It's going to be a long, long winter

Eagles suck. I didn't watch the game but I could sense how much they sucked all the way from San Antonio, almost worse than the Flyers I hear. Another 0 point first half? Only 75 yards total offense in the first half? And: "if you add McNabb's runs and sacks to the pass-call side of the equation, the Eagles had 42 passing plays and just 15 called runs"?

Seems like another great job by coaching genius Andy Reid and "I'll still throw a pass short of the endzone with 9 seconds left" quarterbacking genius McNabb.

How will they blow it this week?

10/29 1:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Pinnacle	BoDog	WSEX
Jacksonville @ Philadelphia	41.5 -4	43 -6	43 -6	43 -6	OFF -6.5	43 -6

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: If you could, for the rest of this season, would you trade Westbrook for Tiki Barber?

Cleaning house

Clarke is gone and more suprisingly, so is Hitchcock who just got a 2 year extension. Snider didn't actually fire Clarke though, Clarke fired himself. Why? Not because he did a bad job, but because he wasn't doing it and also didn't feel like doing it anymore. So who has been doing Clarke's job? Holmgren, who is now the interim GM. Wow, I'm really positive about things now. Things are really going to change.

John Stevens, former Phantoms coach who took them to an AHL championship, is the new head coach. I liked watching the Phantoms style of play when he was in charge. I think he let them play with more freedom and creativity than Hitchcock did the Flyers. I think they also weren't afraid to make a mistake and suffer the wrath of the coach -- they didn't play tight. But maybe he had to be more forgiving because he had mostly young players learning the game, which is sort of the situation with the Flyers right now. Sort of.

Who knows how this will work out but I'd just like to see the Flyers get respectable again. Yea! We're respectable!

Check that ball for helium!

Oh well, the Eagles didn't deserve to win this game so it's fitting that they lost on a miracle field goal. McNabb almost won this game but he did better at losing it. Although he had lots of help. Every pick McNabb threw was a terrible pass, especially the 2 to Eagles killer Barber. But throwing it to LJ Smith at the end of the first half, repeating an idiocy he committed with the same exact player last year, really takes the cake. How stupid can you be? And now that's TWICE! Pathetic. McNabb isn't to blame though for all the drops - Westbrook 2, Brown 1, Schobel the bobble, 1. But what about ZERO points in the first half?

Of course the defense played its part as well. I guess they missed giving up the opening game drive for points that they did it to start the second half. And they came up small lots of other times in crucial situations. They didn't really play bad, but no one made a play at all. This week's moron is McDougal, taking the baton from Omar Gaither and Trent Cole, 2 other braindead goats of past losses.

Other notes: Westbrook was mostly great and finally looked healthy. Williams is pretty damn good too. Terrible punting once again. Terrible kick off coverage when it really mattered. Reid is now 1-4 vs Gruden. What was up with the end of the game drive that was rescued by Westbrook? It took them 48 seconds to get 10 yards and they were just walking up to the line. The Eagles season highpoint was the Dallass win. It's all downhill from there.

Mid-Game Rants

After watching that first half, I figured some folks might want to rant mid-game, so here you go. (Besides, Tom/Lurker wasn't around by phone to gripe, so this is therapeutic, kinda, sort, not really.)

I know it is painfully obvious to every fan in the world what the options were on that last play of the first half. I also realize that Reid HAD to have told McNabb what his two options were. While I was fearing an Oline penalty and a ten second run off, the unthinkable happened, our QB throws it to a well-covered TE two yards short of the end zone. Wonderful. Unfathomable, unless of course, you know how terrible this team has in recent history been at the 1 or 2 minute drill. Geez, I thought they were gonna rid the ghosts. (It even looked like DMac was getting sick three plays before that.)

Special teams are a complete mess. The punt return team should be revamped completely. Penalties on both of the first two returns. The second punt return that was fair caught by Wynn, plenty of running room.

Good thing we have a nice pass rushing defense against these stiff quarterbacks... that and a great schedule so far of quarterback stiffs.

Gaither, thanks for yet another screw up on third and long (3rd & 7), giving TBY their 3rd & 2, which allowed for an easy first down conversion.

