Andrew
Bynum because I fully expect him to put up 25-12 playing with Kyrie
Irving, re-establishing himself as the best young big in the league, and
becoming a perennial all-star … all without ever having stepped foot on
the court during his remarkable Philadelphia 76ers career. But then
again, this is Cleveland, and we all know God hates Cleveland … which
may explain why Bynum still has not actually stepped on the court in
live game action yet — and is still not cleared to play. Can I change my
answer to watching Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings — two of my favorite
players in the league — in Detroit? I guess not, since I already
destroyed Joe Dumars. Bynum it is. - See more at:
http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/sports/basketball/6-nba-players-intrigue-2013-14-season/4/#sthash.RhcVL8yh.dpuf
Andrew Bynum because I fully expect him to put up 25-12 playing with Kyrie Irving, re-establishing himself as the best young big in the league, and becoming a perennial all-star … all without ever having stepped foot on the court during his remarkable Philadelphia 76ers career. But then again, this is Cleveland, and we all know God hates Cleveland … which may explain why Bynum still has not actually stepped on the court in live game action yet — and is still not cleared to play. Can I change my answer to watching Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings — two of my favorite players in the league — in Detroit? I guess not, since I already destroyed Joe Dumars. Bynum it is.Tuesday, October 29, 2013
TSFJ’s 6 NBA Players Of Intrigue For The 2013-14 Season
TSFJ’s 6 NBA Players Of Intrigue For The 2013-14 Season
Monday, October 28, 2013
Second-Guess the Coach: Chip Kelly
Yesterday the Eagles laid their second straight egg, failing to score a point offensively and losing their 10th straight home game. The defense, which was supposed to be the Achilles heel of this team, played its second straight strong game. The offense, which was supposed to carry this team to any wins the Eagles got this season, which was supposed to be revolutionary, did absolutely nothing for the second straight game.
Yes, I know there are quarterback problems. But teams are scoring points with Terrelle Pryor and Geno Smith and Mike Glennon and Ryan Fitzpatrick and Thad Lewis, so over the course of two games, an offense should be able to muster something regardless of who the quarterback is. The Eagles haven't, and that brings me to my obligatory day-after-loss, second-guess the coach post.
Chip Kelly has made some, shall we say ... curious decisions in his first eight games as the Eagles head coach. Chip is a likeable guy. Chip has a lot of experience on a football field. There will naturally be some growing pains and a learning curve for a coach jumping from the college ranks to the pros. And he inherited a terrible team. There was a lot of roster turnover and glaring holes at a lot of positions, and it will take time for Chip to address these issues and to construct the team the way he would like to have it constructed. But as the baffling decisions begin to pile up, at some point they must be called out.
The first thing that bothered me happened before the game even began. It involved the week of preparation leading up to the game. It was pretty evident that Mike Vick was not 100%. Now I fully support the decision to start him. He gives you the best chance to win, and you hope that at 70% or so he can get the job done. Starting Mike is not my issue.
Quick story. I had some quarterback issues of my own on one of my fantasy teams. I had Andrew Luck on a bye and an injured Jay Cutler as my backup. I found myself needing a quarterback to play this week. I received a trade proposal offering me Vick. As I was mulling it over, the sender texted me asking if I was going to accept it. My response was, "Yeah, I wanna do it, but I'm scared that he will get hurt in the first quarter." I ultimately used the waiver wire to find a quarterback.
Now if I can see this situation coming from my couch in the suburbs, how can the coach of the team who is with the team all the time and is getting paid millions of dollars not see it coming? Why not do a near even split with the first-team reps in practice, knowing that there was a very real possibility that Vick wouldn't last the game, so that your rookie backup could feel that he had some semblance of preparation should he have to come in the game? It was a lack of foresight and preparation that I find baffling.
OK, so then the game starts. The defense is playing well; the offense is not. Even when they move the ball, the rookie quarterback does a rookie quarterback thing and messes it up. This brings me to the first of four in-game decisions that were curious, to put it lightly.
Your offense finally moves the ball. You reach first and goal from the Giants 2-yard line. You have one of the best running backs in the league. And you have a rookie fourth-round pick quarterback in the game. There is no reason why you wouldn't run the ball at least twice. Frankly, if you can't run for two yards you don't deserve to score anyway. But Chip decides to throw, the rookie quarterback holds on to the ball too long, fumbles, and you come away with nothing. I've spent the last 14 years yelling at my TV, "Run the bleeping ball!" when the Eagles were inside the 5-yard line. I got a new coach and with him a new hope that those days were behind me. Instead I was left there sitting and having Andy Reid flashbacks.
First drive of the second half, trailing 12-0, you find yourself in a 4th and 10 from the Giants 32. Chip elects to go for it, doesn't get it, turnover on downs. I believe in the postgame press conference he said something about the wind being an issue at that end of the field. And we all know that Alex Henery has been less than consistent this season. Even with those factors, personally I still would have sent out the field-goal unit. But I could understand your reservations, if you hadn't trotted out the same FG kicker the week before for a 60-yard attempt. Attempting a 60-yarder, which under most circumstances makes very little sense, makes even less sense if you are scared to send him out for a 49- or 50-yarder the very next week.
Around 10 minutes left in the game you run into a 4th and 4 from the Giants 47, now trailing 15-0. This time Chip decides to punt. He said his reasoning was because he knew the defense could get a stop. But that still doesn't make sense. If you fail to convert, you should still be able to count on that stop if you are so confident in it. And the reward of going for it and converting far outweighs the risk of turning it over on downs around midfield.
And finally, the onside kick. You finally score thanks to a gift from the Giants special teams. There are a little over four minutes left in the game. You have one timeout. Chip decides to kick the onside kick. Chip cited the fact that he only had that one timeout as the reason he felt the need to go for the onsides kick.
I couldn't disagree more. If you kick onside and don't get it, then even if you get the stop you need you will more than likely be pinned deep in your own zone. Now you have to drive the whole field, with a rookie QB and no timeouts, to try to tie the game. If you kick it deep and get the stop you need, you most likely get the ball somewhere between your own 30 and midfield, greatly improving your chances at getting the needed score score. Kicking it short also opens the door for the possibility that you do get the ball back, but only after the Giants have kicked a FG that puts the game out of reach. If you kick it deep, you eliminate that possibility because if they end up getting into FG range the game is already over anyway because of the time situation. Recovering an onside kick has such a low probability that there was really no upside, no reason, to do so in that situation.
It's far too early to make any kind of final analysis of Chip Kelly. Maybe he gets his feet under him, adjusts to some of the differences between the pro and college game, gets some of his own personnel in here, addresses the shortcomings this team has talent-wise, and becomes a very good head coach for the Eagles. He certainly has the potential. Or maybe these baffling decisions continue to pile up, the team continues to struggle despite upgrades in personnel, the team continues to meander its way through irrelevancy, and it becomes evident that the Eagles have made a mistake in their coach selection.
Whatever the Chip Kelly era ends up being in Philadelphia (and hopefully it's good because if not and the Eagles got this wrong then they are back at square one again), the in-game errors that in the first few weeks were dismissed as "rookie" head coach mistakes that would not be reoccurring have begun to lean toward being tendencies, and that is not a good sign for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Yes, I know there are quarterback problems. But teams are scoring points with Terrelle Pryor and Geno Smith and Mike Glennon and Ryan Fitzpatrick and Thad Lewis, so over the course of two games, an offense should be able to muster something regardless of who the quarterback is. The Eagles haven't, and that brings me to my obligatory day-after-loss, second-guess the coach post.
Chip Kelly has made some, shall we say ... curious decisions in his first eight games as the Eagles head coach. Chip is a likeable guy. Chip has a lot of experience on a football field. There will naturally be some growing pains and a learning curve for a coach jumping from the college ranks to the pros. And he inherited a terrible team. There was a lot of roster turnover and glaring holes at a lot of positions, and it will take time for Chip to address these issues and to construct the team the way he would like to have it constructed. But as the baffling decisions begin to pile up, at some point they must be called out.
The first thing that bothered me happened before the game even began. It involved the week of preparation leading up to the game. It was pretty evident that Mike Vick was not 100%. Now I fully support the decision to start him. He gives you the best chance to win, and you hope that at 70% or so he can get the job done. Starting Mike is not my issue.
Quick story. I had some quarterback issues of my own on one of my fantasy teams. I had Andrew Luck on a bye and an injured Jay Cutler as my backup. I found myself needing a quarterback to play this week. I received a trade proposal offering me Vick. As I was mulling it over, the sender texted me asking if I was going to accept it. My response was, "Yeah, I wanna do it, but I'm scared that he will get hurt in the first quarter." I ultimately used the waiver wire to find a quarterback.
Now if I can see this situation coming from my couch in the suburbs, how can the coach of the team who is with the team all the time and is getting paid millions of dollars not see it coming? Why not do a near even split with the first-team reps in practice, knowing that there was a very real possibility that Vick wouldn't last the game, so that your rookie backup could feel that he had some semblance of preparation should he have to come in the game? It was a lack of foresight and preparation that I find baffling.
OK, so then the game starts. The defense is playing well; the offense is not. Even when they move the ball, the rookie quarterback does a rookie quarterback thing and messes it up. This brings me to the first of four in-game decisions that were curious, to put it lightly.
Your offense finally moves the ball. You reach first and goal from the Giants 2-yard line. You have one of the best running backs in the league. And you have a rookie fourth-round pick quarterback in the game. There is no reason why you wouldn't run the ball at least twice. Frankly, if you can't run for two yards you don't deserve to score anyway. But Chip decides to throw, the rookie quarterback holds on to the ball too long, fumbles, and you come away with nothing. I've spent the last 14 years yelling at my TV, "Run the bleeping ball!" when the Eagles were inside the 5-yard line. I got a new coach and with him a new hope that those days were behind me. Instead I was left there sitting and having Andy Reid flashbacks.
