Hurt players won't admit it.
The NFL doesn't seem clear on players who get knocked silly.
So, how about a simple rule: the league and union pay for independent local doctors (who have experience with traumatic brain injuries) to staff each stadium. If a player is suspected of having his bell rung, that player gets evaluated. If that player comes out of a game, he automatically misses the next one (at a minimum). If that player is diagnosed with a concussion, he's out a minimum of the next four. Gets his bell rung again? Out for the year.
The NFL and players' union should not continue to put these players at risk -- where the size/speed differential is great enough to cause serious, long-term damage. In addition, if the NFL is serious about increasing the schedule from 16 to 18 games, it should consider the following:
1) increasing rosters from 53 to 65 players.
2) increasing the practice squad to 10 players, and having the teams be able to keep the players on their practice squad.
3) enabling teams to activate 55 players per game.
Yes, the owners might make less money because they'll have to pay more guys. But, hopefully, with some tighter rules on injuries, the NFL will prolong careers and help its players avoid devastating long-term effects of the collisions that the average player faces over the course of a career that could go all the way back to elementary school.
All of this is meant to spur a lengthier debate regarding concussions. It's hard to read stories about so many long-since-retired players suffering from brain injuries. The NFL and NFLPA should act in concert to save players from the league, each other and themselves before someone -- Congress -- does it for them.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Another U.S. Export: Allen Iverson to China?
Only in America.
So, once of France's heroes turned goofball, Thierry Henry, comes to the U.S. for the latter part of his soccer career. Then it's probably fair if after Stephon Marbury, the U.S. sends Allen Iverson to China. AI will probably test every temptation the People's Republic's government will have to inflict human rights abuses on a visitor.
In the People's Republic of China, the party is the thing.
In Allen Iverson's world, a party can be the thing.
Here's to hoping that AI learned enough at Georgetown, which has an all-world school of foreign service, to distinguish between the party and a party. After which, he should be sure to respect the party and take care not to have a party every night. I can see where this party thing could get kind of tricky.
The Chinese have done enough for America, haven't they, by purchasing billions if not trillions of our public debt. And now, here they come again, possibly taking away one of the hoops world's problem children from the U.S. It could well be that the People's Republic of China is about to change it's name to "1-800-Got-Junk?", but time will tell.
Let the Seniors Tour for Hoops begin.
In China.
So, once of France's heroes turned goofball, Thierry Henry, comes to the U.S. for the latter part of his soccer career. Then it's probably fair if after Stephon Marbury, the U.S. sends Allen Iverson to China. AI will probably test every temptation the People's Republic's government will have to inflict human rights abuses on a visitor.
In the People's Republic of China, the party is the thing.
In Allen Iverson's world, a party can be the thing.
Here's to hoping that AI learned enough at Georgetown, which has an all-world school of foreign service, to distinguish between the party and a party. After which, he should be sure to respect the party and take care not to have a party every night. I can see where this party thing could get kind of tricky.
The Chinese have done enough for America, haven't they, by purchasing billions if not trillions of our public debt. And now, here they come again, possibly taking away one of the hoops world's problem children from the U.S. It could well be that the People's Republic of China is about to change it's name to "1-800-Got-Junk?", but time will tell.
Let the Seniors Tour for Hoops begin.
In China.
Philadelphia Eagles: Talk About a Bad Start That No One Would Have Believed If It Were Scripted
Lose your starting QB to a concussion.
Lose your starting MLB to a concussion.
Lose your starting fullback (for whom you have no back-up), a Pro Bowler, for the year (torn ACL on a gruesome play).
Lose your starting center, who just returned from a knee injury after 8 months of being out, for the year (torn bicep).
All four are team leaders on a very young team that needs leaders.
Oh, and, by the way, your back-up QB plays so well that now you have a QB controversy. Why? Because that back-up once was a Pro Bowl player who looked fat and out of shape last year and looked like his former self on Sunday.
With all the problems -- plus horrid playcalling on offense in the first half -- you still rallied to within 27-20 and had a chance deep in your opponent's territory with under 5 minutes to go to tie the game.
But, still, the carnage. . . 2 concussions, 2 season-ending injuries. . . Yikes!
And, it used to be a cure when you could say, "well, at least we can get better by playing Detroit next weekend." Except, these aren't Matt Millen's Detroit Lions. These Lions can get after it.
Tough day for the Eagles, who, with their youth, are on a re-building mission, whether they'd like to admit it or not.
Lose your starting MLB to a concussion.
Lose your starting fullback (for whom you have no back-up), a Pro Bowler, for the year (torn ACL on a gruesome play).
Lose your starting center, who just returned from a knee injury after 8 months of being out, for the year (torn bicep).
All four are team leaders on a very young team that needs leaders.
Oh, and, by the way, your back-up QB plays so well that now you have a QB controversy. Why? Because that back-up once was a Pro Bowl player who looked fat and out of shape last year and looked like his former self on Sunday.
With all the problems -- plus horrid playcalling on offense in the first half -- you still rallied to within 27-20 and had a chance deep in your opponent's territory with under 5 minutes to go to tie the game.
But, still, the carnage. . . 2 concussions, 2 season-ending injuries. . . Yikes!
And, it used to be a cure when you could say, "well, at least we can get better by playing Detroit next weekend." Except, these aren't Matt Millen's Detroit Lions. These Lions can get after it.
Tough day for the Eagles, who, with their youth, are on a re-building mission, whether they'd like to admit it or not.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Pop Warner Football
The team gathered for its first time in the humid heat of early August, doing padless drills for two and a half hours a day, Monday through Thursday. For the next three weeks, they drilled --in pads -- the same amount of time. 19 kids, although some of them missed weeks for family vacations. 5 dad coaches, the head coach being the guy with the long hair in the pony tail, tattooes, backwards baseball cap, and a good mixture of enthusiasm, organization and firmness. The offensive coordinator put in the offense, going to far as to use a ruler to show the offensive linemen the proper distance between one another on the line. One of the dads worked with the linemen while the coordinator worked with the skill position players, the large enough quarterback (big enough to withstand a hit) running the wishbone with three speedy backs behind him. They ran laps, they caught balls, they ran formations, they switched positions, all with a view to getting ready for the home opener tomorrow afternoon.
The coaches planned, the head coach sometimes fretting because kids missed practices without their parents e-mailing to let him know, or kids got their late, disrupting the discipline he was trying to instill. The kids started to bond during scrimmages against other teams, chest bumping, high-fiving, or showing each other small courtesies such as helping others with their chin strips or by putting shoulder pads that popped out back under practice jerseys. Then they ran some more, or they worked on line play, leveraging themselves and trying to push their opponents around. My son is a 70-pound left tackle, one of the oldest kids on the team but one of the lightest (the heaviest kids must play interior line). He doesn't stop blocking until the whistle blows, and he takes great pride in getting leverage on his opponent and moving him around. Most of the time he does fine, but there are times when his man blows by. Such is the life of a first-time tackle football player protecting his quarterback's blind side and helping lead counter plays. He enjoys the teamwork, the structure, the activity.
Last night was the last practice before their first game. The kids had worked hard together for a month, and it was fun to see them receive the game jerseys with their names on it. Many shed their practice jerseys -- old, monochromatic mesh jerseys -- to don their game jerseys. They had worked hard for this small moment, and they cherished it.
Saturday afternoon marks the first game, and my son cannot wait for it to begin. It should be fun to watch.
