What happened?

In case you hadn't noticed, the Flyers were caught in the standings by the Devils last night, who, right on cue, are playing really good going into the playoffs. The Flyers of course are not. Also right on cue. Flyers have a game in hand but they play Montreal, Ottawa, and the Islanders. Devils play Boston twice.

Get back to milking cows, farmboys

In case everyone missed it, and I don't see how you could, Rutgers advanced to the NIT finals last night beating Iowa State in OT, 84-81. Quincy Douby (pronounced doobie) was the star of the game, scoring 35 including the last 3 points of the game. Douby is good. Rutgers will be playing Michigan in the final Thursday night in the original college basketball tournament. Check the NIT's history here.

Eagle have 10 picks in draft

Teams were awarded their compensatory picks today and the Eagles got 4 extras for losing Shawn Barber, Doug Brzezinski, Hugh Douglas, Barry Gardner, Sean Landeta, Dorsey Levens, and Brian Mitchell during the 2003 free agency period. You can look at it 2 ways: they can blow even more picks than usual or, they can now afford to screw up a couple times and still do alright.

1st round: 1 (own choice)
2nd round: 1 (own choice)
3rd round: 1 (own choice)
4th round: 2 (two compensatory picks, own choice traded to Atlanta for Mark Simoneau)
5th round: 0 (own choice traded to Baltimore for Terrell Owens)
6th round: 2 (own choice plus one acquired from Green Bay in 2003 trade)
7th round: 3 (own choice plus two compensatory picks)

UPDATE: Add a fifth round pick for 2005 for trading Thrash back from whence he came.

Dang Cowboys!

From Dallas, through McNeese, and all the way back to Oklahoma, all TRUE Philly fans continue to despise the Cowboys! The Hawk died tonite with shots all over everywhere looking like garbage. But, it was a nice run along the way. Hats off to Martelli, Nelson, et. al.

Roenick is Back

Tonight the Flyers will face off against the Islanders it what could very well be a preview of the first round of the playoffs. Provided that the Flyers finish first and the Islanders finish last. But the big news is the All-Star center Jeremy Roenick will be back in the line after recovering from the shattered jaw and concussion. Eric Desjardin and Keith Primeau will remain sidelined but should be back soon. Flyers.com.

St. Joe's Terrific Season Will End Tonight

I thought I'd post a little flamebait today. Tonight Phil Martelli and the St. Joe's teams will meet the demon Deacons of Wake Forest in a chance to move on to the elite eight. Now I know that this website is for Philly teams and St. Joe's are the local boys, but this is an ACC team there going up against. Everyone is hyping up the Jameer Nelson vs Chris Paul matchup but I think the real question is how well the Deacons can play defense. So what do the stars have to say about each other:

"He's talented. A lot of freshmen get nervous out there. He doesn't. ... It's not about me. But I know I can hold my own." Jameer Nelson on Chris Paul.

"I can't wait He's a great player and coach (Skip Prosser) always said to be the best you've got to go against the best." Chris Paul, Wake Forest freshman point guard on Jameer Nelson

My southern heritage may force me to cheer for the Deacons but I won't count St. Joe's out, after all that school is run by a bunch of catholic priests and they know a thing or two about ballhandling!

More coverage: ESPN SI FOXSports

Bobby Taylor to Seattle

At least it wasn't Dallass. Taylor rejoins the guy who drafted him, Ray Rhodes.

The Seahawks gave Taylor a four-year deal worth $11.3 million that included a $3 million signing bonus and a series of incentives, including $1 million if he leads the team in interceptions in any of his four seasons.

An Eagles source said that Taylor actually turned down a six-year deal that would have been worth $3 million to $4 million more in the first four years.
(...)
"We gave him a deal worth six years for $24 million," the source said. "The first four years are for over $14 million. [Seattle] gave him a deal for four years and $11.3 million. We gave a little less money up front. He would have made $2.2 million the first year.

