Briere’s salary costs the Flyers another player

Scottie Upshall joins Glen Metropolit and Ossi Vaananen on another NHL team thanks to the money tied up in the Danny "the bust" Briere’s salary. Yesterday the Flyers traded Scottie Upshall for misconduct machine Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo will throw body checks and fight but he is not the player Upshall is. Carcillo is a less disciplined Aaron Asham. The Flyers also traded for “big” Kyle McClaren who is currently in the AHL and/or injured and the most notable thing he has done this year is being checked into the boards by Steve Downie (which triggered yet another Downie suspension). Theoritically McClaren could play a role for the Flyers who, with the exception of Alberts, are smaller and non aggressive on defense, and have little hope of clearing a Milan Lucic or Nik Andropov from in front of the their net. Basically the Flyers traded Upshall to clear cap space as this article explains nicely.

While signing Briere for big money was a bad hockey move, I concede it may have been a good PR move for the Flyers, then coming off one of their worst seasons in team history. The signing energized non thinking fans, but due to the contract and the type of player (good in limited areas of the game- the rush and the powerplay, poor on defense, small and soft) Briere is, it has handicapped the team this year and in years to come. I am willing to bet Holmgren tried to move Lupul instead of Upshall, but his contract made that a no go.

Anyway if Carcillo plays tonight he will surely attempt to get into a fight. Hopefully he can take Dion Phenueff of the ice with him.

Brian Dawkins 1996-2009, RIP

UPDATE: From Les Bowen's blog, Dawkins on Eagles fans:

"I've just got to thank them. For so many years, we obviously connected on a very deep basis," Dawkins said the day after he left his only NFL home for 13 seasons to sign with the Denver Broncos. "For so many years, they've allowed me to come into their living rooms, to laugh with them, to party with them, to celebrate with them, to cry with 'em through tough losses, to bleed with them. I just really appreciate the way they accepted me, a little safety from Clemson."
...
"In a couple of weeks or a month, I'll be excited about this team," Dawkins said. "I've got to get used to saying that -- I'm a Bronco." Then he paused. "I'll tell you one thing -- I'll always be an Eagle."

Various

Sorry for the lack of updates. Just been busy and distracted, but here's a bunch of crap to discuss.

///

Scott Eyre is broke, supposedly. Should have invested with Wu-Tang Financial.

///

Big Fan is a movie about a hardcore New York Giants football fan, struggling to deal with the consequences of being beaten up by his favorite player. Michael Rapaport plays Philadelphia Phil, a hardcore Eagles fan.

I'm sure Philadelphia Phil will be a fair representation of an Eagles fan with none of the lazy, tired cliches and canards.

///

The Alex Rodriguez steroid story reminded me of something from last summer. The tiresome Glen Macnow was asked if he was following the Tour de France. Of course his immediate gut reaction was a definite, "No." But he realized he couldn't leave it at that because here was another opportunity to burnish his manly man cred by crapping on what he perceives to be a girly euro thing so he added something like, "Why would anyone watch that? The whole sport is corrupt. You cant trust anyone in that sport." Oh how Macnow loves doing his moronic caveman schtick.

Bicycling was corrupt, but over the last few years it has made a serious and highly publicized effort to zealously expose and punish the cheaters and become, you know, uncorrupt. The exact opposite of what Macnow said it was. It even took a tour victory away from Floyd Landis, i.e., corrected the record books. Of course the exact OPPOSITE has happened in baseball where MLB knew for years there was cheating, knew the biggest names in baseball like A-Roid were cheating, but did absolutely nothing about it. MLB purposely ignored it and covered it up and would still be doing it if congress didn't get involved. We all know Macnow is never going to make a similar statement about baseball. And ha ha, isn't it funny the 93 Phils were all cheaters? Good times. In hindsight, justice was actualy served that they didn't win the World Series.

Other bike race fun: Antlerman, the Pope and Death hanging out, and Syringeman.

///

How many games are the Sixers going to lose on last second prayers? The most recent miracle shot delivered by the Nets was the worst yet since it also involved horrible timekeeping and terrible refs that let the shot count.

