Phinally Philly

During the Expansion draft last week, the Union added GK Brad Knighton, who’s on Twitter at @BBKnighton. He was only the first GK the Union had their eyes on however.

In what was rumored since right before the draft, the Union also acquired GK Chris Seitz from MLS Cup Champions Real Salt Lake yesterday in exchange for allocation money, which can be used by RSL to get under the salary cap for next season.

In getting Seitz, it appears as if Piotr Nowak has gotten his GK of the future. Seiz has been tabbed as a future star in MLS for the past few years.  He’s only 22, but he’s got a lot of potential. He was on the roster for the 2008 Summer Olympics, so he has national team experience as well.

Adding Seitz to the roster along with Knighton gives the Union two young GK who will battle for the starting spot. Knighton started 6 games last year for the New England Revolution, so he’s got some MLS starting experience under his belt.

There has been talk that RSL would trade Seitz in exchange for the Union not selecting anyone off of their roster in the Expansion Draft. That could be true, but either way, the Union have nice depth at the GK position before even playing a game. Having a GK with experience along with a very good young prospect is going to help the Union in many ways. With two solid defensive starters picked up in the expansion draft, Shavar Thomas and Jordan Harvey, the Union look to be focusing on defense to start.

News like this will become more frequent as the season gets closer. As I stated before, the next MLS match to be played will feature the Philadelphia Union against last season’s expansion success Seattle Sounders in a nationally televised game. Not a bad way to make their debut, right?

It’s already gotten to that point again. The point where covering Sixer games is like ground-hog day. It doesn’t matter how pretty you paint the picture, cause in the end it’s the same ugly one regardless of how well you try to paint it.

Well, I for one am done painting.

This team is no more talented than the rest of the cellar dwelling teams in the NBA. Worse yet, unlike those “other” teams, the Sixers have ZERO hope, and ZERO direction.

I’ve done my due diligence and tried to step up and stand up for the Sixer brass and Eddie Jordan. However, at this point it’s nearly impossible, we’re not even 20 games into the NBA season but,  all hope is lost.

Solutions?

Allen Iverson?

Why sign him? How many more games are you going to win? And would it matter?

First off, signing Iverson (and I have the utmost respect for my colleague Dave Foley) is in itself perhaps the worst idea the Sixers could have. He may actually help them win a few games and get them further out of the NBA lottery mix. He’ll take touches away from the young talent you actually have, and pollute the locker room with his “holier than thou” mentality. Don’t believe me? Then just read his “statement” released by Stephen A. Smith of all people, c’mon are we all stupid?

Don’t get me wrong he’s a terrific athlete, and I loved him when he was here. Though, his time is over, it’s done. He can’t accept it, and that’s evident from his half-assed retirement. He still thinks he’s NBA MVP material and he’s clearly not. He may be a good scorer but who wouldn’t be when they take 80% of their teams shots? And a good defender? Only cause he takes more risks than most, real NBA people know that he’s a liability on the defensive end.

The Sixers have to learn from the past and say NO to an AI return. Whether or not to sign Iverson again can be answered by one simple question. Can you win a Championship by signing AI? If you don’t know “the answer” to that, stop watching Basketball.

Now onto this roster as it stands right now. Flat out it’s a team full of average to slightly average players. The mixture makes? You guessed it, an average to slightly average team. As I’ve stated before the Sixers are in NBA cap Hell. And there really isn’t any way out. We’ve talked about trading away a star young player along with Dalembert or Brand, but your going to have to spend that money again. And is Ed Stefanski capable of spending that money more wisely this time around? This franchise can’t afford to not know the answer to that question.

When the Eagles or Flyers are bad fans don’t show apathy they show anger. The Phillies recent World Series win puts them in the same distinguished company as the Flyers and Eagles, leaving out the 76ers.  They have yet to have the kind of success necessary to outrage a fan base. Sixers fans are out there, they just don’t care, and the numbers are dwindling quickly.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. That’s what Sixer fans are saying. This team has to make them believe, show them something, anything. A positive step in the right direction, not a quick fix, a blue-print, hell even a promise. Philly fans have earned that.

