Dear Eagles,

First, thank you for cutting Kearse. But please do not sign Asante Samuel, especially not for the ridiculous amount of 10 million but probably more. Maybe you've forgotten, Samuel LOST the Super Bowl that Eli Manning was trying to give away by dropping an interception. We want players that WIN Super Bowls, not lose them. And was the cornerback play that bad last year?

And maybe you've also forgotten that the reason you lost so much last year was the offense's inability to score. How about you try and fix that first?

BIG NEWS: Tapeh signed with the Vikings. Who will be their go to guy on 3rd down now?

Also they signed Samuel. Gotta love their press releases:

The addition of Samuel certainly signals that the team is anything but satisfied with its 8-8 finish in 2007.
(...)
Head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson believe the addition of Samuel -- teamed with Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Brian Dawkins...

My emphasis on Lito. And as soon as the signing was announced Samuel's jersey was for sale in the Eagles store.

Another signing: DE/LB Chris Clemons. Basically he's a 1 dimensional player that will be inserted on 3rd and longs to run at the QB. And that's pretty much his talent. Shouldn't they just do that with Gocong?

Fake hockey?

Is this what OB is talking about? They've clearly dropped the gloves, what else do you want?

Prospal

So in the last couple days the Eagles Mike Patterson gets busted when he has the bright idea to drive around in his car at 6 in the morning with some dank nugs, the Phillies big acquisition, Lidge, tears something up in his knee on his FIRST warm up pitch of spring training*, and the Flyers lose their best player, Richards, in probably their worst loss of their losing streak on Saturday vs. Florida and continued their first to worst death spiral right out of the playoffs. Isn't Philadelphia sports great?**

But yesterday the Flyers maybe, possibly, perhaps started to turn it around. First Biron and Briere finally had some success against their former team and stopped the losing streak. And then Holmgren, trying to right another Bob Clarke trading wrong, got Vinnie/Vaclav Prospal back. If you haven't buried the memory, you will recall that Prospal was traded along with Pat Fooloon to Ottawa for the amazing Alexandre Daigle. Holmgren only gave up a young defensive prospect in Picard (another Alexandre - ooo. Also they must be pretty happy with Parent) and a late draft pick, but then again Prospal is probably just a rental player because the rumors are he wants a 4 year deal. But in the meantime he brings his 29 goals and 28 assists to the injury depleted offense which might be just enough for the Flyers to get the 8th seed, make the playoffs, and salvage the season. Also good is the Flyers didn't make any rash moves and trade away parts of their future (Carter) for a season that isn't going anywhere.

In bad trading deadline news the Penguins got Hossa. But Crosby still sucks.

*Further solidifying my opinion that baseball is the lamest. These lame baseball injuries are great as well.

**Oh, and the Sixers are winning a bunch of games, but everyone has forgotten about them and the NBA since AI left although I did watch the Miami game and was entertained.

Last Stand?

Tonight the Flyers take on the Buffalo Sabres in, for all intents and purposes, that old sports cliché- a must win game. A Flyers loss to the Buffalo, who is one point ahead of the Philadelphia in the standings, means it's time to shine up the golf clubs and maybe move a veteran player for a 5th round draft pick. In preparation for the big game, the Flyers have recalled Jessie Boulerice to take the place of the injured Mike Richards. Steve Downie may also return to the line up tonight. Perhaps Coach Stevens wasn’t kidding when he talked on WIP of the need for the team to be “more aggressive”. If Downie, Riley Cote and Boulerice all dress, Linda Ruff will surely counter with a tough line up of Andrew Peters, Paul Guastad and Adam Mair . But the idea of the Flyers pounding Buffalo into submission seems remote, especially on the road. The idea of the Flyers scoring many goals is also suspect, especially as the $52 million dollar bust Danny Briere has played poorly against his former team (1 assist in 2 games). But perhaps Jeff Carter will finally score on a breakaway tonight and the Flyers can pull out a tight one. There is some good news, as Flyer killer Maxim Afinaganov is on the IR. Still the game will likely be another fake hockey loss, and the season will drag on. Please make your predictions in the comments.

Flyers...

What's going on? Keep it up and they'll soon be out of the playoffs.

