1 of 4 meaningless week 17 games

1/01 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Washington @ Philadelphia	46.5 -10	45.5 -9.5	45.5 -9.5	45.5 -8	45.5 -8

Matchup

Bonus Question: Which is more meaningless, this game of all the college bowl games?

Dallass sucks

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town

loyal Birds fans watched another Dallass beatdown.

The Cowboys were dressed, but they did not care,

their focus was gone, it just was not there.



Though Eagles hopes were totally dead,

visions of playoffs were still in their heads.

So with Vick in the pocket, and Reid in his cap,

the Eagles crushed the Cowboys. But it didn't mean crap.



Celek took a screen and ran like a flash,

but the cheers were muted; hopes had been dashed.
Apologists will tout, "Philly played well with their season in tatters!"

But the fans do not care—it's the Super Bowl that matters.




-



In the postgame press conference, Reid went straight to his work,

spinning like a top and playing the fans for jerks.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

He acted like the Eagles didn't fail, and his team didn't blow!



He sat in his seat, and to his 7 and 8 team he gave praise,

I wouldn't be shocked if Laurie gave him a raise.

Then I heard him exclaim, between his coughs and his hacks,

"We're not making the playoffs, but I'll still be back!"

Suckers.

Other notes:

• Jets suck.

Dallass sucks

12/24 4:15 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Dallass	50.5 -3.5	50.5 -1	50.5 -1	50.5 -1	50.5 -2

Matchup

Bonus Question: What is your prediction for the Jets vs. Giants game?

Jets terrible so Eagles still alive

The Eagles took advantage of the Jets Eagle-like self destruction and romped on another Ryan defense and won easily, 45-19. By doing so they are still mathematically alive to make the playoffs. To do that the crappy Jets have to scrape themselves off the mat and beat the crappy Giants next week and then the crappy Giants have to beat the crappy Cowboys the last game of the season. The crappy Eagles have to beat both the crappy Cowboys and the crappy Redskins. It can happen!

Of course they'll probably lose in the first round, and Reid will definitely be back (though I think that was already certain) and Castillo will be too. Next year is the year! Merry Christmas.

Other notes:

• Even though the Eagles are winning, I'm not excited.
• Santonio Holmes is the perfect player for DeSean Jackson to aspire to - bad fumble, bad missed catch, and a stupid TD celebration that earned a 15 yard penalty.
• After watching Celek catch a 10 yard pass and run 73 yards to the 1 maybe the Jets have the worst safeties in the NFL, not the Eagles.
• McCoy continues to be the best Eagle and has the records to show for it.
• None of that cutback and reversal of field stuff McCoy does worked at all vs. the Dolphins. Against the Jets it worked all game.
• Vick had a decent game. He still is stupid and takes dumb hits.
• One hit Vick took that they penalized was a completely ridiculous penalty.
• When the pressure is on Sanchez he just sacks himself without fighting at all. Totally weak.
• If Babin sets the sack record it will be hollow.
• I enjoyed watching the opponent instead of the Eagles commit stupid penalties all game long.
• The announcers were clueless all game and repeatedly called things wrong and of course defended Reid.
• In the little bullet point graphic during the game of why the Eagles were "floundering," I noticed "terrible coaching" and "terrible personnel decisions" were absent.
• Did Buddy leave behind a defensive playbook and the Eagles have it in the vaults?

J-E-T-Z! Jetz! Jezz! jzz. zzzz...

12/18 4:15 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
New York Jets @ Philadelphia	45 -1.5	44 -3	44 -1.5	44 -1.5	44 -3

Matchup

Bonus Question: Which overhyped quarterback will play worse?

Looking good for the playoffs

The Eagles offense only showed up for the second quarter, but in that span they scored all 24 of their points. Fortunately the defense played the entire game. They allowed only 10 points, created the turnovers that gave the offense short fields and got 9 sacks, one of which resulted in a safety. So by winning, the Eagles will still be alive next week when they play the Jets.

Other notes:

• Which was less yards, the offense's second half total or all of DeSean Jackson's punt returns?
• There were some actual good, hard hits by the defense!
• Casey Matthews still sucks, but he made a play (or two) this game.
• Asante's forced fumble and recovery was a pretty good individual play.
• What was up with the defense and all their short yardage stuffs?
• Vick's pick was another terrible decision.
• Eagles punter did a good job today, whatever his name is.
• Fire Reid.

LOLphins (I've been waiting all season to use that)

12/11 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Miami	44 -3	45.5 -3	45.5 -3	45.5 -3	45.5 -3

Matchup

Bonus Question: How long will Vick last?

Radical realignment!

Because Atlanta was a stupid place to put a hockey team they had to move to a less stupid place, aka Winnipeg. Because it's stupid to have a team in Winnipeg be in a division named "Southeast," and Detroit and others have been bitching for years about flying out West to play a bunch of games, the NHL decided to realign the divisions. The result they came up with is the following four new "conferences":

• Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Washington, New Jersey and Carolina
• Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay
• Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg
• Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado

I have no problem with the various switches, but what I dislike is how they decided to change who makes the playoffs.

The top four teams in each Conference will qualify for the playoffs. The first-place team in each conference would play the fourth-place team in the same conference; the second-place team would play the third-place team.

I think this is dumb because you will have crappy, maybe below .500 teams making the playoffs from one conference while other teams in stronger conferences will be golfing. Why not allow the conference winners to have automatic bids and then sort it out by best record and so on from there?

Hip Hop RIP

The Sixers new ownership has made its first big move- firing mascot Hip Hop, the totally jacked sunglasses wearing rabbit who terrified kids and adults for years. The Sixers have contracted with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to create a new mascot for the team. Fans can now vote for the new mascot. The three finalists are Big Ben, a colonial dude, Franklin Dogg, a dog that rocks an American flag top hat like Apollo Creed in Rocky 4, and Phil E. Moose, a moose that wears colonial garb. These designs are the mascot equivalent of drafting Shawn Bradley. Unfortunately my mascot proposal, Crow Chee, a highly excitable Pirate bird that feels great, was rejected.

Hilariously bad

I watched this 31-14 loss to Seattle not in anger, but with bemusement. The Eagles that showed up were the Eagles we expected. They were stupid, soft, lackluster, and bad. It was funny to me watching all the NFL Network "experts" pick the Eagles in the pregame show and then listening to the announcers laughably maintain the premise that the Eagles season wasn't over. These are the same clueless fools that defend Reid, don't think he should be fired and chastise the fans for wanting him gone.

#1 goat of the game was Vince Young who was absolutely atrocious with terrible passes, slowballs and 4 interceptions. His pick six at the end of the game made the 100 or so people still watching the game laugh out loud, including myself. #2 goat is the defensive tackling and inability to play positionally, cover people and do the basic things high school teams can do. #3 goat was the first half game plan that was the usual Reid masterwork - throw the ball and ignore McCoy with the predictable result - behind at the half 17-7.

In the second half the offensive strategy changed, and McCoy got the ball a lot more and the Eagles marched right down the field. But then Young had to throw the ball and Cooper, who really sucks, let a ball bounce off his shiny metal hands for an easy interception to kill the tiny smidgen of momentum that was building in the Eagles favor. Seattle took that turnover, turned it into another touchdown and that was pretty much the game. Sure the Eagles "responded" down 17 with an 80 yard, 17 play drive that ate up 10 minutes to get it to 24-14, but what was the point of that?

Other notes:

• I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm buying a Kia Soul first thing tomorrow - lime green too.
• Players that are still competing - McCoy, Avant, and a few people on defense, but they aren't any good so big deal.
• Player that isn't and hasn't been competing - DeSean Jackson.
• Although Mike Mayock supports Reid, his blunt criticism of the Eagles was amazingly refreshing. He called out Vince Young and DeSean Jackson and the Eagles tackling and defensive mistakes. I'm sure he wanted to say more, but probably felt he was piling on.
• Eagles lead the league in drops.
• Reid's challenge streak came to an end right after they showed he is the most successful at it in the league this year.
• Chaney was the guilty party on that killer holding penalty late in the game.
• Loved the 12 men on the field for the punt return that caused a timeout to be burned.
• Loved not calling a timeout at the end of the first half to save time for when the Eagles were going to get the ball back after the field goal attempt.
• How many passes is Riley Cooper going to not fight for and then fall down on while they get picked. He's terrible.
• There is no such thing as a long yard against the Eagles.
• Fire Reid

ESPN: Claude Giroux is quarter season Hart Trophy winner.

Well at least Pierre LeBrun thinks so. Barry Melrose believes Phil Kessel has been the MVP, and I agree with him. Matt Read picks up an honorable mention for the Calder. All the information is here.

The emergence of Giroux as not only a great offensive player, but as a solid player in his own end, has dulled the loss of Mike Richards. At this moment the Richards deal looks bad, with Schenn either underperforming or injured, and Wayne Simmonds playing like a less effective version of Scott Hartnell. Richards meanwhile has 20 points. The Carter trade appears a lot better for the Flyers. Voracek has not been the bust I thought he would be, though he is not scoring many goals, he is racking up a lot of assists. Carter has been hampered by injury, probably since he spent the off season keeping in shape by hanging out on his deck in Sea Isle City.

