Link Drop: Philly

After the sports week of the universe, Philly seems to be the center of the sports world. Whether its’ Cliff Lee or Michael Vick, I’m shocked there’s no ESPNPhilly yet.

We’ll start with the Eagles, who just pulled off the most ridiculous comeback that I’ve ever seen. For full highlights go here. Those folks at Bleeding Nation attempt to put that comeback in perspective. So does Phil Sheridan. Matt Mosley delivers his own take on the situation. Meanwhile, DeSean Jackson never ceases to entertain me. Meanwhile this is a game that will haunt the Giants for a while. The Eagles noted that the Giants weren’t particularly good sports about the whole deal. In the Giants postgame, Justin Tuck (who was talking all kinds of trash before the game) said that Vick has his vote for MVP. To be honest, I don’t know what else to say about this game. The whole thing was amazing. As far as I’m concerned, Vick is MVP. Fuck a Brady.

What’s crazy is that has to be the lead story, but something just as historic happened with the Phillies when they grabbed Cliff Lee from the grasp of the Yankees. Philly been sticking it to NY this week. If we see the Sixers beat the Knicks soon, we’ll know something’s up. You can watch the press conference here.

 

Link Drop: The Mile High

On to Denver, where everyone hangs off of Carmelo’s every word….

We’ll start with the Rockies who, if you haven’t heard, have signed Troy Tulowitski for….well, basically the rest of his life. I also think that signing Ty Wiggington is a very good move. There’s also an open competition for the LF job. Plus they are still waiting to hear back from Jeff Francis.

Meanwhile the Nuggets continue to soak in Carmelo Anthony trade rumors. Personally I don’t think they’re gonna get much for him, since he won’t sign an extension. So I’d just say screw it and see how far he can take them this year. Who knows? Maybe they get into the finals and he decides he has to re-sign. Meanwhile there are some reactions to that terrible charging call on Carmelo the other night against the Spurs. Andrew Feinstein wonders why ‘Melo can’t be more like Tulo. A more urgent issue might be that the Nuggets were dominated by Kevin Love the other night. Woody Paige talks about the Nets’ positioning to offer three first rounders for Melo. Meanwhile, the Birdman is almost ready to go. K-Mart is even closer. And Chris Dempsey explains that Melo’s legacy is is simply winning games.

The Broncos are playing at the minute. Tim Tebow started. Lots of Post writers have ideas of how to fix the Broncos. Woody Paige examines the Orton/McDaniels situation.

 

New Writer

I thought I’d introduce a new writer to this site.  Khaled Mansoory.  As biased as I am towards the A’s, Steelers, and Kings – he is towards the Dodgers, Lakers, and 49ers.  He’ll be posting as kmansoory1.

 

Link Drop: Tampa & Beyond

Tallahassee’s favorite Rappa Ternt Sanga wants you to know that there’s more to Florida than just the MIA.

Those Rays are depressing me as Carlos Pena signs with the Cubs, Carl Crawford with the BoSox, and Jason Bartlett was traded to the Padres. Reliever Dan Wheeler missed Crawford so much that he decided to join him Boston. Roger Mooney gives us the low-down on the Rays’ seemingly depleted bullpen.BWoodrum from DRays Bay gives us his take on that same bullpen. Then the ever-busy Mooney introduces the four new Rays that they received in the Bartlett trade. Cole Figueroa looks promising. The rest are 2 relievers and a 26-year old in AA. Mooney also reports that despite the losses, Joe Maddon thinks the Rays can be in the 90-win range this season if they can get upgrades to the bullpen. And I’d have to say, with that pitching, I’d have to agree. The good folks at D-Rays Bay pay a classy tribute to the franchise’s best player in history, Mr. Crawford. They also give us a look at David Price’s 2-seam fastball.

Those tricky Bucs.  First of all, Ira Kaufman tells us that the Bucs are in the playoff hunt, even if no one wants to give them any credit. And speaking of credit, Raheem Morris deserves a ton of that. A lot should also go to Josh Freeman, who is now the 22-year old leader of this team, as he showed on Wednesday. And with all of the injuries, Roy Cummings tells us that “Next Man Up” is their rallying cry and Bucs Nation notes that they’re showing the team’s depth. Those great folks at Bucs Nation also break down how Ryan Torrain tore their defense a new asshole last week.

Moving to Jacksonville, where the Jags have a game with the Colts that is as big as it gets. Vito Stellini recaps the five most important regular season matchups of the Jack Del Rio-era. Gene Frenette puts the moment in perspective. Big Cat Country goes over the big bro/lil bro relationship of the Colts and the Jags.  As of this typing, the Jags are down 14-10 in that game.  I wish them the best, and I hate the Colts too.

