Dallass sucks

11/04 8:15 PM ET	Opening	BetED	Sportsbook	WSEX	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Dallass @ Philadelphia	46.5 3	46.5 3	46.5 3	46.5 3	46.5 3	46 3

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: Which do you hate more, the Dallass team or the not from Dallass, cockroach fans/frauds?

3-4! yea!

My plans were changed by the weather so I went to Hawk Mountain today and the only eagle I saw was a golden one. But in my viewing absence the Philadelphia Eagles mananged to score 2 whole touchdowns in the red zone. But then again they probably should have scored more. But what's an Eagles game these days where it isn't a complete struggle? The defense also had good day shutting down Adrian Peterson, but what else do the Vikings have to shut down? Also big in the game was 2 60+ yard punts from Rocca when they were most needed. Glad to see by the 7th game of the year he decided to start playing, but then maybe it was because the game was indoors.

So the Eagles appear slightly improved and played a higher quality game and pulled off some big plays. Apparently that's all it takes to have WIP callers begin deluding themselves to think the Eagles will beat Dallass.

Dallass sucks.

So they might beat the Vikings. Who cares.

10/28 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Sportsbook	WSEX	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ Minnesota	39.5 0	37.5 1	37.5 1	37.5 1	37.5 0	37.5 1

Matchup

Bonus Question: Why have the Eagles been favored every single game this season?

And you know what's funny? The Vikings have a terrible QB and a great rookie running back, Adrian Peterson. So what did Reid disciple Brad Childress do vs. Dallass? Peterson ran four times for 27 yards on the opening series, including a 20-yard touchdown, but got only eight more carries the rest of the game. Brilliant.

R.I.P 2007 Eagles

I gave up on this team after the miserable loss to the Giants. After today I'm pretty sure everyone else has. Who let's the bad offense Bears go 97 yards in 2 minutes with ZERO time outs? Anyway...

While the defense is good/adequate there's really no one out there that makes game changing plays. There's no one on offense but Westbrook that can change a game either. The good/adequate player is the type of player Eagles management loves to stock their team with. And that's why the Eagles are a bunch of loser has-beens.

Eagles should have EASILY won this game but because they suck, they didn't. The offense can't overcome 1 lousy mistake. Again, 1 drop, 1 slip, 1 bad pass, 1 penalty, and the drive is over. Balldinger said lots of stupid things as usual today, but the one thing he said that was dead on is, "What the Bears are banking on is the Eagles can't execute 10-12 plays."

Other notes:

• Fox coverage sucks. How about more replays and less dancing robots.
• 2 terrible ref calls - holding on Will James and offensive pass interference on Bears TE Greg Olsen.
• Stop throwing the ball to Tapeh. Cut him and get a fullback that can catch, can run, and can do something other than block.
• I learned a new NFL rule today. Of course the result was a call going against the Eagles.
• Why do the Bears want McNabb when they have Griese?
• Since Dawkins can no longer play, just make him head cheerleader, "Weapon X".
• Would Dawkins have made a difference on that last drive?
• How about a Hail Mary on the last play idiots?

Let's go Flyers!

81-1

How about those Flyers?!?!?

So the marquee pick up in the offseason was abandoned factory vandal Briere, but the most important "move" in total was all the changes on defense. Getting Jason Smith and Lupul for the horrible, pathetic Pitkanen, OK Sanderson, and a 3rd round pick was robbery. Trading back to Nashville the first round pick that they got in the Forsberg deal for Timonen and Hartnell and then signing them both 2 weeks before anyone else had a shot in free agency was brilliant. Getting young and developing Coburn for a 34 year old Zhitnick was a great move too. And getting Lasse Kukkonen for Phantoms scrub Kyle Calder? Holmgren must have sold his soul. And in addition to the trades, somehow Hatcher is reborn and Randy Jones has become a legitimate NHL defenseman.

The defense has been blocking shots, in the passing lanes, hitting people, clearing the front of the net, clearing rebounds, not giving up many second chances, and getting the puck out of the zone and executing a nice transition in the process. And Jason Smith beats people up.

And if the defense does screw up, Biron, another great acquisition, has been shutting out the opposition. The Flyers had 1 shutout last year, 3-0 vs Chicago, the 2nd worst team in the league last year, with Esche in goal. (Where is Esche, following Kid Rock on tour in the General Lee?) The Flyers just got 2 shut outs in a row against 2 of last season's better teams. Looking at the hated Devils success over the years, this is how they did it - a great goalie and a very, very solid defense and enough skill guys on offense to put in the necessary goals. Biron isn't Brodeur and the Flyers aren't the shutdown, clutch and grab defense of the old Devils, but they probably have more overall offensive skill.

Also helping the Flyers so far this season is things are going their way. Instead of last year where they were waiting for something bad to happen, this year they are patient and waiting for something good to happen. For example they were called for a ton of penalties in the 1st period and only had 2 shots on goal. Didn't matter. No panic and before you knew it, it was 3-0 Flyers. And Jim Dowd even scored a goal. The exact opposite happened last year - everything was a struggle. And speaking of struggling, Gagne and Knuble seem to be doing just that. So this team should actually get better when they get it going. They'll have to to go 81-1.