And speaking of injuries, my prediction that Jagr would be hurt by Thanksgiving was proven correct.

The performance of the Flyers rookies has been good. Matt Read looks solid, Zack Rinaldo is Dan Carcillo with less dumb penalties, and Sean Couturier plays like an 18 year old kid, but his +8 can't be denied.

Bird turds

12/01 8:20 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Seattle	44.5 2.5	43 3	43 3	43 2	43 3

Matchup

Bonus Question: How low will the ratings be?

Eagles, outclassed and uncompetitive

So another home game, another disaster, another embarrassment and another loss. This time 38-20 to the Patriots. I thought the Eagles would keep it close and then get blown out in the second half. I should have said second quarter. This collection of sad, dumbass clowns "led" by a a clueless, out-of-touch but knows-it-all ringleader and his hapless sidekicks, Marty and Juan, staged another performance of prat falls, boneheaded acts, comedy of errors, slip on a banana peel unfunny crap that resulted in the loudest boos of the season and the first loud and sustained "FIRE ANDY" chants.

The defense, its scheme and its coach was the biggest joke of the day. The worst of the worst aspects of the defensive play is the pylonesque secondary made up of safeties that don't know what they are doing and can't cover, and every would be tackler that gets dragged for a couple yards before actually bringing a runner down. The second biggest joke is the offensive game plan and play calling. We all know what I'm going to say next - run the ball blah blah blah. Use up the clock blah blah blah. Give it to your best player, McCoy blah blah blah. After Young had his early success that's all it took for Reid to throw it over and over and over again for the rest of the game. Young was erratic, and his receivers can't catch - so throw it even more! Third biggest joke is wannabe 10 million dollar man, Alligator-arms Jackson. In the first quarter his turtling resulted in a drop that killed a drive that ended in a field goal. In the second quarter when the game wasn't totally out of hand yet, he was more concerned about not getting hit than catching a touchdown that hit him in the hands. He later failed to catch a punt that rolled for 20 or so yards and a 50 yard bomb for a TD that practically landed in his lap. Fourth biggest joke is the broadcast team of Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf. They were willfully ignorant of things like Jackson's turtling and the loud "FIRE ANDY" chants, and failed to offer any criticism at all and instead repeatedly said things that weren't true. And even after a replay showed they weren't true - like Dierdorf's insistence that #31 on the Patriots got a hand on the bomb Jackson dropped - maintained that their version of reality was still plausible. True pros.

Other notes:

• Eagles didn't convert a third down until the third quarter.
• Vince Young threw for 400 yards on 48 attempts.
• McCoy had a whopping 10 carries.
• I think "REID MUST GO" better lends itself to mass chanting than "FIRE ANDY." Somebody print fliers to hand out for Jets game.
• Jenkins had a decent game.
• Avant came on strong in the 4th quarter!
• Nate Allen was the worst player on the field by far. Good thing the Eagles passed on Earl Thomas and moved up for Brandon Graham instead.
• The Patriots made it look so easy on offense. Or maybe it was the Eagles defense making it look so easy.
• Once again Vegas and the bettors overrated the Eagles by a lot.
• The woman in the Verizon ad "wrapping" the tablets and smart phones is fine.
• Good joke - Will Desean also drop his walking papers?
• It's a cliche, but when you don't play as a team and for the team and instead play as individuals, you will lose. (And you will also look pathetically bad while losing.)
• Fire Reid.

Another day of roasted birds?

11/27 4:15 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
New England @ Philadelphia	50.5 3.5	OFF OFF	50 3.5	50 3	OFF OFF

Matchup

Bonus Question: Which NE tight end will have more receiving yards?

Eagles show up for 4 quarters and win

The Eagles were on their way to their 6th, 4th quarter loss of the year, but somehow Vince Young made plays, Jason Avant made a miracle shoestring catch, Riley Cooper caught a couple important balls including the game winning touchdown, and the defense created a huge turnover via a Babin strip sack to prevent the Giants from retying the game. And that's who should get the most credit in this victory - the defense. For the first time all year they played with hatred and violence and consistent effort. The were punishing any Giant who had the ball and others that didn't, including roughing up Manning after he threw a bad pick early in the game. Giants cried about it, but it was revenge for the same exact thing they did to Vick in the first meeting of the year.

So even though the Eagles season is still over, Beating the Giants 17-10 still feels good. It's always good to see the Manning face one more time and the Coughlin befuddled old man, knuckles on the hips pose.

Other notes:

• DeSean Jackson had his first impactful game of the year. But he's still a stupid idiot that never learns.
• That game winning drive was 18 plays, 80 yards, 9 minutes and had SIX converted third downs.
• Even though Landri recovered Manning's fumble, why didn't he just fall on the ball? He was inviting disaster.
• Vince Young looked dreamy on that last drive, but he did throw 3 picks, though the second was because Harbor was being interfered with.
• I really liked that Cullen Jenkins hit on #28.
• Reid won another challenge!
• Jackson's punt return was very similar to the one that won the game there last year, and right down the same sideline.
• I have to go to sleep, so add your observations in the comments. I missed a ton.

The Eagles are irrelevant

11/20 8:20 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ NY Giants	47 -3	46.5 -5	46.5 -4.5	46.5 -4	47.5 -4.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: How many times will they replay the Jackson punt return from last season?

Sad, pathetic joke

I thought the Eagles would beat the Cardinals solely because the Cardinals would suck more than them. Well the Cardinals did suck, but the Eagles were the team that sucked more, a lot more. If not for the Republican debates, the Eagles would be the saddest clown show on the planet.

But did anyone really care when the Cardinals, led by backup scrub quarterback John Skelton, inevitably took the ball right down the field for the go ahead touchdown with a minute or so to go? Did anyone get angry when LeSean McCoy committed the Eagles 11th penalty to take away a first down and put the Eagles in a third and 20 upon which Vick then heaved up a stupid bomb to the rock handed, stupid and abysmally slow Steve Smith that was then picked to seal the defeat? Was anybody frustrated when with Jackson scratched and Maclin hurt McCoy only 14 carries all day? (And of course that was with Vick having a terrible day throwing the ball.) Is anybody angry that on a team loaded with "all-stars" the best unit is the kick coverage - you know, when the "scrubs" are on the field?

Nobody? I thought so.

I can't wait to watch the rest of the season. Up till now the games were still important and meant something, yet this team can't catch, can't tackle, makes a half-hearted effort, sleepwalks through games, sleeps through meetings, and makes every stupid mistake you can make. Now that there is nothing to play for, how awful will these unfocused idiots and morons be?

Other notes:

• Eagles now have lost 6 of the last 7 games at home and blown 4, 4th quarter leads.
• After Asante did his pick six they started partying on the sidelines and predictably gave up an easy drive on the Cardinals following possession. So much for maintaining focus.
• Gotta love covering Fitzgerald with linebackers and a rookie safety starting his first game.
• Steve Smith is the worst. Has he played football before?
• Tackling was awful again.
• Vick was terrible again. He should have had 5 picks.
• Vick also terrible again on a last minute comeback drive.
• Play calling back to the usual atrociousness and mind numbing stupidity.
• At the end of the game MIke Quick said, "The hill just got steeper for the Eagles." Merrill Reese responded incredulously, "Steeper? Steeper? You're talking Mount Everest!"
• Fire Reid.

Sorry. I forgot the Eagles were playing this Sunday

11/13 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Arizona @ Philadelphia	46.5 -14	46.5 -14	46.5 -15.5	OFF OFF	46.5 -14

Matchup

Bonus Question: Who got the worst of the Kolb - DRC trade?
Bonus Bonus Question: Who keeps betting the Eagles to get these lines so high?

Same old Eagles

Well, back to the usual turnovers, slow start, inconsistency, terrible tackling, drops, bad Vick decisions, poor protection, stupid penalties, general sloppiness, stumbling and bumbling, stupidity, and terrible defense. Throw into that mix a complete choke job by the punter on a fake punt and a terrible referee call that gave the Bears 4 points they didn't deserve, and it all adds up to another loss. And this was a loss very similar to most of the earlier ones and almost a carbon copy of the Atlanta loss - behind early, outplayed, come back to take the lead in the 4th and then don't do anything again the rest of the game, and lose by under a touchdown with Maclin blowing the 4th down play.

So the Eagles get beat at home again, losing 30-24, and will be watching the playoffs from home this year. But I think we already knew that.

Other notes:

• McCoy was great again, but for naught again.
• Eagles coverage of returns was also great. I think they were purposely kicking the kickoffs short and going for hangtime instead and it worked great.
• Celek was good again.
• Nice play by Rolle on the strip and TD return.
• I can't really find blame with Reid this game at all, it's all on the players.
• Jackson's fumble on the punt was brutal and was a huge factor in the loss. All he does is run backwards on returns now and dance around.
• Jackson was invisible again as far as being a receiver.
• The pass rush was brutal - ZERO sacks and barely a hand on Cutler.
• Trent Cole was bad. He missed tackles all night and couldn't beat a rookie playing a new position.
• The most brutal play by the line happened when Cutler fell down and 3 Eagles fell over themselves and onto the ground while Cutler got up untouched and completed a pass downfield.
• DRC is terrible.
• Asomugha was bad again.
• Chicago's B list receivers torched the Eagles "A" list corners.
• Eagles defense gave up a ton of 3rd and long conversions and repeatedly let the Bears escape from bad situations.
• 3 more tipped balls at the line by Vick.
• Every time Avant catches the ball now he falls to the ground ala Chad Lewis.
• Vick was pretty bad this game vs. a pass defense near the bottom of the league.
• Vick failed again in a late game comeback drive and looked skittish which was probably why that pass to Maclin was a tad too high.
• The first half was ruined by the 1,000 commercials. Thanks ESPN!
• ESPN announcers are terrible. They repeated the usual obvious and cliche things, but everyone does that. What puts them in a league of their own is they repeatedly assert things that aren't true at all.
• It's very frustrating watching this team. I think it's the maddening inconsistency.