Will Gagne return? What about everyone else's concussions?

Already Forsberg has started the soap opera and he isn't even here yet. "Will he play here or won't he" isn't much different from the usual "will he play or won't he" I was tired of when they had him the first time.

Is Holmgren going to make some desperate trading deadline moves to try and fix this? Drastic "blockbuster" deals almost never work and end up setting your team back instead. The Flyers are really in a rebuilding year, not a cup run year and should approach things that way, like they did last year.

UPDATE: Another horrible game and another loss, this time to the road weary Sharks that lost to NJ the night before. The Flyers are not in a slump, they are in a death spiral. They'd have a hard time getting a point off the Phantoms with their pathetic efforts and of course would undoubtedly lose the shootout. 20 games to go... I don't see them making the playoffs.

Corny

And it wasn't even a dunk.

The 7' Howard came up short and in desperation threw the ball at the basket and it rattled through. Most annoying is the reaction of the cheerleaders, i mean announcers, who pretend like nothing is amiss. A dunk is when you destroy the rim and you get that nice click-clack sound of the rim's spring mechanism.

Stupid

Eagles franchised LJ Smith today. Basically they renewed their vows with their lifelong partner, till death do them part, mediocrity. LJ Smith is the Eagles Pitkanen. Everyone keeps insisting some day he will be good and every season he'll have a really good game and everyone goes, "This is his breakout game! Blah, blah, blah." And then LJ is never to be heard from again until his breakout game the next season. I know that one of the likely explanations for the Eagles red zone horror show last season was that there was no viable tight end option, but it was time to look toward the future and give up on this guy.

I wish Smith gone but the upside of this is I can continue my attempt to get "The LJ Smith Hat Trick" into the sports lexicon and make an immortal contribution to the English language. For those that don't remember his "inspirational" effort vs. the Dolphins last season, the LJ Smith Hat Trick is 1 killer drop, 1 killer penalty, and Smith's career specialty - 1 killer fumble. Maybe if you also miss a block that gets the QB sacked that could be the LJ Smith Cycle.

Will we ever be unpissed ...

... like Carl?

So you're telling me there's a chance

Maybe, but I doubt it. Sounds like Penn State's fourth in a three-team race to land consensus number 1 national high school football recruit Terrelle Pryor, quarterback from Jeannette, Pa. near Pittsburgh. The other contenders are Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon.

I saw this kid play in two AA state championship games, and a little bit in the U.S. Army All-American game this year. When I say kid, it's descriptive of age only as he's 6 feet 6 inches tall, 220 pounds, and super athletic. It looked like he bulked up a bit between junior and senior seasons, which made him a pretty good defensive back too. He looks like he's floating when running, making guys miss left and right. The Big 10 is big step up from AA high school football, but he really stood out as a talent.

Anyway, he ended up delaying his college decision Wednesday, the first day high schoolers could sign letters of intent. Michigan, with Rich Rodriguez coming in with his spread offense, and Oregon, which runs a similar offense, would seem to be logical fits for Pryor's skill set. I'm sure Ohio State and Penn State figure they'll be able to use him though.

Sounds like Penn State might be the choice if it were up to Pryor's father, but Terrelle himself doesn't sound too enthused. It would be cool if a kid this good would take it upon himself to try and get PSU back to the national championship level, but an early verbal commitment would be needed to get other kids to follow. And the absence of reality.

Penn State coaches sound like they're begging in the above article. They probably all are, but still.

Ha Ha

When you go 18-0 and then lose the Super Bowl as a 12 point favorite to the 5th seed in the NFC you have to go down in history as one of the biggest losers of all time. And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch of cheating, classless, a-holes. Everyone will remember who this Super Bowl loser was.

Of course the downside is yet another NFC East team that isn't the Eagles wins a Super Bowl. Yet another team comes from nowhere and goes on a late run and comes home with the trophy. Of course this is the Eagles strategy - be good enough to make the playoffs and then hope to get lucky. What they have never seemed to grasp is a Philadelphia team will NEVER win anything the way the Giants just did.

And Eli Manning MVP? What a joke.

Passionate about barbecue

We know how Carl's leaning, but how do you see the Super Bowl going? Do the Giants have a chance? Who you rooting for? Will you really be catching up on Project Runway?