The coaches planned, the head coach sometimes fretting because kids missed practices without their parents e-mailing to let him know, or kids got their late, disrupting the discipline he was trying to instill. The kids started to bond during scrimmages against other teams, chest bumping, high-fiving, or showing each other small courtesies such as helping others with their chin strips or by putting shoulder pads that popped out back under practice jerseys. Then they ran some more, or they worked on line play, leveraging themselves and trying to push their opponents around. My son is a 70-pound left tackle, one of the oldest kids on the team but one of the lightest (the heaviest kids must play interior line). He doesn't stop blocking until the whistle blows, and he takes great pride in getting leverage on his opponent and moving him around. Most of the time he does fine, but there are times when his man blows by. Such is the life of a first-time tackle football player protecting his quarterback's blind side and helping lead counter plays. He enjoys the teamwork, the structure, the activity.
Last night was the last practice before their first game. The kids had worked hard together for a month, and it was fun to see them receive the game jerseys with their names on it. Many shed their practice jerseys -- old, monochromatic mesh jerseys -- to don their game jerseys. They had worked hard for this small moment, and they cherished it.
Saturday afternoon marks the first game, and my son cannot wait for it to begin. It should be fun to watch.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Why the Mainstream Media Just Doesn't Get It
This story is an outrage. (And it should get a lot more play than it has). As are many stories that Time and Newsweek don't cover because they are lazy or cowards, or both.
It's easy for the ever-so-thin national news magazines, journalism's version of soon-to-be-extinct dinosaurs to cover all sorts of issues related to Israel because a) Israel is small, b) Israel has few defenders, c) Israel is a popular fulcrum for international frustration by nations who use it to deflect attention away from the much more significant horrors they wreak on their own people and d) Israel is a democracy and provides easy access to its people. Compare and contrast Israel, say, to any Arab nation, China, Venezuela, Russia and almost any African nation and you'll find a society that's open about its issues. So, the hypotethical, average journalist with international responsibility elects to cover it and pick on it because access is both easy and safe.
Criticize China and your access is gone. Go to Iran and try to probe, and your access will vanish, as might you. Ditto for Libya, Syria, Oman, Yemen and many other countries on this earth. Go to Cuba and Venezuela and take on Castro and Chavez and you might not come home. Yet, the biased coverage persists, and responsible journalists should be ashamed of themselves, because they're missing stories left and right to cover the easy and familiar and, yes, safe.
This is a sports blog and it will continue to be so. That said, let's analogize this story to the issue of steroids in baseball. The entire national media acted like a bunch of glorified fans -- they had access to the clubhouse, access to the players and the best seats in the house. So, they covered the easy and safe story -- all of the home runs and power hitting. Why? Because to cover the fact that many players were using artificial means to accomplish those feats would have cost them access and perhaps subjected them to physical harm. As for the former, the players would have shut them out and not talked to them. As to the latter, a juiced player whose living becamse in jeopardy because of accusations from a 5'6", 140-pound reporter wouldn't have taken too kindly to the tough talk. Lose the access, lose the effectiveness, lose the job. Lose the physical battle, and, well, no one wants to get punched in the face or worse. So, the supposedly "tough" sports media acted like a bunch of fawning toadies during the McGwire-Sosa inflated stats years, and then they ducked responsibility by saying "what were we supposed to do" or "everyone else was covering it the same way" or "everyone was pretty much doing the stuff, so what was the story?" and other pieces of contrived wisdom belied their intelligence.
What were they supposed to do? They were supposed to do their (bleeping) jobs.
The same is the case with journalists charged with covering international politics and diplomacy. Horrors go on everywhere in the world, including many places that aren't democracies and don't offer access to the media or to the citizenry. Yet, those nations get votes in the United Nations and condemn the one democracy in the crucible in order to take away attention from themselves. Where is the national media on those stories?
At home, on their couches, where it's safe, because they, lest they want to admit it or not, like to do what's easy and convenient, but not what's necessary and important. And, until they do, they'll miss story after story, they'll perpetuate anti-Semitism, among other things, and they'll continue to condone awful stuff because either no one cares about places like Sudan or Venezuela or because it's just too hard to get there and find out the real story. I'll take one other issue head on, my use of the term "anti-Semitism." The way the international media covers Israel perpetuates the term and the plague, because the media coverage of countries and their own internal rights issues is grossly uneven. Because it's uneven, Israel gets a totally unfair shake when compared to the Chinas, Venezuelas, Sudans and Arab nations. That unbalanced coverage, lock, stock and barrel, feeds into anti-Semitism. Because they make it seem like Israel is an empire, an evil empire, the worst empire, especially in comparison.
It's the Jewish New Year, and I'd like to wish my Jewish friends a happy and healthy New Year. And I'd like to take the gloves off regarding the titled coverate of "Newsweek" (which should be called "Opinion Week") and "Time," whose cover story in a recent issue helps define "asinine." Both should be demanded and expected to do better.
So what should the international media be doing about all countries not named Israel that have significant problems, particularly in the human rights arena?
They should do their (bleeping) jobs and, when they do, they'll find out that some places they romanticize are hellholes and that Israel, in comparison, isn't so bad, and by the way, does a pretty good job of things given the threats from neighbors who deny the country's right to exist and from terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
That's what they should do.
It's easy for the ever-so-thin national news magazines, journalism's version of soon-to-be-extinct dinosaurs to cover all sorts of issues related to Israel because a) Israel is small, b) Israel has few defenders, c) Israel is a popular fulcrum for international frustration by nations who use it to deflect attention away from the much more significant horrors they wreak on their own people and d) Israel is a democracy and provides easy access to its people. Compare and contrast Israel, say, to any Arab nation, China, Venezuela, Russia and almost any African nation and you'll find a society that's open about its issues. So, the hypotethical, average journalist with international responsibility elects to cover it and pick on it because access is both easy and safe.
Criticize China and your access is gone. Go to Iran and try to probe, and your access will vanish, as might you. Ditto for Libya, Syria, Oman, Yemen and many other countries on this earth. Go to Cuba and Venezuela and take on Castro and Chavez and you might not come home. Yet, the biased coverage persists, and responsible journalists should be ashamed of themselves, because they're missing stories left and right to cover the easy and familiar and, yes, safe.
This is a sports blog and it will continue to be so. That said, let's analogize this story to the issue of steroids in baseball. The entire national media acted like a bunch of glorified fans -- they had access to the clubhouse, access to the players and the best seats in the house. So, they covered the easy and safe story -- all of the home runs and power hitting. Why? Because to cover the fact that many players were using artificial means to accomplish those feats would have cost them access and perhaps subjected them to physical harm. As for the former, the players would have shut them out and not talked to them. As to the latter, a juiced player whose living becamse in jeopardy because of accusations from a 5'6", 140-pound reporter wouldn't have taken too kindly to the tough talk. Lose the access, lose the effectiveness, lose the job. Lose the physical battle, and, well, no one wants to get punched in the face or worse. So, the supposedly "tough" sports media acted like a bunch of fawning toadies during the McGwire-Sosa inflated stats years, and then they ducked responsibility by saying "what were we supposed to do" or "everyone else was covering it the same way" or "everyone was pretty much doing the stuff, so what was the story?" and other pieces of contrived wisdom belied their intelligence.
What were they supposed to do? They were supposed to do their (bleeping) jobs.