The time is now to make things right. They can’t do it over night. However, they have to reach out to their fans, and this City. They have to say things are going to get better.

Sixer fans everywhere, demand it. Show them you care, show them your not happy, and help make a change.

-Mike Santa Barbara

*** Follow me on Twitter @Mike__SB ***

First things first, I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Now that the day is coming to a close and we are all appropriately gorged (I had way more turkey and ice cream cake than any decent human being should be able to down) I figured now would be a good time to hand out some cheers and well wishes to some deserving parties after a busy week in sports. And to all of you who feel like I’m too negative…suck on this fluffy, feel-good piece of bloggage!

Avert your eyes!

Cheer: The Denver Broncos

While one crappy AFC West team couldn’t take care of business against an Eagles division rival (thanks for nothing Bruce Gradkowski) the Broncos handled the Giants 26-6 in front of a national audience. Good news for the Birds, good news for fans of the Manning Face, bad news for my fantasy football teams (you’re killin’ me Steve Smith!) Special props go out to Brian Dawkins who had a team leading 8 tackles and a fumble recovery.

**QUICK DIGRESSION**

I might as well point out before someone else does that I, in fact, was one of those people who was advocating moving on from the B-Dawk era. Of course I’d miss seeing him in midnight green, but at the time I didn’t think he was worth the big contract the Broncos gave him given his “advanced” age. At some point the ageless wonder will start to slow down but he is proving the naysayers wrong and is a key part of an over-achieving Broncos defense. We should have never let him go.

HOWEVER, you have to remember the Eagles did supposedly have an offer on the table for almost as much money but not as many years as Denver, and Dawkins chose to leave. You can rip the Eagles organization for not taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening, but don’t forget to place at least a bit of the blame on #20. After all, he made the final decision on where he would play this season.

**Now back to the regularly scheduled program**

Cheer: Winston Justice

To say Winston was an afterthought coming into this season would be an understatement of epic proportions. Something along the lines of “Old Dogs really wasn’t that bad of a movie.” But to his credit he stuck with it, and has emerged as a solid starter at right tackle this season. The reward? A $19+ million payday. You have to feel happy for the guy, especially considering you don’t want your second round picks only being remembered for something like this.

Cheer: Desean Jackson’s Twitter page

While the Eagles have had their share of issues on the field this season one of the bigger problems off the field is the team’s lack of representatives on Twitter. Shawn Andrews had been holding down the fort for a while until the one and only Desean Jackson finally got in on the act. Now I’m sure there are a lot of you out there who hear “Desean Jackson” and “Twitter” in the same sentence and get extremely nervous, but I highly doubt there will be any controversy spouting from his tweets because most people probably can’t understand them. Examples:

“OK BRANDON MARSHALL THAS HOW U HAD TO DO C WEBSTER…. JUS BROUGHT BAC THE OLD MOSS!!!! 1 HAND GRAB WAS SICC!! BOI YO GAME NICE I RESPECT IT”

“I’M Sitt’n at home ROLLEN at this m&m commercial.. the m&m run’n away from the lady talkn bout it dont want to get sold!!! shit was funny”

“‘It’s Da Boy’ And Im Layn Low Doin My WESTSIDE Ya Digg…… in my buizness zone… catch me if ya can IM ROLLEN”

So there you go…I have no clue what he’s trying to say in any of those three tweets. Something about Brandon Marshall doing another dude, M&Ms running away from something, aaaaaand layin’ low on the Westside?!? Funny thing is I don’t even care, I’m just thrilled a high profile Eagle is finally tweeting. Come on Donovan, this form of social media was MADE for you! Ya digg?

Brian looked like the Booooooosh of old on the Flyers recent road trip.

Cheer: Brian Boucher

The Flyers Western road trip is mercifully over, and after a string of tough losses and even tougher injuries the one guy who stood out was…wait…the backup goalie?!? Indeed Boucher was brilliant against the Kings (a game I got to see first-hand) the Avs and the Islanders, pulling out two key wins to help keep this trip from being a complete failure. A 1.61 GAA on the trip means Ray Emery better start stepping up. Not to say he is going to lose the #1 job, but Boosh may start to see more icetime if Ray can’t get it together.

