Dan Patrick to write a follow up. The title could be "I get it now, years later".

The Newsweek article isn't all an attack on Bryant however. You might end up feeling some sympathy for the guy if you read the whole thing. You've been warned.

Dallass Sucks

9/28 1 PM ET BetWWTS Bet365 Intertops Skybook WSEX Philadelphia Dallass 37 -1 37.5 PK 37.5 -1 37.5 -1 PK -1

•Matchup

Will We Ever Win 2003-2004 NHL Season Preview

CENTRAL by Ron

Blackhawks
The Blackhawks lost lots of players from last year like Sergei Berezin, Mike Eastwood, Strip Club afficianado Fleury, Phil Housley, Andrei Nikolishin, Lyle Odelein, Chris Simon and Steve Thomas. But they've consoled themselves by saying they're all old. But as a result the team has gotten much younger and inexperienced. Goaltender Jocelyn Thibault will be back though and he was their one all-star although drunk driver Alexei Zhamnov maybe should have been one as well. Look for some great hockey at times followed by long stretches of bad hockey and crap defense with Thibault standing on his head, probably vs. the Flyers.

Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets had a really good home record last year and a terrible road record. They also gave up the most goals in the West. In the offseason they brought in Todd Marchant, Trevor Letowski, and Darryl Sydor. All those players have playoff experience and come from winning teams. Sydor is expected to help the defense. Third place Calder Trophy finisher Rick Nash is their upcoming star. Look for the Blue Jackets to compete for the last playoff spot.

Blues
The Blues are the Flyers of the West, spending money and losing, lots of potential but always failing at the end. They blew a 3-1 playoff series advantage last year. They can't beat the Redwings just like the Flyers can't beat the Devils. Tkachuk=Leclair. Pronger and MacInnis are still there impressing though but Osgood will now have a full season to disappoint. Pavol Demitra is one of my favorite players though. Go Blues.

Redwings
IFC wannabe Dominik Hasek is back and they couldn't get rid of Curtis Joseph so they have him too. Their defense will be great with Lidstrom leading the way. Steve Yzerman won't leave but Larionov, Fedorov and Robitaille have gone. They picked up Ray Whitney and Derian Hatcher. They have a bunch of talent (although aging) and a great goaltender (although aging). Look for the Redwings to be good.

Predators
Predators are anonymous. Name someone on their team. Yeah, I thought so, you can't. Maybe one of you said Andy Delmore, too bad though - he was traded to Buffalo. Goaltender Tomas Vokoun is good and some guy named David Legwand. Remember these names too: Scott Hartnell, Adam Hall, Denis Arkhipov and Martin Erat. This team is weak.

NORTHWEST by Bui

Colorado
Colorado made the biggest free agency splash by signing both Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. A team that didn't lack for any firepower - see Hart Trophy winner Peter Forsberg, and the underrated Milan Hejduk - got the tandem at a bargain basement price. Look for Forsberg to center the former Duckmates. The only question for the Avs is goaltending. With the retirement of Patrick Roy, GM Pierre Lacroix will look to make a move for a playoff tested veteran goaltender should David Aebischer falter down the stretch.

Calgary
Let's be honest here, the Flames are a one-man team. Unless Flames management can surround Iginla with talent, they will always be on the outside looking in. Some bright spots: Last year's mid-season move of hiring Darryl Sutter will provide the foundation for a young nucleus of players, such as RW Chucky 'Grudawg' Kobasew, to blossom. Iginla will be re-united with Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond, a line that scored over 100 goals 2 seasons ago. The addition of Rhett Warrener will bolster an already deep D corps. Questions though remain about Roman Turek's consistency as well as offensive production outside of Iginla.

