Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

You know it's a good posting, when the title quotes a song by Meat Loaf. Not that I plan to do it again anytime soon.

Yesterday was a red-letter day in the world of Philly sports, though I confess I don't know exactly what that term means. The Phils played a day-night doubleheader against the hated Mets, while the Iggles opened up their season at home against the St. Louis Rams.

Let's talk football first.

Those of you who know me know that I'm the eternal optimist, a terrible homer. But before yesterday, even I had the Birds going 10-6 and taking an NFC wild-card spot. I was stunned to hear that Sports Illustrated and some other writers had the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and one or two even had them winning it. But I was more stunned when I checked the score in the 4th quarter yesterday (hey, some of us have to work on Sundays) to see 38-3. Now, the disclaimer is necessary that the Rams are just not very good. But 38-3 over anyone is impressive, no matter how you slice it.

I got to watch the game this morning, and what struck me were the things I hadn't seen in a very long time:

1) Donovan McNabb. Connecting passes short and deep, angry when he missed them, not laughing to himself for over- and underthrowing balls. I don't know about you guys, but I got really sick of that trying-to-play-it-cool laugh. 361 yards? Finally, finally, Donovan is back.

2) Receivers catching balls. An amazing concept. I was worried when I found out that #1 (Kevin Curtis) and #2 (Reggie Brown) were out for this game. My fears, apparently, were unfounded. Some of you were partying with me the weekend of the NFL Draft (for my bachelor party, not for the draft) and remember my reaction when we drafted DeSean Jackson. I don't know anything about college football, but I saw this guy play at Cal, and I wanted him. Big big fan.

3) Pressure on the quarterback. Now that defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has Asante Samuel along with Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard at cornerback, he can be even more creative with his blitzes, cause the secondary is that much stronger, that much less likely to give up the big play. Not to mention there were about 4 or 5 should-be interceptions. Those'll start coming soon. If you took a risk like me and drafted the Eagles defense for your fantasy team, you're looking good right now. (Too bad the rest of my team is not so much....)

4) What was that thing we used to have back in the day? Oh yeah! SPECIAL TEAMS. Jackson was great, with over 90 yards in returns, and was one tackler away from going all the way on one of them. At the very least, he did something known in the business as "holding onto the God-forsaken football," something guys didn't really like to do last year. And on the other side of the ball, when was the last time our guys downed the ball inside the 5? When was the last time it happened twice in a game?? Quentin Demps, wherever you came from, thank you.

Bottom line is I think next Monday night's game is going to be fantastic, which I wasn't saying a couple of weeks ago. So, go Birds. Let's shock the world.

Quickly to the Phils. You gotta love Mike Schmidt writing an e-mail to the Phils saying, among other things, that the Mets "remember last year" and "they know you're better than they are." All the more so for the fact that who knew Schmidt still cared about the Phils or the city of Philadelphia? (You can read the letter here.)

Two of three from the Mets was big, though a sweep obviously would have been huge. But they're just 2 games out, with 19 games to play. Also, if you haven't yet heard, Billy Wagner is done for the year. So here's hoping that bullpen blows up all over the place. And that we can keep winning.

Wouldn't that be nice?

-----------------------------

Other Musings: Asinine Commercial of the Week goes to Wendy's. The guy doesn't want any of his date's salad because, he says smugly, "I'm a meat-atarian," explaining, "I only eat meat." Yet, the guy is eating a sandwich that has bread and cheese on it. So, basically, guy, you're an idiot. Note to Wendy's: Bad idea, poor execution. Note to self: Resist the urge to go get a yummy bacon cheeseburger....I hate you, Wendy's! I'm gonna go look for the beer with the best drinkability.

For Crying Out Loud

Watching the Phils-Dodgers last night, I saw something I've never seen before.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Shane Victorino got things started with a single. Eric Bruntlett laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Victorino to second. (It still amazes me how many of these professional ballplayers can't lay down a bunt to save their lives.) Werth struck out, and Andy Tracy walked in his first Major League at-bat in four years. Two on, two out, Pedro Feliz is at the plate, the difference between losing and staying alive. And what were some of the Phaithful doing in their seats at the Bank?