Is DMac haunted by TBY? That second INT was horrid (I'll credit a good read on the first one). These Birds have never protected the ball less, well, except, maybe, for that um, Superbowl thing (we still have a half left, though).

The MLew/Considine platooning doesn't look like a mistake, although Considine did allow two third down conversion passes. I guess that's better than a TD or two. He also fired through a hole to catch a runner trying to reverse the play.

Terribly frustrating, but hoping for that last drive to spark some confidence moving into the second half.

We're #30!

The Flyers sunk to worst in the NHL by losing to the Panthers in Florida for the first time in 6 years or something. The Flyers actually had some effort this game but still came up short. Came up short to a team almost as bad as them. Yea! I think you can put most of the blame on this loss on Niittymaki. All 3 Florida goals could and probably should have been saved, especially the 2nd one which came just 34 seconds after the Flyers actually took a lead.

When are the Flyers going to waive Mr. -10, Derian Hatcher? And Knuble, wake the f up.

Another sad loss

Well the Flyers looked sorta good for a little bit. Then they got behind the eight ball, had a little bit of pressure on them, and folded. Typical Philadelphia Flyers hockey game.

No one on this team can finish except Eager, who finished Janik with a blow to the jaw and sent him down in a heap. Of course Eager was given a 10 minute misconduct and didn't see the ice again. Kapanen got a goal but should have gotten a penalty according to how the rules are called these days, but didn't. I guess McCreary was taking pity on the Flyers. Hatcher was horrible, Knuble was horrible, Gagne was horrible, Pitkanen was horrible and Rathje was bad. Nothing changed from the Sabres game except the competition got worse.

But at least Ed Snider is pissed and knows there's a problem but of course can't figure it out. Here's a hint Ed, the initials are B and C.

Clarke added a group of smaller, quicker forwards who he believed could add offensive depth to his goal-challenged forward lines.

It hasn't worked.

Two of those signed, Marty Murray and Matt Cullen, were cut from camp, and Randy Robitaille is hanging on by a thread. Geoff Sanderson is the only one who has had any impact despite the preseason glamour Kyle Calder brought to a line with Richards and Carter.

Clarke thought he was making his team faster; what he made it was softer.

Yes, softer. Little and quick, even in a league with a renewed value on speed, means a team that can get pushed off the puck and plays like it is afraid to get to the net at one end or defend at the other.

At least the Phantoms call-ups played decently so maybe there is a glimmer. But now I'm stuck watching Nedved when I go to their games.

Aaaargh, birds better win this one

10/22 1:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Pinnacle	BoDog	WSEX
Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay	44 5	43 5	43 5	43 5	43 5.5	43 5

Matchup

I want hockey back

I realize this complaint would carry alot more weight if it was the Flyers blowing out a team instead of the other way around, but I don't care. What the NHL calls hockey these days is not the hockey I grew up with and loved to watch. It's a timid game now, without personality. It's a boring special teams game, constant whistles followed by slow skates to the box and powerplay after powerplay. Strength is not rewarded and hard work on the boards is pretty much gone. Working through checks is gone and fighting for position in front of the net is gone because it's been legislated out of the game. No more rugby scrums has Gene Hart rolling over in his grave. There is no intimidation factor and teams like the Flyers are playing scared of taking penalties while teams like the Sabres can just skate around them in circles without fear or any impediment whatsoever. It's even a damn penalty if you hook a guys stick or chop it out of his hands. Ridiculous.

Instead of a No Hooking League the NHL has created a No Hitting League and a No Heart League. The game that now exists on NHL ice is the end result of the "let's eliminate fighting mentality." The same weaselly mentality that doesn't have the balls to actually come out and call for an outright ban. I've mostly been bored watching the Flyers games this year and I suspect many other Flyers fans and fans of "old time hockey" feel the same way.

As the Flyers continue in what looks to be a season mired in mediocrity and the version of hockey Flyers fans love is no longer being played, look for more and more empty seats and even some defections from the Flyers cult. So far the two Phantoms games I've attended have been much more exciting than the Flyers. The refs didn't call every minor thing and even let some stuff go in the last minutes of the game just like the good ol' days of the NHL. There have even been several good fights and players with flair and character. And Berube is the Phantoms coach.