Vancouver
Bottom Line: Dan Cloutier let in some soft goals against the Minnesota Wild last playoff season. To shore up this area, GM Brian Burke traded for Johan Hedberg. He'll split duties with young Cloutier during the regular season, but look for Marc Crawford to ride the hot hand come Stanley Cup time. If the Couv are to go deeper, the Dynamic Duo of Naslund and Bertuzzi will need some help, especially from the likes of the underachieving Sedin twins. Unbeknownst to many puckheads, the Couv might have the best offensive minded D corps in the league with Salo, Sopel, Ohlund and Jovanovski.

Minnesota
The Wild went to the Western Conference finals last year. Let me repeat, the Wild went to the Western Conference finals last year. In my humble opinion, Jacques Lemaire should be credited with one of the better coaching performances in recent memory of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Not only did he magically handle the goaltending duo of Roloson and Fernandez, he got a bunch of no-names to believe that they could beat Colorado, down 3-1 in the series. They won't surprise any teams this year, and in addition, the Wild's top 2 scorers, in Gaborik and Dupuis, are still holding out in messy contract disputes.

Edmonton
This team is young and fast. But haven't we said that about the Oilers ever since the Great One left? Once again, the Oilers shed some 'pricey' veterans during the season and offseason - namely Anson Carter and Todd Marchant, for younger and CHEAPER talent. For the Oilers to make the playoffs, these 3 things must happen: The kidz will have to learn to play some defensive hockey. 'Vets', Mike Comrie and Ryan Smith have career seasons. Most importantly, Tommy 'Sini' Salo will need to stand on his head.

PACIFIC by Bui and Chilly V

LA Kings
A healthy Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh should put this team in the playoffs. However, as the season begins both are listed as non-roster players due to concussion related injuries last year. Should they get over the injury hump, questions remain about their playoff goaltending. Roman Cechmanek is a huge improvement in net. The enigmatic goaltender can and will put up stellar numbers during the regular season. However, come playoff time, which goaltender will show up; the one that got the Flyers past the Leafs, or the one who was blamed for bowing out to the Senators?

Phoenix Coyotes
The Coyotes got a new look this off-season. Besides new uniforms they signed and acquired perennial team wanderers in centers Chris 'Gratts' Gratton and Mike Sillinger. Both should add depth to a young forward core of Shane Doan, Mike Johnson, Ladislav Nagy and Daymond Langkow. Improved scoring from these forwards and the return to form of Sean Burke will be needed if the Yotes are to make the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks
Last year, no team in the Pacific Division made more big-time changes than the Sharks - fired coach Darryl Sutter and GM Dean Lombardi and the loss of veterans Owen Nolan and Teemu Selanne. New coach Ron Wilson will provide the direction. Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm will have to build upon their numbers from last year for the Sharks to have a shot at the playoffs. The team is also expecting big things from Alyn McCauley.

Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Once upon a time there was a mighty dynamic duo, no not Batman and Robin, I'm talking 'bout Paul Kariya and Temu Selanne. But Anaheim couldn't afford to keep both so they let Selanne go awhile back and eventually replaced him with Oates. Had they kept Selanne they might be defending the cup this year. They never should have split those two, but now that they have its time to cut there loses and let Kariya and Oates go too. In as replacements are Sergei Fedorov and Vinny Prospal. Both are bigger and better two way players. Sergei proved he can be the number one go to guy last season when Detroit was riddled with injuries. Vinny, after bouncing from team to team settled down in Tampa the last two years and racked up 134 points. Anaheim came in to the playoffs last season with some Goalie named Guigere, they finished the playoffs with support of the MIGHTY Jean-Sebastian GIGUERE! Wow! look what one playoff run can do for a goalies reputation. But Jiggy is gonna have a lot to live up to this season and if he is anything less than amazing people are gonna start talking. What happen to Jiggy? Anaheim could repeat last years performance but that's a lot of pressure on a young goalie (think Brian Boucher).