They were doing the wave. That's right. The wave.

Now there are those who feel that the wave is harmless fun. And I couldn't disagree more. The wave is what you do when you're not interested in the game. When you're bored. Why on earth would you pay good money to sit in a stadium where a professional ballgame is taking place and focus on the other fans? Is there something I'm missing here?

If you feel that the wave contains some kind of karmic, cosmic bond connecting everyone in that stadium, everyone's entitled to have a wrong opinion. But can we all at least agree that the bottom of the ninth in a one-run game in a pennant race at the end of August might not be the best time for a stinking wave???? Honestly, people.

It's like the bleacher bums who keep doing the E-A-G-L-E-S chant at Phillies games. Fine if the Phils are way out of it, as they were most of the 80's and 90's. But so not cool (or Taguchi for that matter) while they are very much in the thick of a tight division battle.

At a Phils-Mets game last fall with my dad, I finally had enough. I stood up, turned around to the "cheap" seats and yelled, "HEY! IT'S BASEBALL SEASON! YOUR TEAM IS RIGHT HERE!!!!" And I was applauded in my section.

So, seriously, with all due respect, cut the crap. No more Eagles chants. No more waves, certainly not in the bottom of the ninth inning. Let's focus on the task at hand, and do our part in all of this by being good phans.

----------------------------------

For your entertainment, a very funny and short Onion article on Jamie Moyer. (Thanks Matt.)

Other musings: Coors Light may have a vent in its cans for a smoother pour. It may have mountains that turn blue to let you know the bottle's cold like those winter gloves from the 80's (does anyone else remember them?). Heck, it may even have actual crags from the Rockies in each and every delivery truck. But that doesn't change the fact that the beer sucks.

Jimmy Cracks Wise, and We All Care

Jimmy Rollins appeared on the Best Damn Sports Show Period last week, and made some comments that have, to say the least, poked the hornet's nest of Philly sports with a big old tree branch.

"They're frontrunners. When you're doing good, they're on your side. When you're doing bad, they're completely against you." (You can watch the whole clip here as well as his follow-up comments following the Phuror.)

It's much too easy to make this a black-and-white issue, either by saying Jimmy's exactly right, or by allowing yourself to be angry and outraged. There's a whole lot going on here, and it's certainly much more gray than you think.

On the one hand, my initial reaction was more in line with the second option listed above, something to the effect of: "Frontrunners?!? Doesn't that require consistently winning teams? Didn't you read my entry from a couple of weeks ago?

You wanna hear the end of the boos, Jimmy? Why don't you remember how to hit like you did last season? Where did that guy go? Also, while you're at it, could you teach the rest of the guys something we all learned in Little League called protecting the plate with two strikes??? I may not be a ballplayer, Jimmy, but I do know one thing: it's statistically impossible to get a hit if you don't swing the bat. "

John Salley, co-host of Best Damn, was exactly right. "That's called family." Philly fans are the most loyal--spending time, money, energy, and a lot of tears following our beloved teams. When an entire lineup shuts down production, it is so natural to say, "Hey, we show up. We do our jobs as fans--loving, supporting, rooting unconditionally. Time to do your job. Time to show up." Philly fans don't leave early, they stay and let you have it, if you deserve it. Anyone remember that Monday Night Football game a couple of years ago when Seattle was up like 42-0...at halftime? People stayed. And they booed. Cause you know what? That's part of the job of the fan, to let them have it when they deserve it.

On the other hand, Jimmy's frustrated, and who can blame him? He may not have chosen his words so wisely, and he tried to clarify his meaning in his follow-up statement. But he was trying to express something else, something we all forget, all too often.

Jimmy was trying to say, "Hey, we're people too. You think you're frustrated as fans? You can't even imagine how frustrated we are in this dugout, in this locker room. And when you get on our case and boo like crazy and tell us to show up, that doesn't help. All it does is increases the negative energy, something we're trying desperately to shake. Don't kick us when we're down. Try to reach down and help pick us up."

Hey man, we're all in this together.