You know I find the reaction around the league (especially from the fans) to Cliff Lee's homecoming pretty amusing...but none so much as the Yankee's. Now I hate to pigeon hole all Yankee fans and thats truly NOT my intent here because I have many Yankee fan friends who respect his decision to leave both money and years on the table in favor of playing someplace he loves to play...to those fans, please disregard this...

This goes out to the whiny ones like the member of Pinstripe Alley who wrote the post I cut and pasted after the jump...I realize your simple mind cant comprehend why Cliff wouldnt want to spend the next seven years of his familys life in the place that SPIT ON and threw beer at his wife but please, get over yourself...and to those who want to try and make the argument that the Phillies are trying to buy a championship..you have the biggest balls of all...what part of HE TOOK A LESSER DEAL to play in Philly do you not understand.

In the end...all the Yankee money and "prestige" couldnt top the happiness Cliff Lee felt in Philly and for that he will certainly go down as one of my favorite sports figures EVER.

Yankee fans...please...swap out your tampons and get over it....we'll see you in November...if you make it that far!

Continue reading this post »

Oh the drama....this has been and continues to be one of the most nerve-racking offseasons in recent memory.  Whats driving me crazy is all the speculation...Let me be the first to say, I am not an expert (though I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night). All the Monday morning quarterbacking on this trade is nothing short of ridiculous...nobody can know for sure how this is all going to pan out until we are well into the regular season...what I DO know is what my level of patients for this situation will be.  SHORT.  This isn't meant to be a praise or a knock for either McNabb or Kolb.  All I'm saying is that we were a playoff team last year with McNabb, and probably would have been this year too...but again, thats all speculation. Whats not speculation is my expectations for Kevin Kolb.  I just wanted to gauge what kind of patience you guys will have for any kind of 'learning curve' Kolb may or may not experience.  While I certainly hope Kolb will turn out to be the next Tom Brady, the reality is he could very well turn out to be the next Bobby Hoying too (God forbid)! While there are a ton of 'what if' scenarios, the worst case (for me) would be 5 leading the Skins further than Kolb leads the Birds...

Continue reading this post »

Continue reading this post »

Andy Reid's questionable clock management left the Eagles with zero time on the clock midway through the third quarter against the Cowboys, allowing Dallas to take the field without an opponent for the final 21:48 of the crucial divisional battle.

Thanks to the unique strategy, the Cowboys were able to overcome a three-point third quarter deficit and win the game.

"I'm not going to apologize," said Reid after the game. "You have to make those decisions in the moment. You know you can get second-guessed after the game, but that's the nature of the business."

In fact, a defensive Reid said he should be complimented if anything.

"No one mentions how I was able to use almost twice the amount of clock that Dallas was in the first half in the same amount of time," he said. "That's remarkably efficient. What other coach can do that?"

Reid used all of his timeouts and challenges during Philadelphia's first offensive series of the game, then set about having his team eat clock in hopes of preserving its four-point lead early in the second quarter.

"I'm not going to coach thinking we're going to cough up a lead," said Reid. "I have confidence in this team. So it's my job to keep that game clock moving as quickly as possible without any stoppages."

The Eagles went into halftime several minutes before Dallas, enabling a Cowboys' field goal before the scheduled half, and then set about blowing through the rest of the clock when they emerged for the second half.

"I learned my lesson at the end of Super Bowl XXXIX against the Patriots," said the Reid. "I'd rather be out of time completely than have to rely on some sort of two-minute drill. What team can possibly hope to do anything in two minutes? It's absurd."

Reid says he will not change his approach going forward.

"Unless they let me use timeouts and challenges I have in future games -- and I have petitioned the league about this numerous times," said Reid. "I see no reason to change. The league says it's to protect me from myself, but the suits in the league office clearly don't understand the intricacies of clock management."