Dallas Stars
You let Hatcher go! What were you thinking? There is no way around it Dallas will feel the loss of Darien Hatcher, but adding Teppo Numminen may soften the blow. Then up front Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Bill Guerin and Jason Arnott form a strong core group of forwards who will be augmented by youngsters like Steve Ott, Niko Kapanen and Brenden Morrow. Goaltending duties are the responsibility of Marty Turco. The same Marty Turco who had a GAA of 1.72 last year, a feat that has not been done since Hitler was getting his ass kicked in Europe. Marty Turco is a perfectionist and was disappointed with his performance last post-season he went 6-6 which was not good enough for him despite having a 1.88 GAA attached to it. If something should happen to Turco, Dallas has a respectable back up with Ron Tugnutt who gets my vote for worst name in sports. (Ed - best name in sports.)

This is not the same Dallas team that won the cup a few years back but this is a pretty well rounded team. Deep up front, ample defense, and a goalie that can more then get the job done.

NORTHEAST by Chilly V

Buffalo Sabres
Things do not look great for the Sabres. They have a new owner but still no money. They did pick up two nice additions with Chris Drury and power play point man and former Flyer/Phantom Andy Dellmore. But last year Satan was the only player that could score, maybe Maxim Afinogenov will rebound from that puck to the head that seemed to shake him up last fall and maybe Alexei Zhitnik will find the net some more. On defense they lost Rhett Warrener to Calgary and James Patrick turned 40. In goal there is Biron, a 26 year old goalie who has been getting by on his potential not his skill. It is time for Biron to put up, or step aside and give Noronen a chance to prove himself. The Sabres deserve a fighting chance, but something tells me they probably won't be around for the playoffs.

Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruin had five different goalies last year and decided to go with Felix Potvin for the start of this year. Felix came from LA, LA took Crapmanek from Philly and Philly end up with Hackett coming to us from Boston almost like a crappy three way trade where everyone loses. Boston is also losing Jozef Stumple but they are still looking good up front with Thorton, Murray, Samsonov, Axelsson and Rolston. So Boston can score but how about defense? They still have veterans Nick Boyton and heavy-hitter Dan McGillis as well as prospect Jeff Jillison. Boston just made the playoffs last year and this year I expect the same.

Montreal Canadians
So they got a new GM, Bob Gainey, and he has got some work cut out for him but so far he hasn't done much. Saku Koviu and Zednick had great years last year but Thedore (while raking in 5 million a year) stunk worse than the locker room. So if Thedore gets his act together they can probably make the playoffs but this team can not stand up to Philly, NJ, or Ottawa in the playoffs. The good news is most of the talent is pretty young and Mr. Gainey has something to work with.

Ottawa Senators
If it ain't broke don't fix it. So don't expect to see to many major changes here. You can however say good bye to Magnus Arvedsson and say hello to Jason Spezza. For those of you who haven't heard Jason Spezza is the real deal. He's young but he is poised to make a big impact on the NHL this year. Keep an eye on him! They finished off last year with 113 points and they did it with the fourth lowest salary in the NHL. Expect them to finish near the top in the East.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Typical Toronto outlook, a lot of offense and no defense and a goalie who will have to stand on his head to keep his team in the game. Upfront you got name like Sundin, Nolan and Mogiliny, add to that the recent acquisition of Joe Nieuwendyk and offense shouldn't be a problem. But with the four defensemen hitting the road (Wesley, Svehla, Housley and Lumme) and only picking up Bryan Marchment there should be plenty of work for Ed Belfour in net. Fortunately for Toronto Ed Belfour is up to the challenge but at 39 years old he's no spring chicken and neither are some of his teammates, so injuries could be a problem.

