Dirty Wudders

DWII

2010-08-18T09:45:00.003-04:00

Its been a while since there was a post on DW, there has been a lot that has happened with the Flyers in the cup, the whole Phils starting lineup taking a trip to the DL, and the Eagles are getting ready for a 7-9 season (can't wait). Anyway, I was thinking that DW has to get started up again. We need contributors out there that will consistently stir the pot and are not afraid to take some criticism. For the current readers it is greatly appreciated for your contributions to the blog. Let's see if we can branch out and bring some newcomers to the site and have some fun with this. I mean the Phils are back, and are priming to make another run at a World Series, so lets see what we can do to try and get this thing back up and running. There is nothing better than arguing about sports. Doc and Namesake are you out there? Where have you two been? What do you two homos think?
>

DW is Back

2010-04-22T14:29:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since anything has gone up here on DW, and I am hoping to get back into it now that baseball season is in full swing. So much has happened since Nova lost to St. Mary's in the second round of the NCAA tourney, and there is so much to talk about. The NFL draft is tonight, McNabb was traded to a division rival, the Flyers are on their way to knocking off the Devils in the Playoffs, Tiger Woods, How the Eagles traded Sheldon Brown for a 5th round pick, and then in turn signed a cornerback who is coming off of not one, but two knee surgeries to play safety. We can sit here all day and bitch about all this, but the reality of it all is that its baseball season. I hope McNabb sticks it to the Eagles this year, and Andy Reid drafts another Defensive Lineman in the first round that sucks. Quite frankly I don't give a shit about all of this, because right now the real team of Philly is back on the ball field.

How freakin good is Roy Halladay? I mean so far in the four games that he has pitched he really hasn't been challenged yet. Can he really win 25-26 games this year? It really is amazing when he steps out on the hill every 5th day and dominates. Roy Halladay is so good and so dominant, but that all means nothing at this point unless you win. The bullpen just like last year stinks. Ruben Amaro needs to find someone that can go out there and get outs in the later innings. I know that they are missing two key pitchers to that pen, but who knows what they will pitch like when they come back. This is something that needs to be addressed ASAFP. With the offense clicking, all the back end of the bullpen has to do is get outs. Last night proved that we have a more than capable defense, so all that pen really has to do is keep the damn ball in the park. Success will come if they go with that mentality.

Nova - St Mary's

2010-03-20T12:59:00.000-04:00

Well, lets hope Wright is done with his "teaching points". Villanova takes on 10 seed St. Mary today in Providence. The Gaels beat up on the Spiders in the first round while 'Nova escaped Robert Morris, with some special thanks to the refs. Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher Taylor King and Corey Stokes have all been benched recently for disciplinary reasons and taking leaks outside.

This game will be decided by which ever team can dictate the pace. St Mary has a huge frontline while Villanova is guard oriented.

Here's hoping Villanova can stay alive especially after Temple's dissapointing loss to Cornell.

Villanova vs St. Mary

Doc in Clearwater

2010-03-05T10:25:00.001-05:00

Doc's view from Left Field.

P.S. I hate you, Doc.

Spring is Here

2010-03-04T10:29:00.004-05:00

Now that the snow is starting to clear, and the weather is getting warmer it is time for Philadelphia to turn their focus to the REAL team of the City. It feels like years ago that the Phils were playing the Yankees in the World Series, but it is finally here. Spring training has started and the Phils new ace Roy Halladay will be taking the mound today against CC Sabathia at 1:05 in Clearwater's Bright House Field. Doc will be in attendance at the game as he made his way down there yesterday. I'm sure that he will be getting hammered at Frenchy's today, and one can only hope that he doesn't pass out at the bar. It's a good thing that Moose will not be down there this year. Last time he was there he was hammered and screaming obscenities to the opposing pitchers in the bull pen with a pit stained wife beater, mesh shorts, and high top cons on. All of this was being conducted while little kids were standing around with their dads. If that doesn't scream Kensington then I don't know what does, Moose.

Today marks the start of a long journey throughout the summer that will hopefully end with what happened in 2008. Another good thing about baseball season is that there will be more posts on the blog for all three of our readers to read. Baseball consumes about 98% of our blog, so here we go. Get ready for another season with Charlie and the Phils. They never disappoint, and if you are not pumped for this season then I would have to say go f yourself. LET'S GO PHILS!

QB Talk

2010-03-02T23:07:00.000-05:00

A day after ESPN's Adam Shefter says Michael Vick will remain an Eagle - Vick tells the Charlotte Observer that he wants to play in Carolina because he like the colors.

Well, you know, it's close to home," Vick said. "I like the uniforms. You get to play against Atlanta twice a year. Ain't nothing better than playing against your former team, right? So, yeah, that would be a good look, it would be a good look."

A report out of St. Louis has the Rams talking about a deal for Donovan McNabb.

According to more than one well-informed source, the Rams have had intense internal conversations with the Philadelphia Eagles about a trade for Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb.

(St Louis Dispatch)

Brian Burwell later back tracked and said there was a typo..Because internal talks can't really involve another team.

Here is an interview on 97.5 with Brian Burwell talking about the situation which isn't really a situation.

Sal Pal is reporting/has reported that the Rams do not like the QB's in this year's draft and will make a run at any one of the 3 Eagle QB's. He says that the Rams could draft N.Suh and maybe package their second rd pick this year plus a first rd pick next year for McNabb. That there is amazing value for a QB with 1 year left on his deal.

It seems that the Eagles like 2nd round picks better than first rounders anyway (cheaper). And you have to figure that the Rams pick next year will be very early.

DW's NL Central Preview

2010-03-02T17:29:00.001-05:00

Can anyone compete with the Cards? St Louis brought back Matt Holliday to form one of the best 3-4 punches in the game. If they can get another injury free season out of Carpenter, the Cards will walk with the division. The Cubbies used addition by subtraction in the offseason with Milton Bradley. They need bounce back years from Soriano and Soto to contend - they still have some talent. Milwaukee didn't do too much to improve off last season's 80 wins while the Reds have alot of young developing talent and also lured Aroldis Chapman into Cinci. Ed Wade continues to build with former Phillies with little upside and the Bucos plan to contend sometime in the next decade or so.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

2009 record and finish: 62-99

Manager: John Russell

Departures: RHP Matt Capps

Arrivals: RHP Octavio Dotel, 2B Akinori Iwamura, IF Bobby Crosby, RHP D.J. Carrasco, OF Ryan Church, LHP Neal Cotts

Rotation: LHP Paul Maholm, LHP Zach Duke, RHP Ross Ohlendorf, RHP Charlie Morton, RHP Daniel McCutchen

Closer: RHP Octavio Dotel

Setup guy: RHP Brendan Donnelly

Lineup: CF Andrew McCutchen, 2B Akinori Iwamura, RF Garrett Jones, C Ryan Doumit, LF Lastings Milledge, 1B Jeff Clement, 3B Andy LaRoche, SS Ronny Cedeno

HOUSTON ASTROS:

2009 record and finish: 74-88

Manager: Brad Mills

Departures: RHP Jose Valverde, IF Miguel Tejada, C/IF Chris Coste

Arrivals: RHP Brett Myers, 3B Pedro Feliz, RHP Brandon Lyon

Rotation: RHP Roy Oswalt, LHP Wandy Rodriguez, RHP Brett Myers, RHP Bud Norris, RHP Felipe Paulino

Closer: RHP Matt Lindstrom

Setup guy: RHP Brandon Lyon

Lineup: CF Michael Bourn, 2B Kaz Matsui, 1B Lance Berkman, LF Carlos Lee, RF Hunter Pence, 3B Pedro Feliz, C Jason Castro, SS Tommy Manzella

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
2009 record and finish: 91-71

Manager: Tony La Russa

Departures: IF Mark DeRosa, RHP Joel Pineiro, IF Troy Glaus, IF Khalil Greene, RHP John Smoltz

Arrivals: RHP Brad Penny, LHP Rich Hill

Rotation: RHP Chris Carpenter, RHP Adam Wainwright, RHP Kyle Lohse, RHP Brad Penny, LHP Rich Hill,

Closer: RHP Ryan Franklin

Setup men: RHP Jason Motte

Lineup: 2B Skip Schumaker, SS Brendan Ryan, 1B Albert Pujols, LF Matt Holliday, RF Ryan Ludwick, CF Colby Rasmus, C Yadier Molina, 3B David Freese

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

2009 record and finish: 80-82

Manager: Ken Macha

Departures: RHP Braden Looper, SS J.J. Hardy, CF Mike Cameron

Arrivals: OF Carlos Gomez, LHP Randy Wolf, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, C Gregg Zaun, LHP Doug Davis

Rotation: RHP Yovani Gallardo, LHP Randy Wolf, LHP Doug Davis, RHP Jeff Suppan, LHP Manny Parra

Closer: RHP Trevor Hoffman

Setup men: RHP LaTroy Hawkins

Lineup: 2B Rickie Weeks, SS Alcides Escobar, 1B Prince Fielder, LF Ryan Braun, RF Corey Hart, 3B Casey McGehee, C Gregg Zaun, CF Carlos Gomez

CHICAGO CUBS
2009 record and finish: 83-78

Manager: Lou Piniella

Departures: OF Milton Bradley, RHP Rich Harden

Arrivals: OF Marlon Byrd, OF Xavier Nady

Rotation: RHP Carlos Zambrano, LHP Ted Lilly, RHP Ryan Dempster, RHP Randy Wells, LHP Tom Gorzelanny

Closer: RHP Carlos Marmol

Setup guy: LHP John Grabow

Regulars: SS Ryan Theriot, RF Kosuke Fukudome, 1B Derrek Lee, 3B Aramis Ramirez, LF Alfonso Soriano, CF Marlon Byrd, C Geovany Soto, 2B Mike Fontenot

CINCINNATI REDS
2009 record and finish: 78-84

Manager: Dusty Baker

Departures: OF Willy Taveras

Arrivals: SS Orlando Cabrera, LHP Aroldis Chapman, IF Aaron Miles

Rotation: RHP Bronson Arroyo, RHP Aaron Harang, RHP Johnny Cueto, RHP Homer Bailey, RHP Micah Owings

Closer: RHP Francisco Cordero

Setup guy: RHP Nick Masset

Lineup: CF Drew Stubbs, SS Orlando Cabrera, 1B Joey Votto, 2B Brandon Phillips, 3B Scott Rolen, RF Jay Bruce, LF Jonny Gomes, C Ramon Hernandez

DW Pre-Spring Training, Predicted Order of Finish

1. St Louis
2. Chicago
3. Reds
4. Brewers
5. Astros
6. Pirates

DW's NL West Preview

2010-02-26T14:06:00.004-05:00

Today we take a look at the NL West. The Dodgers have taken the last 2 division crowns while the Rockies have also made the playoffs in 2 of the last 3 years. The Giants have a stacked rotation with questionable bats and the D'Backs are coming off a last place finish in a season where they were expected to contend. The Padres are just not very good. DW takes a peak at the teams after the jump..