Stopping the run is not the Eagles forte

11/06 8:20 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Chicago @ Philadelphia	47 -8	47 -8	47 -9	47 -7.5	47 -7.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: Can Andy Reid (im)possibly stick with the run game for a third straight week?

Dallass really sucks

It is amazing what happens when the Eagles have no turnovers, no stupid, backbreaking penalties, good to great play calling in the redzone, and great focus and execution. It seems when a team has these things going for them they also get the bounces and tonight was no exception for the Eagles. Bounces that went their way - Nnamdi's interception, the recovery of center fumble on snap even though the ball was kicked, busted plays turning into first downs, Vick's strip sack that Herreman's was able to jump on, and Reid even went 2 for 2 on his challenges to make it abundantly clear this was the Eagles night. Of course both of those plays, especially the second were terrible original calls by the officials.

As a result the Eagles demolished the Cowboys 34-7, put up 495 total yards, dominated time of possession 41:09 to 17:51, rushed for 239 yards vs. the leagues #1 defense vs. the run, and almost shut Dallass out. The shutout would have been the best tribute to Jim Johnson who was inducted into the Eagles hall of fame at half time along with another defensive great, Eric Allen, but allowing on 7 I suppose is acceptable.

Other notes:

• Jim Johnson's last game coached at the Linc was a 44-6 blowout win over Cowboys in 2008.
• Nice to see the coaching staff do what we want - continue to run the ball, get Celek involved, put cornerbacks on tightends like Whitten, and less to NO gimmick plays.
• Vick was on fire in the first half, especially on the third TD drive with the two passes that completed the series - the first down pass to Avant and the TD pass to Celek.
• Also great audible by Vick on that first TD play to Maclin.
• Vick also was decisive on his runs and picked his spots really well. He also got out of bounds and avoided hits better, though not perfectly.
• I actually laughed at that Snickers ad with Joe Pesci and Don Rickles.
• The worst call of the year so far has to be the one the refs said was a backwards pass that Jackson dropped.
• The crowd gave a huge mock cheer when the refs corrected it, but I wasn't sure if it was for the refs or the fact that Reid went 2 for 2 on his challenges for the first (and probably last) time ever.
• Romo was awful and played like a scared little girl for the most of the game. I love when he sacks himself.
• Speaking of sacks, good to have Trent Cole back.
• Offensive line played great on both protection and run blocking. Credit also goes to the tightends in this regard as well.
• Danny Watkins was good. Has he gotten a penalty yet?
• So glad we signed Steve Smith. I guess he really is just an injury insurance policy, but it's not like we've needed him.
• Should the starters have all been in there on the last 2 offensive series? The Cowboys were dropping like flies.
• Kind of disappointed no fan dressed as Rob Ryan for Halloween.
• The Cowboys dressed up as a football team, but they didn't fool anyone.
• If NBC had any cheesesteak shots, I missed them.
• Dallass sucks.

Dallass sucks

10/30 8:20 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Dallass @ Philadelphia	51 -3.5	50.5 -3.5	50.5 -3.5	50.5 -3	50 -3

Matchup

Bonus Question: Which team is the bigger fraud?

Right back in it!

It appears Andy Reid is capable of learning. The offense was successful today with short passes and running the ball consistently. But Reid is a slow learner, so he still tried a quarterback sneak on the inch line before going with a run to the outside for a touchdown. And after their first 2 trips inside the 10 resulted in touchdowns, the offense reverted to field goals the next 2 times, and then put up a big fat zero for the entire second half, giving the Redskins a chance to steal the game. But Rex Grossman repeatedly destroyed any chance Washington had of winning the game by throwing terrible interception after terrible interception. He was the Eagles MVP and eventually was replaced by backup, John Beck.

The Eagles defense showed up today by getting 4 interceptions (but Grossman deserves more credit for those than the Eagles) and shutting down the Redskins running game. I have no idea how they shut down the run so effectively as opposed to previous weeks. Maybe the "brilliant" Coach Billick could have filled us in instead of babbling on and on about something pointless. I think the Eagles also benefitted from Washington's play calling. Where were the screens and the draws that the Bills killed the Eagles with last week?

I will also do something very rare - thank the refs. The refs bailed the Eagles out more than a few times today with bad calls, most notably the roughing the passer call in the first quarter that really helped the offense get out of a huge hole and get rolling to their first touchdown. Up until that call the Eagles were only going backwards.

With the 20-13 win the Eagles are now only a game out of first in the hapless NFC East and SuperBowl bound again!

Other notes:

• Coleman had 3 interceptions, but also the stupidest play of the game with his idiotic personal foul on a defenseless receiver that already dropped the ball.
• Nnamdi had the hit of the game, knocking big mouth Cooley out of the game. Sheldon Brown on Reggie Bush is still the best hit by a #24 I ever saw.
• The Eagles first TD was a great call and perfectly executed. Miracle.
• McCoy could have had 2 TDs on the day if he didn't drop a shovel pass. He tried to run before he caught the ball...
• I don't think Dion Lewis was down on his "TD" run. If he was there would not have been any bright green underneath his knee - he was casting that shadow on the ground you know.
• Speaking of shadows, in that dumb ad where the plane lands in the back of the pickup, the truck has no shadow underneath it at all when they go to the angle from the front.
• Two weeks in a row DRC has let an interception bounce right off his hands. His whiff while trying to tackle the "shifty" Beck in the fourth quarter was embarrassing.
• Celek's "spectacular" catch was only difficult because he didn't catch the pass the first time.
• Eagles got most of the bounces today, the opposite of last week.
• We could have used a replay on Celek's drop in the endzone and Vick's kicking of I don't know what on the sideline by the cheerleaders after that long run. He appeared to be apologizing for whatever he did.
• Reid et. al were out adjusted at the half again.
• McCoy's poke of Reid in his big fat belly was like poking a life-size Pillsbury Doughboy.
• Eagles seemed a little too happy after winning. Or maybe I'm a little too bitter.

If they win, only 1 game out of first!*

10/16 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Washington	47.5 0	47 1	47 1	47 1.5	47 1.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: Who will make the idiotic play that sets another new standard of stupidity and carelessness this week?

*If the Bills beat the Giants too.

Season is over

Nice try Eagles. But only playing good on occasion during a 60 minute game doesn't work. Sure the Bills got every lucky bounce in the book on the majority of the turnovers, but the defense can't stop anything 90% of the time and the team is stacked with high paid morons and a defensive coordinator that is completely overmatched.

Maybe next year.

Other notes:

• Juqua Parker is a fucking idiot.

The Dream Rotation

All that excitement from last Winter's signing of Clifton Phifer.... Remember it? In case you forgot:

HERE IT IS

Yup, he musta really liked here even though he could have stayed where he was or gone to NY. Not like NY would have gotten him a championship this year, but Texas very well could pull that off. They're in it beyond the first round anyway.

Here's another good one: "But should I even be thinking about the offense at this point when it looks like the rotation will consist of Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt?" The answer to that question is now known: YES. (Even though Howard was the last heartless sell out to stand at bat for the Phils, he at least didn't strike out this year.... LOOKING....) I think my original reaction is captured well in my response to that blog entry: "This is the weirdest feeling right now. I should be nothing but excited, but my mind is worried. Is that cuz I live in Philly and have to sports-worry, or what?" I'm still feeling the same way. Or maybe this is the clincher, "I think this is a GREAT move, but I don't think it changes last year's postseason one bit." Others made some similar comments about the offense in that entry too. Man, Ron hit it dead on, except the boring part: Even more meaningless regular season.... [for the same outcome]

Bummer. That one hurt. Sports are indeed dumb. Stand by for the Cards to win the whole World Series, so we can once again be the doormat for a Champion. No other reason to predict that other than the fact that it's a live trend.

NOvember

Remember spring training, when everyone just wanted to skip to the playoffs? It's going to be like that times 100 next year, because regular season wins will mean nothing.

They didn't mean a ton this season either — it was World Series or bust from day 1. But at least we had that shiny "four aces" rotation to enjoy and a Jayson Werth-less lineup to monitor/complain about/be happy about when Hunter Pence was acquired.

Now it's going to be World Series or bust, but with a much more negative tone.

If there's anyone to blame for the Game 5 loss to St. Louis, it's clearly "Senor Octubre" himself, Carlos Ruiz. Had he gotten on base just once, Roy Halladay surely would have homered to give the Phils a 2-1 win.

