Jake Peavy Traded To The White Sox Again

The trade deadline has ended with a bang and, aside from the Sawx getting a local V-Mart near them, the biggest deal of the day has been saved for last. I feel like we are back in May or something as once again the San Diego Padres have dealt Jake Peavy and once again, they have dealt him to the White Sox. Only this time, it appears as if Jake Peavy will approve that trade. From Jon Heyman's Twitter feed.
Well then! Certainly an odd move to say the least, and a complete 180 on Peavy's part, but I guess that is what an injury and a sucky team can do to you. At this point, I would think that Peavy would just want to get on a playoff team and with the Padres all but out of it and the White Sox looking good right about now, I guess you can't really blame him for changing his mind.

Update: It appears that in return the Padres are getting "left-handers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard and right-handers Dexter Carter and Adam Russell" according to MLB.com

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Doing The Unthinkable

What you see in that image is exactly what it looks like. To add to the mayhem of all the throwback action that will occur with the old AFL teams,the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing back their old, retro uniforms for one game this year, thus ensuing that they will lose that game. From the Tampa Bay Buccaneers website.

For a generation of Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, the highlight reels in their heads are colored exclusively in red and pewter.

This fall, the Buccaneers will take all of their fans — those who remember the orange and white era fondly and those who have grown up in the team's recent era of success — back to the franchise's roots.

On November 8, 2009, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will wear orange for the first time in almost 13 years. In an event that Buccaneers fans have anticipated for some time, the Buccaneers will conduct their first-ever 'Throwback Game.'

Specifically, the Buccaneers will don uniforms meant to replicate the team's very first look from its inaugural season in 1976. The Florida Orange, red and white combination changed subtly over the years that followed, but the Bucs' current management conducted painstaking research in order to faithfully replicate that 1976 uniform.

The result is a nostalgic link to a past the Buccaneers wish to preserve for their fans.

There were only 26 teams in the NFL before the Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks began play in 1976; now there are 32. At the end of that season, the Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. Those Roman numerals have now ballooned to XLIII, the identifier of the championship game played last February in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. The Bay area, such a new and humble part of the NFL in '76, has now hosted four Super Bowls, and its own team, the Buccaneers, won Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.

It was a different era that the Buccaneers sailed into in their sunshiny orange jerseys in 1976, one with 14-game seasons, teams that ran more than they threw, players who sought second jobs in the offseason and a draft that stretched for 17 rounds with no television camera in sight. It was not an era that favored expansion teams, which were forced to populate their rosters from a pool of players mostly cast off from other teams.

That led to a memorable 0-16 season for the inaugural Buccaneers, not an accomplishment to be celebrated, by any means, but not a time to be forgotten, either. That start is most notable for how quickly, in a larger sense, the franchise rose from that difficult setting; by 1979, it's fourth season, Tampa Bay was in the NFC Championship Game.

And soon, there were stars in orange and white. The 1976 season had one in the making in Hall of Fame-bound DE Lee Roy Selmon, though he was limited to five games in his debut campaign. Others would emerge: Doug Williams, Ricky Bell, Cedric Brown, Batman Wood, Jimmie Giles. Even when the team found victories hard to come by from 1983 to 1996, there were those who did the orange-clad faithful proud: James Wilder, Kevin House, Scot Brantley, David Logan, Paul Gruber, Hardy Nickerson, Mark Carrier, Ricky Reynolds and many others. Even Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp proudly wore the orange and white for two seasons. Mike Alstott put it on for one unforgettable rookie season.

The Buccaneers actually made the NFC Championship in those putrid, cursed uniforms? Well then! I did not know that. That game on November 8, 2009 is a game against the Green Bay Packers, so if there is one certainity in the NFL this year, it is this: The Green Bay Packers will not go 0-16.

Now Who's Getting Doc Halladay?

With the Phillies getting Cliff Lee, the matter of Roy Halladay is still getting some attention. With the Phils out of the picture, the front-runners appear to be the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. From Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports

In the wake of the Philadelphia Phillies’ acquisition of starting pitcher Cliff Lee(notes), the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox have become the frontrunners to acquire Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay(notes), according to baseball sources.

While other clubs – the Yankees, notably – remained peripherally engaged, there appeared to be a two-team race for Halladay with a little more than 24 hours left to the non-waiver trading deadline.

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has asked for as many as a half-dozen prospects in return for Halladay, the former Cy Young Award winner who would lead the Dodgers’ rotation and join Josh Beckett(notes) atop the Red Sox’s.

The Dodgers’ offer is believed to be all minor league prospects except right-handed pitcher James McDonald(notes), who has pitched 38 major league innings. Starters Chad Billingsley(notes) and Clayton Kershaw(notes) have not been offered, and neither have any of the team’s starting position players.

The Red Sox’s offer includes top pitching prospect Clay Buchholz(notes), as Yahoo! Sports reported Wednesday. The Blue Jays also have been given the choice of reliever Justin Masterson(notes), Triple-A pitcher Michael Bowden(notes) or Double-A first baseman Lars Anderson(notes), with lesser prospects from the farm system filling out the Boston offer. The Red Sox from the beginning have included Buchholz because the Blue Jays made it clear he would have to be the starting point of any deal.

After weeks of believing that the Jays would indeed trade Halladay, I am definitley leaning the other way now. The bottom line is is that not a whole lot of words have been coming out of JP Ricciardi's mouth in order to get this deal done. Pretty much everything that he has said for the past few weeks has come straight out his ass and that is not going to get things done. It also does not help them that they want half of a team for Halladay either. It seems more and more that in the long run, Cliff Lee was the better option for the Phillies than Halladay would have been.

And just a little FYI for those that like to stay up late on the east coast, I will be over at Keith's Sports Journal tonight live blogging the Phillies-Giants game. He's a Giants fan. I'm a Phillies fan. Come on, you just know that this is going to be a good time!

Sarge Would Like To Talk To You About Jerking Off

What is it with the Phillies announcers and their pornographic analysis of things. First we had Chris Wheeler saying how he wants to "rock around the cock tonight" and now, it's 4th-6th inning TV analyst Gary "Sarge" Matthews (Phils have a weird announcing system that was even weirder when Harry Kalas was alive) would like to tell you about masturbating jerking off. I feel like a lot of what I say is how AA put it, but it's true. You know how sophomoric I can be with announcer quotes. After all, I probably come up with more stretches than anyone else when it comes to twisting announcers quotes into something sexual/pornographic. But there are times, when you really don't need to twist what the guy said in order to make it sexual/pornographic. Take for example awful Phillies analyst, Gary "Sarge" Matthews. I'm not quite sure what exactly this was in the context of, but hey, this is advice that you will take for the rest of your life comes in this 8 second clip.



"What's going to happen is you jerk off the ball. You almost here want to let this guy jam you and when it cums comes, it cums comes."

Too funny! And yet, it's so true.

Sarge Matthews would like you to know, how to "jerk off" a ball (Awful Announcing)
Audio: Sarge Matthews on jerking off the ball (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Stop The Madness!!!

Late Saturday night, 49er16 sent me an email regarding the tragic death of David Sale, who as I'm sure you all know by now, was beaten to death outside of a bar connected to Citizens Bank Park. I intentionally did not talk about it for I did not want to get into the rant that I knew I was going to get into if I talked about it. However, the media firestorm that has come from this has driven me to a point where I can no longer be quiet about this. The madness must stop.

Because of a reputation, based mostly on things that happened in the last century, the tragic death of David Sale is being blamed on Philly sports fans and the sports culture here in general. Yeah, hard to believe, I know. Something bad happens at one of our ballparks and it's because of the "hooliganism" in Philadelphia that caused this to happen.

Why can't you people wake up? Why are you such hypocrites? Do you honestly think this only happens in Philadelphia? If so, please, go back to Kindergarten for that is where your intelligence level is right about now.

You are quick to prosecute us yet you are too blind to see the other headlines that the media conveinently hides from you. For what kind of a story is it that a Los Angeles Angels fan was killed while leaving the stadium earlier this year? Folks in Los Angeles are not like that. They are not hooligans, criminals, and thus like Philadelphians are. They are cool, laid back, surfer dudes. All of them. Hooliganism does not exist in Los Angeles. No, not at all.

And what about the 03 shooting of a Dodgers fan by a Giants fan? Surely, it must have been some sort of freak accident. There is no other logical explanation. I mean, after all, sports fans out west are all laid back surfer-dudes. You can't blame this on a sports euphoria that exists all over the world, including California. No, this kind of stuff can only happen in Philadelphia for sports hooliganism lives only there. No where else in the world. Just Philadelphia.

