New episodes of Eaglescast will be coming soon as Eagles Training Camp approaches.  Donovan McNabb has said his shoulder is not a concern.  Andy Reid has said that he has no problem having three defensive backs (Lito Sheppard, Asante Samuel, and Sheldon Brown).  Lito has said that he’ll be ready to play this coming season - wherever that is.  And in the meantime the Eagles have been busy getting this year’s draft class ready for NFL action. In the meantime, if you missed it, check out Howard Eskin’s interview with Donovan McNabb and then check out Mike Missanelli’s interview with #5.

Just a little different.

How was your weekend? Couldn’t have been all that great if you consider yourself a Philly sports fan. Apparently God felt he had taken too much time off from torturing the City of Brotherly love. Maybe he’s pissed off about the eye-popping murder rate, but on Saturday, he made sure to reassert his hate for Philadelphia On the same day, the Phillies big offseason acquisition and the Flyers leader in points, goals and assists went down. Brad Lidge re-injured his surgically repaired right knee on his first pitch off the mound and Mike Richards tore his left hamstring in an overtime loss to Florida. Richards joins fellow teammates Derian Hatcher, Joffrey Lupul, and Simon Gagne (out for the season), on the DL. Oh, by the way, the Flyers haven’t won in 10 games and have plummeted to 9th in the conference standings.

If you’re a city college baskeball fan, the Big 5 is looking to get shut out of the NCAA tournament for the first time in 31 years. St. Joe’s and Villanova both kept their slim hopes alive over the weekend, but for both it might be too little too late. The Hawks had lost three of four (including an awful loss to La Salle) before topping Rhode Island on Sunday. The Wildcats meanwhile have won four of five including a huge win against UCONN, but they had lost five in a row before that. The Cats are tied for eighth in the Big East and need to win three of their last four (Marquette, Louisville, USF, Providence) if not all four and probably a game in the Big East tourney. Temple didn’t have a shot at the NCAA’s but had been playing good ball until a loss to Fordham. La Salle and Penn have had down years, and another city team, Drexel, never recovered from last year’s NCAA snub. And just for the hell of it, Kyle McAlarney dropped nine three’s including one from the Notre Dame bench, as they beat the ‘Cuse yesterday. Syracuse (and their seven man rotation) is another team that probably needs to win out to get into the dance.

I tell you all this - not to ruin your day, but instead to warn you: I had a dream (nightmare?) last night that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb gets sacked and injures his knee in next year’s game at Dallas.   I couldn’t make this up.  Maybe it was the product of the recent string of injuries to hit the Philadelphia teams that embedded this in my psyche; regardless it seemed fitting. I’m eager for the schedule to come out so I can see exactly when the Eagles travel to big D. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s probably at a crucial juncture in the season. On that note, have a great week, and we’ll have a new episode up for you in the next day or two.

Today the Eagles signed Brandon “Bam” Childress to a two year contract. The 2005 undrafted rookie spent the last two seasons on New England’s practice squad and is just the kind of threat that can make Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis more effective. In three career games, Childress boasts a stat line of five receptions for 39 yards. What? You were expecting Randy Moss or Dante Stallworth?

We’ve got a new episode coming soon and some weekend links for you.  In the meantime, check out my Phillies preview over at Philly Dugout

Both Lito Sheppard and the Eagles denied yesterday’s report that Sheppard had asked the team for permission to seek a trade.  In fact, Sheppard thought Comcast SportsNet’s Derrick Gunn was joking when he called him to verify it.  Sheppard has been plagued by injury problems, but when he’s healthy he is a shut down corner.  He did an outstanding job on Randy Moss with the help of J.R. Reed against the Patriots, and shut down T.O. (and won NFC Defensive Player of the Week) when the Eagles beat the Cowboys in Dallas.  The ‘Birds are already in need for secondary help, and it wouldn’t make much sense to move a player of Sheppard’s ability unless they got another playmaker in the deal.

