Hello Pocono

By Joe Miegoc | Published: June 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

I arrived at Pocono Raceway a short time ago, hopefully to cover the 5-Hour ENERGY 500.

Right now it’s cool and foggy (normal Pocono weather in early June) with a slight chance of rain early in the afternoon and increasing as the day goes on. They’ll make every effort to get the race in, and remember all that has to be run is 100 laps for it to be official (Jeff Gordon won that way in 2008).

So far so good on the Pocono cronies alert, but it’s early. Did have a parking attendant tell me I couldn’t go back to my car. Just ignored him. Saw a pretty sweet mullet on another parking dude. Had me contemplating a hair style change.

I’ll be live blogging during the race (pre-race starts at 12:30 p.m. with cars expected to take the green flag shortly after 1 p.m.) so head over to www.poconorecord.com to follow along. Also follow me on Twitter (@JoeMiegoc) to catch my witty banter and updates on cronies.

As for the race, I like Carl Edwards. He was fastest in Friday’s first practice session and third fastest in Happy Hour. He’s won twice here and loves Pocono. Can’t forget about Denny Hamlin either. He could really use a breakthrough at a track he’s won at four times.

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PV showed tons of character

By Joe Miegoc | Published: June 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Two days later and I still can’t believe the fight Pleasant Valley’s softball team put up Thursday night.

Trailing 7-0 after two innings of the District 11 Class AAAA final against Easton, the Bears rallied to finally tie the game at 8-8 in the sixth before the Red Rovers scored a run in the seventh and held off another PV charge in the bottom of the inning. Below is the column I wrote on the game that will run in Sunday’s paper.

ALLENTOWN — I had no idea what to expect, but I probably should have.
When Pleasant Valley’s softball team trailed 7-0 after Easton scored six times in the second inning of Thursday’s District 11 Class AAAA softball final, I started thinking what I was going to ask Bears coach Steve Caffrey about a tough defeat. Thirty minutes later those questions were scrapped.

By scoring four two-out runs in the third — that would be a common theme in the Bears’ comeback — not only did PV show that the game wasn’t over, but also its character.

Think about it.

Before the Bears batted for a second time they were in a huge hole. The Red Rovers had dinked, dunked and slapped their way to a 7-0 lead against Rikki Correll, who entered the game 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA (four of Easton’s seven runs were unearned). Correll had been fabulous in the postseason, tossing 12 1-3 straight scoreless innings before Easton scored once in the first (it had runners on first and second with no outs, but Correll got out of it).

The Bears had every reason to hang their heads and go quietly, except that’s not even remotely close to who they are.

I should have known that after watching Kasey Meckes and Megan Hardy, PV’s center fielder and first baseman, lead the Bears to the Mountain Valley Conference girls basketball title in the winter. Or seeing them spark PV’s against East Stroudsburg South in the MVC softball title game last month.

Meckes got it started against Easton, with a two-out walk in the third, and Hardy kept it going with an infield single (an Easton error on the play allowed Nicole Kregeloh to score the second run of the rally). A two-run double by Rachel Sisco officially made it a game again.

PV got two more back in the fourth, taking advantage of a break when the umpire ruled the Felicia Domenici swung, and not bunted as it looked, on a foul ball. Kregeloh slapped a two-run single into center to cut Easton’s lead to just one.

The Bears took another punch when the Rovers pushed the lead back to two after a pair of PV errors led to an unearned run in the fifth, but they answered back instead.
Again with two outs, PV made its charge. Kregeloh doubled in Meckes before Diane Klapatch’s single tied it all up at 8-8.

Simply amazing.

The PV crowd was roaring and the team was on Cloud 9, deservedly so, but Easton regained the lead in the seventh to put the Bears back into rally mode.

With two outs Hayli Marini, who was fantastic in relief of Correll, walked and Domenici singled to put the tying run on second. And it would have happened if Easton shortstop Sarah Rasley wasn’t playing in the hole when Meckes hit a hard ground ball right to her. Rasley flipped to third for the force out and the game was over just like that.

The Bears were extremely quiet after the game and understandably so. They came back to Pates Park, after beating Northampton 1-0 in the semifinals Tuesday, expecting to go home with gold medals. Instead, they wore silver and had to watch Easton celebrate its first district title since 1973.

It was tough to watch them, especially knowing how hard they fought back to make it a game. They were down, quiet and stunned. All the things every team is after a championship game loss.
But this was different.

After rallying for so long, it seemed like a certainty that the Bears had one more in them in the seventh. The players didn’t look terribly concerned when they came off the field for their turn to bat.

They had come back all night so why would this be any different.

Backs against the wall, PV went down swinging with everything it had. The Bears might not have won the title, but they certainly showed that they’re winners.

