Philly Sports Blogs Ads
Philly Sports Blogs is part of the YBN Sports Blog Network
Lets Go Flyers Lets Go!
Philadelphia Flyers Eastern Conference Champions
Phillies Tickets
NFL’s worst player brings his stink to rap music
There has been, is and always will be a ton of self-promotion in professional sports. From Muhammad Ali to Terrell Owens there have always been athletes who are unafraid and unhesitant to share with the world just how great they are.
For the most part these acts are tolerated and even accepted when these athletes back up their claims. After all, when Ali claimed he was the greatest, who was anyone to tell him he was wrong? You couldn’t, because he was.
However one current football player has taken self-promotion to an embarrassing level. This football player can fairly be regarded as the worst player in the NFL, yet has released a rap song about his talents. The man I am referring to is Aaron Maybin of the Buffalo Bills.
Many Philadelphia fans may remember Maybin from his days as a linebacker at Penn State. While in college, Maybin had a breakout junior season (his only as a starter) and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2009 draft. Since that time Maybin has recorded exactly zero sacks and has averaged less than a tackle a game. Despite the defense switching from 4-3 to a 3-4 and moving Maybin from the defensive end position to his more natural outside linebacker spot, Maybin has managed to digress. After starting the season as a third down pass rusher, Maybin has been inactive the last two weeks, despite being completely healthy.
When you can’t even make the active roster for the worst team in the NFL it is fair to say you are the worst player in the league.
Yet have yourself a listen here to Maybin Mayhem. In this abomination to rap music, Maybin talks about sacking the quarterback — something he clearly knows nothing about, getting a Nike contract — something he will never see and how his team will always win — something that never happens.
The one defense to Maybin is that his CD is helping raise money for his charity, so at least something good is coming out of sinkhole of a song.
The sad thing is as bad as the song is, Maybins’ play is even worse. Next time he wants to rap about sacking a quarterback he might want to try it out first.
The big day arrives
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 10 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
So we made it. The big day has arrived. The day I say goodbye to the single life and hello to being a married man. The nerves are with me, but thanks to Grinding My Gears, the frustrations have been left aside and the photographer will get all the smiles he needs from me.
Grinding My Gears will return to its normal format next week, with one or two columns a week, maybe more depending on the stupidity or lunacy that takes place in the world of sports.
However before I tie the knot I must ungrind one last gear: Charlie Davies.
You may remember Davies as the man who was nearly killed in a car accident six months before the World Cup. Davies suffered two broken bones in his right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain.
The other person in the car died.
Davies was slated to the a starting striker for the U.S. but could not recover enough to earn a roster spot. You would think this would serve as a warning sign to Davies to be careful out on the road.
Apparently not.
A French newspaper reported that Davies was pulled over for driving 125 miles an hour last weekend.
125
Davies isn’t the only reckless athlete on the road, but he of all people should no better. He nearly lost his life. Next time he probably will.
Davies’ lesson is one that goes well beyond athletics. It boils down the old saying “Some people will never learn.”
And because people will never learn this column will continue to go on. The same may not be said about Davies’ life if he keeps up this behavior.
Headmaster teaches lesson that quitting is better than getting beat
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 9 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
Today my readers get a taste of what Grinding My Gears is really about. Sure, every day there are things that get under my skin and make me question what is wrong with people, but it is stories like this that bread the creation of this blog. It’s the type of issue that that gets the blood boiling.
The topic and hand comes from a high school all the way up in Rhode Island. It’s Friday, and in high school, Friday’s in the fall mean football. Fridays have always meant football for St. George’s School – at least until this week.
Despite the team being off to a 2-0 start the school’s headmaster decided to have his team forfeit the game against ST. Lawrence Academy. Why did he do this?
Was it because his team had too many player injured? No.
Was it because there was a scheduling conflict that couldn’t be avoided? Nope.
He canceled it because the other team was too big. Too good.
