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According to this article on ESPN, Tony Romo will not play again for the Dallas Cowboys until mid-November.  So much for channeling his inner-Favre and trying to play hurt with a widdle-pinkie bwake.  Anyway, is anybody interested in a trade for Terrell Owens??

So Taguchi!  You heard it here first, my loyal readers.  Actually, this is a test blog entry using the ScribeFire FireFox plugin.

Please completely disregard this drivel.

On September 11th I wrote about the fact that the Phils were 3.5 games out of first place and the chances of the Mets having another collapse was highly unlikely. The Phils finished the season winning 12 of their last 15 games and the Mets, well, they came through too. Another collapse and they were officially eliminated yesterday, on the last game of the season, by the Florida Marlins. The same Marlins that had the distinct pleasure of knocking them out last year. But enough about the Mets…

Let’s hear it for your 2008 National League East Division Champs… YOUR PHIGHTIN’ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES!!!

We are recording the next episode of EaglesFanCast tonight, so make sure you check our site or your favorite podcast catcher tomorrow morning for our latest views on the Birds!

Back on June 9th I wrote about my angst in getting too caught up in the Phils chances this season. On that date, they held a 3.5 game lead in the NL East. Ironically, as of today they are 3.5 games back in the division, with only 16 games left. Can we expect another Mets collapse this season as we did last year? Looking at their schedule, it is highly doubtful. Keep in mind, last year the Phils played a series with the Mets as the Mets gave up their 7 game lead with 17 to play. There are no more head to head games left this season. That is a lot of ground to make up in a short amount of time. What kills me is the Phils go to NY last weekend and take 2 out of 3, then come home and drop 2 or 3 to the fading Marlins.

Well, at least we have the Wild Card right? Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. They are 4 games back of the Brewers in that department. The good news is that they are playing host to the Brewers starting tonight for a 4 game series and could pull even with them. The bad news is that by Sunday evening they could be 8 games behind them.

So what happened? Or shall I say, how did this happen THIS year. Pitching. STARTING PITCHING to be exact. Allow me to break it down:

Myers (9-11): How often does your opening day starter get sent down to the minors? And not just AAA, we’re talking A, as in singular. Yeah, like, oh I don’t know, how about NEVER. Mr. Myers was SO bad that he holds the distinction of not only playing at 4 levels of professional baseball (A, AA, AAA and MLB) in one season, but LOSING at everyone of those levels… in one season. Although he has been better since coming back up, it’s too little too late.

Hamels (12-9): He is the ace of the rotation, just as long as it is not a big game. Then, well, you get Adam Eaton (I’ll be getting to that). Last weekend, after Myers and Jamie Moyer pitch outside of their minds against the Mets (with neither one of them giving up an earned run), Hamels, the previously mentioned ace, goes 5 innings giving up 9 hits and 5 earned runs. Not to mention the 2 BOMBS he gave up to Delgado. The first HR was after Hamels was up 0-2 in the count. The second HR still hasn’t landed. Now Hamels has been pretty good this season and he hasn’t always gotten the run support this season, but this game would have pulled the Phils dead even with the Mets and given them tremendous momentum. So do you expect your “ace” to be “pretty good” and not able to come up big in the big games. I sure don’t!

Moyer (13-7): At 45 years young, I guess he could be considered the ace as well as anyone in this rotation. He’s 13-7 and has won 8 of his last 10 decisions. How he keeps winning is probably the 8th wonder of the world. But hey, in the immortal words of Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman… “I got nowhere else to go!”

Kendrick (11-9): 11 wins??? Really? I guess that is the 9th wonder. 7 loses in his last 10 decisions. And in those 7 losses, 2 games had 6 earned runs and in another 2, he had 7 earned runs! In his last 6 games, he is averaging 3.5 innings of work, with the capper coming 2 nights ago with a 1 1/3 inning outing whilst giving up 7 earned runs. Is there any way we can play a game without a pitcher, when it is his turn in the rotation???

