Phightins

Joe Torre is leaving the Dodgers and Don Mattingly will supposedly take over

I <3 Jrue, but I'd do that in a second.

I don't see any way this happens, mainly because I don't see why Carmelo would want to come here when the Sixers probably aren't contending for a title in the next few years. http://www.the700level.com/2010/09/start-the-commotion-sixers-possible-landing-spot-for-melo-.html The700Level (local Philly sports blog) broke this down earlier today. The three-team-deal scenario is interesting, mainly because that seems a lot more possible than Carmelo coming here.

And Gionta will be the captain!

Rookie game today vs. Caps. Really interested to see how Sergei Bobrovsky does (he is starting in goal). I should probably avoid hyping up a Flyers goalie prospect based on past results, but a lot of people see him as a potential franchise goalie down the road. Some are even saying he may make the roster this season.

I agree with this. The arrogance of umpires is at an all-time high right now.

As everybody knows, the Pirates are bad. They have won 15 road games all year and have been outscored by 283 runs. That is '62 Mets and '03 Tigers bad.

Whoever wrote that is clearly unfamiliar with Andy Reid. But I am siding with Andy this time. As I posted in another thread, the most important thing the Eagles need to accomplish this season is to see what they have in Kevin Kolb. They will not be able to tell anything if he is on the bench. They did not draft him in the 2nd round, trade Donovan McNabb, and give Kevin Kolb a new contract so that Kolb could be the backup. He needs to, should be, and will be the quarterback when he is healthy. This is not a "Super Bowl or bust" team.

Better question - how many of these stories actually happened? Lets put the over/under at 0.5. I will take the under.

As a Sixer fan, I guess Hedo Turkoglu's buzzer beater in the playoffs two years ago. Not many big games to choose from, ha. http://www.interbasket.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hedo-turkoglu-game-winner-76ers.jpg As a general sports fan, it's easy. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals this past year. Losing a playoff hockey game in OT is the absolute worst, as ECN, Chicks Love Hakeem Nicks, and Universe can attest to, and to lose the championship in OT is a dagger to the heart. http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/8b/b9/16dceca24c82beff55b2f47c4780.jpeg I guess the runner up would be game 4 of the World Series last year, the Johnny Damon 2-stolen-bases-in-the-9th-inning game. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/11/02/sports/baseball/03kepner/articleLarge.jpg

Good news (but bad news for Cobb). Roy Oswalt is being bumped up from Saturday to Friday. This lines up the big 3 to all face the Braves next week (Hamels Monday, Halladay Tuesday, and Oswalt Wednesday). And with the two additional off days after that series, they could easily line this up again for the series in Atlanta also.

I think the worst thing that could happen for the Eagles is for the season to end with them still unsure of what Kolb can do. You are probably right, Vick is most likely the better "win now" option due to his experience, and the fact that he clearly still has a bit of talent as we saw on Sunday. But I don't think the Eagles are necessarily in "win-now" mode. Remember, a lot of people are picking them to finish 3rd or 4th in the division. The most important thing the Eagles need to do this season is evaluate what they have in Kolb (and the rest of their young players, but obviously the quarterback is the most important). They need to see if they can win in the future with him, or if they need to seriously consider other options in the offseason. Kolb needs a chance to prove himself beyond that one half in week one.

People are pissed? I am a big McNabb fan, but most people in this area were begging for him to be traded for years. I never understood it and thought he unfairly got a bad rap most of the time, but you would be surprised at how many people were THRILLED to see him go. Of course nobody is saying that after this past weekend. Also, people [expletive]ting on Kolb is getting super annoying. Last year when he tears apart New Orleans and Kansas City, everyone says "who cares, he beat up two bad defenses". This year when he struggles in the preseason, nobody seems to mention that he was playing with an offensive line consisting of Nick Cole, Mike McGlynn, AQ Shipley, Max Jean-Gillies, and an assortment of other all-pro practice squad guys. Then in his regular season debut as the clear-cut No. 1 QB, he struggles in just one half against a very good defense, and he is taken out of the game in favor of Mike Vick every 4 or 5 plays, thus hampering his ability to get in any sort of rhythm, and everyone says "see I TOLD you he is not a good quarterback, he should not be starting!!". It is astounding.

5 year extension for Bobby Ryan.

Ugh....as if I didn't get enough of this on the radio every time I get into my car. Answer is simple. Basically what Smitty and Chicks Love Hakeem Nicks said. Vick starts this week since Kolb has the concussion, Kolb gets the job when he is healthy. Eagles spent a 2nd round pick on Kolb, they spent 3 years grooming him to start, and they traded away the face of the last 10 years of their franchise so he could start. They are not ditching him because of one poor half. Also, here is another thought for big Andy. When Kolb is healthy, just let him [expletive]ing play. Don't run Vick in every 4 or 5 plays. This type of situation never works. It was obvious that Kolb could not get into any sort of rhythm, and I am sure that taking him out of the game so frequently was not helping. Frankly, this is absolutely amazing to me. Kevin Kolb has played ONE HALF as the undisputed number 1 quarterback of the Eagles, and people are already calling for him to lose his job (I think a good number of these people are not even from Philadelphia). And I thought Philadelphia fans were the only unreasonable people prone to kneejerk reactions.

I wonder how many people are checking into gamblers anonymous right about now. ECN??? Haha.

Even worse in Cincinnati. 12,000!

Also I do not mean at all to be a dick, Cobb... But really, Atlanta? Middle of September, pennant race, and only 18,000 fans show up? Jesus.

Tonight, Billy Wagner came pretty close to striking out the side on 9 pitches (he struck out the first 2 batters on 6 pitches and threw strike 1 to the third batter before throwing a ball). This got me thinking about how much this has happened in history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitchers_who_have_struck_out_three_batters_on_nine_pitches Kind of interesting. A bunch of guys you'd expect (Koufax, Pedro, Bunning, Grove, Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, Randy Johnson, Rob Dibble, etc), but then you have a bunch of random guys like Brian Lawrence, Ross Ohlendorf, and Brandon Backe. Heh. Kind of obscure.

Nevermind, Canadiens fan. Even better!!

Leafs fan?

Bill Guerin signs a tryout contract.

Devils got owned by the league for the Kovalchuk mess. They have to give up a 1st rounder at some point in the next 4 years (they get to pick which year), a 3rd round pick in 2011, and they are fined $3 million. Ouch!

And apparently the Eagles signed Owen Schmitt.

A very similar play happened in the Super Bowl last year, on the 2 point conversion, and the officials did not overturn it. But there are also cases where the officials did enforce this rule. It seems pretty stupid to me.