First drive of the second half, trailing 12-0, you find yourself in a 4th and 10 from the Giants 32. Chip elects to go for it, doesn't get it, turnover on downs. I believe in the postgame press conference he said something about the wind being an issue at that end of the field. And we all know that Alex Henery has been less than consistent this season. Even with those factors, personally I still would have sent out the field-goal unit. But I could understand your reservations, if you hadn't trotted out the same FG kicker the week before for a 60-yard attempt. Attempting a 60-yarder, which under most circumstances makes very little sense, makes even less sense if you are scared to send him out for a 49- or 50-yarder the very next week.
Around 10 minutes left in the game you run into a 4th and 4 from the Giants 47, now trailing 15-0. This time Chip decides to punt. He said his reasoning was because he knew the defense could get a stop. But that still doesn't make sense. If you fail to convert, you should still be able to count on that stop if you are so confident in it. And the reward of going for it and converting far outweighs the risk of turning it over on downs around midfield.
And finally, the onside kick. You finally score thanks to a gift from the Giants special teams. There are a little over four minutes left in the game. You have one timeout. Chip decides to kick the onside kick. Chip cited the fact that he only had that one timeout as the reason he felt the need to go for the onsides kick.
I couldn't disagree more. If you kick onside and don't get it, then even if you get the stop you need you will more than likely be pinned deep in your own zone. Now you have to drive the whole field, with a rookie QB and no timeouts, to try to tie the game. If you kick it deep and get the stop you need, you most likely get the ball somewhere between your own 30 and midfield, greatly improving your chances at getting the needed score score. Kicking it short also opens the door for the possibility that you do get the ball back, but only after the Giants have kicked a FG that puts the game out of reach. If you kick it deep, you eliminate that possibility because if they end up getting into FG range the game is already over anyway because of the time situation. Recovering an onside kick has such a low probability that there was really no upside, no reason, to do so in that situation.
It's far too early to make any kind of final analysis of Chip Kelly. Maybe he gets his feet under him, adjusts to some of the differences between the pro and college game, gets some of his own personnel in here, addresses the shortcomings this team has talent-wise, and becomes a very good head coach for the Eagles. He certainly has the potential. Or maybe these baffling decisions continue to pile up, the team continues to struggle despite upgrades in personnel, the team continues to meander its way through irrelevancy, and it becomes evident that the Eagles have made a mistake in their coach selection.
Whatever the Chip Kelly era ends up being in Philadelphia (and hopefully it's good because if not and the Eagles got this wrong then they are back at square one again), the in-game errors that in the first few weeks were dismissed as "rookie" head coach mistakes that would not be reoccurring have begun to lean toward being tendencies, and that is not a good sign for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Friday, October 25, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Wednesday night, I will be in attendance for the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers' season-opener, in which they will most assuredly lose by 50 points to the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat. At said game, Allen Iverson will officially announce his retirement in front of the fans who watched him go from excited rookie to leading scorer to troubled star to MVP and back, so might as well enjoy a little Allen Iverson name dropping from Nas.
The Sixers are going to be entertainingly, historically awful, and frankly I can't wait.
The Sixers are going to be entertainingly, historically awful, and frankly I can't wait.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Jim Leyland did some gutsy managing in Game 5 of the ALCS with his team down 3-1 in the series, which turned out to be a stroke of genius as the Detroit Tigers pulled off the victory and have a chance to tie things up tomorrow against the Boston Red Sox.
So now is as good a time as any to enjoy the dancing moves of Jim Leyland.
Dallas Sucks.
So now is as good a time as any to enjoy the dancing moves of Jim Leyland.
Dallas Sucks.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
A Fabulous Football Weekend
There was plenty to look forward to this past weekend for football fans in Philadelphia/Pennsylvania. Saturday evening Penn State hosted undefeated, 18th-ranked Michigan, looking to rebound from an ugly 44-24 defeat at Indiana, the first time the Hoosiers have ever beaten the Nittany Lions. Then on Sunday, the Eagles traveled to Tampa Bay looking to build off of their win over the Giants the previous week and knowing that a W would leave them no worse than in a first-place tie with the hated Cowboys.
Now I was hoping to write a bit more of an in-depth piece, perhaps even dedicating a piece to each game, but work sucked today and the man is holding me down and I really just want to get into relaxation mode, so instead I'm just going to touch on a few things from each game. As we all know, Penn State used an improbable comeback and four overtimes to upset the visiting Wolverines. And Nick Foles played a stellar game in leading the Eagles to a second straight win on Sunday.
I'll start with Penn State. What an amazing game. As a fan, just the excitement level and the roller coaster ride of a game that it was was just fantastic. Penn State builds early momentum and a lead at the half, only to see all of that completely reverse on the opening drive of the second half with a Zach Zwinak fumble that got returned for a touchdown.
And that brings me to my first point. I am tired of Zach Zwinak running the football. He is big and slow and in my opinion should be a fullback, only touching the ball a few times a game. Instead, he leads the team in carries. He is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, but it really seems like the majority of his runs are for 2 or 3 yards, especially in recent weeks. Bill Belton is far more explosive and has more characteristics of a prototypical halfback, and I would like to see him start to get the majority of the carries. I would also like to see promising sophomore Akeel Lynch get some more action. He showed some good things when he got some time early in the year, but has all but disappeared as of late.
Anyway I had to listen to the third quarter and a bit of the fourth on the radio because I was heading to the Rev's house, and the reception was shoddy at best. I managed to hear Michigan take a 10-point lead. I got to Rev's in time to see Sam Ficken hit a field goal to cut the lead to 7. And then Penn State has the ball, still down 7, with only 50 seconds remaining and no timeouts, and a true freshman quarterback playing in his first home Big Ten game. Rev and I were prepared to move on with our nights activities, figuring there was no way they would be able to mount a touchdown drive in that situation. But then they did. If I remember correctly, it took four plays, two incredible catches by Allen Robinson and a QB sneak by Christian Hackenberg.
The second thing that stood out to me was the play of Hackenberg. He is playing in his first Big Ten home game, in front of 108,000 people, on national television, against an undefeated rival. After navigating a successful first half, how would he respond to a miserable third quarter that saw Penn State get outscored 17-3 and saw the halftime lead turn into a deficit? He kept making throws, kept his team in the game, got enough to get Ficken into field-goal range to cut the lead to 7, then lead one of the most incredible and exciting drives I've ever seen. Sure, he's made some mistakes, some misreads, some poor throws, some poor decisions. But overall he has been very good, showing a good arm and, most impressively, incredible poise. As he continues to mature, he gives Penn State fans a lot to be excited about.
And finally, the play of Allen Robinson. I can't say enough about this guy or what he means to this team. He has consistently been one of the best players on the field this season, and continues to work his way into the conversation about the best receivers in the entire nation. Not only does he consistently put up big numbers, but his two catches on the Nittany Lions' game-tying drive were epic. First, an incredible, somehow-keep-a-foot-in-bounds-as-the-rest-of-your-body-dangles-over-the-sideline beauty that was initially ruled incomplete. Then another beauty jumping over a defender and falling in bounds at the one-yard line to set up the game-tying sneak by Hackenberg. Just incredible plays in their own right, not to mention the circumstances under which they took place. Kid is a stud, and it's a pleasure watching him week in and week out.
After the Nittany Lions' instant classic, it was on to Eagles-Bucs on Sunday. Like I said, the Eagles looked to build off their win in the Meadowlands against a struggling Bucs team. Other than trying to get a second win in a row, evening their record a 3-3 and try to remain atop the NFC East with the Cowboys, the story line was Nick Foles making his first start of the season.
Foles did not disappoint. All he did was go 22-31 for 296 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding another touchdown on the ground. He was decisive with the ball and spread the ball around, hitting eight different receivers. He managed to help Riley Cooper actually be a factor in the game, and DeSean Jackson continued his stellar season. Shady did what we have come to expect Shady to do, and the offense was in rhythm pretty much all afternoon. It was a very impressive performance from the second-year QB.
The defense stepped up as well. Sure, the Bucs started Mike Glennon at quarterback and were missing Mike Williams due to injury. But the Bucs still boast playmaking type players in Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson. The defense allowed only 3 points in the second half, and one player really stood out to me. People expected players like Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks to have good seasons, and they both played good games on Sunday. So to did DeMeco Ryans, who was all over the field while rounding up 12 tackles. But the player whom I was most impressed with was one who no one really talked about during the offseason and one who plays for the Birds' most beleaguered unit, the secondary. That player was Bradley Fletcher. Fletcher had several nice pass deflections and added an interception as well. It was really nice to see someone step up on what has been an absolutely atrocious secondary for two years now.
All in all it was a great football weekend for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — hell the Steelers even won. While expectations will remain tempered at Penn State as the program navigates the NCAA sanctions, the team provided its fans with a all-time great win and a reason to hope as things go forward.
For the Eagles, they moved their record to 3-3, and have set up a huge match-up with the hated Cowboys that will end with one team gaining a leg up in the standings and taking sole possession of first place as we approach the midpoint of the season. Nothing is better than an Eagles-Cowboys game that has meaning, and it should be a fun week leading up to it. Dallas Sucks.
Now I was hoping to write a bit more of an in-depth piece, perhaps even dedicating a piece to each game, but work sucked today and the man is holding me down and I really just want to get into relaxation mode, so instead I'm just going to touch on a few things from each game. As we all know, Penn State used an improbable comeback and four overtimes to upset the visiting Wolverines. And Nick Foles played a stellar game in leading the Eagles to a second straight win on Sunday.
I'll start with Penn State. What an amazing game. As a fan, just the excitement level and the roller coaster ride of a game that it was was just fantastic. Penn State builds early momentum and a lead at the half, only to see all of that completely reverse on the opening drive of the second half with a Zach Zwinak fumble that got returned for a touchdown.
