Well, when the Phillies and the Eagles are both playing on national television on the same night, I think that calls for a BSB Live Blog. As I write this, the Phillies lead the D-Backs 3-2 in the 4th inning in a game televised by the MLB Network, and the Eagles are about to get underway in Indianapolis on Fox.
8:06 PM: The MLB Network play-by-play guy just brought up that Philly fans booed Santa Claus. He’s officially bad at his job.
8:11 PM: Looks like new defensive coorinator Sean McDermott is a redhead. Nice! Also nice take down by Quintin Demps on a screen play. But the Colts are driving.
8:20 PM: Well, the Colts march down the field and put 6 on the board in their first possession. One play after Asante Samuel very nearly intercepted one in the end zone, Peyton Manning and Anthony Gonzalez execute a perfect fade play to the corner over Samuel for the touchdown. After the passing of Jim Johnson and the injury to Stewart Bradley, the Eagles D is suddenly a bit of an unknown quantity. Certainly there’s no shame in giving up a TD to the Colts in August though.
8:23 PM: The Eagles go 3-and-out in their first possession. I missed the first two plays because the Phillies have the bases juiced!
8:27 PM: The Phils get a run on an RBI ground-out by Joe Blanton. They now lead 4-3 heading into the 5th.
8:31 PM: Manning fumbles and the Birds recover! I don’t who it was that hit him, some new guy. Birds take over at the Indy 25 yard line. Jason Avant drops a pass on the first play. It would be nice to see them punch one in here.
8:34 PM: On 3rd Down, McNabb gives it back on a fumble forced by Dwight Freeney. Freeney is still one of the quickest D-linemen in the league.
8:36 PM: On the first play, there’s a prototypical missed assignment by the Eagles as Reggie Wayne breaks WIDE open for a 76-yard score. The Eagles are looking sloppy on both sides of the ball.
8:40 PM: It was newcomer Ellis Hobbs that missed that assignment. He did have a pretty nice kick return on the ensuing kickoff, taking it up to the 40. We might want to keep Sheldon Brown happy, though.
8:45 PM: In what is becoming a familiar sight in Eagles games, McNabb and Desean Jackson connect on a beautiful pitch-and-catch for a 40-yard TD! 14-7 Colts.
8:49 PM: Back in Philly, Jayson Werth hit his 3rd homer in the last two days to make it 6-3 Phils. Werth and Ryan Howard have been producing a TON of runs in the 4 and 5 spots of the order lately.
8:55 PM: Into the 2nd quarter now and Peyton Manning’s night is done. It looks like Curtis Painter has taken Jim Sorgi’s cushy job as Manning’s backup. It’s good work if you can get it.
9:03 PM: McNabb’s night is also over, as good old A.J. Feeley is now under center. I would imagine that Feeley is fighting for a roster spot with Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb also on board. It’s hard to take anything away from this Eagle offensive performance considering 4/5 of the offensive line starters and Brian Westbrook are nursing injuries. LaSean McCoy looked decent enough. McCoy looks to me like he’s put on a fair amount of muscle since college.
9:09 PM: Meanwhile, the Phillies have broken things wide open and they lead 11-3. In the 6th inning they’ve added five runs on a solo shot by Carlos Ruiz, an RBI single by Chase Utley, and a 3-run bomb by Mr. Howard, who is now just 2 RBI short of 100. Mark Schlereth’s son, Daniel, is pitching for the Diamonbacks, which makes me feel old. Also, this just in: the Phillies are kinda good.
9:40 PM: The Eagles game has hit half-time, which means they’ll be into the third-stringers from now on. Jeremy Maclin dropped a pass. Some running back named Eldra Buckley showed flashes of being pretty decent. The Phillies are up 12-3 and headed to the bottom of the 8th. Joe Blanton has delivered another stellar outing and could pick up the complete game as he’s still only in the low 90’s in pitches through 8 innings. It looks like the drama is done in both of these games, so I’m going to call it a night here on the blog and turn my attention to Mad Men on DVD.
Nice work on the blog, Doog.