And finally, we have the reason this post went up before Denver’s. Those sneaky Orlando Magic. Just when you thought they were afterthoughts in the Championship picture, they start off by trading Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, and Mickael Pietrus to the Suns for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark. What’s that? Not impressed? You say, J-Rich and Hedo are fine for third and fourth options. Plus there’s still Jameer Nelson and JJ Reddick. But you just traded your clear-cut number two option. Well Otis Smith hears you and he responds by shipping Rashard Lewis to the Wizards for Gilbert Arenas. Of course, they then went out with 8 guys and lost to the surging Sixers that night. But Evan Dunlap at Orlando Pinstriped breaks down each new player and how they fit in. For what it’s worth Gilbert is ecstatic. The best part of that interview is when he talks about coming off the bench for the Wizards. They told him they needed a scoring punch off the bench, and he thinks “what about a scoring punch in the starting lineup?” Mike Bianchi reminds us that these moves are all about Dwight Howard. Otis Smith has the most to lose here as he’s sticking his neck out for Gilbert, who’s like a son to him. George Diaz lets us know that this was Smith’s way of admitting mistakes with the whole Hedo/Vince thing, and the Rashard Lewis contract. Meanwhile, while everyone’s talking about Otis Smith and Gilbert Arenas, Zach McCan wonders how much Hedo has left. I don’t think much personally. But J-Rich and Gil are important pieces here. And really, what I’m most excited about is that we have the two most interesting personalities in the league (Gil and Dwight) on the same team! If only I could change my League Pass subscription….

 

Link Drop: The ‘Burgh

….on to the ‘burgh where Wiz Khalifa is king, and you could be excused for forgetting that they have a baseball team…..

But we’ll start with those Pirates, who signed Lyle Overbay to play first. Charlie at Bucs Dugout thinks Ronny Cedeno should start at shortstop next year, and I tend to agree. I think that kid can play. Also, management is dropping hints that Matt Diaz will compete for a more regular role with the club. And given those three factors, Adam Reynolds looks at the starting 9 for next season. They also went out and signed Kevin Correia.

The first-place Steelers are looking good but are quite beat up. Troy Polamalu isn’t going to play Sunday against the Jets, and Gerry Dulac thinks there’s no real point in playing him again until the playoffs. But Heath Miller looks like a go. Scott Brown notices that Rashard Mendenhall’s production has dropped of late, but personally I think that has little to do with him and a lot to do with the musical chairs that the offensive line is playing. But as a rookie, Maurkice Pouncey might already be the best center in the league. So maybe the entire O-Line other than Pouncey has stunk lately. And a lot of people don’t realize how good James Farrior is. Although I must say, this could be a trap game against the Jets. They are a good team, and NO ONE is giving them a chance. I know everyone was saying last week against the Bengals was a trap game. But anyone who follows the AFC North know that both teams were going to be geared up for that. This game……without Polamalu no less…..

Pitt football fans have had an interesting week. But it all lead up to the naming of Michael Haywood as Head Football Coach. Unfortunately he starts his new job by losing four-star running back recruit Jameel Poteat.

 

Link Drop: The N.W.

We move to Seattle and the Greater Northwest….

For the Seahawks, Mike Williams thinks Leon Washington should be Comeback Player of the Year. The fact that he says “I came back from being lazy” is pretty funny. Apparently the Niners loss helped the Seahawks playoff chances (you don’t say!?). Eric Williams lets us know that the Seahawks’ weakness is their pass defense.

The Mariners have been somewhat quiet this offseason.  Felix Hernandez is really good. But Geoff Baker thinks the M’s should at least consider trading him to the Yanks. (Blasphemy!) But that’d never happen anyway.  Lookout Landing has also noticed the A’s offseason moves and seem to like them. But to the wonderful people there: Brett Anderson is the shit!. Oh yeah, they also signed Jack Cust. And they traded for Brendan Ryan, who apparently can’t hit.

Seattle University matters, even though they’re 0-7 on the road, and that’s because of Cameron Dollar writes Nate Parham.

We’re pushing past Seattle to let you know Gonzaga has a HUUUUUUGE early season matchup with LaceDarius Dunn, potential number one pick Perry Jones, and Baylor . Dunn reminds me a LOT of Chris Douglas-Roberts when he was at Memphis. He’s really, really good.