SOUTHEAST by Steve

Tampa Bay Lightning
First of all, I hate all pro teams who aren't plural, and thank god Philly has none. (And don't drop "Liberty" or "Soul", I'm talking real teams.) How does one cheer for "Lightning"? All we Flyers fans really care about when it comes to the 'Ning is whether or not Khabibulin is going to possibly be in Philly, and whether he's still good enough to pursue. I've seen him stand on his head in the past. Can he do it again for the Ning? Or better yet, the Flyers? But Tampa's strengths lie in offensive production, with good young talent like Vincent Lacavalier and Martin St. Louis. Oh, and that Ruslan Fedotenko cat they traded what turned out to be Joni Pitkanen (in the draft) for. Their defense sucks and If the Bulin Wall doesn't work out for them, it could be ugly in Tampa. However, in the Southeast's tradition of trying to out-old each other, I see they still have Dave Freaking Andreychuk for "leadership." My man was nasty in SEGA hockey 93. Too bad it's 2003. The Lightning have no goons worth mentioning from what I can tell. This will hurt them in those time-honored "Battle of Florida" matchups. Look for Tampa to make the playoffs by winning the division, but not because of any real team talent.

Florida Panthers
The only thing more improbable than Florida's Finals appearance a few years ago is that Iron Mike Keenan can stomach coaching for these lummoxes. Wait a minute... I guess it's more improbable that there's a viable NHL franchise in South Beach. With ice, and a Zamboni or two. They even have palmtrees on their sweaters. Old Time hockey this is not. I quickly skimmed the roster and there's a bunch of eastern Europeans and Scandanavians I've never heard of, but they must be quick and crafty, and they will therefore steal a win or two from the Flyers and some other better but slowass teams. The Panthers' best asset is Robert Luongo, a former Islanders #1 pick, 4th overall. I saw him fight in an AHL game a couple years ago. He beat the crap out of the guy, which was nice to see... but the best part was that it was a forward, not the opposing goalie. Hexy would have been proud of the kid. He's big and he's good. Iron Mike will get some wins from a stingy defense that he always seems to have. They just signed Steve Shields from Boston for some reason. Not sure what that means. On offense, Viktor Kozlov and Bure will shine... oh wait, that's Valeri, not Pavel. An even bigger wuss. And he didn't even get to bang Anna Kornikova. So he sucks. On the goon front, the Panthers will most definitey miss Peter Worrell (now with the overloaded Avs) but they do have some old school ugly mug goons like Lyle Odelein and Igor Ulanov. Two pricks the Flyers have bloodied over the years. Their best tough guy is now Paul Laus, and he's no joke. If they lose games to Tampa, you know Keenan will goon it up and leave some calling cards. Good. Look for Florida to finish second to the Ning, but they'll still suck bad enough to miss out on the playoffs somehow.

Washington Crapitals
I'd feel sorry for this franchise if a) I didn't use all my sympathy up on the Thrashers, b) If I didn't think Jagr was such a wuss, c) if they weren't former Patrick Division foes of the Flyers, and d) if they weren't just so lame overall, owned by an AOL exec jackass. I'd feel sorry for them because no one gives a crap about the Caps. They made the finals recently and good tickets were still available. Pathetic. When they played out in Landover, games versus the Flyers were always pretty much Flyer home games. That's sad. It's also sad that I remember Hextall's playoff goal vs. the Caps better than their Cup finals run in 1998. Ok, so they do have Jaromir Jagr, Petr Bondra, Mike Grier, Oley the Goalie, "next great Flyer Danius Zubrus," among others. Oh wait, they really do have "next Flyer great Maxime Oullette. That sucks. That's a pretty solid lineup, so why do I place them behind the two crappy teams from Florida? Because they are a doomed franchise with no fans, no leadership, a coach killing star, and contract disputes, that's why. Goons? The Caps seem to kill the goon ethic... afterall, they turned metal mullet super goon Chris Simon into a productive forward. Stephen Peat seems to be their pugilist, and he's not bad. But if he's gotta protect notorious girls like Jags, Bondra, Zubrus, and Mikeal Nylander (out now with a broken leg), he's gonna be hurtin' for certain. There may be an unsung thug on the Caps I'm not familiar with, not being down with the AHL legions like Ron and OB. (Ed note - Bondra fought "ferociously" with Kapinen in the preseason, don't dis') Of note, Stevie Konowalchuk did predict a Cup parade on Broad Street in 2004. Too many pucks to the head, I think.