Sal Paolantonio gives his views on the areas the Eagles need to improve the most.  More or less the same areas we discussed on last week’s show.

Saint Joe’s was in another Big 5 dogfight last night, this time with La Salle, and this time, they couldn’t pull off any last second heroics.   The Hawk’s were listed as one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament in the latest Bracketology before last night’s loss.  I’ve gotta believe losing to the lowly Explorers is the nail in the coffin.  They’ve come up short in every chance they’ve had for a Key Win (@Syracuse, Gonzaga, @Creighton, @Xavier) and last night they came up short trying to avoid a Big Loss.  All bets are off when it comes to Big 5 games, especially at the Palestra, but something tells me the selection committee won’t see it that way.

The Sixers get back to business today, following All-Star weekend, in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot.  Play-by-play man Marc Zumoff makes a point,  counter-point argument for both the playoffs and the lottery.

If you haven’t seen it yet, then its safe to say you haven’t watched sports television for the past 72 hours(CSN and SportsCenter both carried it), but here’s the prank Leslie Gudel of CSN and Brett Myers helped orchestrate on second year pitcher Kyle Kendick.  It raised the bar for pranks everywhere.

As far as the possibility of signing Kris Benson (which happened after the latest show), I probably came off as pretty pessimistic about it.  The signing itself I have no problem with.  They signed him to a minor league deal and they’re on the hook for $100,000 if Benson doesn’t look like he’s gonna pan out.  Classic case of low risk, high reward.  My bigger problem, as it has been all winter, is that they don’t have a natural middle of the rotation and instead have a #4 in Kendrick and four #5’s between Moyer, Eaton, Blackley, and Chad Durbin.  John Infanti of Philscast has begun his NL East preview starting with the rotations.  Without giving too much away, he makes a case for the Phillies rotation as stronger than the Mets, but says that neither one is the best in the division.

Tomorrow Eaglescast is going to welcome guest host Mike Rippe to the show. Mike graduated from Syracuse in 2007 and he’s gonna represent a bit of a change to the show. He’s not an Eagles fan, so he’ll give a bit of an objective eye to our discussions- an outside observer to the 2007-08 train wreck we called football season. Topics for tomorrow’s show will include LJ Smith getting franchised, as well as what it could mean for the direction the Eagles plan to go next year. The Sixers have won 4 straight on their homestand, including a great win over the Mavericks last night…or was it so great…we’ll get into a little lottery vs playoffs discussion. And Thursday, Valentines Day, Phillies’ pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, Fl for Spring Training. If you ask me, it’s the best thing that ever happened to Valentines Day. Make sure to tune in and get your thoughts in: host@eaglescast.com or call in at 215-253-3712

I hate Duke.  No, it’s not original, but ask me if I care.  I can’t stand them.  If there’s any positive to take from Duke basketball, it’s that it gives ugly scrawny white kids everywhere hope that they too can play a major D-I sport on a big stage.  Look at the players on that team, and do you really wonder why the Lacrosse team pulls the most tail on campus?  I’m still trying to figure out how Kyle Singler can not only put up 24 points in yesterday’s win vs. BC, but 11 rebounds? He’s a stick.  When he turns sideways, he actually disappears, there’s nothing to him.  I’ve watched North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough literally get assaulted during games including Gerald Henderson’s right elbow smash last year.  Even this year, Hansbrough has gotten attacked a la ‘hack-a-Shaq” by teams like Georgia Tech and Maryland.  And to his credit, he fights through it every game, produces a double-double just by stepping onto the court, and knocks down 80% of his free throws after taking all that abuse.  If teams employed half of the abuse on Singler and the rest of the Blue Devils as they do on Hansbrough, I can’t imagine he’d be able to walk off the court, not to mention with 24 points and 11 boards.  Not that it would necessarily change the outcome of these games as Duke’s biggest strength  was evident in the matchup against UNC with its depth and in turn the ability to run, spread the floor, and knock down three’s.

