Iverson Leads Sixers Into Playoffs

Ok, I don't really care much at all, but there's nothing else going on in Philly sports right now (I heard them talking about another freakin' horse on WIP yesterday).

Is Iverson really learning how to share the ball (12 more assists last night), or is this just a byproduct of playing bad teams? Angelo was adamant about his quest to guarantee the Sixers will not win a single playoff game, but I gotta believe they can do that - but not much more.

BOOOOOOOOO! to T.O.!

Will TO Prove To Be A Boobie?

First of all, I have no issue w/ TO and his contract desires if he shows up to training camp in August and plays hard on the field. Can't rip him personally for trying to get a new contract, so long as his behavior is hard working and competitive and team oriented. Fine, skip the voluntary and "mini" camps in the off-season. I expected some of that. But, once training camp starts, he better be there.

However, I have no desire to see his latest contract complaints satisfied. He's in the NFL, where there are no guaranteed deals. It is the greatest thing for the sport and the reason why the NFL is the only professional sports league worth following anymore. The players all have incentives to play hard with a good part of their upside money on the line. And just because the teams can cut a player at any time, doesn't mean it is a lopsided deal for the players. They are guaranteed their signing bonuses. If the player gets injured or starts sucking, who eats that? Yes, the teams do.

TO signed a contract. He WANTED to play for the Eagles and claims that the Eagles used that to strong-arm his numbers. I say he USED the Eagles to get him out of a place he didn't want to go. Why didn't he just fight the situation by himself and once a free agent go make his deals? There was VALUE to him in having the Eagles sign him and fight for him. He said he wanted to play for the Eagles, cuz they were winners and he was the missing link. Well, he proved to be just that and the Eagles went to the Superbowl. There was VALUE in that. He also said he wanted to play for DMac and that there was value in that over his former supposedly not-straight QB. Now he rips DMac as out of shape. I wonder how long until DMac is dubbed not-straight. TO got a signing bonus that he was hapy with at the time. He took the security offered by that money and opted out of more money in the base salary. Now he wants to undo that, given his solid performance last year. Gee, I want those options contracts back that I sold on Qualcomm 10 years ago, since the stock turned out to far outdo the money I got for the options. What a joke. Maybe I can blame my stock broker for a tip he gave me that was bad and I FOLLOWED, just like TO is blaming an agent he formerly employed. Sheesh, where does it end? Stand up and take some accountability for yourself amidst your verbal public bickering.

TO, quit your whining or go back to being property of the 49ers/Ravens. That's what you are if you're not an Eagle and the current contract is bogus.

Big Daddy B

Eagles 2005 schedule

Sep 12 @ Atlanta 9:00pm
Sep 18 San Francisco 1:00pm
Sep 25 Oakland 1:00pm
Oct 2 @ Kansas City 1:00pm
Oct 9 @ Dallass 4:15pm
Week 6 BYE
Oct 23 San Diego 1:00pm
Oct 30 @ Denver 4:15pm
Nov 6 @ Washington 8:30pm
Nov 14 Dallass 9:00pm
Nov 20 @ N.Y. Giants 1:00pm
Nov 27 Green Bay 4:15pm
Dec 5 Seattle 9:00pm
Dec 11 N.Y. Giants 4:05pm
Dec 18 @ St. Louis 4:15pm
Dec 24 @ Arizona 4:05pm
Jan 1 Washington 4:15pm

Is it me or is this year's schedule easier than last year's?

Highlights

So I watched some of the Phillies game last night. It was pretty boring but the Sixers were also blowing a 25 point lead at the same time so between the 2 of them I managed to stay mildy entertained.

The highlight of the Phillies game occurred in the 8th inning as Worrell was blowing the lead and the Nationals were hitting around. They showed Trotter on the big video screen and the loudest cheer of the night erupted followed by E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES! cheers reverberating around the stadium. These were then interupted by boos directed at the Phailing Phils.