Atlanta Thrashers
Just whom they will be thrashing is not known. I know they are named after a bird and all, but I prefer to think of them as a verb, particularly in the past tense. As in "Thrashed." That would work better if it didn't rhyme with "crashed" which is what Dany Heatley did literally, and the team's hopes along with it. Heatley is (was?) for real. He lit it up in last year's All Star game (yes, I'm one of the few who actually watch that mess) and he was great on a crap team in a crap city, with, most likely, crap fans. And now he's responsible for the death of his teammate, Dan Snyder. Now, if he had the other Dan Snyder of Redskins fame in his car and he killed him, that would have been a good thing. The 1-2 punch of Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk was something we hockey fans could really look forward to. Hopefully, Heatley will be able to rekindle this soon, and not worry about the 1-2 punch of Joe and Don in the big house. Anyway, Atlanta's whole team is based on offense, as they have nothing on defense and nothing between the pipes. Lord Byron Dafoe and a couple guys I've never heard of. He's old and they probably suck. They've got some decent guys up front, and they will win a few games for the Thrashers. However, even with former Flyer defensive stalwart behind the bench (Brad McCrimmon) this D sucks hard. When it comes to dropping the gloves, it goes without saying Atlanta will be ok. Possibly the best in the division, if only because Tamer and Lessard have retard strength. If it weren't for the Heatley mess, I'd rank them a few spots higher, so if he comes back ok, they'll do ok. They'll "Do it for Dany" for a few weeks, then fade away. And for the record, "Do it for Dany" is only half as weak as "Cowboy Up!"

Hartford/Carolina WhalerCanes
Having been raised on Philly teams, I learned early on not to forgive or forget. I don't. Transplanted up here to Hartford, CT, I can tell y'all we're still mighty pissed over losing the Mighty Whale. Every bad report that comes from hickville Carolina warms our hearts up here. It was scary a couple years ago when they miraculously reached the finals, as we didn't want to become like Quebec or Minnesota whose teams went on to win the Cup shortly after leaving town. I'll spare you all the whining, but let it be known we supported the team up here, more people showed up to watch the bad product they put out there then in Carolina, and Jim Rutherford, the prick owner, is losing money hand over fist down there. May he lose much more. So after they made the finals in 2002, last year's league worst record was a welcome sight. The Canes played as ugly as their main man, Rod Brind'Amour, looks. Ron Francis still dresses for this pathetic band of has beens. He's 40. Glen Wesley is a WhalerCane. Go back in time and check out who the Whale gave up for this useless piece of crap. You won't believe it. Arturs Irbe and his Alex Drinko 8th grade street hockey mask is old and is on the way out. They just signed Jamie Storr who couldn't hang in LA with Cechmanek. They also have Kevin Weekes in net, who represents his last name well. This team sucks. I can't even identify any goons on this squad besides Bob Boughner who can't fight. Plus, he just broke his hand last week, so maybe Brindy will have to pick up the slack. So not only will they lose tons of games, fans won't have a reason to go to the games, and the franchise will therefore lose more money, and hopefully they will fold and the owner will have to declare bankruptcy and live out his life in squalor, before spending eternity squatting on a pitchfork in a hockeyless hell. I heard there's lots of NASCAR in that one. The Canes do have some rookie named Eric Staal who is supposedly pretty good. But he's 18. And Jeff O'Neill can be nasty, but on a personal level I've always hated him from when I knew all the Whalers. For the record, Glen Featherstone and Kevin Dineen are, by far, two of the nicest pro athletes you could ever hope to meet. Jeff O'Neill and Dan Cloutier are pricks. They will have strife in goal. Coach Paul Maurice will (finally) be fired by December. Ron Francis will die of a heart attack mid game. The Hurricanes blow. Get it?