Phil Martelli knew his team had another golden opportunity today but St. Joe’s blew yet another chance to chalk up a key win.  That makes four missed opportunities: losses to Gonzaga and Creighton in OT, a loss at Syracuse, and today a come from ahead loss at Xavier.  See you in the NIT boys.  That all but seals the deal that the city of Philadelphia will be left out in the cold for this year’s dance.

Phil Jasner takes a look at some of the Sixers’ possible long range plans.

The Phillies get ready for Spring Training as Ryan Howard’s arbitration hearing looms.

In the interest of starting everyone’s week on a positive note, on his way out the door, Inquirer writer Don McKee says he won’t live to see a Philadelphia championship.  He’s 58, and doesn’t plan on checking out until he’s at least 80.  That means I’ll almost be his age by the time it happens.  I hate my life.

Here at Eaglescast, the Eagles are obviously the focus but we try include all sports (except Nascar) in one way or another.  For you fishing enthusiasts, my buddy Jimmy has a fishing blog and is as knowledgeable about the sport as anyone you’ll find.  He’s been published in NJ Angler and The Fisherman magazines so make sure to check him out, especially if you like Striper fishing.

Rich Hoffman is pretty sure he threw up a little bit in his mouth during the Mets’ introduction of Johan Santana.  Hoffman, like some of his Philly colleagues, points out that Santana was only 15-13 last year.  That’s hardly indicative of a bad season though.  Santana had 3.33 ERA on a Minnesota team that ranked 25th in runs scored and hit .264.   The Mets scored almost 100 more runs than the Twins and Santana’s ERA is liable to drop to the 2.75 range in the NL.  I don’t like it any more than anyone else, but the Mets are gonna be tough to beat.

Ron Hextall was honored at the First Intermission of the Flyers - Capitals game, but Philly came up short 4-3.  There was a  controversial non-goal call that went against the Flyers as the officials ruled Scott  Hartnell pushed Caps goalie Olaf Kolzig and the puck into the net.  But as Ed Moran writes, they dug their own grave, falling into a 4-1 hole.

In the meantime, the Flyers should find out by the weekend if they’ll have Peter Forsberg back this year.

John Smallwood sees some problems with the Shaq to Suns trade.   And after watching last night’s double OT Suns - Hornets  shootout that ended with a 132-130 Hornets’ win….you’re telling me Shaq is going to make it up and down the court and be productive in a game like that??

To the delight of the Giants, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo won’t be leaving to coach the Washington Redskins.   It would have been a quick leap for Spags to go from linbackers coach (with the Birds) to D coordinator to Head Coach in just 2 seasons and Washington isn’t exactly the most desirable franchise to work for.  Every year it seems they’re about to get over the hump and yet it never happens.

Saturday’s Temple - St Joe’s game was a perfect example of Big 5 basketball at its best.  Even though I had been at school in Syracuse for the last four years, I still managed to catch a Big 5 game or two each winter break, but this was the best Big 5 contest I’d witnessed in a while.

We’ve had St. Joseph’s season tickets since I’ve been in kindergarten so it was usually the Hawks vs whomever at the Palestra.  But with my brother and I away at school, my dad found himself making it to less and less games and finally gave up his season tickets this year.  I talked to my buddy Dan who goes to Temple and sure enough he was able to get me a ticket to Saturday’s Hawks vs Owls game with one catch - it was in the Temple student section.  As an aspiring sportsbroadcaster/journalist this was a perfect opportunity to be completely objective - not that I really had a choice if I wanted to make it out of the Liacouras Center alive.

