Eagles make huge mistake in drafting a QB

The last time Philadelphia fans booed the Eagles front office for selecting a quarterback with its first pick, we ended up being way off in our opinion. We all know how that turned out.

This time, the boo’s were certainly warranted.

In the most shocking move of the first day of the 2007 NFL draft, the Eagles took quarterback Kevin Kolb out of Houston with the 36th overall pick.

Or should I say they wasted their pick.

In what is probably their deepest position with superstar Donovan McNabb and backups A.J. Feeley and Kelly Holcumb, the Eagles certainly did not need to take a quarterback, let alone take a quarterback this early, especially with glaring needs of depth on defense at safety and corner.

But they stuck to their draft the best player on the board philosophy. What they forgot to take into consideration is that they did not need a quarterback.

And not only that, but what really gets me is that the experts considered Colb a fourth round selection, yet the Eagles decided to make him a second round pick. They could have taken the likes of John Beck out of BYU or Drew Stanton out of Michigan State. Somehow, the Eagles actually had Kolb rated higher than Brady Quinn, whom many expected to go early in the first round.

So what message are the Eagles sending?

Andy Reid says there is no message, the McNabb is ahead of schedule in his rehab and that he is the quarterback. If this is in fact the case, then the Eagles spent a high pick on a guy who is going to sit on the bench for years to come.

My guess is that Reid fears McNabb will continue to get hurt and expects Kolb will step in within a couple of years.

I understand that at some point the Eagles need to groom a quarterback for the future. But not this early. They should have waited at least another two years.

The Eagles wasted a high pick on a need they did not have instead of filling a need they had on defense.

Another thing that gets me is that they traded their first round pick to the Cowboys of all teams. They could have taken linebacker Paul Posluszny out of Penn State or tight end Greg Olsen out of Miami.

I do like their third round pick, taking Tony Hunt out of Penn State to be the big back they have needed for years. But so far, I am not impressed otherwise.

Oh well, what is done is done.

But I can only sit here and wonder what in the world the Eagles were thinking.

They blew this pick.

Enjoying a Phillies win in Cincinnati

There is nothing like walking through the concourse and laying your eyes on some of the greenest grass you will ever see.

It never gets old going to a baseball game. Last night was my second visit to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. I left just as happy as last year, this time behind a fantastic pitching performance from Cole Hamels and a 4-1 Phillies win.

Of coarse, between myself, Veronica, and Katie (Brianna was at her grandparents for a sleepover), I seemed to be the only know who knew what was going on during the whole game.

Katie was focused in on the food - hot dog, pizza, cotton candy. She was all about eating. With her quick looks and smiles, she even convince the guy behind us to give her a peanut. Needeless to say she did not like it and spit it out.

I didn't realize the Phillies were in town until Friday night. I am not sure why, as I studied the Reds schedule previously to see when the Phillies would be in town and somehow missed this series.

But after hinting away, Veronica suggested we go. And I am glad we did.

We headed down to Cincinnati around 5 and got there around 6:30 or so. Parking wasn't bad and we walked up to the ballpark. The walk up four flights of stairs to get to our seats while holding Katie was no fun. But you do what you have to do. I just wish we would have taken the route of her walking like we did when we were climbing the stairs after the game in the parking garage. Oh well, we know for next time.

Once we found our seats, Veronica headed off to get us some dinner. Glad I hung around because the Phillies got off to a quick 2-0 lead.

The seats were good and I really like how they are angled toward home plate. Unfortunately, I had to put my legs away from home plate because the guy next to me kept shaking his leg.

Needless to say, we enjoyed a night out at the ballpark.

Katie was a little confused. She was getting into some of the game, which was great. But she would clap when everyone else clapped. I tried to get her to understand that when everyone else clapped we did not want to clap. We are the visitors I tried to reason with her. But it is just hard to get a two year old to understand that. What am I going to do, give her a timeout for clapping for the wrong team?

But we went home happy. A great night at a baseball game and a Phillies win.

We were talking on the way out. The Phillies are 2-0 when I have gone to their away games. It got me thinking that I should travel with the team.

I guess I should get to studying what city I am going to next.

Strong pitching, triple play highlight win

The bullpen didn't have a chance to blow this one.

Cole Hamels pitched a complete game, striking out 15 in a much needed 4-1 win over the Reds Saturday night.

Chase Utley broke out of a season long slump with a two run double in the first inning and the Phillies turned their first triple play in almost eight years.

With runners on first and second in the fifth inning, David Ross hit a grounder down the third base line. Abraham Nunez fielded the ball, stepped on third, fired to Utley at second, who then turned on a dime to get Ross by a step at first.

Hamels said it saved him 10-15 pitches. He ended up throwing 115 and manager Charlie Manual said he would have only allowed him to throw 120. It's a good thing because I would not have wanted them to take him out of the game late.

The Phillies held a team meeting for over an hour prior to the game to discuss their struggling team. Whatever was said, stuck.

The Phillies are still not looking good in the standings at 5-11. But if there is ever a time to turn things around, it is now. The Phillies expect first baseman Ryan Howard back in the lineup today and will go for their first series win this year.

Suffering at hands of Phillies continues

When will the suffering end?

Just when it looked like the Phillies would win their second game in a row for the first time this season, the bullpen once again blew another game.

Behind an outstanding start from Jon Leiber and fantastic middle relief, Tom Gordon allowed a game-tying homerun with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Until then, the Phillies had only allowed one hit all night against the Reds. Leiber, in his first start of the season, pitched a gem, throwing 5 2/3 while striking out five. Four relievers, including Brett Myers making his first appearance out of the pen, did not allow a hit before Gordon gave up three hits in the ninth and tenth.

