Phinally Philly

The Elton Brand “will he-won’t he play” rollercoaster ride has come to an abrupt end today. The Sixers big offseason free agent signing is getting shoulder-surgery that will end his ’08-’09 season.

Brand averaged nearly 14 points and 8 boards a game in his first season in Philly, but never really found a comfort level playing in the Sixers fast-paced offense. Brand signed a five-year $80 million deal last offseason…here’s hoping he comes back healthy and ready to contribute next season. I really don’t want to have another Derrick Coleman case on our hands.

The Sixers were a Ray Allen last second three from taking down the best team in the East last night (granted without Kevin Garnett) but still came up short. Tonight the Flyers will try to finish the job against the Eastern Conference leading Bruins.

A few key players to keep an eye on:

- Martin Biron: If he does indeed get the start as expected, this is a great opportunity for him to show Coach Stevens and the rest of the organization that he deserves to be the #1 guy. If he struggles…all bets are off. History is certainly on his side however; in his last 10 starts against the B’s he is 8-0-1 with a 2.00 GAA.

- Mike Richards: Had a four-game point streak going until that debacle in St. Louis. In his last six against Boston he has 5 G and 3 A.

- David Krejci: A good sign for the Flyers: the impressive young Boston center man has now gone his last 3 games without a point. The negative? Krejci still has 53 points in 51 games this season and is too talented to struggle for long.

- Patrice Bergeron: This will be his first time facing the Flyers since October 17,2007 when Randy Jones gave him a concussion and ended his season.

Credit for a majority of the miscellaneous stats goes to NHL.com (Flyers/Bruins Game Preview). Puck drops at 7:00 PM ET.

Elton Brand Update

Brand was a non-factor in yesterday’s loss to Boston, playing just 9 minutes and being held scoreless. There was speculation that he might be shut down yet again, but today the Daily News’ Sixerville blog is reporting that he is being listed as “Day-to-Day” and should play tomorrow night against the Pacers.

For all you goalies out there…

Here’s an interesting NHL.com story about goalie masks. On of the artists quoted worked on a personalized mask at one point for Ron Hextall. The article also discusses how Ottawa rookie goaltender Brian Elliot decided to decorate his mask upon arriving in the NHL.

It’s a battle between the first and second place teams in the Atlantic Division tonight at the Wachovia Center, as the Sixers take on the Celtics. Here’s the thing: while the Sixers have been toiling along at a .500 clip (23-23) the Celtics lead the Eastern Conference with an insane 40-9 record.

Add to that the fact that the Sixers have gotten trounced in their two prior meetings with Boston, and it’s easy to not be too optimistic about Andre, Iggy and company’s chances tonight. Just about the only thing the Sixers have going for them is the absence of Kevin Garnett due to an “illness.”

Tip off is at 7pm ET.

Sixers-Celtics Game Preview – ESPN

Now that the season is officially over with Pittsburgh’s win over the Cardinals, we can all start looking toward free agency and the draft. So over the course of these weeks leading up, I will be breaking down each position separately. We’ll do defense first and then go onto the offense. Expect each position within a day or two of each other. Today, we are going to start with safety.

Roster:

-I believe strongly that the Eagles are going to bring back Brian Dawkins. It’s obvious from this past season that he is able to play at a high level and Philly would most likely become an angry mob if they see one of their most beloved players wearing another teams jersey. The team would also lose a great leader and man in Dawkins and in today’s NFL, these players are hard to come by. Expect Brian to sign about a 2 year deal. Even though he has played well I would still like to see the Eagles get another safety in the draft or free agency, preferably the draft.

-Mikell has also proven to be a valuable player for this defense. A tough player who plays well against the run and pass, who really came on strong this past season and showed his worth. His deal ends in 2010 and depending on how well he plays next season he could see himself getting a big paycheck

-Considine is a good special teams player and that’s about it. He’s horrible against the run and not much better with the pass. We all saw how well the experiment with him at SS played out. I would personally like to see him gone and replaced with an upgrade. Demps is a rookie and his play at the safety position is still undetermined (I’m willing to forgive the Fitz TD), but he makes up for it with his returning capabilities, I only expect him to get better.