The Sports Pickle

like maclin

he needs time to develop .. greatness isnt made over nite .. maclin could be reggie wayne .. but not this year .. no chance .. hes gonna return punts .. and maybe catch 25 balls

by jack is better than asante on Apr 28, 2009 11:39 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs



alon

i like alon .. hes pretty smart .. but yea cwell is biased .. hes all about eagles eagles .. he doesnt face reality .. he thinks orpako is a bust but if we had him he would be the one praising him .. i hate that .. i make opinions and keep them .. maclin is not nfl ready .. he will be playing by dec .. not starting .. he wont even play in the begining of the year

by jack is better than asante on May 1, 2009 1:40 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs



no chance

maclin has no chance to start .. curtis will be fine .. and if not .. reggie will start .. theres no way he starts a rookie wr whos still extremly raw ..

by jack is better than asante on May 9, 2009 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs



ok

stars
1 bunkley .. bunkley continues to emerge as a top tier DT
2 Ingram .. ingram is a mismatch in the redzone and starts over celek by week 10
3 mcnabb .. easy pick .. mcnabb has a great season with all his weapons to spread the ball around to
4 clemmons .. shows the speed to get to te qb and has 10 plus sacks

busts
Cole – has trouble getting to the qb and is not great against the run .. finishes with 7.5 sacks .. good but not good enough
Maclin – struggles to learn the offense and barely plays outsifde of the return game
Gocong .. never has developed and loses his job to gaither .. starts to take reps at DE where he belongs
Mikkell- exposed as an average saftey with out dawkins and demps is the one who shines

by jack is better than asante on May 26, 2009 9:49 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs



hes going to be

with maclin and jackson the eagles are set for 5 to 7 years .. but maclin wont do anything this year .. maybe by next year hes a stud

by jack is better than asante on Jun 20, 2009 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs



no way

i still think brown starts .. i think curtis plays the slot .. or maybe he even starts over jackson .. he is a good nfl wr .. got hurt one year .. big deal .. hes still productive starter .. and his per game stats are higher than curtis and jackson .. maclin wont play this year .. and avant is not good .. you talk about brown soo much .. brown is 3 times more talented than avant .. avant is a 4 or 5 wr at best

by jack is better than asante on Jul 14, 2009 4:21 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs



heyward bey

hes going to be good .. he has a good chance he is going to be better than maclin .. al davis is an idiot i agree .. but not because he took him ..its where he took him .. he could of went down and got him from 12 to 19

by jack is better than asante on Jul 31, 2009 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

So it seems like the true faithful Eagles fans have calmed down a bit over the Vick signing, myself included.  It's going to continue to be a dominant story, but for the most part its starting to settle.\

Looks like Brett Favre is changing his mind again, so some of the light can come off Philly and focus on BRETT WATCH '09 part VII. 

As always, the most trusted name in sports news has come through with the wonderful analysis above,  I saw this on The Onion and had to share. Enjoy!

Ok, here it is. This story has dominated the news since it broke, and there is no sign of it ending anytime soon. 

Now I've been pretty vocal against the reinstatement of Mike Vick:

My comments on Vick

There is about 20 comments condemning him to the AFL and what not.

I've come to this, he is here, I wasn't asked for my input, I don't run the team I just root for them.  I had to ask myself, is this something I hate enough to, as I put it, "find a new team"

I say ban him for life!

It’s about whether his actions were egregious enough to deserve a lifetime ban from the NFL.

If the dog fighting thing was his first fuck up, I’d say, do your time and get on with it, but this jerk off has already had like 5 "2nd" chances. At what point do you say enough is enough and cut ties. It drives me CRAZY when assholes like this, who are afforded every opportunity in life just don’t get it. He looks at his job in the NFL as a RIGHT not a privilege.

Maybe it’s because I got laid off and am out of work that I’m so bitter about this guy but man, if I got a job making anywhere near what he made, I’d be afraid of leaving the house so I didn’t fuck that up. This asshole just screws up over and over again and doesn’t even consider the fact that there could be long term repercussions for his actions, because there never are any.

He wasn’t that good of a QB to begin with, more like a glorified RB. Seriously, if the Eagles took him on, I’d have to find a new team. Let him go make $50/week in the Arena league to see how good he had it.

"I want to maintain my flexibility."
-Andy Reid

by BroadStBullies on May 20, 2009 3:37 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Well I retorted myself :

if the eagles signed vick, you would find a new team?

strong words.

by snowhill82 on May 22, 2009 1:55 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

 

yeah, probably not

but I wouldn’t like it at all! But I couldn’t imagine the Eagles EVER considering him.

"I want to maintain my flexibility."
-Andy Reid

by BroadStBullies on May 22, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

 

I'm not ready to eat my words just yet, but I am at least willing to give him a chance now.

The other day Preston and Steve were talking about it and asked what would it take for Mike Vick to redeem himself and the answer was find Bin Laden.  At the time that didn't sound too unreasonable.  Now that I've had time to digest it all, I've come to peace with it.  If he is able to redeem himself, both on and off the field,  I think I'd be pretty happy my team paved the way for that.  I also like that Jeffrey Lurie made it clear that was pretty much the condition of his contract.