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

2009 record: 95-67

Manager: Joe Torre

Arrivals: IF Jamey Carroll, OF Reed Johnson

Departures: LHP Randy Wolf, OF Juan Pierre, 2B Orlando Hudson, RHP Guillermo Mota, 1B Jim Thome

Rotation: RHP Chad Billingsley, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Hiroki Kuroda, RHP Vicente Padilla, RHP James McDonald, LHP Scott Elbert, LHP Eric Stults, RHP Charlie Haeger, RHP Carlos Monasterious

Closer: RHP Jonathan Broxton

Setup: LHP George Sherrill

Lineup: SS Rafael Furcal, CF Matt Kemp, LF Andre Ethier, LF Manny Ramirez, 1B James Loney, 3B Casey Blake, C Russell Martin ,2B Ronnie Belliard,

COLORADO ROCKIES

2009 record: 92-70

Manager: Jim Tracy

Departures: RHP Jason Marquis, 1B/3B Garrett Atkins, C Yorvit Torrealba

Arrivals: IF Melvin Mora, C Miguel Olivo

Rotation: RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP Aaron Cook, LHP Jeff Francis, LHP Jorge De La Rosa , RHP Jason Hammel

Closer: RHP Huston Street;

Setup: RHP Rafael Betancourt, LHP Franklin Morales

Lineup: CF Dexter Fowler, LF Carlos Gonzalez, 1B Todd Helton, SS Troy Tulowitzki, RF Brad Hawpe, 3B Ian Stewart, C Chris Iannetta, 2B Clint Barmes

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

2009 record: 88-74

Manager: Bruce Bochy

Departures: LHP Randy Johnson, OF Randy Winn

Arrivals: OF/IF Mark DeRosa, OF/1B Aubrey Huff, RHP Guillermo Mota

Rotation: RHP Tim Lincecum, RHP Matt Cain, LHP Barry Zito, LHP Jonathan Sanchez, LHP Madison Bumgarner

Closer: RHP Brian Wilson

Setup: LHP Jeremy Affeldt

Lineup: CF Aaron Rowand, 2B Juan Uribe, 3B Pablo Sandoval, 1B Aubrey Huff, LF Mark DeRosa, C Bengie Molina, RF Nate Schierholtz, SS Edgar Renteria

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

2009 record: 70-92

Manager: A.J. Hinch

Departures: LHP Doug Davis, RHP Max Scherzer, LHP Daniel Schlereth, LHP Scott Schoeneweis

Arrivals: RHP Edwin Jackson, 1B Adam LaRoche, RHP Ian Kennedy, 2B Kelly Johnson, RHP Aaron Heilman, RHP Bob Howry

Rotation: RHP Dan Haren RHP Brandon Webb, RHP Edwin Jackson, RHP Ian Kennedy, RHP Bill Buckner

Closer: RHP Chad Qualls

Setup: RHP Bob Howry

Lineup: SS Stephen Drew, 2B Kelly Johnson, RF Justin Upton, 1B Adam LaRoche, 3B Mark Reynolds, LF Conor Jackson, CF Chris Young, C Miguel Montero

SAN DIEGO PADRES

2009 record: 75-87

Manager: Bud Black

Departures: 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, OF Brian Giles

Arrivals: RHP Jon Garland, Utility Jerry Hairston Jr. , C Yorvit Torrealba, 1B/OF Matt Stairs

Rotation: RHP Chris Young, RHP Kevin Correia, RHP Jon Garland, LHP Clayton Richard, RHP Mat Latos

Closer: RHP Heath Bell

Setup: RHP Edward Mujica

Lineup: CF Tony Gwynn Jr., 2B David Eckstein, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, 3B Chase Headley, LF Kyle Blanks, RF Wil Venable, C Nick Hundley, SS Everth Cabrera

DW Pre-Spring Training, Predicted Order of Finish

1: Dodgers
2: Rockies
3: Giants
4: D'Backs
5: Padres

The Dodgers did nothing in the offseason and will need to rely on their youngs stars to improve if they intend to keep the division crown. If Jeff Francis can return to his pre-injury form the Rockies may be the class of the division. The Rockies need to avoid the letdown they had following their previous playoff appearance. The Giants added some aging bats but it may not be enough to contend. Arizona is counting on the health of some key players in '10. Webb, Haren and Jackson have the abilty to hang with anybody but they need production out of Drew, Jackson and Young - if they do, they could be the surprise team out west. The biggest question with San Diego is when Adrian Gonzalez will be traded and how much will they receive in return.

Disagree below.

DW'S AL West Preview

2010-02-25T10:39:00.007-05:00

DW takes a look at the major leagues on paper, division by division during the final days of February. Today we give you the AL West. This should be a tight division with Seattle being one of baseball's offseason champs, the Angels being the long time kings of the West and the Rangers trying to translate the major's best farm system into the major leagues. a quick look at the teams after the jump..

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM VIA CALIFORNIA NEAR DISNEYLAND

2009 Record: 97-65
Departures: RHP John Lackey, IF Chone Figgins, DH Vlad Guerrero, OF Sarge Jr, LHP Darren (don't call me Sean) Oliver
Arrivals: DH/LF Hideki Matsui, RHP Fernando Rodney, RHP Joel Pineiro,
Rotation: RHP Jered Weaver, LHP Joe Saunders, RHP Ervin Santana, LHP Scott Kazmir, RHP Joel Pineiro

Closer: LHP Brian Fuentes;
Setup guy: RHP Fernando Rodney, RHP Scot Shields
Lineup: SS Erick Aybar, RF Bobby Abreu, CF Torii Hunter, 1B Kendry Morales, DH Hideki Matsui, LF Juan Rivera, 2B Howie Kendrick, C Mike Napoli, 3B Brandon Wood

SEATTLE MARINERS

2009 Record: 85-77
Departures: 3B Adrian Beltre, 1B/DH Russell Branyan, RHP Brandon Morrow, C Kenji Johjima, RHP Miguel Batista, RHP Carlos Silva
Arrivals: LHP Cliff Lee, 3B Chone Figgins, OF Milton Bradley, 1B Casey Kotchman, 1B Ryan Garko, OF Eric Byrnes
Rotation: RHP Felix Hernandez, LHP Cliff Lee, RHP Ian Snell, LHP Erik Bedard (DL), LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith
Closer: RHP David Aardsma;
Setup guy: RHP Brandon League
Lineup: RF Ichiro Suzuki, 3B Chone Figgins, 2B Jose Lopez, LF Milton Bradley, DH Ken Griffey Jr., 1B Casey Kotchman, CF Franklin Gutierrez, C Rob Johnson, SS Jack Wilson

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

2009 Record: 75-87
Departures: 2B Adam Kennedy, IF Bobby Crosby,
Arrivals: RHP Ben Sheets, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, OF Coco Crisp, IF Jake Fox, OF Michael Taylor,
Rotation: RHP Ben Sheets, RHP Justin Duchscherer, LHP Brett Anderson, RHP Dallas Braden, RHP Trevor Cahill
Closer: RHP Andrew Bailey
Set-up guy: RHP Brad Ziegler
Lineup: LF Rajai Davis, CF Coco Crisp, C Kurt Suzuki, DH Jack Cust, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, CF Ryan Sweeney, 2B Mark Ellis, 1B Daric Barton, SS Cliff Pennington

TEXAS RANGERS:

2009 record: 87-75
Departures: RHP Kevin Millwood, OF Marlon Byrd, IF Hank Blalock, OF Andruw Jones, IF Omar Vizquel, C Ivan Rodriguez,
Arrivals: RHP Rich Harden, DH Vlad Guerrero, RHP Colby Lewis, LHP Darren (the black) Oliver
Rotation: RHP Scott Feldman, RHP Rich Harden, RHP Tommy Hunter, LHP Derek Holland, RHP Colby Lewis
Closer: RHP Frank Francisco;
Setup guy: LHP C.J. Wilson, RHP Neftali Feliz, LHP Darren Oliver
Lineup: CF Julio Borbon, 3B Michael Young, LF Josh Hamilton, DH Vlad Guerrero, 2B Ian Kinsler, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Chris Davis, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus

DW Pre-Spring Training, Predicted Order of Finish:

1: Rangers
2: Mariners
3: Angels
4: A's

The Rangers have a shit load of hitting, questionable starting pitching and a potentially strong bullpen. They also have the best minor league system in baseball and may have the ammunition to add arms at the deadline - if/when Harden goes down. If Josh Hamilton can find his '08 form instead of '09, this team will be scary offensively. Starting pitching will be the achillies heel. The M's have maybe the the best 1-2 punch and best defense in the game but will really have to search for runs. DW does not like the Angels off season moves, substituting Lackey, Figgins and Vlad for Matsui, Pineiro and Rodney. The A's need Sheets to put together a good half season so they can swap him for more prospects. They have a lot of talent but are a couple years away. Look for former Phils prospect Michael Taylor - he could be ready to produce right away and is a DW darkhorse for AL rookie of the year.

Next: NL West

Disagree below...

Westbrook Released

2010-02-23T14:30:00.001-05:00

Brian Westbrook has been released by the Eagles. Jeffrey Lurie and Andy Reid are scheduled to hold a press conference at 3pm to discuss the matter, and offer some "insight" into their thought process. Bad knees, concussion issues, old age and being owed $8 million next year are all factors that play into this decision. Knowing the Eagles, I'd say the $8 million was the nail in the coffin.

It will be strange not seeing No.36 in Eagles green next season, considering the offense was run through him for so many years. He gave us all some great moments on the field, and he'll be remembered for being one of the most exciting players in the NFL. His best season came in 2007 when he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage, and was named first team All-Pro. He will be missed.

Question: Where does B-West rank in terms of All-Time Eagles? Top 5?

The Platinum Medal Goes To....

2010-02-23T13:08:00.003-05:00

It's been a week since the feminine Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko won the silver medal in men's figure skating. He was not happy that he won the silver, and started talking trash to the American that won the gold. Let me tell you something, there is nothing gayer than having two grown men dressed up in peacock outfits, floating all over the ice while doing twirls. To have them talking trash to each other just makes it all that much better. Like how can you take this guy seriously? He is still bitching about not winning the gold medal. Get over it dude. You weren't good enough on that day, and you lost. Take it like the little girl that you want to be deep down inside, and move on. Maybe take up ice dancing or something. I don't know whatever floats your boat. This is how big of a loser this guy is, he actually awarded himself the Platinum Medal of the Vancouver games. On his web site he has a picture that has three medals, and they say "Silver of Salt Lake, Gold of Torino, and Platinum of Vancouver." This fruit is absolutely out of his mind. His reasoning why he should have won the gold is because the American (Evan Lysacek) never did a quad jump in his routine. Now I don't know what a quad jump is, and nor do I care, but it sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? Here's an idea, quit figure skating and start acting like you have a bird.

Trivia

2010-02-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

Over the last 12 years, other than Roy Halladay, eight former AL Cy Young winners have exited the AL for the NL: Name them:

I will post credit when answered. Post answers in comments section

Grapefruit Express Tour: Phillies Camp

2010-02-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

From ESPN.com - Karl Ravech, John Kruk and former and maybe future Mets Mgr Bobby Valentine talk Phils

Trivia

2010-02-20T15:21:00.000-05:00

Cole Hamels threw 262.3 innings in 2008 (including 35 in the postseason). Since 1980, only three other pitchers under 25 have thrown so much in one of their first three seasons in the majors. Name them.

I will give credit to where I read this after you get the answer. Post your answers below.

Your Seventy-Sucksers

2010-02-19T11:47:00.003-05:00

Rant by R.H.

Very disappointing, but not too surprising, that Stiffanski stood pat yesterday (unless you count the Primoz "Chicken Whacked" Brezec and Royal "With Cheese" Ivey blockbuster). I'll miss the Primoz Brezec era. I'm suddenly hungry.

I was happy when they hired Stefanski, mainly because of the atrocities Billly King had committed. And Stefanski said all the right things when he was hired. Since then, just about EVERY move he's made has been bad. I'll give him credit for Speights and ~~Drew~~ ~~Djrue Dru~~ Jrue Holiday, who seem like they can play and were decent picks from where the Sixers were in those drafts (although Speights may need a brain transplant, so glad Iverson's here to mentor him). And granted, he inherited Dalembert's toxic assets. "But wait, Sam's had a good 3 weeks!!!" "Good" meaning he kind of seems to care and has gotten some rebounds.

