On a rainy day – make that now two rainy days – what’s a sports fan to do but mull the local options when it comes to chatting up our local teams.
The Phils and Mets dodged raindrops yesterday before finally calling the game off. They split the two games they played, with the Mets bullpen in a familiar mode Saturday afternoon, walking in the winning run to blow a game they led in the late innings.
In the meantime, the rainout will give unlucky Cole Hamels a chance to rest that twisted ankle of his. He now likely will not pitch until Friday at home against Atlanta. The way his luck has been going, Hamels should stay as far away as he can from anyone who is sneezing, what with this swine flu scare and all.
The Sixers continue to slowly disappear from the radar screen. Somehow, Tony DiLeo managed to survive the weekend and is still the coach of the team after one of the most disgraceful efforts in the storied franchise’s history Thursday night when they folded their tent against an undermanned Magic.
The Flyers are trying to figure out whether or not to re-sign goalie Marty Biron, and what other moves to make in what is undoubtedly a longer off-season than they or their fans expected.
Which, of course, brings us back to the same spot almost every sports conversation in this city eventually comes back to – those beloved Iggles.
Odd thing happened at this weekend’s mini-camp. No, Sheldon Brown did not blow a gasket and go nuclear on the team. He was there and went about his job in the professional manner he vowed he would.
No. 5 also was there, though you’d be hard-pressed to determine that by his public comments. That’s because this time around Donovan McNabb decided he wasn’t talking.
Now I’m trying to decide if that is a good thing or not. McNabb, whether he wants it or not, now very likely will assume the role of elder statesman on this team after the exit of Brian Dawkins.
But the only comments McNabb made this week came via his blog. He made no public statements and did not, as has been his custom, sit down with the media.
This comes after McNabb famously decided after a meeting with the Eagles’ brass that he would reserve his commitment to the team until after he saw what they did in the off-season and draft. He should have liked what he saw. The Birds now have two new offensive tackles to protect his flanks. And they used their top two draft picks to give him some more weapons, adding wideout Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy.
There’s a part of me that believes this is not exactly what you would call assuming leadership. Then again, given McNabb’s penchant for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way, this may not necessarily be a bad thing.
For now it appears McNabb will do his talking on the field.
Of course, the fans and media will not. He likely will learn that with the arrival of the first short-hope throw he makes in a couple of months when the Birds arrive at Lehigh.
The Phils and Mets dodged raindrops yesterday before finally calling the game off. They split the two games they played, with the Mets bullpen in a familiar mode Saturday afternoon, walking in the winning run to blow a game they led in the late innings.
In the meantime, the rainout will give unlucky Cole Hamels a chance to rest that twisted ankle of his. He now likely will not pitch until Friday at home against Atlanta. The way his luck has been going, Hamels should stay as far away as he can from anyone who is sneezing, what with this swine flu scare and all.
The Sixers continue to slowly disappear from the radar screen. Somehow, Tony DiLeo managed to survive the weekend and is still the coach of the team after one of the most disgraceful efforts in the storied franchise’s history Thursday night when they folded their tent against an undermanned Magic.
The Flyers are trying to figure out whether or not to re-sign goalie Marty Biron, and what other moves to make in what is undoubtedly a longer off-season than they or their fans expected.
Which, of course, brings us back to the same spot almost every sports conversation in this city eventually comes back to – those beloved Iggles.
Odd thing happened at this weekend’s mini-camp. No, Sheldon Brown did not blow a gasket and go nuclear on the team. He was there and went about his job in the professional manner he vowed he would.
No. 5 also was there, though you’d be hard-pressed to determine that by his public comments. That’s because this time around Donovan McNabb decided he wasn’t talking.
Now I’m trying to decide if that is a good thing or not. McNabb, whether he wants it or not, now very likely will assume the role of elder statesman on this team after the exit of Brian Dawkins.
But the only comments McNabb made this week came via his blog. He made no public statements and did not, as has been his custom, sit down with the media.
This comes after McNabb famously decided after a meeting with the Eagles’ brass that he would reserve his commitment to the team until after he saw what they did in the off-season and draft. He should have liked what he saw. The Birds now have two new offensive tackles to protect his flanks. And they used their top two draft picks to give him some more weapons, adding wideout Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy.
There’s a part of me that believes this is not exactly what you would call assuming leadership. Then again, given McNabb’s penchant for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way, this may not necessarily be a bad thing.
For now it appears McNabb will do his talking on the field.
Of course, the fans and media will not. He likely will learn that with the arrival of the first short-hope throw he makes in a couple of months when the Birds arrive at Lehigh.
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