Kinda peculiar that he ended his career in the same place that its getting reborn...

I'm not ready to go root for the guy yet, but I have to admit, I am kind of anxious to SEE what he can do and quit talking about it.

The post about Your 2nd favorite team got me thinking. Since most of you guys say you don't have a 2nd favorite team,  I'm wondering what you do when the Birds aren't in it.  We've had a pretty good decade going here, with 2005 and 2007 being the only years we didn't make a playoff appearance.

Obviously, we all want the Birds to go all the way, and honestly, I haven't felt this good about our chances since 2004.  What I'm wondering is, historically, who do you guys find yourself rooting for after the Birds were out?

My thought process is, once the Birds are out, I usually go for whoever has the AFC birth.  The last 2 years, I've had this same argument with one of my old bosses (also an Eagles fan).  He says staying loyal with the NFC is like rooting for the home team.  I disagree, to me it seems more like rooting for the team that ended my run. 

Last year was especially bitter I thought.  I mean really, the Cardinals??? WTF!!!!! Honestly, the year before, most of Arizona didn't even know they had a football team, now all the sudden they get good and people think they deserve it.  F that, let those bunch'a fairweather fans wait like the rest of the world.

Anyway, the point of this was to get a feel for who you guys rooted in past playoff/Superbowls.

Profootballtalk

Hey guys, just visiting from Bleeding Green Nation.  I saw this article on profootballtalk and I was just curious how you guys felt about him.  I was stationed in Hawaii in the Navy and love UH football. June Jones ran a crazy pass only offense that even made Timmy Chang look fantastic, but if you ever got the chance to see Colt play in college....I don't know, there just seemed to be something about the guy...kinda Joe Montana-esque.

I thought you guys STOLE him in the 6th round.  Now I'll admit, I'm a bit of a homer and I was pretty high on Timmy Chang when the Eagles picked him up, but I knew he wasn't going anywhere, the kid just couldn't take a hit. I think the skins really have something in this kid.  What do you guys think?  If Campbell flops, would you be cool with giving Brennan a chance? Here are his college stats:

Just wondering.

Alright gentlemen, since there was a great deal of interest in the first BGNFL, by popular demand I give you BGNFL2.

Same thing as the first one, there will be 20 teams and they will go on a first come first serve basis.  Email me at causewayjeff@gmail.com for an invite, and I'll get one right out to you.  Here is the roster for the 1st BGNFL:

Mystic Island Donkey Punch                   South Jersey Silly-Nannies

Team Pampani                                          Team Goodfellas

No Romos Allowed                                   Cowboy Killas

Tm. GreenBean#20                                  Team Gang Green

Team 15                                                      The Golden Mullets

Desert Eagles                                            eagle yosh

Team 17                                                      Team World F Champs

Team Boo Birds                                         Team Garcia  

EagleGeeninMD                                        Team Mushinski

 Team 20                                                      Bye Dawk   

             
      
Snowhill and JIBTA....check your email and join the league, you are the only ones who haven't joined yet  

Those who emailed me for the 1st BGNFL and didn't get in will get the 1st invites for BGNFL2.

                      ***UPDATE***   There are 9 spots left, lets fill it up!!!!!!

            

All right guys, everything is all set up for the BGNFL on ESPN.com fantasy.  I set if for the max of 20 teams, if we need to adjust, its no problem. 

I need to send out invites to anyone interested.  If you want in please email me at:

causewayjeff@gmail.com

and I'll get you an invite out right away.  As it is right now, I have everything set to the standard settings as far as scoring and line ups.  If anyone has any input on a better way to do things, please let me know.

NPK, I know you dig on Yahoo, and Bye Dawk, you are all about CBS, but you guys should give this one a shot too!  And, I hate to admit it, but I am really hoping for a Team JIBTA!

Anyway, lets get our teams straightened out early and set a draft date.   I usually like to go the week between the pre and reg season. Like Saturday, September 5th.

Either way, you guys can all weigh in on that too.

***UPDATE*** Sorry guys to anyone who didn't make it, but the league is full

***UPDATE***

As of 8:30pm on 6/32/09 we are half way full, 10 teams signed up, 10 spots left. Good turn out so far.  JIBTA, where are you?

OK so I guess I missed the ship for the first fantasy league set up around here, but that's OK since I didn't really want to do a Yahoo league this year anyway.  Outtake24 has his league over there and its full.