I can't blame Eddie Jordan too much. We knew it was a terrible hire to begin with. But they were buddies from their Jersey days. Stefanski's big-ticket signings (Iguodala and Brand) have been awful. Anyone with a brain knew the day they did it that the Iguodala contract was outrageous. And poor Brand looks like damaged goods at this point (I think, at this point, even if you brought in Wojo to pound the court excitedly Brand would shrug his shoulders apathetically).
It's pretty telling that Stefanski basically immediately tried to get out from under both contracts quicker than you can say "Isiah". Jason Kapono for $6 million a year? Seems steep as hell. Were teams lining up for him? Can he play here? We don't know, Jordan never plays him.
The team is unwatchable, but still winning kind of enough games to be in the mix for a 7 or 8 seed in the wretched bottom of the East. Who cares? It's just another year in David Stern's purgatory. Stern needs to go. Maybe he'll get shot by Arenas. He has really ruined the league and I can't stand looking at his stupid face anymore. The trade deadline was basically one team (Cleveland) trying to add a guy to get better and about 20 teams trying to get rid of bad contracts. (Sigh).

Which brings us to yesterday. This team should've been imploded like the Vet. Stefanski should've made every effort to make that happen. But his logic was backwards and completely flawed. Every statement I heard him make, he's said "we're only gonna make moves that make us better on the court right now" or something to that effect. For who? For what? This team is going nowhere this year or the next five years if you don't do anything drastic. If the report that the Rockets would've taken essentially Dalembert and Iguodala for Tracy McGrady (aka Tracy McGrady's Expiring Contract), and the Sixers passed on it, that's a disgrace. That's just what the Sixers needed to begin to turn this around. How could he pass on that? Would've given them alot of money for next year (or the year after), and made them a little worse on the court this year, increasing their chances for a better lottery pick. But no, the Knicks moved in and are in prime pouncing position for free agents. Not that Lebron or Wade was coming here, but the Sixers needed to take some baby steps and did nothing instead.

Stefanski needs to go. They're just running in place with him. Bring in Rod Thorn (who may be leaving Jersey) or try to lure Jerry West out of retirement. Somebody proven that has some creativity (fleece Minnesota somehow for Kevin Love). I think Ed Snider/Comcast has the money. Jordan and his You-don't-need-a-true-point-guard Princeton offense should also be shown the door. They need a point guard. Shit, I'd take a Hinrich or a Kyle Lowry right now. Or see what Holiday can do.....oh wait, he barely plays either....need to get minutes for A.I.!!! Iverson's really bought the crowds back to the Wachovia Center as well.....well, at least for that one night.

Bring in Jeff Van Gundy (who I wanted last year) or a Lawrence Frank. Who gives a shit if the players don't like them. Maybe they'll get them to play a little defense and give this team some kind of identity. They could've taken a big step forward yesterday, but now we're stuck in this nightmare for who knows how much longer.
And can Donyell Marshall fit any more marbles into his mouth on the postgame show? Yeesh.

Celtics with a weird move picking up Nate Robinson. Maybe he'll do underwhelming dunks in practice or something and be banished there as well. Good luck with all that. How did that Sheed signing work out for them? Has he moved inside the 3-point line all year? KG's intense woofing act is kind of sad anymore. Assholes.
Oh well, as long as the Lakers don't win it all again, I'll be happy. Two Kobe titles sandwiched around an A-Rod World Series title may be too much for me to recover from.

The All-Star game/weekend was sickening drek. As if the game wasn't horrible enough, we had to endure Jerry Jones mugging as a basketball game was played in his cavernous football dome. Not that I watched or anything.

I could not care less about this Tiger Woods "press conference". This has contrived sham written all over it. A prepared statement written by lawyers and no questions allowed. No thanks. It will be about as informative and fullfilling as an Andy Reid press conference.

Namesake

2010-02-18T14:30:00.002-05:00

In case you haven't heard Dirtywudders' very own Namesake will be on the Missanelli show this afternoon. He will be competing against the show's host for $1500.00. He will be matching up against Mike Missanelli in a sports trivia contest. Be sure to tune in and check it out. I hope that he doesn't do anything to embarrass himself or ALL of the loyal readers in the dirtywudders community. Good Luck Namesake.

Nova Goes Down

2010-02-15T21:03:00.003-05:00

Coming into this game UCONN had lost 5 of their last 6, including an embarrassing ass-kicking at the hands of Cincinatti on Saturday. None of that mattered tonight, however, as they held the lead throughout the second half against No.3 Villanova and came out victorious, 84-75. Nova got into foul trouble early in the second and couldn't get their offense going at all. Scottie Reynolds had a solid game, as usual, but UCONN's Kemba Walker - 29 points, 8 rebounds - was just too much for the Wildcats in this one. Reynolds finished the game with 18 points and 4 steals. Taylor King, on the other hand, was 0-6 for 0 points.

Villanova is now 11-2 in the Big East, 22-3 overall. Next up: Saturday @ Pitt.

Make a Day of It

2010-02-13T10:00:00.013-05:00

Today is a great day for Philadelphia College Basketball. Wake up with your favorite Gentleman Drink and head down to the Dac for Drexel's 12 noon matchup with archrival Delaware. Drexel is in the mix in the CAA at 9-5. Northeastern leads the conference at 12-2 with both losses coming against the Dragons. Drexel is playing much better ball now than they were earlier in the season. Drexel Freshman Chris Fouch has been ruled out for the game which is a big loss.

Unless Drexel falls apart and loses to Delaware again, you should be able to beat the traffic and head down to the Wachovia Center. At 2pm Villanova hosts Providence in a Big East machup. Villanova will try to avoid a letdown following road games against two top ten teams. Nova is sitting a 1/2 game behind Syracuse in the Big East and is in the mix for a #1 seed in the NCAA's.

Hopefully Nova makes quick work of the Friars so you can make it to the other side of town to get good seats for the Rhode Island vs Temple game at the Liacouras Center. Both teams are within 1 game of the A-10 lead and the two teams already played an OT game this season with Temple coming out on top.

After the Temple game head on over to the Palestra to catch Penn against Columbia. It has been a forgettable season for the Quakers but they are coming off a huge upset of a top 25 team. This game is actually somewhat meaningful for the 3-2 Quakers but you don't really need a reason to catch a game at the Palestra.

There is no other city in America where you can do something like this.

The Morning After

2010-02-12T22:12:00.006-05:00

(Friday night edition)
Penn 79 No. 22 Cornell 64: The 3-win Penn Quakers knocks off the 20 win Big Red on Friday night at the Palestra.Penn junior forward Jack Eggleston (game-high 24 points) and sophomore point guard Zack Rosen (22 points, ive assists, three steals) stood out in the upset. Penn improves to 3-2 in the Ivy and 4-15 overall.

Flyers 3 Canadians 2: The Flyers won their 3rd straight 3-2 game led by Jeff Carter's 25th and 26th goals. Michael Leighton made 31 saves.

WVU vs Pitt: I don't know, I turned it off when I heard Doris Burke's voice.

Duke at UNC

2010-02-10T20:30:00.003-05:00

The best rivalry is basketball is renewed tonight as the defending National Champs host the Duke Blue Devils in Chapel Hill. To say the least, North Carolina is down this year but lets see if they turn it up against the hated rival from Durham. Join us for a live blog

Duke @ UNC

D f'n W

2010-02-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

In the "Nobody gives a shit about this, except for me and 202" category. Here we are during the 8th inning of Game 5, Part 2, of the 2008 World Series. Found during the replay yesterday on MLB Network..

White jersey, white hat is me. Little guy staring at the animal in between us is Section202.

DWDW Super Bowl Edition

2010-02-07T12:00:00.003-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our picks for the Super Bowl.

New Orleans (15-3) vs Indianapolis (16-2) Line: Indy (-5) O/U: 57

Can this one live up to the last 2 Super Bowls? On paper this game tops those games but it is much different to have it play out. Peyton Manning vs Drew Brees, #1 seed vs #1 seed.

Doc Pick: Indy/Under

Namesake Pick: Indy...31-24

DW Pick: Indy/Over

Playoff Records:

DW: 7-9
Doc: 11-5
Sec: 1-1
Namesake: 3-4
McNabbulous: 0-1

Quote of the Day

2010-02-07T11:32:00.002-05:00

"How can you have that payroll and still not have a starting catcher or first baseman, a second baseman you hate and no legitimate starters after Johan [Santana]?" from a veteran agent, courtesy Joel Sherman via CTB

Piling on the Mets never gets old.

New Look

2010-02-06T22:00:00.001-05:00

If you haven't already, check out the new look PhilliesPulse, run by DW reader Golden Glove. It links to news articles/rumors/enemy chatter and basically gives you everything Phillies in one spot. Also has a damn running clock (till pitchers and catchers) that ain't moving fast enough.

Check it out - its a mandatory daily stop for Phils fans - especailly during the never ending month of February.

I am a little too ready for baseball for it to be only Feb 6.

#2 Nova at # 7 G'Town

2010-02-06T11:57:00.001-05:00

Villanova looks for its 10th straight conference win today against a Georgetown squad coming off a loss against South Florida. Georgetown hammered Duke last weekend. This is the beginning of a nasty stretch of games for the Cats. @ #7 today, @ #6 WVU on Monday. Syracuse is also on the horizon. Villanova knocked off Georgetown 82-77 a couple of Saturdays ago.

Can the Wildcats stop Greg Monroe? They couldn't the first time out as he dropped 29 and 16. Georgetown relies on a strong starting 5 where as Villanova has all kinds of depth. In the first meeting Villanova's bench outscored the Hoyas 25-4. Should be a good one.

If you are snowed in today - join me as I test an easier way to do a Live Blog.
Pic via Golden Glove from the 'Nova vs Irish game.
Villanova vs Georgetown

Friday Morning Trivia

2010-02-05T10:36:00.001-05:00

As we await pitchers and catchers...

Who was the last non pitcher to pitch in a game for the Phillies?

Post your answers below in the comment section.

PSU Lands No.9 Class

2010-02-04T09:29:00.004-05:00

The Nittany Lions landed the No.9 recruiting class as signing day wrapped up yesterday. Included in the class are the top LB in the nation, as well as a Top 10 QB and DT. PSU's Big 10 competition were further down the list, with Michigan coming in at No.12 and Ohio State at No.20. Losers

From Scout.com:

Anyone that doesn't follow recruiting religiously that has gotten a chance to see Scout's play, typically has the same comment, "Makes sense that kid is going to Linebacker U". Hull has size, speed, instincts and the drive to succeed that make him the top linebacker in the country this year. Making life easier for Hull will be Scout's #5 defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (6-4/300). Jones can occupy a double team or take the glory himself with his quick step into the backfield. The Nittany Lions are also bringing in a pair of highly ranked quarterbacks in 5-Star run/pass threat Paul Jones (6-3/225) and conventional dropback passer Robert Bolden (6-4/205 ranked #8 nationally).

Good Stuff.

Out of Retirement

2010-02-03T13:42:00.003-05:00

Tonight will mark the debut of myself, and other contributors on this blog in our first soccer game in 15 years. That's right we are attempting to come out of retirement and the expectations are very low. The last time we all played soccer was when Roberto Baggio blew it for Italy in the World Cup. So we all know that no one will be doing any damage tonight, but if anything else it should be a treat to watch us fools running around out there, and possibly barfing all over the field.

One contributor to the blog emailed me today and was wondering what I was having for dinner tonight before the game, because he will be eating snow crabs. Well if I know one thing, its to not eat snow crabs before you go play soccer. Another contributor, Moose, will be out there for one thing only, and that's to take cheap shots at the other team. He once slide tackled someone on a basketball court, in an organized league, so I a can only imagine what he will do on a soccer field. He was heard by an unknown source screaming in the woods last week "Guats" at the top of his lungs, so he seems ready to get dirty. The one non contributor to the blog that refuses to go on because he doesn't have an opinion and goes by what the analysts say, thinks he is Pele. The guy hasn't played soccer since 1995, and told the guy at Soccer Post that the only reason he quit the sport was because we made fun of him for playing soccer. Our goalie still doesn't know that he will be the goalie. He thinks that he will be playing the field, but since he was a goalie in high school he has no choice. I heard that he is going to refuse to play goalie. This is gonna be a cluster you know what. For myself, I can only hope that the other teams suck because I am not very good. I haven't touched a soccer since I kicked it out of Doc's hands for the game winning goal in 1992 in intramural soccer. Let's put it this way, we all suck, and we think that we are going to be good, and I have no clue why. Its gonna be a total let down from a self confidence perspective when the other team runs circles around us while we are all throwing up on the field. So if you need a few laughs we will be playing at 9:06 tonight at Xtreme Sports in Hatboro.

