Phillies and Eagles news

Wow, here is a shocker: The Phillies dropped their season opener. And guess who "dropped the ball"? The bullpen. Now I know all you Philly fans are surprised. But I, personally am a bit disgusted. Rollins and Utley homer...Myers pitched into the 5th, before running into some trouble, but jeez....the Phils fight back and tie the game and then BOOM....the floodgates open in the 9th. Its too early to hit the panic button, but the Phillies need to avoid a slow start. Its killed them every year in recent memory. It just disheartening to see the Phillies primary trouble area (back end pitching) come up and bite them in the ass on opening day.

As for the Eagles - the NFL announced the compensatory selections for each team in the upcoming NFL draft. The Eagles scored 3 comp picks: one 4th round pick, and two 6th round picks.

The Birds have 11 picks overall. Here is the breakdown, provided by the Eagles public relations department and PhillyNews.com

1st round – 19th overall
2nd round – 49th overall
3rd round – 80th overall
4th round – 115th overall
4th round – 131st overall (compensatory)
5th round – 152nd overall
6th round – 184th overall
6th round – 191st overall (from Cleveland)
6th round – 200th overall (compensatory)
6th round – 203rd overall (compensatory)
7th round – 230th overall (from Seattle)

The Eagles traded their own 7th-round pick to Buffalo for linebacker Takeo Spikes. Oops, oh well I guess it wasn't that bad a one-year rental, considering 7th rounders rarely make the Eagles squad anyway.

Sunday Pointers

I can't say I have a solid idea about what to post today.

There are some funny things about Mike Vick's plea deal I suppose. Like the fact, pointed out by George Dohrmann, "Vick agrees that 'Bad Newz Kennels' business enterprise involved gambling activities in violation of the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia ... Most of the 'Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were provided by Vick ... Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights. Vick did not receive any of the proceeds from the purses that were won by 'Bad Newz Kennels.'" (uh-huh, sure)

One can read this as a clear admission that Vick bet on dogfighting. He put the money up. He lost money if his dogs lost. However, Vick says he didn't win money if his dog won. Can one be a gambler if one never takes any winnings? Defenders of Vick could argue he was simply putting up money for his friends to gamble, that he was (if this is even possible) only half a gambler.

Another key: will the judge even accept the plea deal? I think he will, but it wouldn't be the first time a judge denied one...

But here's the problem for me on this blog - I don't really care about Vick anymore....I hope the judge sends him away for 18 months and that I don't have to be bothered watching his scrambles on PrimeTime for a few years....

But the only other thing I have on my mind at this point (besides work) is the wretched play the Phillies. You see, about a week ago the Phillies were 3 games behind the NY Mets for the lead in the NL East and a game behind the Padres for baseball's "wildcard" (something I still view as a rather weak move to expand MLB's playoff system, and something that's extended the baseball into territory well beyond where it should be - namely NOVEMBER)

Well anyway, the Phillies has a recent road-trip against really bad teams, one of them Pittsburgh Pirates - so what do they do? Lose the series and finish 3-3....ok - its crunch time and the Phillies have the fortune to have 6 games vs lousy teams and they dork it up. No problem....big long 10-game homestand should do the trick. A real test. Do well, REAL WELL, and they could exit the home-stand in two weeks atop the NL East or at least the Wildcard....

Results? 3 games vs the Dodgers - 1-2
3 game vs the Padres - 0-2 so far, losing in brutal fashion each time
Do the games vs the Mets even matter anymore??? While the Phillies suck dick like a gigolo on Castro Street, their main competitors are winning (exception, the Braves are going down like a $2 hooker as well). So as of right now they're 4 games back of the Padres and 7 games back of the Mets.

Team to beat my ass.

American Idol, The Phillies and Pelosi Oh My!

You know, I swore I would never get sucked into American Idol. And for the longest time, I've been successful at watching the early shows, cause it is truly hilarious watching all the dipshits who think they have talent and then tuning out until the either, the next season, or at most the finale. But this year is different. I'm actually tracking the show (thanks to TiVo) and paying a modicum of attention. For instance, this week, I listened to the show from my home office while it played on the TV in the living room. I cannot say why. Honestly, maybe it just that I've been able to watch many of the shows with my wife, and that we'll argue/critique the performances.

I did stumble across this great article about American Idol from this week's TIME.
Its actually one of the best articles about Idol I've read.
And I can't believe Sanjaya is still on the show. Heck he wasn't even in the bottom 3 the past two weeks!

Next up: What the hell is up with the Phillies? I thought they were supposed to be good this year. I heard all this talk about them (not that I pay much attention to baseball chatter), and read Jimmy Rollins little "we're the team to beat" spiel. So what happens...the bullpen falls apart two nights in a row, the hitters start cold, and all the talk about the team understanding the necessity of rolling - if not hot - start goes down the friggin' drain with a season opening sweep at the hands of the Braves....way to go fellas.....and don't plead with the fans to "stay with us" as described by Sam Donnellon - just friggin' win and you don't need to worry about hearing E-A-G-L-E-S chants at the ballpark.

Finally, I'm not sure what the hub-bub about Nancy Pelosi's Middle East trip is all about...IHT (the international arm of the NYT) talks about the President criticizing the trip, and I've seen a lot of comments about it, pro and con. But while a lot of the media concentrates on the brouhaha, they don't talk about the other delegations that have talked with Syria the past, or heck even the present. Yes, Pelosi outranks them all. But I don't see that as particularly damaging to our cause. I think the Republicans just don't want to see the nation highest-ranking Democrat going out and possibly not following the administration's lead. In that sense, I can see how a reasonable argument could be made, IF, afterwards, her actions demonstrably undermined the U.S. - AND NO, simply going and talking does not qualify in my mind. We talk with everyone. Whether we want to acknowledge that or not. If Chris Hill can represent the President in talks with Kim Kye Gwan (who represents North Korean despot Kim Jong-il) in Beijing, then I think the country will survive a few moments of sweet talk between Nancy Pelosi and President/King Assad of Syria.

Media Matters is chronicling the criticism, legit and facetious, of the Pelosi trip. Mostly they take the media to task for misrepresenting the trip and not being equally critical of a Republican entourages' trip to Syria.