The same is the case with journalists charged with covering international politics and diplomacy. Horrors go on everywhere in the world, including many places that aren't democracies and don't offer access to the media or to the citizenry. Yet, those nations get votes in the United Nations and condemn the one democracy in the crucible in order to take away attention from themselves. Where is the national media on those stories?
At home, on their couches, where it's safe, because they, lest they want to admit it or not, like to do what's easy and convenient, but not what's necessary and important. And, until they do, they'll miss story after story, they'll perpetuate anti-Semitism, among other things, and they'll continue to condone awful stuff because either no one cares about places like Sudan or Venezuela or because it's just too hard to get there and find out the real story. I'll take one other issue head on, my use of the term "anti-Semitism." The way the international media covers Israel perpetuates the term and the plague, because the media coverage of countries and their own internal rights issues is grossly uneven. Because it's uneven, Israel gets a totally unfair shake when compared to the Chinas, Venezuelas, Sudans and Arab nations. That unbalanced coverage, lock, stock and barrel, feeds into anti-Semitism. Because they make it seem like Israel is an empire, an evil empire, the worst empire, especially in comparison.
It's the Jewish New Year, and I'd like to wish my Jewish friends a happy and healthy New Year. And I'd like to take the gloves off regarding the titled coverate of "Newsweek" (which should be called "Opinion Week") and "Time," whose cover story in a recent issue helps define "asinine." Both should be demanded and expected to do better.
So what should the international media be doing about all countries not named Israel that have significant problems, particularly in the human rights arena?
They should do their (bleeping) jobs and, when they do, they'll find out that some places they romanticize are hellholes and that Israel, in comparison, isn't so bad, and by the way, does a pretty good job of things given the threats from neighbors who deny the country's right to exist and from terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
That's what they should do.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Who is the Real Coward?
Surely there are better ways to protest, aren't there?
After they get a taste of it, what will Reverend Jones and his flock burn next?
After they get a taste of it, what will Reverend Jones and his flock burn next?
The Phillies Are in First Place!
The Pirates have taken 2 of 3 from the Braves, who have lost 5 of their last 6. The Phillies were 7 out near the end of July, and they're now in first. All despite having their bullpen (sans Ryan Madson, who did well) look about as sturdy as the buddies from "Hangover" the morning after, all despite having Jayson Werth and Chase Utley make boneheaded throws and the normally reliable (as the "bank", except, well, since 2008 that analogy probably isn't what it once was) Carlos Ruiz suffer a passed ball that caused the game to be tied at 7. But, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino all hit well, and a timely hit from Placido Polanco but the Phillies up 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Madson once again pitched great in relief, and the Phillies are now up 1/2 game on the Braves.
A pretty amazing comeback given all the injuries that the team suffered during the season. Much baseball remains to be played, but the Phillies are the first team in the NL to have reached 80 wins. They will savor the victory at McFadden's, at Chickie's & Pete's, Bennie the Bum's and every tappy and gin joint from Oregon Avenue all the way up to Aramingo and beyond.
Now if only, somehow, some way, I could unload my tickets on StubHub for Wednesday night. Why they haven't moved -- at a reasonable price -- is a mystery.
A pretty amazing comeback given all the injuries that the team suffered during the season. Much baseball remains to be played, but the Phillies are the first team in the NL to have reached 80 wins. They will savor the victory at McFadden's, at Chickie's & Pete's, Bennie the Bum's and every tappy and gin joint from Oregon Avenue all the way up to Aramingo and beyond.
Now if only, somehow, some way, I could unload my tickets on StubHub for Wednesday night. Why they haven't moved -- at a reasonable price -- is a mystery.
Philadelphia Eagles: National Reports, Local Reality
I've followed the Eagles' summer pretty closely through my local newspapers. I'm more interested in the personnel moves than watching (meaningless) exhibition games, so pardon me if I didn't hit the remote to watch the Birds' and some anonymous third stringers do battle when the roster-challenged Phillies were hanging in there in the National League pennant chase. The papers gave me a picture that differs from those of national publications who don't live in Southeastern Pennsylvania or who are happy to run computer simulations as to how the Eagles will fare this season. What they say (to a degree) and what I've seen differ. Somewhat markedly.
ESPN the Magazine has the Eagles with one of the four or five best records in the NFC and making the playoffs. Many publications have the team winning 9 games. Give them a game somewhere, and that spells playoffs. Which wouldn't be too bad for a team that only has two players with over 10 years' experience in the league (one of them is the kicker, David Akers, and for those who really are interested, the other is defensive end Juqua Parker) and has 22 new players on its 53-player roster. Which also wouldn't be too bad for a team with a questionable offensive line (especially between the tackles) and an untested quarterback, not to mention a rebuilt defense.
Of course, this is the NFL, so anything can happen. The team can gel quickly (and, remember, what one writer said about the talent-laden Redskins -- they might find out down there that a roster full of 2006 Pro Bowlers might not be able to win today), get hot and have the high-octane offense that it's new group of skill position players suggests that it might have. On the other hand, it doesn't have an abundance of leaders, still has some weaknesses, and just doesn't have enough depth of experience together as a team to go more than 6-10.
Look, I'm an Eagles' fan, but I don't think that this team can make the playoffs, and I think it will be a good season if they can go more than 8-8. The reasons are rather simple, even in a league where you can't count on teams with groups of experienced veterans who've played together for a while (such as the Giants' offensive line) to guarantee that this isn't the year where they're closer to being ready for hip replacements than they are to auditioning for Superman. The Eagles have good runnnig backs, good receivers and an excellent tight end. The biggest question will be whether the offensive line can surge enough to spring Leonard Weaver and more importantly, tailback LaSean McCoy, for big yards, and whether they can provide Kevin Kolb (who should be more accurate than Donovan McNabb) with enough time to get the balll to tight end Brent Celek and wide receivers DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant. If the line comes through, the Eagles should put points on the board. . . and a lot of them. If the line fails, then Kolb gets hurt, Michael Vick will have to run for his life and the defense will be on the field for a long time. As for the defense, it's hard to say whether, for the most part, a year older, it's improved. Rookie Brandon Graham will have to show up big time for that to happen. Much of the hope for the defense is based on the return of middle linebacker Stewart Bradley, who missed all of last season. He's the leader, he's good when he's healthy, and he should fill the big hole that was left last year after he got hurt. The outside linebackers seem to be a mixed bag of journeymen and guys with something to prove, and the secondary should be a strong point.
So why so pessimistic? Well, for starters, I've always thought that a team wins in the trenches by showing how well it can push the other team around. I'm not sure that the Eagles' lines are good enough to do just that, and it's preferable to do just that than to run all sorts of packages that are designed to confuse the other team. NFL teams put so much effort into film study that eventually gimmicks get unmasked for what they are. So, it's better to have some 335-pound run stuffing defensive tackle with enough of a mean streak to sack the quarterback a half a dozen times in the season than to runnning exotic schemes. Sure, teams run those schemes from time to time, but old-fashioned line play seems to win out.
The offensive line is more of a concern, because Jamal Jackson is about an average center, and he just (and I mean just) came back from a knee injury. Left guard Todd Herremans is good when healthy, but that tag line also suggests that as his career advances so does his susceptibility to injury. Right guard Nick Cole is big and supposedly better at guard than center, but that's not necessarily a ringing endorsement. Left tackle Jason Peters doesn't play with the sense of urgency or authority that his huge contract warrants. When he's on, there's none better; when he's off, he has more snap count violations than any other lineman in Eagles' history, and some of us remember that mid-to-late 1960's through the late 1970's, so that's saying something. Right tackle Winston Justice has found a home, but he's not usually mentioned when the conversation turns to the league's best tackles. And make no mistake, it's hard to find yourself in the elite ranks when none of your linemen on either side of the ball makes those conversations.