Let me start off by making my case AGAINST Yahoo.  Last year I did 2 free leagues, 1 with Yahoo, and 1 with Foxsports.  The year before that I had a free league in ESPN and I was in a pay league in Fanball.com.

Those are the 4 sites I have experience with. 

1. Fanball : pay site. F that. You get all the same shit on the other free leagues.

2. Yahoo : Free site, somewhat.  I know a lot of you guys use Yahoo, and it's nice to stick with what you know, but they still make you pay to keep you score. Pain in the ass.  Why pay for something you can get for free elsewhere?

3. Foxsports : Totally Free site! Nice features, easy to get used to.

4. ESPN : Another free site, well you have the option to create a pay league, but I don't see the point.  This was my favorite of all the sites I have used, mainly for aesthetics

Some other popular choices are

5. Cbssports : pay site. From what I can see, they don't offer anything that ESPN and Fox doesn't except a fee

6. NFL.com : Free site. I don't know much about it, never tried it. If you guys have any input on it please let us know.

Well there we have it.  My vote goes to ESPN.com with Foxsports.com a close second.  Plain and simple, I'm not going to pay for something I can get for free.  If anyone has good things to say about NFL.com's service, I'd be up to try that, but I'm gonna keep the choices here limited to the free leagues.

Check the sites out and give some feedback

In NPK fashion, I couldn't resist "Caption This Pic" when I saw this doozie.  Man, if for nothing else, you gotta love Eli for the semi-retarded faces he makes in pretty much every picture of him.  I'm sure getting sacked is no fun, but good God man, he looks like Trent Cole wedged his thumb up his ass.

So, like I said before, all props to Northphillykid, since he usually does the caption the pic thing, but when I saw this one, I had to put it up.  Fire away!

PFT

As Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson continues his battle with cancer, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports that Johnson will be taking a leave of absence.

Johnson, who suffers from melanoma, is starting a new round of chemotherapy.

He’ll miss the start of the team’s so-called "Organized Team Activities," which open May 20.

"I told him to take care of himself first, and when he’s ready to come back, come back." coach Andy Reid told Paolantonio on Monday.  "I’d like to tell you he’s great, but he’s not.  He’s struggling right now.  I told him, when you feel like it, come back."

Secondary coach Sean McDermott will replace Johnson, who turns 68 next Tuesday, during his absence.

Earlier this month, Johnson said that he does not plan to retire:  "It’s part of my life.  It keeps me going.  I don’t feel any different coaching.  I’m coaching the same way."

We wish Coach Johnson the best as he continues his fight.

We all wish you the best JJ. From what I gather McDermott has been groomed pretty well by JJ.  It seems to me that his protege's do pretty well, look at Spags. I think we are in good hands and don't have anything to worry about, lets all just pray for JJ!

Unofficial Depth Chart

The first thing I noticed was the appearance of our newly drafted rookies, namely LeSean McCoy immediately backing up BWest. So much for Booker.  Another thing that caught my eye was to Maclin being only listed as special teams. It really pains me to say this, but for the time being, I guess JIBTA was right. I didn't expect to see him in a starting spot, but I figured he would be somewhere in the WR rotation.

Another interesting shake up was with the Andrews brothers.  I didn't even notice it at first, but I saw this article on Philly.com this morning.  They now have Shawn listed as the starting Right Tackle and brother Stacy as the starting Right Guard.

Bob Ford seems to think there is some huge conspiracy behind this move, I don't know if it just too early or if I'm just too lazy to read that far into it. All I know is that the Andrew BROTHERS are some pretty big boys to be messing with like that Bob Ford, I'd watch your back.

Source

NEWARK, Del. -- Delaware became the only state east of the Mississippi River to allow betting on sports after the governor signed the legislation.

Gov. Jack Markell signed the bill into law Thursday.

Officials say they expect to have sports betting running in three months and table games such as poker, blackjack, craps and roulette in play in no more than six months.

The sports lottery is key to Markell's plan to address a projected shortfall of more than $600 million for the coming fiscal year.

But sports betting could face a legal challenge by professional sports leagues.

According to the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal, the NFL already has filed a legal brief with the state Supreme Court, arguing that games cannot be considered a situation of chance because skill "plays an impermissible" role.

The state Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for May 21 to hear arguments on the matter.

Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, grandfathered under a 1992 federal law that bans sports gambling.

I think its an awesome idea.  If people wanna bet, they're gonna bet.  There's already offshore sports betting, why not have the proceeds go to fix our economy here.