Category Archives: Sports

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #5: Eagles at Giants

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So it seems that my prediction for last week might have been just a little off, but hey, even “Nostrad-Amit” can be wrong once in a while (that is an understatement I know…my batting average on picks this year has been along the lines of “Chooch” without the help of Adderall).

On a sun-splashed Colorado afternoon which would surely have had John Denver singing “Rocky Mountain High”, the Eagles were actually competitive for the 1st half, and down only 21-13 at halftime before acquiring a “flat tire” (no pun intended for you Colorado beer fans) and getting blown out in the 2nd half and losing 52-20 in what was surely a “rocky mountain low” on the young season for the Birds.

Perhaps it was the thin Rocky Mountain air that did them in in the 2nd half?  Or perhaps, in anticipation of the series-finale of the AMC hit TV series “Breaking Bad”, the Eagles decided to watch some reruns during the 2nd half and send out members of the Indian table tennis and badminton teams as replacement players.  Coming to think of it, the Indian badminton team may have done a better job covering Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker than whoever was playing in the secondary in the 2nd half.

Got to give props out to Denver though…nice stadium and nice people (though I do prefer the intimacy of our 65,000 seat “LINC” over the 76,000 seat Sports Authority Field).

Sitting in my Denver hotel lobby the morning of the game in my Eagles attire, I was easily approached by a handful of Broncos fans asking if I was headed to the game and initiating conversation (and when does that ever happen in Philadelphia?).  One fan who was working on his laptop, after chatting for 10 minutes, asked if I could watch his computer for a few minutes while he went up to his room.  This writer suspects that if that was, instead, an Eagles fan from home, he would have probably been afraid that I was going to steal his laptop.   Just keeping it real yo…

This week the Birds face the Giants, and while in the past, this has often been a marquee matchup played at 4:25 or on Sunday night, this week’s contest marks a must-win for two teams that have one win between them.

From a prediction standpoint, this game makes me uncomfortable.  I know the Giants are 0-4.  I know the Giants are aging.  I know the Giants have a porous offensive line….which makes picking the Eagles just way too easy.

Just like the Denver Broncos, sitting at 4-0, can’t continue to win forever (and I actually think the Cowboys will upset them this week), the 0-4 Giants, as bad as they are, can’t continue to lose forever either.

With the G-Men playing in front of their home fans this week, I think they’ll unfortunately put together enough quality play to defeat the Eagles, 28-27, and send fans around the Delaware Valley asking all next week if Chip Kelly was the right hire.  But as Yoda once preached patience to Luke Skywalker, we as Eagles fans will have to have patience as well (and a few more solid drafts) before this team will turn things around.

The Last Word – At least in the “something good comes out of something bad” category, an Eagles loss will mean that Glen Macnow, from the WIP midday show with Anthony Gargano, will be forced to wear a dress on Monday’s show.  Perhaps they can get Dustin Hoffman from “Tootsie” and Robin Williams from “Mrs. Doubtfire” and rename Monday’s show “The Three Amigas”??

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week (all times in EST and on Sunday unless otherwise noted):

Saints at Bears  1:00 PM FOX

Lions at Packers  1:00 PM FOX

Seahawks at Colts  1:00 PM FOX

Patriots at Bengals  1:00 PM CBS

Chiefs at Titans  1:00 PM CBS

Ravens at Dolphins  1:00 PM CBS

Broncos at Cowboys  4:25 PM CBS

Texans at Niners  8:30 PM NBC 

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #4: Eagles at Broncos

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Last Thursday, a guy was talking to an attractive woman in a bar, and she was giving him every hint that she would gladly give him her number, and he never took the bait.

Did this really happen?  No (at least not last Thursday), but it’s the best analogy I could use to describe last week’s Eagles – Chiefs game, which resulted in a 26-16 Eagles loss, leaving the Birds at 1-2 on the young season.

The Chiefs were basically GIVING the Eagles the game, but the Birds just wouldn’t take the bait.  Early on, Kansas City couldn’t move the ball on offense, and the Eagles were moving it against a team with an above average defense.  Yet the Birds would constantly shoot themselves in the foot, be it a bad pass, center snaps hitting players’ body parts, or the inability to make a fair catch on a punt.