Anyway, the Flyers lost 9-1 in a pathetic effort (although the Sabres were outshot) and at least Carter finally scored. This game was great for Sabres fans I suppose, but it's boring hockey to me.

And then they went crawling out...

One positive: MLewis may finally get pulled from the starting lineup. Hasn't he given up a coverage touchdown in 4 or 5 of the six games? Outside of filling in if Trot ever goes down, I hope he rides the bench.

A personal negative: I waited too long to sell my jersey on ebay, and now it's worth about as much as TO's. Maybe I've got a bit more pride in having avoided the "homer loserness" of picking a TO jersey up, but Lurk at least got 3 nice Stone beers for his TO jersey. I probably couldn't even swing a Budweiser for that thing.

Game notables: The refs were horrible (both ways), the Aikman/Stockton coverage was better than w/ Buck, imo, the Fox coverage is horrible (replays late or no where to be found), AR running on 3-4?, Baskett is far better than McMullen but he's got a ways to go for studness, and what has Harbough been doing these last two seasons with special teams (the punt coverage is the only decent ST we have now), Reggie Brown had a nice game, ex-division coaches can all outcoach Andy, and I'm sick of hearing people call this a let down game when the Saints were 4-1 (not 1-4).

The Eagles go marching in

10/15 1:00 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Pinnacle	BoDog	WSEX
Philadelphia @ New Orleans	44 2.5	46 3	46 3	46 3.5	46 3.5	46 3.5

Matchup

Anyone notice the Flyers have started?

There was a Philadelphia hate cheesesteak made in the last 4 days. The meat of course was Dallass with the Rangers making up the 2 halves of the Amoroso roll. (TO was the cheese.) On Saturday night vs. the Rangers the Flyers deserved to win but ended up losing in a record long OT shootout. The shootout started to get boring real quick by the way. During regulation strong doses of luck enabled the Rangers to score 4 goals - one goal courtesy of a weird carom off the boards on a dump in and another nicked off a Flyers glove in front on a shot that was going way wide.

Tonight the Rangers lacked lucky bounces and lost 4-2, like they should have lost on Saturday. The Rangers also lacked effort. In the third period down by 2 goals they let the Flyers skate out of the zone with relative ease and they barely fought for the puck on the boards. The Rangers are picked by many to get to the Finals, but from watching the last 2 games they are a soft team. I guess that style of play filters down to the team from their new captain, one of the softest players in the NHL. Jagr didn't do much in either game and he doesn't even have Therienable to fear any more. The next time he checks someone will be his first time.

Flyers that were unexpectedly impressive in the 2 games were Sanderson, Nedved, Gauthier, and Hatcher. Yeah, that's right, Nedved. I don't believe it either. He even crushed someone tonight with the best hit of the game. Flyers that were expectedly impressive were Forsberg, Gagne, Richards, and Niittymaki. Flyers that need to get better are Meyer and Pitkanen. Even though Pitkanen had 3 assists on Saturday his defensive play was pretty bad and to me it looks like he is playing that hesitant, sheepish style again. Esche sucked and he didn't even play. Everyone else was "eh".

It's really hard to predict what the Flyers will do this year. There's a bunch of new, unknown players, a bunch of players like Richards, Umberger, and Carter that you hope will progress as much as they did last year, there's players like Hatcher that you don't know whether or not he will make the promised adjustments that need to be made, and then there's key players like Forsberg and Niittymaki that need to stay healthy for the majority of the season. I don't have Stanley Cup hopes like I did last year but the Flyers should be in the upper tier of the conference. And then again everyone figures the year that a Philadelphia team finally wins a championship will be a year that no one expects them to, so why not this one?

What a game

DALLASS SUCKS! Ok, now that that's out of the way, how often does it happen that a game lives up to its hype? Back and forth momentum swings, crucial turnovers, big plays, trick plays, a 4th and 18 conversion that ends up first and goal to go, and then a 102 yard interception return for a TD to seal the victory. And how about that interception return? Just when it looked like the Eagles were going to blow the game and Cowboy hopes were highest, the defense stabs Dallass in the heart. Ughhhh. Eat it Dallass. And then there was the TO sideshow that also went the Eagles way. He did next to nothing, dropped a catch when he heard Michael Lewis coming, watched 2 picks happen in his face, screamed at the coaches, screamed at his teammates, and went out a bigger loser than when he came in. And on top of all that it was a perfect Fall day. Football doesn't get any better and a victory can't get any more satisfying.