Let's Blow it Up Already

2010-02-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

Just over 2 weeks until the NBA's trade deadline and the rumors are picking up. Stefanski has said that there are "no untouchables" and we all have to think that he is included in that. Word is that the Sixers are initiating phone calls involving Igoudala and recent Lou Williams rumors have been popping up.

The NY Daily News (via depressedfan) reports that its not just the players who may be on the move.

The struggling Sixers have been mentioned in the Tracy McGrady sweepstakes, but the bigger rumor involving the team is that ownership wants to clear out president Ed Stefanski and coach Eddie Jordan at the All-Star break. If that's the case, they'd probably install Tony DiLeo for a second straight season as the interim coach.

How about this one? NBA.com's Sam Smith has his theory that a package of Igoudala and Sammy could bring Amare Stoudemire. On top of that he thinks that Elton Brand could be swapped for Gilbert Arenas..Wow.

Here is hoping that they can shed some salary and lose some games. The draft looks like it could be a 3 man party and right now the Sixers have the 5th worst record.

What do you think? Can we get some Sixers talk going?

"Worst" Offseason?

2010-02-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

The Phils may have added the best pitcher in baseball but si.com's Tim Marchman is not impressed.

the Phillies are perhaps the one team in baseball that has the most reason to play for this year, and having given up one of the five best pitchers in baseball for no evident reason, their winter has to count not just as a botch, but perhaps the worst in the game

He includes the Royals and the Mets as having pretty bad offseason's but they were going to be irrelevant anyway. I guess he forgot about the Angels. They lost Lackey, Figgins, Vladimir and they are paying Sarge jr 20 million to play for the Mets - although the Matthews deal still may be a good one.

I may never understand the Lee for prospects deal but adding Halladay makes it impossible to be too pissed. I think Polanco has a chance to be a stabilizing influence at the top of the order and Victo's style may be better suited towards the bottom half.

Overall I think it was a pretty positive offseason.

Is February over yet?

Ball

2010-01-29T18:04:00.006-05:00

this is my answer to all questions from now on

Friday Morning Trivia

2010-01-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

Heard this one the other day...

Joe Blanton is one of 16 pitchers with 1,000+ IP in last 5 years. 3 teams have more than one pitcher on that list.

Ths Phillies are 1 of them with Blanton and Halladay. Name the other 2 teams.

Post your answers in the comment section.

Pecota has Phils Winning the NL East

2010-01-28T22:00:00.002-05:00

Thats right, for the 4th straight year the Phils will win the division! The Dodgers and Cards will also repeat as division champs. The best part of the projected standings is that the Yankees are picked finish in 3rd and that the Mets will lose another 85 games.

Pecota is an ode to former utility player Bill Pecota and stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm DW does not understand any of dem words but we do remember being in the Vet when Mitch Williams struck out Bill Pecota in '93 to advance to the World Series.

Is it spring yet?

DWDW NFC Championship Edition

2010-01-24T15:30:00.002-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's conference championship game.

Minnesota (13-4) at New Orleans (14-3) Line: No -4.5 O/U: 53.5

These were the 2 best teams all along in the NFC. Check the injury report, the Vikes have some key guys banged up. Brees is looking to avoid losing his second NFC Championship game.

DW Pick: Over

Doc Pick: New Orleans
Namesake Pick: Minny

DWDW AFC Championship Edition

2010-01-24T11:00:00.005-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's conference championship game.

N.Y. Jets (11-7) at Indianapolis (15-2) Line: Ind -8 O/U: 39.5

The Jets come in as arguably the hottest team remaining winning 7 of its last 8, many of them as underdogs. The Colts seem beatable even though they are unbeaten in games they cared about. Colts 27-16

DW Pick: Over

Doc Pick: Indy
Namesake Pick: Indy and Over

Playoff Records:

DW: 5-9

Doc: 10-4
Sec: 1-1
Namesake: 0-4

The Morning After

2010-01-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

(Saturday Night Edition)

St. Joe's 60 Dayton 59: Wow look at the Hawk! St Joes led the way for most of the game and Garrett Williamson had a big time block in the final seconds to salvage the victory. St. Joes improves to 7-11, 2-3 by knocking off the pre season favroite in the A-10 Dayton, 14-5, 3-2. Good win by the Hawk, yahoo was even surprised! Dayton 59, Saint Joseph’s 60.....Don't they normally have the winning team to the left? Or am I just drunk? Or both?

No.4 Nova 81 St John's 71: Villanova trailed for most of the 1st half but turned it on late for a 10 point win at MSG. Scottie Reynolds led Nova with 19, Corey Fisher with 18. Good road win for Nova.

No.16 Temple 62 Fordham 45: Temple won for the 13th time in 14 games to stay a top the A-10. They also got a boost from St Joe, knocking off Dayton. Not bad for a team picked to finish 5th in the conference.

Other Notes: UCONN knocked off No.1 Texas giving the Longhorns their second loss this week. Is there anything worse than Vitale calling a DUKE game? I like Vitale too but cannot handle him calling DUKE. Read that he gave his all-time Duke team during a game between (Not Duke) and (Not Duke). Enough Dick

Would Ya?

2010-01-21T21:41:00.005-05:00

Rather trade Donovan McNabb to an NFC contender like Arizona or Minnesota or trade Kolb to a rebuilding team like St. Louis?

What do you think?

McNabb lives in Arizona, Childress coaches in Minnesota and Spags coaches in St Louis...That is why these 3 were picked. Feel free to pick another team...with a reason.

Scenario:

A) Arizona offers their 1st rd pick 26ish for Donovan.

B) Minnesota offers their first rd pick 29ish for Donovan

C) St Louis offers their second round pick 33rd for Kolb

What is your choice? Assuming a extension is in order for the guy that stays?

comment.

Can You Blame Them?

2010-01-21T16:37:00.002-05:00

Mets blog Amazinavenue charts how the Mets make decisions. Seems about right. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

While the Phillies are attracting elite talent like Roy Halladay, the Mets are being turned away by average players even thought their offers are as good or better. Bengie Molina turned down the Mets in favor of staying with the Giants even though the Mets offered a half a million more.

Today Joel Pineiro turned away the Mets in favor of the Angels. The Mets did outbid themselves for Jason Bay but even he didn't seem to happy about it.

Last year at this time, the Mets were thought to be World Series contenders. This year, a punchline.

Phils/Blanton Agree

2010-01-21T15:12:00.002-05:00

The Phils have announced today that they have reached an agreement with Joe Blanton. The deal is worth 24 million over three years. I like the move to lock him up over the next three years, and to have him as trade bait at the deadline just in case. He can eat innings and is relatively healthy. I am glad that he didn't pursue the 10.25 million that he was asking for because that was absolutely outrageous. He was asking for ace money, when in reality he is at best a number 3 in the rotation. Next, Ruben and the Phils are looking to lock up Victo and Ruiz long term and avoid the rest of their arbitration.

Unfinished Business

2010-01-20T15:38:00.000-05:00

Donovan McNabb posted on his Yardbarker blog today about how he has been made aware that he will be playing in the Pro Bowl next week, replacing either Favre or Brees. He also talks about how he wishes he could trade places with Brett Favre and Drew Brees so he had a chance to lose another NFC Championship game. Or something like that...He also brought up his future.

I know there is a lot of talk in Philadelphia about my future but please know one thing - when I came to Philadelphia it was to win a championship for the Eagles. Given the opportunity, I’d like to finish the job

"Given the opportunity"...Interesting choice of words coming from a guy under contract for another season.

Mariners/Lee Not For Long

2010-01-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

Felix Hernandez has agreed to a 5 year contract with the Mariners for about 80 million pending a physical. This deal happened on Monday, so what does this mean for Cliff Lee? Does anyone think that what the Phils did with Lee was all part of a master plan? Do you think that they let Cliff Lee go this year for prospects all to get him back the following year? I mean the Mariners most likely will not be able to extend Cliff now that they have signed Hernandez through 2015. With all the money the M's have spent this off season, I cannot see them being able to sign Lee without crippling their payroll. They are a small market team that probably cant afford to keep both pitchers. If they do extend Lee, i can only see it jeopardizing the future of the club. I am convinced that the Phils let go of Lee in the hopes of not only replacing their farm system, but in hopes that he will return the following year. With Jamie Moyer's contract expiring at the end of the year, they will have that 8 million to put toward a bid on Lee in next year's off season. It is actually a genius move if the Phils can pull this off. If Lee commands anywhere from 16-18 million next year, the Phils could bring him back with the extension that he wanted in the first place. On top of that, the Phils acquired top prospects from the Mariners, to give up Lee for one year just to get him right back in 2011. If this could be pulled off it may go down as one of the most greatest moves any club has ever made.

No TV makes Homer something-something...

2010-01-20T12:15:00.001-05:00

Rant from R.H.

Temple-Xavier at 7pm tonight. Battle of the top two A-10 teams tonight at the Liacouras Center, but damned if anyone around here will be able to see it. As far as I can tell, it's not being televised locally. In 2010 with 900 channels. Disgraceful. South Florida at Cincinnati on ESPN 2? Who the hell cares about that game? No way that's a better game.

But even more egregious is this local channel TCN (I assume that means The Comcast Network) is showing James Madison-Drexel at 7pm!!!!!!!! That game should be shown to inmates at Guantanamo as a new form of torture. TCN shouldn't exist if it's gonna show crap when something clearly better is available. This would never happen if John Chaney was still alive.

Now I see philly.com says it's on the Comcast network, but not according to the listings I'm looking at.

Also, is it me, or does there seem to be an exorbitant amount of women's coverage on ESPN this year? Good God, talk about turning away viewers. Not to sound sexist, but NO ONE outside of the lesbian community cares. If I want to see mad loose ball scrambles every other possession, set shots, and below-the-rim play I'll go sit in the bleachers at my local Y.

Speaking of Temple, good point by Jerardi the other day about how their fans are doing a terrible job (not) showing up. Still can't believe how many Kansas fans were there a few weeks ago. They had to get the tickets somehow. Also an article by Jerardi today about the 1990 LaSalle team which includes a Milko Lieverst reference!! Bad 2nd Round loss to Clemson....Speedy....Ugh.

Thank God Nova held on for dear life against Georgetown. That would've been a bad loss. They have trouble playing with a lead it seems. Not the worst problem to have I guess. I know their style is to play the up-and-down, frenetic pace. But I think you can pull the reigns back at least a little when you're up 15-20. Monroe on G'Town was unstoppable. You can see Nova's achilles heel once again rearing it's ugly head. Unfortunately, lack of size will probably come back to bite them again against a Kansas or Kentucky in March.

Weird to see the Wachovia Center with some life in it. Still a wretched place to watch a basketball game.

Nova-Rutgers tonight!! Woo-hoo! I just saw that Rutgers lost one of their few promising players. 6'9 sophomore decided to transfer to Creighton. Ouch!!
Bad when you're losing out to Creighton, especially when it's not just some floppy-haired white kid. Sorry to say it, but Rutgers should be shit out the bottom of the Big East.

Not surprised Texas lost. I saw them barely beat Texas A&M at home last Saturday. Rick Barnes seems like kind of a phony.

