Random Stuff

FREE AGENCY LOOMS FOR BIRDS 

The NFL free agent period gets under way in a matter of minutes and there’s been a lot of speculation over what the Eagles will do.  The biggest name being mentioned is Patriots’ Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, who will most likely command the biggest salary for a defensive back in league history.  Will the Eagles shell out that kind of cash?  Probably not, but there’s been too many rumors circulating to think that they’re not at least thinking about it.

In any event, the team will probably show their hand, for the most part, in the next couple of days.  Odds are they won’t be pulling in any Pro Bowlers, but that wouldn’t mean they failed.  There are hardly any Pro Bowlers out there to be had.  They’ll be looking at defensive ends (Bengal Justin Smith?), wide receivers (Texan Andre Davis?), and maybe Giant safety Gibril Wilson.

THE OTHER FOOTBALL GIVING PHILLY A SHOT

To be honest, I’ve never watched one second of an MLS game.  Every four years I put in a solid effort to watch the World Cup (like a good Liberal American should), but I wouldn’t call myself a soccer fan.  However, I’m pretty happy about the MLS coming to Philly.  The best part is, the team will actually play its games in Delaware County, the native county of the Broad Street Believers.  Granted, our hometown doesn’t much resemble Chester, but it’s still cool.  Now I just hope they come up with a name that isn’t totally lame.  Here’s hoping it has nothing to do with the Liberty Bell, the Revolutionary War, or “Freedom”.  Us liberals hate that stuff.

MYERS GETS OPENING DAY START

The Phillies surprised everyone this week by announcing that Brett Myers, not Cole Hamels, will start on Opening Day.  They gave a couple of legitimate, honest reasons for the decision: (1) They want Myers to know that he is a starter again and won’t be going back to the bullpen and (2) they want to reward him for unselfishly moving to the ‘pen last year. 

I believe those reasons were factors in the decision, but I’d also say there were reasons they didn’t mention.  To me, with this move, the Phillies basically said, “Cole Hamels is more mature and professional than Brett Myers”.  On the one hand, that’s great.  It’s awesome that Hamels, at such a young age, is completely fine with not getting the Opening Day start, even though he definitely deserves it.  On the other hand, it’s disappointing (if not surprising) that Myers still needs to be coddled like this.  There’s no doubt that the team ultimately decided to make him their Opening Day starter because they’re concerned about his mind-set and figured his ego needed some stroking.  But that’s who Myers is.  In the end, I’m impressed with Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee for having the foresight to make this decision.  When you have 25 players on your roster, a few are inevitably going to need some “special attention” to keep them happy and productive.  If this is the sort of attention Myers needs, I say give it to him.  The coaches kept saying Hamels and Myers were starters #1 and 1A.  That’s obviously nonsense.  Hamels is the ace of this staff, and hopefully will be for at least the next decade, but we’d all love to see Myers be a solid #2.