Free Agency Options:

-The only viable option in the free agent market would be Jermaine Phillips, the former Bucs Safety. He is a seven year veteran and is a capable safety. He has eleven career interceptions with three this past season. Phillips will provide a team with quality run-support and can also provide adequate help in coverage. Tampa will most likely make him a reasonable offer to keep him around. I’ll settle for this but I personally don’t want another aging safety on the team.

Jermaine Phillips

Draft Options:

-William Moore from Missouri. At 6’1 and 230 pounds this kid is a player. He is an extremely physical safety who plays extremely well against the run and the pass. He has great size and speed for a safety, especially a safety at 230 lbs. He can also deliver a devastating hit on the ball carrier. He has very few shortcomings on the field. He has 117 tackles and eight interceptions in his junior year. If he is there when the Eagles pick, they better grab him.

William Moore

-Patrick Chung from Oregon. 6′ and 210 pounds. Chung is another complete safety player who has the ability to play the run and pass. Very active and agressive on the field and a great work ethic off of it. He plays bigger than he is by attacking the ball carrier and line of scrimmage without fear. Not only is he a great safety prospect but also is a great special teams player who has played on kickoff and punt return teams. Has experience receiving kicks as well. The only shortcoming is his size and could tire over the course of an NFL season. Chung had 82 tackles, 6.5 for loss, two sacks, and an interception.

Patrick Chung

Call me a bitter, stereotypical Philly fan but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Cardinals and their bandwagon followers have their hearts ripped out in the Big Game last night. Might have had something to do with my experience at the NFC Championship Game, but that’s all water under the bridge now.

A few interesting post-Super Bowl links and observations I wanted to share:

- The folks over at Awful Announcing posted their grades from the broadcast. Nothing too surprising, although I have to completely back them up on the Andrea Kramer front. How she continues to be employed by NBC after her years of mediocre sideline reporting is beyond me. I was thankful for Michaels and Madden however, so I didn’t have to put up with the emotionless sack of crap that is Joe Buck.

- As for the “Greatest Game Ever?” talk…not even close in my mind. Last year’s Super Bowl featured an improbable upset, an impossible one-handed catch on the helmet by a 4th receiver to keep his team alive, and a team being minutes away from a perfect season. Last night’s game wasn’t bad, but aside from Harrison’s 100-yard pick six and the fourth quarter, the rest of the game was pretty forgettable.

- If you showed me the final stats from the game (minus the final score) I might have assumed the Cardinals won easily. They out gained Pittsburgh 407-292, and they held the Steelers to just 2.2 yards per carry (but did only average 2.8 themselves). The difference in the game was the Steeler’s defensive touchdown and the 11 penalties against the Cardinals (Yes I know…dynamite analysis! Hey NBC, I’m available to join your studio crew for next season if need be. I can’t be any worse than Peter King!)

- For what it’s worth, I haven’t really enjoyed a Super Bowl halftime show since…well…ever, and the Boss certainly didn’t change that. A dull all-around performance, except for this moment, of course.

- I’m sure I wasn’t the only Eagles fan watching the game wondering “What if…” We definitely would have had a shot at the Steelers, but if it came down to Donovan leading the offense downfield in a last minute drive ala Big Ben, I wouldn’t like our chances. I still love the guy, don’t get me wrong, but he still has yet to shake the label that he isn’t a big game player. Which leads me to a joke a family member shared with me last night:

“Why did Donovan quit doing the Campbell’s Chunky Soup commercials? Because he chokes whenever he gets near a big bowl.”

I’ll start working on my “State of the Eagles” column in the coming days. Until then, enjoy this Philly Sports-Free Monday everyone.