"They solicited us and said they'd love us to get involved. Now, he's acting like we gave him some insulting offer. He told us he's going to play three or four more years. If that's the case, then he walked away from three or four million dollars. It's in writing, it's on paper, it's undeniable. We offered moderately less the first year and significantly more after that."

It looks like the Eagles actually tried to keep Taylor. If what the source says is true, Taylor is a dumbass.

I would have liked Taylor to stay. Unlike Vincent, Taylor wasn't losing a step and was still tall. Something Lito Sheppard is not and will never be. Sheppard can be like white on rice all he wants but he's not going to outleap anyone and neither is Sheldon Brown for that matter. The Eagles new corners better pray there's a pass rush this year or they'll be the "toast" of the town. Har, har.

In other news, Brandon Whiting might be coming back to the Eagles because his shoulder is messed up. If he does, the 49ers will get a third round pick in 2005.

Sean Burke Gets a Win

Despite having Sean Burke in net the Flyers still managed to beat the post fire sale depleted Carolina Hurricanes. The final score was 4-2, due to goals from Ragnarsson, Gange, Radivojevic, and Sharp. The boys traded goals with the canes early on but started to pull away in the third. Here is what the 'Canes had to say about that on their website:

Philadelphia was the wrong team to allow to take a lead into the third. The Flyers have a recorded at least a point in 80 straight games when leading after two periods -- the longest such streak in the NHL -- improving to 70-0-8-2 in such situations.

Not bad. But don't feel too bad for the Ol' 'Canes with young guys like Eric Staal and now thanks to the Flyers Justin Williams the future does look bright for the Hockey team from NASCAR Country.

Unfortunately Tampa Bay won last night too. Keeping them one point ahead of the Flyers and tied with Detroit for first over all. With only five games remaining the standings remain very tight. Flyers' Recap

Sixers resemble pro team

Tam and I got to take in the Sixers game last night in person thanks to the generosity of OB and the unfortunate timing of an operation. The crowd was not really into the game like it has been in the past when I've gone. They were resigned ahead of time to a loss, then when the Sixers started pulling ahead I felt people could sense a coming collapse. But it never came.

The AI-less Sixers moved the ball, rebounded well, made foul shots, made an unbelievable 11 of 18 threes, shot great with good shot choices, and played pretty good defense. The Sixers effort was helped by the Mavericks strategy of stand around and watch defense and miss lots of shots (except for Dirk Nowitzki) and get no rebounds offense. Also Don Nelson was ejected early in the second arguing a foul that was pretty inconsequential. Maybe it was an attempt to get his sluggish team going. It didn't work. And dare I say it, except for one call on a Willie Green block - he had a great game - the refs called this one in the Sixers favor. At one point in the 4th they treated Kenny Thomas like he was Shaq. In one sequence he travelled twice and knocked 2 Mavericks around and there were no calls. Sixers got to 100 points with over 5 minutes left in the game and then cruised the rest of the way to a relatively easy victory.

Defenseman Stephen Wood Signed to Contract

The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that they have signed 6'3", 210-pound defenseman Stephen Wood to an entry-level contract, according to club Assistant General Manager Paul Holmgren.

"Wood is an offensive-minded defenseman," said Holmgren. "He's a big kid who we think is a good prospect and someone that we wanted to get in the organization. He's going to come in for the rest of the year and be with the Phantoms. The contract doesn't start until next year, but he's going to come in as a tryout right now and be around the team. He may get in some games here down the stretch for the Phantoms. Next year, he'll come to training camp with the big team."

** Note: He is not Stephen Wood of Wilmo, DE who has not touched a hockey stick in 3 years.

The Bull Brings It Down!

