Good luck & Godspeed, Westy

Well, it's official - the Eagles have released Brian Westbrook. I'm sad, but not particularly surprised. For his own health, I hope he chooses to retire.

In the meantime, enjoy this great video tribute I found & remember the 3 most exciting words in football for the past 8 years: "Westbrook breaks free!"

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Should They Stay or Should They Go?

Back in early January, Inquirer writer Jeff McLane wrote a piece about who should - and should not - be retained from the 2009 Eagles roster. Seemed a little precipitous to me at the time, seeing as the season wasn't over yet (OK, OUR season was over, but THE season was not over). But I hung onto the link, because I wanted to weigh in with my thoughts about some players:

QB - McLane thinks we should keep Kevin Kolb and get rid of both Mike Vick and D-Mac. I think McLane's on crack. McNabb's not done, and Kolb's not ready to be the starter. But we should trade Vick - I think we can get some good draft picks for him, he clearly wants to start, and there are plenty of teams that need help at QB.

RB - McLane thinks we should keep Weaver and McCoy and get rid of Buckley and Westy. As much as it pains me to type it, I agree. I love me some Westbrook, but after that second concussion, I think he's stick-a-fork-in-him done. Brian, while you still have control of your mental faculties, it's time for whatever you've planned for your post-football life. Thanks for all the great "Westbrook breaks free!" memories.

OLine - Not going to do the full run-down, but I agree that the Andrews brothers need to go. Such wasted potential with The Big Kid, but then again, these things don't always work out. I would get rid of Jason Peters - he didn't live up to expectations - and I don't think Mike McGlynn is our solution at center until we get Jamaal Jackson back.

WR - 100% agreement with McLane. Keep Peanut (OF COURSE), Maclin and Avant, dump Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis.

TE - Of course we keep Celek. If I thought it were possible to replace all 3 of the others (Alex Smith, Cornelius Ingram and Martin Rucker), I'd say dump all 3. If we have to keep 1, I'd probably pick Alex Smith. McLane pooh-poohs him as a good blocker with bad hands, but I think that's enough for the #2.

DLine - McLane says keep everyone but Darren Howard, Chris Clemons, and Jason Babin. Well, we need SOMEBODY other than Trent Cole who can reliably rush the QB. If Darren Howard can get back in shape, keep him. I think I'd probably dump Victor Abiamiri rather than Howard - or maybe both - and try to get someone to help out #58. I'm not sure I'd keep Trevor Laws, either, much as I love his 'do.

LB - OH MY GOD do we need help here. Getting Stewart Bradley back should be a good start. Fokou and Gaither could both be keepers IF they can bulk up a little. If not, cut 'em both. LOVED the way Tracy White came on towards the end of the season. He deserves more playing time next year. Trot should definitely take over Hugh Douglas's old Bad Assador role in the locker room, but he needs to retire from the field of play. I'm iffy on both Chris Gocong and Will Witherspoon, but we should only dump them if we're relatively certain we can upgrade. Better the devil you know....

DBacks - McLane says to keep Sheldon Brown, and I agree IF he's willing to work with the FO on his salary demands. He seems to want serious money, though, and while I appreciate the fact that he was playing injured, he got beat a LOT at the end of the season. Asante Samuel is another perpetual heart-breaker. We knew he was high risk/high reward when we picked him up, but (and I know a lot of people won't agree) I think the risk is outweighing the reward at this point. I'd get rid of him. I definitely agree with keeping Macho Harris - I think he has potential and with more playing time, could have a breakout year next year. I also agree that Joselio Hanson wasn't the same after his suspension, but I'm not sure if that's because of the time off or because of the supplements for which he was suspended. I'd like to see how he looks in the spring mini-camps before making a decision. We need a replacement for Wolverine. The Quintins (Demps and Mikell) are not the answer. I'm not sure who is.

ST - I agree with McLane that the Sav Rocca experiment needs to end. He's just too inconsistent - I don't think he'll ever fully adapt to the American rules game. The only thing that worries me is that we've seen that it takes Akers a while to adjust to a new holder, and he and Sav were finally clicking this past year. I worry about what another switch in holders will do to his accuracy.