Okay, enough of the absurd sarcasm and more to the straight facts. I'm not trying to trivialize anything having to do with the deaths. They were very tragic indeed as. You can't trivialize a mother losing her son and a sister losing her brother for good. But a point needs to be made to shut up some people of the mainstream media (*cough*cough*Colin Cowherd*cough*cough, who even went as far as to essentially say our school system sucks; yeah, um, that explains why some of the nations finest universities are in the city of Philadelphia) who are as thick-headed as I depicted them to be with the above sarcasm about the 2 real deaths that occured. I don't take pleasure in doing this. I'd rather take John Gonzalez's advice and focus more on what really happened, as in an innocent kid died way too young, and not argue about this, but the mainstream douche bags have driven me to it.

Let's take a look at David Sale's murderers. Just to save time for me as I have a live blog to get to in 30 minutes, I'll quote the above linked Gonzalez column. You'll find the emphasis of the point is still there.

Three men - 28-year-old Francis Kirchner, 35-year-old Charles Bowers, and 45-year-old James Groves - have been charged with murder. In 1995, Bowers was sentenced to six to 23 months for stabbing a man four times. In 2006, Kirchner had to undergo court-ordered anger-management counseling after he and some associates broke a man's cheekbone. If history is any indication, these are not nice people.

Face it, these are not sports thugs. These are thugs thugs. These guys would be considered thugs in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, Anchorage, where have you. So why are we blaming this on a sports culture?

The answer is shockingly simple: it's our portrayal in the media. Whether we like it or not or we want to admit it or not, everything in the media is a continuance of some story and the media only covers what they see think will garner them the most ratings. Let's face facts, Philly fans do have a reputation. We did cheer when Michael Irving was wheeled off a football fan for the last time, and we did boo Santa Claus (I have a major gripe with this story as well and how it's been portrayed, but that's another rant for another time). But given the reputation of Philly fans, which makes a better, more interesting story for the media to cover? A bunch of thugs beating up a guy outside of a bar that just so happens to be outside of Citizens Bank Park? Or a San Francisco Giants fan killing a Los Angeles Dodgers fan in a stadium parking lot? The Philly thugs, of course. Even though the 03 Giants incident is to an infinite power more of a sports crime and a bigger example of sports hooliganism, hey, Philly has the more interesting media story because of our reputation, therefore, that's a bigger story. And while the Giants fan may have gotten his headlines back then, was everyone blaming that on the horrible obnoxious sports culture in San Francisco?

People frequently claim that sports hooliganism, if you will, only takes place in Philly. Now I assume that most of you have been around sports long enough to know what I am saying is more than true, but still, the point needs to be made. Every professional sports team is going to have their people! Yes, even Philadelphia. I'm not here claiming that Philly fans are angels of the sports world or something, but give me a break here. Drunkeness occurs at any and all sporting events. There are always guys who just can't limit themselves to a beer or 2 to enjoy the game with and go way overboard and in turn get nasty, obnoxious, and in some cases, violent. That can happen anywhere in the country. Scratch that, that does happen everywhere in the country. Because let's face it, it's human nature for that to happen. During sporting events people want to party and when people party they tend to drink alcohol, in some cases lots of it. And when the human body has too much alcohol, especially in a person obnoxious when he is sober, you know things are going to be taken to the next level. The level that was reached in that parking lot in 2003 and the level that was reached outside of Citizens Bank Park last Saturday. It does not matter if we're in Philadelphia, Los Angeles or Kalamazoo, THIS STUFF HAPPENS! GET USED TO IT AND STOP PIN-POINTING OUR CITY AS THE ASSHOLE SPORTS CITY OF THE COUNTRY WHEN MUCH WORSE HAS HAPPENED ELSEWHERE!!!!!!!!!! OH, AND COLIN, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DREXEL UNIVERSITY?!?!?!?!?!? Sigh....why do I even waste my breath on someone who the best thing most people can say about him is that he is a skidmark on the underwear of life?

However, in the grand context of it all, none of this stuff even matters, now does it? Who cares about Colin Cowherd and what happened in what sports city? Someone way too young died a death that he did not deserve to die.

RIP David Sale.

Phillies Trade Mainly Second Tier Prospects To Tribe For Cliff Lee

Even though I was at work all day, I am fully aware today of the Phillies earth-shattering trade. Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson to Cleveland for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco! You read that right (even though I doubt there is a person in the country that has not heard by now) Cliff Lee is a Phillie!

Instead of boring you with my unabashed joy or giving you a blockquote to a story that you already know, I'll offer up a few points on this worth considering.

First of all, what does this mean for the Phillies rotation as essentially we now have 7 active major league starting pitchers (Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Rodrigo Lopez, and Pedro Martinez who is currently completing minor league rehab stings) another on the 60-day DL (Brett Myers). Thus now that we've got Lee, what will become of the starting pitching line-up? My best guess is is that the Phillies will in all likelihood either sent Lopez back down to the minors, release him, or put him on waivers. Seeing as the Phillies are unlikely to move Jamie Moyer or Joe Blanton at this point, it is likely that either Pedro Martinez or J.A. Happ will be sent to The Pen while the one who is not sent to the Pen will be a starter in the rotation. My guess is that Happ will be the one that ends up in The Pen just because I can't imagine the Phillies moving Hall of Fame shoe-in Martinez to the Pen and I have even bigger problems seeing Martinez excepting that role.

Another interesting point that is worth bringing up are the Phillies really going for the jugular in a way that would even make the New York Yankees envious? Think about it. The Toronto Blue Jays in their first offer to the Phillies requested J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek (the Phils top pitching prospect), and Dominic Brown (perhaps our top outfielding prospect), and none of them were traded to Cleveland. The Blue Jays' eyes are basically bugging out at the sight of Drabek, so you have to believe that that offer is still on the table. Now will the Phillies do it, I would certainly give it a less than 5% chance of happening, especially seeing as the Phillies like their prospects and with very few exceptions, are a home grown team and they value their prospect deeply (we can afford 4 for the Indians because the Phils do have great depth in the minor leagues at this point in time) but it is certainly worth thinking about it. Could you imagine a starting rotation featuring Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Pedro Martinez, and Jamie Moyer? Good grief!

Lastly, WHAT A DEAL THIS IS! As I said in the title, these are mainly 2nd tier prospects we gave up. The only one that I feel may have any chance at making it big in the majors is catcher Lou Marson. A year or 2 ago, Carlos Carrasco was seen in a light that the Phils view Kyle Drabek now. On The DL's Dan Levy put it best a week or so ago when discussing Phils trade options and some of our prospects that he has since become "persona non grata". He can get Ks, but he has struggled a bit, hence and the Phils feel that he needs to mature more. And that is evidenced just by the fact that the Phils have gone to the farm system numerous times for pitching this year (Happ, Bastardo, and Lopez) and not once has Carrasco even been brought up for a bull pen stint. Hell, Kyle Kendrick and Tyler Walker were chosen essentially over Carrasco to fill-in for what has suddenly become an injury plagued Phillies bullpen.

And you have to wonder when Cliff Lee will make his first Phillies start. Happ is scheduled to pitch tonight and even if he is destined for the bullpen, unless Cliff Lee is magically in Arizona and ready to go tonight, the Phils have no other starter that can go tonight, so he will still go. I do point out that after this trip to Arizona, the Phillies head to San Francisco for a 4-game series which will feature a Saturday showdown with Tim Lincecum. Could you imagine? Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum? Talk about one hell of a pitching duel.

Phillies land Lee from Tribe (MLB.com)

2009 NFL Pre-Season TV Announcers

Before I start this (which I was planning on posting last night, but for the obvious reasons, decided to withhold until morning) I would just like to post a few footnotes on the tragic death of Jim Johnson. First of all, what a sad year this has been for Philadelphia sports. In the span of 4 months, we have lost Harry Kalas, Gary Papa, and Jim Johnson, with 2 of them losing their lives to some form of cancer. And of those 3, there were reports earlier the day they passed that Harry Kalas and Jim Johnson were not doing well, with Harry collapsing and Jim's cancer taking a turn for the worse as reported by Pro Football Talk. It's not like there's anytime to take in the news that they are not doing well when all of a sudden they are gone. All 3 were great individuals and utterly exceptional at what they did.

I won't be around for the rest of the day, so if there is some other news regarding the death of Jim Johnson such as funeral arrangements or such, either I will give it to you as soon as I can or JC and/or 49er16 have my permission to post something here today if such news were to be released.