///

So NOW McNabb wants, instead of merely suggesting the possible need for, more weapons or else he's going to take his ball and go home. Way to finally take a stand, dude. It doesn't seem at all like a calculated attempt to get the fans (that you hate and disparage) on your side in your effort to get a contract extension. Besides, didn't you say that Asante Samuel was a weapon? What more could you need?

///

Too bad the Eagles weren't running the nations or most of american household's finances since they were actually planning for the worst. They figured tons of teams would be crunched by the salary cap so planned accordingly. Too bad it never happened and now the Eagles are around 38 million under the cap with almost no free agents available to spend it on since everyone else now has the room to sign or franchise their star players. Strange as it seems, I really can't criticize them for this since I think they were actually being smart.

///

Flyers 2 big weaknesses - constantly taking penalties and unreliable goaltending. There's a reason why Richards and the team are leading the league in shorthanded goals, they have the most opportunities. Of course killing penalities wears out your best players and limits their shifts at even strength when you are more likely to score, despite the Flyers success scoring while down a man.

Of the goaltenders I don't like Biron. His boneheaded decision followed by his terrible effort acting on it cost them the game vs. Pittsburgh. You know if the Penguins squeak into the playoffs it'll be because the Flyers found ways to give them 2 points almost everytime they've played and that will piss me off.

Flyers win in OT

1st period
After getting beat on Wednesday night by the Bruins, the Flyers traveled to Boston to again face off against the team that just defeated them. Instead of coming out fast and trying to establishing their forecheck, the Flyers eased into the game. The trapping, boring Bruins were more than happy to play this style, and eventually took a 1-0 lead on a bad angle goal by Marc Savard. This goal was weak. Marty Biron should have saved it but he came up small, leaning off the post and letting the puck squeeze by. Of course Milan Lucic was sitting in the crease as no Flyers defenseman except maybe Andrew Alberts ever thinks about clearing the porch. I am sure somewhere Eddie Van Imp is having an annuerism watching this weak defense. After a strong shift by their 4th line, the Flyers were awarded a power play. This is the only area of the game where the 54 million dollar bust, Danny Briere is missed, as the Flyers have poor puck movement and really do nothing to threaten. However once the power play expired the Flyers continue to play strong hockey and pick up another power play. This power play was doing a little better, and then some Burin took a bad penalty and the Flyers had a 5 on 3 advantage. Good puck movement and a sweet pass by Mike Knuble to Simone Gagne and the game was tied. Hartnell then took a dumb penalty (his specialty) and the Flyers had to kill off a Boston power play, which they did thanks to some strong goaltending by Biron. The game then went back and forth, until Randy Jones made another weak clearing attempt (the Flyers had about 5 of these during the period) that Brad Stuart picked up at the blue line, and fired a wrist shot that beat Biron. Well Stuart actually just hit the cross bar, but Byron Bitz was standing all alone in the crease (sound familiar) and placed the puck into the net for a 2-1 Boston lead. 8 seconds later, Biron lets in a Hextalesque softie from the face off circle and it is 3-1 Boston. Inexcusable goal. The Flyers outdid themselves by letting in 2 goals in the final minute of a period. The Flyers have no answer to the trapping Bruins, and really haven’t had an answer for over 2 years, as Boston has dominated them over that period of time.

2nd period
Biron sits and Antero Niittymaki is in goal. Excellent move. Flyers begin to take control of play with some good forechecking. The Flyers establish “the cycle” and Aaron Asham makes an excellent pass to Glen Metropolit for a goal. Asham, Powe, Giroux, Metropolit, and The Hartnell all played well, and Stevens is rewarding them with more ice time. Flyers continued to play well and Boston continued to take bad penalties. The Hartnell scores a garbage goal on a power play. The Hartnell has everyone on the Bruins pissed at him- Shawn Thornton, Lucic and Zdeno Chara all took runs at The Hartnell. The period ends in a 3-3 tie. A very good period by the Flyers.

3rd period.
Flyers dominate the first 10 minutes but cannot score. Boston then dominates the next 10 minutes but can’t score. Boston had a power play during the last minute (delay of the game on Niittymaki), but the Flyers get some great scoring chances while shorthanded, but Gagne and Carter are unable to score.

