Goodbye No. 5.

Donovan McNabb will now try to take the Washington Redskins to the playoffs after the stunning trade announcement last night. Go here for the story.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

Phillies fans remember the pain of the 2007 playoffs. Back in the postseason for the first time since 1993, the team ran into a buzzsaw, the Colorado Rockies, who smoked the Phillies in a three game sweep.

The repeat bid begins today. Photo by: Tom Briglia / PhotoGraphics Photography

That was then. This is now. The 2009 Phillies are the defending 2008 World Series Champions. While many of the players are the same on both teams (Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins; Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Brad Hawpe) there are key differences. The Rockies don’t have Matt Holliday; the Phillies have Cliff Lee, who starts today, and the home run pop provided by Raul Ibanez. The Phillies didn’t have “Lights Out” Lidge in 2007.

Ah, all right, the Phillies don’t have Lights Out Lidge this year either. They have a version of Brad Lidge that has 11 blown saves with a 0-8 record and a 7.21 ERA. The back of the Phillies bullpen will be the biggest concern as the series begins at 2:37 this afternoon. Damn that schedule that disses the World Champions.

The Phillies lefty-dominated pitching will be a big advantage vs. the Rockies. The Rockies are barely .500 against left-handed pitching. Lee cooled off after winning his first five games as a Phillie, but one of his early wins was against the Rockies. Cole Hamels has had a rollercoaster season, but he is still the defending World Series MVP. Rookie-of-the-Year candidate J.A. Happ pitched a complete game shutout against the Rockies, which is why he will not be in the bullpen for this series; instead, Phillies manager Charlie Manual added lefty Antonio Bastardo to the roster in a surprise move.

Both these teams can hit. The Phillies led the National League in homers and runs scored (224, 820); the Rockies (190, 804) were second in both categories. The Rockies have the “lights out” bullpen with set-up man Rafael Betancourt and closer Hudson Street.

The pick: The Phillies will need to out slug the Rockies, and they will, winning in four games.

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Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

This is the best time of the year to be a Philadelphia-area sports fan. Despite a few stumbles down the stretch, the Phillies will be in the hunt to repeat as World Series Champions. With the Eagles three games in, the Flyers opening their season this Friday (Oct. 2) and the Sixers soon to follow on Oct. 28, we could have a

I hope to carve another pumpkin this year.

four-team day of victories, assuming the Phillies make it to the World Series, scheduled to begin on Oct. 28.
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In addition to all the excitement generated by the Eagles and Phillies, we have some exciting sports news in the Atlantic City region. It has just been announced this week that ice hockey is returning to Boardwalk Hall. It is not a pro team, but college’s ECAC Hockey will have its Men’s Championship at the Hall rink in 2011 through 2013. The event will bring the elite ECAC Hockey conference, comprised of 12 of the most prestigious men’s ice hockey programs in the nation, to town. Schools in the ECAC are Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Union and Yale.  The two most recent sites for the tournament have been Albany and Lake Placid, New York. Tickets for the tournament are expected to go on sale mid-2010. For more information about ECAC Hockey, visit here

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Ryan Madsen

I’m old enough to remember the Phillies collapse of 1964. I was only eleven so the details are fuzzy, but I remember the pain most of all. My dad was a sportswriter covering the team so like the rest of the Phillies fans, I thought the World Series appearance was in the bag. I felt fortunate. This was my first year as a Phillies fan. The year before I was devastated when my beloved Yankees (Mantle, Maris, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra) lost the World Series to the Koufax and Drysdale-led Dodgers. I had switched teams and leagues.

I’ve been feeling just a hint of stale ’64 around the edges this past week as the Phillies remained a team with no closer they could depend upon, while the Braves have been on a tear, winning fourteen of sixteen. It helps that the Phillies inflicted their only two losses in that stretch. The Fightins’ 5-5 road trip has reduced their magic number to three games with seven left to play. The Braves have conceded the division; they are concentrating on overtaking the Rockies for the wild card spot.

The starting pitching remains solid, but it seems that every pitcher audition for the closer role is suffering from a case of stage fright. Brad Lidge was not going to be perfect in 2009 but who could have imagined 11 blown saves? Ryan Madsen has looked decent in the role; he certainly has a strong enough fastball for the job.

With seven games at home to go, against Houston and the Fish, the Phillies should wrap it up in the next few days.

Forgive me, however, for not counting on it until the magic number is zero.

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The Eagles were awfully lucky to have such a weak opponent to face this week, following the horrible outing against the Saints. The Kansas City Chiefs were just what the doctor ordered to the tune of 34-14.

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It’s the opening of the NFL season for the Eagles, so I basically take the day off from the fest to check out the game at Hoops, my favorite Toronto sports bar. I might even ask them to set me up with both the Eagles-Panthers game and the Phillies-Mets. The Eagles are such a puzzle, especially with the offensive line and now I hear Brian Westbrook might not play. I have no idea what to expect.

