The Philly Sports Blog

Wow, Flyers have put together their first three game win streak of the season, and first since last March. Esche has been playing like a madman, making 40, 42, & 40 saves in each of the last 3 games. Let's hope that they can keep up the good work tomorrow at the Rangers.

I'm working on a year in review for each of the Philly teams. Check back soon!

Sixers and Flyers made some trades this week, both being good for each team. One was a swap of mid-talent players, and the other was a huge blockbuster. Let's start with the blockbuster.

The Sixer/Iverson ordeal is finally over. The Sixers traded Iverson and Ivan McFarlin to the Denver Nuggets for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two First Round draft picks this June. The Nuggets are getting arguably the best player in the NBA, while the Sixers are getting some salary cap relief and two more chances to build for the future. I think this is a great deal for both teams. Iverson will bring even more electricity to an already offensively impressive lineup. If he and Anthony can gel, this team has to be considered a top pick for the title.

What does this mean for the Sixers? Miller will bring a steady playmaker in the back court and Smith's contract is up at season's end, so they will be closer to the cap. Also, they get two more draft picks for this very deep draft coming up. Sixers might not look good for a year or two, but give them 3-5 years, you might be seeing a top team again in Philadelphia...as long as King doesn't screw up this draft.

Flyers also made a trade. They traded Randy Robitaille and a 3rd Round pick to the Islanders for Mike York. York is a bit younger, a bit more versatile and a bit faster. Also, his contract is up at years end so there is more money off the cap. I don't see this move doing much for the Win/Loss column, but that's ok. This season is over, and the Flyers are playing for the highest draft pick they can, as well as giving the youngsters some valuable experience.

Flyers Trade Freddy Meyer and 3rd Round 2007 pick to Islanders for Zhitnik. Also, they put Rathje on long term IR to make this happen. I understand why they did this. Zhitnik is a veteran defenseman and will only improve the Flyers, but I though Snyder said they are done giving up the future for now? Meyers is going to be a very good 3-6 d-man and has showed some true grit and a third round pick, you never know what could happen at that point in the draft, but too many steals are found then, but not this year. I just don't feel comfortable with this trade. Really disappointed in Homer.

I take two weeks off and WOW. Iverson is done as a Sixer, Garcia is filling in better than expected, Phillies pull off a huge trade, and the Flyers are looking more like the Phantoms…literally. Let’s get to the big news.

Sixers

Allen Iverson’s time as a Sixer is over. Yes, as of right now, as I write this, he is still technically sill a Sixer, but that’s just in name only. We all know what happened last week, so I’m not going to reiterate, but my goodness, did that ever start a chain of events that should have taken place a while ago. For the past few years, it’s been no secret that Iverson would not end his career, let alone this current contract as a Sixer. From his attitude on the court, to his unwillingness to share the ball, even Billy King wreaking the team trying to put together an ensemble cast, and Billy King is the subject of another article another day. Both player and team need a fresh start. And this is sad, seeing that Iverson is one of the best players in the game. There are rumors abound and I’ll list a few below:

-Iverson to Charlotte for a package of players was rumored to be done yesterday, but when Allen voiced his displeasure going to a team that is still starting out, that got nixed.

-It seems like three teams are seriously bidding on Iverson. They are Indiana, Boston and Minnesota with Denver and Sacramento also in the mix. ESPN Insider reports that Sacramento and Philly have discussed a package including Mike Bibby and Kenny Thomas.

-ESPN Insider also reports that the Clippers might try to put together something including Corey Maggett, Sam, Cassell and Zeljko Rebraca along with a First Round Draft choice. They also report that Denver is talking about sending J.R. Smith, Eduardo Najera and Nene for Iverson.

Anyway you look at it, Iverson is going. So sit back and enjoy the trade talk!

Eagles

Garcia has started two weeks and has put together two wins, and has looked very solid in both. Stallworth is proving to be a wonderful #1 receiver. The Eagles Brass should lock both these players up ASAP!

As pleasantly good the Eagles Offense has looked, their Defense has looked the opposite. Their Defensive Line can’t stop the run and have looked terrible against it. This past week the Secondary looked better, but let’s face it, they faced Washington.