Should He Stay Or Go?

The Birds are trying to deal Corey Simon for a couple of picks, but it isn't clear who has their best poker face on. The "TAG" did seem a bit pricey and some sort of a bluff. Does Simon really want to stay in Philly? Is he using this trade idea to figure out what his real longer term value is before signing a realistic multi year deal with the Eagles? I certainly wouldn't mind a couple of picks for him, but if the Eagles can reduce his price and sign him for a few years, that may be best.

Wheez kids

Well the boring and endless baseball season starts today and usually opening day is filled with optimism but not for the Phillies. Most predictions have them finishing in 4th or 3rd place at best. Sure they'll score runs but their pitching blows -- they have a lot of ancient arms and a lot of "potential" that is never fulfilled. So we can expect the usual 4-5 inning efforts from the starters that then erodes the arms of the bullpen until everything completely breaks down. And of course a lot of the remainder of the team is ancient as well so look for the Phillies favorite excuse -- injuries -- to figure prominently once again this year.

I predict 79 wins, 83 losses with the Phillies out of it by mid July.

Congratulations to the winner

UPDATE: I messed up bigtime. Apparently when I ran the Scenario Generator tool Yahoo wasn't done updating everyone's points and the results I got were inaccurate. So TJMC can "keep hope alive" because if Louisville and North Carolina are the finalists and North Carolina wins, he wins. Any other outcome and Netstrodamus wins.

According to Yahoo's nifty little Scenario Generator tool Netstrodamus has wrapped up willweeverwin's Tournament Pool, redeeming himself after last year's performance with a very un-Philadelphia-like worst to first turnaround. He can partially thank some big time Arizona choking and an atrocious traveling call for his victory. Seriously, how can the refs make that call? Anyway, it doesn't matter who makes the finals or who wins it all, no one else can earn enough points. The last four spots are also locked up going to GoodGrief, The Control Group, BigDaddyB, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The remaining games however will determine the standings for 2nd to 6th place.

NCAA Tournament Time

It's been a couple boring sports weeks since the Super Bowl but the Tournament has arrived to sustain us until the NFL draft. (I'd rather be saying the NHL playoffs.) Once again I set up "team" willweeverwin over at Yahoo! so everyone can embarrass themselves again this year.

First go to Yahoo's Tournament Pick'em page. If you have a Yahoo ID, login. If not follow the instructions and get one. Once logged in fill out your individual info for your pick'em bracket then click the "Create or Join Group" button then choose "Join an existing group" then choose "Join a private group". When prompted, enter the following information:

Group ID#: 49583
Pass: probablynot

The willweeverwin winner will receive very limited accolades and not much else. At least that's what I got last year. Don't know if Yahoo is giving anything away. Don't forget to download the custom willweeverwin bracket gif!

Another One Bites The Dust

Per ESPN, Burgess agreed to terms with the Raiders. For a guy who missed the previous two seasons (and even a few games down the stretch this year), sounds like the guy got a huge contract. No idea if the $6MM of "bonuses" is all guaranteed money (or incentives / tbd roster bonuses), but man... if it is guaranteed, that is absurd and the Raiders are high rolling it here. Didn't the guy miss a chunk of last year and the entire two previous seasons? Unreal. Wish I could show up to work that frequently and get a big contract.

After Reese, Mayberry, and now Burgess... who's next? Oh, and now do the birds wait another year to see what McDougal really has in him or do they draft another DE this year (one of their favorite positions)?

Trotter signs with the Eagles

From the Eagles website:

The Jeremiah Trotter saga ended Friday afternoon with the linebacker agreeing to terms on a five-year contract with the team. "Philadelphia is my home and the Eagles are the team I want to be with," Trotter told PhiladelphiaEagles.com as he returns to town after visits in Kansas City and Cincinnati.