ATLANTIC by Ron

Devils
The boring but winning Devils try to repeat as Stanley Cup Champs. Can you believe they won it all having the worst power play? They rely on executing their boring system and on Brodeur stopping everything. Gone from last year's championship winning defense are Tommy Albelin, Ken Daneyko (retired), Richard Smehlik and Oleg Tverdovsky but they still have Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, 40 year old Scott Stevens and Colin White. They also added Sean Brown from Boston. Look for the Devils to win lots of games and be boring.

Islanders
Last year the Islanders led the Atlantic with 224 goals despite the underwhelming play of $8.4 million man Alexi Yashin. The team did not play a complete game though and sputtered. In the offseasn they got a new coach - some old guy named Steve Stirling. He used to coach their minor league team the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Islanders have real good players like Michael Peca, Adrian Aucoin, Dave Scatchard, Kenny Jonsson and Roman Hamrlik and ok ones like Garth Snow, Jason Wiemer, Jason Blake, and maybe Rick Dipietro. Look for the Islanders to be a hard team to defense and one that could be a threat if they play right and stop being a bunch of whiney bitches.

Rangers
The ever spending, never sending a team into the playoffs Rangers might have a chance this year. They still have Leetch, picked up Greg de Vries from Colorado and Mike Dunham is pretty good and getting better so they could prevent a few more goals this year. Bure is done but they have Anson Carter, Lindros, Holik, Nedved and Kovalev. Also signed Chris Simon. On paper, as usual, the Rangers look good. On the ice they suck. Glen "not a hockey genius anymore" Sather is coaching from day one this year so maybe he might just get the team into the playoffs just so they can lose in the first round.

Pittsburgh
Lemieux is going to play again at age 100. He is still great. Too bad the rest of his team eats it. The team could be called the Wilke-Barre/Scranton/Pittsburgh Penguins with all the minor league players they have. They also have a bunch of geezers pushing 40. The Penguins are said to be impressed with Sebastien Caron their 24 game veteran goaltender and look for their younger players to realize their potential now. Look for flashes of great hockey sprinkled on a steady diet of mediocrity and crap, especially when Lemieux is off the ice.

Flyers
Hitchcock is good. Players overrated. Hackett looks like a sieve. Pitkanen next defensive star? Primeau will still suck. You know the rest 'cause it looks to be the same old story.

Howard Eskin, whore and stubborn jackass

So I was riding in my car listening to Eskin waiting to hear him give Peyton Manning a little credit after the greatest comeback in NFL history, against the best defense in the league, in Tampa Bay's stadium. Instead he still insisted Manning is only an above average qb, he had a great 5 minutes, that's all, his stats all came in catch up, prevent defense time and was mostly all underneath stuff. Instead of crediting Manning he said Tampa went to sleep.

I haven't seen this much denial since I saw Axl Rose on some MTV award show.

Also, the NFL said the call on Simeon Rice was the right one.

"Clearly running forward and leaping in an obvious attempt to block a field goal, or try-kick after touchdown and landing on players, unless the leaping player was originally lined up within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped."

Rice lined up approximately four yards behind the line of scrimmage, ran forward, leaped in an attempt to block the kick, and illegally landed on teammate.

I think the call was exceptionally weak. But so was the running into the kicker call that gave Tampa another set of downs on the 50. They didn't take advantage of their gift from the refs but the Colts did.

Flyers get spanked by their farm team!

On Friday night the Flyers and Phantoms faced off in their annual pre-season exhibition game complete with celebrity coaches. Al Morganti was coaching the Flyers and Keith Jones was coaching the Phantoms. Before the game Keith Jones had emphatically guaranteed a win. Final score was 10-6, Phantoms. There were some interesting things to note from the game. It was the first time fans got a good look at highly regarded rookie Joni Pitaken and guess what, he's good! Now we see what all the hype has been about.

Also this game wrote another page in the Flyers goalie saga. Robert Esche started for the Fly-boys and played two periods and let up 4 goals (28 saves 32 shots) then good - ole boy Jeff Hackett came in for a sievetacular performance letting up only 6 goals (8 saves on 14 shots). Which proves evidence for what many fans and reporters have been saying all summer and that is that the Flyers still have not confronted their biggest problem and that is acquiring a Stanley Cup caliber goaltender. The bottom line is Esche is not ready and Hackett just plain SUCKS!

