It was a ghastly site - Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and a little taste of Ahmad Bradshaw late in the game running all over the Eagles. Also, Eli Manning throwing two touchdowns to complete a 36-31 for the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field.
Someone please tell me that when you have arguably the most explosive player in football (Brian Westbrook) how the hell does this Eagles offense become focused on a rookie WR.
I understand that DeSean Jackson is quite explosive and that he scored on a 9-yard run, taking the snap out of a shotgun formation, but there is no way that Donovan McNabb can always look for him alone to make plays - the kid barely has his dick wet in the NFL.
As much as I hate to admit it, there are smart coaches on this team. Why they cannot create a scheme for Westbrook in a game like this, against a team he traditionally murders, is beyond me.
This was a killer loss because the Birds’ offense scored 31 points. Now the Giants (8-1) are two games ahead of the Redskins and three in front of the Eagles (5-4) and Cowboys. The Giants are also 3-0 against its division rivals.
Sunday night that other team from New York - other than the bullshit Mets - comes into town to hand the Birds a loss that could be the first nail in the 2008 season’s coffin.
However, they are beatable and they certainly are beatable on national TV.
This has got potential for a good one.
“We’re going to have to be a lot better,” said quarterback Eli Manning. “We’re playing a good team this week. We can’t afford to have that many turnovers on offense. We were fortunate (against Dallas) because we did some good things and our defense caused four turnovers.”
The Giants’ third-ranked defense has bailed out a slumping Manning and an inconsistent offense far too many times over the last three weeks. The Giants got away with Manning’s two lost fumbles and one interception — which was returned for a touchdown - because the defense forced those turnovers and held the Cowboys without a first down on seven of their 12 drives.
Leave it up to those wonderful Las Vegas sportsbooks to tell us what we already know.
Despite what appeared to happen Monday night in Philadelphia, the Tampa Bay Rays lost Game 5 of the World Series. At least in the view of Nevada sports books, the Phillies won 2-1.
The game was suspended because of rain in the middle of the sixth inning with the score tied 2-2. The Rays had tied it in the top of the sixth when Carlos Pena’s two-out single scored B.J. Upton.
However, even though the suspended game is scheduled to be completed today, the betting result is final.
According to Nevada gaming rules — often referred to as “house rules” — the final score of an official game is determined by reverting to the last completed inning. The Phillies led 2-1 after the fifth.
Las Vegas sports books are paying off Game 5 side bets on Philadelphia, which was about a minus-170 favorite. Wagers on totals and run-line bets are being refunded because rules stipulate that at least 81/2 innings must be played.
“We’re just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule,” Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “We can’t make exceptions.
I cannot get over what I am hearing today - the Phillies got robbed, the Rays are set to win the series, Major League Baseball is full of shit, Bud Selig is drunk…
All this because Game 5 was called at 11:10 p.m., after a 30-minute delay, making it the first World Series game to start and not last at least nine innings.
Stop your cryin’. There is no way this World Series would have been called after five-and-a-half innings. That is no way to win a ballgame let alone a World Championship.
Perhaps the Rays were given new life as the game was postponed after Tampa Bay ties the game, 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning. However, there is nothing that can be done about it.
Bud Selig is the Law when it comes to post-season baseball. It is literally like bitching at God when the weather turns sour during a picnic - or when it rains like a motherfucker in Game 5 of the World Series with your team up by one run in after the bottom of the fifth inning.
Complaining about what transpired at the ballpark last night is wasted energy. Chill the fuck out - you’re a part of history and, o yeah, the Phillies are still up 3-1 in the series.
Commissioner Bud Selig said that under no circumstances would the Phillies have won the game — and the Series — before the completion of nine innings. He also did not want the game or the Series decided in dangerous playing conditions, even though the game had started and the forecast calls for rain — and even snow — until Thursday.
“I would not have allowed a World Series to end this way,” Selig said.
The Phillies did not want to win the championship with a five-inning victory, either.