Sign I'm getting old- All these guys playing now that are the kid's of guys I remember watching. Rautins and Triche (dad was a pansy) on Syracuse. Harvey Grant's kid on Clemson. Curry of course, and my personal favorite, Anthony Mason Jr. last year. Nolan Smith. There's a ton of them. Last night, I saw Glen Rice's kid on Georgia Tech (Looks like dad may have run afoul of a white woman. Just sayin'). Wonder why he didn't go to Michigan? Also, there's a Brian Oliver on GT, but no relation. Weird. Artest has a few kids on Binghamton. Ok, kidding.

Awful announcer alert!!: Mike Patrick on ESPN. Should've retired 12 years ago. I don't know if it's because he's hard of hearing or what, but he feels the need to yell WAY too often and too loud about plays that don't warrant it. Also engages in too much painful, uncomfortable back-and-forth with
the analyst. And he kept calling Georgia Tech's arena "The Thrilladome". Christ.

Oh well, at least 'ole Vern Lundquist showed signs of life on Sunday. After Michigan beat UConn, he smartly questioned why the students were storming the court. Almost makes up for the cackles, gaffes, wrong-headed statements and general not paying attention he brings to every telecast.

I heard St. Joe's students stormed the court after they beat Towson the other night. Martelli immediately booked 27 radio/TV appearances.

Bullpen

2010-01-20T10:33:00.004-05:00

The Phils have a major question mark heading into Clearwater and that is bullpen depth. Lidge will not be ready for Opening Day, and Romero remains a question mark as well. So what are the Phils going to do? Well they signed Durbin, and picked up Baez. Next on their list? Well they are trying out Eric Gagne. Thats right, Gagne will be pitching in front of Phillies scouts this afternoon in Arizona to see what this washed up, steroid using, Canadian has left in his tank. Personally I do not have any faith in this guy being an effective pitcher out of the bullpen for the Phils in 2010. I guess we will find out soon if Gagne will be on the Phils roster for the upcoming season.

Durbin Avoids Arbitration

2010-01-19T09:53:00.002-05:00

Durbin and the Phils agreed to a 1 yr $2.125 contract, a raise from his $1.635 salary. Durbin officially rejoins a 'pen of Madsen, Lidge, Romero and Danys Baez.

Durbin had 2.87 ERA in '08 but that dropped to 4.39 in '09. What do you say that the Phls keep the cameras out of the bullpen this year and just let them throw.

1pm is the deadline for the rest of the arbitration eligible players, Victo, Blanton and Choochtober to come to terms, else they exchange salary numbers with the club.

Westbrook to Retire?

2010-01-18T09:02:00.001-05:00

The700Level, via Howard Eskin, is reporting that Brian Westbrook may be on the verge of retirement. From the blog:

According to 610 WIP's Howard Eskin, Brian Westbrook's knee could keep him from ever playing another down in the NFL. Eskin's sources say Westbrook's knee is so bad that he likely wouldn't even pass a physical for a team in 2010.

I’m not necessarily surprised to hear B-West is retiring, but I am surprised to hear it’s not related to the concussions he has suffered recently. I knew his knee was a mess, I just didn’t realize it was a retirement-worthy mess. Most people were assuming 36 would not be back next season anyway with the emergence of LeSean McCoy and with Westbrook’s injury issues, but it will be a shame to see him go after all the great football he has provided over the years.

Next Steps: QB

2010-01-17T16:15:00.003-05:00

After getting humiliated by a division rival the last 2 weeks, it is safe to say that the Eagles have a long road ahead of them, just to get back to the top of the division, let alone the conference. Just last year the Eagles embarrassed Dallas, ending their season and beat Minnesota in the playoffs on their turf. Now both teams, among others, are looking down on them.

Andy Reid is locked up until 2013 so there is no point wondering if he is the best guy to lead this team. There is no point to wondering if a different philosophy is what the team needs. No point to wondering what a running game would look like setting up the abilities of Jackson, Macklin and Celek. No point to wondering if a coach with the ability to adjust would be better than a guy who is too stubborn to think he could possibly be wrong.

QB is hardly the teams only issue so we will take a couple of different posts to cover all the issues.

Lets start by taking a look at the Quarterback situation. Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick are all under contract for 2010. None of them, for 2011, yet. Let's assume (hope?) that the Vick experiment is over and maybe something positive can finally come of it, like a draft pick. Any draft pick..

McNabb has led the team to a 92-46-1 regular season record over the past 11 years. He's led them to 9 postseason victories. He's played a big part in 7 postseason losses. The Eagles set the franchise mark in points scored, in each of the past 2 seasons under McNabb but he has not gotten them over the hump. He looked horrible, as the rest of the team did, in the 2 losses against Dallas. Kevin Kolb was a second round draft pick in 2007 and has played sparingly.

Kolb looked terrible in a tough spot in '08 and looked pretty good in 2 games in '09. He has completed 60% of his passes in his limited action. Close to 70% if you include his completions to the opposing team.

Andy Reid has said that McNabb will return as QB but really, what else was he going to say about a guy under contract.

I belive that Donovan McNabb is a better QB than Kolb and will always be a better QB then Kolb. But...For this team to improve I think it is best to give Kolb a shot.

With Kolb at the helm, I think the Eagles will be less reliant on the passing game. I think Reid will be forced to implement a balanced attack. Even if I am not sold on Kolb as a QB, I think there is enough talent around him for him to be successful. I also think they should draft another QB fairly early in case my previously stated thoughts turn out to be incorrect.

Donovan McNabb is 33 years old and only has 1 year left on his deal. He got a bump in his salary last year but did not get any extra years. He is owed a $6.2 million roster bonus on May 5th, which is curiously late heading into a possible cap-less year. I cannot see the Eagles initiating contract extension talks with Donovan. I cannot see McNabb being happy playing out the last year of his deal without any security whatsoever. Something has to give and I think getting value for McNabb now, is the move.

What would you do?

Discuss:

Offerman Drops Ump

2010-01-17T13:00:00.002-05:00

Fomer Phillie "great" Jose Offerman has a problem with his temper. Yes, my standards for the word "great" have dropped a bit.

Offerman had 6 hits and 6 strike outs in 33 at bats for the Phils. He also has a weak right hook.

Hers is his attack, with a bat from a couple of years back.

DWDW Divisional Sunday Edition

2010-01-17T11:30:00.005-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's playof games.

Dallas (12-5) at Minnesota (12-4) Line: Min -3 O/U: 46

A highly anticipated matchup between Dallas and Favre. Dallas is playing better than anyone right now, except for San Diego. Favre has to take care of the ball for Minnesota to win. Expect a big game from Adrian Peterson, who had a down second half of the season.

DW Pick: Dallas, Under

Namesake: Dallas

Doc Pick: Minnesota, Under

N.Y. Jets (10-7) at San Diego (13-3) Line: SD -7.5 O/U: 43

This looks like a mismatch on paper and DW predicts a mismatch on the field. The Jets need to get Shonn Greene and the running game going early and often to have any chance. Revis and Jackson should be a good 1 on 1 matchup. Revis has shutdown the best this year but Jackson's height might make it tough. 28-6 SD

DW Pick: SD, Under

Doc Pick: SD, Under

Namesake: SD

Playoff Records:
DW: 3-7
Doc: 7-3
Sec: 1-1
Namesake: 0-2

Rise of the Shoe

2010-01-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

Oh my...Go Ravens

DWDW Divisional Saturday Edition

2010-01-16T11:00:00.003-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's playof games.

Arizona (11-6) at New Orleans (13-3) Line: NO -7 O/U: 57.5

Kurt Warner is coming off of a legendary wildcard performance while Drew Brees and the Saints haven't played a meaningful game in a long time. After a 13-0 start the Saints lost their last 3 and only won the previous 2 by 3 points each. It is tough to turn it back on.

DW Pick: Arizona

Doc Pick: Over

Namesake's Pick: Arizona

Baltimore (10-7) at Indianapolis (14-2) Line: Indy -6.5 O/U: 44.5

Peyton Manning is 0-3 in the playoffs after a bye week. The Ravens looked damn good in making Brady and the Pats look horrible last week. Baltimore needs Ray Rice to have a gmae like last week because right now, Flacco vs Manning is a major mismatch.

Doc Pick: Colts

DW Pick: Under

Namesake Pick: Ravens

NFL Coaches Mix

2010-01-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

Here is another gem from DJ Steve Porter to get you pumped for the Eagle-less playoffs this weekend.

Yes this is the same guy who did "press hop" - the Iverson "practice" mix.

Birds Hire Bobby April

2010-01-14T18:18:00.000-05:00

The Eagles have announced that Bobby April has been hired to take over Philly's special teams. He replaces special teams coordinator Ted Daisher, whose second stint with the team lasted only one year. April, one of the "hottest assistant coaches on the market", was being pursued by Washington and Pittsburgh. (PFT)

I hope he wasn't the guy who told Leodis McKelvin to take the ball out of the endzone back in Week 1. (deadspin via dirtywudders)

The Eagles also have terminated the contracts of strength and conditioning coach Mike Wolf and assistant strength and conditioning coach Jay Merlino.

Bobby April's Coaching Career
Years Team/School Position
2006-09 Buffalo Bills Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams
2004-05 Buffalo Bills Special Teams Coordinator
2001-03 St. Louis Rams Special Teams Coordinator
1996-99 New Orleans Saints Special Teams Coordinator
1994-95 Pittsburgh Steelers Special Teams Coordinator
1991-93 Atlanta Falcons Tight Ends/Special Teams
1991 Ohio State University Secondary
1987-90 USC Secondary/Special Teams
1980-86 University of Arizona Defensive Line/Secondary
1979 Tulane Tight Ends
1978 Southern Miss Graduate Assistant (Defense)
1976-77 Chalmette (LA) High School Assistant Coach
(NFL.com)

Lenoard Weaver was named to the All-Pro Team. He was one of 14 first timers on the squad. Here is the full team.

Beltran to Miss Opener

2010-01-14T14:45:00.004-05:00

The Mets announced that Carlos Beltran underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee yesterday and will not be ready for Opening Day on April 5 versus the Marlins. Beltran is expected to resume baseball activities in 12 weeks.

"the Mets are claiming this was done without clearance and that the Mets are threatening to take some form of action. There is a potential issue out there."

Beltran's agent, Scott Boras, said the guarantee language in the center fielder's contract requires advance written permission only for elective operations.

"This was necessary surgery, necessary surgery to work," Boras told the Associated Press. (NYPOST)

It seems like it is great to be a Met.

This promises to make Sec202 unhappy as he planned to build his Fantasy Baseball "dynasty" around Beltran for the second straight year. Tough break Sec202.

More Sugery for Lidge

2010-01-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

Brad Lidge had his right knee scoped yesterday by team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti at the Rotman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University. "This surgery was not directly related to any previous surgeries” said team trainer Scott Sheridan.

Get is all fixed Brad. A year like last will not cut it. The bullpen seems like the one big weakness for this team right now. 2008's bullpen was a major strength - somehow they have to get back to that. Halladay and a (hopefully) focused Hamels should help the 'pen but there are still some major question marks for the late innings.

The Morning After

2010-01-14T07:30:00.002-05:00

Temple 60 Penn 45: Ryan Brooks scored 15 and Juan Fernandez had 12 leading Fran Dumphy over his former team, and former star player, Jerome Allen. Penn hung in for a while but just did not have enough. The Quakers drop to 1-11 and Temple improves to 14-3.

Rhode Island 101 St Joes 74: The Hawks drop to 5-10, 1-2. This one was never close. Darrin Govens led St. Joes with 15.

Drexel 52 Towson 49: Samme Givens scored 10 points and grabbed 16 boards as Drexel led the entire game.

La Salle 65 George Washington 64:

Myers to "Stick it" to Phils

2010-01-13T18:47:00.003-05:00

Brett Myers doesn't seem to happy with the Phillies for not having any interest in resigning the veteran righty. "I wanted to go back to Philadelphia, but they didn't show an interest, they had other obligations, which is fine with me," Myers said. He then promised to "stick it" to the Phillies every time he faces them.(philly.com) The Phillies do not seem all that worried...