I foresee a possible solution though, I think between now and the trade deadline we will see a trade bringing Khabibulin to the Flyers (although I'm not real sure what Tampa would want in return). The 'Bulin Wall was benched in the last playoff game of last season for John Grahame who I believe may end up as Tampa Bay starter. Khabibulin was phenomenal in Phoenix but has yet to shine since then. Could he be a superstar behind the Flyers tight blueline or just another Eastern European Goalie? Am I dreaming or seriously speculating?

One fraud down, one to go

Eagles continued their balanced attack yesterday with 30 runs and 30 passes to defeat the fraudulent Washington Redskins. Redskins made it close in the end with some luck and a blown coverage. To give the Redskins a chance in the game McNabb and the offense went in the tank for most of the second half save for one drive. A completely depleted defense stepped up again to stop another high powered passing attack and also continued its dominance in stopping the run. David Akers continued his run to the Hall of Fame.

The Eagles got their first new stadium win, Simoneau got his first sack, Ritchie his first touchdown, Kalu his first touchdown, Hood his first interception, McNabb his first TD pass, and Mitchell his first highlight worthy catch in 3 years. Surprisingly the Eagles had more penalty yardage (7-86) than the Redskins (11-85). Unsurprisingly Reid made lots of questionable calls, most notable being the pass into the flat to Staley on 3rd and goal. A play that was used repeatedly everytime the Eagles needed to stop one of their drives.

Dallass sucks.

Alone Atop the NFC East

After pummeling the Diamond that is former Cowboy, Emmit Smith, Gay Tuna's Cowboys are 3-1, in first place in the NFC East and are looking like a legitimate playoff contending team. Meanwhile the Iggles offense continues to sputter as McNabb looks no-where near his Pro Bowl form that we have seen the past couple of years. D-Coordinator Jimmie Johnson continues to draw up great defensive schemes, even though his unit has played undermanned so far this year. This week the Iggles escaped with a victory b/c Patrick Ramsey's routine throw for a game tying 2point conversion sailed high on him. So the question for Iggles fans remain: can Andy Reid and McNabb show creativity and consistency in offense. To make matters worse for Iggles fans, the Cowboys might have found a QB since Troy Aikman retired.

Who will get beat more?

1. Lito Shephard
2. howardeskin.com's football picks
3. Darren Daulton's estranged wife
4. Glenn Robinson playing 'defense'
5. Whatever lame goalie Flyers decide to use

Siklenka picked up by the Rangers

The Flyers lost right wing Mike Siklenka in today's NHL Waiver Draft. Siklenka was claimed from the Flyers by the New York Rangers. No one wanted Therien or Kirby Law. Here's the rest of the waiver draft results.

More important is the Flyers also made the rest of their roster moves. Pitkanen made the team while Seidenberg and Woywitka were assigned to the Phantoms. John Slaney is also listed as making the Flyers defense but I can't remember him playing in the practice games so I'm confused.

Seidenberg has an NHL shot and skills but I'm guessing the Flyers feel his defense and physical presence needs work. In the one game I've seen Woywitka play he made mistakes that led directly to two goals. He also seemed to get beat and lose more one on one battles than he won. But I expect both these players to become fulltime players in the NHL sometime, if it still exists.

UPDATE: Here's what the Inquirer reported Saturday:

Chris Therien remains a Flyer since no club offered to pick up his $2.6 million salary in yesterday's NHL waiver draft. Clarke said this week he didn't like the idea of paying a veteran that much money to sit as a seventh defenseman with Pitkanen on the roster. The Flyers thought someone would take Therien. It didn't happen. "We'll have to live with it," Clarke said yesterday.

I'm sure Therien was glad Clarke could live with it.

