Classic

Philles 11 Mets 10

Five Hits©

Five Hits© as you watch college football kick off tonight...

1. Andy Reid...We've been waiting for someone to write about this. Both your sons have been arrested for allegedly waving guns at people, driving under the influence of narcotics and a variety of other charming things. Reid says it has no impact on his ability to coach the Philadelphia Eagles. That can't possibly be true, can it? And if it is, doesn't that make him an absolutely crappy dad? Read more here.

2. Jason from Laguna Beach is getting hitched. Yes, it's true.

3. The latest from Our Favorite ESPN.com Loser Jeffri Chadiha? Yesterday, he wrote that the Cleveland Browns made a smart move by keeping rookie QB Brady Quinn on the bench to start the season next week. "The bottom line is that the more Quinn waits, the more he'll grow." Wow. Now that's an original thought. Letting a rookie QB sit a while instead of having him get his head kicked in playing on a bad team. How did Chadiha get so darn smart? If you want to waste your time, or if you simply want to read a bad column, feel free.

4. We love Kirk Herbstreit. Yes, he pimps The Ohio State, but his college football info is the best. Yesterday, he wrote a dandy of a college football kick off article.

5. Oh, wait. Chris Fowler actually knows more than Herbie. And this is one of the only times his article is free.

M-V-P Leads Phillies in Sweep of Mets

The e-mail (a simple one liner: Losing leads of 5 runs and 3 runs at this point in the season is simply AWFUL.) was sent to My Father and Uncle. The blog was ready to be updated. Amazingly (if not temporarily) Adam Eaton was off the hook as the Official Whipping Boy of this blog. Instead, there were two replacements from the Phillies. Geoff Geary, whom I've always loathed (as a pitcher), but never publicly flogged because, well -- because he went to Oklahoma. And Antonio Alfonseca.

Looking to put a four-game-sweep-beat-down on the New York Mets, and in the process cut the Mets' lead to two games, Geary and Alfonseca somehow managed to blow leads of two and four runs, respectively.

All the momentum gained the previous three nights was about to be flushed down the can. To add insult, ex-Phillie Billy Wagner, the guy who always correctly called out Phillies management for not wanting to win, was in to close the door for the Mets.

Jason Werth singled to start the ninth. After stealing 2nd and 3rd base, he was singled home by Tadahito Iguchi to tie the score at 10. When he, too, stole 2nd, Wagner then intentionally walked M-V-P Candidate #2 Jimmy Rollins. All that was left was M-V-P Candidate # 1 Chase Utley's game winning single, which plated Iguchi.

Wow.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

The Phillies, down 2-0 in the bottom of the 8th inning, came back to beat the first place Mets 4-2 last night on Ryan Howard's 10thing inning home run.

Great, sure. But nothing miraculous.

No, the miracle was that Adam Eaton, heretofore this blog's favorite whipping boy, actually pitched a decent game. He went 5 2/3 innings, yielding 5 hits and 2 runs. In doing so, he managed to lower his season ERA to 6.23.

He is still a stiff. And certainly not worth even half the $7.2 million he's making this season. But he kept the Phillies in the game, which allowed them to pull out a huge victory as September approaches.

That's about as close to compliment about him as you will read here.

Eaton Set to Lose Again Tonight

Perhaps Adam Eaton is related to Jeffri Chadiha. The latter writes stupid things (see below), the former says stupid things. The same day Chadiha wrote we should all stand and applaud Con Vick for accepting responsibility, Eaton uttered this equally mindless statement: "If I pitch the way I'm capable of the last five weeks of the season, a lot of the first four months will be forgotten."

If he pitches the way he is capable of doing so. OK...let's check out the numbers. For his career, his ERA is a robust 4.66. In 994 innings, he has yielded 1023 hits. This season, his numbers balloon to an ERA of 6.36, with 158 hits in just 133 innings. His ERA, by the way, is the worst in the majors among starting pitchers.

He recently went on the disabled list and made one rehab start in AA. He pitched two innings and gave up two earned runs.

Wow. Projecting that to an ERA of 9.00 (at the AA level, mind you), led Eaton to pronounce himself fit to return to The Show, where he will pitch tonight against the New York Mets.

Take the Mets tonight and give 10 runs. You'll strike it rich.

Apology = Forgiveness?!?

So let me get this straight -- Michael Vick apologized to everyone under the sun (except the actual dogs, of course) and took responsibility for his disgusting conduct...and now we are supposed to forgive him? Or, at the very least, give him credit?

Of course not. After all, we're not that stupid.

Except that at least one clown from the media wants all of us to do just that. Give ole Mickey a standing ovation for sacking up and accepting responsibility. I present to you some idiot by the name of Jeffri Chadiha. He is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He is also a stupid writer for ESPN.com.