OT
Boston starts on the power play and get a few good shots on goal. After the power play the Bruins continue to dominate play. Randy Jones (who was booed all game by the Bruins fans) scores a goal on a fortuitous bounce. Jones shot was at least 5 feet wide but it hit Andrew Ference and bounced straight into the net. Total lucky goal, but still a great win for the Flyers. Biron’s soft goals nearly cost the team this game.

Notes
Scottie Upshalll and Mike Richards missed their second game in a row with the flu. Jared Ross skated on the first line to start the game.

Flyers played with 7 defensemen, though Vaananen saw about 1 shift. I think Stevens was worried that Braydon Corburn may still be too sick to play, but that proved not to be the case. Because the Flyers dressed only 11 forwards (and one of those was Riley Cote who played about 3 minutes), lots of Flyers who rarely see the ice played significant amounts of time. Metropolit, Asham and Giroux really stepped up. Jared Ross did not, making lots of turnovers.


Watch the highlights at NHL.com.

To pass the time

I recently became aware of Streak for the Cash on ESPN.com. Basically you sign up, pick winners and try and get a streak going and whoever does best wins a million bucks. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I set up a willweeverwin group if anyone wants to join.

Group: willweeverwin
Password: (I'll put it in the first comment)

Strangely the Pro Bowl isn't listed tomorrow. I had strong insider information the NFC was a lock.

And just so you know, you can only have 1 pick active at a time. You make a pick, wait till that event is over and only then can you make your next one. It's completely annoying, but they get more hits.

Squibb's Patronage of Cluck-U Chicken Rewarded

Move over LJ Smith, the Super Squibb is here. The soon to be former Eagles' tight end is no longer the greatest local athlete who is also a Rutgers alum. That prestigious title now belongs to Jonathan Squibb, the 2009 Wing Bowl champion. Squibb, who indubitably consumed many a grease truck fat cat, Stuff yer Face stromboli, and Cluck U Chicken wing during his time in New Brunswick, devoured 203 wings to win this year's contest.

“Nobody believed in me but my family, but I knew I could do it,” said Squibb, who is “in career transition.”

“It’s more up here than down here,” he explained, pointing first to his brain, then his stomach.

Add Squibb to the ever growing list of Rutgers celebrity alumni, which includes Milton Friedman, Paul Robeson, Tony Soprano, Joanna Angel, and dudes from My Chemical Romance.

In other important wing bowl news, founder and WIP ignoramus Al Morganti wore a Red Hot Chili Peppers hat and some breasts were to be found amongst all the wings. Complete "story" here.

1 week later

So it's been a week since the latest Eagles debacle. We've heard all week what a bunch of losers Reid and McNabb are and people concluding that they will never, ever win a Super Bowl. (Something I decided was the case awhile ago.) But one thing I've heard and read that makes absolutely no sense to me is that this Championship Game loss was the worst one ever. Sorry, there's Tampa Bay and then there's the rest.

The Eagles had home field advantage that year, had repeatedly beaten Tampa Bay in the playoffs and the regular season, it was freezing cold outside which was weather Tampa was 0 for 1,000 in, EVERYONE picked the Eagles to win, and once the game finally started the Eagles scored a touchdown less than a minute in. The rout was on! Then everything imploded. It was a black hole gravity like crushing loss.

This Arizona game I thought they should win but by no means thought that it meant they would win. Seriously, was anyone that shocked by the outcome? It's not like we haven't seen it all before. People picking the game to me seemed split 50-50.

And this loss is supposed to be extra bad because it was the Arizona Cardinals? Like Tampa Bay and St. Louis rank among the grandest NFL teams and Carolina wasn't an expansion team in only its eighth season.

What do you think?

1-5

At least the Bills lost 4 times in the Super Bowl, we're such a bunch of losers we can only manage to lose 4 times in the championship game. It's laughable actually. We can't even be the best losers. So once again another joke team with a joke, fairweather fan base defeats one of our teams. But hey, we got some bonus games and even a bonus half! Yea! But the truth is I expected it and my scar tissue is so thick I barely feel a thing. Nothing can hurt me anymore.

