Carlos Ruiz proving himself in 2012

Carlos Ruiz most commonly known as "Chooch" by Philadelphia Phillie fans, has been electrifying so far this season.  Chooch has always been a solid defensive catcher for the Phils over the past few years, but this year we see a different Chooch, one who's looking to prove himself on offense.  He's batting .355 with 7 HRs and 29 RBI.  The Phillies sit dead last in the NL East.  Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are still out.  Chooch is the Phils only bright spot so far this year.  He's on pace to hit over 25 HRs and have over 100 RBI, let's just hope he continues playing this way the rest of the season.  Chooch is the best catcher in baseball right now and should represent the Philadelphia Phillies organization come July in the All-Star game.

No excuses for the Eagles this year

The Eagles have added pieces to the puzzle this offseason, adding DeMeco Ryans, and drafting Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks.  This team is built with tremendous speed and talent, and after last year's disgraceful year, this is the year that will make or break this team.  Mike Vick needs to play like the Vick we all saw in 2010 when he took Kolb's job.  The defense should be electrifying with the amount of speed/ability just within the front seven, not to mention the two all-pro cornerbacks.  The defense will definately be better than it was last year, no doubt about it.  The only question that poses itself to me, is can this team stay healthy all year?  Vick being the type of quarterback he is, is going to take hits, we all know that, and as fans gasp for air everytime we see him take one.  LT Jason Peters tore his achillies not once but twice this offseason which pretty much seals the deal on him missing the entire year.  Peters is a dominate force at LT being selected to the Pro Bowl from 2007 through 2011 that will be missed this year.  Which leads me to my final concern, which is LeSean McCoy, Yes, McCoy is a concern to me, not as a player, but because how much the Eagles use him.  Think back to the Brian Westbrook days, he was great for a bunch of years, until he started becoming injury prone, which was because the team burnt him out, they used him too much.  Ronnie Brown was clearly not the answer last year, and Dion Lewis looked horrendous on kick returns (can't see him doing much better at RB). All in all the Eagles are built to WIN, and this year they should WIN.  Look for the birds to have a much better record this year and look to make a splash in the playoffs.

Roger Goodell is ruining football

Most players can understand what Roger Goodell is trying to do by making all these rules to protect players, and as a fan and former player of the sport I also understand what he is trying to do.  BUT, as of recently when he suspended Saints LB Johnathan Vilma, I can no longer support such a man.  Vilma is now suspended for a entire season, but has appealed.  Along with Vilma, three other players have also been suspended but not an entire year like Vilma received.  This suspension was given by Goodell because of the players "involvement" in the bounty scandle.  This is absurd.  No players in the game of football ever try to intentionally hurt another play, there may be a player that a coach says make sure you hit him as hard as you can, but there is never any intention to go out and hurt another player.  The coaches that were telling the players to do these things were already taken care of and given suspensions, now that Goodell is going after players is an absolute disgrace.  This guy needs to go.

Former Bird retires and current player traded

According to ESPN sources, Pro Bowl CB Asante Samuel was traded today to the Atlanta Falcons, details on what the Eagles will receive have yet to be released.

On another note, Former Philadelphia Eagles Safety Brian Dawkins announced his retirement monday after 16 seasons in the NFL.  As a football fan, and as a fan of the Eagles, Brian Dawkins will be remembered as a legend in Philadelphia.  Dawkins was a role model for how young athletes should play the game, passionate, emotional, and relentless.  Every play was 100mph until the whistle, he played for a cause, he played for his teammates, his coaches,  his city, and his family.  Every team needs a "Brian Dawkins".

What will the Eagles do in the draft?

Well folks, the draft is almost here and many questions remain up in the air with what the Eagles will do with their first round pick.  Jason Peters will be out for the year so maybe they go O-line... and we all know Andy Reid loves drafting linemen.. but the Eagles signed Demetress Bell to replace him so I do not see them going with an O-linemen.  More realistically I see the Eagles drafting defense.  One of the things they struggled desperately with last year in the first part of the season was stopping the run, they gave up 112.3 yards per game on the ground and in my eyes that's too much.  It is imperative not to let the opposing team's offense control the clock by gaining yards on the ground, it gases the defense and essentially could lose you games.  One thing the birds did not struggle with last year was getting to the quarterback, Babin and Cole dominated in those categories.  The Eagles did acquire DeMeco Ryans from the Texans in March and should be a solid MLB for the years to come.  In my opinion the birds need to draft a defensive tackle who can take up a lot of space in the middle, a run stopper. Cullen Jenkins is an undersized DT and should not be on the field on first and second down.  The birds have a solid secondary and a young linebacking core that got experience under their belt last year, look for more production out of the OLBs and the birds to draft a big man in the middle of the defensive line.

A Football Player

A football season usually runs from September to around December, only four months out of the year.  What are the players doing the other eight months?  Training harder than any other athletes in the world.  Every aspect of the game of football makes it an explosive sport.  Players need to prepare themselves for what is to come.  At any competitive level of football, athletes go through vigorous training for eight months getting bigger, faster, and stronger.  This sport is not for everyone, the sacrifice these athletes make for their team is phenomenal.  Below is a video of a college team, doing what most teams now do from the high school level up to and including the pros.

Phillies open the season with a solid win

Today's season opener was a pitching duel in Pittsburgh but the Phillies came away with the win 1-0. In the top of the 7th inning the Phils scored the only run of the day with a sac fly from Carlos Ruiz, who was also 3 for 3 on the day.  Halladay pitched a solid 8 innings giving up 0 runs, and Papelbon the new closer finished the game and got the save.  Even with Utley and Howard out of the lineup the Phils have shown that they can still win.  Another bright note for the Phils was John Mayberry who will be starting in left field this season, Mayberry went 2 for 4 on the day, look for him to be a difference maker this year.

NFL reveals new NIKE jerseys

I was very dissapointed to see that most of the jersey's still look the same, even after switching to Nike.  The only team that really changed their jersey were the Seattle Seahawks.  Like many other fans, I hoped for a new exciting uniforms to come from Nike.  Below is a link to view pictures of the new jersey's that were revealed in New York City today.

http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d8280d850#id:09000d5d8280d96b

Baseball season!

The Phillies will kick off their season this thursday against the Pirates at 1:35pm, tune in for what will be another great season of Philadelphia baseball!

Asante on his way out of Philly

Just like I said in the past, the Eagles have been looking to trade Asante.  With so much depth at the cornerback position there is no point in keeping the aging athlete.  Asante is 31 years old, which in Andy Reid's mind, makes him old.  Andy is going to ship him out of Philly just like he did with Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent in the past.  This move also saves the birds over 9 million next season, which financially makes the move the right one.