OK, Eagles fans, what do you think? Who stays? Who goes? What are our biggest needs in 2010?

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Miracle on the Delaware

Not football related, but You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad recently sent me the link to a great short movie about the Philadelphia area made in 1955 - footage of the old Franklin Field, Connie Mack Stadium, the Mummers, Fairmont Park, etc., and I wanted to share it with fellow Philly lovers and ex-pats.

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Saints Victory Parade

Video from the Times-Picayune:

New Orleans Saints Video: Victory Parade

Or click here for pictures.

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Super Bowl 44 Recap

Saints v. Colts, Sunday, February 7, 2010

In attendance: Small group, due to the Snowpocalypse. Shoegal, Limin' ABD, Wingman & Mr. Wingman and a few neighbors who could get here on foot.

Menu: Tex-Mex deliciousness, hot wings, homemade pralines, ice cream, beer & margaritas

Stud of the game: Tracy Porter. I know Drew Brees got MVP (because really, the winning QB almost always gets MVP), but Tracy Porter's pick in the 4th quarter was what really sealed the win, putting the Colts in a 14 point hole with just over 3 minutes left in the game.

The Colts owned the first quarter, but the Saints pretty much owned the rest of the game. Key plays, in addition to Tracy Porter's pick, included the surprise onside kick to start the second quarter, the challenge on the successful two point conversion, Matt Stover's missed field goal, and the fact that Garrett Hartley nailed 3 long ones. And the fact that the Peytonator spent the entire second quarter watching the game from the sidelines, which was exactly what the Saints needed to do. You beat Peyton by keeping him off the field.

Congratulations to the Saints. We'll miss you in the "never won a Super Bowl" club. This is gonna be one hell of a last week of Mardi Gras season.

(yes, that photo above is me & Chef Spouse second lining to Rebirth down our snow-covered street in the aftermath of the win)

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Saints WIN the Super Bowl!

Game recap coming later today, but I had to share this great Times-Picayune video of the party on Bourbon Street last night:

Saints Fans Celebrate Super Bowl Victory on Bourbon Street

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One last thing...

Need to get FIRED UP to cheer for the SAINTS tomorrow?

Check out this playlist, conveniently assembled by the Times-Picayune.

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2009 Super Bowl Picks

I've been putting off writing this post. As I tweeted to Tweety Monster the other day:

I have 4 days to convince myself the Saints can win & write about it :)

Time's up.

And my heart says Saints.

But my head...my head says Colts.

There is no "owed" in football. Just ask Eagles fans.

And the Saints are a great story this season, but you don't always get the storybook ending. Just ask Jeff Garcia about the 2006 season. Or Jaws about 1980.

Philly.com has a "keys to victory" post up for both teams. Yes, keeping the Peytonator on the sidelines is a good plan, as far as it goes. But do you remember that game earlier this season when the Colts held the ball for less than 15 minutes and won anyway? And they scored 14 points in about 30 seconds? The man does not need much time to win the game. Frankly, if you're dependent on the arrival of "The Turnover Fairy" to win the game, you might be in trouble.

I do feel that the best team in each conference is representing at the Super Bowl, rather than one or both being repped by teams that just happened to get hot at the right time. And if good wishes were points, the Saints would win this easily, since I think everyone who doesn't live in Indianapolis (and even maybe some who do) are rooting for the Saints.

Every bit of reason...everything I know or pretend to know or suspect I know or am widely believed to know about football...everything I absorbed from watching umpteen games and hours and hours of SportsCenter and the NFL Network...tells me the Colts are going to win this.

I'm calling Saints anyway. To hell with good sense, and if they win, don't expect to see me in the office Monday.

In other news...

The NFL finally leaps into the 21st century with fan page that will collect a variety of social media content about the Big Event.

If the game turns into a blow out, you can always switch over the Super Bowl commercial archive (thanks to Tweety Monster for link).

Interesting in placing a wager on the Super Bowl? You got it - Super Bowl betting.

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Black & Gold!

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Geaux Saints

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Get CRUNK!

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Remember

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