And that brings me to my first point. I am tired of Zach Zwinak running the football. He is big and slow and in my opinion should be a fullback, only touching the ball a few times a game. Instead, he leads the team in carries. He is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, but it really seems like the majority of his runs are for 2 or 3 yards, especially in recent weeks. Bill Belton is far more explosive and has more characteristics of a prototypical halfback, and I would like to see him start to get the majority of the carries. I would also like to see promising sophomore Akeel Lynch get some more action. He showed some good things when he got some time early in the year, but has all but disappeared as of late.
Anyway I had to listen to the third quarter and a bit of the fourth on the radio because I was heading to the Rev's house, and the reception was shoddy at best. I managed to hear Michigan take a 10-point lead. I got to Rev's in time to see Sam Ficken hit a field goal to cut the lead to 7. And then Penn State has the ball, still down 7, with only 50 seconds remaining and no timeouts, and a true freshman quarterback playing in his first home Big Ten game. Rev and I were prepared to move on with our nights activities, figuring there was no way they would be able to mount a touchdown drive in that situation. But then they did. If I remember correctly, it took four plays, two incredible catches by Allen Robinson and a QB sneak by Christian Hackenberg.
The second thing that stood out to me was the play of Hackenberg. He is playing in his first Big Ten home game, in front of 108,000 people, on national television, against an undefeated rival. After navigating a successful first half, how would he respond to a miserable third quarter that saw Penn State get outscored 17-3 and saw the halftime lead turn into a deficit? He kept making throws, kept his team in the game, got enough to get Ficken into field-goal range to cut the lead to 7, then lead one of the most incredible and exciting drives I've ever seen. Sure, he's made some mistakes, some misreads, some poor throws, some poor decisions. But overall he has been very good, showing a good arm and, most impressively, incredible poise. As he continues to mature, he gives Penn State fans a lot to be excited about.
And finally, the play of Allen Robinson. I can't say enough about this guy or what he means to this team. He has consistently been one of the best players on the field this season, and continues to work his way into the conversation about the best receivers in the entire nation. Not only does he consistently put up big numbers, but his two catches on the Nittany Lions' game-tying drive were epic. First, an incredible, somehow-keep-a-foot-in-bounds-as-the-rest-of-your-body-dangles-over-the-sideline beauty that was initially ruled incomplete. Then another beauty jumping over a defender and falling in bounds at the one-yard line to set up the game-tying sneak by Hackenberg. Just incredible plays in their own right, not to mention the circumstances under which they took place. Kid is a stud, and it's a pleasure watching him week in and week out.
After the Nittany Lions' instant classic, it was on to Eagles-Bucs on Sunday. Like I said, the Eagles looked to build off their win in the Meadowlands against a struggling Bucs team. Other than trying to get a second win in a row, evening their record a 3-3 and try to remain atop the NFC East with the Cowboys, the story line was Nick Foles making his first start of the season.
Foles did not disappoint. All he did was go 22-31 for 296 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding another touchdown on the ground. He was decisive with the ball and spread the ball around, hitting eight different receivers. He managed to help Riley Cooper actually be a factor in the game, and DeSean Jackson continued his stellar season. Shady did what we have come to expect Shady to do, and the offense was in rhythm pretty much all afternoon. It was a very impressive performance from the second-year QB.
The defense stepped up as well. Sure, the Bucs started Mike Glennon at quarterback and were missing Mike Williams due to injury. But the Bucs still boast playmaking type players in Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson. The defense allowed only 3 points in the second half, and one player really stood out to me. People expected players like Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks to have good seasons, and they both played good games on Sunday. So to did DeMeco Ryans, who was all over the field while rounding up 12 tackles. But the player whom I was most impressed with was one who no one really talked about during the offseason and one who plays for the Birds' most beleaguered unit, the secondary. That player was Bradley Fletcher. Fletcher had several nice pass deflections and added an interception as well. It was really nice to see someone step up on what has been an absolutely atrocious secondary for two years now.
All in all it was a great football weekend for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — hell the Steelers even won. While expectations will remain tempered at Penn State as the program navigates the NCAA sanctions, the team provided its fans with a all-time great win and a reason to hope as things go forward.
For the Eagles, they moved their record to 3-3, and have set up a huge match-up with the hated Cowboys that will end with one team gaining a leg up in the standings and taking sole possession of first place as we approach the midpoint of the season. Nothing is better than an Eagles-Cowboys game that has meaning, and it should be a fun week leading up to it. Dallas Sucks.
Friday, October 11, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Well, this one is pretty easy. Enjoy DeSean Jackson salsa-ing his way into first place.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dace
The Eagles, like the rest of the NFC East, aren't very good. So might as well join in on the amazingness that was late '80s/early '90s nostalgia.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Runner's High Race Primer Review
Side stitches are a problem for runners if they eat or drink too much before running. This is true for me as well, but Runner's High made this to mix with a small 4 ounces of liquid. That's less than 3 shots worth. You can see the final 4 ounce mixed serving in the last picture. I take it about an hour before I run just to be safe. It's not a delicious concoction, but it's not bad and also not a lot to drink. Runner's High said the caffeine makes it bitter and they didn't want to put too much sugar in or make you have to drink too much. They don't use artificial sweeteners either, so it's a natural mix. It's definitely drinkable though and the glass is empty before you know it, but I recommend mixing it with some lemon-lime gatorade instead of water if you want to take away the slight bitterness. It becomes almost tasteless mixed with 8 ounces, but that's too much to drink before running for me. Side stitches are not an issue for me before cycling though so I can eat or drink as much as I want. Sometimes for long rides I would mix this in with my sports drink and sip it as I went.
This basically replaces the pre-race coffee, energy drink, gel, flat coke, or whatever you've been using before. The label says it increases aerobic energy, improves time to exhaustion, protects against high blood acidity, clears more ammonia, increases cardiac output, and stimulates the nitric oxide system. I can't specifically point out which of those things are happening, but I know that something is happening. This puts me in an awake and ready to run state and yet I am also relaxed. It's not something that made me hyper and jumping out of my skin only to burn out shortly after. I was a believer after my first use when I took it before a long run. I never felt like my leg muscles were really burning with effort even on the steepest hills. It felt like the only thing that was limiting me was how much air I could pull in. I beat my Broad Street Run 10 mile race time that night. For those that don't know, the Broad Street Run is flat as a pancake and the 10 miles I had just run on Race Primer had several significant hills. I even felt like I had more left in me after I finished, but decided I shouldn't overdo it. You still need to hydrate and get calories in during your run or your legs are going to run out of steam eventually, but this helped make the long run fly by.
Since then I have used Race Primer many more times and love it. It helped me to a half marathon PR and makes me feel the "runner's high" with every workout. One mistake I made was when I once used it for a long run in the evening and I couldn't fall asleep until about 3am. I now stick to using it in the morning only. It's listed for sale at $29.95 which works out to about $1.25 per serving. That may be more expensive than a normal sports drink, but this isn't a sports drink. When people are paying $3 for a 5 Hour Energy shot, I don't think this pricing is that bad at all for what it brings to the table.
Overall I think it's a great product for it's purpose and I recommend giving it a try. If you can handle caffeine and aren't afraid of a few shots worth of bitterness, then I don't see any reason not to.
You can find more detailed information about Race Primer at the Runner's High website here: http://www.runnershighnutrition.com/race-primer/
Friday, September 27, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Leonard Weaver was a really, really good fullback before he got injured. Now he's doing this. Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Cliff Lee Is Still The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
Cliff Lee: 8 innings pitched, 14 strikeouts, 0 walks, 3-for-4 at the plate, 1 run, 4 RBI, a triple. Yep, he's still the greatest man who ever lived.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
The REAL Top 10 Wide Receivers In The NFL, 2013 Edition
The REAL Top 10 Wide Receivers In The NFL, 2013 Edition
My list:
My list:
- Calvin Johnson
- Larry Fitzgerald
- Brandon Marshall
- Andre Johnson
- A.J. Green
- Dez Bryant
- Reggie Wayne
- Julio Jones
- Victor Cruz
- Roddy White
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Since this is the first weekend of NFL football and the second weekend of college football, it's going to be football overload for a while. So to break the monotony a bit, here is a healing song for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Penn State vs. Syracuse: 'Who Gives a Shit About Bubbles?!?'
In my nearly 30 years on this planet, I have seen Penn State play up in East Rutherford at the Meadowlands complex more than any other place outside of Beaver Stadium. I was there for a couple of the now-defunct Kickoff Classics vs. USC (a victory in 1996 and loss in 2000), witnessed them trounce Rutgers with Bobby Engram running a fumble he picked up in for a touchdown at the beginning of the game, and even saw them play and destroy Temple in Giants Stadium in 1996.
Saturday I was able to add another chapter to bearing witness to Penn State playing at the Meadowlands, as the Nittany Lions topped Syracuse at MetLife Stadium 23-17 in the season opener behind a stout defense and just enough offense. And while the game was all well and good — particularly last year's goat, Sam Ficken, and true freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg taking home Big Ten honors — the highlight of the entire trip came well before kickoff.
I departed for the game at approximately 11 a.m. with two of my longtime friends, both of whom were roommates of mine during our college days at Penn State. Surprisingly, we hit virtually no traffic the entire way, even as we approached the Meadowlands, leaving us plenty of time to tailgate. The first thing we noticed, which was no surprise, was that the vast majority of the parking lots were filled with Penn State supporters, with very little orange in sight despite this being an official Syracuse home game. We also noticed a lack of, let's say, aesthetic beauty.
Anyway, we posted up and began eating and drinking when something pretty hilarious happened. Across from us was an interesting-looking family — a large, athletic-looking guy with a tough-guy feel to him, his wife that looked a bit off and two young boys. The father was tossing the ball around with one son, as the other was running around. A little later, the father and his two sons were tossing some bean bags when the smaller of the boys tugged on his dad's pant leg and asked him where the bubbles where. The father's reply?