Among the lowlights of the trash he wrote yesterday: He says Vick's apology was "sincere"...that Vick "has never handled himself better in front of the media" (and how is that even relevant?)...and the best was this paragraph: "Whatever you think about Vick, you have to give him credit for taking the first step in turning his life around. He finally told the world that he understands the errors of his ways and that he's willing to do his best to start this long road to recovery. "

Excuse me while I throw up on my keyboard.

Con Vick apologized because his lawyers told him to. Con Vick is sorry not for the dogs he brutally treated, but because he got caught, having been ratted out by his homiez. Con Vick is sorry because the pampered life he has led the last few years is now officially O-V-E-R.

If you want to read Jeffri Chadiha's garbage in its entirety, click here.

Back From the Basement...

Having spent the last two weeks in the basement (© Andrew Toney), I am back. Actually, I got back yesterday afternoon. The rest of the day was spent unpacking, reading the snail mail and wading through over 120 e-mails. Today has been filled with back to school shopping for the kids (sneakers, soccer cleats, a Ray Allen Celtics jersey, a new backpack and a pink i-pod cover). I have much to share from the basement. Cajun swordfish, Blizzards, soft pretzels, the magical number 55, Adam Eaton, Cole Hamels, jumbo shrimp and much, much, more. Alas, it will all be posted soon. Oh...where was I, while in the basement (© Andrew Toney)? Well, in the words of former NBA player and coach Chris Ford, "I was at the Jersey Shore."

The Little Red Engine that Could -- and Did...

So I was 30 minutes into shaving my lawn nice and short, in preparation for my two week extended stay in the basement (© Andrew Toney), when black smoke started coming out of the mower's engine. That was followed by some serious sputtering. Then, less than 24 hours from the basement, the mower up and died. I attempted to resurrect it for about 10 minutes before I stomped inside, rounded up my troops and announced Daddy needed to go buy a new lawnmower. My Oldest (eight) got excited and asked, "Are you going to get a riding mower? I like those!" I took a deep breath. Followed by two more even deeper ones and announced that NO! WE WERE NOT GOING TO GET A RIDING MOWER!. Forty five minutes later, a brand- spanking-new-shiny-red-Toro was in the trunk of the Camry. Out $297, I was not in a good mood. However, that changed once I got it out of the trunk and set it up. My Youngest (five), took one look at it and stated, "It's really shiny and red. I like it."


I hope to update later. I did my Friday weigh-in today and am celebrating our final meal before heading into the basement (©Andrew Toney) with my old friend -- Mr. Steak on the grill.

Patriots Lead in the Poll

With one day left to vote, the Patriots are leading the poll for the team most likely to win the Super Bowl. Below are some pictures I took at Monday night's practice at Gillette Stadium.

Mike Vrabel & Tedy Bruschi

Tom Brady & Bill Belichick

Tom Brady & 1st Team Offense

Michael "Con" Vick Faces His Jury

Sunday Dinner: Chicken Tacos & Indoor Ribs

The ribs went in the oven (235 degrees, sprinkled with pepper, Kosher Salt and Italian seasoning and covered in foil) and the Phillies, thanks to Super Stiff Adam Eaton, were already down 6-1 to the Brewers. Then the boneless chicken thighs were given a bath in fat-free Italian dressing. Two hours later, the foil was removed from the ribs and the Phillies had tied the game, 6-6. Next, the thighs hit the Weber for 12 minutes. During that time, Wes Helms actually: a)got a hit and b)knocked in 2 runs! Another quality off-season signing by G.M. God "Stand" Pat Gillick, Helms plays the power hitting position of third base, yet somehow has four dingers in 83 games. Given his $2.3 million contract this year, that's $575,000 per homer!

But I digress...The Phillies managed to win and now trail the Mets by 4 1/2 games; they are 2 games behind in the Wild Card race. As for the food? The ribs were tasty -- far superior to the ones on the grill July 22. While the rest of family had (ground) beef tacos, I sliced and diced the boneless chicken thighs for my tacos. The result was quite good, as the thighs were much juicier and more tender than chicken breast could ever hope to be. A definite keeper in the recipe notebook.

Why is This Man in the Majors?

Well, our Favorite Pitcher Adam Eaton lasted a whopping 4 1/3 innings today. He was mercifully lifted from the game after yielding 9 hits and 6 runs, with his team trailing the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1. Those numbers bring his season ERA to 6.09. How will we ever thank "Stand" Pat Gillick for giving this stiff a 3-year $24.5 million dollar contract last season? Guess that's what he meant last summer when he said by trading Bobby Abreu the team would have money to spend in the off-season. If Super Stiff Eaton was making "only" $1 million a year, he would have been shipped to the minors months ago.

