See all of the snow in this picture at my Mom's house, boys and girls? Well this is a big part of the reason I packed my belongings into a 1987 Mustang convertible and moved down south. When you start talking about snow in terms of feet and not inches - well, that dog don't hunt.Back to the stuff you care about...
Charles Barkley once famously said of the 1991 76ers, "I asked them to get me Shaq and they went out and traded for Charles Shackelford." When I think about the sad state of the Sixers and I get really down, I think to myself, "Well, at least its not 1993." Make no mistake about it, the Sixers are in total disarray right now. Is it because they have given long-term all-star contracts to not-quite all-star level players? Is it the HORRENDOUS CRAPTASTIC hire of Eddie Jordan as head coach and his blatant disregard for coaching defense, his musical chairs approach to playing time or his insistence to take a team built to run and make them play his plodding Princeton offense? Maybe its Ed Stefanski's inability poor decisions (the Elton Brand trade and signing, the Kyle Korver deal, the selection of Eddie Jordan as head coach). Although Brand is starting to play much better, I think it's all of the above. The first thing I would like to see -- Eddie Jordan exit stage left. He has not done the job. He has lost his players. There's absolutely no method to his madness when it comes to his rotation. A good coach adjusts his gameplan to his players abilities but Jordan is neither a good coach, nor does he care about defense. The Sixers have a few complementary pieces to work with but there is no direction for this team and their coach has proven to be mediocre on his best day. Total disarray? Go figure.
Phillies
Pitchers and catchers report next week and I cannot wait. I'm fired up to see Doc Halladay take the mound for the Phils and see some of the other off-season changes (Polanco, Dannys Baez). Also, not sure if you heard but the Phils will be wearing their LEGENDARY powder blue uniforms during at least one game this season.
Flyers
Good to see the Flyers coming together, but if the rumored hip injury to Ray Emery is true, they could have a tough road to travel. Reportedly Emery could be done for the year, due to a gimpy hip that will require surgery. Michael Lehtonen has been sensational but can he and Brian Boucher stay hot through the rest of the season and into the playoffs? Defensively, this is the best Flyers team in a long time. Offensively, I'd still like to see them add a center who can consistently win face-offs and a goal scoring wing. That being the case, Ilya Kovalchuk was NOT the answer -- not at the price we would have had to pay for a "rental player."
Eagles
Watching the Saints win the Superbowl gave me mixed emotions. I was happy for my extended family who are Saints fans and happy for New Orleans, but anytime a team wins their first Superbowl, I can't help but thinking what about the Eagles? I feel like a team like the Saints doesn't understand suffering. Easy cowboy, I know the Saints were the laughing stock of the league for a while, like the Bucs (who also have a Superbowl title). I know that the Saints fans used to wear bags on their heads. Yeah, I get it. But when you've been around as long as the Eagles have and the only championship you can point to is from 1960 (BEFORE they actually played Superbowls), that's a long time to "fall short."
In case you are wondering, the Eagles aren't trading Donovan McNabb and I don't think they are trading Kevin Kolb. Michael Vick however, I'll be shocked if he's on the roster at the beginning of training camp next season.
Dawgs
National recruiting day is such a funny thing. It's really sad that during that first week of February that a bunch of fickle 17-18 year olds have the ability to determine my happiness that day. When I think about it, it really is amazing. What's even more sad is that for about 12-13 weeks during the fall I give them this ability again, and there's really nothing I can do about it. That being said, I'm happy about returning 10 of 11 starters on offense, but nervous b/c the one position we are replacing is QB and neither of our redshirt freshman QB's took ONE snap last year.
In Other News:
- Just heard that Bengals are going to give a tryout to Pacman Jones and Matt Jones. Amazing how some things never change.
- Summer and I are in the process of buying a car and it's definitely an interesting adventure. I suppose it's similar to being recruited (see above). Dealers call all day and try to tell you how they have exactly what you want and if you would just agree to come in/visit, they would give us a deal we couldn't pass up. You go from having these people appear to be your "best friends" to not ever speaking to them again within the span of 24 hours.
- There are a few things that perplex me. One of these is a chatty dental hygienist. I mean, what are you supposed to do when she's ripping your mouth apart with 15 different tools. What is the expectation? If I have an opinion am I allowed to express it? What if she starts opining about politics or how the steroid era baseball players should still be eligible for the hall of fame. Does she really expect me not to respond (and subsequently spit all over the place)?
- To all my northern readers getting absolutely pounded with snow, you will appreciate this. Atlanta is supposed to get snow tomorrow (1-3 inches) and the news anchor was talking about someone trying to get out of town this weekend when she remarked, "Wow - I hope you will still be able to get out of town this weekend." Really, Brenda Woods?
- I have a theory that if you use the elliptical or one of those stair steppers at the gym and your head is violently moving back and forth to your music or you look like you are about to fall off the damn thing (you know, the ones with the moving handles), then you should work out at home. Don't embarrass me. Not in my gym.
- John Mayer is one of the biggest tools in entertainment. He's a good musician, a very good guitarist and in my mind he does anything he can do to be looked at as "an artist." His latest gaffe in Playboy is no shock. He wants to be viewed as a misunderstood, tortured, genius who only cares about the music (man). One outta four ain't bad.
- Now this man = this is a true celebrity. Long live DRAGO. Go to about 1:20 and try not to wet yourself www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtatY7bOUY&feature=player_embedded##
