The Eagles Have Signed Dawkins (Likely) Replacement

And his name is Sean Jones from the Cleveland Browns. I don't watch many Browns' games so I've hardly heard of him, but the stuff I am reading about him looks good. Believe it or not, I might actually like this signing. Way to go Andy, you're 2 for 30,000 this off-season! From CSN Philly

Sean Jones agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles on Friday. The 27-year-old has spent the last four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, who selected him in the second round of the 2004 draft.

In the last three seasons, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Jones has 14 interceptions, third in the league among safeties in that span behind Baltimore's Ed Reed and St. Louis' Oshiomogho Atogwe.

Jones missed a month last season recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee; he initially experienced swelling in the knee during the preseason, rested and played the season opener before being sidelined for the next four games.

In 12 games Jones had 69 tackles and four picks – one of which came against the Eagles, when he intercepted DeSean Jackson.

It sounds like the guy has some potential, let's hope he can get the job done!

Friday Links

TGIF, everyone! Here are some links that I think you should check out (especially #1, if you like bloggers tearing apart rich NFL franchise owners).

Joe Banner has some strange logic. (Russakoff Rules)

This just in: Brent Musburger is still drunk. (Awful Announcing)

The Eagles actually made a move at wide receiver! Okay, fine, it's just trading Greg Lewis to the Patriots. (ALL THINGS PHILLY SPORTS)

And now, some videos that you should check out.

A longer, better quality video of PSU's 2nd upset over the Illini.


Greg Paulus kissed a boy and he liked it!


And lastly, some classic March Madness finishes from the past few years!

Remember George Mason?


Love UCLA or hate them, their comeback win over Gonzaga was classic.


So, this is what it takes to get Jim Nantz excited!


I'll have more classic moments next Friday.

Illinois--Penn State 2 Was A Tad Bit More Interesting

I joked during the live blog about the boringness of this game and that I would not watch it, and man, am I kicking myself for not watching it. What a game in Happy Valley. Better yet, what an ending in Happy Valley. It was not, I repeat, it was NOT a 37-34 snoozefest (or whatever the score of that clusterfuck was). Instead it was, in all likelihood, the clincher for Penn State's first trip to the Big Dance since 2001. And boy, did it occur in dramatic fashion. Down by 10 at one point, the Nittany Lions rallied to give us this You Gotta See It To Believe It ending. Remember this is historically bad Penn State basketball at home against the #23 in the country. The video starts with the Illini up 1 with 8.4 seconds left and their forward, Mike Davis, shooting the front end of a 1-and-1.



Woot! Nova and Penn State are (most likely) going to the Big Dance! Now Penn State can't blow it in the Big 10 tourney. I'm not sure they need to win it, but in order to secure the bid, they should have a fairly impressive showing. Damn my stubborn refusal to watch boring Big 10 basketball at 9:00 at night!

Villanova vs. Providence Live Blog

Live blog tonight! I'm running out now, hopefully I'll be back in time for the start of the game.

Sorry for the delay. I'm back and the Wildcats are leading 16-14 over Providence.

The bottom line just gave me great news! Illinois and Penn State are playing again! The combined O/U is 50.

20-14 Villanova as we get shots of blind resumes. I don't know why they have to make suspenseful by doing it blind, the comparison would get through either way, but whatever, I guess.

Media timeout time. Villanova is on a 9-0 run and lead 20-14.

Whoa, I just received news that the Eagles just traded Greg Lewis to New England. No surprise, he won't be missed. They also get a 2010 draft pick and the Eagles get a 2009. No complaints from me.

Pena is fouled as he tried to shoot from inside. Wildcats are up by 6, 22-16. And Dave and Len make a good point that Villanova could easily end up in Philadelphia (they only play 3 or less games in the Wachovia Center during the regular season) with these economic times, the less teams have to fly out far away, the better.

Why on earth is the Morgan St.-Coppin St. basketball game in a delay?

3 FOR REYNOLDS! And the Wildcats are up by 9! This is it, if Villanova wins, they get a double-bye in the Big East tournament (which will reduce the wear and tear before the NCAA tournament, and that's the biggest benefit, imho).

Providence keeps turning the ball over. The turnover ratio is 8-1.

12-point lead at the 8-minute timeout, 32-20 Wildcats.

Providence is making a run at things, it's now a 7-point game, although a pair of freebies from Nova as turned it into a 9 point lead.

Big 3 for the Friars! It's now a 7-point game. Hankey with the hook shot and it's now a 5-point game. The Friars are battling back.

Turnover by Cunningham! McKenzie with a wide open 3 shot and he air balls it!

I have mixed feelings about the championship tournaments. They're as fun as hell to watch, but other than for the sake of winning a trophy, there really is not much on the line other than a few seeds unless you're a team that had a horrible season but got hot at the exact right time (see Georgia in last year's SEC tourney).

