Saturday Thoughts

Those Philadelphia Phillies had a wild win last night. Talk about a whirlwind of emotions in the late innings. They were frustrating heading into the eighth inning, not scoring with men on base, and trailing 4-3. thanks to Jimmy Rollins' National League leading ninth home run and a blast from Chase Utley, the Phillies took a 5-4 lead into the final inning.

Then comes in Tom "Flash" Gordon who quickly gives up a pair of hits, allowing the Marlins to tie it right back up at five.

This was Gordon's third blown save of the season. An act like that should get the Brett Myers to closer role talk stewing a little faster. Now, I don't want to see Myers do a John Smoltz, because I want Myers to be in my starting rotation. The Phillies are in a tough situation because of the lack of action in the off-season to bolster the bullpen. But I digress, as I usually do.

The Phillies beat the Marlins and now must face Dontrelle Willis tonight, throwing out Adam Eaton in opposition. Look for a tough loss today, but a series victory with a win on Sunday afternoon.


Hey, did you hear about the NFL Draft? It's today. There are a lot of rumors flying around what the Oakland Raiders will do with the first pick (draft quarterback JaMarcus Russel from LSU, draft wide receiver Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech, or trade the pick to someone else) so the drama should be interesting for the first few picks of the draft.

I've seen a pair of interviews with Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn and I laugh at what he says most of the time. When Quinn gets questioned on how he responds to his critics he always points out the successes he's had at Notre Dame. He is quick to point out all of the undefeated teams they faced last year (when they played them). Here they are...
Georgia Tech was 0-0.
Penn State was 1-0.
Michigan was 2-0.
Michigan State was 3-0.
Purdue was 4-0.

Ok, Quinn, those teams were all undefeated when you played them. And I was giving you Georgia Tech as a freebie. How about when he responds to his criticism of playing in the big games. When he says that at Notre Dame every game is a big game, I scoff. He is defiant in pointing out that Michigan and USC aren't the only big games they play. They sure aren't Brady. Quick blitz recap!

2007 Sugar Bowl: LSU 41, Notre Dame 14
2006 Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20
2006: Michigan State 44, Notre Dame 41 (Remember when Quinn pointed out MSU earlier?)
2005: BYU 20, Notre Dame 17
2005: Purdue 41, Notre Dame 16 (He pointed out Purdue earlier as well)
2005: Boston College 24, Notre Dame 23
2005: Pittsburgh 41, Notre Dame 38
2005 Insight Bowl: Oregon State 38, Notre Dame 21

Does it seem like I'm bashing Brady Quinn a little too much? It is more of a bash on the high exposure to Notre Dame football. Just because a football player comes from South Bend, Indiana does not make them the player that everybody wants to watch. Quinn may become a solid quarterback for a long time and have some success in the game (despite his arm strength), but the folks on ESPN seem to have a problem differentiating between themselves if they want Quinn to be a future Tom Brady (because, if you haven't heard, Quinn's coach also coached Brady at one point in time) or if they want to make Quinn the walking target for over hyped quarterbacks everywhere. Too me it is funny watching a college football season on ESPN and having them hype the guy for Heisman candidacy, and now entering the NFL draft they make big stories on how his stock has dropped and questioning how far he'll drop.

As for the Eagles, I hope more than anything that Paul Posluszny drops that far. Not that it matters, because I'm sure the Eagles won't draft him, but I love to have a shot at a solid linebacker who doesn't do anything but tackle players. Look for the Eagles to draft a secondary position, while Pos gets picked up by a New York team.

Hey, are Matt Schaub jerseys on sale yet? I have to get one.