Last week we mused about the Flyers' increasingly crowded blue line, wondering who'd make the team and who'd make an impact. We can cross Janne Niskala's name off both lists. After trading Triston Grant and a 7th rounder to Nashville for Niskala, the Flyers dealt the Finnish defenseman to Tampa Bay for a 6th rounder.
The Flyers didn't waste any time replacing Niskala, trading Kyle Greentree to Calgary for defenseman Tim "Steve Holt" Ramholt. Greentree had a cup of coffee with the Flyers, but spent most of his time at the Spectrum last year. Ramholt now occupies a crowded spot on the back end of the Flyers D bubble.
Not to worry folks, the Phils play again tomorrow.
So that's the question everybody in Philadelphia has been talking about the past few days. What can we do with the guy? Every time he starts the Phils lose. It's a mathematical certainty almost at this point.
What's the answer? Don't look at me. I sure as hell don't know what to do with him. Maybe he needs a vacation to China or something. You got any better ideas?
The fun, most talked about story of the weekend surrounding the Birds was the quote from New England Patriots speedy wideout Wes Welker regarding his former teammate Asante Samuel. From USA Today:
"Asante's a great player, so it hurts not to have a guy like that. But
then again, it's part of the business of the game," Welker said. "He
chose money over championships, and that's the way it goes sometimes."
Some people found these comments insulting but I think it's all just part of the business, really. Come talk to me when you turn down a 50+ million dollar deal.
In more entertaining Eagles news, DeSean Jackson has been making his way around the Internet via YouTube and boy does this kid like to talk.
As a follow up to this morning's post in which Sir Charles thinks that the Sixers should avoid Josh Smith and other big name free agents this off season, I thought Chad Ford's article today is a good read. Ford breaks down all the top free agents as well as the teams with cap space who may be likely to bid on them. It's a great summary of the current free agent landscape.
After all the fun we had last week with Shawn Chacon showing Astros GM Ed Wade what the ceiling looks like, we thought we'd received our full allotment of player-on-staff violence for the month of June. Not so. The Providence Journal is reporting that Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez shoved the team's traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, to the ground after a dispute over the tickets Manny had requested.
Ramirez had
asked McCormick for 16 tickets for Saturday night's Red Sox-Astros
game, an unusually high number for day-of-game. In addition to handling
all travel details for clubs, traveling secretaries also take player
ticket requests for both home and away games.
When
McCormick cautioned Ramirez that he might not be able to fulfill his
request, Ramirez responded by shouting: "Just do your job!
An argument insued [sic] and Ramirez pushed McCormick, sending him to the ground.
Apologies behind closed doors resolved the situation—more proof that talent wins out in most player-team issues. Chacon, who was a disappointment on a disappointing Astros team, gets provoked into a skirmish with his GM, and he's gone. Manny abuses the help, and it's water under the bridge. And I say, Rightfully so, America.
Sir Charles was a guest on NBC10's Sports Final last night alongside John Clark and WIP's Anthony Gargano talking Sixers, Phillies, Eagles and more. The entire portion of the show Sir Charles was on was typical Barkley. The man is an entertainer and knows his stuff.
When it comes to the Sixers, Charles thinks Andre Iguodala's true colors came through in the playoffs where he didn't perform very well against legit competition. Aside from not being real high on Iguodala, Chuck isn't in love with Josh Smith either. "Josh Smith doesn't make them a legit contender," he says. Video below.
Andy Goldstein brings us this Fan Report from Texas. Andy contributes to fantasy sports site RotoRob.
Despite the fact that I've lived in Dallas for over a year now, I
haven't actually seen the Rangers play in person yet. This might be
because the Rangers play in freaking far away Arlington. It isn't
exactly a hop, skip, and a jump away. Dallas really likes putting their
stadiums as far away as possible. I am pretty sure the
Cowboys play across the state border in Oklahoma.
Anyway, I chose Sunday's game because the weather report said it
would be overcast and somewhat bearable outside. Of course by game
time, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm sure the broadcasters were
talking about how it was a beautiful day. Not true. It was balls hot.
In fact, I think the sun might have taken some of the jump out of the
Phils. We looked a little lethargic early in the game before the sun
dipped below the stadium lights.
Phils go for a series win for the first time since they swept the Braves June 6-8. Jamie Moyer takes on rookie Eric Hurley who has lost his 3 starts since being called up June 12th. Charlie sticks with the same lineup that he won with as last night, with only Ruiz in for Coste.
