February 8, 2012

Fill It Up Again! Phils Win 3rd Straight NL East Title!

phillies-NL-east-champs-2009

They will be raising another flag at The Bank on Opening Day next year. We'll find out in the next few weeks whether it will be a division flag, a pennant flag or a championship flag - but after they spanked the Astros tonight, we know "2009" will be flying somewhere. The 2009 Phillies are the 12th Phillies team to win a division title and the 2nd to win 3 straight (1976-78). This year's version was a lot less stressful than the last 2 years, which were decided in dramatic fashion on … [Read more...]

Sammy Talking Reckless – And He’s Right!

So Sammy is talking - already! I just had a quick conversation with Pete about this.  I'll just come right out and say it, Pete and anyone else that jumps on Sammy because of these comments are dead wrong - period. Like I told Pete, Sam is right. You can't openly call him the "X-factor" and then not play him.  That makes no sense at all and if I was in his shoes I would feel the same way.  Did you listen to what he said? Or did you just see he was talking about minutes and your … [Read more...]

2009-10 NBA Preview: Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies Allen Iverson

Memphis Grizzlies 2008-09 Record: 24-58 Anticipated Starting Five PG- Allen Iverson SG- O.J. Mayo SF- Rudy Gay PF- Zach Randolph C- Marc Gasol Key Reserves: Mike Conley, Hasheem Thabeet, Darrell Arthur, Sam Young, DeMarre Carroll Biggest Strength: Talented offensive players A.I. can score the ball even at his old age, Rudy Gay can put the ball in the hole, Mayo is a scorer and pretty good three-point shooter and Gasol is solid inside and Randolph can get you 20-10 as well.  … [Read more...]

2009-10 NBA Preview: Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets Kyle Lowry

Houston Rockets 2008-09 Record: 53-29 Anticipated Starting Five PG- Aaron Brooks SG- Tracy McGrady SF-  Shane Battier PF- Luis Scola C-   David Anderson Key Reserves: Trevor Ariza, Carl, Landry, Kyle Lowry, Chuck Hayes, Chase Budinger, Joey Dorsey Biggest Strength: Defense This is why Houston is so tough.  They guard you - hard.  They have guys who love defense and individually are very good at it in Battier and Ariza.  They have a pest in Lowry who can defend along with … [Read more...]

Phils Fall to Astros Again… Magic Number Still 3

"Why can't we beat the Astros? Why can't this team get themselves playing October baseball? Why does Charlie Manuel think Tyler Walker is good? Why won't the Braves lose?" That's as far as I got last night before I realized I was too frustrated to keep writing and frankly didn't want to think about baseball for the rest of the night. So where is my head at this morning? Why are Phillies' fans nervous even though we still have a 99.4% chance of making the playoffs? Because we've seen … [Read more...]

Eagles Steamroll Hapless Chiefs

celek

Dannie and I were down at the game yesterday and got a first hand look at Michael Vick's debut (yawn), Kevin Kolb's emergence and Randall Cunningham's induction into the Eagles' Honor Roll. Here's what I took away from the seats... The Good Stuff Andy Reid drives a lot of us nuts sometimes, but these are types of games that make wonder why ANYONE would consider firing him anytime soon. His ability to scout, draft and develop talent, manage the salary cap, and draw up quality gameplans … [Read more...]

2009-10 NBA Preview: Dallas Mavericks

DirkNowitzki41oftheDallasMavericksh

Dallas Mavericks 2008-09 Record: 50-32 Anticipated Starting Five PG- Jason Kidd SG- Josh Howard SF- Shawn Marion PF- Dirk Nowitzki C-  Erick Dampier Key Reserves:  Jason Terry, Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas, Jose Juan Barea, Quinton Ross, Rodrigue Beaubois Biggest Strength: Solid veteran players Kidd, Dirk, Terry, Marion, Gooden, Thomas, Howard. You don't have to worry about this team getting rattled and they can handle pressure situations no problem with Dirk as their go-to … [Read more...]

2009-10 NBA Preview: Washington Wizards

Washington Wizards Mike Miller and Randy Foye

Washington Wizards 2008-09 Record: 19-63 Anticipated Starting Five PG- Gilbert Arenas SG- Mike Miller SF- Caron Butler PF- Antawn Jamison C- Brendan Haywood Key Reserves: Andray Blatche, Randy Foye, Nick Young, DeShawn Stevenson, JaVale McGee Biggest Strength: Tons of Offense Arenas, Miller, Butler, Jamison, Foye and Young provide plenty of scoring punch in the backcourt and on the wing.  They have a lack of a true post player but they can surely overcome that with very … [Read more...]

The Phillies’ Only Closer Solution: J.A. Happ

happcloser

I'm going to keep this short - but all any Phillies' fan has been thinking about recently is how on earth we have any chance at repeating with the disaster that is Lidge and Madson in the 9th. Here is my solution, and personally, I think it is the only solution with Myers out for a little, Madson failing in the 9th, Park out and Pedro pitching so poorly in the 1st inning in his starts (5 runs in 8 1st innings). Use Pedro Martinez as the 4th starter in the playoffs and insert J.A. Happ as your … [Read more...]

Sixers 2009-10: Where Should The Minutes Go?

sixers minutes

With the Eagles running out Michael Vick and wildcat and the Phillies chasing their 3rd straight NL East Championship, and the Flyers parading their new goalie and new franchise player around, there is as little hype and talk for a Sixers' season as I can remember. But for me, and Dannie, there is a lot of intrigue with this team right now. We aren't expecting huge things, but with a new coach, a new look and a good amount of new players, it will be interesting to see how things play … [Read more...]