"Who gives a shit about bubbles?!?"
It had us laughing our asses off, and the dad turned toward us and said, "Fucking bubbles!" He was clearly disgusted with his young son discussing bubbles at a football tailgate — and he had no qualms about using the foul language in front of him. Quite entertaining if a bit concerning.
A little later, that same young boy was looked at by medics after falling, but he was fine — just a little scrape on his arm or something. It was quite a different tailgate, that's for sure.
After a couple hours in the parking lot, we headed in and prepped for the start of the college football season. In line, surrounded by Penn State fans, a rowdy group of college-aged Syracuse fans began some chants they found to be extremely clever, such as, "BOWL GAMES! BOWL GAMES! BOWL GAMES!" Because, you know, Penn State should be jealous of Syracuse's impressive résumé of bowl games since the Nittany Lions can't go to any for a little while. Admittedly, it was a tame chant, but it did prepare the Penn State fans in attendance for the few Orange fans that actually bothered to show up.
We got to our seats in the end zone and got all settled in. There were a few Syracuse fans around us, including a drunk, obnoxious woman who eventually was escorted out after causing a fight, but it was mostly Penn State fans surrounding us. It was a remarkably comfortable day, our view was great and we were ready.
Penn State received the opening kickoff and had its drive stalled in Syracuse territory. Nothing noteworthy there … except the fact that reigning Big Ten Receiver of the Year Allen Robinson did not see the field the entire drive. That had me scrambling all over to find out why in the world the team's best player wasn't on the field. I sent out texts and hit Twitter, finally learning that Robinson had been suspended for disciplinary reasons. At first, the tweet I saw reported he was suspended for the game, but turns out he was just suspended for the first half. No one knows why, exactly, since coach Bill O'Brien would not disclose the reason and Robinson was muzzled after the game. My guess is he missed a class or practice or curfew or something, but that's purely speculation.
Anyway, without Robinson on the field and with a true freshman quarterback under center, Penn State moved the ball a bit but could not get any points on the board. Then, to close out the first quarter, O'Brien put sophomore junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson in the game, who promptly threw a strike for 18 yards on his first play … only to fumble on his second, losing the ball as he cocked to pass. That led to a field goal by Syracuse to take a 3-0 lead, and it also led to Ferguson spending the rest of the game on the bench. One drive, one turnover and one lost chance to become the starter moving forward.
From there, it was Hackenberg's show, and the freshman impressed. However, he could not cap off any drives with touchdowns, and he wasn't helped by the play-calling of O'Brien.
Penn State did take a 6-3 lead into halftime as Sam Ficken continued to show his remarkable improvement by easily connecting on back-to-back 36- and 35-yard field goals, but the offense was sort of stagnant without Robinson. A large reason for that was because O'Brien was calling quite the curious game — something that continued the entire way. He repeatedly called for Hackenberg to do it all in just his first start, quickly neglecting the running game after it got off to a slow start. But at the same time, O'Brien would not let Hackenberg go all out in 3rd-and-long situations, often running with little chance of getting a first down. Also, the tight ends weren't seeing a ton of balls, especially Kyle Carter, which I found odd as well. I love Bill O'Brien, but Saturday was not his finest play-calling game.
Still, Penn State took the lead despite two turnovers — Hackenberg threw a pick in the second quarter — thanks to a stout defense. Syracuse could not get a damn thing going on the ground, as defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and company were getting repeated penetration, allowing Glenn Carson to sniff out the ball carrier time and time again. On top of that, minus a bad breakdown by Adrian Amos on one play, the young secondary stepped up. Stephen Obeng-Agyapong was outstanding, flying all over the field, and sophomore corners Jordan Lucas and Trevor Williams held their own nicely.
Still, the 6-3 margin didn't provide a ton of excitement. Thankfully it wouldn't take long for the excitement level to turn around in the second half, thanks to Allen Robinson.
After Penn State forced a punt on Syracuse's opening drive in the second half, Robinson entered the game and immediately made an impact. And I mean immediately. On his first play, Hackenberg hit Robinson for a 25-yard completion. On the very next play, the freshman went back to his top target, and Robinson dashed 51 yards for a touchdown, 13-3 Penn State. Two plays, two catches, 76 yards and a touchdown. Allen Robinson is fucking good.
That had the crowd amped and me really pumped, directing a few, "Uh, ohs" at some Cuse fans because our stud was back. Of course, the Orange came right back and scored its first touchdown of the game on the very next drive thanks to the aforementioned blown coverage by Amos, making it a three-point game again.
However, Penn State was able to hold on for the 23-17 victory, as Ficken followed his perfect first half by remaining perfect with a 46-yarder, while Hackenberberg connected with Geno Lewis for a 54-yard touchdown pass thanks to all the attention Robinson rightfully received following his first two plays.
Still, it wasn't all roses for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg threw an absolutely atrocious interception late in the game, which led to Syracuse's second touchdown that put the outcome in doubt. On the play, Robinson was in single coverage. No matter what the play call was, Hackenberg or O'Brien should have changed the play to make sure it went Robinson's way. No one did, and then Hackenberg showed his greenness, tossing a horrid interception into double coverage. Not good, particularly with Robinson, who had seven catches for 133 yards and a score in just one half of football, in one-on-one coverage. Like I said, not the finest play-calling performance by O'Brien.
On top of that, tight end Matt Lehman went down in a heap without being touched in what looked like an ACL injury. It looked bad. Turns out, Kyle Carter also hurt his arm, and while it's not serious, it could explain his zero catches. Then there was the loss of linebacker Mike Hull, who ran off the field on his own accord but did not return either. That's not good considering he was expected to be the most versatile and potentially best linebacker on the roster.
Still, Penn State was able to come away with the victory in its opener, something that didn't happen last year. The defense was extremely impressive, with Obeng-Agyapong the clear standout. He was definitely the defensive player of the game, if not the player of the game, and his teammates — namely Jones and Carson — were outstanding as well.
On top of that, Hackenberg looked very, very good in his first start despite a couple of freshman mistakes, Robinson was inarguably the best offensive player on the field and the biggest difference maker, and Sam Ficken looks like he definitely has put his struggles from the first half of last season behind him for good.
Not the most impressive game ever, but a fine start to the season. Can't wait to see what the Nittany Lions have in store the rest of the way.
Saturday I was able to add another chapter to bearing witness to Penn State playing at the Meadowlands, as the Nittany Lions topped Syracuse at MetLife Stadium 23-17 in the season opener behind a stout defense and just enough offense. And while the game was all well and good — particularly last year's goat, Sam Ficken, and true freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg taking home Big Ten honors — the highlight of the entire trip came well before kickoff.
I departed for the game at approximately 11 a.m. with two of my longtime friends, both of whom were roommates of mine during our college days at Penn State. Surprisingly, we hit virtually no traffic the entire way, even as we approached the Meadowlands, leaving us plenty of time to tailgate. The first thing we noticed, which was no surprise, was that the vast majority of the parking lots were filled with Penn State supporters, with very little orange in sight despite this being an official Syracuse home game. We also noticed a lack of, let's say, aesthetic beauty.
Anyway, we posted up and began eating and drinking when something pretty hilarious happened. Across from us was an interesting-looking family — a large, athletic-looking guy with a tough-guy feel to him, his wife that looked a bit off and two young boys. The father was tossing the ball around with one son, as the other was running around. A little later, the father and his two sons were tossing some bean bags when the smaller of the boys tugged on his dad's pant leg and asked him where the bubbles where. The father's reply?
"Who gives a shit about bubbles?!?"
It had us laughing our asses off, and the dad turned toward us and said, "Fucking bubbles!" He was clearly disgusted with his young son discussing bubbles at a football tailgate — and he had no qualms about using the foul language in front of him. Quite entertaining if a bit concerning.
A little later, that same young boy was looked at by medics after falling, but he was fine — just a little scrape on his arm or something. It was quite a different tailgate, that's for sure.
After a couple hours in the parking lot, we headed in and prepped for the start of the college football season. In line, surrounded by Penn State fans, a rowdy group of college-aged Syracuse fans began some chants they found to be extremely clever, such as, "BOWL GAMES! BOWL GAMES! BOWL GAMES!" Because, you know, Penn State should be jealous of Syracuse's impressive résumé of bowl games since the Nittany Lions can't go to any for a little while. Admittedly, it was a tame chant, but it did prepare the Penn State fans in attendance for the few Orange fans that actually bothered to show up.
We got to our seats in the end zone and got all settled in. There were a few Syracuse fans around us, including a drunk, obnoxious woman who eventually was escorted out after causing a fight, but it was mostly Penn State fans surrounding us. It was a remarkably comfortable day, our view was great and we were ready.
Penn State received the opening kickoff and had its drive stalled in Syracuse territory. Nothing noteworthy there … except the fact that reigning Big Ten Receiver of the Year Allen Robinson did not see the field the entire drive. That had me scrambling all over to find out why in the world the team's best player wasn't on the field. I sent out texts and hit Twitter, finally learning that Robinson had been suspended for disciplinary reasons. At first, the tweet I saw reported he was suspended for the game, but turns out he was just suspended for the first half. No one knows why, exactly, since coach Bill O'Brien would not disclose the reason and Robinson was muzzled after the game. My guess is he missed a class or practice or curfew or something, but that's purely speculation.
Anyway, without Robinson on the field and with a true freshman quarterback under center, Penn State moved the ball a bit but could not get any points on the board. Then, to close out the first quarter, O'Brien put sophomore junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson in the game, who promptly threw a strike for 18 yards on his first play … only to fumble on his second, losing the ball as he cocked to pass. That led to a field goal by Syracuse to take a 3-0 lead, and it also led to Ferguson spending the rest of the game on the bench. One drive, one turnover and one lost chance to become the starter moving forward.