“I truly think that would have been the worst World Series win in the face of baseball,” said Phillies starter Cole Hamels, who threw just 75 pitches over six innings. “I would not pride myself on being a world champion with a called game.”
I have a couple of problems with Tampa Bay columnist John Romano’s recent crybaby rant entitled, “Phils’ fans live down to their reputation.” While no one at Philly SportsCast condones throwing anything or yelling at kids - it is just beyond tasteless - we do, in fact, wholeheartedly condone giving as much shit as possible to players and fans wearing Rays jerseys at Citizens Bank Park.
Children were cursed at, and one 9-year-old boy had beer poured on him. A Rays family member stayed locked in a bathroom stall because, he said, Phillies fans were banging on the walls and threatening him.
That’s a mess and really not worth of the character Philly fans have.
However, what is worth it is that the Phillies have a three games to one lead in this series and have won every game at home in the 2008 playoffs. There is a reason for that and there is no doubt in my mind that the fans have played a very large part in this team’s playoff success.
Look, this is not a question of Rays fans being sissies. This is not about being offended by “Rays suck” chants. We’re talking about behavior more suitable for a prison yard than a family ballpark.
But some words should not be used, and some lines should not be crossed. And from talking to the Rays on Sunday, the Phillies fans trampled all over every acceptable line of decency.
When you write something like that, you are pointing out that the Rays, and their fans, can’t handle it. This is the World Series. This is the big time. If the Phillies win tonight, a strong argument could be made that the fans of this city, especially the small percentage in that ballpark, got them over the hump.
After that who cares about a little spilled beer - all we’ll be drinking (and spilling) in this town is champagne.
The Phillies smoked the Rays last night, 10-2 at Citizens Bank Park to move within one win of their first World Series crown in 28 years.
** Do you want to read that again? **
While it’s almost here, just thinking about a Wold Championship has me all messed up. I know how close this team is - you know how close this team is - but there is still at least one game to play and with that comes the apprehension, the “not over til it’s over,” Bartman, mentality that any true Philadelphia sports fan has to have right now.
Felling pretty good right now? You may never be the same tomorrow.
Joe Sheehan, from Baseball Prospectus has his terrifically detailed World Series preview live. While it surely does not give us the prediction we want to hear, there is no doubting the details.
I do agree, the Rays are the superior team out of a superior league. However, anything can happen in a series and the best team does not always win.
For all of the detail above, I keep coming back to one point: The Rays are a much better baseball team than the Phillies are. The gap between the leagues is real, and when you adjust for it and other factors — as third-order wins do — you find that the Rays were actually 10 games better than the Phillies this season. They’ve also beaten better teams to get to the Series. Compare the rosters, and while the Phillies have their share of frontline talent, perhaps even more than the Rays have, the Rays have almost no dead spots on the roster, and are much stronger toward the bottom of the lineup, the back of the rotation, the bullpen and the bench.
Three of the last four World Series have been AL sweeps. The presence of Hamels makes that result unlikely, but even he won’t be enough to save the Phillies. Rays in six.
According to SportsBook.com, game one of the 2008 World Series is gonna be a good one. While these team’s are somewhat evenly matched, the Phillies are a slight favorite for game one.
PHILADELPHIA (99 - 72) - MONEYLINE -107. LINE -1.5 runs
TAMPA BAY (104 - 69) - MONEYLINE -103. LINE +1.5 runs
Over/UNDER - 7.5 runs
COLE HAMELS (L) vs. SCOTT KAZMIR (L)
Series Trends:
THE PHILLIES are 4-11 against the money line in inter-league games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 104-69 against the money line in all games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 61-26 against the money line in home games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 61-27 against the money line in games played in a dome this season.
TAMPA BAY is 67-47 against the money line in night games this season.
TAMPA BAY is 65-32 against the money line in games played on artificial turf this season.
TAMPA BAY is 62-41 against the money line after a win this season.
TAMPA BAY is 58-39 against the money line when playing a team with a winning record this season.