The Astros are confident that Myers will not beat his wife anymore. "We did our due diligence, we talked to the Phillies, we talked to Brett and we're satisfied that this is not going to be an ongoing problem," said Team president Tal Smith.

Here is a pretty good piece about the ex-phils, Ed Wade has brought to Houston.

Tuesday Morning Rant

2010-01-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

From R.H.

Nice win for Nova. A welcome change of pace after the Eagles annual January debacle. Helps that I learned to not get my hopes up long ago.

Really Nova's first big test, although Louisville is down a bit this year. Reynolds was ridiculous. He was putting up a Laettner perfect game for a while. Playing like an All-American. Once again, thank God for the corrupt Kelvin Sampson leaving Oklahoma for Indiana (which he summarily destroyed). 9-10 shooting for a guard!! He doesn't take bad shots and has that uncanny knack of getting to the basket. Big East slugfest, my God. 67 fouls?!? Not that there were alot of bad calls. They probably even missed some. It was almost as long as the Meineke Car Care Bowl (only much, much more entertaining). Did Louisville reach in every time Nova got a defensive rebound or what?? A well-placed elbow to the face early in the game will take care of alot of that.

That Yarou guy is definitely raw, and he might be 37, but at least he gives Nova some semblance of a presence inside. Pena's tough, but he's undersized. How did Yarou not go to Uconn? I thought Calhoun had the West African market cornered? Still, how did Louisville not go to Samuels more often? Nova clearly couldn't handle him down low. He took 4 shots?? That's coaching. Pitino's been too busy banging ladies inside locked Italian restaurants. You stay classy, Rick. They took a million terrible, rushed 3's, playing right into Nova's hands.

Taylor King-- I can't say enough about this guy. A joy to watch. Gets his hands on everything, is smart as hell, helps out on the boards. As I've said, I was plenty skeptical when he transferred from Duke, I thought he was just another entitled Coach K 3-point shooting zombie. I don't even think he took a 3 last night. Needs to get more minutes if anything. They said he committed to UCLA when he was in 8th grade. I wonder what happened. Wait, so him and Love could've played together?!? My head would've exploded.

Nova does turn it over alot, and can be frustrating at times because of the youth of their young guards (at least that's what McNabb said), but if it all comes together at some point, look out. They throw that press on and teams just can't figure it out. I think Louisville threw it away on three consecutive trips, as Pitino tried in vain to get the spaghetti sauce off his silly white suit. 20,000 Kentuckians dressed in white? Sounds like a Clan convention.

Redding had a forgettable night. Someone get him some medical marijuana.

I know I criticize announcers alot, but I'll say it again- It doesn't get any better than McDonough, Raftery, and Bilas. Ok, Bilas can be a bit wordy (and nerdy) at times (how many times did he say "backflow" last night? Is that a word? Yeesh). Also, he should never be allowed to do Duke games (like he did AGAIN Sat. at Georgia Tech!). His love cannot be hidden and his overcompensating is transparent. It's like when Tom Heinson would do Sixers-Celtics Eastern Conference Final games on CBS (a travesty that hopefully somone was fired for) and give high-fives to the Celtic players as they came to the scorer's table. But really, other than all that, I like Bilas.

McDonough is the best play-by-play guy out there (for football too). No-nonsense, doesn't yell all the time or make it about himself. He's just like Brent Musberger, only the complete opposite. I loved how after they showed a replay, because ESPN thinks it's cool I guess, of Sosa (little punk) woofing at Nova, McDonough said obviously Sosa has some more maturing to do. No other guys have the balls to say that. They're supposed to embrace trash-talking, which they usually do. And Raftery, well, fuggetaboutit.

How deflating was it when they went to the second game, a Big 12 snoozefest with Oklahoma-Oklahoma State? With Brent doing it! I couldn't reach for the remote fast enough. Brent, Dick Stockton, and Verne Lundquist should be sent to a galaxy far, far away.

Mark McGwire comes out 6 years later and admits to roids. Meh. I didn't watch it. Cardinals fan Bob Costas handing a weepy McGwire tissues....no thanks. Blatant attempt to try to grovel his way back into the HOF discussion, and to prevent a media circus when he shows up as hitting instructor at spring training (as Tony LaRussa plays beer-pong in the clubhouse). McGwire said, "I wish I had never played during the steroid era." Um, yo dude, you and Canseco started the steroid era!!!! Thanks for that by the way. Gimme a break. That's like Artest saying he wishes he was never involved in the Malice at the Palace. Bud Selig was contacted for a comment, but it turns out he's been in a coma for 5 years. Who knew?

Big Mac

2010-01-11T22:47:00.002-05:00

BREAKING NEWS! Mark McGwire has admitted to taking steroids. Give me a break. If anyone didn't know this by now, then you are an idiot. He came out today and admitted that he took steroids throughout the 90's, including '98 when he broke the single season home run record. Everyone remembers that season when him and Sammy Sosa were chest bumping and acting all gay with each other. In an interview with Bob Costas tonight on MLB Network he spoke about what happened during his playing days when he was on the juice. Although it seemed heartfelt, and lets face it McGwire was never an arrogant prick, like that fat head Bonds, it did him no justice. He is claiming that he took steroids to get back on the field faster when he was injured. C'mon dude you mean to tell me that all those 800 foot home runs weren't the reason why you kept taking them? No one takes steroids, A.K.A. PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS, to heal faster. We all know that you are just as full of shit now as you were in front of Congress when you refused to "talk about the past" during that hearing. You should just admit the real reason why you took them, and move on with your life. Everyone, the media, the fans, and the players will respect you a hell of a lot more.

As I was watching this interview I started to think to myself about the timing of all this. He was hired as the hitting coach of the Cardinals, so he eventually had to face the media, but he never had to admit to taking steroids. Tell me your thoughts on this theory. Do you think that he finally came out and admitted only after he didn't get in the Hall of Fame the first four times around? Think about it, the closest he came to getting in was 23% of the vote mainly because of speculation that he used steroids. Maybe his thought process is screw it, I'm going to come out and get this off my chest. Maybe he is thinking that in some bizarre way that by admitting to using he will increase his chances to get in. Andre Dawson (one of the greatest RBI '93 players of all time, in any video game) was just inducted last week into the Hall, so this will give the writers a full year to ponder this issue in hopes that he gets voted in. This is also probably the reason that he said that he only used them for "health purposes". Is anyone that naive to think that he used steroids for health purposes? Be a man, and fess up.

For Old Time's Sake...

2010-01-11T22:09:00.000-05:00

TBL Bowl Pick'em

2010-01-11T21:33:00.005-05:00

Forget the piss poor picks made during our DWDW, DirtyWudders did pretty f'n well in the TheBigLead's Bowl Pick'em. Namesake finished 9th out of 500 (most correct picks) and Doc took home the crown beating Straight Butta by 4. Click here for the standings. (Group ID# 18584)

"The prize for the winner will be determined prior to the first bowl game, but it’s looking like straight cash, homie (probably $200) and, courtesy of a commenter, two tickets to an NBA game in your city."

I wonder if the Sixers still play...

That one is for you Dareaebs!

Shifting Gears

2010-01-11T17:56:00.000-05:00

Since the F'n Eagles saved us a couple weeks of the usual false January hope, it is time to shift into basketball/hockey mode. It is tough for me to get into either of the pro sports until the playoffs, due to the length (lack of purpose) of the regular season. The Flyers a making a strong run back into the Eastern Conference race while the Sixers are stumbling terribly at 11-25. At 11-25 the 76ers are within 5 games of a playoff spot - that is what I mean by lack of purpose.

At least we have College Basketball. It looks like 2 teams will be representing the city, come tourney time. Temple is coming of a huge OT win at Rhode Island, who was 12-1 and ranked in the top 10 RPI, going in. Temple plays at the Palestra, Wednesday night, against Penn. #4 Villanova is a 2.5 point 'dog at (unranked) Louisville tonight on ESPN. Louisville will be ripping off PSU's white out, while Rick Pitino is expected to don his white suit for the game. Both Louisville and Villanova are 3-0 in the Big East.

Beers tonight.. Go Nova!

DWDW Wildcard Sunday Edition

2010-01-10T11:52:00.003-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's playof games.

Baltimore (9-7) at New England (10-6) Line: NE -3.5 O/U: 43

Rematch of Week 4 which New England won 27-21 but Baltimore had a chance at the end. Julian Edelman replaces Wes Welker. Click on that link for a good read about R.H.'s boy Welker.

DW Pick: Baltimore, Over

Doc Pick: Ne, Over

Green Bay (11-5) at Arizona (10-6) Line: Pick'em O/U: 48

Green Bay won last week 33-7 over Arizona but it meant more to Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers, who is the first player in NFL History to throw for over 4000 yards in his first 2 seasons, will be playing in his first playoff game.

DW Pick: Gb, Under

Doc Pick: Ari, Over

Playoff record:
Doc: 2-2
Sec202: 1-1
DW: 0-4

Well, the Sixers and Flyers won

2010-01-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

After an 11-4 start the Eagles ended their season with 2 losses to the Cowboys by a combined 58-14. And the games were not as close as the score suggests. Blame goes everywhere in this one.

The Eagles have some promising young talent but decisions have to be made. Should the coach stay? I know the answer to this one but anytime a season ends like this, the question needs to be asked. Does McNabb stay or go? He had one of his better season leading the Eagles to a 10-4 record in games he played but he saved his worst for last. He was terrible is both losses against the Cowboys. No I do not buy the theory that he missed the comfort of Jamaal Jackson's asscheeks that much. Well, maybe he did but its not why he played poorly.

While McNabb will take most of the blame, the defense couldn't stop dallas at all. The Eagles caught brakes earky in the game because Dallas shot itself in the foot with penalties. They cannot produce ANY pressure without all-out blitzes and the blitz is not as successful under McDermott. The Defense is a major concern heading into the offseason. It is time to put emphasis on the linebacker position. Jerimiah Trotter was the freakin middle linebacker on this team!

We have all offseason to bitch about this f*ckin team.

Go Phils

LET'S GO BIRDS!

2010-01-09T19:55:00.003-05:00

Prediction: 38 - 17 Eagles

If watching the game at home - feel free to rant below. Drunk rants are highly encouraged!

Jets at Bengals, 4:30

2010-01-09T16:15:00.002-05:00

The Jets are the popular pick here with the #1 run game and the #1 D. Gut says that Cinci will take it though, as the older USC QB is better than the young one. Sanchize is overrated.

pic via kissingsuzykilber

Philly's "Why Can't Us" is better.

Ranking the NFC QB's

2010-01-09T15:00:00.001-05:00

New Orleans, Minnesota, Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay and Philadelphia are the 6 playoff teams in the NFC this year. All 6 of them have good QB's leading them but only Favre and Warner have won a Super Bowl. Who is the best? Who is the worst? My ranking after the jump. Post yours in the comments.

1. Drew Brees - Hasn't won anything but it's not because of him. I think this guy is the next best QB after Peyton and Brady. He may get a stigma if he loses early though.

2. Brett Favre - He is one of the best to ever play the game - though I feel he has come up small in the postseason. At times hurting his team more than helping. His name wins out though - and I could't imagine any of the others above him.

3. Donovan McNabb - 9-6 record in the postseaon, while more often than not, having to be the teams biggest playmaker. Cannot say that about anybody below. Yeah, his shortcomings are well documented.

4. Kurt Warner- People will want him higher but I say he is the most fortunate player to ever play the game. With hall of fame skill position players around him - he is good. One year in New York, without the hall of famers, he was atrocious. Accurate but he is a product of his teammates ability (Faulk, Bruce, Holt, Fitzgerald, Bolden)

5. Tony Romo- He could change things today. History shows a big dropoff in December and January.

6. Aaron Rodgers - I need to see more of Rodgers. He has a chance to be a good QB but the little I have seen of him - he holds on to the ball too long and takes too many sacks. He could easily be # 5 on the list depending on how things turn out this weekend.