During the 1st two weeks of the season, it looked like Michael Vick had donned a red cape to play the role of Superman, but he was much more like Clark Kent against the Chiefs, as his ability to make accurate decisions was greatly diminished due to the unrelenting Chiefs pass rush and some bad decisions on his part.

Add to that the pomp and circumstance at halftime, when, instead of the fans having to wait in long lines in the stadium concourse for food, they were treated to a helping of extra value meal #5 – One D-Mac, a side order of pretentiousness, and one large ego…make that super-sized.

I have no argument that Donovan McNabb’s number should be retired – McNabb was the greatest quarterback in Eagles history in my opinion.  But after his “rousing” halftime speech when he was basically preaching to the crowd about how “#5 loves you”, I am now lobbying to change Whitney Houston’s 1992 hit song “I Will Always Love You” to “5 Will Always Love you”, (as mentioned by McNabb in the 3rd person, which was strange in itself).

At least for Donovan’s sake, he had Brian Dawkins as the MC, who is easily the most revered Eagle in modern history, and his presence helped to mask any boos that may have rained down from the crowd when McNabb was introduced.

As for the Birds, they now head to Denver, where Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will be looking to zip passes past them in the thin, light air of Colorado without much interference.  The difficult job of covering Manning’s receivers will fall on the shoulders of the Eagles secondary and much-maligned safety Nate Allen, who couldn’t cover a hoagie tray with saran wrap.

Having said that, I don’t think it will be a blowout the way many are predicting.  The Eagles have played two straight sloppy games and still had the chance to win both in the 4th quarter.  And while the Broncos may be a superior opponent than both the Chargers and the Chiefs, their defense is very suspect.

The Eagles will put points on the board against the Denver defense, their defensive line will put enough pressure on Manning to mask the deficiencies of the secondary, and with ten days to prepare, they will SHOCK THE WORLD!   Birds win 37-34 in a nail-biter.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week (all times in EST and on Sunday unless otherwise noted):

Seahawks at Texans  1:00 PM FOX – If this game was played between utilities, it would be a clash of “gasoline against green energy”.  A possible Superbowl preview?

Bears at Lions  1:00 PM FOX – A showdown of two teams in the NFC “Snowbelt” division…pre-snowfall that is.

Jets at Titans  4:05 PM CBS – Hard to fathom that one of these teams will be 3-1 as of Sunday night, barring the ever popular overtime tie.

Dolphins at Saints  8:40 PM ESPN (Mon) – A showdown of two 3-0 teams as South Beach invades the French Quarter.

The Last Word – Speaking of Miami, am I the only person who thinks of “Miami Vice” (the TV show, not the movie) whenever a Phil Collins song from the ’80’s comes on?

As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #3 2013: Eagles vs Chiefs

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As Broad & Pattison Turns Week #3 2013:  Eagles vs Chiefs

The Honeymoon is Officially Over….

Chip Kelly and the Eagles fans were on a week-long getaway to a remote resort island which included sun and fun, a plethora of activities, dinner and dancing in the evening, and romance at night.  Then, after returning home, Chip forgot to clean the dirty dishes left in the kitchen sink overnight, and chaos ensued.

Talk of a long and joyful union turned to frustration on a sun-soaked Sunday afternoon, as the Birds lost in the closing seconds, 33-30.

While the offense ran up and down the field, scoring on six drives, their three field goals that couldn’t be converted to touchdowns eventually sealed their fate due to a porous defense that couldn’t stop the Chargers for most of the day.

In Week #1, the Redskins began to mount a comeback but eventually ran out of time.  The Chargers, showing no signs of rust, ran roughshot up and down the field from the 1st quarter, as if there were only plastic tackle dummies standing in the secondary.

The good news is that the Eagles won’t have to let this loss linger in their minds for long, as the Chiefs come into town for a Thursday night affair.  The bad news is that there might not be enough time to figure out exactly what went wrong.