I don't know what more you could ask of Halladay, he was awesome tonight. He only gave up one run in a first inning that saw him throw 138 pitches (estimate). After that point, though, he was dealin'.

His best moments came in the top of the eighth. Having allowed a leadoff single to Chris Carpenter, Ruiz let a bunting Furcal to reach by stupidly trying and failing to nail Carpenter at second. Two on, no outs, and another run ends the game early. But Halladay put the team on his back squared (because it was already on his back) and somehow got out of the inning — fanning Lance Berkman after a sac bunt and getting Matt Holliday to fly out. It was bigtime hero pitching.

As awesome as Doc was, though, Chris Carpenter was awesome-er, going nine innings for the win. There was only one time he looked to be in any trouble. In the fourth the Phils had two on with two outs before Raul Ibanez sent one deep, but for an out. Utley being thrown out trying to steal ended any momentum in the sixth, and his leadoff deep fly to center in the ninth looked good off the bat, but was caught at the wall.

And that was about it for the Phillies offense, which outside of Game 1, was terrible in this series. And not too hot for much of the season, as well. The pitching truly carried this team — aces, fill-in starters and surprising bullpen performers all.

The Phillies will be a playoff contender again next season, but now have a lot of issues to deal with and not a lot of wiggle room to do so. If there was any goodwill left outside of the most ardent apologists, it would seem to gone now.

NOTES:

• Adding injury to insult, Ryan Howard looks like he may have torn his Achilles on the last swing of the Phils' season. Let's hope it's not that bad.

• Most disappointing loss since the Eagles lost at home to Tampa Bay? It's hard to have a five-game series loss be as devastating as a single game in which the Eagles jumped out to a lead, but it feels close to that considering what the Phillies were bringing to the table.

• I'm not blaming the five-game format at all, but do you think they should go to full seven-gamers at the division series level?

• Lots of people are going to kill the offense, and they should. But this series turned when Cliff Lee's gave up a 4-run lead in Game 2 — and then was cheered off the field for some reason. I would think that kind of thing will not be seen next season — unless it's Cliff Lee, of course.

Week 5 and it might already be the last game that matters

10/09 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Buffalo	48.5 3	49.5 1	49.5 1.5	49.5 1.5	49.5 3

Matchup

Bonus Question: What stupid, unnecessary gimmick play will blow up in the Eagles face this week?

Squirrelly

What an incredibly annoying game.

It started off well enough, with Jimmy Rollins doubling, Chase Utley tripling and Hunter Pence singling off of Edwin Jackson to grab a 2-0 lead with no outs in the first. But things went downhill from there. Which was too bad really, as the entire game was still to be played.

The umps, maintaining their lousy performance in this series, wrung up Ryan Howard on what looked like an outside pitch, and called out the running Pence at second despite him beating the throw. And so a Cardinals starter was again let off the hook early in the game. Why Pence was running with strikeout machine Howard at the plate, I don't know, but it should have been first and second with no outs.

That said, the Phillies offense had the rest of the game to produce, and did next to nothing until the top of the eighth when they pushed their third run across with some help from the balking, wilid pitching Fernando Salas. But when the game was on the line, Pence grounded out and Howard struck out to lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski.

All my hopes were in Pence at this point, because I had zero confidence in Howard coming through against Rzepczynski, who dispatched him on three pitches. And I don't think Howard had any more confidence then I did.

It looked like Howard was seeing the ball well in the first two games if not always hitting it, but he's been overmatched since. He needs to be dangerous for this offense to work, and he's not right now.

It's back to Philly Friday for Game 5, Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter again at 8:30 p.m.

NOTES:

• Lots of other crap happened in this game, but most was too annoying to dwell on. OK, real quick: Utley made a bad play trying to first-to-third on that grounder to short, but Albert Pujols made a great play coming off the bag and nailing him at third. He could just as easily played it safe and taken the out at first before throwing to third, which likely would have been late.

• Most people, having just fallen on their butt at the edge of the warning track, would stand back up before attempting to throw the ball back into the infield. But most people are not Shane Victorino.

• A ninth-inning rally against Cardinals closer Jason Motte does not look likely, if necessary, at this point. Let's hope it's not necessary.

• The Phillies actually outhit the Cardinals 7 to 6. It sure didn't seem that way.

• Dick Stockton is old.

• Squirrels!

• Les Bowen makes a good point.

• Roy Halladay: Do the damn thing, son.

Ben there, done that

There were a few tense moments early on, but for the purposes of this review Game 3 of this series began with a Shane Victorino leadoff single in the seventh.

After a passed ball, Victorino was on second and almost got tagged out returning to second after John Mayberry flew out to right. It was a "Victorino being Victorino" moment that wasn't, thankfully, because it would have killed the inning and let a tiring Jaime Garcia off the hook. But he was safe, and Garcia intentionally walked Crlos Ruiz to face a pinch hitter — maybe because Tony La Russa wanted Cole Hamels definitely out of the game, maybe because he just thought Ruiz was better than anyone coming off the Phillies' bench.

Boom. Three-run home run from Ben Francisco.

I thought La Russa actually made the right call on the intentional walk. But for a guy who was more than willing to shuffle bullpen guys in to face a single hitter, he curiously wasn't even considering a reliever in this spot. And it hurt, because Garcia left a lazy fastball up to Francisco for the homer, and had to stay in against Jimmy Rollins, who cracked a double.

Maybe La Russa — in a 0-0 game at the time — was thinking about the possibility of extra innings. But his pen did have a day off Monday, and he seemed to go against his own style in leaving Garcia out there.

Of course, that wasn't the end of things. Just as Victorino's leadoff hit finally put some pressure on the Cardinals, the Red Birds got their first leadoff hit in the bottom of the seventh off of Vance Worley, and ended up scoring a run.

This is when I started to think Charlie Manuel might have taken some crazy pills today. Or forgotten to take them, whichever is applicable.

Despite Worley struggling to get through the seventh, Manuel sends him back out for the eighth, and hitting machine Ryan Theriot promptly singled. Now, Manuel probably figured to send in Bastardo to face Jon Jay no matter what happened — but why not just start the inning with him? Bastardo's fastball is much more electric, and Theriot — despite being the aforementioned hitting machine in this game — really doesn't handle the hard stuff.

Nick Punto hit for lefty Jay, flied out, and Matt Holliday — possesor of a sore finger that's kept him out of this series so far — comes in as a pinch hitter. What does a guy with a bum hand probably not want to face? Mid-90s fastballs on the inside corner. But he didn't have to worry about those as Manuel pulled Bastardo for Brad Lidge.

I don't care if it was a righty on righty matchup, I thought this was a mistake. Bad tie wearer Bob Brenly thought it was a mistake. And Holliday proved us right by hitting a slider for a single. Furcal — hitless from the right side up to this point — hit lefty off of Lidge and singled, loading the bases.

So, with five outs to go and the bases jammed, Manuel naturally went to closer Ryan Madson. What?!?!

In retrospect, I guess Manuel might have figured it was all going to hell, so let's get the team's best reliever out there. But I could have sworn the writer of the "Where it all went wrong for Charlie Manuel" chapter in the history books was cracking his knuckles readying his pen and ink at this point.

Oh me of little faith. Allen Craig did the one thing that could stave off disaster and hit a bullet grounder to Chase Utley, who turned a double play himself. Some Cardinals got on in the ninth, but after that eighth I couldn't muster the energy to get worried.

Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson in Game 4 tomorrow, tentatively set for 6 p.m. but dependent on tonight's Brewers/Diamondbacks result.

NOTES:

• Some stuff happened before the seventh, but it was mostly good pitching from Hamels and Garcia. Hamels got a deserved win for his efforts.

• Madson came to the plate in the ninth with 2 outs. Did anyone else think La Russa might have considered hitting him with a pitch in an attempt to get him out of the game? Would any baseball manager have ever done it? Nah.

Saints alive

It's late, I'm tired and may want to watch Breaking Bad before turning in, so I'll keep this brief.

That great Game 2 pitching matchup didn't really materialize. The Phillies lit into Chris Carpenter — who started on three days rest because Tony La Russa is such a genius — in the first inning. Cliff Lee started strongly, but blew up in the fourth and sixth innings, handing St. Louis a 5-4 lead. Only some clutch relief from Brad Lidge kept the Phils' deficit that small.

Both teams' bullpens were very good, and since the Cardinals had the lead they won, with Jason Motte picking up an impressive four-out save.

The Cardinals had pen troubles all season, seemingly, but actually seemed to figure some things out in their run toward the post season. The revolving closer door got back around to Motte, and he settled into the role down the stretch. Octavio Dotel, Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepczynski have done well in their roles as late, too, with left hander Rzepczynski especially giving the Phillies headaches.

Cole Hamels and Jaime Garcia for Game 3 Tuesday at 5 p.m.

NOTES:

• That home plate umpire missed too many blatant strikes to count. La Russa was whining early and, at the risk of being biased, had much less to complain about compared to the Phillies later in the game. But either way, for a playoff umpire, a lot of those calls were pretty alarming.

• Damn shame the Phillies wasted a great play at the plate — in which Carlos Ruiz took an elbow to the head while tagging out Jon Jay, preserving a then 4-3 Phillies lead — in a loss.