10-6? 9-7? 8-8? The beauty of the NFL is that no one really knows. The local buzz, as I've read it, seems to suggest that the team really is rebuilding and won't make the playoffs. At least not this year.
Line play on both sides, improved play from the linebackers, and the emergence of Kevin Kolb. If all three of those things happen, there's no telling how far this team can go. But if none of those things happen, there's no justification for a playoff berth.
ESPN the Magazine has the Eagles with one of the four or five best records in the NFC and making the playoffs. Many publications have the team winning 9 games. Give them a game somewhere, and that spells playoffs. Which wouldn't be too bad for a team that only has two players with over 10 years' experience in the league (one of them is the kicker, David Akers, and for those who really are interested, the other is defensive end Juqua Parker) and has 22 new players on its 53-player roster. Which also wouldn't be too bad for a team with a questionable offensive line (especially between the tackles) and an untested quarterback, not to mention a rebuilt defense.
Of course, this is the NFL, so anything can happen. The team can gel quickly (and, remember, what one writer said about the talent-laden Redskins -- they might find out down there that a roster full of 2006 Pro Bowlers might not be able to win today), get hot and have the high-octane offense that it's new group of skill position players suggests that it might have. On the other hand, it doesn't have an abundance of leaders, still has some weaknesses, and just doesn't have enough depth of experience together as a team to go more than 6-10.
Look, I'm an Eagles' fan, but I don't think that this team can make the playoffs, and I think it will be a good season if they can go more than 8-8. The reasons are rather simple, even in a league where you can't count on teams with groups of experienced veterans who've played together for a while (such as the Giants' offensive line) to guarantee that this isn't the year where they're closer to being ready for hip replacements than they are to auditioning for Superman. The Eagles have good runnnig backs, good receivers and an excellent tight end. The biggest question will be whether the offensive line can surge enough to spring Leonard Weaver and more importantly, tailback LaSean McCoy, for big yards, and whether they can provide Kevin Kolb (who should be more accurate than Donovan McNabb) with enough time to get the balll to tight end Brent Celek and wide receivers DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant. If the line comes through, the Eagles should put points on the board. . . and a lot of them. If the line fails, then Kolb gets hurt, Michael Vick will have to run for his life and the defense will be on the field for a long time. As for the defense, it's hard to say whether, for the most part, a year older, it's improved. Rookie Brandon Graham will have to show up big time for that to happen. Much of the hope for the defense is based on the return of middle linebacker Stewart Bradley, who missed all of last season. He's the leader, he's good when he's healthy, and he should fill the big hole that was left last year after he got hurt. The outside linebackers seem to be a mixed bag of journeymen and guys with something to prove, and the secondary should be a strong point.
So why so pessimistic? Well, for starters, I've always thought that a team wins in the trenches by showing how well it can push the other team around. I'm not sure that the Eagles' lines are good enough to do just that, and it's preferable to do just that than to run all sorts of packages that are designed to confuse the other team. NFL teams put so much effort into film study that eventually gimmicks get unmasked for what they are. So, it's better to have some 335-pound run stuffing defensive tackle with enough of a mean streak to sack the quarterback a half a dozen times in the season than to runnning exotic schemes. Sure, teams run those schemes from time to time, but old-fashioned line play seems to win out.
The offensive line is more of a concern, because Jamal Jackson is about an average center, and he just (and I mean just) came back from a knee injury. Left guard Todd Herremans is good when healthy, but that tag line also suggests that as his career advances so does his susceptibility to injury. Right guard Nick Cole is big and supposedly better at guard than center, but that's not necessarily a ringing endorsement. Left tackle Jason Peters doesn't play with the sense of urgency or authority that his huge contract warrants. When he's on, there's none better; when he's off, he has more snap count violations than any other lineman in Eagles' history, and some of us remember that mid-to-late 1960's through the late 1970's, so that's saying something. Right tackle Winston Justice has found a home, but he's not usually mentioned when the conversation turns to the league's best tackles. And make no mistake, it's hard to find yourself in the elite ranks when none of your linemen on either side of the ball makes those conversations.
10-6? 9-7? 8-8? The beauty of the NFL is that no one really knows. The local buzz, as I've read it, seems to suggest that the team really is rebuilding and won't make the playoffs. At least not this year.
Line play on both sides, improved play from the linebackers, and the emergence of Kevin Kolb. If all three of those things happen, there's no telling how far this team can go. But if none of those things happen, there's no justification for a playoff berth.
Definition of a (Costly) Stalemate
This morning's Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Philadelphia cannot get union conventions because two of the major hotels near the Convention Center are nonunion.
What the Inquirer also has reported over time -- and something which I know to be true from personal experience -- is that the Convention Center loses even more business precisely because the union climate within the Convention Center is so restrictive and difficult to deal with that almost all exhibitors would rather go to another city (although there are times, I'm told, where the unions can be very difficult in Boston and New York). Ask anyone who's in charge of setting up an exhibit for his/her company at the Philadelphia Convention Center and they'll tell you endless tales of woe about getting different unions to cooperate, getting people to work on time and not drag out work into time and a half and doubletime situations, and a bunch of rules that seemingly -- to them -- are as much designed to frustrate the exhibitors as they are to guarantee more work for the unions (which, my guess is, that certain exhibitors would tolerate if the work were done well, on time, and without incident or attitude).
So, return to this morning's story. Unions won't come because of nonunion hotels, and conventioneers who aren't unions might not want to come because of the unions. All of which, really, is too bad, because Philadelphia has a lot to offer (including, among other things, the delicious eats that the Reading Terminal Market offers right across the street from the Convention Center, as a well as, of course, about a 10-minute walk to Independence Mall, where the democracy that gave rise to the rights that the unions, the exhibitors and this blogger all are free to exercise all began).
What the Inquirer also has reported over time -- and something which I know to be true from personal experience -- is that the Convention Center loses even more business precisely because the union climate within the Convention Center is so restrictive and difficult to deal with that almost all exhibitors would rather go to another city (although there are times, I'm told, where the unions can be very difficult in Boston and New York). Ask anyone who's in charge of setting up an exhibit for his/her company at the Philadelphia Convention Center and they'll tell you endless tales of woe about getting different unions to cooperate, getting people to work on time and not drag out work into time and a half and doubletime situations, and a bunch of rules that seemingly -- to them -- are as much designed to frustrate the exhibitors as they are to guarantee more work for the unions (which, my guess is, that certain exhibitors would tolerate if the work were done well, on time, and without incident or attitude).
So, return to this morning's story. Unions won't come because of nonunion hotels, and conventioneers who aren't unions might not want to come because of the unions. All of which, really, is too bad, because Philadelphia has a lot to offer (including, among other things, the delicious eats that the Reading Terminal Market offers right across the street from the Convention Center, as a well as, of course, about a 10-minute walk to Independence Mall, where the democracy that gave rise to the rights that the unions, the exhibitors and this blogger all are free to exercise all began).