HAHA! A-Rod may be out for 4 months. Sorry, I can't stand the Yankees.

Villanova misses at the line and they are just letting Providence back in this game.

WHOA! HOW DID PROVIDENCE COME AWAY WITH THAT ONE! Brooks with a nice jam after the scramble and it's now a 3-point game. It looks like Marquette may have to end up losing again.

STOKES FROM 3! 6-point game now and they need that. 10 seconds to go.

Yay! More blind resumes. We've got Providence again and this time they are being compared to Minnesota and Maryland.

My opinions.

1. Providence
2. Maryland
3. Minnesota

NICE SAVE BY PROVIDENCE! 3-BALL DOES NOT GO IN! THEY GET A REBOUND AND GO FOR THE DUNK AND HE MISSES AND THAT'S THE END OF THE FIRST HALF!

40-34 Villanova at the break.

Wow, did you catch that massacre by Stephen Bardo? He could not think of the term double bye and he talked about teams banging each other. Niiicee...

Providence starts the half by turning the ball over and ANDERSON QUICKLY CONVERTS IT INTO A 3! Nice transition play by the Cats.

Efejuku is called for his 3rd foul. Providence is trying to hang tough with Villanova. They're back within 5. EFEJUKU ALLEY-OOPS IT! IT'S A 3-POINT GAME! Out of bounds on Providence after a bunch of misses and rebounds by Villanova.

ANDERSON CONNECTS FROM 3! AND CURRY AT THE OTHER END CONNECTS FROM DOWNTOWN!

"Louisville and West Virginia, both probably in the NCAA tournament." - Dave Pasch

I would suggest that Louisville is a little better than probably.

Was that Gary Throne doing the commentary in that Buffalo Wild Wings commercial?

Misfires on both sides of the court. Providence trails by 5 at the media timeout.

"Welcome back to Villanova where Len Elmore has come up with the Blind Resume play at home game!" -Dave Pasch

Anderson has been a house of fire tonight. Cunningham gets called for an elbow.

8-point Wildcat lead. Kale gets called for a foul.

McDermott gets called for a foul and it seems like we've had one every 30 seconds or so this game. Or maybe it's just me, I am really tired...

REJECTED! Too bad it was called a foul. Clark has 4 fouls and he'll take a seat on the bench.

"The last time Villanova won 5-games was 1951." - Dave Pasch

Wait, weren't they a #1 seed a few years ago? I guess they have more games now.

Villanova's trap causes Providences' 14th turnover. FISHER FROM 3.....ONIONS! 10-point lead! TURNOVER! IT'S A 2-1! FISHER TO REYNOLDS FOR THE EASY LAY-UP! 63-51 Villanova and barring a catastrophic meltdown, they're going to the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

It's now a 10-point lead. Did Pena just tip the ball in for Providence? TRAITOR! Well, at least he made up for it with that basket.

REYNOLDS FOR THREE! 13-point lead with 9:10 to go!

Am I smelling a 100-point performance for the Wildcats?

Efejuku jams it down for the Friars! They either need a big comeback here or a deep run in the Garden.

70-59 Villanova with under 8 to go.

Efejuku is literally the only player on Providence that has bothered showing up with the desparation needed. He trails the Wildcats by 8.

ANOTHER REYNOLDS 3, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!

REYNOLDS DOES IT AGAIN! 21 points on the day and 5-9 from 3-Land!

Efejuku is fouled on the 3-point shot. He makes all 3. Anderson misses the 3 and Providence gets the rebound. STEAL! FISHER CONNECTS WITH A LAY UP! 80-69 Villanova and they can smell the Big East quarterfinals.

Curry from 3! Villanova somehow escapes a turnover. Cunningham connects with a basket AND 1!

All right, there's some action in Ohio it seems.

How would Len Elmore difuse a fight? Ponder that for a second. (49er16)

That's one of those questions that no one will ever know the answer to...

10-point Villanova lead, 85-75 with 2:49 to go.

"Providence can look back at this and look at the shotty ball handling." - Len Elmore

Damn, he pronounced his syllables crrectly!

ANOTHER VILLANOVA 3! TURNOVER! REYNOLDS LAY-UP! HELLO BIG EAST QUARTERFINALS!!!!!

Villanova is running up the score thanks to Providence turnovers, and it's now a 21-point game.

Talking bubbles, as I mentioned in the comments section, Penn State is going to be in and I believe that despite some bad losses (i.e. last night vs. NC State), BC is in.

And the seniors walk off the court on Senior Night at The Pavilion.

I'll be live blogging the Big East Tournament from the quarterfinals onward to the championship, regardless of how Villanova does. And I'll interwine that with some ACC live blogs as well and maybe the A-10 championship if a Philly team makes it (we have 3, so the chances are there). If there's a game that anyone wants to take over for me, you're more than welcome to step up and take it.

97-80 is your final score. The Wildcats have a double bye in the Big East tournament. See you around!