With two weeks prep time it's hard to see how the Pats can lose. And though the pressure should be on them, it's also hard to imagine they'll let it affect them considering their Super Bowl experience.

I typically root for the underdog in these situations, and might be pulling for the Giants to make it a game for entertainment's sake. But I don't really want to root for the Giants to win. So I'm tentatively pulling for the Pats, subject to change should something start annoying me during the game.

Luck?

Scott Hartnell looks like a leprechaun, but his point production as of late has nothing to do with luck - it's all gritty, hard work. With 28.5 seconds left in overtime tonight against the Kings (Ron Hextall Assistant GM represent), a desperate pass was sent to the center and Hartnell crashed the net, tipping the puck in off his skate. With the win, the Flyers avoided fake hockey, and now are in sole possession of first in the Atlantic.

Hartnell has been on fire as of late, with 11 goals in 10 games, and as much as I hate him because of his looks, he's snapped his dismal start to the season and proved to be another great part of the puzzle Holmgren put together in just over a year since taking over for Clarkie. Other notable pieces include Timonen and Smith on defense, along with forwards Lupul (although he's out right now after getting crushed by Jeff Spicoli, I mean Hatcher) and *cough wussbag cough* Briere. The latter mention of Briere is with reservation, as I feel he needs to step up his game, earn his paycheck, and stop taking stupid penalties. All in all though, with the All Star Game and Stupid Skills Competition out of the way, we look to the second half of the season and things seem set for the Flyers to make a decent run in the post season.

And who better to lead them in this run than a proven leader, Mike Richards? This kid is 22, having an MVP type season with 55 points in 48 games, and he just inked a huge contract that will probably keep him in a Flyers uniform for the duration of his career. He's done it in Juniors, done it with the Phantoms, and soon he'll do it for the Flyers. Mark my words, this guy will be leading a parade down Broad Street sometime in the next few years, but will it be as soon as June? Too early to tell, but it will be interesting to watch it all play out, so pay attention to these important dates coming up:

February 6th - vs Caps: Ron Hextall Hall of Fame night
February 10th - at Pens: George Larque payback night
February 19th - vs Sens: battle for East lead night?

Then again, the most important date for Flyers fans might be February 26th, as that's the trade deadline, and rumors are heating up that the man who brought Foppatoffels to Sweden, Peter Forsberg, might be back in orange and black. I'm not too sure if I'd want to mess with the chemistry this team has, but even at 1 percent, Forsberg is a better center than New Jersey's own Jim Dowd, so I say go for it. There are also rumors if this deal does not go down, that they might try to swing something for Sundin, but that means getting rid of Carter, and I'm just not ready to do that.

In closing, wake up Flyers fans. We're coming down to an important stretch of the season, so pay attention and tell us your thoughts on how this part of the season will unfold. The team is playing with a ton of heart; they are 2nd in scoring, 1st on the power play, and 2nd in penalty minutes; and I have a feeling they might surprise some people come playoff time - with a little bit of luck.

Almost good enough, but not really

Remember not so long ago the Eagles would be playing today in the NFC Championship game? Of course they'd usually lose it, but at least they were in it right? Lots of people expected them to be in it again this year or at least pretty good and not just the so called experts, but the real experts that read this site. Dumbasses. I thought they would go 9-7 but the offense would be good and the defense would be their downfall again. Oh well. Everyone that bothered to make a prediction wrote a mixture of smart and dumb. Anyway, here is my quick review of the season so we can relive and remember where it all went so wrong.

Game 1: Favored at Green Bay, lost 13-16
Clever headline by me - "Call Reno, 911". People only remember the two fumbled punts that were big contributors to the loss, but this was also the debut of the sucky offense that couldn't do anything in the redzone that would persist all season and end up being the primary reason the Eagles are sitting at home right now.

Game 2: Favored vs. Washington, lost 12-20
Eagles offense was brutal when it wasn't somnabulant with McNabb's immobility really being noticed for the first time. More redzone futility. A bad, boring game with the added bonus of suffering through it via ESPN's bad coverage and them giving Barkley a platform to trash Philadelphia for the entire third quarter.