Monday, September 06, 2010
Who Are These Guys? (Hint: They're All Professional Athletes and They Play in a Major Sports League)
You might not have heard of Tanner Purdum, Garrison Sanborn, John Donney, Jake Ingram, Morgan Cox, Clark Harris, Ryan Pontbriand, Greg Warren, Jon Weeks, Justin Snow, Jeremy Cain, Ken Amato, Lonie Paxton, Thomas Gafford, Jon Condo, David Binn, L.P. Ladouceur, Jon Dorenbos, Nick Sundberg, Patrick Mannelly, Don Muhlbach, Brett Goode, Cullen Loeffler, Joe Zelenka, J.J. Jansen, Jayson Kyle, Mike Leach, Chris Massey, Brian Jennings and Clint Gresham.
Chances are that you might never hear of them. They're long snappers in the National Football League. The guys who snap the ball with a spiral between their legs back to punters and to holders on place kicks. You'll only hear about them if they goof up, and typically that would be not if they're team is leading by three touchdowns, but if their failure of execution in a key moment proves to cost their team the game. The most prepared teams seem to be the Steelers and Texans, who go three deep in long snappers on their depth charters. The longest tenured -- the Chargers' David Binns, who's been in the league for 17 years. The most interestingly educated? Probably the Cowboys' L.P. Ladouceur, who majored in earth and planetary science at Berkeley. The one with the most interesting hobby? The Eagles' Jon Dorenbos, who is a professional magician. Some were long snappers in college -- they weren't offensive linemen even there. One -- the Bears' Patrick Mannelly -- has the second-longest tenure with his team of any player in the NFL, about 12 years.
If you read these players' bios, they're scant, they're relatively anonymous, they've moved around a lot, they get touted for helping snap for Pro Bowl punters and kickers or helping them improve their accuracy. Or, making tackles on special teams. I didn't go through the bios carefully, but I'd venture to say that a large majority of them, if not all of them, are white.
You typically read about head coaches, about quarterbacks, skill-position players, "shutdown" corners and hard-hitting linebackers. You don't read about long snappers, and I'd bet that if you met one in an airport (assuming he had no gear), you'd assume he might have played somewhere, sells lumber or steel, and is, well, just a little larger than the average guy. You don't see these types in the other sports' leagues, but the NFL has become so specialized that there's a place for the hard-working guy who, well, for lack of a better explanation, couldn't play any other position in the league.
But before you dismiss this position as frivolous and not worthy of respect, you should read Jeffrey Marx' book The Long Snapper, and then you can decide for yourself just how easy this job really is. They toil with an abject fear of being found out, of their name's becoming a household word in their media market for something they did -- wrong, naturally. They don't get rewarded for success, at least, not the way skill-position players do. But, if they play mistake-free football for a while, they're future is set, and they could have a much longer tenure in the NFL than the average player.
Chances are that you might never hear of them. They're long snappers in the National Football League. The guys who snap the ball with a spiral between their legs back to punters and to holders on place kicks. You'll only hear about them if they goof up, and typically that would be not if they're team is leading by three touchdowns, but if their failure of execution in a key moment proves to cost their team the game. The most prepared teams seem to be the Steelers and Texans, who go three deep in long snappers on their depth charters. The longest tenured -- the Chargers' David Binns, who's been in the league for 17 years. The most interestingly educated? Probably the Cowboys' L.P. Ladouceur, who majored in earth and planetary science at Berkeley. The one with the most interesting hobby? The Eagles' Jon Dorenbos, who is a professional magician. Some were long snappers in college -- they weren't offensive linemen even there. One -- the Bears' Patrick Mannelly -- has the second-longest tenure with his team of any player in the NFL, about 12 years.
If you read these players' bios, they're scant, they're relatively anonymous, they've moved around a lot, they get touted for helping snap for Pro Bowl punters and kickers or helping them improve their accuracy. Or, making tackles on special teams. I didn't go through the bios carefully, but I'd venture to say that a large majority of them, if not all of them, are white.
You typically read about head coaches, about quarterbacks, skill-position players, "shutdown" corners and hard-hitting linebackers. You don't read about long snappers, and I'd bet that if you met one in an airport (assuming he had no gear), you'd assume he might have played somewhere, sells lumber or steel, and is, well, just a little larger than the average guy. You don't see these types in the other sports' leagues, but the NFL has become so specialized that there's a place for the hard-working guy who, well, for lack of a better explanation, couldn't play any other position in the league.
But before you dismiss this position as frivolous and not worthy of respect, you should read Jeffrey Marx' book The Long Snapper, and then you can decide for yourself just how easy this job really is. They toil with an abject fear of being found out, of their name's becoming a household word in their media market for something they did -- wrong, naturally. They don't get rewarded for success, at least, not the way skill-position players do. But, if they play mistake-free football for a while, they're future is set, and they could have a much longer tenure in the NFL than the average player.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Sometimes It Just Takes a While
Both for the rest of a league to figure you out, and for your opponents to wake up.
In this case, there's a perfect storm brewing for the San Diego Padres, who just lost their ninth in a row and are barely hanging onto their lead in the NL West.
My cousin and I tend to text each other during Phillies' games. Sometimes the back-and-forth is fact-based, others it is fraught with exasperation about a) the Phillies' bullpen, b) Brad Lidge in particular, c) the injuries the team suffered, d) Jayson Werth's difficulties with hitting with runners in scoring position, e) the inconsistency of Raul Ibanez and f) why Shane Victorino's on-base percentage is low and why it looks like he's trying to hit home runs at almost every opportunity. During these sometimes humorous and always enlightening and stimulating exchanges, I wasn't so much defending the hometown nine as showing disrespect for the Padres, who, say, 6 weeks ago, had the best record in the National League and were something like an obscene 27 games over .500.
I don't recall the precise retort, but my cousin didn't think that the Padres would fade and thought that they would finish with the best record in the NL. He's a knowledgeable fan with a major "inside baseball" connection, but I just wasn't buying it. I reasoned that while the team had great pitching thus far and Adrian Gonzalez, it had many automatic outs in the lineup and a pitching staff that hadn't dealt with the pressures of being a front-runner the way the staffs of the most recently perennial contenders had (Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Rays). I just didn't see that if anyone were to make a run how the Padres would continue at their then-amazing pace. (I acknowledge that I look terrific in saying this right now, but I felt so then, despite the Padres' having two Princeton alumni on their roster -- in injured Chris Young and the outfielder, Will Venable, and that the 11th commandment on this blog is "Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Another Princetonian.").
Lest I digress. . .
It seems that the Padres' chariot is turning into a pumpkin (a reversible phenomenon if skipper Bud Black and the team's leaders -- Gonzalez, David Eckstein -- have anything to do with it) and that the Giants and Rockies (while not exactly the Yankees and the Rays) will try to make it interesting in the last month of the season. Still, losing 9 games in a row while the Braves are in high gear, the Phillies have shown great resilience and the Reds also in high gear doesn't bode well for the Padres. They've enjoyed a very surprising and great season, but they need to close hard and fast to honor all the good work they did up until 9 games ago.
And, they shouldn't get too bummed out. They're still in first.
But, are they like the excellent mid-major college basketball team that can stay with Kentucky for 32 minutes and be up by eight only to lose by 10 or more because the top-10 teams wear them down and show their superiority in the last 8-10 minutes? Or are they a Butler, who showed that it was a top-10 team and not just a mid-major having a good year?
The Padres have four weeks to show the baseball world that they are a playoff team.
In this case, there's a perfect storm brewing for the San Diego Padres, who just lost their ninth in a row and are barely hanging onto their lead in the NL West.