Cheer: The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” gang

My piece of advice to you for tomorrow? Go pick up the “It’s Always Sunny” Christmas Special…don’t ask any questions; just do it. You can thank me later.

Well Wishes: Shawn Andrews

Shawn is going to need a second back surgery if he wants to play football again, and hopefully this will take care of all the issues he’s had with that recurring injury. The guy takes a lot of heat from Philly fans, but how quickly we forget that when he plays he is one of the best linemen in football. Battling through depression and all these injuries would take a toll on anyone, so lay off him and let him heal fully so he is ready to go next season.

Allen Iverson is supposedly going to retire, although considering the source is this guy I’m not taking the news too seriously (seriously enough to drop him from my fantasy basketball team though…also if you don’t get the cheese doodle joke check this video out.)

I’m not sure if I’m in the minority here or not but I feel like AI has a few good seasons left in the tank. Yes he is getting older, yes his numbers have dipped over the past few seasons, and he certainly has taken a beating over the years. He is obviously no longer a superstar but that doesn’t mean he has nothing to offer a struggling team with lacking depth at guard. A team like…the Sixers!

With Louis Williams missing some time with a broken jaw, rookie Jrue Holiday is being pushed into action. Who exactly is going to back him up and help take some of Williams’ minutes? Royal Ivey?!? Maybe if you want to lose 60 or so games. Iverson is available, shouldn’t cost too much to bring in (especially after even the Knicks decided they didn’t want him) and he’ll have a chip on his shoulder the size of Maine. He just may bring a few disgruntled fans back to the Wach for the homecoming of one of Philly’s former favorites too.

There is some risk involved without a doubt, but when you are a mediocre 5-9 team in the East with two of your best players out with injuries you really don’t have all that much to lose.

It’s been five months since the first Philadelphia Union post went up here at Phinally Philly.  A lot has happened since then.

Piotr Nowak has been named manager of the club. He not only will be responsible for the on the field product, but also will be overseeing the Junior and Senior clubs in the Union Academy. This club is being set up for the long term and will be very successful because of the groundwork being done early.

Now, the Expansion Draft was held today. This means that the first players in Union history have been name.

Those 10 are:

Brad Knighton, NE

David Myrie, CHI

Shavar Thomas, Chivas

Jordan Harvey, COL

Shea Salinas, SJ

Stefani Migliioranzi, LA

Andrew Jacobson, DC

Nick Zimmerman, NY

Alejandro Moreno, CLB

Sebastian Le Toux, SEA

I was hoping for local boy Bobby Convey, but no luck.

Now, I don’t know much about most of them, as I’m just getting into this whole soccer thing, but I’m sure there will be plenty of information out there as time goes by.

As has been mentioned before, with the MLS Cup closing out the 2009 season, the next MLS match to be played will feature the Philadelphia Union in their inaugural match against last year’s expansion upstart Seattle Sounders FC.

Philadelphia has waited a long time for this, and it’s finally here. March 25, 2010 will be here before you Zolos know it.

Since the end of the World Series, news coming out of One Citizens Bank Way has been pretty slow. There hasn’t been a whole to to cover, but there have been some recent events that might have slipped under your post-World Series hangover

- Ryan Howard finished second in the MVP voting to Albert Pujols, who deserved the award. What I find astonishing is that Chase Utley didn’t get a vote. That’s ridiculous. I can take solace however in the fact that not one member of the New York Mets (players, coaches, executives) received a single vote for any award this season.

- Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino both won Gold Gloves for their defensive work this season. It’s the 3rd straight for J-Roll and second in a row for Victorino. Rollins only made six errors on the season and led the league in fielding percentage. Victorino was 2nd in fielding percentage amongst outfielders and only made 1 error on the year.