Even though the offense made lots of big plays in the game it was the defense that won it. They did exactly what everyone said had to be done - pressure Bledsoe into screwing up, and he more than complied. Dallass's great receiving core of Glenn, Owens, and Whitten really didn't do much. They never got a big play except for the bomb and interference call on 4th and 18. Glenn was largely a non-factor and TO was nearly invisible. Maybe that's why Fox felt it was necessary to have a big arrow graphic pointing to him before every snap. He was so lame Hanson was covering him 1 on 1 at times. The defense was getting gashed for big runs early in the first half but shut that down as the game progressed and even came up with several big stops on third and short. Dallass finished with 24 points but the defense only gave up 17 and alot of those points came when the special teams, which were pretty bad today, gave Dallass good field position. The defense even took over the game in the second half when the offense was sputtering and going 3 and out and taking no time off the clock to allow the defense to rest a little. Troy Aikman was correct in saying the MVP of the game was Jim Johnson with a variety of wacky blitzes with some that had the defensive ends dropping into coverage. He totally screwed up a very susceptible Bledsoe.

The longterm effect of the this game could be great. The Eagles finally beat a good team and can use this to propel themselves forward. Meanwhile, watching Bledsoe completely suck and lose the game pretty much all by himself and watching TO's reactions on the sidelines sets the stage for Dallass to implode. Let's hope it happens.

Other notes: DeMarcus Ware is good. Who else thought Bledsoe's fumble in the first quarter was going to get booted out of bounds instead of recovered by Trent Cole? How good was Trent Cole today? How good was Howard? Barber? Walker? Which was worse, Sheldon Brown's tackling or LJ Smith's? Or #25's on the Cowboys? Dirk Johnson was terrible today and so was the kick-off and punt coverage for the most part. On third and inches why was the call a 10 yard pass that was dropped by LJ Smith? What's up with Westbrook's drops? Nice shot of those 2 loser cowboys fans with stars painted on their faces looking like sad clowns. Who also hates that VW commercial with Slash by now? Dawkins interception was one of the best catches I've seen. Lito's first interception attempt was one of the worst. He also almost dropped the first one he did catch. And on his interception return he better not start celebrating too early again. GREAT game, GREAT win.

T.O.D-Day

10/08 4:15 PM ET	Opening	BetWWTS	Sportsbook	Pinnacle	BoDog	WSEX
Dallass @ Philadelphia	43 -2	44 -2	44 -2	43.5 -1	44 -2.5	44 -2

Matchup

Mr. Favre, Will You Please Go Now

Yeah, like the childhood book, you don't care how he goes just as long as he goes. In fact, you're hoping he takes those sorry commentators with him.

Well, the Birds did what they were supposed to in yet the 3rd matchup against these collegiate level opponents they've had. If you've got Donnnie Mac on your fantasy roster, you were probably more thrilled about that than any single moment of the game. I was never stressed or significantly irritated (even Bucky's fumbles only caused BDB to turn to his buddies and exclaim, "that stoopid guy from Nebraska"). I waited patiently for them to take the game over.

Some props to Reid for trying to establish a run game, it's clear this team needs to continue practicing that. Glad to see McNabb use the run when appropriate. Michael Lewis seemed to pick his game up, as did the Bow Tie Guy (if only he didn't strum that stoopid air guitar all the time). Why did Reid bail on Akers' FG attempt at the end of the half? I mean, despite BDB predicting on the previous kickoff that David A was gonna have a chance at a 53 yard FG and miss (seriously, I was off by only a yard and the end result was the same as a miss), wasn't a FG attempt a far better option than going for a 37 yard touchdown play with no time on the clock?

Next week is the real game. Start the hatin' now. After last night's Brett Favre slobbering from the media, I'm looking forward to hearing all the TO chatter start back up, and I was sick of that before the weekend.