St Lawrence Academy is indeed a team stacked with some big boys. Three of their lineman weight 300, 335 and 350. This team has been blowing teams out of the water this season, most by more than 40 points.
Yet, you know the thing about those teams that got blown out? They showed up.
While headmaster Eric Peterson thinks he is protecting his kids, he is really crippling them. He’s teaching them that when the odds are stacked against you the best thing is to fold your tent and go home. The lesson here is that it is better to quit than to risk losing. If I was the head coach my letter of resignation would have been on Peterson’s desk five minutes after he hit me with the news. How can that coach be taken seriously by his players after being undermined like this?
I’m not the only one fired up about this issue. Just look at these comments from parents, who I am sure, have an interest in their children’s well being.
“You’re telling the kids on the field, look, if you’re coming up in life against a situation that seems like it’s impossible to win, just give up,” said Joe Kelley, a parent. “Doug Flutie was one of the shortest quarterbacks in college and then he went on to play pro. He didn’t give up.”
Then there is this:
“It’s sort of defeating them before they even have a chance. It’s sending them a message about what they think their abilities are,” said Patsy Rosenberg, a parent. “I think there is more to it than the winning or losing, and I think that every experience you can learn something from that and there can be winning moments even in a game that you lose.”
Of course Peterson has his way of explain things.
“We have an ethical and moral obligation to protect our student players, who have been placed in our care by their parents, from possible extreme injuries that could affect the rest of their lives.”
I understand that this is a Catholic school and that athletics are not the No. 1 priority, nor should they be. But teaching the lesson that quitting something just because you are the underdog is a horrible lesson to teach high school kids. I guess the headmaster thinks that later in life these kids should not even bother turning in an application for a job that someone with more experience has already applied for. Or maybe these kids should never take a job where there might be an ounce of chance that they get injured.
I’m sure Peterson thinks he is doing the right thing and I know there are some parents out there that commend him for this.
I’m not one of them and will never be. Life is about overcoming obstacles. As Rocky put it best in Rocky Balboa: “Life aint about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep getting up.”
These kids won’t get the chance to get up. Peterson put them down for the count.
Brent Musburger: Steroids work
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 8 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
For as much as I have shared my distaste for certain announcers in this blog, there are many voices in sports that I admire and respect.
One of them is Brent Musburger. Correction: One of them was Brent Musburger.
The voice of college football on ABC and ESPN made waves Wednesday night when he told a group of college journalism students that professional athletes under a doctor’s supervision could potentially use steroids to improve performance. Just so you don’t think his words got twisted, here are the quotes from The Missoulian, a newspaper at the University of Montana.
“Here’s the truth about steroids: They work.”
Wow, where to begin. First off, it was nice knowing you Brent, because there is no way ABC can find away to justify allowing this man to ever speak again on television. Ever. I mean, ‘What do doctors actually think about steroids?’ I don’t know Brent, maybe they think their are terrible for the body. Check any medical publication and you will find reports demonstrating the harmful things steroids can do. These aren’t just stories made up by “young journalists.’ They are reports from doctors and respected people in the medical field.
“I’ve had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they’re not healthy for you. Let’s go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don’t have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong.”
Musburger said negative stories about steroids are mainly the fault of “journalism youngsters out there covering sports (who) got too deeply involved in something they didn’t know too much about.”
Even if Musburger is naive enough to believe this, how does he not know enough after all his years in broadcasting to keep those comments away from the media?
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I would expect to see Musburger pull back those comments in the next day or two in an attempt to save his job and his reputation. He may say he was misquoted or taken out of context. Either way it won’t be enough.
It’s hard to believe a man who spent his career painting beautiful pictures with his wors will be remembered most for being the guy who told a group of college kids “steroids work.”
The only downside of postseason baseball
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 7 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
The MLB playoffs are always a great time of year for me. The drama, the excitement, the energy, it is all brought out over the next month.
However there is always one, unavoidable frustration that comes with the MLB playoffs: Television self-promotion.