My cousin and I tend to text each other during Phillies' games. Sometimes the back-and-forth is fact-based, others it is fraught with exasperation about a) the Phillies' bullpen, b) Brad Lidge in particular, c) the injuries the team suffered, d) Jayson Werth's difficulties with hitting with runners in scoring position, e) the inconsistency of Raul Ibanez and f) why Shane Victorino's on-base percentage is low and why it looks like he's trying to hit home runs at almost every opportunity. During these sometimes humorous and always enlightening and stimulating exchanges, I wasn't so much defending the hometown nine as showing disrespect for the Padres, who, say, 6 weeks ago, had the best record in the National League and were something like an obscene 27 games over .500.
I don't recall the precise retort, but my cousin didn't think that the Padres would fade and thought that they would finish with the best record in the NL. He's a knowledgeable fan with a major "inside baseball" connection, but I just wasn't buying it. I reasoned that while the team had great pitching thus far and Adrian Gonzalez, it had many automatic outs in the lineup and a pitching staff that hadn't dealt with the pressures of being a front-runner the way the staffs of the most recently perennial contenders had (Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Rays). I just didn't see that if anyone were to make a run how the Padres would continue at their then-amazing pace. (I acknowledge that I look terrific in saying this right now, but I felt so then, despite the Padres' having two Princeton alumni on their roster -- in injured Chris Young and the outfielder, Will Venable, and that the 11th commandment on this blog is "Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Another Princetonian.").
Lest I digress. . .
It seems that the Padres' chariot is turning into a pumpkin (a reversible phenomenon if skipper Bud Black and the team's leaders -- Gonzalez, David Eckstein -- have anything to do with it) and that the Giants and Rockies (while not exactly the Yankees and the Rays) will try to make it interesting in the last month of the season. Still, losing 9 games in a row while the Braves are in high gear, the Phillies have shown great resilience and the Reds also in high gear doesn't bode well for the Padres. They've enjoyed a very surprising and great season, but they need to close hard and fast to honor all the good work they did up until 9 games ago.
And, they shouldn't get too bummed out. They're still in first.
But, are they like the excellent mid-major college basketball team that can stay with Kentucky for 32 minutes and be up by eight only to lose by 10 or more because the top-10 teams wear them down and show their superiority in the last 8-10 minutes? Or are they a Butler, who showed that it was a top-10 team and not just a mid-major having a good year?
The Padres have four weeks to show the baseball world that they are a playoff team.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Cards Cut Matt Leinart
I saw the trend here, first, in 2005.
The kid had nothing to prove in college, returned for his senior year, took one -- yes, one -- class -- ballroom dancing to remain eligible, and, why? Because he liked the college life.
Look, college life is fun, very much fun, especially when your the big man on campus, only have to take one course and have a lot of people either telling you how wonderful you are or kissing up to you. But what struck me was that Leinart didn't stick around because he was finishing up his pre-med requirements, ancient Greek poetry, or anything academic for which he had a passion. he stuck around, well, for the fun.
Sure, USC football was atop the world then, but, remember, if he was going to choose football as his vocation, he had nothing to prove. Nothing. So what should that have told the average NFL scout? That he was a serious competitor ready for the next level? That he wanted another year at AAA because, well, it beat going against the best competition?
This one wasn't too hard to figure. I wish Leinart well; he's just a kid. But it's probably the case that he has to grow up a bit and figure out -- very quickly -- that time's a-wasting and that somehow the hypothetical, average NFL scout or head coach now has it figured out that a former stockboy at a grocer store who went to a college only folks in his home state had heard of but with the hunger of the entire clientele of that store might be a better risk and project to have a better future than the gold-plated Maserati of a quarterback from an elite program.
Why?
Because no one ever swelled the head of the stock boy, who went out there and fought hard to earn it every day.
It's something that every elite recruit at a big-time program should remember. There's always someone who was overlooked who will knock your block off if you give them the chance.
The kid had nothing to prove in college, returned for his senior year, took one -- yes, one -- class -- ballroom dancing to remain eligible, and, why? Because he liked the college life.
Look, college life is fun, very much fun, especially when your the big man on campus, only have to take one course and have a lot of people either telling you how wonderful you are or kissing up to you. But what struck me was that Leinart didn't stick around because he was finishing up his pre-med requirements, ancient Greek poetry, or anything academic for which he had a passion. he stuck around, well, for the fun.
Sure, USC football was atop the world then, but, remember, if he was going to choose football as his vocation, he had nothing to prove. Nothing. So what should that have told the average NFL scout? That he was a serious competitor ready for the next level? That he wanted another year at AAA because, well, it beat going against the best competition?
This one wasn't too hard to figure. I wish Leinart well; he's just a kid. But it's probably the case that he has to grow up a bit and figure out -- very quickly -- that time's a-wasting and that somehow the hypothetical, average NFL scout or head coach now has it figured out that a former stockboy at a grocer store who went to a college only folks in his home state had heard of but with the hunger of the entire clientele of that store might be a better risk and project to have a better future than the gold-plated Maserati of a quarterback from an elite program.
Why?
Because no one ever swelled the head of the stock boy, who went out there and fought hard to earn it every day.
It's something that every elite recruit at a big-time program should remember. There's always someone who was overlooked who will knock your block off if you give them the chance.
Is the Phillies' Freight Train Getting Into Its Highest Gear of the Season?
Some numbers:
29-12, the team's record since July 21, the best in baseball.
23-14, the team's record in one-run games, the best in baseball.
18, the number of innings where the team has scored 5 or more runs, tied for the best in baseball.
2 #1 starters in the rotation and a third, their #1 starter 2 years ago, who's pitching like one despite a massive lack of run support.
A fully healthy starting lineup for the first time in a long time.
1 game out of first. The Braves have been in first since May.
The team also has a cumulative best record in September over the past 5 years.
In 2008, the team didn't hit well in the summer and had a 4-game series against the Brewers in Philadelphia in mid-September. The Brewers at the time were 4 games up in the wild card on the Phillies, and the Phillies swept them. They went 24-6 at the season's end to win the World Series (this record included post-season games), getting hot at the right time and combining good and timely hitting (although they did hit rather poorly with runners in scoring position against the Rays in the Series) to win the World Series.
Sure, I'm a fan, and yes, I'm looking forward to going to CBP tonight, because it's great to be part of an electric atmosphere, but they are 6-1 in their last 7, had a very good road trip (sweeping the Padres, taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers and then winning a make-up game in Colorado coming from 7-3 down to go up 12-7 and then to hold on to win 12-11) and just won another 1-0 game. It's been an up-and-down season, to be sure, but it seems that the team is primed for a good part of an "up" swing to finish the season.
29-12, the team's record since July 21, the best in baseball.
23-14, the team's record in one-run games, the best in baseball.
18, the number of innings where the team has scored 5 or more runs, tied for the best in baseball.
2 #1 starters in the rotation and a third, their #1 starter 2 years ago, who's pitching like one despite a massive lack of run support.
A fully healthy starting lineup for the first time in a long time.
1 game out of first. The Braves have been in first since May.
The team also has a cumulative best record in September over the past 5 years.
In 2008, the team didn't hit well in the summer and had a 4-game series against the Brewers in Philadelphia in mid-September. The Brewers at the time were 4 games up in the wild card on the Phillies, and the Phillies swept them. They went 24-6 at the season's end to win the World Series (this record included post-season games), getting hot at the right time and combining good and timely hitting (although they did hit rather poorly with runners in scoring position against the Rays in the Series) to win the World Series.