Overrated frauds

The Dallass of the 2011 season blew another game today. This was worse than the 2 before it. The Eagles blew a 23-3 lead to a west coast team at home by allowing 21 unanswered points in the second half. Brutal.

The defense is absolutely atrocious and a complete joke. GEE, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED? Once again the lowly, know-nothing fans know more about football than Andy Reid and the morons in the front office do. But we're not geniuses, it's simple basic common sense:

• an offensive line coach is not a good candidate for a defensive coordinator.
• Not having competent linebackers and safeties is a recipe for disaster.
• Starting a season with rookie kickers will cost the team a game or 2.

Once again execrable red zone execution by the offense. Did anyone think they were going to score a TD on that 3rd and goal on the 6 inch line? Again, bunched in tight and again slow handoff for a run up the middle. What Brown was doing nobody knows with his attempted pass, but then to challenge it when a backwards pass is always a lateral?!?! A team of idiots led by an idiot.

So a team that put up 513 total yards loses to a scrub team led by a rookie coach and Alex Smith, 24-23.

Other notes:

• Coming into the game the 49ers were the worst rated offense in the league.
• Eagles were 2 for 7 in the redzone. Absolutely pathetic again.
• Eagles have been outscored 36-0 in the fourth quarter in the last 3 games.
• Eagles have given up double digit leads in 3 straight games now.
• Fifth straight loss at home.
• Up big and still throwing the ball every damn play. Typical Reid.
• Early in the game they were forcing the ball to Jackson and on those 2 50/50 balls he didn't get either and one led to an interception.
• 49ers defense isn't that good, but they hit way better than the Eagles do. I miss that.
• In other words, Eagles defense is as soft as cotton candy resting in a pool of melted butter, which coincidentally is Reid's favorite snack.
• There was only 1 positive play for the Eagles in the entire third quarter on both sides of the ball - the desperation heave to Jackson that worked.
• McCoy needs to trust his blockers more and stop trying to dance and freelance.
• Babbin showed up on defense, but nobody else.
• Eagles tackle like a high school team.
• The Fox direction of this game was terrible - needed a replay to see if Jackson complaining about interference was legit, needed one on the late hit on Vick out of bounds, needed to see McCoy's injury replay again.
• I would have predicted McCoy would have fumbled the ball away the way he carries it, not Maclin.
• Stolen from Twitter: When the Cowboys play the Eagles, both teams will be too busy rolling over to play the second half. (I would have used choking.)
• Time for the Andy Reid Error to end.

Yoffense

The Phillies' 2011 postseason didn't start too smoothly.

Roy Halladay gave up a single and steal to Rafael Furcal, pitched around Albert Pujols for a walk, and then put a fastball on a tee for Lance Berkman, who smacked it off the facing of the second deck for a 3-run homer and Cardinals' lead in the first.

Thankfully, there's more than one inning per baseball game. The Phils' bats woke up a bit in the fifth, when Shane Victorino drove in a two-out run. And they really woke up in the sixth, with Ryan Howard and then Raul Ibanez sending Kyle Lohse change-ups way out to right for three- and two-run homers, respectively.

Now with a lead, and Lohse out of the game, the Phillies stepped on the Cardinals' throats, posting 5 more runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

Halladay rebounded from a bad first to pretty much dominate the Cardinals' lineup the rest of the way, exiting the game after eight innings.

The ninth inning took a while as Michael Stutes let a bunch of Cardinals on base before Ryan Madson annoyingly had to be called in to close it out, but the Phillies opened up their playoff run impressively with a blowout.

Cliff Lee vs. Chris Carpenter in a great pitching matchup for Game 2 tomorrow night.

What if they lose this one...

10/02 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
San Francisco @ Philadelphia	44.5 -10	44 -9	44 -10	44 -9	44 -9

Matchup

Bonus Question: Will DeSean Jackson have more touches than Owen Schmitt this week?

What a sad pathetic joke the Eagles are, Reid is worse

Eagles can't score a touchdown with a first down on the 3, can't score a touchdown AGAIN with a first down on the 2 that included 3 chances from the inch line, and then that idiot Reid, with a terrible call for the ages, thinks it's a good idea to go for it on fourth and 1 at the Giants' 43. Who in the world thought the Eagles were going to convert? Only the moronic Eagles braintrust. From that point on the loss was ensured. (Before that it was just very likely.) Giants took that handwrapped gift from Reid and went down the field and scored the go ahead touchdown with ease. The defense then also surrendered another TD for good measure to match their 4th quarter awfulness from last week.

This game also featured some of the worst tackling ever, idiotic mistakes the entire game especially to end the first half, a somnambulant offense and defense to start the game, a home crowd that was just as sleepy, and a coaching staff that was outcoached from beginning to end. So a Giants team that had a short week, was on the road and decimated with injuries on every side of the ball walked out of Philadelphia with a 29-16 win despite the Eagles having 11 more first downs, 42 more total yards, 52 more rushing yards and a better third down conversion rate.

Eagles are simply pathetic.

Other notes

• McCoy had a great game.
• Vick gets hit almost every play. He's not lasting many more games. He also looked out of it. I wonder why?
• Steve Smith had the turnover that started the Giants collapse last year. His inability to catch a ball right in his hands to convert on 3rd down at the 10, and instead pop it up in the air for an easy interception set the tone for the Eagles for the rest of the game.
• Safeties suck.
• Matthews was moved out of the middle and closer to where he should be - the bench.
• Giants played smart and targeted the biggest chumps on the defense in the first half - Page, Matthews and Coleman. They hit on the last 2 for long touchdowns.
• The performance by the Eagles deserved to be heartily booed several times during the game, but the crowd was so asleep they couldn't even do that.
• The offensive line false starts were worse at home than on the road in domes.
• The pass rush was weak this week. Trent Cole is still the best player on defense.
• How is this defense so inept?
• Defense got no turnovers.
• It's a sad day when Asante is the biggest hitter and best tackler in the secondary. He even hurt the Giants tightend.
• If the Eagles were an actual contender, they would have had 31 points by the third quarter instead of 16.
• Another game, another missing-in-action Jackson.
• I seem to remember hearing something this week about the Giants faking injury because they were so exhausted by a no-huddle offense. Maybe I imagined that...

7 losses in a row, maybe fans will finally begin to worry

The Phillies lost their seventh game in a row today, falling to the awesome pitching of knuckle baller R. A. Dickey, 2 to 1. A few weeks ago I listed three reasons why Phillies fans should be worried about the team's post season chances. I will now revisit these shortcomings:

The Phillies' offense is overrated, that is why the bullpen has been called upon to save so many one run games.

The Phillies offense has only grown worse in September. Rollins, Victorino, Polanco and especially Chase Utley have been awful over the past few weeks. Despite what pundits say about the veteran team- hitting does not just turn on- in the playoffs or at any time. Especially when Utley, Rollins and Polanco are not only in slumps, their offensive output has been trending downward over the last few years. Charlie Manual should have already shuffled the line up and moved Rollins, Utley, & Polanco down in the order. Except there is no one to move up, with the possible exception of Ibanez.

The bullpen IS weak.

And it has gotten weaker. Bastardo imploded, and today's loser Lidge has proven he is no longer a top shelf reliever. It appears post season hopes are pinned on converting Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick into effective relievers in a week.

The Phillies are 6-6 against Atlanta, 3-3 against Arizona, 1-2 against Milwaukee. These are the teams they will face in the playoffs.

The Phillies actually handled Atlanta and Milwaukee head to head, beating them 6 out of 7 in early September. Maybe this is the silver lining.

Right now I am predicting a first round loss 3 games to 1 where the Phillies score less than 10 runs over the course of the series.


Anyone else worried?

Seven in a row?

9/25 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
New York @ Philadelphia	48.5 -9	48.5 -9	48 -9.5	48 -8	48 -9

Matchup

Bonus Question: Will Jacobs have more yards running than Manning passing?

Eagles blow it

The Eagles gift wrapped this game for the Falcons and the refs lent their finger to help tie the bow on that one non-interception call (but Reid probably has to challenge that.) The single biggest play of the game was the fumbled pitch/handoff whatever play that resulted in a 14 point swing. Instead of going up 17-7, the Eagles fell behind 10-14. Then Vick threw a ball that skipped off the ground that was called an interception which the Falcons turned into another touchdown to go up 21-10. But despite all the mistakes and turnovers, and despite Vick getting knocked out of the game, the Eagles still only trailed by 4 on the road and were driving with Kafka at QB. Then on 4th down with just under 2 minutes to go on the Atlanta 22, Kafka hit Maclin in the hands with the pass and he dropped the easy first down for a final Eagle mistake that sewed the game up for the Falcons. Up until that point Maclin had been the offensive player of the game.

But Maclin isn't alone at being a goat. Despite playing well for the majority of the game many others had huge, killer lapses. Vick with his careless turnovers, Celek with another terrible drop, Jackson dropped another TD, Avant dropped a first down, and the defense that had stopped the run well ALL game after the first minutes of the first quarter, let Turner rip off a huge 61 yarder that led to the go ahead touchdown. In fact the defense was playing great the majority of the game, but then collapsed in the fourth quarter as Atlanta went on long drives to score 14 unanswered points that won them the game, 35-31.