KAZMIR is 40-24 against the money line in all games over the last 2 seasons. (Team’s Record)
KAZMIR is 14-2 against the money line in home games this season. (Team’s Record)
KAZMIR is 14-2 against the money line in games played in a dome this season. (Team’s Record)
KAZMIR is 16-4 against the money line in night games this season. (Team’s Record)
KAZMIR is 14-2 against the money line in games played on artificial turf this season. (Team’s Record)
KAZMIR is 37-18 against the money line after a win since 1997. (Team’s Record)
THE PHILLIES are 99-72 against the money line in all games this season.
THE PHILLIES are 72-48 against the money line in night games this season.
According to the Associated Press, oddsmakers say enough bettors took the Rays early in the year at long-shot prices to force books to adjust lines to encourage bets on the Phillies.
Sean Van Patten at Las Vegas Sports Consultants says the Rays are favored at minus-$1.35, meaning a gambler would need to bet $1.35 to be paid $1 if Tampa Bay wins.
Van Patten puts the Phillies at plus-$1.15, meaning a $1 bet would earn $1.15 if Philadelphia wins.
Ross Newhan, has written a revealing article in today’s Los Angeles Times. While no one around here is interested at all in saying that the Philies are simply a better team than the Dodgers, Newhan puts is as bluntly as it can get.
There is no doubt that any Philly writer with his/her mind still intact wouldn’t touch this story with a Ryan Howard bat, but I am so glad it was written.
Because it is true.
My head is spinning, and I need to ask:
Has anyone stopped to think that the Dodgers are trailing, 3-1, in the series because Philadelphia is a better and more complete team?
Does anyone realize that Manager Joe Torre isn’t operating with a full complement of postseason-caliber players?
Can anyone recall that only two months ago the Dodgers were a sub-.500 team trailing Arizona in a National League West that didn’t exactly resemble Appaloosa and the only difference between that Dodgers team and this one is Manny Ramirez?
I mean, Ramirez is having one of the greatest stretches of big-time hitting any of us has been fortunate to see or will be fortunate to see again, but by now his back must be bending from the load.
How far and for how long can one man carry a team?
Of course, the way he’s hitting there’s still a possibility that he can tote the Dodgers into the World Series, but they will have to come back against a team that boasts the last two winners of the league’s most valuable player award, an array of All-Stars, a closer who hasn’t blown a save this year and a balanced bullpen and bench.
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times has written an article about the city we all love. Entitled, “Remembering When Philly Was, Briefly, a Winner” the piece is a loving look back at a time when the Phillies were the Beasts of the East and the team’s playoff rivalry with the Dodgers created legends.
We’ll give props to Kepner as he is - or a least was - a big Phillies fan, but mentioning ‘Rocky III’ is a low blow - way low.
The Phillies have their latest shot now, playing host to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. The playoff matchup is the first since the teams met three times during Philadelphia’s golden age.
As successful as it was, though, the city’s teams had a nemesis in Los Angeles. Yes, the Eagles poached a fine head coach from U.C.L.A. in Dick Vermeil. But the Lakers beat the 76ers in the N.B.A. Finals in 1980 and 1982, and the Dodgers dumped the Phillies in the N.L.C.S. in 1977 and 1978.
Even a fictional sports icon let us down. In “Rocky III,” released in 1982, Rocky Balboa wasn’t training in South Philly anymore. He was sprinting in the sunshine by the California coast.
Then came 1983, when the 76ers trounced the Lakers for the N.B.A. title. The parade route finished at the Vet, where Julius Erving hoisted the trophy for the home fans. A few months later, at the same spot, the Phillies’ victory was nearly as emphatic.
The teams split in Los Angeles, with Carlton winning the first game, 1-0, on a homer by Schmidt. After the Cy Young award winner John Denny lost Game 2, the Phils won Games 3 and 4 at home, both by 7-2, with Gary Matthews slamming two homers.
“They buried a lot of ghosts,” said Chris Wheeler, the longtime Phillies broadcaster. “But nothing would ever take away what happened in ’77 because of the suddenness of that game. That was awful. Oh, that was awful.”