From there, it was Hackenberg's show, and the freshman impressed. However, he could not cap off any drives with touchdowns, and he wasn't helped by the play-calling of O'Brien.
Penn State did take a 6-3 lead into halftime as Sam Ficken continued to show his remarkable improvement by easily connecting on back-to-back 36- and 35-yard field goals, but the offense was sort of stagnant without Robinson. A large reason for that was because O'Brien was calling quite the curious game — something that continued the entire way. He repeatedly called for Hackenberg to do it all in just his first start, quickly neglecting the running game after it got off to a slow start. But at the same time, O'Brien would not let Hackenberg go all out in 3rd-and-long situations, often running with little chance of getting a first down. Also, the tight ends weren't seeing a ton of balls, especially Kyle Carter, which I found odd as well. I love Bill O'Brien, but Saturday was not his finest play-calling game.
Still, Penn State took the lead despite two turnovers — Hackenberg threw a pick in the second quarter — thanks to a stout defense. Syracuse could not get a damn thing going on the ground, as defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and company were getting repeated penetration, allowing Glenn Carson to sniff out the ball carrier time and time again. On top of that, minus a bad breakdown by Adrian Amos on one play, the young secondary stepped up. Stephen Obeng-Agyapong was outstanding, flying all over the field, and sophomore corners Jordan Lucas and Trevor Williams held their own nicely.
Still, the 6-3 margin didn't provide a ton of excitement. Thankfully it wouldn't take long for the excitement level to turn around in the second half, thanks to Allen Robinson.
After Penn State forced a punt on Syracuse's opening drive in the second half, Robinson entered the game and immediately made an impact. And I mean immediately. On his first play, Hackenberg hit Robinson for a 25-yard completion. On the very next play, the freshman went back to his top target, and Robinson dashed 51 yards for a touchdown, 13-3 Penn State. Two plays, two catches, 76 yards and a touchdown. Allen Robinson is fucking good.
That had the crowd amped and me really pumped, directing a few, "Uh, ohs" at some Cuse fans because our stud was back. Of course, the Orange came right back and scored its first touchdown of the game on the very next drive thanks to the aforementioned blown coverage by Amos, making it a three-point game again.
However, Penn State was able to hold on for the 23-17 victory, as Ficken followed his perfect first half by remaining perfect with a 46-yarder, while Hackenberberg connected with Geno Lewis for a 54-yard touchdown pass thanks to all the attention Robinson rightfully received following his first two plays.
Still, it wasn't all roses for the Nittany Lions. Hackenberg threw an absolutely atrocious interception late in the game, which led to Syracuse's second touchdown that put the outcome in doubt. On the play, Robinson was in single coverage. No matter what the play call was, Hackenberg or O'Brien should have changed the play to make sure it went Robinson's way. No one did, and then Hackenberg showed his greenness, tossing a horrid interception into double coverage. Not good, particularly with Robinson, who had seven catches for 133 yards and a score in just one half of football, in one-on-one coverage. Like I said, not the finest play-calling performance by O'Brien.
On top of that, tight end Matt Lehman went down in a heap without being touched in what looked like an ACL injury. It looked bad. Turns out, Kyle Carter also hurt his arm, and while it's not serious, it could explain his zero catches. Then there was the loss of linebacker Mike Hull, who ran off the field on his own accord but did not return either. That's not good considering he was expected to be the most versatile and potentially best linebacker on the roster.
Still, Penn State was able to come away with the victory in its opener, something that didn't happen last year. The defense was extremely impressive, with Obeng-Agyapong the clear standout. He was definitely the defensive player of the game, if not the player of the game, and his teammates — namely Jones and Carson — were outstanding as well.
On top of that, Hackenberg looked very, very good in his first start despite a couple of freshman mistakes, Robinson was inarguably the best offensive player on the field and the biggest difference maker, and Sam Ficken looks like he definitely has put his struggles from the first half of last season behind him for good.
Not the most impressive game ever, but a fine start to the season. Can't wait to see what the Nittany Lions have in store the rest of the way.
Friday, August 30, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Since I wrote this yesterday about Grant Hill and his fellow 2013 NBA retirees Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Tracy McGrady, I figure there's no better time to share Grant Hill and his wife doing Frank Ocean's "Thinking 'Bout You."
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
This is a treasure trove of Allen Iverson mentioned in songs that I will surely access often in this space, particularly since the most exciting Philadelphia 76er of my generation recently formally announced his retirement from the NBA.
Today we kick it off with Busta Rhymes dropping A.I.'s name.
Today we kick it off with Busta Rhymes dropping A.I.'s name.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Last night, I attended the Eagles' second preseason game at the Linc, watching the Birds top the Panthers 14-9 in a relatively boring game.
But Michael Vick looked good yet again, and Nick Foles wasn't too shabby himself. Plus, the defense wasn't as atrocious, though playing Carolina and New England are two different beasts.
One thing that was very reassuring about the game was watching LeSean McCoy look fully healthy and as lethal as ever, including an easy trot into the end zone that ended, as it always does when LeSean scores, what I like to call the "Shady Bounce."
I would really like the season to start already.
But Michael Vick looked good yet again, and Nick Foles wasn't too shabby himself. Plus, the defense wasn't as atrocious, though playing Carolina and New England are two different beasts.
One thing that was very reassuring about the game was watching LeSean McCoy look fully healthy and as lethal as ever, including an easy trot into the end zone that ended, as it always does when LeSean scores, what I like to call the "Shady Bounce."
I would really like the season to start already.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Why Don’t All Sports Use The NHL’s ‘Control Room’ Replay Review System?
Why Don’t All Sports Use The NHL’s ‘Control Room’ Replay Review System?
Seriously, someone logically explain this to me.
Seriously, someone logically explain this to me.
Friday, August 9, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
True story: Back in college, Sundays in the fall were damn near just as exciting as Saturdays, mainly because it was the time when we could get away from the Steelers simply by putting the Eagles game on instead. And my one roommate, for all three years in which I lived with him, would blare "Gonna Fly Now," aka the Rocky theme song, before every Eagles game and get everyone insanely fired up.
This literally happened for every game that he wasn't actually attending. True story.
So with the Eagles kicking off their preseason tonight against the New England Patriots and Enrico over at The700Level coincidentally posting this this morning, it was almost as if I was back in college for a moment. If only that were the case.
Let the 2013 NFL season begin.
This literally happened for every game that he wasn't actually attending. True story.
So with the Eagles kicking off their preseason tonight against the New England Patriots and Enrico over at The700Level coincidentally posting this this morning, it was almost as if I was back in college for a moment. If only that were the case.
Let the 2013 NFL season begin.
Monday, August 5, 2013
The 2013 Edition Of The Real Top 10 Quarterbacks In The NFL
The 2013 Edition Of The Real Top 10 Quarterbacks In The NFL
My list:
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Peyton Manning
5. Eli Manning
6. Matt Ryan
7. Ben Roethlisberger
8. Robert Griffin III
9. Andrew Luck
10. Joe Flacco
11. Tony Romo/Cam Newton
I kind of want to put Luck ahead of RGIII due to health and both ahead of Ben, because I hate Ben and think he benefited greatly from great run games and defense in the past, but I can't do it. The whole crowning early thing. And yes, Matt Ryan is that high for me, because Ben is older and injury-prone now, Flacco kind of sucks sometimes, then gets all awesome in the playoffs, Romo chokes too much with big turnovers, Cam hasn't done it long enough, same with RGIII & Luck.
Also, my words in the post:
10. Robert Griffin III
He’s a passer first who just so happens to be one of the fastest and best athletes on the field, no matter who he’s playing. He also has made the Washington Redskins truly relevant from a competitive standpoint instead of the laughingstock of free agency — or Dan Snyder’s expensive toy.
Why Robert Griffin III Deserves To Be On This List
While my brother from another mother and father Kenny Masenda flat out refuses to put any green quarterbacks on his list (more on this in a bit), I think you have to be almost insane to leave out a player as electric and game-changing as Robert Griffin III. Yes, he suffered a severe injury, something he dealt with at Baylor as well, and yes, his head coach showed a total lack of regard for his future by letting him limp around, but RGIII is everything you want in a field general. First off, he is talented as hell, a truly excellent passer who also can outrun a defense and cause problems with his feet. Second, he’s the perfect leader, a positive guy who always seems to enjoy himself, take command of the situation and put the pressure on himself, not his teammates. And lastly, he has made the Washington Redskins one of the handful of teams you want to watch play on Sundays (or Mondays, or Thursdays, or whatever other day the NFL decides to put games). He’s so good that football fans go out of their way to make sure and catch at least a few of his possessions, injury and crazy coach or not.
2. Tom Brady
He has the rings. He has the numbers. He has the respect of his teammates, opponents and coaches. And he just always seems to have command, proving you don’t need to be mobile to success to in the NFL.
My list:
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Peyton Manning
5. Eli Manning
6. Matt Ryan
7. Ben Roethlisberger
8. Robert Griffin III
9. Andrew Luck
10. Joe Flacco
11. Tony Romo/Cam Newton
I kind of want to put Luck ahead of RGIII due to health and both ahead of Ben, because I hate Ben and think he benefited greatly from great run games and defense in the past, but I can't do it. The whole crowning early thing. And yes, Matt Ryan is that high for me, because Ben is older and injury-prone now, Flacco kind of sucks sometimes, then gets all awesome in the playoffs, Romo chokes too much with big turnovers, Cam hasn't done it long enough, same with RGIII & Luck.
Also, my words in the post:
10. Robert Griffin III
He’s a passer first who just so happens to be one of the fastest and best athletes on the field, no matter who he’s playing. He also has made the Washington Redskins truly relevant from a competitive standpoint instead of the laughingstock of free agency — or Dan Snyder’s expensive toy.