With that being said, as sad and as cruel as it is to think such, we must move on. I am about to post what I think is an accurate, updated schedule of who is announcing pre-season game for individual teams on local affiliates. If I feel like it and remember, I will post week by week national schedules as we go along. I will warn you. My source for this information is Wikipedia! If there is an error and/or a change, please do not hesitate to correct me!

Buffalo Bills: Ray Bentley and Steve Tasker, SR: Mike Catalana
Miami Dolphins: Craig Bolerjack and Bob Griese/Nat Morore, SR: Kim Bokamper
New England Patriots: Don Criqui and Randy Cross, SR: Mike Lynch
New York Jets: Ian Eagle and Gret Buttle, SR: Sam Ryan
Baltimore Ravens: Gerry Sandusky, Rob Burnett, and Stan White, SR: Larry Rosen
Cincinnati Bengals: Paul Keels, Anthony Munoz, SR: Mike Valpredo
Cleveland Browns: Jim Donovan and Bernie Kosar, SR: Dave Chudowsky
Pittsburgh Steelers: Bob Pompeani and Edmund Nelson, SR: Jeff Verszyla
Houston Texans: Joel Meyers and Spencer Tillman, SR: Bob Allen
Indianapolis Colts: Don Fischer and Mark Herrmann, SR: Jeffrey Gorman
Jacksonville Jaguars: Paul Burmeister and Tony Boselli
Tennessee Titans: Cory Curtis and Eddie George, SR: Joe Dubin
Denver Broncos: Dave Logan and TBA, SR: Alan Roach
Kansas City Chiefs: Roger Twibell and Jayice Pearson, SR: Rich Baldinger
Oakland Raiders: Grant Napier and Jim Plunkett
San Diego Chargers: Ron Pitts and Billy Ray Smith
Dallas Cowboys: Brad Sham, Babe Laufenberg, and Daryl Johnston, SR: Kristi Scales
New York Giants: Bob Papa and Carl Banks, SR: Howard Cross
Philadelphia Eagles: Gus Johnson and Charley Casserly, SR: Dave Spadaro
Washington Redskins: Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann, SR: Kelli Johnson
Chicago Bears: Dave Barnett and Erik Kramer, SR: Lou Canellis
Detroit Lions (primary): Gus Johnson and Desmond Howard, SR: Matt Shepard
Detroit Lions (backup): Matt Shepard and Desmond Howard, SR: Charlie Sanders
Green Bay Packers: Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon, SR: Jessie Garcia
Minnesota Vikings: Ari Wolfe and Mike Mayock, SR: Ann Caroll
Atlanta Falcons: Randy Waters and Brian Baldinger, SR: Sam Crenshaw
Carolina Panthers: Gary Williams and Steve Beuerlein, SR: Pete Yanity
New Orleans Saints: Tim Brando and Solomon Wilcots, SR: Mike Nabors
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Chris Myers and Charles Davis, SR: Dave Reynolds
Arizona Cardinals: Mike Goldberg and Bill Lewis, SR: Jody Jackson
St. Louis Rams: Martin Kilcoyne and D'Marco Farr, SR: Randi Naughton
San Francisco 49ers: Dennis O'Donnell and Eric Davis, SR: Kim Coyle
Seattle Seahawks: Verne Lundquist and Warren Moon

GUJO AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the first time (and probably the last), I feel an utter and sincere pity for Washington fans. Stuck with Joe Beninati during hockey season and now during football pre-season they are stuck with the dynamic duo of Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann on their TV sets. If you guys get any updates from Patrick on what Britney is doing with her life, please forward them to me pronto. I must know! Oh, and whatever happened to all of the sympathy that everyone was showing New Orleans? Someone must not have gotten the memo as they hired Tim Brando. All I'll say is "PLEASE DON'T LET ANY FIELD GOALS/EXTRA POINTS DING OFF THE UPRIGHTS AND BOUNCE AWAY!"

Even though they are also doing pre-season games, I probably won't post radio announcers until the start of the regular season. Although you really don't have to wait to find out, just click the Wiki link at the top. The page has both Radio and Pre-season TV announcers.

RIP Jim Johnson, 1941-2009

Without a doubt, one of the best defensive coordinators of all time and should be a shoe-in for a posthumous spot in the pro football hall of fame. The melanoma that had sidelined him from coaching in the spring sadly took his life away today.

Rest In Peace, Jim Johnson. We love you and you will be missed.

Please Tell Me This Is Not True!

John LeClair To Be Inducted In The U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame

Today is a great day to be a Flyers fan as it was just announced that one of our own and former Legion Of Doom member, John LeClair, will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Via The Philadelphia Daily News

Former Flyer John LeClair will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, USA Hockey announced yesterday.
Joining LeClair as the Class of 2009 are the 1998 U.S. Olympic women's team, Tony Amonte, Tom Barrasso, John LeClair and Frank Zamboni.

LeClair, the first American-born player to record three consecutive 50-goal seasons in the NHL, had the best seasons of his 16-year career with the Flyers.

In 10 seasons (1994-2004) with the Flyers, he had 333 goals and 643 points, seventh on the club's all-time goals and points lists. LeClair broke the 40-goal mark in five consecutive seasons (1995-2000) and finished in the top 10 in league scoring four times (1994-95, 1996-99).

"My playing days in Philadelphia were great, as were the fans," LeClair said. "Obviously, I enjoyed most of my success when I was a member of the Flyers. It was a great time and a great time in my career. When I think back at hockey I think I am most associated with the Philadelphia Flyers."

For his career - including being a member of the 1993 Stanley Cup champions in Montreal - registered 406 goals and 413 assists for 819 points in 967 career games.

Congrats, John LeClair! Growing up, I loved the Flyers and John LeClair was my favorite of them all. There is without a doubt that this is an honor that he rightfully deserves. He had a great career with the Flyers and I wish him nothing but the best in the future as well as I hope he enjoys this honor for all that it is worth as, as mentioned above, he truly deserves it.

Chinese Soccer Player Lives Out Any Angry Sports Fan's Dream

How many times as an a referee made a horrible call and you just wanted to poof to the stadium/arena and punch him right in the face (although there are several who I'm sure just want to give him the finest prescription glasses available)? Well this Chinese soccer player was able to live out every fan's dream when, after being sent off for stepping on another player, chased after and attacked the official! Seriously. Here's the video for proof.



Ah, good times! And while it might be awhile before that guy ever plays soccer again, at least he went out with a bang. And gave us some great comedy material. Stay classy, Mr. Chinese Soccer Player Whose Name I Don't Know Who Attacked The Referee After He Rightfully Sent You Off!

Create-A-Caption: Philadelphia Inquirer Cover Edition

Leave a caption in the comments section of this cover picture in the Philadelphia Inquirer featuring Donovan McNabb and new Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.

The Eagles Week 1 Announcers Are.........

Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan!

I do warn you, though. Do NOT play the Tim Ryan NFL Rule Screw-Up Drinking Game. For if you do, you'll have alcohol poisoning by the end of the 1st quarter.

I am still waiting for some information on Eagles pre-season announcers (and if I can get it to you, pre-season announcers for all 32 teams)

Week 1 Games (the506)

NBC-Universal Officially Hates Soccer Fans

Oy ve. I can't....I can't even.....oy ve.

And I thought that yesterday's CONCACAF Gold Cup Final was bad. That pales in comparison to what you are about to read. If you're a soccer fan (or just a sports fan in general), I would suggest you stop reading now and/or have a trash can right next to you as what you are about to read will utterly sicken you.

First off, Stupid Sideline Reporters sets the background better than I ever could so I'll use his blockquote to set the stage for the worst news you'll probably hear today.

NBC Universal had the rights to the upcoming crucial World Cup qualifier between the US and Mexico at the Azteca Stadium. Since NBC couldn’t care about what the viewer thinks (hence why their ratings suck), so they tried to sell it to good ol’ ESPN, who normally handle USMNT games. Sadly, ESPN wasn’t interested in paying a pretty penny for a qualifier that could see Mexico either extend their unbeaten streak in qualifiers against the US or be in grave danger of missing the World Cup altogether.

So NBC Universal stuck it on some digital channel that I bet very few people know even existed. No problem, you can watch on Univision right? Well it’s NBC Universal so they put the Spanish-language option on Telemundo.