Word is he took less money to stay with the Eagles and will get a roster bonus in the second year if he remains healthy. Will they still look at Kendrel Bell now?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ok, I hadn't boo-ed in a while, so there it went. The Eagles signed BDB's buddy, Buckhalter, to a 2 yr deal to open the 2005 FA season. Not as big a splash (cough, cough) as last year's first day, but there you have it... Assuming he makes it back on the playing field and doesn't fall over again, the blog will have to listen for two more years to BDB's complaining about Bucky's general idiocy and inept blocking. Long sigh.

I was prepared to deal with a boring opening to free agency, but Buckhalter being the sole headline of the day... that is salt in the wound.

Big Daddy B

I Just Wanna Buy A Jersey

Ron knows this, but the rest of you might not. I have a passion for collecting hockey jerseys. I don't just have Flyers jerseys but teams from around the world and even one from the Rangers. I'll get a Devils when they sign Satan. I own some real gems like an autographed Maurice Richard replica old school knitted Canadiens and some not-so-gems like an autographed Eric Lindros All Star. I use that one to line the bottom of my puppy's cage. He seems to like peeing on it and I don't blame him.

Anyway, since the NHL is self destructing I can't bring myself to buy any more hockey jerseys. So to get my fix I thought a nice new football jersey would satiate my cravings for meshed polyester and really big numbers. I figured it would be cool to buy a Patriot's jersey with some funny name on the back, but for some reason my order keeps being rejected. It turns out the same thing happened to my friend Bert Balls.

King Strikes a Deal With the Kings

There hasn't been a lot of Sixers interest here at WWEW, but that all about to change now that AI is getting a little help, little as in Chris Webber kinda little.

Last night, King, the 76ers' president/general manager, acquired the 6-10 Webber, 6-7 forward Matt Barnes and 6-10 former Villanova star Michael Bradley from Sacramento in return for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner.

Alan Iverson has stepped up his game lately, a new career high in points a few games back and another All-Star MVP, now add a little extra help and sounds like we're ready for a playoff run. My prediction they'll make it to the championship and break our hearts at the last minute. Philly.com has the scoop.

Update: Wait there's more, news is coming in that they just finished another deal. This time it Glen "Big Dog" Robinson going to New Orleans in return for Jamal Mashburn and Rodney Rogers. The 411.

Flyers seem to have a hand in resolving the NHL mess

In about 30 minutes I guess we'll find out if the NHL has a future or not. And according to this article if the NHL season is partially saved several Flyers are among those to thank.

According to several players and news reports, the group included Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames, Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues and Jeremy Roenick and Robert Esche of the Philadelphia Flyers. They explored the willingness of players to accept a cap, and their effort gained momentum after several players met last weekend in Philadelphia with Ed Snider, the owner of the Flyers.

Of course some players don't like the thought of other players trying to make things actually work.

Referring to the splinter group, Peca said, "The steps a few guys made behind their backs to go and lobby other players on accepting a salary cap and going to the league is very disrespectful and unprofessional, and I can't believe it happened."

Peca is an idiot. The NHL has made its share of bad decisions like expansion but it seems obvious that player salaries were the main culprit bankrupting the league and without any restraints the rich, corporate backed teams could continue to burn through money and the poor teams were ruining themselves trying to keep up. With the players making a tremendous concession by accepting a cap AND still offering the across the board salary reduction for a year they are now the good guys. And with the owners not accepting their $49 million cap number they look like the greedy bastards they are. However this turns out in the end I think the players have at least won back the favor of the fans.

UPDATE: They cancelled the season and of course blamed it on the union.

Pro Bowl Thoughts on The Eagles

Ok, so at least Andy Reid didn't make his fourth consecutive appearance in Honolulu. However, there was plenty of Eagle representation there this year. And, while many probably can't bear the idea of watching, I am half way watching so far and am utterly unimpressed by the Eagles there so far. DMac looked miserable and many of the WR's dropped his balls (Mushin included). Dawk got burned on the first AFC TD by Harrison. BWest looks decent.

Your thoughts?