- J.A. Happ was runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year to Chris Wheeler’s favorite, Florida’s Chris Coghlan. Happ had a very impressive “rookie” year for the Phils. I say “rookie” because he made valuable contributions to the 2008 WFC, so it’s hard to think of him as a rookie. Gotta imagine he makes a strong push for a roster spot coming right out of spring training in `10.

- The Phillies removed Eric Bruntlett, Tyler Walker, Paul Hoover, Andy Tracy and John Ennis from their 40-man roster, which makes them free agents. Brett Myers is also a free agent who, along with Bruntlett and Walker, will definitely not be back next season. The other 3 however, could be back.

- Pedro Feliz’ option for next season wasn’t picked up, meaning he might not be a Phillie next year. Ruben Amaro is looking for an offensive upgrade over Feliz, who just hasn’t put up the numbers they thought he would when they brought him in. Obviously, his defense is outstanding, and he could return to the Phillies next year. The option year was just too much money for the Phillies to take without at least looking at other options.

-  Latest news is that Bruntlett’s replacement will be 37 year-old Juan Castro, who spent last season with the Dodgers.His agent has announced the deal, but nothing has come from the Phillies as of yet.  He’s a career .230 hitter who can pretty much play anywhere, which is what the Phillies are looking for. I don’t know how much of an improvement he will be over Bruntlett, but at least the Phillies are looking to improve their bench, which was pretty lousy this season.

Yes, Thanksgiving has nothing to do with the Phillies, but I figured it was as good a time as any to get a post up.

The offseason has been quiet so far, bu with the free agency signing period upon us, there will be moves made. Just how significant these moves are with the Phillies depends on the club’s willingness to spend mixed with the market for available players.  With not many major moves to make, it could be a long and somewhat quiet offseason for the team.

80 days until pitchers and catchers.

Danny Briere out two more games, this time as the result of a suspension for a dangerous hit. (Neat1325)

The Flyers finally emerge from the West with a clearly frustrating 1-3-0 record, but that’s not all they lost while traveling through the league’s other conference. Blair Betts and Darroll Powe are both out four to six weeks thanks to shoulder injuries, and Danny Briere of all skaters has been slapped with a two game suspension from the NHL for a dangerous hit on Scott Hannan of the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s hard to say that the suspension was uncalled for based on how dangerous the cross-check to the face actually was, but there is something to be said about the lack of control the officiating had on the game itself.

Since Mike Richards hit David Booth of the Florida Panthers a while back, the Flyers have not been getting the benefit of the doubt on officiating. The Colorado Avalanche game was a gigantic culmination of missed calls from officials affecting the Flyers’ game, the frustration of a tough Western road trip, and the team’s inability to compete with those factors.

Hookings, trips, and holds have been noticeable non-calls lately as the Flyers skate the puck in the offensive zone. It’s tough on guys like Briere and Giroux who use their speed and quickness to get around skaters in order to make up for their size. It’s no wonder both had fights in the Colorado game.

It was evident that the Flyers were not going to be allowed to protect their own when Giroux, after a goal against the San Jose Sharks, was cross-checked in the back by Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Hartnell grabbed Vlasic to protect Giroux after the fact, but Hartnell was the only one of the two to go to the box after Vlasic’s dangerous hit that happened right at the net for all the officials to see. In the following scrum, Pronger and two skaters from the Sharks also went to the box for roughing minors.

Meanwhile, nobody looked at Vlasic’s cross check to Giroux. Granted, the hit was not to Giroux’s face nor was Giroux injured, but the timeliness and similarities to Briere’s hit are enough to raise an eyebrow.

A lot of the protecting of players should fall on the officiating as well. If they intend to play games such as “letting them play” or “make-up calls”, then they should be held accountable for the results created by their glaring inconsistencies. Clearly frustrated players, like Briere, are bound to lash out. There was no intent to injure on Briere’s hit, but it was reckless and dirty. It clearly deserved a suspension.

The officiating though works both ways. The refs have to protect other players as well. For whatever reason, Briere did not go to the box as a result of the late hit. If he had been put in the box, the suspension may never have happened.