So as of now it's still just a meh deal, right? Well The Washington Post has the kicker for you. But before you read anymore, please, make sure there is a trash can right next to you. I don't want to be responsible for any furniture damage. Via The Washington Post

The Insider has learned that GolTV's Phil Schoen and former USA defender Marcelo Balboa will form the English-language announcing team for the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier Aug. 12 on mun2, the cable outlet operated by Telemundo. Andres Cantor and Sammy Sadovnik will do commentary on Spanish-language Telemundo. The Spanish duo will be on site in Mexico City, the English tandem will not. The English audio will be available on Telemundo for those who have Secondary Audio Programming (SAP) capability.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The good news is is that I don't get mun2. The bad news is I don't get Telemundo. I am hoping (probably against hope) that it will be picked up by GolTV and I can watch the game there (it'd be hoping too much that the Spanish broadcast to be the one picked up by GolTV). If not, I am at the mercy of what online streams I can find. On the plus side, if the game is another fail like yesterday and I'm stuck with the English version, I'll have a list of quotes I submit to AA, right?

Sigh.....hope springs eternal.

The Kansas City Royals Are Quite Creative In Their Giveaways

Today has been a rough day to say the least. It was bad enough already that I was down in the dumps over a personal problem, top that with the CONCACAF Finals (I refuse to write that scoreline down), and currently there is a massive thunderstorm in the area (just an FYI, I hate T-storms and I'm scared of lightning although there is a good reason for it as a couple years ago my house was literally inches away from being struck by lightning; we think it caught the pool fence, but regardless, it fried just about every electrical object in the house). But somehow, someway, this actually got me to crack up (something that's not easy when I'm depressed). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the greatest giveaway of all time!


And as an added bonus the first 5,000 fans will also receive a Frank White Hall Of Fame bowel movement!

I'm such a sucker for potty humor...

Attendance should be at an all time high for this giveaway (Deadspin)

Adventures in Bad Announcing, One From the Early 1980's

(Guest posted by James Craven from The O Files)

Long before there was Awful Announcing, there was "you had to be there to hear it."

On Sunday (7/26), the Phillies played the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 9-2. Jay Randolph announced the game on KSDK-TV back to St. Louis. Yes, the same KSDK that pre-empts NHL hockey games to do these Cardinals telecasts, thus pissing off those at 30 Rock. This is also done by WKYC-TV for Cleveland Indians games, but this week, that was avoided due to the fact they were in Seattle. That had become a running gag amongst us at AA and on live blogs about "Oh, they're pre-empted in St. Louis and Cleveland." But I digress.

Randolph had one memorable gaffe as a play-by-play man for NBC Sports, and it came in Philadelphia during a 1981 game against the Baltimore Colts. If you were born sometime after 1984, Bob Irsay screwed the Charm City by taking the franchise in the middle of the night to Indianapolis via Mayflower moving vans. Mikie McCormick, who was the Eagles coach before Dick vermeil took over, returned that afternoon at Veterans Stadium, and as the Iggles rang up another touchdown, Tony Franklin drilled the extra point, and Randolph intoned "It's G-O-D, Good!"

We've heard of the Second Coming, but at a football game?

U.S. Embarrassed

Oy ve. I can't.....I can't even....oy ve. On the plus side, it was 0-0 at halftime! I'll just let Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes of Univision take you through the 2nd half highlights of today's CONCACAF Gold Cup Championship and you'll get the point.



And to think that I thought about live blogging this game. I just hope that things turn out differently on August 12 when the U.S. travels to Estadio Azteca to take on Mexico in a World Cup qualifying game and they have their regulars playing once again. That game will by far be much more important than this one was.

And just as a couple asides, isn't it embarrassing that in a sold-out Giants Stadium, over 75% of the fans there were Mexican fans? And isn't it also embarrassing that I enjoyed watching Univision broadcasts of the game in Spanish, a language of which I only know a few words and phrases at best, then I did watching the American broadcasts on Fox Soccer Channel with Max Bretos and Christopher Sullivan? Sullivan fidgits way too much with his headset when he is on camera and Max Bretos, Gus Johnson you are not.

It's Douche Bags Like This That Give Philly Fans A Bad Rep

It is true with just about every team these days have their people, if you will. You know, the overly obnoxious fans who do something extremely stupid during the course of the game to make everyone else that give the entire team's fanbase a bad reputation for a few days. But when something like this happens with a Philly fan, a city known for that is constantly berated for it's allegedly rude fans, and the act is one of the most egregious things a fan has ever done in a game, you know what is going to happen next. Prepare for a media firestorm in 3....2....1....Via NBC Philadelphia

A laser pointer was the weapon of choice for one Phils fan at Saturday's game.

A fan at the Cards/Phillies game used a strategically placed laser pointer to try and distract the St. Louis hitters.

In the top of the seventh inning the fan first used it on Julio Lugo, who eventually struck out.

Then the fan tried to distract Albert Pujols before umpire Jim Wolf called time and tried to find the fan. Security went to the section but the culprit was never caught, according to ESPN.

Once the pointing stopped Pujols responded by knocking a single off Chan Ho Park.

It was just the latest classless move made by a Philly fan that will surely be met by a firestorm of criticism. This moment will be lumped in there with booing Santa Claus, throwing snowballs on the field and the infamous Eagles court.

Just imagine the field day Joe Buck would have had complaining about Philly fans if he was broadcasting the game.

+1 to Dan Stamm, the author of that NBC Philadelphia article, for that last line.

But seriously, I'm not lying or being sarcastic in any way when I say that it is douche bags like this that give Philly fans a bad reputation. When some (undoubtedly) drunken fan shines a laser in the eyes of Julio Lugo and Albert Pujols, it casts a cloud over every single Philly fan which is not right and is not fair but it is what is done. Find some sports forums or blogs with a post on this and see the generalizations that some people make about every person that goes to a Philly game. And okay, so the people near them could have done a better job at seeing what was going on and pointing out the person who was doing it, but there is a chance that the person was doing it from afar by the concourse level. That still does not make every person that goes to a Phillies game a thug.

Every team has stupid drunken idiot fans who occasionally get out of line and do something. Deny it all you want that your precious team has rowdy, out of line fans who occasionally cross the line, but it's a damn fact. To me, it's just sad when one Philly idiot does something extremely stupid and dangerous and every Philly fan gets put in a bad light over what some idiot who had way too much to drink did. It's at this point where I would say I hope they catch them, but it's only going to gain the idiot fame, noteriety, and an appearance on some late night talk show, all things that douche bags like that do not deserve. So to that extent, I hope he forever remains anonymous.

Update: Here's 2 YouTube videos of the incident. The first one is a replay of the laser on Julio Lugo and the 2nd one is a replay of the laser on Pujols.

John Prendergast Does Not Know A Person Whom He Trusts Greatly

The Washington Post thought it would be a good idea to ask some public figures who they thought would meet the Cronkite level of trustworthiness. There were some good answers, some that left you thinking what on earth was the person thinking, and then there was this one that just stood out like a sore thumb for so many reasons. I wish I was making this quote from John Prendergast in a Washington Post article up...

"There are a few. Joel Osteen: Americans are looking increasingly to the pulpit for spiritual direction in uncertain times, and the biggest televangelist-author of all of them is Osteen. Chris Berman, HBO: If you are a sports fan, and there are tens of millions of them in the U.S., this choice requires no explanation. When the Boomer speaks, people listen. Oprah Winfrey: One of the tag lines of the 21st century has become, 'It must be true; I heard it on Oprah.' "

I can hear Homer Simpson in the background letting out a big, fat "D'OH!"

(Hat tip to kt1000 for indirectly pointing this out to me by telling me to check out a post on Keith Olbermann's Baseball Nerd post about the Mets, Yankees, and Johan Santana)

Roy Halladay: Is It Worth It?

If you like fights and arguments about sports, now is the perfect time to be in JFein's house. Both my brother and I are Phillies fans and we could not be farther apart on this issue. I am on the side of yes, the Phils need to get Roy Halladay, even if the asking price is high (although I'm hesitant about giving away both J.A. Happ and our top-pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek). My brother, on the other hand, believes that we are find and that we won the World Series last year with these pitchers and we don't need a new one; we should have no problem winning this year, after all, we've only gotten better by replacing Pat Burrell with Raul Ibanez.

I feel as if that Halladay can put the Phillies over the top right now. They need another ace and better yet, they need someone who has the desire to win a World Series for complacency may be setting in real fast. Yesterday's On The DL podcast brought up a good point that you almost wish that the Phillies were in a tighter division race so they don't get complacent because let's face facts here. The Phillies won the World Series last year and may all but have a stranglehold on the NL East this year. They are 5.5 games in first place with the Marlins and the Braves behind them, both of whom have been inconsistent this year and at this point, in my view, do not pose a real threat to making a run and taking this division. The team that on most occasions would be in that position, the New York Mets, have become as 49er16 likes to point out the Triple-A Mets and are currently 10.5 games out of first place with no light at the end of the tunnel even close to being in sight.