Yes, Mr. Greg Luzinski (with his Vet record 10 upper deck home runs) teamed up with the Phanatic to bring down the classic hole of a Stadium this morning. BDB's favorite play of the Vet (Montgomery's TD run vs. Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game) is now hidden in all the flattened rubble and dust - kinda like Michael Irvin flat out on the turf in 1999. It's all the same, though, as 2003's debacle against Tampa Bay (and many other negative moments) are also just as hidden.

Toronto Holds off The Flyers

I told you Brian Leetch would be a big pick up for Toronto, and then they went out a nabbed Ron Francis from the 'Canes. Toronto is a better team now than the one the Flyers faced in that first round war last year. Toronto managed to get a 3-0 lead early in the game. With a nice short-handed goal from Mat Sundin and a pair of goals from Leetch. The game seemed like it was completely over with five minutes left when the Flyers decided to pull the goalie on a power play to give themselves a 6-4 advantage, they managed to score a goal and spark the team but it turned out to be too little too late and Toronto held on for the 3-2 win. Also to make matters worse Malakov is out indefinitely with a fractured jaw. He blocked a shot with his stick and the puck rode up his stick and caught him in the face.

Keep your fingers crossed that the Flyers end up in first place and hopefully play the Isles first round. If not the Isles hope for the Devils but we don't want to see Toronto round one again.

The best part of this game actually came during the intermission between the first and second periods. When Barry "The Mullet" Melrose decided to give us his run down of the top five goalies going into the playoffs. Coming in at # 5 was Sean Burke! SEAN BURKE!?!? WHAT!?!?! And then he followed that up with saying Robert Esche MIGHT see some playing time during the playoffs. OK Barry, thanks for your insight. But I'll take my info from the NHL who named Robert Esche player of the week last week, or maybe I could look over at the The Hockey News Goalie Ranking which has Esche as # 6 in the league and Sean Burke at a lovely # 24. Or maybe I'll listen to our coach Ken Hitchcock who said Robert Esche is definitely the Flyers starting goalie. After all Barry if you really knew what you were talking about you'd still be coaching for the Kings. Maybe you should forget about coaching and hold out for a GM position. Then you and Bobby Clark could work out a deal and send us a franchise player for this superstar goalie you got your eye on.

Flyers' Recap

Earliest prediction ever

Eagles 2004 schedule:
Home
Dallass - W
Giants - W
Washington - W
Green Bay - W
Minnesota - W
Baltimore - W
Cincinnati - W
Carolina - W

Away
Dallass - W
Giants - W
Washington - W
Chicago - W
Detroit - W
Cleveland - W
Pittsburgh - W
St. Louis - W

And the Flyers will win vs. Toronto tonight too.

It's Offical T.O. is coming to Philly

The Eagles will ship defensive tackle Brandon Whiting to the 49ers, and will deal what is believed to be a fifth-round pick to the Ravens, who had traded for Owens last Thursday. Newsday.com article.

Ron adds:
Wow. I don't know if I can handle the Eagles getting Terrell Owens. A receiver that can catch, can run, and can catch and can run? Who knew they even existed.

I guess desperation makes you do things out of character. Let's hope this outcome in Philadelphia's favor has better results than the Lindros ruling.

Lost in the Owens hoopla, in case you missed it, Troy Vincent signed with the Bills. Vincent will be missed.

NCAA tournament

You've probably filled out 20 brackets already so what's one more? I set up "team" willweeverwin over at Yahoo! so we can all see how bad we all are at picking this thing.

First go to the front page. If you have a Yahoo ID already it'll be easy to join, if not follow the instructions and get one. After completing registration click the "Create or Join Group" button then choose "Join an existing group" then choose "Join a private group" to join "willweeverwin". Then, when prompted, enter the following information:

Group ID#: 52315
Pass: probablynot

The willweeverwin winner gets accolades but not much else. Don't know if Yahoo is giving anything away. Download a "customized" willweeverwin pdf of the bracket here.