Game 3: Favored vs. Detroit, won 56-21
Eagles offense explodes in their throwback jerseys but everyone is suspicious that it's a fluke. It was.

Game 4: Favored at the Giants, lost 3-16
Another horrible, unwatchable game that we all watched of course. Both teams were horrible but this game is remembered for Winston Justice's spot on impression of wet tissue paper that got Umenyiora a ticket to the Pro Bowl (whatta joke). Yet Reid and the offense did nothing to fix it. Eagles also had 15 penalties for 132 yards. I also remember Buckhalter being incapable of making an easy fumble recovery, an Eagles specialty, and the Giants picking it up and scoring a TD. This is also when I first declared the season over.

Game 5: Favored at the Jets, won 16-9
This game continued the trend of really bad, really boring games featuring teams not trying to necessarily win, but trying to not suck as bad as their opponent. In this contest the Jets ended up sucking more. Westbrook had the best play in the game knocking Vilma on his ass and the Jets the stupidest with their fade pass call when it was 4th and goal on the 3" line.

Game 6: Favored vs Bears, lost 16-19
In a season full of "patheticness", the most pathetic moment probably was the defensive collapse that allowed the Brian Griese led Bears to go 97 yards in 1:52 with no time-outs to win the game. The offense was terrible again in the redzone, Eagles were afraid of Hester, and we learned it's not a fumble if the center hikes the ball through the QBs legs, it's only a false start. After this one, more people admitted to themselves that the season was over.

Game 7: Favored at the Vikings, won 23-16
The offense managed to score 2 touchdowns this game and the defense shut down Adrian Peterson. But the main result of this game was creating some false hope for the diehards.

Game 8: Underdog vs. Dallass, lost 38-17
This was the one game where the Eagles were crushed. McNabb started the game by fumbling it on the very first play which Dallas converted into a TD 6 plays later and the rout was on. Well not really, it was only 14-7 late in the half but Dallass was deep in Eagles territory looking to score when Lito picked it off giving the Eagles some hope and the offense the ball on their own 17. 3 plays later though McNabb gave it right back and Dallas went in up 21-7. And from that point the rout was on.

Game 9: Underdog at Redskins, won 33-25
The highlight of this game was Westbrook taking a screen pass 57 yards behind some great blocks for a go ahead and ultimately game winning TD. The game also featured 2 James Thrash TDs, a Reggie Brown TD on a horribly thrown "bomb", and the Redskins allowing Westbrook to run in for another TD late so they would get the ball back with time. This game is also notable because it was actually entertaining to watch.

Game 10: Favored vs. Dolphis, won 17-7
A return home and a return to the usual unwatchable dreck. In the first half the Eagles struggled to score 3 points vs. the league worst Dolphins while giving up a kickoff return for a TD. McNabb was 3-11, 34 yards, and 2 interceptions before he got hurt and was relieved by Feeley. LJ Smith also had an especially bad game. In the second half, coaching genius Reid decided to start running the ball vs. the 30th ranked run defense and the Eagles managed to tack on 14 more points for the victory. The defense also had their second notable goal line stand of the season, helped out by some bad play calls by the Dolphins.

Game 11: Underdog at the Patriots, lost 28-31
This was maybe the most memorable game of this forgettable season. It was a Sunday Night nationally televised game and the Eagles were 26 point underdogs by gametime. But with Feeley at QB the offense sustained drives and went up and down the field with a purpose and a consistency that was completely absent in the prior games. But with Feeley at QB there were 2 killer interceptions - 1 at the start that spotted the Patriots 7 points and 1 at the end killing the Eagles upset chances when they were at the Patriots 30 yard line and driving with the game clock winding down and only down by 3. The Eagles were the first team all season to challenge the Patriots, expose their defense, shut down Moss, and outplay them. They deserved to win but self inflicted mistakes killed them in the end. Sigh.

Game 12: Favored vs. Seahawks, lost 24-28
This game is remembered for AJ Feeley's 4 interceptions, 3 to the same Seattle linebacker with the funny name, Lofa Tatupu. This time 2 of the picks led to 14 points for the opposition and the usual 1 at the end of the game that doomed the Eagles after they had been placed in position to win the game thanks to a Westbrook punt return to the 14 yard line. Other lowpoints were Spikes dropping an easy pick, Eagles having 1st and goal at the 1 and getting no points, and throwing a 20 yard incomplete pass down the sidelines to LJ Smith after 2 running plays had made it 3rd and 1. I am still amazed though that the Eagles had ZERO penalties in this game. I'm not amazed that despite that feat they still lost.