The worry that I have, and what really has my brother over the top on this aside from the fact that we don't need him and I don't know what I'm talking about because I have not watched every Phillies game this year like he has (except for when we were on vacastion last week) and that because of such I'm a "bandwagon fan" is that the asking price is way too high. The Toronto Blue Jays, as mentioned above, along with possibly our top outfielding prospect, Dominic Brown, want current rookie sensation J.A. Happ and our top pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek. The question essentially becomes is that too high? Naturally, one would think that 2 top prospects and a rookie sensation would be too high a price for anyone, even for Doc Halladay. But All Things Philly Sports makes a great point about J.A. Happ

So, why the cautionary tale about J.A. Happ? Let's take a closer look at his numbers. In three starts this season against what I would call "good" teams, the Cardinals, Red Sox and Yankees, Happ has been pretty bad, going 17 and 2/3rds innings and giving up 12 earned runs on 21 hits and 6 walks. That's an ERA of 6.11, and a record of 0-1. It's safe to say that Happ hasn't performed well against good competition. Then, when you look at the rest of his starts and notice that he has faced the Marlins, Pirates, Reds, Braves, Blue Jays, Orioles, Mets, Padres and Nationals, and you can begin to see that Happ was able to pad his stats against weaker competition. Of those teams, I would classify 5 as terrible and 4 as mediocre. It's pretty easy to look good against that kind of competition.

Right he is. ATPS also mentions brings up the question of the Happ being the next Kyle Kendrick. For those that don't remember, Kendrick was essentially a rookie sensation like Happ currently is, going 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007. But look at where Kendrick is now. He is in the Phillies farm system, having only been brought up for one relief appearance where he stunk up the joint. Hell, when Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero were placed on the DL a few days ago, the Phillies brought up Andrew Carpenter and Tyler Walker, and not Kendrick. Tyler Freakin' Walker!

But back to Doc Halladay. According to Jayson Stark at ESPN, the Phillies are highly against giving up both Happ and Drabek, but just yesterday, the Blue Jays scouted another Phillies farm pitcher, Carlos Carrasca, who a year or 2 ago was being looked at as Kyle Drabek is now, however, he has struggled a bit this year in the minors. If the Phillies and can somehow convince the Jays to take Carrasca instead of Happ or Drabek, by all means, go for it! It is true that Carrasca has yet to fully mature, but I would feel a lot better and I'm sure the Phillies would about being wrong about Carrasca and giving him away than being right about Drabek and giving him away.

My brother still says that we do not need another pitcher and that we are fine with the guys we got. After all, we just signed Pedro Martinez who is due to make his first minor league start today. ATPS is failry adament that Pedro can only be a 5-inning starter, which is the last thing that our struggling and injured bullpen needs. For me, the jury is still out on him. They say he's better than he was last year with the Mets and my brother feels he can still go 7-8 innings. In the live blog of the Phillies-Cubs game the other day where the World Series was spoiled for everyone (yeah, um, what is all this talk about whether Halladay will or will not win the Series this year, we already know the Sawx are gonna take it this year), that Martinez, if he is up for it (and it is highly doubtful that this would ever happen), may be best-suited for the bullpen and that Halladay or another pitcher the Phils trade for would be the one to take Rodrigo Lopez's spot in the rotation (or Happ's spot if he is traded and Martinez ends up in the pen).

So what do you think? Should the Phillies trade for Roy Halladay, regardless of the asking price, should they only make the move for Doc only if they can lower the asking price so as not to include both Happ and Drabek, or are you like my brother and do you feel that the Phils don't need anyone and they can it this year with essentially they had last year (even though Jamie Moyer is not getting any younger and Brad Lidge seems to be back to his old Houston Astro self)? I'm curious and intersted to hear others' thoughts on this.

The Official Soundtracks Of Madden 2010, NHL 2010, NBA 2010 And FIFA 2010

Well then! As soon as I say I can't find something, look at what I come across! Yep, you guessed it, the official soundtracks for Madden 2010, NHL 2010, NBA 2010, and FIFA 2010. Please bear with me here as I make a run down of all the tracks that will be on this year's video games. And while it is at this point that I would generally get rid of my last post featuring the erronous information on the soundtracks not being released, the fact that the extremely awkward Tim Tebow video is up there makes it worth the while. Because we all need to know that Tim Tebow is a virgin, right? Enough of that and more of what you came for the, soundtracks!

We begin with Madden 2010.

"Can't C Me" by 2Pac
"Heads Are Gonna Roll" by Airbourne
"Them Bones" by Alice In Chains
"Created A Monster" by B.o.B
"Revolution" by Bang Camaro
"Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath
"Get 'Em Up" by Cypress HIll
"Unsung" by Helmet
"Aces High" by Iron Maiden
"Painkiller" by Judas Priest
"I Am The Bullgod" by Kid Rock
"Reckoning" by Killswitch Engage
"Blind" by Korn
"Divinations" by Mastodon
"Hate Me Now" by Nas feat. Puff Daddy (although I'm sure he'll have a new name by the time the game is released)
"Breed" by Nirvana
"Walk" by Pantera
"Shut Em Down" by Public Enemy
"Guerrilla Radio" by Rage Against The Machine
"Gaia Bleeds (Make Way for Man)" by Set Your Goals
"Duality" by Slipknot
"Sugar" by System Of A Down
"Before I Die" by Vanity Plan
"Cheah Beah" by Young Dre The Truth

Interesting to see Madden going old school in a big way with the soundtrack. Seriously. I never thought I would see Nirvana, Alice in Chains, the Beastie Boys, and Young Dre The Truth together on a Madden soundtrack. I hope you don't mind the length because this post is just getting started! I will also assume that the traditional Sam Spence tracks will be on there as well. Now moving on to NHL 2010.

"Young Cardinals" by Alexisonfire
"Deathsmarch" by Cancer Bats
"Hellions On Parade" by CKY
"Golden Years" by Disco Ensemble
"Heroes Of Our Time" by Drangonforce
"Oye Vaya" by Earl Greyhound
"Know Your Enemy" by Green Day
"Wake Up! Wake Up!" by Metalkpretty
"Keys To The City (Chicago Blackhawks Theme Song)" by Ministry & Co-Conspirators (what makes the Blackhawks so special???)
"Kids In America" by MxPx
"Burn It To The Ground" by Nickelback
"Into The Light" by Papa Roach
"Raccoon Eyes" by Priestess
"The Bravest Kids" by Rancid
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" by Scorpions
"Fire It Up" by Thousand Foot Krutch

I can only imagine the edits placed in that Nickelback song. ESPN played that song non-stop as during bowl season as well and I find it amusing that both ESPN and EA Sports would use a song, edited or not, that as the line "we've got no class, no taste, no shirt and shitfaced" in it. Moving on to NBA Live 2010 (I wish I was making some of these song titles/band names/artist stage names up).

"Zulu! (We Don't Stop Yawl)" by Afrika Bambaataa feat. Why G, Mickey Factz and The Fort Knox Five
"Champion" by B.o.B.
"La La La" by De La Soul
"Still Bigga Than" by Dead Prez
"Get It" by Grand Puba
"Crank It Up" by Laza
"Daylight" by Matt & Kim
"Class Of Our Own" by Mick Boogie feat. Kidz In The Hall, Donnis and Daytona
"Mind Got Blown" by Mickey Factz and B.o.B.
"We Ballin' by Murs feat. Kurupt & Jay Rock
"Fanatic" by Xzibit feat. BJ The Chicago Kid & Poo Bear (I could not make this up if I tried)
"Go Hard" by Zion I (something that Thom Brennaman does while calling a Tim Tebow game).

I've heard a grand total of 0 of those songs and if that number stays that way, my life will be better for it. Last but not least, FIFA 2010!