Other notes:

• Reid/Mornhinweg got way too conservative with the play calling when Kafka had to come in. They played not to lose, and of course lost.
• It pisses me off the Eagles couldn't gain 1 yard on 2 plays at the 3 in the first quarter and had to settle for a field goal - 4 blown points, the difference in the game.
• ENOUGH with the stupid end-arounds and reverses. How many times do they have to fail? How many hits by 200+ pound guys are you going to expose Jackson to?
• I thought Chaney could cover tight ends. I was wrong.
• The other linebackers sucked too.
• Page is slow. He is ok in run support, but when he came up that left Coleman alone and he can't cover. When is Allen going to be healthy?
• The tightends are almost invisible in this offense.
• Despite it being a big-time Sunday Night game, NBC couldn't come up with a good angle showing Vick's non-interception skipping off the ground until 5 minutes too late. On Asante's legitimate pick they had some super spy satellite zoomed in CSI style view though.
• Defensive line continued to apply really good pressure. Cole was steamrolling his guy.
• Stop jumping offsides though.
• Our cornerbacks are pretty damn good. Too bad the safeties and linebackers are as bad at covering as the corners are good.
• Offensive line was decent. Vick has to throw the ball away more often though. And it was dumb for him to be dancing around at the end of the first half trying to make a play when time was the most important thing.
• Tuck the ball away Vick. Stop being dumb and careless.
• Can the Eagles win vs. the Giants next week without Vick?

First test of the season

9/18 8:20 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ Atlanta	50.5 1	50 2	49.5 1.5	49.5 1.5	49.5 2.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: Will Atlanta's fans be a factor or will half be rooting for Vick?

Ram it

I was hosting a party and did not take my usual notes or have my usual laser like focus on the game. My general impression was Eagles were sloppy, but the Rams were sloppier. Eagles are also more talented overall and that played a large part in the outcome of the game. It also seemed Vick was trying his best to stay in the pocket and make passes early, but when he decided to start taking off downfield the game started to go the Eagles way as the Rams defense got confused and became undisciplined. Also, Vick is pretty damn good. The line wasn't horrible and only fell apart on blitzes for the most part. They were really good on run blocking as the Eagles were finishing off the game and it looked like the Rams quit.

The defense looked very susceptible to the run, but because the offense gradually built its lead, the Rams were then forced to pass more than they wanted to. Fortunately Bradford did not have his best game and his receivers dropped a bunch of gimmies, especially on third down conversions that could have made a big difference in the game. The Eagles pretty good pressure on Bradford was also nice to see. Tapp looked good until he got hurt and Babin lived up to his resume.

So a big win on the scoreboard that felt like a struggle until late, but never really in doubt. And unlike last year where the defense gave up big leads late, this year they kept everything under control and the Eagles won "easy," 31-13.

Did rams ever live in St. Louis?

9/11 1:00 PM ET	Opening	Legends	5Dimes	SBGGLOBAL	JustBet
Philadelphia @ St. Louis	45 4	44 4.5	44 4.5	44 4.5	44 4.5

Matchup

Bonus Question: Who will have the better game, LeSean McCoy or Stephen Jackson?

Don't forget to make your season long predictions in the post below.

Yes, it is time to worry.

I am sick of hearing the fan refrain that there is no need to panic about the Phillies recent losses, particularly the ones blown by the bullpen. After all the Phillies are 40 games over .500, these games are meaningless and, besides, the starting pitching is good enough to overcome any deficiency. Please stop drinking the red kool-aid and eating the Graham Slam ice cream. Here are three reasons Phillies fans should be worried:

The Phillies' offense is overrated, that is why the bullpen has been called upon to save so many one run games. Chase Utley is a fraud. In yesterday's game he left 7 men on base. This is the Phillies' number 3 hitter, obstinately a RBI guy. Mayberry (in about 100 fewer ABs) has more RBIs than Utley. Pathetic. Rollins is no longer a star, Polanca stinks post injury, and Ibanez is so far over the hill he is halfway up the next mountain. Victorino has had a very good season and Howard and Pence are also good at what they do, but both are susceptible to rally-killing strikeouts.

The bullpen IS weak. Bastardo has been a pleasant surprise, but Madson is no shut down closer. Stutes is okay but unproven, Lidge is a shell of his old self, and the rest of the guys stink. (Excepting Kyle Kendrick who I assume will be in the bullpen for the rest of the season and playoffs)

The Phillies are 6-6 against Atlanta, 3-3 against Arizona, 1-2 against Milwaukee. These are the teams they will face in the playoffs.


Anyone else worried?

2011 Predictions

By coincidence, today I was going through an old pile of newspapers that I had saved for some reason. The pile included the coverage of the Eagles second round victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, and their loss a week later to the Cardinals in the NFC championship game. Almost nobody in those games is currently on today's team. The current 53 man roster includes 21 players who weren't here last year, 33 who weren't here in 2009 and only 10 from before 2008. And a lot of that turnover involves major players at "star" positions.

Couple that massive amount of change with an offseason that had no OTAs or the usual amount of practice and meetings and it could spell disaster for the Eagles, despite all the talent they now have. Or maybe that talent will be able to overcome any chemistry and "not being on the same page" issues. Who knows??? Maybe you do.

In the comments make your season long, game by game predictions for the Eagles and whatever reasons you might have to justify them. Also, what teams will be in the AFC and NFC championship games, the Super Bowl, who will win it all, and what teams will be this year's worst? Convenient link to last year's parade of wrongness here.

EAGLES 2011 SEASON SCHEDULE
Sun, Sept 11 1pm @ St. Louis Rams, Edward Jones Dome Fox
Sun, Sept 18 8:20pm. @ Atlanta Falcons, Georgia Dome NBC
Sun, Sept 25 1pm New York Giants, Lincoln Financial Field Fox
Sun, Oct 2 1pm San Francisco 49ers, Lincoln Financial Field Fox
Sun, Oct 9 1pm @ Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson Stadium Fox
Sun, Oct 16 1pm @ Washington Redskins, FedEx Field Fox
Bye
Sun, Oct 30 8:20pm Dallas Cowboys, Lincoln Financial Field NBC
Mon, Nov 7 8:30pm Chicago Bears, Lincoln Financial Field ESPN
Sun, Nov 13 1pm* Arizona Cardinals, Lincoln Financial Field Fox
Sun, Nov 20 8:20pm* @ New York Giants, MetLife Stadium NBC
Sun, Nov 27 4:15pm* New England Patriots, Lincoln Financial Field CBS
Thu, Dec 1 8:20pm @ Seattle Seahawks, CenturyLink Field NFLN
Sun, Dec 11 1:00pm* @ Miami Dolphins, Sun Life Stadium Fox
Sun, Dec 18 4:15pm* New York Jets, Lincoln Financial Field CBS
Sat, Dec 24 4:15pm @ Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium Fox
Sun, Jan1 1:00pm* Washington Redskins, Lincoln Financial Field Fox
* Indicates that the game time is subject to change as a result of flexible scheduling.

Last fake game

The Eagles dominated this game from start to finish. With Vince Young at QB the offense moved the ball easily and Kafka didn't do too bad either. The defense also dominated. The only points they gave up was because of a short field. The other Jets TD was a pick six. The Eagles scrubs did have a big advantage - the Jets scrubs just played on Monday night and looked tired and uninspired.

Other notes:

• Rookie RB Dion Lewis played great - great 5th round pick. If co-idiots Reid and Marty Mornhinweg don't run the ball this year with McCoy, Brown and Lewis in the backfield they really, really need to be fired. Especially since the patchwork offensive line is barely adequate protecting the fragile Vick.
• I was going to write "Riley Cooper sucks" again after some drops, but he took the hardest hit I've seen all preseason and got right back up - to retrieve his helmet.
• While Rocca was really good downing the ball inside the 20, the new guy is very good kicking it into the endzone every single time.
• The rookie kicking tandem will cost the Eagles 1 game guaranteed, probably 2. Henery hooked a 43 yarder badly, and Henry dropped a hold on a chip shot like good ol' Tommy Hutton and threw it up for grabs just as pathetically.
• Vince Young looked much better this game. His passes were right on the money except for a wide open bomb to Moss that he overthrew. Hopefully the hamstring pull isn't serious.
• The defensive line continued to apply pressure and get sacks no matter who was playing. Hargrove and Hunt stood out.
• Brian Rolle made some plays at LB early on.
• All the kickoffs were returned but one late in the game. On that lone touchback the idiots in the booth made the cliche comments about the new rule, never mind everything that happened before it.
• Eskin had a nice summary of the obvious regarding Vick at halftime in case you missed it.
• After listening to "Baldy" and "Tolle," I'm convinced that the Eagles players could easily send a man to the moon and then do brain surgery while there. They are all just that smart.
• In the Battle of the Bulges, Reid is fatter than Ryan.

Coming this weekend - the Eagles season preview and predictions post.

Eh

The defense was good, the offense was weak. Colt McCoy came into this game completing 70% of his passes and lit up the Packers in week 1, but he looked mediocre vs. the Eagles. Early it seemed that the Browns could just hand it off to Hillis and they'd gain 5 yards a play, but I guess the Browns wanted to give McCoy the work instead. So the Eagles applied pressure and covered really well in both the secondary and underneath via the linebackers. As a result the first team defense shut out the Browns first team offense.