Standout Losers:

• Donovan McNabb - despite a great fantasy game, it was a mediocre game where it counted. Tons of blown opportunities thanks to terrible throws all well documented by Fox and the 93,803,984,902,385th time where he failed in crunch time. This game perfectly encapsulates his entire career. This game is his legacy.
• The entire defense - came up small the entire first half and then came up smallest when the entire season was on the line and let the Cardinals drive the entire field and use up almost 8 minutes to score the winning touchdown.
• The referees - Not that they lost the game for the Eagles, but they blew tons of calls all game including no interference on Avant, called that kickoff out of bounds, and the final non-call interference on Curtis. And these crews are supposed to be the best of the best.
• Quentin Demps - tons of failure and stupid, moronic plays. The worst of all was that cheap hit on Warner that helped give the Cardinals 3 points before the half.
• Greg Lewis - nice huge drop. Please football gods, I never want to see him in an Eagles uniform again. Ever.
• Shakers - nice misses. Nice extra PAT.
• The Eagles fans - for putting hopes in these clowns year after year.

Well, another year I won't be watching the Super Bowl.

As predictable as the the most predictable thing in the world

Favored in another NFC Championship game, and another pathetic loss. Except this time it's not even halftime and it's over.

The NFC Championship game is in Arizona?

1/18 6:30 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ Arizona	-3 48	-4 48	-3.5 47	-3 47	-3 47.5

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: How come I'm not as confident as everyone else seems to be?

Looking Ahead - Kurt Warner

So, will it be a blowout, a nail-biter, or a disappointing loss? By the numbers, even with a big offense, the Cardinals are in the playoffs only because of the terrible division they're in; the Eagles (with a consistent Reid) are actually much stronger than their record, as the math would forecast at least an 11 and 5 season, which is probably conservative, as several close games were flat out mismanaged by Mr. Andy.

The Cards big offense is the key to the game. Warner is the key to shutting that down. Over Warner's career against the Eagles (6 games), Jimmy Johnson has nicely tamed Kurt, the NFCCG of Jan 2002 the one exception where he had a QB rating of 94.5, but where Warner only threw 1 TD. Warner's career rating vs. the Eagles is only 69.3, where he has 7TDs and 9INTs. He's only managed to average 220yds/game and 20pts/game against the Eagles along with probably many sacks (that I didn't count). That would be a big step backwards relative to what the Cardinals have averaged this season - which is less than the Rams of 1999!!!

Warner's most successful game was that NFCCG, where he didn't beat the Eagles, but instead needed a run game to help him out. This year they meet again in the NFCCG, but Warner is without a complementary back that can do the damage Faulk did. Additionally, he's playing against a McNabb with 11 vs. 3 years of experience; he's also working with an ARI defense that isn't what the Rams were in 1999. Unlike Thanksgiving 2008, expect a closer game vs. ARI this time 'round, but don't expect a loss. I wouldn't be surprised to see the score flipped from 2001's NFCCG to 29-24, Birds.

Playoffs? We're talking about the Playoffs???? Unreal! 'Member the Phightins!!! (And try to forget the CIN/BAL games this year!)

I hate NY

Eat it New York. You had a week of rest, Jacobs was healthy, you were at home, no distractions etc., and the Eagles just kicked your ass. Eli is what we thought he was. The defense held those scrubs to 11 lousy points and Manning straight up sucked. If you break it down, the first Giants field goal was set up by the kick-off return, the last field goal came off that interception from the deflection, and the defense scored 2 points from the safety. The Giants offense did NOTHING but put up 3 points on their own. The Eagles defense did EVERYTHING, the Eagles offense did just enough, and Akers made all his attempts. The refs in this game also sucked and were a factor, but the Eagles were able to defeat them as well.