Not only will Thursday’s game feature the return of former coach Andy Reid, but also a ceremony to retire former quarterback Donovan McNabb’s number, which will no doubt add some intrigue to Reid’s return.

When Terrell Owens returned to Philadelphia as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, the slogan was “Get your popcorn ready”.   So perhaps this week’s slogan should be “Get your cheeseburgers ready”?

When Andy Reid was the head coach in Philadelphia, he never hid his affinity for an all beef patty on a bun, invoking memories of Wimpy from the Popeye cartoon.  And while the Birds had a great run for most of their fourteen years with Reid at the helm, whenever it came to the NFC championship, it seemed that the opponent was eating Popeye’s spinach to bypass the Eagles on the way to the Super Bowl.

And while Donovan was one of the greatest quarterbacks in Eagles history, perhaps it was the “special sauce, lettuce, cheese” that caused him to get sick during the two-minute drive in the Super Bowl, which seemed more like a five-hour drive to Boston in rush hour traffic.  Either way, those two will forever be joined at the hip, as Reid drafted McNabb and both enjoyed success together during their early years in Philadelphia.

As for the game itself, the Chiefs come in at 2-0 and are much improved from their 2-14 season of a year ago.  The Eagles have an offense that is capable of winning the Super Bowl, but a defense that is capable of going 0-16.  With only four days to prepare, the Birds will score a lot of points but will fall short, losing 37-34 to “Big Red”.  Andy Reid heads back to KC with his team at 3-0 and celebrates by enjoying some Kansas City barbecue.

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the Week (all times in EST and on Sunday unless otherwise noted):

Packers at Bengals  1:00 PM FOX – The Cheeseheads invade the Queen City in a intra-conference matchup.

Texans at Ravens 1:00 PM CBS – The Ravens probably won’t repeat as Super Bowl champions, but at least the number of statements made by a Ravens player that make absolutely no sense will decrease significantly now that Ray Lewis has retired.

Falcons at Dolphins 4:05 PM FOX – Buckhead vs South Beach.  Miami is usually a favorite hotspot for fans of the road team, but not sure if that applies to Atlanta, where Georgia Tech and any SEC team is more popular than the Falcons.

Colts at Niners  4:25 PM CBS – The coach of the 49ers plays against the team that he almost guided to the Super Bowl as a quarterback.

The Last Word:  Chris Berman of ESPN, who seems to have a “man crush” on Andy Reid, went out of his way last Sunday to mention that Chip Kelly should thank Reid for all of the playmakers he has on offense.  Berman conveniently forgot to mention that Kelly has no playmakers on defense due to a series of bad drafts when Reid was the coach of the Eagles.

“As Broad & Pattison Turns”: 2013 Week #2 – Eagles vs. Chargers

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The much-anticipated Chip Kelly “magical mystery” tour finally took off on Monday night, passing “GO” several times but not bothering to stop and collect $200 – it was going way too fast.

It didn’t bother to pick up any inexpensive properties on Mediterranean or Baltic Avenues, nor any high-end properties on Park Place or Boardwalk either.

Instead, much like the Acela Express rumbling down the Northeast Corridor, the Eagles offense rumbled through the Redskins defense as if they were a local DC Metro station that wasn’t equipped to handle them.

The Redskins tried to make a game of it in the 2nd half, but luckily for the Birds, the “rustoleum” didn’t peel off of RG3’s legs until it was too late, and the much maligned secondary, held together with some bobby pins and some scotch tape, managed to hold on just long enough.

So there you have it…a team that went 4-12 last season got off to a start like no one envisioned, but one that every “Iggles” fan will gladly take.  What does this all mean?   I have no clue…one game does not a season make, and before Eagles fans start making Superbowl proclamations on WIP & 97.5, there is still ample time for the opponent to figure out exactly what Chip Kelly is doing, and also ample time for the secondary to show their true colors.

An interesting observation from our seats during Monday night’s game was watching Chip Kelly on the field an hour before his first NFL game.  When his team was initially the only one practicing, he stood and watched as any other coach would.  But as soon as the Redskins took their side of the field to practice, Chip stood at the 50-yard line, arms folded, and stared stoically at the Redskins practice for the whole 30-45 minutes they were on the field, as if he was mentally taking in every play & every formation they were running through osmosis.