Sure, I'm a fan, and yes, I'm looking forward to going to CBP tonight, because it's great to be part of an electric atmosphere, but they are 6-1 in their last 7, had a very good road trip (sweeping the Padres, taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers and then winning a make-up game in Colorado coming from 7-3 down to go up 12-7 and then to hold on to win 12-11) and just won another 1-0 game. It's been an up-and-down season, to be sure, but it seems that the team is primed for a good part of an "up" swing to finish the season.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Phillies to Send Post-Season Invoices to Season Ticket Customers
So says the e-mail I just received from the club.
Optimistic?
Yes.
Hubris?
Perhaps.
Chutzpah?
You bet.
This team has won 14 of 17 on the power of positive thinking and the hot bats of guys named Ibanez, Werth and Ruiz. Shane Victorino could be back in a week, Ryan Howard in two, and Chase Utley by month's end. According to Baseball Prospectus, the future -- this year -- is bright.
Zing? Oomph? Pluck? They have 'em by the bushels. Lots of ifs, but if you told anyone that they'd suffer the injuries they have and be 1 1/2 games out of first in their division on August 10 and 1/2 out of the wild card, the fans all would have signed up for that.
Stay tuned.
Optimistic?
Yes.
Hubris?
Perhaps.
Chutzpah?
You bet.
This team has won 14 of 17 on the power of positive thinking and the hot bats of guys named Ibanez, Werth and Ruiz. Shane Victorino could be back in a week, Ryan Howard in two, and Chase Utley by month's end. According to Baseball Prospectus, the future -- this year -- is bright.
Zing? Oomph? Pluck? They have 'em by the bushels. Lots of ifs, but if you told anyone that they'd suffer the injuries they have and be 1 1/2 games out of first in their division on August 10 and 1/2 out of the wild card, the fans all would have signed up for that.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Miracle Season? If the Phillies Pull This Off. . .
Ryan Howard was placed on the disabled list today because of the ankle he sprained Sunday against the Nationals. He's the 15th Phillie -- that is no misprint -- to spend time on the DL this year.
So now, here's the Phillies lineup:
C -- Carlos Ruiz
1B -- Cody Ransom or Ross Gload
2B -- Wilson Valdez
3B -- Placido Polanco
SS -- Jimmy Rollins
LF -- Raul Ibanez
CF -- Jayson Werth
RF -- Ben Francisco (tonight, at least).
Howard joins 2B Chase Utley (out until the end of the month) and CF Shane Victorino (out for a few more weeks) on the disabled list.
Yikes!
Double yikes!
Drat!
As I write this, the Phillies were en route to beating the Marlins behind Roy Halladay while the Mets and Braves were tied late in the game. The Phillies desperately are trying to hold serve, so to speak, in August. Stay within striking distance of the Braves in the NL East and the Wild Card, and September is ours, or so they reason. Recently, over the past five years, that's been the case.
But what a tall task it is? Who loses the likes of any of their position players (save Werth, who has been healthy all year) and doesn't plummet in the standings? How can you expect the likes of Brian Schneider, Dane Sardinha, Paul Hoover, Valdez, Juan Castro, Greg Dobbs, Gload, Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Cody Ransom and John Mayberry, Jr. (just called up to replace Howard) to continue to produce enough to keep the team close in the standings (Castro has since been released). It's a raggedy platoon of troops who keeps scrapping, keeps fighting, and a pitching staff that's been short on quality starters until last week (with the addition of Roy Oswalt) and that's still short on quality relievers (if you gave Philadelphia area residents who suffer from cardiac ailments or high blood pressure and monitored them, those who are Phillies' fans would see their palpitation rate rise, their agina worse, and their blood pressure spike when Brad Lidge enters a contest.
Yet, still, they persist. They have at it, and, yes, like most teams they don't have the deepest bench or a plethora of subs at AA and AAA who can be summoned and excel. Then again, even the Yankees don't have that. But that's why in the off-season your team scrambles to fill up its AAA roster with 27 to 34 year-olds with some Major League experience, some moments of glory, some grit, just to fill in, on an occasional basis. They big clubs are looking for renters, not people to move in, but the Phillies have needed more than an occasional fill-in. They need professional hitters, big league hitters, not AAA players who will get exposed after going around the league for two weeks.
So far, so good. It helps that spiritual leader Jimmy Rollins has returned and that Ibanez and Werth have started hitting again. But make no mistake -- this lineup doesn't scare a whole lot of teams, and the Phillies will have to play ever so much better in order to tread water, let alone move forward.
It's intriguing to watch, and you have to feel for the team, the injured players and skipper Charlie Manuel. The next several weeks should tell us whether this team has enough in the tank to stay close or whether the injuries will be just too much to bear.
So now, here's the Phillies lineup:
C -- Carlos Ruiz
1B -- Cody Ransom or Ross Gload
2B -- Wilson Valdez
3B -- Placido Polanco
SS -- Jimmy Rollins
LF -- Raul Ibanez
CF -- Jayson Werth
RF -- Ben Francisco (tonight, at least).
Howard joins 2B Chase Utley (out until the end of the month) and CF Shane Victorino (out for a few more weeks) on the disabled list.
Yikes!
Double yikes!
Drat!
As I write this, the Phillies were en route to beating the Marlins behind Roy Halladay while the Mets and Braves were tied late in the game. The Phillies desperately are trying to hold serve, so to speak, in August. Stay within striking distance of the Braves in the NL East and the Wild Card, and September is ours, or so they reason. Recently, over the past five years, that's been the case.
But what a tall task it is? Who loses the likes of any of their position players (save Werth, who has been healthy all year) and doesn't plummet in the standings? How can you expect the likes of Brian Schneider, Dane Sardinha, Paul Hoover, Valdez, Juan Castro, Greg Dobbs, Gload, Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Cody Ransom and John Mayberry, Jr. (just called up to replace Howard) to continue to produce enough to keep the team close in the standings (Castro has since been released). It's a raggedy platoon of troops who keeps scrapping, keeps fighting, and a pitching staff that's been short on quality starters until last week (with the addition of Roy Oswalt) and that's still short on quality relievers (if you gave Philadelphia area residents who suffer from cardiac ailments or high blood pressure and monitored them, those who are Phillies' fans would see their palpitation rate rise, their agina worse, and their blood pressure spike when Brad Lidge enters a contest.
Yet, still, they persist. They have at it, and, yes, like most teams they don't have the deepest bench or a plethora of subs at AA and AAA who can be summoned and excel. Then again, even the Yankees don't have that. But that's why in the off-season your team scrambles to fill up its AAA roster with 27 to 34 year-olds with some Major League experience, some moments of glory, some grit, just to fill in, on an occasional basis. They big clubs are looking for renters, not people to move in, but the Phillies have needed more than an occasional fill-in. They need professional hitters, big league hitters, not AAA players who will get exposed after going around the league for two weeks.
So far, so good. It helps that spiritual leader Jimmy Rollins has returned and that Ibanez and Werth have started hitting again. But make no mistake -- this lineup doesn't scare a whole lot of teams, and the Phillies will have to play ever so much better in order to tread water, let alone move forward.
It's intriguing to watch, and you have to feel for the team, the injured players and skipper Charlie Manuel. The next several weeks should tell us whether this team has enough in the tank to stay close or whether the injuries will be just too much to bear.