Who could ever forget the endless commercials from TBS two years ago hyping the Frank Caliendo Show. Every break in the action saw Frank, a comedian who for what it’s worth I do – or did – find funny, impersonating a celebrity. It was funny the first few times. It was old by Game 2 of the NLDS.
Yet it ran, and ran and ran. Even the Miami Heat were jealous of its publicity.
TBS is not alone in this advertising overload. Fox pounds viewers with endless reminders about House, Fringe and Bones. This year I have a good sense we will be seeing a ton of Glee commercials given how successful it was at the Emmys. By the way, why does FOX insist on one name shows?
Listen, I understand the stations have every right to promote whatever shows they choose. They paid millions of dollars for the right to broadcast the games, so they are in control.
But how about a little variety? Instead of showing me clips of the same two shows six times a games, give me one clip of each show in your lineup. That way I may actually be intrigued by something instead of sickened of it. But no, that will not happen. Instead I will be reminded during every other break that My Boys is entirely unfunny, and that for a Doctor, House sure isn’t worried about sexual diseases.
At times like this I can only thin ‘Thank God for remote controls.’
PSB Phillies-Reds prediction
Everyone loves the Phillies right now and to be honest it’s quite a strange feeling.
Philadelphia is the city symbolized by Rocky, the ultimate underdog, yet this team is no underdog. Far from it. On espn.com 18 of the 27 baseball analysts picked the Phillies to not only go to the World Series, but win it. All 27 have them beating the Reds, and most by sweep. Sports Illustrated also likes the Phillies in a sweep.
Not even Obama was favored by those kinds of odds two years ago.
There’s nothing wrong with being the favorite, it is just an unusual spot for this team, and this city. And to be honest it has some fans feeling a little uncomfortable. We in the position Yankees fans have been in for the last decade: If the Phillies don’t win the World Series the season will be viewed as a disappointment. That’s the pressure that comes with having a staff of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Division title are nice, but championships are now the standard.
It’s an exciting, yet eerie position to be in.
Everyone knows the reasons why the Phillies should win this series against the Reds so I won’t waste time repeating them. As far as the Reds go, I see three great reasons to fear this team:
No. 1: The Reds are being given no chance. They are clearly in the “us against the World mentality” and certain teams thrive in that situation. A team that believes in itslef when knowone else will is a dangerous team.
No. 2: Entering the 2009 playoffs all the talk was about the Cardinals pitching. There was no way that rotation of Chris Carpenter (17-4, 2.24) , Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA) and Joel Pinero (15-12, 3.49 ERA) could be beat in a playoff series, let alone one that only had five games. Yet the Cardinals were swept in three games by the Dodgers.
No. 3: Jay Bruce: All of the media attention in September was placed on the red-hot hitting of Troy Tulowitski, who seemed to hit a home run every night. However Bruce was just a good dating back to August 13. As cnnsi.com points out Bruce hit .371 with 15 home runs in his final 34 games. He does have injury concerns, but he is flat out raking right now. Anyone who brings that kind of bat into the playoffs has to be considered a serious threat.
PREDICTION: With my ramblings now out of the way, it’s time lay out my pick. The Phillies are playing better baseball than any team in the playoffs and deserve their place as the favorites. Though Roy Halladay will be new to the postseason, he doesn’t strike me as a guy who will falter under ultimate pressure. I’m not sure the Phillies bats will explode right from Game 1, but I don’t think they will need to given the pitching. The Phillies are just too god right now. With that in mind I will play into my own fears:
Phillies in 3
Because we need more of T.O. and OchoCino
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 6 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
When VH1 gave Terrell Owens a show last year, I knew it was the start if bad things. My fears were justified this season when they added the Chad Ochocinco Show, an equally unappealing show.
However these shows haven’t been so much as a blip on my radar since I don’t watch VH1 and I don’t converse about either loudmouth receiver unless I have to.
