…bummer about the last ever home opener in Shea. Hate to see that happen. Oh well, I’m sure you’ll do better tommorrow. No way you’re gonna lose TEN straight to the Phillies. Right?

Exclaimer of one of the greatest quotes in Philly sports history. And the fact he got taken to the woodshed for it is another grand display of what utter geniuses Eagles fans are. I mean, the team was losing 21-6 with like two minutes left in the game when it happened. Guy is making a couple million a year. Who in the holy hell is he going to risk his health and livelihood to catch a meaningless pass in a meaningless game? A moron. That’s why Eagles fans just couldn’t understand Ricky’s logic, because their skulls are so thick they would have done something as stupid as blow a multi-million dollar job to catch a meaningless pass. For who, for what indeed.

Damnit, damnit, damnit! Belmont played right with Duke the whole night last night, and then at the end, instead of playing to win, they played not to lose. They deserved the loss. Aaaargh! Man, it would have been a great upset. I know that the tournament committee hates a good upset. That’s why they only gave 6 at large bids to mid-majors this year, as opposed to 12 just a few years ago, then matched up all the midmajors against each other in the first round so their wouldn’t be any major upsets. But their efforts were almost in vain, because Belmont played so well. Damn, damn, damn. I’m still mad about the end of that game. The good news is that Duke is just not that good, and they’ll be going down soon enough.

It was on this date in 1970 that Vinko Bogataj became the Agony of Defeat. Does it make me a bad person because I can’t help laughing every time I see this?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Check out how young Larry Brown is here.

With the Flyers tanking hard and the Sixers looking good but with nobody watching, tonight marks the first time many of you will pay any attention to pro sports in Philly since the Eagles were eliminated from the playoff hunt, due to the return of one of Philly’s all-time most captivating athletes. Well, here’s a few thoughts on the Sixers and AI: First of all, the Sixers are better off without him. This is a young, impressionable team that is going to learn a lot of positives from point guard Andre Miller, who came from Denver in the trade. Andre Miller isn’t just “talkin ’bout practice”, he’s attending it. The Sixers are one good power forward away from being the 3rd or 4th best team in the East, and they should make a splash in the free agent market this offseason due in part to not having to pay AI an obscene amount of money. The “let’s build a team around one guy” concept was intriguing, and worked for a year or two, but it is simply impossible to sustain in the NBA. See Kobe after Shaq and before Gasol. All in all, if I was attending, I would give him a hearty standing O, as I have been a fan of his hustle and heart for a long time. But I do think he’s a bit overrated, as he takes a ton of absolutely terrible shots every game. And, as a coach of impressionable youngsters, I’d rather not have him as a role model in my city. I appreciate the “keeping it real” stuff when it came to fashion and friends, but kicking down doors with a gun while looking for your wife? Yeah, I’m not really into that, and we haven’t really had to deal with a lot of that from Andre Miller and Andre Igoudala.

RELATED: JGT vs. AI in high school b-ball in Virginia. (True Story!)

The Sixers have been playing in front of crowds similar in size to the ones who went to see the Pittsburgh Pythons before they hired astrologist Stockard Channing and changed their name to the Pisces and surrounded Moses Guthrie (played by Dr. J) with offbeat but talented role players. But I was surprised to open up my email from Travelzoo today and see that Sixers tix were $10. And the funny thing is, this is the most exciting team they’ve had since 2001. A lot of good young players with a lot of upside, a likable coach, and a fast breaking offense.

Ryan Howard won his arbitration case, and even though they had every right to take it to arbitration, the Phillies just come off looking the way they always do: like cheap bastards. Whether that is fair or not in this case I don’t know, but due to a long running (124 year) history of doing everything on the cheap, they’re gonna come off looking like the bad guys in a situation like this. They paid him a measly $900,000 the year after he won the MVP, and Howard wouldn’t have such a short tenure if they hadn’t been so short sighted and signed Thome. Anyways, we’ve got four seasons of Howard before he moves on to greener pastures (aka teams that don’t pretend like they don’t have any money). So does Howard deserve $10 million? Fans in Philly sure think so. More importantly, I’m glad he won. This will be one less distraction in the coming year.

One of my favorite people in America celebrates a B-day today. Here’s a few choice Charles quotes, courtesy of barkleyquotes.com:

• On the Portland Trail Blazers serving Thanksgiving meals: “In between arrests they do community service.”
• “You’re the boss, Ernie. The white guy’s always the boss.”
• “They say it about brothers, but I can guarantee everybody in Finland look alike.”
• Ernie: Do the Knicks have any chance of turning things around? Charles: Heeellll No!
• On the Enron scandal investigation: “Almost all those politicians took money from Enron, and there they are holding hearings. That’s like O.J. Simpson getting in the Rae Carruth jury pool.”
• Ernie Johnson: “Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort.” Sir Charles: “20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also.”
• “I’m not a role model, … Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”
• “When I was recruited at Auburn, they took me to a strip joint. When I saw those t**s on Buffy, I knew that Auburn met my academic requirements.”

God, I love this team. They traded him for the hot dog eater.