Sunday, August 01, 2010
A Baseball Life Goes Full Circle -- Tom Trebelhorn
Okay, it's a rainy Sunday morning, but rest assured that I have plenty to do. I'm not going to tell you who Tom Trebelhorn is, but Thomas Kaplan's article in the New York Times is worth a read.
Where They Are Now: Mo Vaughn
Great article in today's New York Times about former Red Sox', Angels' and Mets' first baseman Mo Vaughn, who has found life after baseball in rehabbing lower-income housing in the New York City area. Vaughn's an interesting and smart guy, interesting because of his new vocation, interesting because he wore #42 in tribute to Jackie Robinson before Major League Baseball retired it for all teams (save the Yankees, where Mariano Rivera will be able to wear the number until he retires) and smart because, if you read the article closely, you'll see that Vaughn splits his time between New York City and Florida (read in between the lines: Florida has no personal income tax). At any rate, it's a long feature, and worthy of a read.
Phreakonomics: Or, How the Phillies Might Have a Problem for 2011
Good article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about the Phillies' payroll for 2011 (which will include $23 million for Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge and $2.75 million for Danys Baez).
I have thought for a while that the team needs to get either a capital infusion for 2011 or somehow not blow up during the season, because they cannot contend by failing to evolve, by failing to be a meritocracy, and, yes, by failing to jettison both Ibanez and Lidge, both of whom have little left in the tank. They won't be able to sign Jayson Werth, who hasn't necessarily turned into Jason Bay during his walk year. They'll have some solid starting pitchers, but still wear bear the albatross of two years remaining on Joe Blanton's contract and overpaying for Ryan Howard. Read the whole thing, but if the owners are determined to hold fast at about $150-155 million for 2011, the team's clunkiness will continue for another season.
Read the whole thing and draw your own conclusions. What you'll see is that they'll still need starting pitching and that their bullpen will need a partial reconstruction. The question is how much will the Phillies spend to re-build the 'pen.
I have thought for a while that the team needs to get either a capital infusion for 2011 or somehow not blow up during the season, because they cannot contend by failing to evolve, by failing to be a meritocracy, and, yes, by failing to jettison both Ibanez and Lidge, both of whom have little left in the tank. They won't be able to sign Jayson Werth, who hasn't necessarily turned into Jason Bay during his walk year. They'll have some solid starting pitchers, but still wear bear the albatross of two years remaining on Joe Blanton's contract and overpaying for Ryan Howard. Read the whole thing, but if the owners are determined to hold fast at about $150-155 million for 2011, the team's clunkiness will continue for another season.
Read the whole thing and draw your own conclusions. What you'll see is that they'll still need starting pitching and that their bullpen will need a partial reconstruction. The question is how much will the Phillies spend to re-build the 'pen.
Why the Phillies Won't Make the Playoffs
I try to see the glass as half full, honestly, I do. But one of the main reasons why the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 is plainly absent with the 2010 version -- a shutdown bullpen. Last night's game once again proved that you cannot get to the playoffs -- let alone win the World Series -- with a closer who cannot locate his pitches and who blows a hard-earned 5-4 lead (achieved in the top of the ninth) with a groved fastball to a heart-of-the-order player in Ryan Zimmerman. The Phillies had a golden opportunity to pull within 2 1/2 games of the division-leading Braves, only to have Brad Lidge either get lit up or have his lights put out (you can make the analogy of your choice) again.
I recall in 1993 the Phillies' closer, Mitch Williams, struggled. The Philadelphia press pressed then-manager Jim Fregosi on why he kept on trotting out a closer nicknamed "Wild Thing." To which Fregosi replied, "Mitch pitches the ninth." And we all recall what happened -- the team miraculously got to Game 6 of the World Series before Williams yielded only one of two Series-ending home runs of all time, a shot by Joe Carter. In 2008, when the Phillies beat the Rays to win the Series, banners sprouted all over Citizens Bank Park proclaiming, "Mitch: We Forgive You."
I had failed to realize that many Phillies' fans harbored resentment against Williams, whom I had forgiven right at the time he yielded the home run, for many reasons. First, he didn't try to give up the home run. Second, relievers do give up home runs, even at the worst times. Third, Mitch was the best, perhaps, among many not-so-good options in the 1993 bullpen. Put differently, it wasn't solely Mitch's fault that the Phillies didn't win that World Series. You have to remember that the Blue Jays' teams of the early 1990's were outstanding ball clubs (with Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar, among many others).
I made these observations to my (normally) mild-mannered wife, who reflexively responded, "Oh, I never forgave him."
Say what? Yes, Mitch was flamboyant, and, to me, the 1993 team (save role players and Curt Schillling) wasn't the easiest to like, let alone adore, but huh? Shows how much I knew. The fans were miffed (Mitch, by the way, has turned into a very good analyst for MLB Network).
So, fast forward to the 2009 and now 2010 versions of a Brad Lidge (who was a hero in 2008) and who is under contract for an additional $11.5 million for 2011. He's flailing out there, and while I understand that perhaps the Phillies didn't have the mojo to add, say, Matt Capps (great move by the Twins, by the way), they cannot continue to throw Lidge out there in these situations. Now, I don't necessarily have an alternative, but try Ryan Madson (again), J.C. Romero (I know, he walks too many guys) or even Scott Mathieson, the AAA closer, but try something.
Because you cannot get to the playoffs by blowing saves against the lowly (if feisty) Nationals as the season comes to a climax.
I recall in 1993 the Phillies' closer, Mitch Williams, struggled. The Philadelphia press pressed then-manager Jim Fregosi on why he kept on trotting out a closer nicknamed "Wild Thing." To which Fregosi replied, "Mitch pitches the ninth." And we all recall what happened -- the team miraculously got to Game 6 of the World Series before Williams yielded only one of two Series-ending home runs of all time, a shot by Joe Carter. In 2008, when the Phillies beat the Rays to win the Series, banners sprouted all over Citizens Bank Park proclaiming, "Mitch: We Forgive You."
I had failed to realize that many Phillies' fans harbored resentment against Williams, whom I had forgiven right at the time he yielded the home run, for many reasons. First, he didn't try to give up the home run. Second, relievers do give up home runs, even at the worst times. Third, Mitch was the best, perhaps, among many not-so-good options in the 1993 bullpen. Put differently, it wasn't solely Mitch's fault that the Phillies didn't win that World Series. You have to remember that the Blue Jays' teams of the early 1990's were outstanding ball clubs (with Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar, among many others).
I made these observations to my (normally) mild-mannered wife, who reflexively responded, "Oh, I never forgave him."
Say what? Yes, Mitch was flamboyant, and, to me, the 1993 team (save role players and Curt Schillling) wasn't the easiest to like, let alone adore, but huh? Shows how much I knew. The fans were miffed (Mitch, by the way, has turned into a very good analyst for MLB Network).
So, fast forward to the 2009 and now 2010 versions of a Brad Lidge (who was a hero in 2008) and who is under contract for an additional $11.5 million for 2011. He's flailing out there, and while I understand that perhaps the Phillies didn't have the mojo to add, say, Matt Capps (great move by the Twins, by the way), they cannot continue to throw Lidge out there in these situations. Now, I don't necessarily have an alternative, but try Ryan Madson (again), J.C. Romero (I know, he walks too many guys) or even Scott Mathieson, the AAA closer, but try something.
Because you cannot get to the playoffs by blowing saves against the lowly (if feisty) Nationals as the season comes to a climax.
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