Other notes:

• Nice play by Akers on the opening kick-off. Most kickers have no idea how to take an angle.
• The Giants kicker, Carney, looks like a 60 year old ugly-ass super-villian.
• 2 games, 2 Asante Samuels picks lead to TDs.
• Congrats to Reid for another QB sneak call.
• Westbrook had a terrible game.
• Even though the Giants stopped Westbrook, the Eagles still won.
• Who would have thought the 2 minute drill would be the thing to wake the offense up and give the team momentum?
• How can the refs pick up that interference flag? Oh yeah, they suck.
• Celek had 2 bad drops but redeemed himself with the TD.
• Other players that redeemed themselves during the game: Considine after his block in the back had a big hit on the next punt return and later made a defensive play on third down, Curtis after dropping a bomb made tough catches over the middle converting third downs.
• Unbelievable defensive stops on 4th down, but the offense didn't capitalize.
• Second 4th down the refs gave Jacobs almost a yard he didn't get with the spot.
• Dawkins had another good game. I love how he leads with his helmet all the time but never gets called on it.
• Avant had another good game.
• McNabb wasn't spectacular, but was probably the best individual player on the field.
• Offensive line again didn't surrender a sack.
• One thing the defense did not do was sack Eli either, but they did pretty much control the line of scrimmage when it mattered.
• I hope whoever was running commercials while the 4th quarter was happening gets fired.
• Reid called a good game.

I'll let everyone else fill in the rest in the comments.

Giant hopes

1/04 4:30 PM ET	Opening	betED	Logans	5Dimes	SPORTSBETTING
Philadelphia @ NY Giants	41 -4.5	40.5 -4	40 -4	40 -4	40.5 -4

Matchup

BONUS QUESTION: Will any road team win this weekend?

Runestones to their memory

The Eagles offense wasn't that great this game, but did just enough in crucial situations for the win. It was pretty frustrating in the first half as they failed to convert 3rd and shorts repeatedly and settled for field goals. But in the second half they started converting, made clutch plays to get out of trouble and continue drives, and had the big 71 yard screen play for a TD from Westbrook that was very reminiscent of the screen vs. the Redskins last season.

The defense was once again the strength of the team and the main reason they won. After allowing 14 points and looking a little shaky in the first half they shut down the Vikings in the second. In the first the Vikings converted 6 of 10 third downs, but just 2 of 7 in the second. Peterson only got 83 yards even with the 40 yard run. And the defense also scored a TD.

Special teams also played a big part with Akers nailing all four of his field goals, including 51 yarder "that would have been good from 61." Coverage was good on kicks and Rocca had some nice punts as well. Jackson averaged over 25 yards a return and set up Akers first field goal with a 62 yarder and had another 30 yard return that was squandered.

Overall good team win, but the offense is going to have to play better in the near future.

Other notes:

• Even though the Eagles were ahead 16-14 at the half it felt like they were actually losing.
• Pro-bowler Dawkins was great again this game.
• Pro-bowler Asante Samuels was also really good, and now has 4 interception returns for TDs in the playoffs.
• Loved the Clemens block on Jackson on the return. It was like a choke slam.
• Sheldon Brown was good but should have make that really easy pick.
• McNabb had a really quiet 300 yard game.
• Avant was great and made several really big catches.
• Celek was also really good.
• Congratulations to Reid for continuing to run the ball despite limited success.
• No congratulations for getting Big Play Buck only 2 touches.
• Tavaris Jackson played better than I thought he would, but still sucked.
• Eagles weren't getting the bounces until the ground ball snap that bounced off Jackson's shin right to Juqua Parker that basically ended any Viking hopes.
• Isn't it funny that Dawkins can drill his helmet into Peterson's facemask and bend his neck back and that's fine, but Akeem Jordan isn't allowed to reach up to block a pass and slap the QB in the helmet with his bare hands.
• Should have run that screen play earlier because the Vikings were coming after McNabb on every play.
• Great blocks on that screen by everyone, including Curtis downfield and Jackson who used his speed to run ahead and get in that one guy's way.
• Also nice run by Westbrook.
• Childress blew some calls and time outs and did other Reid-esque stuff. He learned well from the master.
• Giants are a 4.5 point favorite for next week.

Super Bowl?

Top 5 Philadelphia sports moments of 2008

According to me at least.

5. Eagles crush Dallass 44-6 to make the playoffs with help from the Raiders and Texans.
4. Phillies beat the Brewers to advance to the NL Championship Series
3. Flyers beat Montreal to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals
2. Phillies beat the Dodgers to win the NL Pennant
1. Phillies win the World Series



Happy New Year!