I’m not skipping the fest entirely. I have a screening of the new Robert Duvall film, Get Low, at 10am and after football, a roller derby publicity event with the stars of Whip-It, the derby themed flick with which Drew Barrymore is making her directorial debut.

Below is a picture of the self-titled “Bench Babes,” a bunch of fun-loving friends from Ottawa who were in Toronto for the weekend and wanted me to take their picture at the bar where I had dinner. They aren’t a team or anything, they just all bought the same sweater.

The Bench Babes

No matter how shocked and horrified I was when the Eagles signed Michael Vick, I am interested to see him make his debut tonight. The Eagles organization put a huge bull’s-eye on its back when they signed Vick. Will it be worth all the bad press? Could it ever be worth the aggravation, no matter how well in plays?

I think it is interesting that NBC Sports director Dick Ebersol, who employs Tony Dungy, felt it was necessary to say that Dungy’s role as mentor to Michael Vick will be curtailed now that the quarterback has signed with the Eagles. Why announce that? Why not just do it quietly, unless there is some concern that Dungy needs to distance himself from Vick?

My stance outside of football remains that Vick has to demonstrate that he will work with the Humane Society of the United States and hopefully make an impact when it comes to the issue of dog fighting, which is so prevalent in Philadelphia and Camden. However, I’m still not sure that Vick’s jail time and acts of contrition will have as much of an impact in the dog-fighting community as the fact that the Eagles gave him a job and are going to pay him $1.6 million.

I wish I could watch tonight’s pre-season game with the Jaguars and only be thinking about football and what my team needs to do to show it is ready for the season. However, ever since the Vick signing, football readiness has taken a back seat to the controversy. I hope that will change as the season approaches.

While I am still not happy about the Michael Vick signing (I’m writing this wearing my Neuter Vick T-shirt), my anger and disappointment has been muted somewhat by the Vick press conference this morning.
He admitted that before his legal problems, he didn’t understand the bond that many Americans have with their animals, and he admitted that he didn’t feel this bond. He now claims he has more compassion for animals and that he is striving to, “Help more animals than I hurt.”
He has been working with the Humane Society of the United States and he will continue to work “In inner city communities to attack the problem [of dog fighting].” Dog fighting is a big problem in the Delaware Valley, especially in Camden and Philadelphia. If he makes a positive impact in curbing dog fighting in our region, I will salute him for his efforts.
He also talked about wanting to be a better father to his three children, parenting he had to put on hold while he was in jail.
After hearing Vick speak, I am more inclined to have a wait and see attitude. Utilization of his football skills will not factor into my feelings about Vick. In this case, I am more concerned about what he is doing off the field to let young people know that fighting dogs is not acceptable.

I’ve seen enough, fellow Eagles’ fans. Shady McCoy looked tremendous in his first reps in the backfield. When Brian Westbrook is back on the field, they should team up to provide a dynamic running game for the Eagles. Add in the excellent grunt work from an impressive Jed Weaver, who can handle short yardage situations and catch the ball, and Andy Reid is going to have to rely on the run more this year. That is the way the team is built. In conjunction with the big play possibilities of super soph receiver DeSean Jackson (did you love that mad dash he made to salvage his running play?) this will be an exciting offense.
The defense needs more work, and the offensive line has pieces missing, so we didn’t learn too much there, except that if you give McCoy a small hole, it will exploit it.
Here is hoping Brent Celek isn’t seriously hurt. We are already awfully thin at tight end.

As I was about to post this I heard something I hoped was a joke, that the Eagles had signed Michael Vick. They were kidding , right? Michael Vick? The dog killer? Are they nuts? I’m still in shock right now. Now I wish I had a ticket so I could wear my neuter Vick T-shirt and boo anytime he is anywhere near the field.
WTF!!!!!!!!!

We take a break tonight from all Phillies, all the time, to turn our attention on the Eagles as they take on the New England Patriots for their first pre-season game. How much will be learn tonight?
Not much with all the injuries on the offensive line, but of course we will have a chance to see if rookies Shady McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin are as good as advertised, at running back and receiver respectively. I’m also looking to see what fullback Jed Weaver brings to the table. Comcast sports analyst Ray Didinger has predicted a major contribution from Weaver.
On the defensive side, all eyes will be on Joe Mays as he tries to replace Stewart Bradley, lost for the season to an ACL tear.
I’ll be back after the game with my thoughts.
Go Eagles!

Well, it took some bad news to bring the Eagles to the front burner of Philly sports fans who have been enjoying a summer of great baseball from the Phillies.
Now comes that bad news, first reported by Howard Eskin on NBC’s Sports Final Sunday, that Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley tore his ACL. While it is not quite as devastating as a season-ending injury to Donovan McNabb or Brian Westbrook, with the wait and see attitude about Sean McDermott taking over as defensive coordinator, this will bring some high anxiety to the Eagles Nation.