It was a great game all the way, but the final minutes were phenomenal.  The Hawks had trailed for most of the second half, and Mark Tyndale looked like he was going to single-handedly seal the Owl victory.  Tyndale scored Temple’s final 10 points down the stretch and made one monster block.  But with a chance to seal the game with free throws, up 67-65, the senior missed the front end of a 1 and 1.  St. Joe’s rushed down the court and Pat Calathes ended up with the ball behind the three point line with the closest Owl defender at least a SEPTA stop away.  After Calathes sank the go-ahead 3, the student section around me - rowdy and boisterous all game - went silent.  Surprisingly enough Temple was able to get the ball coast to coast in under 4 seconds but a last minute layup attempt was blocked by Ahmad Nivins.  The Owl faithful wanted a goal-tending call - and if the ball had been released in time, they would have had a case.  But based on all the replays I’ve seen it looked like Tyndale hadn’t yet released the ball when the backboard lit up to signal the end of the game.

The students’ shock and silence turned to anger for some as they threw anything they could get their hands on at the refs and Hawk players as they ran for the cover of the locker room.  I knew the feeling, it’s not like I hadn’t been there (of course every Philly fan has).  I was at the Elite 8 game between St. Joe’s and Oklahoma St. in East Rutherford when the Sooners lost the ball only to have it end up in the hands of John Lucas who sank an ugly three off the back of the iron with 6 seconds left to win the game.  I was too much in shock to make the jump to angry, I was completely numb.  I was stone sober, but supposedly I drove four hours back to Syracuse that night from North Jersey.  I couldn’t tell you how I got back.  My buddy Tommy was in the same state until an obnoxious Sooner fan got in his face.  That was a mistake.  Tommy got angry and he knocked him and the few teeth he had left out with one punch.    As for Saturday night, I wasn’t kidding about trying to get out of their alive - I actually wanted to get out of the Liacouras Center and into the lovely North Philly neighborhood that surrounds Temple University.

The thing that struck me most about the Owl animosity towards the small Hawk contingent in the upper corner of the arena was that it’s exactly the way St. Joe’s fans act towards Villanova.  “Preppies, rich kids, Daddy’s paying your credit card bill” were all things TU undergrads were directing at St. Joe’s fans.  And of course the Hawk students responded the way  ‘Nova fans do with a chant of “safety school.”  And so goes the food chain of Big 5 schools.  As my buddy Dan said “Temple always gets S— on.”

Final thoughts:  Temple is playing really well right now and it looks like they’ve turned the proverbial corner as long as they don’t stay down about this loss….  Dionte Christmas is a lot of fun to watch….  St. Joe’s couldn’t really afford to lose this game if they want to keep their NCAA hopes alive and now that they’ve won an intense close game (OT losses to Gonzaga and Creighton), maybe they can really take off.

You know that feeling you get sometimes when you’re watching a game and you feel like you know something is gonna happen right before it does? Well, the exact opposite happened when I watching last night’s Flyers’ game. In the waning minutes of the second period down 5-2 to the arch-nemesis Devils, I’m thinking “ya know, they’re at home, if they can score before the end of the period, maybe they can pull it out or at least force overtime in the 3rd.” Sure enough, with less than 10 seconds left, Jeff Carter redirected Randy Jones’ shot past Martin Brodeur and the Flyers were down two as the game headed to intermission. And sure enough, two goals were scored in the opening minutes of the 3rd period - two New Jersey goals that is. 7-3 Devils, continuing to own the Flyers. And that was the end of my short-lived run believing in my psychic abilities.

Sam Donnellon examines the role of the F-word, Fear, in this Devils-Flyers saga.

Brett Myers says he’s fine with starting again. Consider me less than convinced, but hopeful.

Pat Gillick is optimistic about avoiding arbitration with Ryan Howard. Not with the $7 mil they’re offering. Bill Conlin looked at some comparative cases in yesterday’s Daily News and it’s pretty clear $10 million is a deal for Howard’s production, 199 strikeouts or not.

I really do want to be optimistic about the Phillies chances this upcoming season, I just can’t get over the very real issues in the starting rotation. I don’t think it’s a coincidence I had trouble sleeping after reading Tom Verducci’s
latest.

Bob Ford echoes a sentiment that John Infanti and I discussed on the Philly Forum - some selective moves and there’s no reason the Eagles can’t make a run next year.

The new plans for the South Philly Sports Complex look pretty wild.