The Eagles first team offense looked poor. Vick was getting crushed almost every pass play until mid second quarter. The right side of the line + center when they weren't getting beat, looked befuddled. It didn't help that Vick held the ball too long at times. The most success the Eagles had was with running plays to the left. Eventually the line got its act together and kept Celek in to help block and Vick then had some time. But even then it took until the last 5 minutes of the half to complete a pass to a wide receiver. Everything before that was short passes to McCoy. Despite all that the Eagles scored 17 points - but thank a special teams muffed punt recovery and the Samuel interception for giving the offense a short field.

The most notable play in the second half came on the Browns first TD. Reid challenged the play even though all scores are now automatically reviewed if there is the slightest question. Because he challenged and wasn't allowed to, he received a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty AND it wiped out the automatic review and the play was automatically ruled a TD. Better Reid make this huge gaffe in the 4th quarter of a meaningless preseason game up 24-7 than during a real game.

Other notes:

• Eagles started the game with some trickery - they ran a running play.
• Rookie Danny Watkins looked pretty bad early in the game.
• Specials teams blocked a FG for the second game in a row.
• LeSean McCoy was the player of the first half and looks completely ready to start the season.
• Vick was blitzed and threw a ball up for grabs and was picked but it was nullified by a totally bogus roughing the passer call.
• Vick played somewhat poorly, but the ETN made excuses for him.
• Patterson got a sack on his return from the AVN seizure and a nice ovation from the fans.
• Coleman made some nice tackles.
• Both Chaney and Matthews were good in coverage. Matthews looked better overall, but still doesn't shed blocks well.
• How come in those lame commercials where the old version of some dude (it's always a dude) goes back in time and tells the young version to prudently invest with Lincoln Financial doesn't just give out the winners for the next 10 Super Bowls or something instead?

Creamed team

Last week the Eagles came out and played like the game meant something while Baltimore just played. This week the Steelers played like the game meant something while the Eagles looked terrible. All the deficiencies of last year's Eagles team, especially on the defensive side of the ball, were present. The defense couldn't stop the run, had bad safety play, had weak linebacker play, and couldn't get off the field on third downs. Also the blitzes were all read and taken advantage of. The only positive was they continued to apply consistent pressure on the quarterback without having to blitz.

On offense the first team struggled and Vick made poor decisions that led to picks. McCoy had some nice runs, but did they keep handing off to him? That was a rhetorical question of course. The offensive line looked ok with a few shaky moments and Celek still can't run block.

I didn't watch the second half. Maybe something exciting happened and they came back from 21-0. I don't know.

Other notes:

• You know what is more boring than a touchback on a kickoff? Complaining about it over and over and over. You know what else? When it gets cold, windy, rainy, snowy etc. there won't be as many touchbacks. And enough with the kick return is the most exciting play in the game. 99% of kick returns go nowhere and on half of those there's a holding, block in the back, illegal use of hands penalty so the offense is backed up and has to call boring, conservative plays and then goes three and out.
• Steelers ran the ball a lot and ran it well. Usually it was right into the Eagles' soft, pink belly for nice gains. If there was a short yardage situation it was easily converted.
• Matthews blew a bunch of tackles, along with his teammates.
• Steelers safeties are the "cream of the crop." Eagles safeties are the "bottom of the barrel."
• Idiot Reid is still calling plays that put Jackson in a position to get crushed by guys twice his weight.
• So Celek can't block, stopped being an offensive weapon last year, and tends to drop the ball. What happened? LJ Smith part 2?
• Riley Cooper also kind of sucks. He goes weak on too many plays.
• Kind of sad when the best hit of the game by an Eagle was Vick taking Polamalu out while he was returning Vick's third pick of the half.
• In those iPhone commercials isn't it amazing how absolutely still the hands holding the phones are? It's like they are pictures or something.
• Stupid looking movies - "Contagion" and "Apollo 18."

Go birds!

For just the first preseason game after a shortened camp, the Eagles were actually impressive and surprisingly crisp, defeating the Ravens 13-6. There were no stupid penalties, no drops, an efficient 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team offenses and pressure on the QB from the defense all night.

The first team offense only played one series and went 74 yards for a TD with maybe 2 runs mixed in for no gain. The second team offense came in and it was like channel 6 had switched to a different game. The Eagles ran the ball. Repeatedly. Their drive for a field goal that featured a big dose of Ronnie Brown ate up around 10 minutes. Young was also impressive and made several good throws and one where he scrambled out of trouble and hit Chad Hall down the field for a big gain. The third team and Kafka were in by the middle of the second quarter and he also moved the offense and was crisp with his passes. He already hits receivers in stride better than McNabb ever did. Kafka made a poor decision on his interception, but other than that he was good.

The defense did not allow a TD! MIracle. They had pressure all night and that led to some interceptions by the Eagles 2 new safeties - Jarrett and Page. The first team barely played - about 8-10 snaps. Baltimore was threatening to tie the game a the end, but the third team defense held on for the win. I have doubts about the Juan Castillo move, but he does have enthusiasm and his defense follow their coach's lead.

Other notes:

• Don Tollefson is awful. He started slurping the Eagles early and just got stronger as the game went on. He made sure he parroted all the Eagles talking points about the new coaches, the new schemes, and how they feel about the many additions and verbally spooned Joe Banner when he made a 3rd quarter appearance in the broadcast booth.
• Ronnie Brown looked slow to me. He does "run strong" and puts his head down and doesn't go down easy.
• Of course Brown was bouncing everything outside - not his strength - because there were no holes in the middle.
• One of the "players to watch," Matthews, didn't play enough to judge, but it appeared he can actually cover a tight end.
• Impressive players - Chad Hall, Tapp, and Dion Lewis. Lewis, who was drafted in the 5th round from Pittsburgh, was very quick and elusive and ran hard.
• There was a distinct lack of cheerleader shots.
• Reid is fat as ever.

 

An Eagles Dream Team

I'm by no means down on the Eagles, as they've had a great off season. But, I am still not a Super Bowl believer, so I'm glad to hear Jeff Lurie insisting they're not a dream team, despite it sounding like goofy homage to The Pack. Now with Patterson going down indefinitely, it raises another concern around the team: DT's. While we're all hoping for the best for him, regardless of his football future, what's got you concerned most about the upcoming season? For me, in some order of relative importance:

• Linebackers. When the offense slows down against better/playoff teams in the cold weather, the opponents running through and TE's crossing beyond our DL concerns me. This is even more worrisome given the condition of the DL.
  
• DL, and this may be understated now with Patterson likely out. Add to that Abiamiri (aka Derrick Burgess Part 2, although maybe without an eventual good full year one day). Yikes. We know who will cover WR's, but what about the run and short field?
  
• Vick getting hurt. He's made it through only one complete season ever in his career? As fun as he has been to watch, I still flaw this approach as I don't think he's the recipe to win a championship, more to showcase a high powered offense. With Vince Young backing him up and an improved OL for 2011, I'm slightly less concerned about this but it's still up there for me.
  
• Andy Reid. Still hoping that McNabb was most of the problem, but....
  
• No more Akers, and the fear that we'll be struggling with a Kicker all year, which could become super important in January.
  

I'm not worried about safety with this secondary and the ability to put a nickle out there on every down (btw, Nnamdi can tackle!). Our skill positions on offense are fine w/ our backfield and if Maclin and DJax are both going to play (I also texted a few buddies earlier this week that either Owens or Moss would end up an Eagle before the end of the season). Our OL is much better. A lot of things going for us vs. last year.

Cody Ross & The 2011 Phils

Well, at least we know Clifton Phifer has this guy's number for now, hope it carries into the playoffs if we battle again. Four K's last night, and boy, he looked awful on all of them, sans one long launched foul ball.

Props to Ryan Howard for another nice basket catch in foul territory. Polanco is so fun to watch on third. The defense made it a lot easier on a Lee who just put each pitch in perfect spots.

I so love Hunter Pence. So goofy and awkward, full of energy and spunk, a solid hitter too. Quite a game from him last night. Looking forward to the next three SF games of this Series too.

Reflection: For as many injuries as this team has had over the season, you look at two things: The Phils managed to win a lot of games through those. And, secondly, just about every single one is working themselves out, so that a real "dream team" is emerging ready for the playoffs. Even Lidge is looking like he can add some late inning value, despite not having a fastball anymore and pretty much exclusively riding that slider. Who is still unhealthy (Blanton) but matters (No One?)?

Same Old, Same Old

OK, sure the Phils put up big runs in the opener to make you feel like they have fixed their hitting problems and wouldn't get shut down like they did last year verses the Giants. Then they took the last two games of the Series (and very fine outings by Hamels AND "lowly" Kendrick) to remind us of the reason they lost the NLCS last year and failed to get a championship: Offense.

I dunno. It's a good wake up call before the trade deadline to drive that point home, but with all that money tied up in Cliff Lee instead of another hitter and time down to the wire right now.... I don't know if they can make a move to fix this. Is selling your whole farm system for Hunter Pence the answer? Philly.com did provide a small caution on that, which was an interesting read:

Pence is not without faults. His strikeouts are up. His walk rate is painfully low. He has two fewer home runs than Raul Ibanez. His batting average on balls in play is a staggering .367, which means luck has greatly contributed to a .307 batting average.