Game 13: Favored vs. Giants, lost 13-16
McNabb returned and the game started with the offense going right down the field on a beautiful drive that ended with a TD. After that they were their usual pathetic selves. The offense though did drive to the Giants 39 as time was winding down only to watch a game tying Akers attempt slam off the goalpost. The noise and resulting feeling summed up the entire season - as bad as they were they still were almost good enough to win, but not really.

Game 14: Underdog at Dallass, won 10-6
This game was won thanks to a great effort by the Eagles defense and the terrible play Dallass's golden boy, Tony Romo, who was trying to show off for this year's model of mildly retarded celebrity girlfriend. After the game he simply told Jessica that they won so it worked out for him personally at least. This game will be remembered for Jessica Simpson, the Cowboys losing and only scoring 6 points, and for Westbrook downing himself at the 1 instead of scoring a TD. I did find it amusing how all the commentators felt compelled to push the "Westbrook taking away personal glory from himself by not scoring a TD" narrative. If he had scored the TD it would have been just that - another normal, unremarkable TD. By not scoring the TD, Westbrook garnered tons of praise and personal glory and will be remembered for that play forever. Let this be a lesson to all the little kids out there. And this too - Dallass sucks.

Game 15: Underdog at the Saints, won 38-23
With all the pressure off McNabb and the offense they played well and even went on a 98 yard TD drive which came after the defense had another great goal line stand. Of course it was all entirely meaningless. Memorable plays included McNabb with a long run, fumbling, and Curtis recovering in the endzone and Stewart Bradley making several good plays including an interception. His play and other young defensive players' efforts give us something to look forward too I suppose.

Game 16: Favored vs. Bills, won 17-9
Another meaningless game and yet another boring game. JR Reid had a great hit, Curtis recovered another fumble in the endzone, and the defense had another goal line stand. Eagles finished 8-8 but were telling anyone who would listen that "they could beat anyone in the league right now and too bad they wouldn't get the chance to do it." Truly disturbed individuals that need to get some help.

So that was that. Another Philadelphia season that ended without a championship and another team and front office seemingly delusional about the result. By the final press conference of the season Reid was even dragging out the injuries excuse. Why is it so hard to simply say, "We sucked"?

Take it back

The Sixers broke a seven-game slide Tuesday night with a road win over Houston. They were also wearing throw-back 1980s jerseys. Coincidence? Of course. They were already blown out by Boston while sporting those jerseys, and may have lost another time too. Not sure.

Here's the thing — the trade of Kyle Korver for cap room demonstrated new GM Ed Stefanski is fully prepared to take losses this year and start from the bottom next year.

But while cleaning house, why not take the uniforms back to a better time for the team? All the simple red, white and blue goodness of the 1980s, now with baggier shorts. Win-win.

The current uniforms aren't horrible, but they've had their day. Let's take from the past and move toward the future.

Hey, if you can't play good, you may as well look good.

Eat it, Mr. Met!

Using some sort of complex economic calculus, Forbes magazine has proven what Philadelphians have long known: The Phillie Phanatic is the greatest mascot in all of sports. The Phanatic bested such notables as the artist formerly known as the San Diego Chicken, the racing sausages of Milwaukee, and that arrogant, round headed buffoon, Mr. Met. The Phanatic was unavailable for comment, but surrogate Tom Burgoyne said this:

"This isn't the same Forbes list that Oprah and Bill Gates are on?"

In a great journalistic oversight, Tommy Lasorda was not contacted for his reaction.

Baseball mascots dominated the list, no doubt because of baseball's long periods of inaction allow for more mascot face time and shenanigans than in other, more entertaining sports. And in the time of the steroid injecting, money grubbing choad as ballplayer, a mascot gives the fans a "team member" who is there for the long haul, interacts with fans, and who seems to enjoy showing up at the ballpark everyday. Congratulations to the Phanatic for a job well done.