Iverson Gone in the Offseason

There's a coalescing of opinion by Sixers management and the local Philly media that Iverson will be traded in the offseason. He will be missed but to right this franchise I think now is the time to make a deal. But they have to get a franchise player or 2 back.

Owens saga will drag out even longer

The hearing has now been rescheduled for the Ides of March but it doesn't say why in the article. The whole case is kind of funny when you think about it. The players union was responsible for sending Owens and his agent the info about the new free agent filing deadline which they might not have done, who knows, and now they're the ones filing to get Owens back his free agent status. Call me crazy but I predict Owens loses his case.

So when they officially lose out on Owens the Eagles and their great history of pickin' 'em can still rely on the draft to pay dividends. Because the Eagles lost free agents like Hugh Douglas, Shawn Barber and Brian Mitchell last year, the team will receive compensatory picks for April's draft. Those picks will be announced just prior to April 24. The next Jerry Rice is just lurking at the 967th spot in the draft, I can feel it!

Ban Fighting?

Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Steve Moore has heated up the debate over violence in Hockey. Some people are calling for a ban on fighting but hockey's top disciplinarian, Colin Campbell isn't hearing it.

"Fighting in the game of hockey has been there. And maybe, at some point in time, it will be banned," ... "But right now, it's part of the game and accepted to the point where it's penalized. ... This isn't the place to debate that."

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin...

"I think that Canadians feel that there is a problem with hockey, there's a problem with violence in sports and that it should be dealt with," ... "I'd certainly say (to professional hockey), 'Clean up your act.'"

The Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based national newspaper...

"It's time to ban fighting in the NHL,"

The Toronto Star...

"Does someone have to die?"

ChillyV...

"How come their all Canadians? Shut up stupid Canadians, hockey is fine the way it is. Stop trying to mess up our sport, that's right I said our sport, or we'll be forced to label you a rogue nation and send in our tanks."

Fauxnews article.

Vet implosion

The Vet is set to be imploded Sunday, March 21st at 7 AM. I was planning on attending but after thinking about it I don't think it's going to be as great as I imagine. In addition, they're saying to watch it on TV. I guess it's only fitting since I only watched 4 total sporting events in the Vet because I hated the place and their powertripping security losers.

Oh My Hockey!

Geez, just now seeing two remarkable hockey things: The Flyers beat the Devils again. And, Bertuzzi, geez. Did Bertuzzi hear my cry that hockey was too boring? If so, that's not exactly what I was thinking. I hope he gets thrown in jail for that garbage.

Fly, Eagles, Fly!

Man, BDB thought that being in Arizona would've left him way behind here on the blog. Nonetheless, he likes what he's seeing in the sports ticker. Dag-gone, these Eagles are gonna look like geniuses before free agency and the draft are over. They basically traded Emmons for DJ (Jones), which is a great thing, given Emmons' injury. And, if TO gets turned into a FA, man... we'll have the receiver problem all taken care of. If the latter doesn't happen, one less receiver is on the market: DJ (who, even though resigned with SEA, I don't think the Eagles ever considered him an attractive option). Too bad Duce ended up in Pittsburgh. I sure hope they have a plan better than Bucky. DT and RB will be the draft priorities this year.

Chris One-Eyed Theirenable Gone, Enter Malakhov!

The New York Rangers fire sale continued Monday with veteran defenceman Vladimir Malakhov being shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers. In exchange, the Rangers received prospect Rick Kozak of the Kamloops Blazers and a second-round draft pick in 2005. The 35-year-old Malakhov has a club option for next season at $4.25 million US which the Flyers probably wouldn't pick up so he's a rental player for the playoffs.

To make room for Malakhov on the 23-man roster, GM Bob Clarke then shipped veteran defenceman Chris Therien to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a third-round pick in this June's NHL entry draft and an eighth-round pick in 2005. TSN Coverage.