T.O.'s Been Released!

Well then, good morning all! Imagine my surprise waking up this morning and learning that Terrell Owens has been released from yet another contract, this time it's the Cowboys who have had hit up to here with the flamboyant, arrogant wide receiver. From ESPN.com

The Dallas Cowboys have released controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, sources told ESPN's Michael Smith late Wednesday.

In late February, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not deny the team was discussing the possible release of Owens. Owens' future was brought up again in meetings at Valley Ranch on Wednesday, but Jones had not made a final decision when most people left the building, a source told ESPN.com's Matt Mosley.

"There are several decisions on our roster we have to look at," Jones said in February. "This is the time of year we do that. I'm not trying to be trite, but as you all know we're evaluating players in college, we're evaluating free agents and we're evaluating our own roster. This is an ongoing thing, not any different than this time last year."

The team did not immediately have a comment. A spokesman for Owens said he hadn't heard the news, and that the receiver was traveling and could not immediately be reached, the Associated Press reported.

As unsurprising as a team releasing T.O. is, I must say: WOW! Now the question becomes, what team will actually pick him up? With his reputation, it is doubtful he'll sign with any playoff contender, so, if we're lucky, we might see T.O. sign with Detroit! How fun would that be to watch? And by fun, I mean downright hilarious. No offense to Detroit, but seeing T.O. on a once 0-16 team would be funny.

FYI, I am hoping that I will be able to live blog the Villanova game against Providence tonight at 7. My internet was a bit tempermental at first this morning, but I (obviously cause I'm posting this) did get it, so I am hoping that I can boot it up again tonight (I won't be around much of the day, today). So unless I can't get it up again, I will see you then!

The Comcast Center Was Home To Quite The Epic Night Last Night

It is very rare that one of the dunks of the year is not the highlight of the night at a college basketball game, but that was indeed the case last night at the Comcast Center in College Park during the Wake Forest-Maryland game. First here's the dunk by Jeff Teague.



Okay, so how is that not the highlight of the night? It's simple at halftime, after a year and a half, THE PRANK WARS ARE BACK, BABY! That's right, after a year and a half of waiting, we finally get to see Prank Wars 7.

The synopsis of the series of this. Streeter and Amir are 2 friends who (for real) play very cruel and very nasty pranks on each other. Before this one, the last one (Prank War 6) involved Amir having Streeter propose to his then girlfriend. Of course, Streeter did not really mean to propose, Amir had just rigged the jumbotron at Yankee Stadium during a Yankees game to say something along the lines of "Will you marry me?" from Streeter to his girlfriend. Others have involved convincing an audience to not laugh at Streeter's jokes at a comedy club, and Streeter creating a fake audition that completely humiliated Amir. This latest one, however, may take the cake. I take you now to halftime of the Wake Forest-MD game. If you have not seen it yet, Streeter will explain it all.



So, so funny. If you want to see more, go to YouTube, google, or even CollegeHumor and type in "Prank War Streeter Amir" or something like that. There are 7 in total, with the one you just saw being the 7th one. Trust me, the hilarity is worth it.

Epic Prank Goes Down At Maryland (Awful Announcing)

The Eagles Continue To Mystify Me

So the Eagles just got rid of Brian Dawkins, their 35-year old Pro Bowl safety. It's time to bring someone into the defensive secondary, for after Quintin Mikell, our next starting safety is Quintin Demps, who based on his performance at safety last year, may not quite be ready. On the other side of things, the Eagles seem strong at corner with Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown the starters and Joselio Hanson, a proven nickelback and back-up cornerback. So naturally, with all that said above, the Eagles hosted 34-year old cornerback Shawn Springs for a visit. Seriously. 34-years old. Cornerback. From Bleed Eagles Green

The latest news from Eagleville is that CB Shawn Springs is in town for a visit. Big relief as I had thought the Eagles' invites to Free Agents were getting fire walled.

Springs, is it just a visit or is there a contract awaiting his signature? I guess time will tell. I guess time will also tell what this move truly means. Are there plans to move Sheldon to Safety? Are there plans to move Sheldon via trade? Are there doubts over the ability and progress of Jack Ikegwuonu? This fan is curious.

I really wish I was making this up. You get rid of your 35-year old Pro Bowl safety, and you bring in a 34-year old back up cornerback, a position that is not on a concern of the Eagles at all.

BEG does bring up a good question. Is the answer going to be to have Springs play full safety? Or will Sheldon Brown be moved? Or would it be Asante Samuel? Or will they throw some 5th round pick schmuck?

Look, I have nothing against Shawn Springs, I think he is a really good player and if the need at corner arised, I would love to have him on my team, but for goodness sakes, a 4th cornerback is not the Eagles' primary concern. Nor is it their tertiary concern. And if they are planning on moving someone to the full safety position, whomever he is, he better be ready to fill the shoes of one of the greatest Eagles of all time.