Not only did Gordon blow the lead, but he also gave up a game losing single to Brandon Phillips.

With one out in the tenth, Gordon gave up a walk, hit, and then another walk.

Predicted by many to be the team to beat in the NL East, the Phillies are 4-11 and the worst team in the NL.

I keep hoping for the Phillies to get hot and start winning some games. But the more and more they lose, the more and more I lose hope. At this point, they already have a lot of ground to make up in the division. Gaining ground does not happen overnight.

It is time for a big change. It is time for Charlie Manual to go.

The team needs a kick in its pants. Until then, the suffering will not end.

College basketball suffering with players leaving early

While college basketball players move on to the NBA to make millions, the game of college basketball and its fans suffer.

With the likes of Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook headed to the NBA, the Ohio State Buckeyes will field a much differently looking team next season.

Is this really a good thing for college basketball?

I say no and here's why: I am not a big basketball fan and I am not and Ohio State fan. But I'll admit that watching the Buckeyes through the NCAA tournament, I couldn't help but cheer for OSU and grow a liking for their players. I got to know the team.

Now what happens? It's like starting over next year. I am not prone to follow the Buckeys from the start because I will not know to many of its players.

It is hard to imagine, but all three guys could have remained at Ohio State for three more years.

I understand why they are leaving and I am not saying the should not leave.

But it is the rule that allows them to leave that is no good. The rule changed to now allow a high schooler to declare for the draft to completing one year of college before declaring.

It is worse now. At least I did not develop a liking for LeBron Janes at Ohio State. But I did for Oden and Conley. I got a taste of their greatness and now they are gone. They do not have a connection with Ohio State. I likely will forget about them in the NBA.

Look at the top college basketball teams and where they are - Ohio State, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, etc. These towns are college basketball towns. They do not have NBA teams close by. These players that leave early will be forgotten.

It's just not right for the game of college basketball or its fans.

Rollins way off in prediction

So much for getting off to a good start.

With high hopes of competing for the NL East and a bold prediction by Jimmy Rollins that Philadelphia was the team to beat in the division, the Phillies are off to their worste start in 20 years.

There was so much focus on starting the season strong after slow starts the past couple of years played a roll in the Phillies coming up just short in making the playoffs.

But the Phillies have majorly stumbled out of the gate.

Philadelphia was swept by the Braves, and lost two of three against both the Mets and Marlins. They are 2-7 and already five games out of the division lead.

The bullpen figured to be a problem, and it has been.

Relief pitcher Ryan Madson became the first pitcher since 1977 to lose its teams first two games. Atlanta came back late in both games.

But it was thought that the offense and starting pitching could carry the team. It has not.

The Phillies are hitting .237 as a team. Only two starters are hitting over .300. Chase Utley is hitting .231 and Ryan Howard is hitting .212. Not too hot for your third and fourth hitter.

The Phillies have blown games late. They have been trounced on early.

And they continue to hurt themselves early in seasons. The Phillies have lost six of its first seven games the past three years.

This has got to stop. I hate to say it is getting late when there are still over 150 games left. But the slow start reminds me of the Flyers season this year. They stumbled out of the gate and never recovered.

It takes time to make up games in the standings.

The Phillies are running out of time.

Right on in this years NCAA bracket

Too bad I did not put money on this year's NCAA bracket.

For once, I finally did well. And it may never happen again.

In what tends to be completely unpredictable, this year's March Madness seemed to have a little less madness. Sure, there were upsets. But in the end, the better teams advanced late into the tournament.

I picked three of the Final Four teams coreectly in Florida, Ohio State, and UCLA. The only team I failed to pick correctly was Georgetown, which came back late in the previous round to beat the team I picked, North Carolina.

I also picked the final two teams correctly (Florida and Ohio State) and correctly picked the champion Florida Gators, winning my pool.

Maybe it was a knack for knowing college basketball. Hardly.

How about luck - yeah, that's more like it.

It may never happen again. But for one March I came out on top.

Phillies off to another horrible start

Could someone with any bit of baseball knowledge please explain to me why in the world you would try and steal third base with one out and your best hitter at the plate and a two run lead in the eighth inning.

There is not a good answer, is there?

This bonehead play just about sums up the Phillies season so far, which is off to a terrible start after being swept by division rival Atlanta.

After a tough loss on opening day which saw Philadelphia blow a lead in the ninth and lose in extra innings, the Phillies looked prime to win their second game.

With a 2-0 lead in the eighth, Shane Victorino on second, and Ryan Howard at the plate, Victorino was thrown out at third for the second out of the inning. Manager Charlie Manuel called it a "terrible" play. He could not have been more right.

Howard doubled, which would have made it 3-0. Then Howard was thrown out at the plate on a Chase Utley double.

So instead of it being 3-0 or 4-0 going into the ninth, the Phillies only held a two run lead.

Phillies closer Tom Gordon blew a save opportunity by allowing a two run shot to Brian McCann and Ryan Madson gave up a homer in the 11th - his second loss in as many nights and yet another heart breaking loss.

Today was more of the same, this time an 8-4 loss.

The Phillies talked so much about getting off to a good start this season after horrible starts have cost them playoff spots the past couple of years.

They insisted this year would be different. But it is not.

Again, the Phillies are digging a hole for themselves right off the bat. Sure, it is a long season. But when you end a game or two out of a playoff spot, one place to look back to is how you start.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, they are not off to a good start.