This team, with its better than average offense and below par defense might just squeak out a Wild Card spot, and if the dice are rolled just right, they might pull out the NFC East spot, but don’t look for them to go far in the playoffs. The Bears and Seahawks are the teams to beat, but are very beatable. Just imagine if the Bears had a good Quarterback? They would be even more scary good then they are already.

Phillies

Freddy Garcia is a Philly, can you image that? They had to give up good pitching prospect Gio Gonzales and one time #1 prospect Gavin Floyd, to get this stud of a pitcher. I think this was a wonderful deal. And if the Phils can put together an knockout season, they might be able to resign him. Would that be great?!

With six starting pitchers, the are loaded and could and will make a deal to sure up their bullpen. The most likely odd man out is John Leiber. Rumors have him going to either Milwaukee or Texas for a relief pitcher or two, but Milwaukee seems to be out.

Some say surprise, but not me, but it looks like Pat “the Bat” Burrell is here to stay. And that isn’t as bad as many fans make it out to be. Even though Pat didn’t come through like they wanted in the clutch last season, this year, all the pressure is on MVP Ryan Howard. Hopefully that will take some weight of Burrell’s shoulders.

Flyers

Is this the Flyers or the Phantoms? The Flyers were finally starting to look ok, when the injury bug came and not just bit them, but took out a huge bite! Fourteen of the Flyers Twenty players played for the Phantoms at some point this past season. FOURTEEN! Again, is this the Flyers or the Phantoms?

But this could be a good thing. First, the season is over for the Flyers. The aren’t going to make any trade or shake any thing up just to make the playoffs and be sent home in the first round. Second, this is going to give a lot of the “Kids” some valuable NHL Playing time. They can go out, make their mistakes and learn from them and make them better players in the future. Third, the Flyers are going to get a pretty high draft pick and if they are smart, any trades they do make will bring them back some more draft picks. The Flyers hopefully this summer, will sure up their future for a long time.

In this new NHL with the Salary Cap, a team can go from bad one year, to stellar the next. Will the Flyers contend for the Stanley Cup next season? Probably not, but they might have the pieces to contend for a long, long time.

While one team looks like it might have finally turned the corner, another doesn’t show any heart. One team can’t win on the road and the other looks to be losing a piece of the puzzle.

Eagles

Let’s See…Is there any bright spots to last night loss? Well, the running game looked very good at times, and Garcia did not look too bad, but the Defense was awful. They allowed Indy to rush for over 200 yards, 237 to be exact. Joseph Addai ran through, around and over this defensive team. Was the loss of Bunkley the reason? (In case you didn’t know, he missed the team flight on Saturday and was inactivated for the game.) Is Kearse that major of a loss? What ever it is, Eagles Management will need to take a serious look at this defense in the off season and make some changes. They aren’t getting it done. On a night where your back up quarterback is in and manages a 121 passer rating, and the running game looks good, and the Offense manages to score 21 points, you’d think this game would be close. The Defense needs to fight its heart, because it wasn’t in Indianapolis last night.

Flyers

Over the last 7 games, the Flyers are 4-2-1. Maybe, just maybe, the Flyers did turn the corner from their West Coast trip. Hatcher is playing much better, and Pitkanen and Timonen look to be a solid Defensive paring. Now if they could just get rid of Rathje…Forsberg seems to be skating better the more they tinker with his boot. As long as his ankle is comfortable, he is playing well. I hope it stays that way, because they need him.

Sixers

This team is 3 games under .500 and are in a three way tie for first place in the Atlantic. That is pitiful. Though it does look like Boston may be coming on and will soon take over first place. And you can’t count out New Jersey. I really wish they could/would just waive Webber and start rebuilding. Play the young guys and get them some experience. This is going to be a long season.

Phillies

Last week the Phils lost out on Soriano, this week it looks like they are going to lose Wolf. All signs are showing him signing with the Dodgers for one year with the Dodgers holding an option for 2008. Looks like Wolf is going to give up more garenteed years and more money to sign for a club that is closer to home. Guess I can’t blame him for wanting to live closer to home, but this is going to leave the Phils in a bind. They will make a run at Miguel Batista, but he will wait to see how the market plays out. There really isn’t much in the system for the Phils to bring up. Fabrio Castro is playing extremely well in winter ball and looked sharp from the bullpen last season.