Why Robert Griffin III Deserves To Be On This List
While my brother from another mother and father Kenny Masenda flat out refuses to put any green quarterbacks on his list (more on this in a bit), I think you have to be almost insane to leave out a player as electric and game-changing as Robert Griffin III. Yes, he suffered a severe injury, something he dealt with at Baylor as well, and yes, his head coach showed a total lack of regard for his future by letting him limp around, but RGIII is everything you want in a field general. First off, he is talented as hell, a truly excellent passer who also can outrun a defense and cause problems with his feet. Second, he’s the perfect leader, a positive guy who always seems to enjoy himself, take command of the situation and put the pressure on himself, not his teammates. And lastly, he has made the Washington Redskins one of the handful of teams you want to watch play on Sundays (or Mondays, or Thursdays, or whatever other day the NFL decides to put games). He’s so good that football fans go out of their way to make sure and catch at least a few of his possessions, injury and crazy coach or not.
2. Tom Brady
He has the rings. He has the numbers. He has the respect of his teammates, opponents and coaches. And he just always seems to have command, proving you don’t need to be mobile to success to in the NFL.
Friday, August 2, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Anthony Adams was one of my favorite defensive linemen during his days at Penn State, and he actually was there my freshman year on an awesome line that included fellow NFLers Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Haynes. And since Penn State's kicks off in just a few weeks against Syracuse in Giants Stadium and the NFL preseason begins this weekend, why not enjoy Anthony Adams rapping about ribs?
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Italian Sausage Party at Citizens Bank Park
Last night, two teams that were a combined 19 games under .500 took the field at Citizens Bank Park, with the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and their last-place record coming to town to take on the third-place Philadelphia Phillies.
For all intents and purposes, both teams' seasons might as well be over, making this far from a marquee match-up. But after walking around Center City all day and realizing just how beautiful it was outside, I decided to see if silver fox wanted to go to the ballpark and take in a Phillies game. After all, it had been a while since I've been to CBP, though not all that long ago that I saw the Giants play. So we decided to head to the game and enjoy perhaps but probably not the last game in red pinstripes for a few Phillies. You never know, even if it seems like Ruben Amaro Jr. still thinks this core is good enough to win a World Series when healthy. But I digress.
We got down to the stadium, purchased some cheap seats up in section 434, grabbed a couple beers and took our seats on quite literally a perfect summer night. There was no humidity, the sun was setting, it wasn't hot and wasn't cold — perfect conditions for baseball, one of the most comfortable nights of the entire summer.
To top it off, there was room for us to stretch out a little, with so many vacant seats, and the people in our section were quite pleasant actually. In fact, minutes after I sat down, I sneezed, and the guy sitting to the right of me with his son passed me a napkin. Hospitality in Philadelphia — it felt strange but was much appreciated.
As for the game itself, pitcher John Lannan started off on the wrong foot, giving up a run in the first inning, and I kept saying how they should trade everyone. But the Phils got it right back and even took the lead, as Michael Young got things going, Chase Utley followed suit and Delmon Young and John Mayberry drove in runs to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Moral of the story: Barry Zito is still terrible.
That first inning took forever, and the game just continued to crawl along from there. The Giants tied it up in the third, and it felt like it should have been the sixth. Thankfully, like I said, it was beautiful out and I had nowhere else to be.
Plus, we soon found out it was Italian heritage night, and the Phillies kept playing stereotypical Italian music. Some could argue it's racist, but whatever. I'm half Italian, and I didn't mind.
Again, back to the game. In what could potentially be his last game as a Phillie, Carlos Ruiz homered to left in the fourth, scoring John Mayberry and giving the Phils a 4-2 lead. Chances are Ruiz isn't going anywhere, but just in case that was his last game in Philadelphia, it was a nice way to go out … deriving in the eventual game-winning runs.
Two innings later, Michael Young — the Phil with the best shot at being traded provided he waives his no-trade clause — crushed a two-run bomb himself to left, and the game was pretty much over from there.
Lannan settled down after the third and seven innings to get the win. Ruiz and Young both hit two-run bombs, and Mayberry drove in two runs himself. All in all, it was a good effort from a team that looked like it didn't have another good effort left.
But really, all the game action is secondary to what took place between one of the innings.
Let me start by saying that over the course of my 29-plus years on this planet, I have been to quite literally hundreds of Phillies games. I've been going to games since I was a little kid, and there have been seasons where I've gone to close to 30 games. I've sat pretty much everywhere you can possibly sit in both the Vet and Citizens Bank, from club box to box seats to skybox to every section and row you can think of. And in all those games over all those years, I've never once caught a foul ball or home run ball, nor have I ever gotten a hot dog/sausage/t-shirt shot out of the Phanatic's cannon. Never. Not once.
So when the Phillie Phanatic came out with his hot dog gun shooting Italian sausages, silver fox and I had no delusions that a sausage would come our way. In fact, silver fox literally said, "There's no way he can get one of them up here." I thought the same. While I've seen the Phanatic hit the upper deck with his hot dog gun, I thought the angle we were at in 434, row 5, the last upper deck section lining up near the foul pole in left field, gave us no shot at a sausage.
Then, moments later, the Phanatic cranked up the CO2 and rocketed one right for us. It just kept rising on a line headed literally right toward me. What can only be described as a douchey-looking fellow in front of me wearing a Papelbon shirt tried to nab it, only to see the sausage fly through his hands and land right next to me. I'll be damned. I nabbed the sausage, unwrapped its layers of duct tape and split the sucker with silver fox. Not only did the Phanatic get it up to our level … he shot it right at us.
We considered that a victory in its own right, and we capped off the perfect evening with a cheesesteak and some chilling at my house following the victory for the Phillies and the victory for us. All in all, not a bad night at the ballpark.
For all intents and purposes, both teams' seasons might as well be over, making this far from a marquee match-up. But after walking around Center City all day and realizing just how beautiful it was outside, I decided to see if silver fox wanted to go to the ballpark and take in a Phillies game. After all, it had been a while since I've been to CBP, though not all that long ago that I saw the Giants play. So we decided to head to the game and enjoy perhaps but probably not the last game in red pinstripes for a few Phillies. You never know, even if it seems like Ruben Amaro Jr. still thinks this core is good enough to win a World Series when healthy. But I digress.
We got down to the stadium, purchased some cheap seats up in section 434, grabbed a couple beers and took our seats on quite literally a perfect summer night. There was no humidity, the sun was setting, it wasn't hot and wasn't cold — perfect conditions for baseball, one of the most comfortable nights of the entire summer.
To top it off, there was room for us to stretch out a little, with so many vacant seats, and the people in our section were quite pleasant actually. In fact, minutes after I sat down, I sneezed, and the guy sitting to the right of me with his son passed me a napkin. Hospitality in Philadelphia — it felt strange but was much appreciated.
As for the game itself, pitcher John Lannan started off on the wrong foot, giving up a run in the first inning, and I kept saying how they should trade everyone. But the Phils got it right back and even took the lead, as Michael Young got things going, Chase Utley followed suit and Delmon Young and John Mayberry drove in runs to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Moral of the story: Barry Zito is still terrible.
That first inning took forever, and the game just continued to crawl along from there. The Giants tied it up in the third, and it felt like it should have been the sixth. Thankfully, like I said, it was beautiful out and I had nowhere else to be.
Plus, we soon found out it was Italian heritage night, and the Phillies kept playing stereotypical Italian music. Some could argue it's racist, but whatever. I'm half Italian, and I didn't mind.
Again, back to the game. In what could potentially be his last game as a Phillie, Carlos Ruiz homered to left in the fourth, scoring John Mayberry and giving the Phils a 4-2 lead. Chances are Ruiz isn't going anywhere, but just in case that was his last game in Philadelphia, it was a nice way to go out … deriving in the eventual game-winning runs.
Two innings later, Michael Young — the Phil with the best shot at being traded provided he waives his no-trade clause — crushed a two-run bomb himself to left, and the game was pretty much over from there.
Lannan settled down after the third and seven innings to get the win. Ruiz and Young both hit two-run bombs, and Mayberry drove in two runs himself. All in all, it was a good effort from a team that looked like it didn't have another good effort left.
But really, all the game action is secondary to what took place between one of the innings.
Let me start by saying that over the course of my 29-plus years on this planet, I have been to quite literally hundreds of Phillies games. I've been going to games since I was a little kid, and there have been seasons where I've gone to close to 30 games. I've sat pretty much everywhere you can possibly sit in both the Vet and Citizens Bank, from club box to box seats to skybox to every section and row you can think of. And in all those games over all those years, I've never once caught a foul ball or home run ball, nor have I ever gotten a hot dog/sausage/t-shirt shot out of the Phanatic's cannon. Never. Not once.
So when the Phillie Phanatic came out with his hot dog gun shooting Italian sausages, silver fox and I had no delusions that a sausage would come our way. In fact, silver fox literally said, "There's no way he can get one of them up here." I thought the same. While I've seen the Phanatic hit the upper deck with his hot dog gun, I thought the angle we were at in 434, row 5, the last upper deck section lining up near the foul pole in left field, gave us no shot at a sausage.
Then, moments later, the Phanatic cranked up the CO2 and rocketed one right for us. It just kept rising on a line headed literally right toward me. What can only be described as a douchey-looking fellow in front of me wearing a Papelbon shirt tried to nab it, only to see the sausage fly through his hands and land right next to me. I'll be damned. I nabbed the sausage, unwrapped its layers of duct tape and split the sucker with silver fox. Not only did the Phanatic get it up to our level … he shot it right at us.
We considered that a victory in its own right, and we capped off the perfect evening with a cheesesteak and some chilling at my house following the victory for the Phillies and the victory for us. All in all, not a bad night at the ballpark.
