Jody Mac
11-28-2011, 02:24 PM
The holiday season starts with the gratitude of Thanksgiving and goes through the generosity of Christmas. From an Eagle perspective there was next to nothing to be thankful for here at the start of the holiday season and they were far too giving to their Sunday opponent, the New England Patriots. The holiday season may just be starting but for all intents and purposes the Eagles season is OVER!! The question is, does this mark the beginning of the end of the Andy Reid era. Less debatable is the fact that we will be seeing the last few games of DeSean Jackson's Eagle career.
After jumping out to an early 10-0, Eagle fans quickly found out that it was just a mirage and just a matter of time before Tom Brady started to surgically dissect the Eagles paltry defense. Too many Birds fans were lead astray by the Eagles upset win of the Giants last week and thought the early lead was a continuation of those good tidings. That may be why this loss becomes more painful and why they were so vocal about their displeasure at the Linc. Most of their ire was targeted at the head coach. Before the mass exit, "Fire Andy" was heard throughout the stadium. Despite his denial after the game, the beleaguered coach had to hear it. As did owner Jeffrey Lurie. The question is, does he act on it? In a game where their defensive line coach showed more fight, in a screaming match with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg on the sideline than his team did on the field, can you blame the fan base for voicing their displeasure?
Several weeks ago Jason Avant decided to verbally take on the Eagle ticket holding fans, saying they should continue to boo because the Eagles like it when they feel like they're on the road. He took this stance after the Eagles blowout win over the Cowboys last month. I'll give Avant this much, he understands timing. That was the Eagles ONLY home win this year and their ONLY home win in their last nine home games. If you are going to take an obnoxious stance against the fans you better do so after a very infrequent victory. But timing doesn't make the Eagles complete inability to win at the Linc disappear. The ticket-buying fan base has every reason to decry this organization!!
Although the Eagles have yet to be mathematically eliminated form the post-season for all intents and purposes their playoff chances are non-existent. While they could win four of their last five games (three of which are on the road where the Birds seem to thrive) but that would only get them to 8-8 and with the expectations for this team this year it should be viewed as an unmitigated failure. The Eagle fans will surely look at it that way. The question is, does Jeffrey Lurie view it the same? Should the success or failure of the Eagles in what has become a meaningless last month of the season even figure into the head coach's future in Philly? I would say no but the owner has shown his continued loyalty to Reid in the face of shortcomings before. Unfortunately it is all we have to debate the rest of this season, rather than whether this team is capable of making a playoff run and that is both frustrating and sad!!
Yes but we WILL have the Sixers to jump into the void left by the Eagles come Christmas day. The NBA owners and players have finally come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement in time to save the 2011-2012 season. They will play a condensed 66 game schedule. I am a big NBA fan so I'm glad that an entire year didn't need to be sacrificed. Whether the new regulations being instituted will change the culture of how teams can win or lose or change their fates and fortunes will be seen over time. Will the more significant penalties for going over the salary cap be enough to keep some major markets owners from spending whatever it takes to keep their franchises at the highest levels? More importantly for Sixer fans is, how will their new ownership handle their willingness to spend or not spend in the new economic structure of their league? One thing that hasn't changed is that the key to winning is still making good talent evaluation decisions. The ability to spend money always increases your chances of getting it right but it doesn't guarantee anything. Spending the money they did on Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala has not delivered any true success for the past three years. It's about giving the max-bucks to true superstars and getting those key role players under contact for market value or below market deals, not easy but doable. Rod Thorne is the man who will be tasked to revamp this roster over the next few years to make this run. They have the right coach in place but the necessary flexibility is not there going onto this shortened season. Unless Evan Turner makes off-the-charts strides in his second year and or if first round draft pick Nicola Vucevic was the most under-valued draft pick this past season, I do not see where the needed improvement is going to come from for them to compete with the Heat, Bulls and Celtics in the East. Playoffs, yes. Winning when they get there, highly doubtful. They have minimal options in what will be a break-neck free agent period starting in the next two weeks. Then again, most people thought the Eagles were the unquestioned winner of the truncated NFL free agent shopping frenzy this year and we see where it got them. We have four weeks to see what moves the Sixers make and how Doug Collins' troops have stepped their game up before they have the post-Christmas tip to their season. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised by what they put under out Holiday (Jrue reference intended) tree!!
On the ice, the Flyers are getting ready to start what, on paper, looks like a difficult month of December. Ten of their 13 games are away from home starting with a west coast swing to Anaheim and Phoenix. But at 7-3-1 the Fly guys have been one of the best road teams in the league for the first seven weeks of the season. At some point the pendulum will swing and the home games will start to pile up. Plus their coach is getting their starting goalie some nice early season rest. No I'm not going down the goalie-controversy road now matter how hard you push me.... at least not yet!!
While we wait for the Sixers to get it rolling, Big 5 hoops had a week that was almost as forgettable as the Eagles. Villanova went out west to Anaheim and lost to St.Louis and Santa Clara in neutral site match ups, ouch. Temple lost their only effort to Bowling Green, a mid-MAC team (I guess upsetting the Owls on the grid iron was not enough for the Falcons). St Joe's dropped a double OT heart-breaker to Iona (out of even a lesser MAAC) before beating Penn St. and LaSalle stumbled at Pittsburgh before losing at home to Robert Morris. If that's not bad enough, for the three Philly A-10 squads, St. Louis, Dayton and Xavier all look like they are ready for big seasons. What a difference a week makes!!... At least Thanksgiving dinner was a fine feast at chez McDonald this year and I hope you had the same. Plus it's less than three months till pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater!!