Then came the news that the executives at Versus, a station that is supposed to be about sports, not “reality” television, have come up with the idea of starting the T.Ocho show. The program will debut on October 12 and will feature Owens and Ochocinco in what is being advertised as a sports talk show (because apparently we need to hear these two self promoters talk a little more. Here is the synopsis.
“Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco are two of the most recognizable, quotable and entertaining figures in pro football. Their on-field partnership may bring the Bengals their first ever Super Bowl Trophy. VERSUS will take this on-field partnership and put it on TV. “The T.Ocho Show” will be the first ever weekly national NFL talk show starring two active players. The show will let TO and Ochocinco give fans their own personal insight on everything going on in the NFL.”
Versus forgot to add that both men were included in the 10 most hated athletes in sports that was released earlier this year. This show will not be entertaining, funny or insightful. Instead it will be a light blend of garbage, topped off with a big heaping of stupidity.
I will never watch this show, but just the thought of the commercials are enough to get the blood pressure boiling. Every hockey game I watch on Versus, there it will be, a clip of a show so bad it makes Sports Soup look like an Emmy winner.
Whoever had the idea for this show should be punished and punished harshly. The best way I can think of doing that would be to lock him in a room and force him to watch the show he created. Maybe then he will realize just how idiotic this show is.
Time management issues … again
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 5 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
For the last decade Eagles fans have been left throwing their remote controls and punching walls over the lack of time management skills demonstrated by Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb. The former Eagles’ quarterback took a ton of heat over the way he would waste timeouts like he had a dozen a game. However Sunday proved that McNabb wasn’t the problem all along. It was Andy.
Reid made an error that would be laughable it not for the fact that it may have legitimately cost the Eagles the game. And who knows what this game will turnout to mean by season’s end.
The play at issue came when LeSean McCoy rushed the ball inside the 1-yard line in the final seconds of the first half on a third-down play. Officials took about five minutes reviewing that play (whatever happened to the idea that replays would take no longer than two minutes? Anyone remember that?). Even after all of that time, Reid still could not devise the right play call and had to use a timeout. In the postgame he said that the ball was not as close to the goal line as they originally thought and that the play they had would not have been effective.
“I take full responsibility in particular for what happened at the end of the first half,” Reid said. “I thought that play initially started off as (fourth-and-) inches. But after the review, the play we had for inches ended up being a yard, and the clock was well into it when we were aware of that. That’s my responsibility, and there are no excuses for it at all.”
OK, I guess I can by some of that thinking. After all, you can’t take the timeout with you into the locker room. But then the team managed to still not get the play in in time and the team was issued a delay of game penalty.
The Eagles settled for a field goal and ultimately a loss.
There is just no way that can be acceptable — even in high school football. Yet blunders like this seem to happen with Reid and the Eagles all the time.
As Andy even said: “That’s my responsibility, and there are no excuses for it at all.”
The truly disturbing Andy isn’t going anywhere for awhile so don’t expect this to be the last time management blunder fans will have to choke down this season.
Invisible man stops Avant
For the second straight day it is an Eagles receiver that finds himself in this column. Fans watching the ending to Sunday’s Eagles-Redskins game witnessed Jason Avant drop a would-be touchdown pass in the final play of the game. It was by no means a gimme, but the ball was in Avant’s hands and the play was not made.
However the dropped pass isn’t whant put Avant in this column, it was his response in the postgame. Following the 17-12 loss Avant told reporters “I’m not sure what happened, I guess someone knocked the ball out.”
No, Jason, no one knocked the ball out, you simply didn’t hang on. Next time, blame yourself, not the invisible man.
Hey Freddie, no one cares about you or your one catch anymore
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 3 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
I think its about time that someone reminded Freddie Mitchell, or Fred-Ex or Mr. First Down or whatever the heck he is calling himself these days, that when it came to playing football, he stunk.
