Lost Weekend

I’m really at a loss for words today. So, I’ll spare you the agony and keep this brief (at least I thought this would be brief).

It is weekends like this that test the soul of sports phans. I thought of taking a hiatus from the blog as I’m finding very little to get excited about. I’m pretty sure we all saw the results:

-The Phils meekly bowed out in three straight after showing very little fight against the Rockies in the NLDS. Just a week ago, we were all fired up and now we are left picking up the pieces. However, I think we can all admit that the Phils just lost to a better team. The Rockies’ hitters and pitchers were just better fits for postseason success.

Like the rest of you, I was ecstatic to see the Phils make the playoffs this year and think this team learned a valuable lesson in this series. However, it seems like most of the Delaware Valley sees this year as a stepping stone and not a phlash in the pan like the ’93 Phils. Everyone seems to believe that the Phils will go out and pick up the pitching they need for next year with no problem whatsoever and the ‘08 postseason will be a foregone conclusion. To that, I quote Lee Corso and say, “not so fast, my friend.”

For the Phils to improve, they need at least one above average starter (Curt Schilling anyone?), three relievers (assuming J.C. Romero gets re-signed) and for Adam Eaton to somehow become a competent starter because he’s not going anywhere anytime soon with that contract. They also need to re-sign Rowand (highly unlikely) or find another outfield to join the group of Werth, Bourn, Victorino and Burrell. A third basemen would be nice (Mike Lowell would be my choice), but I doubt the Phils will put anymore money into a position where they have already invested in a complete bust like Wes Helms. Basically, for the Phils to be back in this spot next year, Gillick and Montgomery really have to up their game. Does anyone see that happening? I don’t. I think this team will be back where they were prior to this season: fighting for the wild card.

-For the second straight week, Rutgers had the ball in their hands with two minutes left and the ability to drive the field for a game clinching victory, but in both occasions Quarterback Mike Teel choked. Last week against Maryland, he didn’t even pick up a first down. On Saturday, he at least moved the Knights to the Cincy 17 before throwing a gift interception to a linebacker that effectively killed their comeback hopes. Right now, with two sure losses coming up in the next three (to So Fla and West Va.), I’m sure the rest of the country and the bandwagon fans think last year’s 10-2 season was a fluke. Actually, that is fine by me. I hope the media glare and band-wagoners disappear so I can start to attend games in peace again.

-The Flyers lost on Saturday and are starting to show some warts from last season. Lapses in concentration, bad starts, lack of scoring depth and being completely overwhelmed by the opponent for multiple shifts at a time. I realize it is only the second game in a very long season, but I have real doubts about Stevens as a head coach.

Now, our focus turns to the Birds. Ugh. The thought of that sickens me. I see a very long fall and winter ahead of us folks, buckle up.

Yup, I’m so optimistic on a Monday morning.