One last out-of-town-sports thought. Tim Tebow is doing some difficult to explain things in Denver and should be getting a good deal of credit for the turn around playoff run the Broncos are making. But in this 5-1 Tebow-lead run that Denver is on, the defense has allowed 15 or fewer points in four out of those six games. Von Miller is maybe the best rookie defensive player in the league. Tebow plays mistake free, inspiring football but don't short change what the Bronco defense has done in this surprising Bronco run!!
After jumping out to an early 10-0, Eagle fans quickly found out that it was just a mirage and just a matter of time before Tom Brady started to surgically dissect the Eagles paltry defense. Too many Birds fans were lead astray by the Eagles upset win of the Giants last week and thought the early lead was a continuation of those good tidings. That may be why this loss becomes more painful and why they were so vocal about their displeasure at the Linc. Most of their ire was targeted at the head coach. Before the mass exit, "Fire Andy" was heard throughout the stadium. Despite his denial after the game, the beleaguered coach had to hear it. As did owner Jeffrey Lurie. The question is, does he act on it? In a game where their defensive line coach showed more fight, in a screaming match with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg on the sideline than his team did on the field, can you blame the fan base for voicing their displeasure?
Several weeks ago Jason Avant decided to verbally take on the Eagle ticket holding fans, saying they should continue to boo because the Eagles like it when they feel like they're on the road. He took this stance after the Eagles blowout win over the Cowboys last month. I'll give Avant this much, he understands timing. That was the Eagles ONLY home win this year and their ONLY home win in their last nine home games. If you are going to take an obnoxious stance against the fans you better do so after a very infrequent victory. But timing doesn't make the Eagles complete inability to win at the Linc disappear. The ticket-buying fan base has every reason to decry this organization!!
Although the Eagles have yet to be mathematically eliminated form the post-season for all intents and purposes their playoff chances are non-existent. While they could win four of their last five games (three of which are on the road where the Birds seem to thrive) but that would only get them to 8-8 and with the expectations for this team this year it should be viewed as an unmitigated failure. The Eagle fans will surely look at it that way. The question is, does Jeffrey Lurie view it the same? Should the success or failure of the Eagles in what has become a meaningless last month of the season even figure into the head coach's future in Philly? I would say no but the owner has shown his continued loyalty to Reid in the face of shortcomings before. Unfortunately it is all we have to debate the rest of this season, rather than whether this team is capable of making a playoff run and that is both frustrating and sad!!
Yes but we WILL have the Sixers to jump into the void left by the Eagles come Christmas day. The NBA owners and players have finally come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement in time to save the 2011-2012 season. They will play a condensed 66 game schedule. I am a big NBA fan so I'm glad that an entire year didn't need to be sacrificed. Whether the new regulations being instituted will change the culture of how teams can win or lose or change their fates and fortunes will be seen over time. Will the more significant penalties for going over the salary cap be enough to keep some major markets owners from spending whatever it takes to keep their franchises at the highest levels? More importantly for Sixer fans is, how will their new ownership handle their willingness to spend or not spend in the new economic structure of their league? One thing that hasn't changed is that the key to winning is still making good talent evaluation decisions. The ability to spend money always increases your chances of getting it right but it doesn't guarantee anything. Spending the money they did on Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala has not delivered any true success for the past three years. It's about giving the max-bucks to true superstars and getting those key role players under contact for market value or below market deals, not easy but doable. Rod Thorne is the man who will be tasked to revamp this roster over the next few years to make this run. They have the right coach in place but the necessary flexibility is not there going onto this shortened season. Unless Evan Turner makes off-the-charts strides in his second year and or if first round draft pick Nicola Vucevic was the most under-valued draft pick this past season, I do not see where the needed improvement is going to come from for them to compete with the Heat, Bulls and Celtics in the East. Playoffs, yes. Winning when they get there, highly doubtful. They have minimal options in what will be a break-neck free agent period starting in the next two weeks. Then again, most people thought the Eagles were the unquestioned winner of the truncated NFL free agent shopping frenzy this year and we see where it got them. We have four weeks to see what moves the Sixers make and how Doug Collins' troops have stepped their game up before they have the post-Christmas tip to their season. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised by what they put under out Holiday (Jrue reference intended) tree!!
On the ice, the Flyers are getting ready to start what, on paper, looks like a difficult month of December. Ten of their 13 games are away from home starting with a west coast swing to Anaheim and Phoenix. But at 7-3-1 the Fly guys have been one of the best road teams in the league for the first seven weeks of the season. At some point the pendulum will swing and the home games will start to pile up. Plus their coach is getting their starting goalie some nice early season rest. No I'm not going down the goalie-controversy road now matter how hard you push me.... at least not yet!!
While we wait for the Sixers to get it rolling, Big 5 hoops had a week that was almost as forgettable as the Eagles. Villanova went out west to Anaheim and lost to St.Louis and Santa Clara in neutral site match ups, ouch. Temple lost their only effort to Bowling Green, a mid-MAC team (I guess upsetting the Owls on the grid iron was not enough for the Falcons). St Joe's dropped a double OT heart-breaker to Iona (out of even a lesser MAAC) before beating Penn St. and LaSalle stumbled at Pittsburgh before losing at home to Robert Morris. If that's not bad enough, for the three Philly A-10 squads, St. Louis, Dayton and Xavier all look like they are ready for big seasons. What a difference a week makes!!... At least Thanksgiving dinner was a fine feast at chez McDonald this year and I hope you had the same. Plus it's less than three months till pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater!!
One last out-of-town-sports thought. Tim Tebow is doing some difficult to explain things in Denver and should be getting a good deal of credit for the turn around playoff run the Broncos are making. But in this 5-1 Tebow-lead run that Denver is on, the defense has allowed 15 or fewer points in four out of those six games. Von Miller is maybe the best rookie defensive player in the league. Tebow plays mistake free, inspiring football but don't short change what the Bronco defense has done in this surprising Bronco run!!