The guy made one catch and thought he was all world. As it turned out he wasn’t even all practice squad. After his forgettable tenure in Philly, Mitchell went on to do absolutely nothing in the NFL. Yet he still feels the needs to make comments like these to the Philadelphia Inquirer in reference to Donovan McNabb.
“I really didn’t like him because he wasn’t going down the progressions. He wasn’t going one, two, three and then four,” Mitchell said. “I was the third progression off the offensive playbook so it was like I’m running my routes as hard as possible and he’s not looking at that. He’s going from one to the safety valve, which was Brian Westbrook, which isn’t a bad safety valve, but a lot of the great quarterbacks, they’ll read down the progression and that’s how the west-coast offense is supposed to be ran.”
Even if McNabb would have went through his progressions all he would have found was a covered or lost Mitchell, who was never known to be a great route runner. I understand that former players like to make comments about their former teams or teammates, but some players just need to know when to zip it. When Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber came out to rip the Giants this week, there is a respect factor there because those players earned the right to make comments. All Mitchell earned himself was a ticket out of the league for being a lousy receiver.
Fans didn’t care about Freddie when he was in the league and we could care even less about him now. As for McNabb: Something tells me he has bigger things on his mind than what Mitchell thinks of him.
Writer way too high on Redskins
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 2 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
You may have heard that Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick have been in the headlines this week. If you haven’t, well then you are not reading this because you are clearly in a coma.
At times the media can get too obsessed with a story and play it to a point where even the most die hard fans are sent diving into the cushions of their couch to block out the chatter.
With so much attention going to the McNabb-Eagles, Vick is back drama, some reporters will go to any lengths to prove they do not get stuck in the eye of the media’s hurricane. Sometimes this leads to new information, an interesting take, or a breath of fresh air.
Other times it leads to print that has no other purpose than to fill up a blank page. And that’s when the gears start grinding.
Take for example this piece of journalism courtesy of this piece from the Express-Times.
In the article the author gets completely lost talking about the Redskins. Try these few graphs for size.
“The Eagles’ defense, after all, will be the one confronting McNabb, not Vick. The Birds’ defense dominated Jacksonville last week but even Temple’s defense would have had a decent day against the inept David Garrard, the Jags’ overmatched line and an ordinary bunch of skill players.”
News flash, Temple isn’t a punching bag anymore. They took Penn State down to the wire and could be looking at a Bowl Game this year. Temple jokes are so 2007. However it gets worse folks.
McNabb brings some much more impressive friends with him than Garrard could. Wide receiver Santana Moss is one of the NFL’s best at getting open in the clutch, and his fellow receivers Joey Galloway, Anthony Armstrong and Roydell Williams may only have eight catches between them but they are averaging 22.4 yards a catch.
Tight end Chris Cooley, like Moss, is in the elite at his position and could torture the Eagles especially if the Philadelphia linebackers let him get off the line of scrimmage with momentum. Clinton Portis may be on the downside of his career but can still be an effective and efficient running back.
Someone please explain to me when Santana Moss was ever considered elite? Last season he was 29th in the league with 902 yards and caught a measly three touchdowns. Last time I checked the word “elite” was saved for the best of the best.
And how about the Portis reference? Portis got one second-half carry last week and is in Mike Shanahan’s dog house. Yet he is one of these “impressive friends” that McNabb is bringing with him this week? How can you seriously say the Redskins are more dangerous at the skill positions than the Jaguars when it’s Portis running the ball for Washington and Maurice Jones Drew getting the ball for Jacksonville?
The article gets worse but I will spare you the details unless you wish to click the link yourself.
Listen, I’m glad someone wanted to look at a story other than McNabb and Vick, but doing a little research might help next time. Throwing slop like this down, doesn’t do anything to help a reader, much less the writer’s reputation.
A beef with Contador
(Grinding My Gears writer Eric Schwartz will be getting married on October 9th and because of this he will be forced to smile much more than he would like to. The only way for this to be plausible is for him to unleash on all that is wrong in the World of Sports over the next 10 days. This is Part 1 of 10 straight days of Grinding My Gears.)