Friday, July 26, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
The Phillies are terrible and should be selling off any semi-valuable assets they have at any moment. The Sixers still don't have a coach because who needs a coach when the full tank is on? The Flyers continue to do baffling things because Paul Holmgren never learned math. And the Eagles, well, at least training camp has started and there's something new … but there's still that whole quarterback controversy thing.
So here's Jimmer Fredette and his stupid name dancing.
So here's Jimmer Fredette and his stupid name dancing.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
DeSean Jackson likes necklaces, apparently. The guy really seems to enjoy spending his money. Good for him.
Personally, I'm partial to Merrill Reese's version.
Great work all around.
Personally, I'm partial to Merrill Reese's version.
Great work all around.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Philadelphia General Managers' Money Issues
ESPN the Magazine recently released its money issue. In said issue, the staff used a bunch of newfangled statistics to calculate Surplus Value, figuring out what a player is worth and comparing it to his actual salary. They used this information to determine the most overpaid and underpaid players in sports, as well as to calculate a Surplus Value for each team, which were then ranked best to worst. If you are a Philadelphia fan, the results were not pretty.
According to the numbers, our GMs are among the worst in all of sports at evaluating talent and attaching appropriate value to the players they evaluate. Of the 13 markets with at least four major sports franchises, Philly ranked dead last with a combined Surplus Value of negative $354,728. That's $100,000 worse than the next worst city, Miami, and more than twice as bad as the third worst, Minneapolis. And that was just the beginning of the bad news.
They then ranked the 122 franchises that make up the four major sports. The Philadelphia franchise that fared best in those rankings, your Philadelphia Flyers, only managed to be number 90. So of 122 franchises, our four Philadelphia teams all managed to be in the bottom 32. They also ranked the five best and worst teams in each sport, as well as the five best and worst contracts in each sport, and yeah, there were plenty of mentions of Philadelphia in those rankings as well. Let's take a look at each team individually.
Philadelphia Phillies
Overall rank: 120/122. Yes, third worst. They have the worst cumulative Surplus Value in Major League Baseball. Of the five worst contracts in baseball based on Surplus Value, the Phillies are paying two of them, Ryan Howard (-$22.3 mil SV) and Michael Young (-$20.5 mil SV).
Of the 50 best-paid athletes in the WORLD, not country, world, the Phillies are paying four of those contracts. This has ballooned them to the 11th best paying sports team in the world. This for a team that failed to reach the postseason last year and is on its way to repeating that this season.
Some of the Phils' SV numbers may be somewhat distorted because a lot of the big-money players they are paying have been injured and haven't been their usual selves (Howard, Halladay). Also, the Phillies were in the middle of a period of unprecedented success, more money was coming in, and extra money was spent to try to keep the run going. Regardless, Ruben Amaro Jr. has slowly led the Phillies from their pinnacle as a franchise back to a middle-of-the-pack team.
Amaro has failed to address blatant weaknesses on his team, has completely disregarded age as he has watched his roster approach geriatric status, and has demonstrated an inability to properly value players, consistently overpaying his stars and failing to find value players at other positions or to fill the bench (although Ben Revere is now playing the way a lot of people expected him to).
Philadelphia Eagles
Rank: 100/122. They have the fifth worst cumulative Surplus Value in the NFL. At least they don't hold any of the five worst contracts in the sport. I don't really have much to say about the Birds on the subject. Their draft record under Andy Reid was putrid, but I'm ready to just sit back and see what the Chip Kelly era does.
Philadelphia 76ers
Rank: 105/122. They managed to avoid being in the bottom five in cumulative Surplus Value in the NBA, but Andrew Bynum's contract landed them on the worst contracts list. The Sixers have developed a lineage of piss-poor contracts and player evaluation. From passing on players such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki in the draft, trading for a depleted Chris Webber, giving an aging, shell-of-his-former-self Elton Brand a max contract, or drastically overvaluing players like Samuel Dalembert and Spencer Hawes, the Sixers' front office has been frustrating and angering fans of this fair city for years.
However, there is good news here. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that has been mired in mediocrity and irrelevance since a 6-foot guard from Georgetown was shipped out of town. The team hired Sam Hinkie as its new GM, and he immediately made a splash by trading fan favorite and the team's best player, Jrue Holiday, on draft night.
My immediate reaction to the trade was anger. Jrue was the lone reason to watch the Sixers last season, and now he was gone. But after the emotion wore off, I realized it was the best move for the franchise. They received the No. 6 pick Nerlens Noel and got to keep their No. 11 pick, which they used on Michael Carter-Williams. They received a first-round pick next year (top-5 protected) and still have their own pick, which should be somewhere in the top five or at worst top 10.
With one gutsy, stunning move, Sam Hinkie put this team on the right track. He is starting to load up on young players with a lot of upside, potentially got his team two top 10 draft picks in what is being called the best draft in a decade, and got his team out of the mire that is finishing 7-10 in your conference. The Sixers have a lot of work to do, but there is finally hope and a person steering the ship who knows what he is doing. Final note on Hinkie: He was hired from the Houston Rockets' front office, where he worked under Daryl Morey. Last season Morey added Jeremy Lin and James Harden and is about to add Dwight Howard. Oh, and the Rockets were ranked eighth out of 122 in the team SV rankings.
Philadelphia Flyers
Rank: 90/122. The best of a bad bunch, the Flyers avoided being in the five worst in the NHL but were responsible for the second worst contract, and we all know whose contract that was. That contract has since been bought out, so at least we can move forward from it. Anyway, when it comes to posting on this here site, I usually defer the hockey stuff to the Rev, and will do so here as he discussed the team's seeming lack of direction.
Most of us around these parts have known for a while that our GMs haven't been getting the job done. Thanks to ESPN the Magazine for really bringing the point home, showing me just how frivolous they are being with my hard-earned money that I spend on supporting these teams, and how poor they are doing with both talent evaluation and putting a monetary value on the talent.
According to the numbers, our GMs are among the worst in all of sports at evaluating talent and attaching appropriate value to the players they evaluate. Of the 13 markets with at least four major sports franchises, Philly ranked dead last with a combined Surplus Value of negative $354,728. That's $100,000 worse than the next worst city, Miami, and more than twice as bad as the third worst, Minneapolis. And that was just the beginning of the bad news.
They then ranked the 122 franchises that make up the four major sports. The Philadelphia franchise that fared best in those rankings, your Philadelphia Flyers, only managed to be number 90. So of 122 franchises, our four Philadelphia teams all managed to be in the bottom 32. They also ranked the five best and worst teams in each sport, as well as the five best and worst contracts in each sport, and yeah, there were plenty of mentions of Philadelphia in those rankings as well. Let's take a look at each team individually.
Philadelphia Phillies
Overall rank: 120/122. Yes, third worst. They have the worst cumulative Surplus Value in Major League Baseball. Of the five worst contracts in baseball based on Surplus Value, the Phillies are paying two of them, Ryan Howard (-$22.3 mil SV) and Michael Young (-$20.5 mil SV).
Of the 50 best-paid athletes in the WORLD, not country, world, the Phillies are paying four of those contracts. This has ballooned them to the 11th best paying sports team in the world. This for a team that failed to reach the postseason last year and is on its way to repeating that this season.
Some of the Phils' SV numbers may be somewhat distorted because a lot of the big-money players they are paying have been injured and haven't been their usual selves (Howard, Halladay). Also, the Phillies were in the middle of a period of unprecedented success, more money was coming in, and extra money was spent to try to keep the run going. Regardless, Ruben Amaro Jr. has slowly led the Phillies from their pinnacle as a franchise back to a middle-of-the-pack team.
Amaro has failed to address blatant weaknesses on his team, has completely disregarded age as he has watched his roster approach geriatric status, and has demonstrated an inability to properly value players, consistently overpaying his stars and failing to find value players at other positions or to fill the bench (although Ben Revere is now playing the way a lot of people expected him to).
Philadelphia Eagles
Rank: 100/122. They have the fifth worst cumulative Surplus Value in the NFL. At least they don't hold any of the five worst contracts in the sport. I don't really have much to say about the Birds on the subject. Their draft record under Andy Reid was putrid, but I'm ready to just sit back and see what the Chip Kelly era does.
Philadelphia 76ers
Rank: 105/122. They managed to avoid being in the bottom five in cumulative Surplus Value in the NBA, but Andrew Bynum's contract landed them on the worst contracts list. The Sixers have developed a lineage of piss-poor contracts and player evaluation. From passing on players such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki in the draft, trading for a depleted Chris Webber, giving an aging, shell-of-his-former-self Elton Brand a max contract, or drastically overvaluing players like Samuel Dalembert and Spencer Hawes, the Sixers' front office has been frustrating and angering fans of this fair city for years.
However, there is good news here. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that has been mired in mediocrity and irrelevance since a 6-foot guard from Georgetown was shipped out of town. The team hired Sam Hinkie as its new GM, and he immediately made a splash by trading fan favorite and the team's best player, Jrue Holiday, on draft night.
My immediate reaction to the trade was anger. Jrue was the lone reason to watch the Sixers last season, and now he was gone. But after the emotion wore off, I realized it was the best move for the franchise. They received the No. 6 pick Nerlens Noel and got to keep their No. 11 pick, which they used on Michael Carter-Williams. They received a first-round pick next year (top-5 protected) and still have their own pick, which should be somewhere in the top five or at worst top 10.
With one gutsy, stunning move, Sam Hinkie put this team on the right track. He is starting to load up on young players with a lot of upside, potentially got his team two top 10 draft picks in what is being called the best draft in a decade, and got his team out of the mire that is finishing 7-10 in your conference. The Sixers have a lot of work to do, but there is finally hope and a person steering the ship who knows what he is doing. Final note on Hinkie: He was hired from the Houston Rockets' front office, where he worked under Daryl Morey. Last season Morey added Jeremy Lin and James Harden and is about to add Dwight Howard. Oh, and the Rockets were ranked eighth out of 122 in the team SV rankings.