"Meine Stadt" by Auletta
"Ramallah-Tel Aviv" by Balkan Beat Box feat. Tomer Yosef and Saz
"Lakeside" by BLK JKS
"Fuego" by Bomba Estereo
"Should I Stay Or Should I Blog" by The BPA feat. Ashley Beedle
"Kalemba (Wegue - Wegue) by Buraka Som Sistema feat. Pongolove
"Fot I Hose" by CasioKids
"Skeleton Dance" by Children Collide
"Happy As Can Be" by Cut Off Your Hands
"Black Wax" by Dananananaykroyd
"Give It Up" by Datarock
"Donna Famosa" by Fabri Fibra
"International Love" by Fidel Nadal
"La Luz Del Ritmo" by Los Faulosos Cadillacs (I almost feel guilty for laughing)
"Hacen Fatta Dos" by Macaco
"Hold The Line" by Major Lazer
"Soul Do Samba" by Marcio Local
"Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul)" by Matt & Kim
"Gold Guns Girls" by Metric
"Alocatel" by Mexican Institute Of Sound
"Kangpe" by Nneka
"Moth's Wings" by Passion Pit
"Nothing To Worry About" by Peter Bjorn And John
"Not Thinking Straight" by Pink Shot Riot
""War/No More Troulbe" by Playing For Change
"Download The Revolution" by Rocky Dawuni
"It's What I Want" by Royksopp
"Dorothy" by Soshy
"It's Over! It's Over! It's Over!" by The Answering Machine
"Be Somebody" by The Enemy UK
"She's Got Me Dancing" by Tommy Sparks
"1517" by The Whitest Boy Alive
"MVP Kompa" by Wyclef Jean
"Vibrations" by Zap Mama

That was fun! And if you made it through this entire post, reading every song and every band, getting that giddy feeling along the way when you saw a song that you really liked, and you did not skip down at all, then all I will say is congratulations to you my friend, you truly deserve some sort of trophy as you must have no life! Oh, and yes, this is coming from a guy who has nothing better to do than to research, find, and compile information for a video game soundtrack on a Friday night! No life....HA! What a joke.....

Never Trust Someone In An Online Video Game Forum

As I reported in a post earlier this week, someone said that the Madden 2010 soundtrack, of which I eagerly anticipate, would be released Friday at 11:00. Well, it's now Saturday and no soundtrack has been released. Sigh......

Seeing as I'm sure I got a whole lot of hits at the 11:00 hour of all my gamer readers eagerly awaiting a post that never came, I guess I have to find a way to make it up to you. And lucky for you, I have the perfect video to do so! Enjoy the video and I'll get that soundtrack to you........sometime........eventually.....



TIM TEBOW YOU LIAR! We all know what happened between you and Thom Brennaman in the hotel room immediately following the BCS National Championship game!

Why Wait For Football Season When You Can Hear Dick Stockton's Anti-Philly Bias This Weekend?

The Philadelphia Phillies are back on Fox this Saturday and guess who is announcing the game? You guessed it. It's none other than Dick "Ball Four! Strike Three!" Stockton (along with Tim McCarver in the booth and with Ken Rosenthal reporting)

In a post earlier this week, I mentioned at how Stockton is always anti-Philadelphia. His excitement is always less for Philly teams than it is for their opponents, whomever they may be. In games where Philly is winning, it is never about what the Phillies, Eagles, or Sixers are doing right, but rather, what the other team is wrong. In other words, he does not give credit where credit is due. This assessment of Stockton has come over many years of listening to him. As early as the early 2000s, I can vividly remember thinking to myself, "wow, this Stockton fellow hates Philly teams".

So go ahead, if you get the game this weekend, and you have not previously picked up on Stockton's anti-Philly bias, watch it and listen to Stockton and see if you can understand what I am talking about. I'm not joking or being sarcastic at all. Discover for yourself why Dick Stockton is my least favorite announcer of any sport.

Disgruntled Illini Fans, Have We Got News For You!

(Guest posted by JamesCraven from The O Files)

FireRonZook.com is finally available.

Yup, the domain that struck fear into the hearts of Florida Gator fans everywhere between The Ol' Ball Coach and Urban Meyer's arrival is finally up for sale. The original web site was started by a bunch of disgruntled Gators fans in a fraternity with a few clicks and $35 in the kitty after a subpar, lackluster 2001 season under the current Illinois coach, and was even featured on PTI and The New York Times a lot. But now, Zook's at Illinois, one the creators has a blog up (on Blogspot coincidentally), Tim Tebow is still Thom Brennaman's man-love crush with Meyer (but not Steve Spurrier), and the domain that started it all is now for sale. It can be yours for a few bucks...but only if The Price is Right

JFein: The website, FireRonZook.com, has been down since April 2008 and while I don't know much about how that kind of stuff works, wouldn't the domain name have been available and/or for sale since then? Sources? Links to a source that this is somehow current news? If not, then this gets taken down. You gotta help me here, JC, I can't find anything.....And the blog that you linked to is NOT the same guy who started FireRonZook.com, hence his username "Not Baghead", meaning he's not "Baghead", the guy who started FireRonZook.com. Here's all of the information that you will ever need to know about the new blog (however, it is from 2006, 2 years before FRZ got taken down; I had mistakenly first thought that FRZ was first taken down in 2006 without reading the whole post as that was the gap in the archives of FRZ.blogspot between his posting of the old FRZ posts from Baghead and the start of NB's blog).

Update from JFein Version 2.0 Either JC channeled his inner me and hallucinated seeing something or his pitch worked.

Sean McDermott To Be The New Eagles Defensive Coordinator

Take a moment and reflect on what that headline is really saying. After 10 years, half of which included at appearances in NFC Championship games, and a Super Bowl appearance, Jim Johnson is no longer the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. The cancer and the rehab seems to have proven too much for Johnson to continue coaching the Eagles defense and to coach at the high level that we all know he is capable of. I wish Jim Johnson and his family nothing but the best in the future and I am sure that there is not a sane-minded person out there that would not do and feel the same, regardless of what team they support.

With that being said, though, I chose the more optimistic headline for a reason with that being that the Eagles have a whole lot to look forward to with their new D-coordinator, Sean McDermott. McDermott, as I'm sure most know, was an assistant under Johnson, was named the interim defensive coordinator over the spring when it was first announced that Johnson was getting treatment for cancer, and McDermott is essentially the last of the breed of original assistants under Jim Johnson. And while that sounds like a bad thing, believe me, it is anything but. Just take a look at some of the people that originally came from under the wing of Jim Johnson. For starters you have the current head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh. Then you have Ron Rivera, who led the dominant Bears defense to a Super Bowl XLI appearance. Then there is Leslie Frazer, who vastly improved the Colts secondary as a coach of that secondary and that subsequently helped the Colts beat the Bears in the aforementioned Super Bowl and is now the defensive coordinator of the defensively dominant Minnesota Vikings. And I have not even gotten to the most well known ex-Johnson assistant, Steve Spagnuolo, who led the Giants defensive to a victory in Super Bowl XLII and is now the new head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

Despite being only 35, Sean McDermott's tenure with the Eagles actually predates the Johnson era, having joined the team in 1998. And while Johnson will be greatly missed by the Eagles and Eagles fans, I would be greatly surprised if there is even the slightest drop off in the play of the Eagles' defense. McDermott, without a doubt is the right guy for the job. Johnson, has previously alluded to, is all but Belichick-like in the way he grooms his assistants for future success and I expect no less out of McDermott and I have every bit of confidence in the world that he will deliver. The only concern I have about the Eagles defense is a personnel concern and that is how will the Eagles secondary hold up without Brian Dawkins, as no big-name replacement was ever signed in free agency and the Eagles did not use their early round draft picks on a safety (I believe Sean Jones is currently penciled in as a starter on the full side next to strong safety Quentin Demps).

McDermott gets Eagles defensive coordinator job (Philly Inquirer)

Mark Buehrle Is Officially My Hero

This is one of those things that is best left without a comment....(click for larger; thanks to AA)

Mr. Perfect, Mark Buehrle

Whenever I am not watching or following other baseball scores for a day, just assume that something great is going to happen, okay folks? I was working all day with no TV in site and no computer of my own to use and look at what happened today. Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitched the 18th ever perfect game in MLB history. Not only is a perfect game a no-hitter, but in a perfect game, the opposing team does not get any base runners at all in the game. That's exactly what happened today. The Rays were unable to get a base runner the whole game. Simply unbelieveable. And because posters on YouTube suck and I can't find a good quality video of the 3 9th inning outs without random people filming their TV screen screaming their lungs out, I have 2 videos instead. The first one is the first out which may be one of the greatest catches that I have ever seen period and the 2nd one is the last 2 outs courtesy of Awful Announcing.