I have to give credit where credit is due – it wasn’t I who observed Chip’s intense focus on the Redskins but my father, who pointed it out and quickly remarked, as a distraught Eagles fan,  “you would NEVER see Andy Reid doing that”.  Sure, I was sitting right next to him the whole time, but I was focused on other important matters, such as whether my next adult beverage would be a Hefeweizen or the lower calorie Miller Lite (I chose the Hefeweizen).

Last week’s win was very reminiscent of the season opener in 2000, when the Eagles flew to Dallas and surprisingly spanked the Dallas Cowboys, 41-14 in the famous “pickle juice game”.  However, the following week, they looked lifeless and lost in their own home opener against the New York Giants, losing 33-18.

The G-Men were the eventual NFC representative in the Super Bowl that year, losing to the Baltimore Ravens.  And while no one expects the San Diego Chargers, this week’s opponent, to be as formidable a foe as the Giants were, it would be foolhardy for the Eagles to overlook this game and look ahead to Andy Reid and the Chiefs coming to town for a Thursday night clash on a short week.

Looking into my crystal bill this week, my “alter ego”, Nostrada-mit, sees an easy Eagles victory, with the Chargers scoring late to make it somewhat respectable, 35-21.  I just hope the Chargers batteries go out before my cellphone’s does…

Amit’s Marquee Matchups of the week (all times in EST and on Sunday unless otherwise noted):

Vikings at Bears 1:00 PM FOX – The Vikings play their 2nd straight on the road, trying to avoid going 0-2 on the young season.  The Bears play their 2nd straight at home, trying to go 2-0 (also on the young season).  Then again, the Bears always seem to get off to a fast start, only to falter in the 2nd half of the season, so maybe they should lose instead?

Broncos at Giants 4:25 PM CBS – Another edition of the “Manning Bowl”.  Should be a dandy.  If big bro Peyton beats ‘lil bro Eli, and the Birds beat the Chargers, we’ll have a two game lead on the Giants two weeks into the season.  SWEET!!!

Niners at Seahawks 8:30 PM NBC – The NFC West used to be known as the “NFC Worst”, but with these two powerhouse teams vying for the NFC crown, that has now changed.  The Seahawks will try to get a leg up in the battle for the NFC West, and their home field “12th man” will surely come into play.    Won’t be a shock if the Seahawks win, but will be a shock if the sun comes out in the depressing Pacific Northwest weather.

The Last Word – This week’s blog, boys and girls, is sponsored by the number “5″ due to the following:

1)  Since 2009, the Eagles opponent in their home opener (Saints, Packers, Giants, Ravens in chronological order) has gone on to win the Super Bowl that season.  That streak will end at 5 since the Chargers will not win the Super Bowl this year.

2) After the Eagles upset victory over the Redskins on Monday night, the Birds are now 5-0 in road games that my father has attended.  Go figure….

 

“As Broad & Pattison Turns” August 2013

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Amit ‘s “As Broad & Pattison Turns” August Edition

A month and a half of Eagles training camp and preseason football has come and gone, and with it, the anticipation of a new season is upon us.  Michael Vick and Nick Foles both displayed that they were capable of handling the quarterback position, with Vick narrowly beating out Foles for the starting job.

Vick looked errorless in his first two preseason games, but after he was anointed the starters’ job, went back to being somewhat inconsistent in the 3rd preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But that is the knock on Vick…when he is under pressure to perform and to prove himself, as he was in 2010 when he acquired the starting job after Kevin Kolb was injured in the first game of the season, he can look unstoppable and run the offense like a machine.

But once Vick has the security of knowing that he is the man at the helm, he goes back to his bad habits of holding onto the ball too long and having a bad penchant for turnovers.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly did the right thing by not handing over the starting job to Vick at the outset of training camp.  Hopefully, if Vick struggles, Chip won’t hesitate to give the job back to Nick Foles, who doesn’t have the natural ability of Vick but may prove to be better at avoiding mistakes in the long run.