Then while we’re in the area, we head to Portland to check in with the Blazers. Where all hell is breaking loose.  The week started out harmless enough, with the Blazers getting killed by the Spurs; and both Brandon Roy and Andre Miller got killed by TP3 and Manu Ginobili. On Monday, it was the Grizzles turn to beat the Blazers, though Miller had a good game, Roy was terrible.  Then it started.  A quote from Roy after the game:
“I wasn’t that slow until you put a guy who is kind of slow next to me.”
Everyone from Jason Quick to Dwight Jaynes Blazers Edge’s Ben Golliver and Dave had an opinion. Another loss to the Mavs didn’t help things. Supposedly, Brandon Roy said something like:
“This is not going to work, so you should trade one of us. Whether it’s him or whether it’s me, somebody needs to be traded because this is not going to work. “
Next, Blazers Edge reports that Roy will miss at least 3 games with the injured knees, and of course all week on the Worldwide Leader we heard about how Roy may never be the same. Today we are hearing reports that a Marcin Gortat for Miller deal is being discussed. Luckily for the Blazers, they get Minnesota tonight. But somewhere the ghost of Penny Hardaway is smiling.

A much brighter note for Oregonians is that the Ducks are in the National Title Game. Molly Blue gives you a rundown of who to watch on Auburn’s side.  LaMichael James also was Oregon’s first unanimous All-American, but John Canzano says he should lose Pernell Brown (James’ mentor).

And though there is no basketball team in Seattle anymore (complete travesty), there are a host of Seattle ballers in the NBA.

 

Link Drop: Bay Area-style

I think i’ve decided I’m going to update this more.  But with more links and stuff.  Just interesting shit.  So let’s go around the Sports areas of which I am interested.

We shall start with our very own Bay Area.

The Warriors beat the T-Wolves the other night. This had little to do with the Warriors being particularly good and lots to do with the T-Wolves sucking. However it should be mentioned that Monta Ellis had better be an all-star this season. Also, Jeremy Lin is going to the D-League. Maybe he can form a pick-and-roll combo with Hassan Whiteside down there. That would significantly help both players going forward.  It also doesn’t look like Stephen Curry will be ready to go against Portland tomorrow night. The Blazers have their own guard problems, but we’ll get to that later. But it does appear that, unlike in Portland, Monta and Curry are getting along quite well.  It seems as if those years as D-Wade’s homeboy have rubbed off on Dorell Wright, as he’s become the W’s leader. He’s also having a career season. So of course, he has that going for him.  If he keeps it up, he’ll get some Most Improved Player votes.

The Niners got pounded last night.  Most of the info involving them is pretty depressing. But Tim Kawakami (of all people), puts things in perspective.

The Raiders have a future head coach in Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson. Also, it appears as if Jason Campbell might not be so bad after all. I’ll co-sign this statement. Campbell is much better than he was allowed to show in Washington, and a look at the mess at QB there now is further proof.

The A’s just traded for Josh Willingham. Willingham says the A’s are “ready to win.” I’m starting to sense 2009 all over again. Prove me wrong A’s! They gave up Corey Brown (with whom I was growing impatient) and Henry Rodriguez’s 103 mph fastball. They are also giving up H-Rod’s complete and utter lack of control. But guessing the mph on H-Rod’s fastball was a fun drinking game after the A’s were eliminated last season. And in case you really haven’t been paying attention, the A’s also grabbed Hideki Matsui, and brought back the once prodigal son.

The World Series Champion Giants are in a contract dispute with Edgar Renteria. Renteria calls the $1M offer a “total disrespect,” Grant from McCovey Chronicles calls him a “overly sensitive World Series hero.” The Dodgers signed Eugenio Velez, but he sucked anyway. Grant is also sick of snarky Giants fans saying that Philly’s rotation is not as good as theirs. I’d have to agree. The G-men are a strong #2 in that category. They happened to catch fire at the right time.  The big difference, to me, is the lefties.  Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are going to be better than Jonathon Sanchez and Barry Zito every day of the week. And finally, it looks like Brandon Belt is going to get a fair shot at the starting 1B spot. He better be good, or he’s going back to AAA. He’s looking like the last of the Giants great run of prospects lately, so they have the chance to spoon-feed him if needed.

And finally, my beloved Kings. A couple of days after blowing a 23-point lead to the Hornets, we get OKC tonight. Which means ‘Reke gets to face off against his offseason workout buddy Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, Jason Jones tries to explain why we suck in the second half.  We also picked up Jermaine Taylor in that weird Houston/Lakers/Nets trade earlier this week.