Simply unbelieveable. What a catch by DeWayne Wise and congratulations to Mark Buehrle on a perfect game and his 2nd career no hitter. Let me tell you what, enjoy that video because that is not something you say everyday. And according to SportsCenter, Mark Buehrle has in fact received a phone call from Washington D.C.'s favorite baseball and Chicago White Sox fan, President Barack Obama!

Some Things That I Missed And The Upcoming Days

Seeing as I work on Thursday, I figured why not throw up a garbage post late tonight before I crash from jet lag and just to recap some things to be looking for in the world of MLB.

JC and 49er16 did a great job of covering things while I was away and with the lackluster week and a half that it was, I really don't have much more to add.

Ben Roethlisberger is going Kobe Bryant on us all and ESPN is refusing to report and/or talk about it. I really should not be surprised by any of this....

Ron Franklin is retiring after the 2010 NIT tournament. The best of luck to him in all of his future endeavours. I'm too lazy to throw this up as a poll question, but with Franklin's retirement and perhaps the future retirement of some other older broadcasters (Stockton, Enberg, and so on and so forth), who do you think will emerge as the voice of the next generation of sports? Will it really be Joe Buck? Could he possibly become just as if not even more famous than his father, Jack Buck? What about the fruit of Marv's loins? Or Nantzy? Or Shulman? Or perhaps someone like Dave Pasch who is a relative unknown get the break of a lifetime? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Will the Phillies trade for a starting pitcher? I must say, it is a blast reading rumor after rumor about what they will and won't do and who they are and are not interested in. Right now, the big names for the Phils are Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay but all that could change real quick. Who will become a Phillie and who will they replace in the starting rotation? Will Pedro Martinez even be a starter? The Phillies bullpen needs some help as they are not getting plenty of long games from the Phils starters and with Martinez being considered by most to be only a 5-inning pitcher at this point, is Pedro best-suited for the bullpen? If the Phils acquire Halladay, Lee, or some other big name, I certainly think that Martinez in the pen may be the best idea out there. They could use one more arm. Now will the Phils make that move with Martinez and will Martinez accept that role? The answer has to be doubtful at best on both accounts, but if you think about it, that really would not be that bad of a move and may benefit both sides more than anything else.

We can all stop watching this baseball season now. It's over. It's done with. You can take it to the bank, go to Vegas, and bet your household on this one. I will tell you right now with 100% certainty that the Boston Red Sox will win the World Series this year. Remember the day that you read this.

According to one forum, the Madden 10 soundtrack, along with the soundtrack of other EA games will come out this Friday. If that is indeed the case (or whenever the date is), I will post those soundtracks here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm still jet-lagged and subsequently tired as hell. I will be collapsing in 5...4......3...2..

Dick Stockton Is Senile, Part 987

In the not-so breaking news department, Dick Stockton once again is showing his senile. This time, listen, as Grandpa Dick is not quite sure of what the final pitch of the game is.



"Ball Four! Strike Three!" - Dick Stockton

Too funny! There are plenty of reasons why I hate Stockton. For starters, he can't keep up with the game, despite being from the area, he always comes across as so anti-Philadelphia that it puts Fox's hard-on for Man-Ram to shame, and I'm pretty sure that as evidenced by this clip, the man is certifiably senile. Then again, the senile Stockton is great for blogs and the comedy that I can get out of him is truly priceless. Once we get the NFL season and we are (hopefully) doing live blogs every Sunday, on days that the Eagles have Stockton announcing, I'll try to point out for you the anti-Philly bias.

Dick Stockton tries to top Charlie Steiner in blown ninth inning calls (Awful Announcing)

I'M BAAAAACK!!!!!!!

As I'm sure you noticed by my various posting in the past few hours, after surviving my first beer, the worst thunderstorm I have ever been in in my life with rain force and wind speed that would make hurricanes quake with fear, walking on the old Nazi Party rally grounds, and one hellacious day at the airport straight out of a bad comedy movie, I have made it back home. And that hellacious day at the airport was today (or yesterday, at this point, seeing as it's currently July 22 and I'm talking about July 21). Top that with the fact that I have literally been up for 23 hours straight and you can imagine how I'm feeling right now. Regardless, I am back and will have some actual sports related posts up tomorrow.

But first, I would like to greatly thank James Craven and 49er16 for their absolutely tremendous work on my blog over the past week and a half. I must say, you guys were awesome! And while I was unable to find an internet cafe in Germany, I did read all of your posts on this site (I'll catch up on your actual blogs tomorrow, so prepare for a bevy of comments) including the live blogs and once again, great work guys! You did me and this blog proud. Oh, and sadly, I was unable to locate any German porn. ;'-( However, I did legally have beer! Oh, by the way, never try Bitburger Beer in your life.

I brought this up in the 1st paragraph, but I want to elaborate on this a bit. It will be my only sports tidbit until I am fully awake and functional later today. As of now, the largest soccer stadiums in the world (notably Estadio Azteca and the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro) do not and probably cannnot hold 200,000 people. That being said, while being showed around Nuremberg, Germany, as I was standing on Nazi Parade grounds, starring at the exact platform where Adolf Hitler stood and made his speeches, with the Frankenstadion in the background (yes, that is the stadium where the U.S.A. lost 2-1 to Ghana in the 06 World Cup and the Battle of Nuremberg took place; just seeing a World Cup soccer stadium in person was enough to get me excited, not to even mention the historical nature of where I was standing), our tour guide told us perhaps one of the most amazing things I have ever heard about sports. The Nazis had a proposed soccer stadium that would have been in Nuremberg, Germany (which was essentially going to serve as the Mecca of Nazi Germany) which would seat 400,000 people! No typo, no sarcasm, no joke. 400,000 people. And for those that do not believe me, here is a picture of that proposed stadium:

Since returning from the trip, I did do a brief search on this proposed stadium and the story checks out. 400,000 people in a stadium. And while one can make the argument that the upper 200,000 seats in that stadium would be pretty much pointless and serve no other purpose to fans other than to see small looking dots that look like people kicking some black and white speck, one has to admire and gape at what they wanted and had it not been for World War 2, which derailed those plans, probably what would have eventually come to be.

All right, I'm officially out of it. I'll read everyone's blogs tomorrow and will most likely have a post or 2 up about some piece(s) of sports news. Although, I think I might think about moving to Europe permantently.......the Phils did not lose a game while I was away!

Hopefully, Jet Lag Won't Last Long, But This...

(Guest posted by James Craven of The O Files)

Before JFein regains control of his blog, maybe as early as tomorrow or Thursday if that jet lag doesn't kick in, here is an example of why professional baseball - even at its' highest level - should never, EH-EH-EH-EVER (sorry, Chris Jericho) - have two teams wearing colored tops, especially dark colors.

Oakland Athletics 14, Minnesota Twins 13, Purists of Baseball Uniforms, zero:

Minnesota wore their navy blue tops with headache-inducing gray pants featuring navy pinstripes. Sure, it was cool back in 1987... The A's one-downed them with black caps and jerseys when their colors are green and gold.

I rest my case. JFein will be back, so for Keith and me, thanks for hanging around the last week and a half.

Well it's been fun

(Guest posted by 49er16 from Keith's Sports Journal)

Well it's been fun while it lasted. JFein is expected to return from Europe today and is expected to start posting again tomorrow. I've had fun along with James Craven running FARN! while Justin has been gone. I want to thank Justin for giving me the opportunity and I hope he enjoyed himself in Europe.

I will leave you with a video making the rounds on YouTube. If you have been following wrestling in the past year, then you know Chris Jericho has been playing a heel. Jericho comes out to the ring and cuts a promo making fun of fans, current wrestlers, and former wrestlers. Well one fan took Jericho's promo a little to far and tried to attack Y2J in the ring in Greenville, South Carolina.



Fan Tries To Attack Chris Jericho In The Ring- Video (Camel Clutch Blog)

Baseball Update: Roy Halladay Sweepstakes and More

(Guest posted by 49er16 from Keith's Sports Journal)

The Baseball Update is a look at the happenings around Major League Baseball

Jon Heyman has reported this mourning that the Philadelphia Phillies are the front runners to land Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay.

"The Phillies remain nearly everyone's favorite to land star Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, and the teams are believed to have advanced to the point where they have discussed several of Philadelphia's top prospects -- including outfielder Michael Taylor, shortstop Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco -- although, there's no evidence yet that the Phillies are relenting on top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek.

If Philly agrees to surrender Drabek, one competing executive said, "they might get [Halladay] real quick.''

But two more competing execs warned that they believe the Phillies would have to include Drabek -- a dynamic talent who impressed in the Futures Game -- to have any chance to land Halladay. If they're going to trade Halladay, "they've got to get the Phillies' best prospect,'' one American League exec insisted."

