Happy 29th birthday, First Down Freddie! Man, I miss this guy. The biggest smack talking non-factor in NFL history. Oh, and here’s a fun little Freddie fact: He played college baseball at UCLA with Chase Utley and introduced Chase to his future wife Jennifer. And I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank Eagles management for taking FredEx over Chad Johnson and Steve Smith. You think those guys woulda caught 4th and 26? Doubt it.

• Point spread for the Eagles-Patriots game? 23 points. That is simply unbelievable. I am quite sure it is the first time a 5-5 team has ever been a 23 point underdog. And keep in mind that Super Bowl III is considered the biggest upset in NFL history, and the Jets were only an 18 point underdog. Even still, would you take the Eagles and the points? Honestly?
• The Phillies tried to score Mike Lowell over the weekend, and even offered a better deal than the Red Sox, but he stayed in Boston. Jerk.
• Good news for Lancaster native and Barnstormer fan Chill Rob A. Von “5 for 1” Hayes has just been signed as their manager.
• Announcement in about half an hour to let us know if J-Roll won MVP.

The great Mike Schmidt once said, “Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.” So is the case today, as WIP loudmouth, Metro scribe, and McNabb basher Angelo Cataldi spews vitriol at Donovan again in his column. Nevermind that McNabb is the greatest quarterback in this team’s history, nevermind that he’s trying to come back from a career threatening injury, and nevermind that he LED THE TEAM TO A FREAKING WIN. Nope, none of that matters when you work for WIP. All that’s important is that you keep the assault on your own players going when the going gets tough.

In the column, the statement McNabb made last week that he’s not the whole reason that the Eagles are so bad (which was an obvious and fairly benign statement if you ask me) is seen as “throwing his teammates under the bus”. I love how WIP wants to have it both ways. They complain that Andy Reid only speaks in platitudes, then when Donovan actually speaks his mind, they launch an all out assault against him and say that he’s a terrible leader. But of course. Because any old terrible leader could lead a team with receivers named Thrash and Pinkston to three consecutive championship games, and terrible leaders are often 5 time Pro Bowlers.

Of course, the fans that call into WIP are just as absurd. Philadelphia always claims that it loves guys who gut it out, win or lose. So when McNabb came back early from such a serious injury, despite the fact that he could have easily taken a few more months to recuperate, did Philadelphia Eagle fans embrace him with open arms, appreciative of the fact that he wanted to play so badly that he was willing to risk his career by coming back early from a devastating injury? Hell no. They just screamed and hollered about how we shouldn’t have let Jeff Garcia go. Which raises the question: Do Philadelphia sports fans only appreciate gutsy though ultimately flawed performances from fictional white boxers, and not from actual black quarterbacks?

Yesterday was one of those rare good days to be a Philadelphia sports fan. The Flyers and Sixers both won big, but more importantly, Ed Wade finally helped the Phillies, giving us Brad Lidge for Michale Bourn. I like Bourn, and we’ll miss his speed, but we’ve still got plenty of speed with Vic and Rollins. This means that Myers will move back into the rotation. Now, I’m just praying that the team re-signs Romero and Rowand. Then this will be a squad worth getting excited about. The fantasy: our terrible ownership realizes that this may be the best team in Phils history, opens up the purse strings a bit, and goes after Dontrelle Willis. A rotation of Hamels, Myers, Willis, Kendrick, Moyer would make this the best team in the NL. Send Eaton to middle relief or the Afghani League or something. (Of course, the above scenario will never happen because we got rid of our best trade bait in Bourn, so we’ve got nothing to offer for Willis.)
RELATED: Read Beerleaguers take.
RELATED: Salisbury writes about it in the Inky.

This is brought to us by my good friend Duff:
The time will come, sooner than later, when Westbrook will not be the jaw dropper he is today. Two years, maybe three left. So since Kolb is three or four years from taking us somewhere (he really looks good from the nanosecond I saw), we should get top $$$ and picks while we can. The only medium term issue is maintaining the offensive line and not losing the corners. The rest can be turned over as we develop Kolb but we need to dump Westbrook or we may win just enough games to avoid a decent pick and damage Westbrook just enough to make him worthless in a trade.

I happen to agree. This team is going nowhere but down for several years, and there is no reason to make Westbrook suffer through the rebuilding. Philly has a habit of holding onto their stars until they are no longer valuable, then trading them for nothing (Abreu, Iverson, etc.). But in this case, it’s time to call this what it is. A bad team playing for next years draft. Let’s start losing, get rid of our only valuable asset for numerous draft picks, and try to build the team thru the draft like the early 90s Cowboys. Of course, with Andy’s drafting record, that might not work either.

“As Eagles fans filed out of the stadium with nearly 20 minutes of football still to be played, at least they had some clarity.

They walked in wondering whether the Dallas Cowboys were for real, having gotten to a 6-1 record without beating any good teams. They walked out knowing the Cowboys are 7-1 and still haven’t beaten any good teams.”
–Phil Sheridan in the Inquirer

-Have you seen the amazing play at the end of the Division III Trinity College-Millsaps College game? 2nd greatest ending to a college football game ever. (Had Millsaps band run onto the field, it woulda been #1). I love how #3 for Millsaps finally just says “The hell with it” and just stands there.

-A bitter debate about the designated hitter broke out in the comments section recently. Here’s some numbskull that thinks that the NL should adopt the DH, and here is an interesting article which claims that the DH is a moral hazard. Bottom line, the DH is perfect for frat boys like Garrett and BMT who hate pitching and strategy and love home runs. I’m not sure where Garret lives in Seoul, but I’m guessing it’s a frat boy suburb where people piss on the streets. And if you see BMT this week, tell him you like his backward Red Sox cap and his popped collar. But keep your distance: DH fans are inherently dangerous people.

-Andy Reid impersonator Steve O. (above) won the Best Sequel contest from September. Yeah, I was a little slow on this, but his Lambada 2: The Dance That’s Been Legal Since 2006 took top honors. Congrats to Steve, who wins a $20 Bards gift certificate and 2 IMAX passes.

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry decided to celebrate his team’s second World Series win in the last 4 years by raising a gloved black fist to the sky. It was a brazen move by the rebellious owner, and Red Sox nation is not exceptionally pleased. “Hey, it’s great that he’s built a winner here in Boston,” said Sox fan Davey O’Brien, “But does he have to remind everyone that he is a Marcus Garvey disciple who believes in black nationalism? On today of all days?” Added Brian O’Davies of nearby Worcester, “He looked like a nerdy white John Carlos out there. We’ve come a long ways since the 1968 Olympics, and his black power salute was not wicked awesome.”

Should be an interesting World Series, though I’m kind of torn on who to root for. On the one hand, the AL is a league for sissies due to the DH rule. And has anything gotten as annoying in the past three years as Red Sox Nation? Every frat boy douchebag in America now wears a Red Sox hat backwards to go with his Abercrombie and Fitch shirt. (I bet there are tons of Red Sox “fans” in Manayunk.)

On the other hand, I hate the Rockies for a number of reasons: 1) They wear purple. Pathetic. 2) They are an expansion team. I hate expansion teams, especially since they’ve won 3 of the last 10 World Series going into this one. 3) They are from Denver, and none of those hippies knows a slider from a hot dog. 4) They wear purple. 5) They beat the Phillies.

I guess I’m rooting for the Red Sox. At least they play in Fenway, and it’s hard to hate Manny and Ortiz. And Josh Beckett is a bonified badass. What do you think?