Regardless, the double-standards and inconsistencies need to cease immediately, both for the protection of the players and the state of hockey itself.

The Flyers will just have to bite to bullet for Briere’s ill-advised outburst for now. The team is already short skaters, and Briere will miss the next two games. The Islanders game is tomorrow followed by the first home game in a while against his former team, the Buffalo Sabres.

Al Golden, you are indeed the man. You have led Temple Football back to respectability in a very short time. Your Temple Owls are a game away from going to their first ever MAC Championship game.

You’ve preached accountability and taught these players how to win the right way. The team may not be on the top-level of College Football, but it’s certainly headed in the right direction, thanks to you. You showed how dedicated you are to this program after withdrawing your name from consideration of the UCLA job in 2007. And with the steady improvement season to season of this squad, it’s only furthered the support you’ve been given from the Temple faithful.

A few short years ago the Temple Owls Football Program was a laughing-stock, an embarrassment. Worse yet, they were a non-factor in the minds of Philadelphia area fans.

The Owls hired Al Golden, a former Penn State Alum, to try and turn this program around. From day one it was obvious he had a plan. The Owls made strides, although subtle, almost immediately. And now the benefits are finally paying off with the Owls posting a 9-2 record 7-0 in the MAC.

In an area dominated by Penn State, Golden has made it ok to once again rock the Cherry and White. Singing “Hail to Old Temple,” all the way to a MAC Championship and a Bowl Game in 2009.

-Mike Santa Barbara

*** Follow me on Twitter @Mike__SB ***

G9GDDGWEWZ5B

Is Donovan McNabb a Hall of Fame QB? Not until he wins a Super Bowl. What about a “Hame of Fame QB”? Philly.com sports thinks the Eagles “stole one”? I think they need a better spell checker.

Darroll Powe and his linemate, Blair Betts, are the latest to fall to an injury epidemic sweeping the Flyers. (Neat1325)

Life on the road in the Western Conference is rough on an Eastern team. The games are later, the style is different, the ice is choppier, and the distance to cover between cities is enough to drive a man to insanity.

The Flyers do have their fair share of road trips this year but none will be anything like the one they’re currently in the middle of. In fact, it was pretty smooth sailing until the Flyers had to suit up for their first real late game against Los Angeles last Wednesday.

Brian Boucher looked shaky in net at the start, but the Flyers held on for a 3-2 win against the Kings. The other two games the organization can now scratch off didn’t go so well.

There was some sabotage in Shark territory on Friday with bodies falling all over the ice. Those bodies happened to be owned by players like Chris Pronger, Scott Hartnell, Ryan Parent, and Braydon Coburn. Equipment failures and poor special teams kept the Sharks one step ahead of the Flyers until San Jose poured it on in the third.

More bad luck awaited the team as they crossed the state border to Arizona. The Phoenix Coyotes sent the Flyers packing by a score of 3-1, but the worst effects of that game have yet to be felt. Two key players for the team in recent weeks, Darroll Powe and Blair Betts, went down with serious injuries. Four to six more weeks for both with shoulder problems will mean call-ups for Jared Ross and Andreas Nodl, who both saw action last season as well.

It’s no secret that the Flyers have lost more manpower games due to injury than any other team in the league other than the Islanders. The fact that they have been successful for most of that time is nothing short of incredible. Even so there is no rest for the weary. The bodies on the scratch list begin to pile higher and higher.

Gagne, vanRiemsdyk, Briere, Parent, Betts, and now even Powe will have missed a decent amount of time this season. We’re not even done November.

The Western trip finishes tonight against Colorado, but then the team is flying to the Island where the New York Islanders are waiting for them. They then come back home for a game against Buffalo on their way south to close out the second month of NHL action in Atlanta.

The only goal in mind right now is to tough it out through December and hope everyone’s ready to go by January. Some legitimate goal scorers getting hot couldn’t hurt either, but lately Giroux has been the one to pick up his game. With Gagne out, Carter is the last legitimate sniping threat on the team. Some pucks in the net by number 17 would be a nice change of pace.