Eagles favored again

10/21 4:15 PM ET	Opening	BetED	Sportsbook	WSEX	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Chicago @ Philadelphia	41.5 -5.5	41 -5	41 -5	41 -5	41 -5	41 -5

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: Not will Andy Reid step down, but should he now that his other son is in jail? There's no way he can give his full attention to the Eagles even though he may try.

Yawn.

Once again a bad pro football team from Philadelphia played a bad pro football team from NYC at the Meadowlands, but this time the bad team from Philadelphia got the win. And even though the Eagles won, it barely feels like one. They barely beat the lame, lame, lame Jets, or maybe better stated, the Jets sucked more than the Eagles.

Other notes:

• Apparently the punishment for being a crap team like the Eagles and the Jets is to have Tony Siragusa assigned to cover your game. It doesn't seem fair.
• Who else predicted the first Eagles offensive play would be a pass that ended in a sack?
• McNabb seemed slightly better this game making quicker decisions and committing to them once made, but at times it was the same ol' dumb McNabb holding the ball and holding the ball until sacked.
• The offense couldn't overcome any mistake in the red zone. Holding call, Reggie Brown drop, run play for no gain, etc., start warming up shAkers.
• Reggie Brown hasn't played in a game unless he has one drop.
• Best play of the game was Westbrook knocking Vilma on his ass while barely reacting to his tackle attempt.
• Maybe the most important Eagles play was the Reggie Brown first down catch when it was 3rd and 10 from the 10 late in the game.
• The overall most important and STUPIDEST play of the game was the Jets call on 4th and inches from the 3. Nice one Mangenius, did you steal that one from fellow coaching genius Joe Gibbs and the Redskins "Game On the Line Playbook"?
• Best player of the game was Westbrook, of course. But he didn't get in the endzone...
• Is it me or does the Jets cheerleaders look way better than the Eagles cheerleaders?
• Who were the Titans? I don't remember them.

Sorry that this review was as boring as the game.

So they could beat the Jets. Who cares.

10/14 1:00 PM ET	Opening	betED	Sportsbook	WSEX	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ NY Jets	41 3	42 3	42 2.5	42 3	42 2.5	42 2.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: Even if they win, the season is already over, right?

That was quick

Don't worry, the Phillies will be back in 2019 and they'll do better then.

UPDATE:
The Phillies post-season in the form of an x-wing fighter.

Why I don't like baseball

Even though the Phillies are in the playoffs, I don't really care. And that's before they lost 2 straight. I just find the game to be boring and tedious. More on that later. But one of the reasons I turned off baseball when I was growing up can be found in the attitude of the Phillies' "ace", Cole Hamels.

"No," Hamels said yesterday after the team's 10-5 loss to the Rockies in Game 2. "It's too much of a risk. It's something where, I would rather pitch Game 5, because it's something about getting to that next level, that next stage. I don't know if it's selfish. Some people might take it that way, but I think it would be better for me to go on my normal days' rest because of the track record."

There's also his "waaah, my sleeves were long and I was sweaty," excuses from game 1.

Baseball players are lame and this is why. Season on the line and he's going to look out for #1. Compare that to TO playing on his busted leg in the Super Bowl, Willis Reed's torn thigh muscle in game 7 of the NBA Finals, or Dave Poulin playing with cracked ribs and broken feet in the Wales Conference and Stanely Cup Finals. And it's not like Manuel wouldn't be bringing in Mesa in the third inning anyway. So quit yer crying Hamels.

Back to addressing the boring aspects of baseball. Here are some of my suggestions for improvement:

• Shorten game to 7 innings unless tied of course.
• Only allow 3 pitchers per team per game. I despise the constant pitching changes. If the third pitcher gets injured, someone in the field has to pitch like in football when the third QB gets injured and the team has to play shorthanded like in soccer. This is mainly to stop fakery, like in soccer.
• Designated hitter is the rule for all. Why the NL persists in making fans watch a pitcher pathetically try and hit is beyond me. This is also necessary because of my new 3 pitcher rule.
• At bats last 3 outs or 6 runs, whichever comes first. You can score a max of 9 runs an inning, ie, 5 runs home, bases loaded and a guy hits a grand slam.
• Only 2 shout outs to dead or dying fans and their families per game by hometown broadcasters.
• Chris Wheeler banned from broadcasting.

And although this doesn't make the game boring, I really don't understand why umpires are allowed to yell back at players and managers and escalate things. It just seems so childish and bush league. Full Disclosure: I hate refs, umps, officials, etc.

Poor Mr. Met

In honor the Phillies making the playoffs, I moved the Championship Clock ahead a few clicks too.

Let's go Phils!

And the Captain Goes to

Newly acquired defenseman Jason Smith has been named the 16th captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. Gagne and Richards are the alternates.

“Jason (Smith) is a tremendous choice for us moving forward. He plays the game the right way. He is an old pro and I think that in the (locker) room it was a popular choice as well,” says Homer.

I know we're all supposed to be wearing red and putting away the green for next year, but dust off your orange and black because hockey season starts on Thursday!