Super Bowl Odds

(Courtesy of World Sports Exchange)

The top 11 teams with the best chance to win the Super Bowl:

Patriots (7-2)
Chargers (7-1)
Colts (15-2)
Bears (15-1)
Ravens (17-1)
Saints (19-1)
Broncos (19-1)
Bengals (19-1)
Eagles (23-1)
Seahawks (23-1)
Cowboys (23-1)

All of which brings us to this week's question (posted on the left): Who will win the Super Bowl?

KG Takes the Mound for Red Sox

No, he won't lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals next year (or the year after that), but Kevin Garnett is a class act who has energized basketball fans in the city of Boston. Wednesday night, he threw out the first pitch at the Red Sox game. Click here to see the video of KG throwing to Big Papi.

Kabobs!

Analysis to come later this weekend.

Randy Moss & Tonight's Menu

Got an e-mail this week from the New England Patriots Pro Shop hawking this new Randy Moss T-shirt. I must say it quite possibly will be purchased for my upcoming two week trip into the basement (copyright Andrew Toney). Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are the official team of this blog, but the Patriots certainly ride shotgun. And it appears (for the time being at least) that Randy has bought into the Patriots' Way. So why not spring for the T?

As for more important stuff, tonight's menu will consist of New York Strip Steaks (no surprise given that today is, of course, Friday). The twist will be kabobs of two different types. One will be sirloin tips marinated in a new sauce I picked up at local market. It's Kobe Steak Hibachi Grill Sauce, made by House of Tsang. The other kabob will feature jumbo shrimp, red potatoes and kielbasa.


Finally, I will post more on this later, but unless the NBA is going to a three-on-three league next season -- you will not be seeing Your Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. If you can't wait for the update, you can check out Bob Ryan's column on the matter.

Thanks for another good week of "1,000 plus" hits. Stay healthy and safe!

Want to Hang Out with Erin Andrews?

Here are five spots she frequents.

Checking Out Other Blogs

When this blog started (July 13, 2007), I had no idea the shear number of blogs that were already out there. Think of something – anything -- and there is undoubtedly a blog out there about it. Probably several blogs. In trying to develop this one, I have spent a lot of time sampling what’s out there. Here are some of the better ones (or just plain interesting ones):

Jody Demling This gives me my Louisville Cardinal basketball recruiting info. And it was here that I learned that Glen Rice has a son on the recruiting scene. Glen Rice Jr. is a rising 6’3” junior. Another famous namesake is Shawn Kemp Jr. He is a 6’9” 11th grader. The only surprise is that Daddy does not (at least yet) have his own 12 person roster of children.

www.yardbarker.com/users/DonovanMcNabb The good: D-McNabb posts videos on his blog – including one with some of his teammates chowing down on his BBQ. The bad: He started the blog on July 2 and has posted only three times.

www.the700level.com/ Named after the infamous 700 level seats in old Veterans Stadium, this helps give me my fix of Philly fans bitching. Danny Ainge trades Al Jefferson for Kevin Garnett. Yet, Billy King (pictured above) moved A.I. and got back Andre Miller and two number one draft picks, one of which was sold to the Portland Trail Blazers? That's why The 700 Level thrives.

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/ The downside of the blog (and the Internet as a whole), is people are often too quick to get news out there. Witness Shira Springer, who covers the Boston Celtics for the Boston Globe. On a July 30th update on her blog, she wrote that the Celtics were close to getting KG and would not be giving up rising star Al Jefferson. Hello? Hello? Anyone home? Hello?

myespn.go.com/nba/truehoop Addicted to the NBA? This site is for you. Penned, errrr, typed by Henry Abbott, it started as an independent blog (ahem – just like this one), and became so popular that the Godfather – ESPN—came calling (texting?) and wanted his site.

www.virtualweberbullet.com/ All about Weber Grills. The message boards are so active it’s like instant messaging. Have a grilling or BBQ question? Post it...count to 60…and then read the numerous replies to your post.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Remember when you were a kid and once a year some guy rang your doorbell and tried to sell your mom a set of encyclopedias while dad was at work? Now, you can go to this site and get it all for free. Dad always liked free, right?

ajthoughts.blogspot.com/ Sooner Nation despises Nebraska coach Bill Callahan. This guy’s blog not only despises Callahan, but the entire Husker program.

www.badjocks.com/index.htm Losing track of all the athletes in trouble with the law? This blog keeps a real-time scorecard of the transgressions.

Elliot Abrams Yes, I am a weather geek. As in: When will the summer heat end, autumn weather arrive and first snowflake fall?