What a weekend for Philadelphia Sports fans. Devastating loses for the Eagles, Flyers turn corner and then run into another wall, Sixers having problems with a Star Player and the Phillies lose the big one. Sounds kind of depressing, doesn’t it?

Eagles

As you all already know, McNabb is gone until next season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and after surgery, rehab is 9 months to a year. There goes this season. I don’t see Garcia or Feeley having a knock out rest of the season, leading this team to the Playoffs. Not going to happen. And I’m not going to even speculate who the Eagles should start, doesn’t matter. The results will still be the same. But let’s look onto the game on Sunday, and that will explain why it doesn’t matter who starts at QB.

Garcia did put up respectable numbers. He was 26 of 48 passing for 189 yards. Nothing to scoff at. He has played the West Coast offence in the pass, so he is comfortable in this style of offense. Westbrook carried for over 100 yards, and he will need to pick up the slack the rest of the way. The offensive line could be a bit better, but if they can protect Garcia, ok I’d like to see what he can do next week, and open a few lanes for Westbrook and Buckhalter, the Offense should be able to stay competitive.

What worries me, especially with Kearse gone, is the Defense. They are down at the bottom of the league in run defense and they really need to step up. And the secondary will also need to pick it up. They really need to cut down the big plays.

This team will really need to play like a team and do all the little things teams do to win. They need to play smart. This team has the talent to still finish 10-6, but they all need to be on top of their game, and will need a lot of luck!

Flyers

Wednesday and Thursday the Flyers won back to back games. They beat the best in the West, Anaheim, and looked impressive doing so. Esche was wonderful in net. The next night in LA, the Flyers came back from a 3-1 deficit with 6 minutes left to win. This team looked like the team everyone expected. Then on Saturday the slipped back to their old ways. Was it a one game relapse or was the back to back wins a small hot streak? The telling sign will be tonight when Pittsburgh come into town. If they look sharp and play competitively, it was a one game relapse, if they are out played and blown out, last week was a small hot streak. Let’s hope for the first.

Sixers

It seems for the past few seasons, the Sixers can’t go long with out controversy. This time, Chris Webber went to team president and GM Billy King to talk about his playing time. According to sources, but denied by Webber and King, is that Webber asked for a trade. Webber makes to much right now for any team, except maybe the Knicks, to take on, but don’t be surprised if the Sixers do find someone to take him closer to the trade deadline. I don’t see him being traded, but hey, there might be some GM out there smoking some wacky weed and stupid enough to go for him…

Phillies

Well, the Phils lost out on Soriano, and at the price he went for, I’m glad they did. If they could have signed him to a 4 or 5 year deal, I would be all for it, but not an insane 8 years. The Cubs are desperate, and desperate teams do things with out thinking. Look for the Cubs to be good for a few years, but it won’t last.

So who do the Phils go after? They could go after Lee, but reports are saying that he is close to finalizing a deal with Houston, so unless they can go in an wow him, look for the Phils to use the money they were going to use on Soriano and find a nice 2^nd Tier power hitter and use the rest on getting Wolf back and building up their bullpen. Let’s also hope that Burrell can come back and look like the Burrell that got that huge contract.

It’s about time. This team has so much potential and wasn’t living up to it, finally did last night. Everything seemed to go their way. The bounces, evident in Kapanen’s first goal, their three power play goals, and Forsberg playing like a mad man! Is this a sign of thing to come? Have the Flyers found their Mojo?

Forsberg was playing last night with an orthopedic wedge in his right skate boot and I’m not sure it was the wedge that made his foot feel better, or if he was just well rested or what, but he played like the Forsberg of old last night. If he can stay like that, this team might just be able to turn things around. This season isn’t over yet folks!

It was great to see six different players score last night. If they can get a well balanced attack going, well, they will make this season much easier to watch. Tonight is the test though. Let’s see how they play against the Kings. If they look good, then hold on to your hats everybody!