By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor
Thanks to a wedding and three week honeymoon in Greece that included a trip to the ER, your DailyPhiladelphian has been MIA for a lot of good, bad and ugly in the Philly sports world. Time to play a little catch up as we make a comeback heading into the stretch run of the baseball season and the Eagles preseason.
Here we go:
PHILLIES
1. How can you not be enamored with the way the Phillies have continued to show their ability to overcome adversity without Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and others. The fact is that the team was about six games out when I left the country. Now, they are 2.5 games behind Atlanta and leading the Wild Card Chase.
2. Having said that, it may be a tad early to get too excited. Short of the Giants, who with a postseason hope have the Phillies beaten? The Mets, Nationals, Astros and Dodgers don’t exactly put the fear in teams like the Reds, Cardinals, Braves and Padres.
3. While the Phillies are in the midst of a great run, let’s see if the can do it against the Padres and Braves. Look, they’ve beaten who they should, but the still have yet to show they can beat good pitching and give Cole Hamels quality run support.
Roy Oswalt has helped the Phillies fight their way back into postseason contention.
4. Love the trade for Mike Sweeney. At the least, he’s helped to bolster the bench.
5. Like the fact that they called up Domonic Brown and have kept him around. The logic says he needs to play everyday so he can help in the future. However, the future is now and the Phils have a chance to get back to the postseason and maybe the Fall Classic. The bench sucks. Brown provides pop off the bench. Let the kid get some experience now. It can’t hurt to have him in pressure situations.
6. The acquisition of Roy Oswalt is a clutch move that will make the Phillies World Series contenders for the next three years. This move was as much about the next two years as this year. is Oswalt older? Yes. Could he be a No. 3 pitcher instead of an ace in three years? Sure. Is a No. 3 pitcher worth the money he gets in 2012? Better believe it.
EAGLES
1. From what I’ve read while out of the country, the defense has played well and Ernie Simms has been a beast. The team needs better LB play against TEs and in the running game. Had they had that a year ago, the Eagles had a first round bye in the playoffs. Let’s hope this continues.
2. Brandon Graham, whom we hope to interview soon, is on his way to having an impact as a rookie. He is still the favorite among some national media to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. The Eagles need someone to take the pressure off of Trent Cole. Graham could finally fill that void.
Rookie Riley Cooper is going to be a big target for first year starter Kevin Kolb, especially in the Red Zone.
3. The Eagles are as strong at WR as they’ve been in, well, maybe ever. DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are in a position to be the best 1-2 combination in the NFL shortly. Jason Avant came on a year ago. However, it’s rookie Riley Cooper who’s turning heads in camp and who has solidified himself as the No. 4 receiver. Quite frankly, we had a gut instinct this would happen and said as much during minicamps. Wouldn’t surprise us to see Cooper as the third receiver soon. He provides the hight the Eagles lack and will be a big time red zone target.
4. Chad Hall is a longshot to make the Eagles, according to many. If he is as electric with the ball in his hands as I’ve read, he’ll be here in September. If Reno Mahe could make a name for himself here, why not Hall?
5. We’ll have many more thoughts after watching the preseason game tonight.
SIXERS
Love the hiring of Rod Thorn. For the first time since Pat Croce left the team, Ed Snider made a wise basketball decision in hiring Thorn. The former Nets President brings instant credibility to the Sixers. BTW, how lucky is Ed Stefanski? The hiring of Thorn likely buys him another few years as the Sixers GM. In fact, Stefanski may now be in a position to succeed. All the team needs to do now is find a way to beat LBJ, Wade and Bosh.