Alberto Contador is the latest disgrace to cycling — and lets be clear he is a disgrace. In a sport filled with cheaters and liars, Contador moved himself to the top of the last this week when it was found that the three-time Tour De France winner tested positive in a doping test.
Yesterday we got his excuse: It was a bad piece of beef.
Sure and Andy Pettit only took steroids that one time and J.C. Romero just got a bad prescription.
Cycling is the dirties sport in the world when it comes to performance enhancing drugs and it isn’t even close. Congress may grill baseball players on the issue but it is the cyclists who need a real whipping, and not just a verbal one.
As is, most Americans could care less about Contador or anyone else in the sport not named Lance Armstrong (And it looks like Lance will be the sports next disappointment as evidence continues to mount against him). Now thanks to these drug issues, we care even less.
Right now I’d be curious to find out who has a bigger drug problem: The Cycling or the WWE. Even the WWE has a drug policy these days, though I’m sure they stick to it as well politicians stick to their promises.
If Contador should get credit for one thing it is coming up with an excuse that some “experts” are buying.
Clenbuterol — the supplement that got him suspended — is often used to speed up growth and increase muscle mass in animals, including chickens, cattle and pigs. So it is possible that by digesting meat that came from an injected animal, Contador accidently absorbed the substance.
Then again Clenbuterol is also used by people for bodybuilding. So it is much more conceivable that it wasn’t a fork and knife that injected Contador, but a needle.
Contador refuses to accept that. He clings to his story that he is innocent.
“I think this is going to be resolved in a clear way,” he said. “With the truth behind you, you can speak loud and clear, and I am confident justice will prevail.”
In the court of public opinion Contador has already been convicted. The key has been thrown away and there are no spares. When the UCI upholds his suspension it will only confirm what we already know: Contador is just another lying, cheating cyclist.
Talk of the town 9/29
With the Phillies having locked up the NL’s best record one writer is focusing on getting Jimmie Rollins back to form, while another is considering a vote for Halladay as the NLs MVP. Also it’s just a few days until Donovan McNabb rolls back into town as a member of the Redskins. How will fans react? Plus Michael Leighton’s injury brings back into focus the Flyers inability to bring in a goaltender this off-season.
It’s all here in today’s Talk of the town.
McNabb anticipates cheers from Philly — espn.com
“Honestly, I think I will be more cheered,” McNabb said on his weekly appearance on ESPN-980 in Washington. “No matter what the situation is, right now I’m with a different team and it’s a rival and it wasn’t my choice. We had a successful 11 years. We had a lot of exciting plays and obviously some down times, but there were more exciting things in 11 years.”
Four games to get Rollins ready – philly.com
“Last night he played five innings of what turned out to be a 2-1 loss at Nationals Park on a walkoff homer by Adam Dunn. Afterward, he pronounced himself satisfied with his progress. “I won’t be 100 percent when the playoffs start,” he said. “I won’t be 100 percent until next February, probably. But I think I’m better and that I can play at this speed. That’s what’s most important.”
Phillies 2010: The best team in franchise history? – csnphilly.com
“ Although the Phillies have done nothing more than guarantee three more games on the schedule, there is already a buzz whether the 2010 team is the best in club history. With 94 wins and a chance to be the first National League team since the 1942-44 Cardinals to make it to the World Series three years in a row, the Phillies aren’t flirting with just franchise greatness … this is all-time stuff.”
Micahel Leighton hurts back, time to worry in Philadelphia – prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com
“All of a sudden, the Flyers missed attempt at landing Marty Turco in the off-season and seeming lack of contingency plan starts to look even more questionable if Leighton is going to be dealing with a potentially nagging injury all year. The Flyers are only rolling with Brian Boucher as Leighton’s backup and while there are a couple of intriguing young guys waiting in the wings in Johan Backlund and Sergei Bobrovsky, for a team that made the Stanley Cup Finals last year to think they can get away with that kind of motley crew in goal is daring if not just plain stupid.”