What do you think? What would be your move?

Making Moves

A month since the last post, the subject still the same, the team different.

Kolb goes to ARI for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie AND a 2nd round draft pick. Seeems like a good deal to me. I still worry about fixing our pass defense problems with another corner, when something up front seems like it would have been more impactful. However, the Birds ALSO signed Jason Babin in a move to strengthen their DE position. Not sure if he can put up numbers like last year, but it should help!

And last but not least, it looks like the Eagles are going to sign Vince Young. Call me Mr. Negative, but I think Reid is a self absorbed megalomaniac who relishes the idea of being as good as the guy in New England in rehab projects. For a team that is almost definitely going to need the backup (remember, Vick has made it through, what, one season EVER without going down), this guy has no heart, isn't that good in the first place, and was a distraction in TEN.... all the while throwin gas many TDs and Picks, completing less than 60pct of his passes, and getting beat out in his job by a has been 50 year old QB. Totally unexcited about this move, although there may not have been any better options: all the eggs are pretty much in the Vick basket anyway.

What else is gonna happen?

Making moves

Whether it's a good thing or bad thing that the passionate Ed Snider can feel the cold hand of death on his shoulder is debatable, but at least it isn't a boring thing. You knew changes were coming after the Flyers were sent meekly out of the playoffs via a Boston sweep in the second round, but nobody really thought the changes would be this drastic. So off goes Jeff Carter to Columbus and team captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles to help make salary cap room for the great white hope, Ilya Bryzgalov and his 100 year, trillion dollar salary (actually 9 years, 51 million).

Both Carter and Richards were drafted together in the first round in 2003, were a huge reason the Phantoms won the Calder Cup in 2005 as they were added to the team mid-playoffs, and also lead Team Canada to a World Juniors Gold Medal before that. (Note who was a C and an A in that picture) They also helped take the Flyers to game 6 in last year's finals. They have a history of success together, but suddenly they are a bad locker room presence blah blah blah.

Fans whine about Carter (just like they do about Hamels) because they perceive him as soft, doesn't score on every great chance, and are following the mindless herd. These are the same fans who will soon be whining about the Flyers lacking a pure sniper again as Carter takes his team leading 36 goals (7th in NHL), his 30 assists, his +27 (13th in NHL), and his team lead in power play goals and game-winning goals out of town. He was also improving on faceoffs. I think Carter will continue to improve and become a better all-around player and become more consistent as his brain matures and matches his ability - he still seems like a big, dumb kid to me. Although playing for Columbus and in a college town may make that difficult.

I'm not as upset about losing Richards as most people are because I think we've seen the best from him already. This past season and the playoffs he started to wear down and look tired - a busted wrist doesn't slow your skating down. I think he's like a running back in the NFL and his body has reached the limit of abuse it can take. Richards needs to play a physical style to succeed and he's just not that big and solid and it's starting to take its toll. (It may also have been the tons of hockey he had to play - NHL season, Olympics, all the way to the finals last year, and this year's season.) Notice on the penalty kill he's lost that step that used to make him deadly. His ability to be quick and act on what he's anticipating has seemingly disappeared. His great 2 way play, his minutes, and his time on special teams will still be difficult to replace however. Richards was also trusted to make the right play at the right time. There's a reason he was the captain and was always on the ice at the end of close games.

Other Flyers players that also won't be back include Darroll Powe, who was traded for a 3rd round pick to Minnesota, and Dan Carcillo, who was not offered a contract. Powe was fast, was the team's leading hitter, and helped to successfully kill off a lot of penalty minutes. I guess the Flyers are thinking by not resigning Carcillo and all his dumb penalties it lessens the need for solid penalty killers, but they still have Hartnell and Briere. They also don't need Carcillo to lose fights since Jody Shelley has that covered and then some. It also looks like Boucher will be gone, but that never seems permanent.

So who are the new Flyers received in return? For Carter, the Flyers got a guy that has never lived up to his potential in Jakub Voracek and draft picks that resulted in Sean Couturier (who may actually be great some day) and Nick Cousins.

Video on Couturier:



Richards was traded for proven NHL player Wayne Simmonds and every scout's supposed favorite prospect based on what he did in this year's World Juniors games, Brayden Schenn.

Brayden Schenn reveals his favorite player is Crosby:



Simmonds is being sold as someone that will be a fan favorite, just like Carcillo once was - a physical guy that never stops playing and is aggressive etc., but of course with little offensive talent. Schenn on the other hand seems to have the offensive talent but is only 19. His scouting report reads just like Mike Richards' once did:

ASSETS: Has good playmaking ability and a defensive conscience. Leads by example and could be future captain material. Is feisty and ultra-competitive, and will never back down from a challenge.

FLAWS: Is better at playmaking than he is at goal-scoring. Needs to get stronger to better handle the top big centers in the NHL.

CAREER POTENTIAL: Potential two-way center with plenty of scoring upside.

Source: CBC Sports

So the end result of these deals is the team got younger, bigger, and cheaper and hopefully has a reliable grade-A goaltender for years to come. What they lost is 30 or so goals, excellent penalty killing, and veteran and playoff experience. What are question marks is who is going to fill all these vacated roles, will the younger players like Giroux and JVR step up, and what about their defense which is aging fast and looked very suspect as last year's season and playoffs progressed? Remember when they couldn't protect a lead in the second half of season and all the bad goals they gave up vs. Buffalo and Boston that weren't the goaltender's fault? Either way, even if these moves don't pan out the Flyers are still good for what sports are supposed to do - entertain - and at least they are being aggressive, taking calculated risks and sincerely trying to win another Stanley Cup. And who even knows if they are done yet. An offer sheet to Stamkos that Tampa can't match maybe?...

Doormats again!

Rex gets another Cup (not as a Flyer) and retires.

We become a doormat again. BOS (2011), CHI (2010), PIT (2009), TB (2004), NJD (2000), DET (1997). That's six of the last fifteen Cups. If you take out the West winners that we didn't get to play, that's six of the last nine... DOORMATS! And in those six games, wow, we lost in the semi finals or the finals in four of them.

LOSERS! LOSERS! LOSERS!

Sad. And maddening.

Oh, wait a minute... I'm an ungrateful Philly fan. I should be happy we "compete" that frequently for the Cup. Right.

We didn't draw the Fire

It took me until Friday night to watch last weekend's Union game, and as they're playing at Toronto in less than 12 hours I'll make this quick.

They say good teams find ways to win when they're not at their best. Well, the Union definitely weren't at their best against the Chicago Fire, as evidenced by blown chances for goals in the first half, letting the Fire tie the game on a weak goal almost immediately after taking the lead in the second half, and then almost allowing another goal saved only by a desperate save by fullback Sheanon Williams on the goal line.

Despite the above, though, they found a way to win 2-1, and scored two goals for the first time this season.

Rookie midfielder Michael Farfan got the scoring started with a free kick blast that deflected into the net for his first Union goal.

He then, having been moved to left fullback after Jordan Harvey was substituted out, got beat badly by Fire winger Dominic Oduro who ran right past Farfan and then subsequently badly beat goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon on the near post. Not a great defensive sequence.

But forget all that crap because Carlos "Soccer Chooch" Ruiz then scored one of the best goals you'll see all year — volleying a sweet rebound of his own (terrible) free kick over Chicago's keeper, under the bar, dead center of the goal. Ridiculous.

NOTES:

* Union start early today — noon in Toronto.

* Who ya got in the Champions League final? I'm picking Manchester United with the upset, which I guess means I have to root for them now despite the fact I have no rooting interest in this one. I'd usually take the underdog, but it's hard to look at Man U in that light. Should be an entertaining game any way it goes, though.

* With the NFL lockout ongoing, will we see more soccer on Fox in the fall? Or, as Norm Macdonald joked, "Are you ready for some cricket?"

Utley, offensive production return

I find it a bit hard to believe guy going 0 for 5 on his season debut inspired a long overdue outburst from the Phillies' offense, but if that's what it took I'm plenty OK with it.

The new addition to the lineup was, of course, Chase Utley, off the DL and playing his first game this season. He went hitless, but no one else in the starting lineup did — including starting pitcher Cole Hamels. Overall the Phils rolled up 10 runs on 14 hits against the Reds Monday night, including three homers by Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez.

The offense had not scored more than 3 runs in its previous — often excruciating to watch — nine games. Great pitching for most of that stretch kept the Phillies in first place, but let's hope the offense continues to pick it up so the staff has a bit of leeway.

I don't know what to expect from Utley, so some improved output from his teammates could also give him some time to work his way back into contributing with the bat.

NOTES:

* Relievers Antonio Bastardo and rookie Michael Stutes have been very impressive all season, and a big bonus for what looked like a shaky bullpen heading into the season. More importantly, Ryan Madson has flourished as the closer this season, and the team's decent record in the midst of terrible offensive output can be credited to Madson as much as the starters.

* In semi-related business, I was watching the Philadelphia episode of Drinking Made Easy wherein the hosts were served an "I Heart Chase" at ALFA American Tavern. Looked tasty, but definitely a "pinky out" drink.