The rest (i.e. Blanton, Eaton, etc.): Does it really matter. They suck. The one move the Phils make is to get Blanton from the A’s, where by the way. He sucked. The thinking behind this move? This still boggles my mind… was that since he pitched so well AGAINST the Phils, they thought he’d be a nice addition to the team. Forget about the fact that he sucked against all other teams, which by the way, he has to pitch against. Seriously, this was the reasoning. I really hope the front office knew that he couldn’t pitch against the Phils and still get a win. I looked it up, MLB is very much against this practice.

Now the bats haven’t always been alive and each hitter it seems has gone through the share of slumps. That is going to happen in any season with any team. The bullpen, has been above average in my estimation, especially with the amount of work they get, particularly when Kendrick is starting! It goes back to your starting pitching and the fact that once again the front office has not seen the need to bring in a legitimate ace. I think Hamels can be that guy, but not yet. Not until he can prove he can handle the pressure.

Everyone is going to focus on these next 16 games and will say that they didn’t do what they need to down the stretch. Guess what folks, the games in April, May and June count just as much as the ones in September. And when I sit in the stands and watch Myers give up his league leading 24th home run (and the second of the night to Vlad) against the Angels, I would venture to say that it was probably too late, although they did send him down the next day. Bringing in Blanton was a joke. Keeping Eaton on the roster at all, at any level is a joke. I really believe they had the tools this year if they honestly had a solid #1 guy in the rotation. What they really have is a #2, two #3’s, a Kendrick and a Blanton. These decisions needed to be made in the off-season, back when it was obvious that it was going to be their biggest hole to fill. So now they have that hole, and a 3.5 game hole to get out of. The good news is that pitchers and catchers report in 5 months.

I stumbled upon this site recently to try and determine whether I was a conservative or a liberal. Is it completely strange that if you were to ask me, I don’t think I could definitely answer? Well, I took their quiz and now I know why I would not be able to answer. Check it out:

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 55% Conservative, 45% Liberal Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Show Notes: Episode 29 for Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Chuck’s back from Vegas, all three of us are here, and we’re talking some Eagles preseason football.

What we discussed:

- Kevin Curtis has a sports hernia and could be out until sometime in the regular season
- Reggie Brown is also hurt, but not as seriously, and expects to be back soon
- Lorenzo Booker’s all of a sudden looking like he’s not in the kick returner mix
- How Lito Sheppard could play into various roles, from returner to a trade
- DeSean Jackson is starting this week against the New England Patriots
- Because of Curtis’s injury, the rumor mills heat up again regarding Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin and free agent WR Joe Horn
- The second preseason game against the Panthers we touch on briefly, but our confidence in our kick returning group has gone sour
- Talked about Special Teams thanks to a blog comment by Mike
- “Aussie Eagle” writes us an email from down under and asks about Eagles Safety Quintin Mikell
- The Eagles play the New England Patriots this week, where we see more of what the team will have to offer for the regular season.
- Little bit of Fantasy Football talk

Email us at: fans [at] eaglesfancast.net
Voicemail line: (856) 335-3675
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eaglesfancast

Well, well, well. Looky here, folks. What is going on in the world of Philly sports? From the looks of it, a veritable shit-ton of news, notes, and nuggets to discuss, so….

Let’s start this off the correct way…THE NFL IS BACK!! That’s right, folks. I have already informed the missus that from tomorrow until early February, I am busy. Training Camp is here and it starts tomorrow! The Eagles are prepared to get back to their NFL East-dominating ways and it all begins in mere hours. The dedicated EaglesFanCast crew is poring over the Training Camp schedule to pick a date to conduct an “on the scene” podcast show in Lehigh, so click on the link to stay informed!

Your hometown 76ers have decided to make due on their promise to spend those available salary cap dollars in a BIG way. Elton Brand? Are you kidding me? Since when does a pro team in Philadelphia lay out a 2-3 year rebuilding plan and have it go EXACTLY as they wanted? This just does not happen here. My Gawd, adding Brand to the mix should elevate this team to a serious Eastern Conference contender. I am not sure I like the idea of Iguodala moving to shooting guard to make room for Thaddeus Young at small forward, but hey, who am I to complain….WE GOT ELTON BRAND!!!