The rest of the offense and the special teams look to be quite formidable and have the ability to make big plays, except when running back Bryce Brown and kick returner Damaris Johnson hold the ball as if they were playing “hot potato”.

The defense, on the other hand, is this team’s “Achilles Heel”, and will be a work in progress for most of the season.  A wretched defense from 2012 cannot be turned over completely in the span of a year, and it may take some time to figure out who the keepers will be on that side of the ball.

The pass rush may turn out to be decent, and it will have to be to mask what is an unknown and unproven secondary.     Bad draft picks from the recent past such as safety Nate Allen and linebacker Casey Matthews may have their days numbered as Eagles, though Allen may be kept, just for the lack of available and experienced bodies out on the field.

The final preseason game against the Jets turned out to be a night off for the starters, but represented “one last hurrah” for those on the bubble in danger of being cut.   Who is kept and who goes will also largely depend on what players are released from other teams that may be of some help to the Eagles.  Stay tuned…

PHILLIES – Last month, I stated that we would lose interest in the Phillies by Sept. 1st.  Unfortunately, I was wrong – most of us had lost interest by August 1st, as the team lost 19 of 24 after the All-Star break, prompting management to fire manager Charlie Manual.

The writing was already on the wall that Charlie would be gone after the season, but with the Phillies resurrecting the role of “Dead Man Walking”, something had to be done to revive what was a team without a pulse.

While Manuel was never quite the baseball strategist, and seemed to struggle with the “double switch”, I give him credit for guiding the 2008 team to its first World Series in twenty-eight years.

On Sept. 10th of that season, the Phillies, coming off a 7-3 loss to the Marlins, were 3.5 games behind the division leading Mets, four games behind the wildcard leading Brewers (whom they were about to start a 4-game series at home against), and in danger of missing the playoffs once again.

The Phillies swept Milwaukee in that series, going 13-3 the rest of the way, and had a magical run through the playoffs, culminating in a World Series clinching victory in Game 5 against Tampa Bay which took two nights to complete due to the game being suspended in the middle of the sixth inning (which I was lucky enough to attend on both nights).

During that magical run, Charlie Manual kept throwing out J.C Romero in the 7th inning, Ryan Madson in the 8th, and closer Brad Lidge in the 9th….and it happened to work every night from mid-September onwards, while he allowed his talented core of offensive players to perform on the field without screwing it up.

But while I give Charlie his due, can someone PLEASE explain to me when exactly he 1) Eradicated polio from 3rd world countries and 2) Saved ten children from a burning building??  Since that is the kind of recognition he has received AFTER being released from the Phillies.

New manager Ryne Sandberg  has gotten the team playing energized baseball once again, which bodes well for 2014, since there doesn’t seem to be much room to change what is an aging core whose best days may be behind them.  The Phillies should still have a good 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation next year with Cole Hamels & Cliff Lee, but past that, who knows?  Unfortunately, for the 2nd straight year, the “Bank” shall be silent come October…

SIXERS – If the Sixers ownership and management were the Founding Fathers of our country, it would have taken them ten years to write the Declaration of Independence and another five years to announce to the British and the “New World” peeps that we had declared independence.

Actually, on the day that they were to declare independence, they would have instead announced that the local general store, which coincidentally happened to be owned by one of them, was having a 2 for 1 sale on horse and buggy supplies.

But such is the nature of the NBA in Philadelphia these days – bad basketball and bad ownership.  If the Sixers plan eventually works (which is quite possible) and they acquire the right players, the fans will come back.  But in the meantime, some positive P.R from the owners’ box wouldn’t hurt.

Then again, perhaps 1) Public Relations and 2) Analytics just don’t mix?

FLYERS – Nothing much to report here, expect that Claude Giroux’s golf game isn’t going quite as planned.

The Last Word:

While it’s great that we join a gym in order to get/stay in shape, why do we drive around for ten minutes in the gym parking lot to find a closer parking spot instead of just walking the extra few feet?