Konowalchuk seconds Jones

Ex-Flyer Keith Jones has guaranteed a Flyers Stanley Cup this year. Steve Konowalchuk of the Caps likes them too.

"I'll pick Philly. They play a solid team game and a lot of teams play defensive styles now and they seem to do it the best. That's what wins now and they have enough grit that they can battle you and they have the scoring touch."

Here's the entire NHL Player Predictions. Interesting is that no one picked their own team. Thanks to SW for the link.

I should mention Howard Eskin more

Put "Howard Eskin" into Google and this lowly web log comes up near the top of the second page. Even better put in "Howard Eskin whore" and it comes up first.

Pretty funny.

ESPN's "experts" slightly favor Eagles

Joe Theismann	Merril Hoge	Sean Salisbury	Mark Schlereth
Redskins	Redskins	Eagles	Eagles
Mike Golic	Eric Allen	Ron Jaworski	C. Mortensen
Eagles	Redskins	Eagles	AWOL

Mortensen must be on one of his drug binges. All week 5 picks here.

NHL waiver draft

The NHL released the protected and available lists for Friday's waiver draft yesterday. The big local news is that the longest Philadelphia tenured athlete Chris Therien was left exposed by the Flyers. Also some Phantom "greats" were also left out there: Kirby Law, Andre Savage, Mike Siklenka, Pete Vandermeer, Peter White, and Neil Little.

Other names of interest on the list include Curtis Joseph, Ted Donato, Steve Shields, Arturs Irbe, Theoren Fleury, Claude Lemieux, Alexandre Daigle, Karl Dykhuis ,Pavel Bure, Mike Richter, Dennis Bonvie, Brian Boucher, Jean-Marc Pelletier, Reid Simpson, Robert Reichel, Darren Langdon.

Same old crap

Here is what has characterized the Flyers in their recent history:

• poor, ineffectual special teams play
• outshooting, outplaying other team, opposing goalie stands on head
• Flyers goalie lets in soft goals

Judging by the preseason nothing much has changed. Tuesday night, in a 4-1 loss to the Islanders, fans watching a practice game booed the team because of their crappy power play. Last night in a 4-4 tie the Flyers outshot the Capitals 41-21 including a 20-9 third period advantage and barely managed a tie. The soft goals have come in just about every game.

Oh yeah, and Bob Clarke is still around.

Eagles favored by 5 to 5.5

10/5 4:15 PM ET BetWWTS Bet365 Intertops Skybook WSEX Washington Philadelphia 39.5 -5.5 39 -5 39.5 -5.5 39 -5.5 39.5 -5.5

•Matchup

Who wins a championship first

1. The Chicago Cubs (1908 last)
2. Any of the Philadelphia sports teams (1983 last)

When? I would say the Over/Under is probably 7.65 years

This is a toss-up, as unfortunate as it is. I would have to say that the Cubs chance is as good as any of the Philadelphia teams' chances.

Will we ever win? Yes, but

Manning Overrated?

Minister Louis Farrakhan appeared this past Sunday as a football analyst on CBS's NFL pregame show. His commentary Sunday involved an attack on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and on "the media" that have overrated him because "the media has been very desirous that a white quarterback do well. There's an interest in white quarterbacks doing well in this age of the increasingly dominant young black quarterback." Manning, Farrakhan said, isn't "as good as everyone says he has been."

Farrakhan then went on to mention that the media, and sports media especially, consists of well to do, fat, old, white men and Stuart Scott - but he doesn't really count. He then pointed out that Manning has had a top flight running back in Edgerrin James and the best receiver in the league in Marvin Harrison to help him out. Yet despite these advantages Manning has choked in every big game and has never won in the playoffs. Boomer Esiason lent support to Farrakhan and said that the Colts should trade for Koy Detmer "because Koy would run the Colts' offense better."

UPDATE: McNabb: Too Late for Limbaugh Apology.
No word from Manning on Farrakhan's comments.