Which brings us, to the Phightin’s. Wow. Lots going on here lemme tell ya. Brett Myers getting sent down the minors might have been a good move, but seriously. He has lost on FOUR different levels now this year (Bigs, AAA, AA, A). Are we supposed to believe that he now “has his swagger back”, especially how he professed to crave the closer’s role and mere days later, found out that the Phils extended Brad Lidge for 3 years? Personally, at this point, I would love to see the Phils send Myers to Tampa as their closer (Florida is his home) and get one of their stud starting pitching prospects in return. The trade for Joe Blanton barely registered on the radar, if ony because it forced Adam “Drag the Warning Track” Eaton to a bullpen role, one he is clearly not built for. It is easy for me to spend other people’s money and suggest that Phils ownership should just eat the remaining money on Eaton’s contract and cut him loose. However, I am genuinely scared to death that he is going to go out to the ‘pen and start chirping about how unhappy he is and mess up what has so far been the best bullpen in the majors. If they could trade him for a bag of balls and a big-ass tub of sunflower seeds, I have three words for you…PULL…THE…TRIGGER.

Now, the Phils squander yet another terrific pitching performance by Cole Hamels against Florida yesterday, and ol’ Waddles blows his lid. I think that Manuel is MUCH smarter than many give him credit for, and it seems like every time he does this, the team responds in a big way. However, there is now a strong rumor floating around that the Phils are considering sending Shane Victorino, Carlos Carraso, J.A. Happ and Lou Marson to Colorado for Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes. On the surface, that seems like a HUGE price for the Phillies to pay. But, it seems more and more like you just cannot count on pitching prospects and teams are placing way too high a value on them instead of using them to get better in the short term. Think about it for a second. Jayson Werth moves to centerfield and Holliday goes to right. Your top two-thirds of the batting order looks like this:

Rollins (S)
Werth (R)
Utley (L)
Holliday (R)
Howard (L)
Burrell (R)
__________
Scrub
Scrub
Automatic Out (Pitcher)

That is downright scary!! Holliday is signed through 2009. Brian Fuentes is a left-handed reliever (something the Phils need) who will be a free-agent after this season. Lou Marson’s path to the bigs is blocked by Jason Jaramillo. Victorino is a clubhouse favorite and a geniune 5-tool player, but he is due to get paid big time. With the cozy confines of The Bank, do you exchange Victorino’s speed for Holliday’s power? The feeling out of Reading is that stuff-wise, Carrasco is ready for the Bigs right now. It is his head they are worried about. Great, that is what we need up here. J.A. Happ showed some promise and he is a lefty, which is something you can never have enough of. This potential trade has a “win-win” feel to it and it might make our current pitchers automatically better by the up-tick on the offensive side of the ball.

Just a few thoughts and observations to get you through to our next post. That is all.

OK so in case you are just tuning into the MLB season, the Phils are 13 games over .500 after an oh-so impressive weekend series sweep of the much hated Braves. They are also holding a 3.5 game lead over the second place Marlins, where they just so happen to be heading for a 3 game series, after a much deserved off day today.

But 13 games over .500 and a 3.5 game lead? Did I mention that they are the best team in the NL away from home (18-13), have scored the second most runs in the NL and have the fourth best record in ALL of baseball??? We have the MLB leader in HR, NL leader in RBI’s and overall NL All-Star voting (not to mention soon to be NL MVP) in Mr. Chase Utley. Are these my Phillies? I have gone from them having a lead and thinking “how are they gonna blow this one” to them being behind late in game thinking “they’re gonna come back and win it”. Yet through all of this excitement there resides something in the recesses of my mind that can’t help but to think that something is going to go wrong. How couldn’t it right? One World Series win in the last 124 campaigns does not exactly exude confidence. I hope I am wrong. You know what they say 125th time is the charm!

First, we were treated with the news that Michael Strahan has decided to retire. Good riddance. If I had to ensure one more season of the “Jon Runyan - Michael Strahan” running feud nonsense, I was probably going to have to climb to the top of a tower with a high-powered rifle and…..wait, where was I? Oh yeah….

And now, NOW, this gem has just been released. Apparently, our old friend T.O. has been placed in the NFL’s “reasonable cause” drug testing program for performance-enhancing drugs. Details of this can be found here.

All we need now is for someone in the Redskins organization to get caught soliciting a hooker or buying a kilo of blow and we will be all set!