Philadelphia Flyers
Rank: 90/122. The best of a bad bunch, the Flyers avoided being in the five worst in the NHL but were responsible for the second worst contract, and we all know whose contract that was. That contract has since been bought out, so at least we can move forward from it. Anyway, when it comes to posting on this here site, I usually defer the hockey stuff to the Rev, and will do so here as he discussed the team's seeming lack of direction.
Most of us around these parts have known for a while that our GMs haven't been getting the job done. Thanks to ESPN the Magazine for really bringing the point home, showing me just how frivolous they are being with my hard-earned money that I spend on supporting these teams, and how poor they are doing with both talent evaluation and putting a monetary value on the talent.
It's My Friday, Time to Dance
Tomorrow I head out west to visit San Francisco and the Bay Area for the first time in my life, taking a weeklong vacation. Thus, today is my Friday, and I'm all amped to be going to California.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
TSFJ Presents: The 2013 MLB All-Star Game Starters, AL Edition
TSFJ Presents: The 2013 MLB All-Star Game Starters, AL Edition
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Chris Davis
2B: Jason Kipnis
3B: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Jed Lowrie
OF: Mike Trout, Nelson Cruz, Jacoby Ellsbury
DH: David Ortiz
SP: Yu Darvish
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Chris Davis
2B: Jason Kipnis
3B: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Jed Lowrie
OF: Mike Trout, Nelson Cruz, Jacoby Ellsbury
DH: David Ortiz
SP: Yu Darvish
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
TSFJ Presents: The 2013 MLB All-Star Starters, NL Edition
TSFJ Presents: The 2013 MLB All-Star Starters, NL Edition
C: Buster Posey
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: David Wright
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
OF: Domonic Brown, Carlos Gonzalez Yasiel Puig
DH: Joey Votto
SP: Matt Harvey
C: Buster Posey
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: David Wright
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
OF: Domonic Brown, Carlos Gonzalez Yasiel Puig
DH: Joey Votto
SP: Matt Harvey
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Be Patient and Win: The Flyers' Contradictory Philosophy
As you may have heard, the Philadelphia Flyers allegedly have agreed in principle to a deal with free-agent defenseman Mark Streit, whom they traded for his negotiating rights. If the word is true, the Flyers are about to sign a soft, 35-year-old defenseman to a four-year, $21 million deal.
If you recall, following last season, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren let then 27-year-old defenseman Matt Carle walk via free agency, where he signed a six-year, $33.5 million, which Holmgren decided was too much money to shell out on a young, durable defenseman who has a very similar game to Streit yet is seven years his junior. I'm starting think Holmgren and the Flyers aren't very good at math because when you look at it, this makes absolutely no sense.
Mark Streit is about to get $5.25 million a year from the Flyers until he is 39 years old. Matt Carle is making $5.5 million a year down in Tampa, a contract that goes until he is 33 years old. Someone explain to me how the younger, arguably better Carle isn't worth a quarter million dollars more per year for two more years than Mark Streit, who may need to use his stick as propelling paddle by the time his contract is in its final year in Orange and Black.
This is just another case of the Flyers serially contradicting themselves with their personnel moves during the Paul Holmgren as GM era, one that has caused chaos with the roster and the salary cap because Holmgren, owner Ed Snider and coach Peter Laviolette cannot decide what in the hell they are actually doing.
For a franchise that is in perpetual "win now" mode, they decided to trade away their two best forwards in favor of a youth movement up front … only to turn around and sign an expensive, veteran goaltender with absolutely no postseason pedigree, thus giving up on a promising young goaltender who went out and won the Vezina Trophy in his first year away from Philadelphia.
Talk about contradictory. How do you decide you're a goaltender away from hoisting the Stanley Cup only to remove the best two forwards on the team once you get that guy — two guys who were instrumental in making two Conference Finals and a Stanley Cup Final? Why would you bring in the missing piece … and then go and put inexperience out there in front of him, essentially negating the signing in the first place?
Does this team want to get young and build for a long run, or does it think it can win now? There's no indication the Flyers as an organization have any idea themselves right now. One minute they're on the path to the Cup, the next minute they're developing a core of young forwards. One minute they're looking to lock up young talent, the next minute they're signing aging, slowing defensemen to long-term contracts. One minute they're preaching patience on Bobrovsky, the next minute they're signing a head case in net. One minute they're letting young talent go due to cap restrictions, the next minute they're handing out deals that cripple said cap.
Now, I don't know exactly what sort of mandates Holmgren is under from Snider, beyond the clear terms that getting Bryz was an order from the big boss, but I do know this franchise has made contradictory move after contradictory move over the past few seasons.
I'm not saying all of them are bad, but the majority of them since the loss to the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final have been reactionary and short-sighted … and they've made a mess of the roster and the cap space.
I really like Wayne Simmonds, Bryaden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek. They are good, young, promising players. But none of them have contributed to the Flyers the way Jeff Carter and Mike Ricahrds did, so if you're going to go out and trade those guys for the young promise they received, why sign an over-30 goaltender to a nine-year contract? Why not try to develop Bob and bring in a veteran tutor to move along the development process and try to get younger on defense, thus developing the franchise as a whole, not pushing young stars to perform like veterans?
Why do you go young up front, then go old and older on the back end, relying on an aging Kimmo Timonen, signing an aging Mark Streit and letting a young Matt Carle walk? Which is it? Does this team want to get young and develop or solidify itself for a run right now?
The Flyers don't seem to know, and this latest move with giving Mark Streit, a decent yet soft defenseman who is 35 years old, is more proof of that … and more proof that Paul Holmgren has no idea how to manage the salary cap or this team.
If you recall, following last season, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren let then 27-year-old defenseman Matt Carle walk via free agency, where he signed a six-year, $33.5 million, which Holmgren decided was too much money to shell out on a young, durable defenseman who has a very similar game to Streit yet is seven years his junior. I'm starting think Holmgren and the Flyers aren't very good at math because when you look at it, this makes absolutely no sense.
Mark Streit is about to get $5.25 million a year from the Flyers until he is 39 years old. Matt Carle is making $5.5 million a year down in Tampa, a contract that goes until he is 33 years old. Someone explain to me how the younger, arguably better Carle isn't worth a quarter million dollars more per year for two more years than Mark Streit, who may need to use his stick as propelling paddle by the time his contract is in its final year in Orange and Black.
This is just another case of the Flyers serially contradicting themselves with their personnel moves during the Paul Holmgren as GM era, one that has caused chaos with the roster and the salary cap because Holmgren, owner Ed Snider and coach Peter Laviolette cannot decide what in the hell they are actually doing.
For a franchise that is in perpetual "win now" mode, they decided to trade away their two best forwards in favor of a youth movement up front … only to turn around and sign an expensive, veteran goaltender with absolutely no postseason pedigree, thus giving up on a promising young goaltender who went out and won the Vezina Trophy in his first year away from Philadelphia.
Talk about contradictory. How do you decide you're a goaltender away from hoisting the Stanley Cup only to remove the best two forwards on the team once you get that guy — two guys who were instrumental in making two Conference Finals and a Stanley Cup Final? Why would you bring in the missing piece … and then go and put inexperience out there in front of him, essentially negating the signing in the first place?
Does this team want to get young and build for a long run, or does it think it can win now? There's no indication the Flyers as an organization have any idea themselves right now. One minute they're on the path to the Cup, the next minute they're developing a core of young forwards. One minute they're looking to lock up young talent, the next minute they're signing aging, slowing defensemen to long-term contracts. One minute they're preaching patience on Bobrovsky, the next minute they're signing a head case in net. One minute they're letting young talent go due to cap restrictions, the next minute they're handing out deals that cripple said cap.
Now, I don't know exactly what sort of mandates Holmgren is under from Snider, beyond the clear terms that getting Bryz was an order from the big boss, but I do know this franchise has made contradictory move after contradictory move over the past few seasons.
I'm not saying all of them are bad, but the majority of them since the loss to the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final have been reactionary and short-sighted … and they've made a mess of the roster and the cap space.
I really like Wayne Simmonds, Bryaden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek. They are good, young, promising players. But none of them have contributed to the Flyers the way Jeff Carter and Mike Ricahrds did, so if you're going to go out and trade those guys for the young promise they received, why sign an over-30 goaltender to a nine-year contract? Why not try to develop Bob and bring in a veteran tutor to move along the development process and try to get younger on defense, thus developing the franchise as a whole, not pushing young stars to perform like veterans?
Why do you go young up front, then go old and older on the back end, relying on an aging Kimmo Timonen, signing an aging Mark Streit and letting a young Matt Carle walk? Which is it? Does this team want to get young and develop or solidify itself for a run right now?
The Flyers don't seem to know, and this latest move with giving Mark Streit, a decent yet soft defenseman who is 35 years old, is more proof of that … and more proof that Paul Holmgren has no idea how to manage the salary cap or this team.
Friday, June 14, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Mark Reynolds hits a lot of home runs and strikes out a lot, which makes him pretty fun to watch. And he seems like a pretty decent guy, using teammate Trevor Bauer's rap song as his walk-up music.
Have a good weekend. I may not make it out alive.
Have a good weekend. I may not make it out alive.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
It's Friday, Time to Dance
On Wednesday I went to the Marlins-Phillies businesspersons special at Citizens Bank Park, with the Phils winning and Domonic Brown hitting another home run. It was sweet.
As I was walking to the stadium lot for a little tailgate with a couple work buddies, we walked by the Nova Care complex and heard the music Chip Kelly plays at Eagles practice. Enjoy.
As I was walking to the stadium lot for a little tailgate with a couple work buddies, we walked by the Nova Care complex and heard the music Chip Kelly plays at Eagles practice. Enjoy.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
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