If the Phillies want a chance to compete for the World Series again, then they have to give up Drabek. Halladay is already a proven starter, while you never know what you are going to get with Drabek once he is called up to the majors. The Phillies though are fighting a case of the San Francisco Giants syndrome.

They are having a tough choice about giving up a prized prospect in a trade. The Giants haven't made a trade this season yet for a bat, because they don't want to give away one of their prized pitching prospects. But you have to take a chance. And the Phillies should take this chance on Halladay.

The Giants have also shown interest in Halladay. But they probably would have to give up either Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain. And unlike Drabek, Lincecum and Cain are proven starters. So I don't expect Halladay to land in San Francisco. The Dodgers, Brewers, and Rangers have also shown interest in Halladay. Also the White Sox are in talks with Toronto. Remember earlier this year the White Sox traded for San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy. But Peavy vetoed the trade and remained in San Diego. So Chicago is still looking for a starting pitcher. Also don't count out the Red Sox or Yankees making a deal for Halladay.

More:
- The Arizona Diamondbacks are expected to be sellers at the trading deadline. Arizona has fallen way short of expectations this season because of an lack of offensive support. Starting pitchers Doug Davis and Jon Garland are both free agents after the season. So Arizona could possible trade both of them for hitting prospects.

- Both Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez rejected contract offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. This definitely shows that both players are fed up with the Pirates management. The Pirates are traded away a lot of key players in the past two years and I think this is a sign of defiance to those moves by both Sanchez and Wilson.

- Jason Schmidt will be returning to the Dodgers today to pitch in his first game since 2007. If Schmidt returns to form, you could see the Dodgers pull out of the Halladay sweepstakes.

- Jonathon Sanchez makes his first start for the Giants since throwing his no-hitter. His performance tonight could decide whether or not he will be traded at the deadline. Sanchez struggled for most of the year with his control, basically making him un-tradable. But since throwing the no-hitter teams have said to be interested in Sanchez. And with the Giants unwilling to give up Lincecum, Cain, and Madison Bumgardner, Sanchez will be the pitcher the Giants use as trade bait.

NOTE: JFein is expected to return to America tomorrow. He probably won't be posting until Wednesday because that is long trip and he probably wants to rest an unpack. So you have two more days of James Craven and myself posting here.

Harry Potter and The Incredibly Ginormous Theatrical Cash Cow

(Guest posted by James Craven from The O Files)

Sounds like something Joanna Kathleen Rowling (yes, that is her real name) would have written in high school for shiggles. In reality, it could be the way that the movie adaptation of the Harry Potter books has been going as of late.

In the USA and Canada, the latest film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, grossed nearly $160 million in the first five days alone. Worldwide, it broke Spiderman 3's world record with $237 internationally (outside the USA and Canada), bringing the total gate to...$397,000,000.00, and the question is will it ever end?

Two movies based on the final book are forthcoming within the next three years, so stay tuned.

Hidden Turnbury, Cut Down Tiger, And There's Been a Tom Watson Sighting!

(Guest posted by James Craven of The O Files)

The British Open has lost a lot of star power for golf. First, Phil Mickelson withdrew to be with his wife as she battles breast cancer, and now, Eldrick Woods has missed the cut at Turnbury.

No, that second comment is not a misplaced error. Tiger Woods has missed the cut at a major for the first time since the 2006 U.S. Open, and the second major of golf's grand slam (The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open or more commonly called, "The Open Championship", and the PGA Championship) that Tiger missed, and the fifth overall since becoming pro in 1996.

Even bigger news, there's been a Tom Watson sighting! (He's 206! No, he's 59) He's tied for the lead with virtual unknown Steve Marino heading into the weekend. If I was over at ESPN, my stomach would turn because this will be the last time there will be over-the-air coverage on ABC Sports. (I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "ESPN on ABC" BS branding, thank you very much.) Starting next year, it's cable exclusive at TWWLS, knowing that there's no Tiger, the ratings will sink faster than a rock in water. In the Atlantic Ocean, and 24,000 feet deep. And so, I won't watch.

Video of the Day: "Making It Rain"

(Guest posted by 49er16 from Keith's Sports Journal)

ESPN finally takes us into that fateful night when Pacman Jones "made it rain" in a Las Vegas casino. Warning! If you have children, then they really shouldn't be watching this video. This is definitely a must watch.

Blame Peyton Manning and Chad Pennington

(Guest posted by James Craven of The O Files)

So, why are wondering that the Phillies and the Marlins are playing a four-game series that begins tonight (7/16) instad of a three game series tomorrow (7/17)? Simple, squatters' rights.

Let me explain. Last September when the baseball schedules came out, the Phillies and the Marlins were slated to have four off days following the All-Star Break. There were three games to have been played on September 21, 22 and 23 in Dolphin/Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin/LandShark Stadium/Park/Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Fast forward to April, and the release of the 2009 NFL Schedule. September 21: Indianapolis Colts at Maimi Dolphins. Ruh-roh. The Dolphins own the stadum, and forced the Marlins to move that game to tonight, citing eniment domain (they own the stadium). The Marlins for the moment are renters until 2012 when their new park opens at Little Havana on the site of the old Orange Bowl Stadium, and change their name to the Miami Marlins.

There's your answer.

Review: Ted Williams Bio

(Guest posted by 49er16 from Keith's Sports Journal)

HBO delivered another top notch documentary last night. This time it was a biography on the late great Ted Williams. The bio delved into Williams' life as a ballplayer, his time as a Marine Corps pilot, his marriages, his relationships with his children, and the bizarre happenings around his death.

The first part of the movie explores his childhood. This section really gives you an idea of what Ted Williams would become as a man. He was born in San Diego to parents who really weren't there for him all the time. His mother was more concerned about her duties to the Salvation Army. His father had multiple jobs and was rarely at home. Baseball is what kept Williams active and it became his obsession. Because his parents were absent all the time, this would factor greatly into Williams relationships with his own children.

Williams was brought up by the Boston Red Sox in 1939 and he immediately wished to become "the greatest hitter of all-time." As Williams was just beginning his career, the United States became a part of WWII. Williams would serve as a Marine Corps pilot. Williams had his choice though with the army. He could have joined the Navy and stayed at home to play baseball. Instead he chose to become a pilot. He began his military career in 1942 and he wouldn't play baseball again until 1946.

Williams returned to the Boston Red Sox in 1946. That year he won the MVP and led Boston to the World Series. But of course the Red Sox lost the series to the Cardinals and Williams would become known as a player who couldn't play in the clutch. The next two years the Red Sox were beaten out of the Pennant by the Indians and the Yankees.

By 1953, Williams was called back to action, this time to fight in the Korean War. But because the army was using jet planes, Williams had to completely re-learn how to fly a plane again. During a mission in Korea, Williams had to land his plane on its belly after his hydraulics were damaged by an anti-aircraft weapon.

Eventually Williams returned to the Red Sox to finish his career. Also to say Williams didn't like the media would be an understatement. He despised the media and he wouldn't mind letting them know that. Also by the end of his career, Williams was struggling at the plate. During one game he started spitting at media members in press row and started spitting at the fans. When Williams hit his last home run, which would turn out to be his last hit, Williams didn't tip his cap to the fans.

After his career Williams was a very active sportsman. He loved to fish and to be outdoors. He also coached the old Washington Senators for a couple of years. The bio also delved into Williams' love life. He married three times and divorced three times. He had three children who he had a very cold relationship with.

Through the years though Williams suffered a series of strokes. His son John Henry would take care of his father. Also the movie talked about how Williams son John Henry would take his father all around the country to sign memorabilia. Also the bio talks about Williams' great charity work with children's hospitals. They even talk about a story about Boston Globe's own Dan Shaughnessy and his daughter who was fighting leukemia. Williams would talk to Shaughnessy's daughter as she was fighting the illness. She would make a full recovery. The movie also talks about his memorable appearance at the 1999 All-Star game in Boston.

The movie also delves into what happened to Williams' body after his passing. His eldest daughter said that his will stated that he wanted his body cremated. His other children, John Henry and Claudia, said that he wanted his body to be frozen for he could meet his children in the future. The case went to court and his two children won the case and Williams' body remains in bio stasis in Arizona. In an ironic case of events, John Henry would die from leukemia and his body would eventually be placed in bio stasis.

If you are a baseball fan then you should check out this movie. It is well done and it delves into the many aspects of Williams' life. Just a great movie all around.