Should Doc get MVP consideration – crashburnalley.com
“ Although rare, a pitcher winning the award is not unheard of: Dennis Eckersley was the last pitcher to receive the honor, in 1992 with the Oakland Athletics. As a closer, he finished with a 1.91 ERA and 51 saves in 60 innings of work. The last starting pitcher to win the award was Roger Clemens in 1986 with the Boston Red Sox. That year, Clemens went 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 254 innings with ten complete games and one shut-out.”
Talk of the town 9/27
Vick carries Eagles to 28-3 rout of Jaguars — cnsphilly.com
Talk of the town 9/24
The Phillies return to action against the Mets today in the start of a three-game series, that has little drama attached to it. Meanwhile, one blogger talks about how the Eagles o-line is not quite as bad as some make it out to be and another talks about the Flyers playing until the sun came up. Plus we have an exciting Penn State-Temple football game to preview. When is the last time anyone could say that?
It’s all here in today’s edition of talk of the town.
Flyers drop Eleven round shootout, game to Leafs in London, 4-3 - broadstreetkockey.com
“These preseason games in London, Ontario always seem to entertain. Tonight was no different as the Flyers dropped an eleven-round shootoutto the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bill Guerin and Marc-Andre Bourdon were credited with the real, in-game goals (more on that below), while Jeff Carter, Guerin and Joonas Lehtivouri scored in the shootout for the “hometown” Philadelphia Flyers.”
Offensive line is just an excuse - the700level.com
“There are people – quite a few of you, actually – who honestly believe the switch to Michael Vick had something to do with the offensive line. Kevin Kolb will get repeatedly concussed behind this group, while Vick’s escapability allows him to keep plays alive and not get sacked every drop back. What do I think about this line, a unit I determined was “better” heading into the season much to the disbelief of practically everybody? I think you need to go back and re-watch the game.”
This week’s pitching probables- thegoodphight.com
“The most notable tidbit here is that Kyle Kendrick (whose turn was originally scheduled to come up on Friday and Wednesday) has been flipped with Joe Blanton (originally scheduled to pitch on Saturday). This makes sense because we have nine games left, meaning that four of our five starting pitchers will start two more games, while the fifth guy will start only one more game. Since Blanton is a good pitcher while Kendrick is not, the fifth guy should clearly be Kendrick.”
Golden enjoying othe journey with Temple - philly.com
“That boy is now the man who has brought Temple football back from the dead. In five years, Al Golden – his mother routinely calls him Alfred, everyone else just calls him Al – has turned the Temple Owls from a national joke into a contender that is 3-0 heading into a pivotal matchup Saturday with Penn State, Golden’s alma mater.”
Preview: Temple vs. Penn State – linebacker-u.com
“Penn State enters the final non-conference game of this season, as the Nittany Lions play host to in-state foe Temple. If this game were played three, four or five seasons ago, it would be a laugher for Penn State fans. But head coach Al Golden is brewing up something special in Philly–a winning football program. The Owls could reach consecutive bowl games for the first time since… ever! ”
New coach Collins believes Sixers will be better- nbcsports.com
“Collins is committed to slapping a dead bolt on Philadelphia’s revolving door that tosses out coaches just when they get settled on the bench. The former TNT announcer is the Sixers’ seventh — seventh! — coach since Larry Brown left in 2003. Collins hopes to bring stability and success to a franchise that has lost direction, attention and enthusiasm.”
Polls
Loading ...Philly Sports Books
Hey Philly, check out this great little Phillies book.
The Phillies Fan's Little Book of Wisdom (Little Book of Wisdom (Taylor))
Sports Columns
Grinding My Gears is all the stuff that gets under your skin. Bad calls in a game, fans storming the court after a regular win, comments by players...
By The Numbers simply put is research comparing records and statistics from today to bygone eras.Philly Sports Blogs on Social Networks