So I was reading a site called "Deadspin" this morning, and happened upon a comment post about our own Philadelphia Soul. It wasn't about how well the team has done this season or Tony Graziani pouring Patron shots on girls at a bar; it was about what CNBC's David Rovell thinks might be the best sports promotion ever.
The entire hometown of Philadelphia Soul star wide receiver Chris
Jackson has been invited by the team to attend its Divisional Playoff
game at the Wachovia Center on Saturday, July 5 as part of Chris
Jackson Day. The Borough of Morrisville has a population of 10,096 and
team President Ron Jaworski is offering everyone to pick up free
tickets at a community celebration this Tuesday afternoon, July 1, at
Williamson Park. [Soul Press Release]
Here's how the math works. The stadium fits 16,000 fans. Team general
manager Rich Lisk told me all 8,000 season ticket holders have a ticket
to the game as part of their package. In order to motivate fans to show
up, the game will just happen to be the game where season ticket
holders can pick up their Bon Jovi-Jaworski signed mini helmets.
Everyone's not going to show up (I'd guess less than half), so they
easily have enough tickets to giveaway seats to Chris Jackson's
neighborhood. As to motivate non season ticket holders, who don't live
in Morrisville, the team is giving discounts to people who grow "Soul"
patches.
I'm not a big fan of the soul patch, but both of these promotions represent some smart, creative marketing. Go Soul.
This is up there with the famous Phillies fans/Mets fans brawl from last season as far as up close and personal. The way the world is today, fans can't get in a fight anywhere without showing up on YouTube. YouTube video found by Busted Coverage.
The always reliable Cole Hamels pitched well enough to put the Phils in a position to win last night and the bats came alive and got the job done. Cole gave up four earned off of six hits while striking out eight. Utley and Howard both went yard in the third but they were not back-to-back as Burrell took a walk in between them. Which is good, you know, because that gets you another run. Video of the two blasts below with a clip of a salty bat breaking after the jump. [recap]
It's been previously speculated that the Spectrum, home to Philly's indoor sporting and concert memories for 41 years, would be demolished sometime soon, and Anthony SanFilippo of the Delaware County Daily Times today reports that the fateful day has been scheduled for sometime next summer.
Plenty more details on the final year of the Spectrum and a nicely written piece at Delcotimes.com. As Anthony points out, we'll miss the old building that's been a part of our lives for decades (even if we haven't been inside it for years). It will be tough to walk onto the grounds in South Philly and see the space where it once stood. [via Glen Macnow]
Phillies opening day starter Brett Myers has clearly lost his way, and he may soon find himself out of the starting rotation. Myers was charged with five earned runs and couldn't get out of the third inning. Ian Kinsler took him yard to get the game started, and it just didn't look like Brett had any confidence out there.
The Todd Zolecki covers Myers' misery in detail, including some telling quotes by Charlie Manuel:
"Can I say his job is secure?" Manuel said. "I don't know what to say,
if you want to know the truth. We'd have to find somebody to do his job
first, I guess."
"We're trying to get him right," Manuel said. "Myers' best year is 14-9
as a starter [in 2003]. You stop and think about it, that's not
lighting it up. I mean, look, that's not what you call a huge season."
Certainly not. Manuel clearly had Myers on a short leash last night, lifting him in the third and handing the ball to Clay Condrey, who wasn't able to stop the bleeding.
I've got an idea. How about when either Brett Myers or Adam Eaton is scheduled to pitch, Charlie Manuel starts Brad Lidge or another reliever for the first inning. Both Ace and Eats categorically suck in the first, right? Let's see how they do starting the second. Just for a couple of turns.
Anyway. The Phils haven't been able to hit the proverbial beachball lately, getting mowed down by three American League teams with solid-to-great pitching. Fortunately, they're starting a series with the Rangers, who aren't exactly known for their pitching. As opposed to a litmus test, this series will be more like a mirror being placed under the team's nostrils to make sure they're still alive.
TSN is reporting that the Flyers and center Jeff Carter have officially agreed to terms on a 3-year deal worth $5 million. We're also hearing that the salary cap increase is in the ballpark of $6.4 million, which we hope will give the Flyers enough room for a top-4 blueliner (if not top-1). Glad to have Carter back. Now if only the team will stop calling him Cartsy. Seriously, we understand that every hockey player must have a nickname, and nine times out of ten, it's just cutting a few syllables and adding -y (the baseball equivalent being First Initial–First syllable of last name), but can we please get more creative? How about Cartman or something?
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