Eagles at Cowboys 8 pm - Round 3

2010-01-09T14:00:00.011-05:00

What is going to give? The Eagles have not beaten a playoff team this year while the cowboys have not won a playoff game in 13 years. Wade Phillips has never won a playoff game while Andy Reid usually waits a couple more weeks to fall apart. Could this be Phillips last game coaching the cowboys? Could this be McNabb's last game QB'ing the Eagles(Is Kolb rooting for the 'boys?). A lot will be answered tonight.

The key for the Eagles is the damn play calling. Andy and Marty cannot forget about Mccoy and Weaver. To me, Westbrook should be the 3rd down, screen catching back tonight. Make the cowboys respect the run. A focus on the run game, with Celek taking care of the middle of the field will open up the deep pass game.

This Eagles team has to outscore teams. They are a poor defense unless they can create turnovers. If Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel get beat like they did last week, the Eagles may have to score 40. BLITZ! Romo has not changed, he's a good QB with no pressure (as we saw last week) on him. Get pressure on him and Asante will have a field day.

Random Predictions:

Asante Samuel scores the games first TD.
Romo throws 2 INT's and a fumble
Weaver rushes for 75 yards (only had 1 carry last week!?)
McNabb throws for 2 TD's and runs for 1.
Birds D sacks Romo 3 x's and is hurried all day

Go Birds

DWDW Wildcard Saturday Edition

2010-01-09T11:53:00.006-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for today's playof games.

N.Y. Jets (9-7) at Cincinnati (10-6) Line: Pick'em O/U: 32

The Bengals let the Jets walk all over them last week because they felt they matched up better with them in the playoffs. Be careful what you wish for.

Doc Pick: Cinci, Over

DW Pick: Cinci, Under

Namesake Pick:

Philadelphia (11-5) at Dallas (11-5) Line: Dal -4 O/U: 46

Dallas walked all over the Eagles last week 24-0 to win the NFC East. Can it happen 2weeks in a row ands 3 times in a year? The Eagles usually play well when not expected to. We will see. The Eagles are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games on fieldturf. Dallas is 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games in January and 5-11 ATS in their last 16 vs. NFC East.

Namesake Pick:

DW Pick: Eagles, Under

Doc Pick: Eagles Over

Enter your picks in the comment section!

Final Regular Season Records:

Doc: 20-17
DW: 16-14
Namesake: 10-16-2
Section202: 4-4

Myers to Sign with Ed Wade

2010-01-08T19:51:00.000-05:00

Another Ex-Phil ends up in Houston. Myers will join a rotation featuring Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez. The Astros do not figure to contend again in '010. Myers was 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA and 21 saves in eight years with Philadelphia

I thought he wanted to close? I'm not sure Minute Maid Park is the best fit for this fly ball pitcher but it doesn't seem like his phone was ringing off the hook.

Eyre Retires

2010-01-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

Scot Eyre is retiring from baseball after 13 seasons in the Majors. He finished his career 28-30 with a 4.23 ERA in 617 appearances with the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Phillies. (MLB) Eyre pitched pretty damn good for the Phils in his year and a half with the team. 1.50 ERA in '09.

I remember being at Wrigley field in '08 right after the Phils picked him up. I asked a cubs fan about him and they basically said he stinks. 2 pennants, and a World Series ring later, Eyre is retiring from the game. He had some good things to say about the Phils.

"Every day I think about what I'm going to miss," he said. "I'm going to miss going to the clubhouse. Being with the Phillies, I'm going to miss seeing Chad Durbin sitting at his locker doing the crossword puzzle. I'm going to miss watching Brad [Lidge] read his biblical books in his locker after batting practice, eating the biggest sandwich I've ever seen anybody eat. I've talked to guys about it. I talked to [Jon] Lieber about it. Basically, you miss the camaraderie with the guys. And the Phillies' clubhouse is great. That's one of the reasons why Cliff [Lee] didn't want to leave. It's one of the best clubhouses you could be in. I don't care what anybody says about theirs. I've been in a few of them. This is one of the best. I never once said, 'I don't want to go to the field today.'"

Good luck with them loose bodies Eyre.

DWDW BCS Championship Edition

2010-01-07T17:00:00.001-05:00

No. 2 Texas (13-0) vs No. 1 Alabama (13-0) Line: 'Bama (-4) O/U: 46

Arguably, a battle of the best teams in the country. Colt Mccoy and Jordan Shipley lead Texas against Heisman trophy winning RB Mark Ingram. Bama is coming off of that romp against the Gators while Texas had to sneak by the Huskers.

DW Pick: Texas

Doc Pick: Alabama

Get your picks in below!

Back of the Rotation Starter

2010-01-07T12:16:00.005-05:00

Jamie Moyer underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday, and according to Ruben Amaro Jr. he will not be ready for opening day. The Phils have since talked to Ben Sheets and Chen Ming Wang. The Phils have made a lot of great moves over the past few years, but the Moyer signing has done nothing but backfire. Jamie Moyer is great for the organization and all, but only as a coach at this point in his career. He is a hometown boy that really made a splash with the Phillies when he first came here, but I think that it is time for him to step aside and let someone younger step in. He is due 8 million this year, which is absurd for a 45 year old that tops out at 83mph. Again I like Moyer, but he is a broken down pitcher that reminds me of Harris form the movie Major League.

Ben Sheets, on the other hand would be a low risk, high reward free agent. Provided he is healthy he could really help out the Phils staff if he can get back to his 2007 and 2008 form. The Phils could offer him a one year contract with an option for a second year for pretty cheap. I think that this would be a no brainer for Ruben and the Phils provided he is cleared by doctors. There is a lot of upside to Sheets, but if he does go down then Old Man Moyer will be right there to take his spot in the rotation when he is healthy again.

Wang is someone that nobody should have any interest in. This guy hurt his foot running the bases two years ago, and then forgot how to pitch. He went from a 20 game winner to a triple-A pitcher. I hope that he is not being considered by the Phils, because this guy absolutely stinks!

The Morning After

2010-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

No. 21 Temple 73 St. Joe 46: Temple rebounded from a horrific showing against #1 Kansas to dominate the Hawks. St Joe hung around for a while but could not keep up. (boxscore)

No. 6 Villanova 99 DePaul 72: 'Nova jumps to 2-0 in the Big East. It was their 34th straight win at the Pavillion. Scottie Reynolds led the way with 21. Frosh Yarou returned and scored 4 points(box)

Flyers 6 Maple Leafs 2: Briere scored 2 goals, reaching 500 career points.

Pennsylvania 82 UMBC 71: First win of the year for the Quakers! (Box)

Drexel 75 VCU 72: Drexel improves to 3-1 in the CAA.

HOF: Andre "The Hawk" Dawson is elected.

Spadaro Spits on Dallas Star

2010-01-06T23:09:00.001-05:00

Dave Spadaro, editor of philadelphiaeagles.com and an employee of the Eagles, videotaped his spitting on the centerfield star at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday before the Eagles played the Cowboys. The video was posted on the Web site, but was taken down sometime today.(philly.com)

Spadaro has since written an open letter of apology to the Cowboys.

Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan, wants to remind us about the last time anybody disrespected the star...

Which obviously means that Spadaro will one day write for the Cowboys website.

Royster to Stay Put

2010-01-06T19:00:00.001-05:00

PSU lost a key underclassman earlier this week when Navarro Bowman declared for the NFL draft but RB Evan Royster will stick around for his senior season. The first team All Big Ten back made his decision on Wednesday.

I wanted to return to finish my degree and for my final year at Penn State, I'm looking forward to next season.

Royster will play an even bigger part in the Penn State offense next year with the uncertainty at QB.

Gilbert Suspended Indefinitely

2010-01-06T17:20:00.002-05:00

Gilbert Arenas shot himself in the leg at a night club last night and has been suspended. Wait a second...Is that the right story? Whatever. Kids, keep the guns out of the locker room. If you do bring your guns to the locker room, David Stern will suspend you the day after he lets you beat the 76ers.

It seems like David Stern almost didn't care that he pulled a gun in the locker room. He cared that he mocked the situation during the Sixers game. Stern remains high on DW's hate list. hmmm - post idea

Tim Donaghy sets the over/under at 30 games.

DWDW GMAC Bowl Edition

2010-01-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

DWDW Orange Bowl Edition

2010-01-05T18:30:00.001-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

No. 10 Iowa (10-2) vs No. 9 Georgia Tech (11-2) Line: GT -5.5 O/U: 51

Tough offense against a tough defense. Stanzi returns for this game after getting injured in the Northwestern game.

DW Pick: GT

Doc Pick: Under

Bowman to Enter Draft

2010-01-05T12:15:00.001-05:00

Penn state Jr linebacker Navarro Bowman has declared for the NFL Draft. #11 is projected to be a high 1st round pick.

I sat down with my family and the right choice for me is to pursue the next level," Bowman said. "I'm proud of my accomplishments in college but it's also a time to take care of my family

zombienation

Blackshoediaries

Hartnell and the Caveman

2010-01-05T10:00:00.008-05:00

Here is a picture from the Flyers twitter page.

Hartnell is the one on the right.

DWDW Fiesta Bowl Edition

2010-01-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

No. 6 Boise State (13-0) vs No. 4 Texas Christian (12-0) Line: TCU -7 O/U: 53.5

A rematch of last year's Poinsettia Bowl. TCU has won each of its last 7 games by 27 points and beat ranked Utah and BYU by a combined 58 points. Boise beat eventual Rose Bowl loser, Oregon in their first game and the cakewalked thru the rest of their season. This should be a good one.

DW Pick: Under

Doc Pick: TCU

3 hours we'll never get back....

2010-01-04T14:36:00.005-05:00

Rant from R.H.

Sons of Reid,

What an atrocious, heartless effort. Thank God I had beer close by. Obviously the Birds were in for a tough game, and I thought Dallas would probably win, but I never thought they'd lose like that. I think the Birds can definitely win next week. The way all the pundits see it, they might as well not even show up on Sat. We'll see. Plus, Reid didn't play Vick yesterday because he was saving him to unveil the Pit Bull offense next week. They're keeping Vick caged and will prod and tease him all week so he will come out fighting mad.

But maybe that shit-show was a good thing long-term. If they win yesterday, the Birds pretty much assured themselves of being back in the NFC Championship Game, which as we all know, is good enough for this ownership. Now it will be really tough for them to get there, which will hopefully lead to some change around here finally. Of course, Reid will be back for the next 4 years (shake my head in disgusted disbelief every time I think about it). Yesterday's performace by McNabb hopefully underlines the writing on the wall that he's Dead Man Walking (nonchalantly up to the line of scrimmage in a 2-minute drill). Don't get me wrong, Reid should go to, but McNabb has run his course here. The fumbled snap, albeit a little low, was his fault. Missed a wipe open Jackson early. But he's a great "deep thrower"! Receivers were far from innocent though--way too many drops. That pass to Maclin should've been caught, but how bout hitting a guy in stride once in a while? (Also, Maclin completely bailed Donny out last week with that great catch on the sidelines to set up the game winning kick). Gimme an accurate guy with a smaller arm anyday. Then wise, old McNabb has the gall to say this afterward:

"We showed our youth in situations where everyone would look around to see who was going to make the play instead of stepping up and making a play," McNabb said. "That's something that comes with the territory when you have young players."