Big Dadddy Respectfully Applauds The Bullies

Earlier in the week, BDB challenged Boo to a night out watching the Flyers-Senators rematch last night. Thinking this Flyers team would not pick up the slack and return some punishment for Havlat's cheap shot swing at Mark Recchi, BDB wrote:

Ok, Boo... if anyone on the Flyers has large enough testicles to go after Havlat... and make something of it, then I will recant some of my boredom hockey comments. However, chances are nothing significant will happen, and my stance will remain constant.

BDB actually watched about 30-40% of the game and enjoyed the ending. I didn't get the feeling Havlat truly paid for what he did; but, certainly the Flyers made a statement and set the NHL record for penalty minutes in a single game. Adding that to a 5-3 whooping of the Senators was all I needed to retract my statement above and boost my opinion of today's NHL hockey (to a tad less boring).

TO was Robbed

TO thought he had a deal with the Birds. The Birds thought they had a deal with TO. San Fran sent him to Baldy More instead. Like all of you, I was looking forward to cheering for that Michael Irvin wannabe. ESPN Report.

Eagles rumors

Eagles will trade for Owens today for a draft pick.
Troy Vincent will sign with Buffalo.
Carlos Emmons to Pittsburgh or Giants?
Duce to Tampa?
Taylor to anywhere but here, maybe even Dallass?
Fred Thomas to Eagles?

And Buckhalter is pissed at the Eagles because they only offered the minimum one-year tender of $628,000 instead of the middle tender of $1.368 million.

"You always expect the least from them," Buckhalter said in a phone conversation yesterday afternoon. "Why should I be any different than all of our other guys? They didn't even make (linebacker) Carlos (Emmons) an offer."

I agree with Eagles' low offer but as we know the sentiment expressed is not going to motivate players to do well here. Why should they if they're not going to be rewarded? As Peter Gibbons said, "Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired."

Leetch a Leaf

Brian Leetch will now have the opportunity to kill the Flyers in the playoffs this year like he used to do. Toronto got him for Maxim Kondratiev, forward Jarkko Immonen, a first-round pick in this year's draft and a second-round choice in the 2005 second-round selection.

He would have been nice but I don't think the Flyers really needed him. But I guess we'll really find out once the playoffs start.

Want to get Freaky?

My sources at ESPN Radio are reporting that the Iggles have signed the Freak, Javon Kearse, for $66 million. A big move, kind of like Andy Reid's waist line. Looks like they are going to draft a WR from the rich draft pool this year and let both Taylor and Vincent walk.

Are the Flyers Bidding on Leetch

Hockey Trade rumors is reporting that the Flyers are engaged in a bidding war for Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch. Is this because of the recent injury (shoulder) to Marcus Ragnarson or is Bobby trying to tighten up defense for the playoffs? It is on HTR so take it with a grain of salt, but the article does quote Keith Jones and Al Morganti as sources. I'll believe it when I see it.

Hey, it's 70 degrees out

Philadelphia is getting all hot and bothered by the Phillies this year and apparently so is the national media. Sports Illustrated apparently has them third in their power rankings (although I can't find it online) and today featured them in a "postcard from camp". The writer even gushes over Pat Burrell.

Roberto Hernandez was throwing lights-out batting practice Sunday, with so much pop on his fastball and so much break on his slider that neither Ricky Ledee nor A.J. Hinch hit a fair ball. Then Burrell stepped in with instructions to do some situational hitting. As manager Larry Bowa yelled, "Runner on third, no outs," Burrell scorched a line drive to left for a money, albeit virtual, RBI.

McCareins not McComing to Iggles

Via Philly.com - The Eagles' possible pursuit of restricted free-agent-to-be Justin McCareins hit a substantial roadblock when the Tennessee Titans tendered the wide receiver at the level that would require a first-round draft choice as compensation, should another team sign him.

I would have liked to have seen McCareins join the Iggles...With McNabb, McDougle, McMullens...that would be awesome. Back to the Pinky, Sultan of Slot and Trash show next year.