In other words, "Hey, this wasn't my fault, blame everyone else" (then he chest-bumped Derrick Gunn as Rendell recited stats from a piece of paper).
79 people are now laying under a bus. Give me an F'n break, pal. I guess you showed you veteran poise when you, for the 798th time in your 10 year career, ran a 2-minute drill with all the urgency of passing wind on a hammock. You don't say that in the last game of the season after you've won 6 in a row. What does he want now? Veteran weapons?? I thought we went down that road before and it didn't, um, work out. As far as "everyone would look around to see who was going to make the play", how bout taking charge of your damn huddle for once in your life? Jesus, I'm done with him.
Look at the 12 playoff QB's. Other than the rookie Dirty Sanchez, and (maybe) Carson Palmer, I wouldn't put McNabb over any of them (and I loathe Favre).

Now onto the Fat Man, staring at his laminated I-Hop menu as the game passes him by. When Wade Phillips beats you like that, you know you've got issues. That timeout early in the second quarter before the punt because they couldn't get guys on/off the field was a disgrace. You almost welcome a 5 yard penalty there to give your (shitty) punter more room. Afterwards Reid said the timeout there was "necessary". Don't blow smoke up my ass! They basically traded 5 meaningless yards for a timeout that they could've obviously used at the end of the half, when time ran out as they inexplicable ran plays in the middle of the field. F'n Groundhog Day. If it was so "necessary", then why was Reid yelling at the special teams coach right after timeout?? Which is it?? Reid hasn't looked that mad since they removed creamed chip beef from the pregame meal menu.
Then, on 4th and 2 down 17-0 at the Dallas 35, he has Akers (who he's usually very hesitant about sending out there for anything over 45 yards or so) try to boom a 53 yarder. When it's 3rd and 2, you draw up two running plays there. Stop making it more difficult than it has to be. Shithead. We won't even get into how he went for it on 4th down from his OWN 30 against SF two weeks earlier. He's not even consistently dumb. He keeps finding new, contradictory ways to look stupid. And I know they got behind early, but take away 3 runs by McNabb and Jackson, and they ran the ball 7 times yesterday. When do pitchers and catchers report?

The defense was awful too. They can't get any pressure except for Trent Cole, who teams obviously know to double-team. Juqua Parker? Darren Howard? Mind-numbingly mediocre guys. Gocong might be a decent pass rusher, but we'll never know because for some reason they tried to make him into an NFL linebacker even though he never played it in college, where he set a Division 1-AA records for sacks. Make sense to everyone? Ok good.
Bunkley and Patterson are overrated. Being morbidly obese doesn't automatically make you a good d-tackle. And poor Trotter should be led out to pasture and put down. I've seen faster guys on The Biggest Loser (not that I watch that show. My wife does. I'm serious!! I'm not being defensive!! How dare you!).
I don't know, Asante Samuel gambles way too much for my liking. Sure, he'll make a flashy pick once in a while, but it seems to hurt him more often than not. And he tackles like a pussy. Speaking of which, it's about time this Sean McDermott character takes some heat. I was skeptical to begin with....a red-haired guy from LaSalle high school?? Pansy. Since they can't get pressure at all, they have to blitz, and any good QB knows when it's coming and will pick them apart (Romo yesterday, Warner in the NFC championship). The lone bright spot was my stepbrother Joselio's INT.

Too many dumb penalties as well. Although I thought that personal foul when the guy touched Romo's helmet was a disgrace. That's a penalty??

Buck and Aikman could barely contain themselves yesterday. I'm sure they'll be doing the game next week too, so they can stay in their Dallas hotel room all week and make sweet love to each other. We probably would've put on Merril Reese, but he was probably busy making his laundry list of excuses (handed to him by Banner) as Mike Quick was off-mic feverishly practicing how to pronounce "Abiamiri". Too many in-game advertisements on the radio too, it's so annoying. "That botched two-minute drill was brought to you by Chapman Ford!!"

Dallas was doing alot of celebrating and woofing for a team with a rematch next week. Goddamn maggots. Even Wade Phillips was waving a lasso at the end (Buddy would've punched him in the gut at midfield after the game). I haven't seen a hick that happy since I was standing in the midst of thousands of them at the Temple-Kansas game on Saturday. Freaks. Bad times. Don't get me started. And where's a terrorist bomber to walk into Jerry Jones suite when we need one?

How bout the Giants laying down the last two weeks? Inspired bunch. Now please bulldoze the Meadowlands. Preferably when it's full.

Besides Eagles-Cowboys, Pats-Ravens should be a really good one next week. So pissed that Welker is out. I hate to say it, but Miles Austin is kind of like a black Welker..... wait a minute....I call Black Welkers as my fantasy team name next year!

(Pic via 700level)

Total Embarrassment

2010-01-03T19:37:00.006-05:00

Cowboys 24 Eagles 0: Pathetic. That is the only word I can think of to describe the efforts of the Philadelphia Eagles this afternoon. Offensively and defensively, this team was embarrassed from the opening whistle. The play calling was awful. The pass catching was awful. The defense sucked. Where was the blitz? Why can't Donovan hit a receiver in stride over the middle? Where was the running game? These are just my first thoughts on the pathetic display witnessed today - plenty more to come. I really hope a different team shows up next weekend, but I am not going to hold my breath. 24-0! Fucking. Pathetic.

My knee-jerk reaction: The Eagles just guaranteed themselves a 1st round playoff exit, ensuring Donovan McNabb will not be an Eagle next season. Pathetic.

Eagles-Cowboys @4pm

2010-01-03T13:01:00.006-05:00

It will be a playoff-type atmosphere this afternoon in Arlington as the Birds and Cowboys fight for a chance at the No.2 seed in this year's postseason. Depending on the outcome of this game, the Eagles could be back in this same situation next week. A win and they're sitting at home resting next week, but a loss may mean back to Dallas for the wildcard round. More after the jump.

The big news out of Philly this week is the loss of center Jamaal Jackson. Nick Cole will be making his first start at the position, and his play could make or break the game for the Eagles. He'll be up against Pro Bowl NT Jay Ratliff, and it's a sure thing that Dallas will be bringing pressure all day to disrupt Philly's protection. The QB play on both teams has been top-notch all year, and as usual the game will most likely come down to which team turns the ball over more. For the first time is his career, Tony Romo has been protecting the ball well, but the Eagles opportunistic defense hopes to change that.

I really don't have a strong feeling either way on this one. I think it will be a close game, possibly coming down to a late field goal, but it's hard to say who will come out on top. It would be sweet to finish this season the same way the Eagles finished the last - with a complete domination of those bitches down south. I am pumped for this game! My prediction: Eagles 26 Cowboys 23.

GO BIRDS!!!

One Handed Grab

2010-01-03T12:30:00.004-05:00

Check out this one handed grab from UCONN's Kashif Moore.

As Dr Saturday puts it

But the play of the day, and maybe of the bowl season so far, obviously belonged to Husky receiver Kashif Moore, an undersized sophomore made of syrup, tar and crazy glue:

DR Saturday

DWDW Pro Week 17 Edition

2010-01-03T11:30:00.001-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the three contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here are our picks for the final regular season games

Doc's Picks:

Chicago (6-9) at Detroit (2-13) Line: Chi -3 O/U: 44

Jay Cutler vs Daunte Culpepper. Aren't they black and white versions of each other? Cutler's INt's = Culpepper's fumbles.

Pick: Bears

Atlanta (8-7) at Tampa Bay (3-12) Line: Atl -2 O/U: 42

Tampa comes in as one of the hottest teams in the NFL having won 2 straight games..to give them a total of 3 for the season.

Pick: Atlanta

DW: 16-14

Doc: 18-17
Namesake: 10-16-2
Section202: 4-4

Carcillo vs Thornton at the Winter Classic

2010-01-03T07:00:00.003-05:00

In case you missed it. Here is the fight from the winter Classic at Fenway. The Flyers may have lost the game but Carcillo get the better of thornton

hockeyfights

DWDW Alamo Bowl Edition

2010-01-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Michigan State (6-6) vs Texas Tech (8-4) Line: TT -7 O/U: 59.5

Mike Leach is gone and DW wonders if TT will be distracted. MSU is pretty bad but the Big10 has done well so far in the bowls.

DW Pick: TT

Doc Pick: Under

B-Dawk Thanks the Fans (Update)

2010-01-02T16:30:00.002-05:00

(Update in response to comment from anonymous)

Original post from Namesake.

(thanks to 700level for the pic)

DWDW Liberty Bowl Edition

2010-01-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Arkansas (7-5) vs East Carolina (9-4) Line: Ark -7.5 O/U: 63.5

Here is another game that should have been played before Christmas. Arkansas played pretty well down the stretch - losing a winnable game aginst Florida by 3 and beating A&M and Auburn soundly, before getting hammered by 'bama.

DW Pick: Under

Doc Pick: Arkansas

College Hoops

2010-01-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

Some GREAT college basketball on TV today to take you away from the average college football(and the awful prognosticating). 5 of the 6 city teams are in action, highlighted by Temple hosting the #1 team in the nation. Villanova opens its Big East play against Marquette.

I am watching the UK vs Louisville game right now and these two teams want to kill each other. Over on ESPN2 'Nova is down 5 early. This is when I get pumped for basketball!

DWDW Cotton Bowl Edition

2010-01-02T12:30:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Mississippi (8-4) vs No. 19 Oklahoma State (9-3) Line: OKST -3.5 O/U: 51

DW never really understood the hype surrounding Jevan Snead. Snead always seems to make the big mistake but is supposed to be a high draft pick. That being said, OK State is clearly not the same team withour Dez Bryant.

DW Pick: Ole Miss

Doc Pick: Ole Miss

DWDW Papa Johns Bowl Edition

2010-01-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Connecticut (7-5) vs South Carolina (7-5) Line: Cocks -4 O/U: 51.5

UCONN has been DW's favorite team all season and we look for them to take care of Sec202's favorite team.

DW Pick: G'Cocks

Doc Pick: UCONN

Buzzer Beater

2010-01-02T10:45:00.001-05:00

Kobe drains another buzzer beater...(after a push off)

I'll beat R.H. to the punch. F Kobe

DWDW International Bowl Edition

2010-01-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Northern Illinois (7-5) vs South Florida (7-5) Line: USF -6.5 O/U:48.5

Tough to get up for this one. South Florida played a pretty tough schedule and actually beat FSU and West Virginia

DW Pick: Over

Doc: South Florida

DWDW Sugar Bowl Edition

2010-01-01T18:45:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

No. 3 Cincinnati (12-0) vs No. 5 Florida (12-1) Line: Fla -13 O/U: 59

A ccouple of teams without coaches meet in the Sugar bowl. Cinci is not getting much respect even though they are the higher ranked, unbeaten team. Tebow sinishes his College career tonight.

DW Pick: Over

Doc Pick: Cin

Namesake: Fla

DWDW Rose Bowl Edition

2010-01-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) vs No. 7 Oregon (10-2) Line: Ore -4 O/U:50.5
Ohio State looks to win a bowl game for once but may be overmatched in this one.

DW Pick: Ohio State

Doc Pick: Oregon
Namesake: Ohio State

Top Moments of 2009

2010-01-01T13:15:00.001-05:00

Igoudala beats Orlando in Game 1 of the Playoffs.

DWDW Capital One Bowl Edition

2010-01-01T11:30:00.009-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

No. 12 Louisiana State (9-3) vs No. 13 Penn State (10-2) Line: PSU -2.5 O/U: 43.5

Can Clark win a game against a quality opponent? Penn State looks for their first impressive win of the year. Could be the last game for underclassmen, Bowman and Royster as well.

DW Pick: LSU

Doc Pick: Over

Namesake: PSU

DWDW Gator Bowl Edition

2010-01-01T10:00:00.006-05:00

Dirty Wudders Degenerate Wagering is a feature of this blog where the DW contributors embarrass themselves picking the college and pro games of the week. Here is our pick for today's Bowl Game.

Florida State (6-6) vs No. 16 West Virginia (9-3) Line: WVU -2.5 O/U: 60.5

FSU bumped a bunch of teams from this game after they bumped Bobby Bowden from the sideline. Bowden's last game.

DW Pick: WVU

Doc Pick: Under

Namesake: FSU