Posted in High school sports | Leave a comment

Blog? Who me? That’s right me!

By Joe Miegoc | Published: May 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

So it’s been more than two months since my last post. Yikes.

Other media colleagues of mine blog daily or at least several times a week. I can’t promise that (and even if I did would you believe me anyway?), but I will do my best to keep up with blogging more, both here and at Lions Land, my Penn State blog.

So where am I starting here? I’ll go locally first. It was an interesting Sunday for me. I’m usually at my desk, designing pages, but instead I took in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game pitting top-seeded Pleasant Valley against No. 3 East Stroudsburg South. Knowing that the Bears had won the two regular-season games by a combined score of 31-6 I wasn’t so sure Sunday would be the most competitive of title games, but it was. The Cavs were right there, leading 6-5 and needing just six outs to win their first MVC softball crown, but the Bears rallied for three runs in the sixth and reliever Rikki Correll worked around a leadoff single in the seventh to deliver PV’s seventh title in eight years. And on a side note, thanks to Bill Bergen (and the many fans around me) for being a good sport as I chewed, and spit, sunflower seeds throughout. Even after I accidentally spit a shell on Bill’s shoe he just laughed it off. Good guy.

I was in Philadelphia last night for Chase Utley’s first game of the season, and although he went 0-for-5 as the Phillies pummeled Cincinatti 10-3, he did hit some balls hard. I was amazed as I watched batting practice and how nonchalant some Phillies seemed to take it, trying to serve the ball to all three fields instead of just making hard contact. When Utley stepped in though he did so with a purpose. He worked on pulling the ball, hitting it up the middle and going to left field, but tried to hit every ball hard. Here’s hoping that kind of seriousness could make trickle around the ball club with Utley now back in the fold.

This is a couple weeks overdue, but another Flyers’ season ended in disappointment with more unanswered questions about who the team’s goalie will be going forward. Who could have guessed? Finding a top-flight, No. 1 goalie is probably harder than finding a No. 1 starting pitcher. Across the street at Citizen’s Bank Park the Phillies have four No. 1 starters. Combining all the Flyers goalies probably wouldn’t add up to one No. 1 goalie. Brian Boucher is a serviceable backup, but at this stage of his career that’s probably the ceiling. Sergei Bobrovsky has a lot of promise, but seemed to wilt as the season wound down. I would be stunned if Michael Leighton figures into the team’s plans going forward. There are ways to hide an average goalie. Having a suffocating defense would be a start, or a defensive system that doesn’t include multiple turnovers deep in their own end of the ice which lead to average goalies being hung out to dry. But that’s not something that can be done overnight. And I haven’t even addressed the issues “captain” Mike Richards seems to have with the Philadelphia media. This will be an interesting offseason to say the least.

OK, what else? With the NFL still in lockout mode there isn’t a whole lot to discuss when it comes to the Eagles. Their draft was average in my eyes. The two biggest holes on the team, pass rush and cornerback, weren’t addressed and who knows what kind of free agent system will be in place when football is back in business. Picking a 26-year-old in the first round, even if Danny Watkins can come in and start from Day 1, is odd considering the Eagles are one of the most, if not the most, obsessive teams about the age of their players. It’s obvious, to me and I’m not alone, that the Eagles plan on chasing Nnmadi Asomugha (with the pedal to the medal perhaps?), but they won’t be alone in pursing the game’s top corner. So if that doesn’t work what then? Not really a big fan of putting all your eggs in one basket, but who am I to question the gold standard of NFL franchises.

One more with me saving the best for last in the Sixers. Listen, it’s great that Doug Collins helped Philly get into the playoffs with an average roster and get the city enthusiastic about basketball again. And there are positives to build upon like Jrue Holiday and Thad Young seeing their games take off and the return of Elton Brand as a top-50 NBA player, but this team is still light years away from even competing in their conference let alone winning a championship. And with the 16th pick in next month’s draft, completing the puzzle to get to contender status won’t be completed. So who do they go after? I’d like to see someone who can both rebound and defend two positions (either the 2 and 3 or 3 and 4). It would be a bonus if they can score a little. And what happens with Andre Iguodala? He seemed pretty disinterested in the playoffs and there have been grumblings that he wants out, which the Sixers probably would be OK with but I’m not sure who would trade for his outrageous contract. What could hurt the Sixers the most is a possible lockout. This is a young team that needs more time on the court together. That would be the first step to getting better, and more importantly, more consistent.

Posted in Eagles, Flyers, High school sports, Phillies, Sixers | Leave a comment

Utley’s injury concerning

By Joe Miegoc | Published: March 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Thanks Captain Obvious, right?

Knee injuries are never a good thing. I know. As a sophomore in high school I sprained my left knee in football practice and it still bothers me sometimes. Luckily it’s not all that often but every now and then I can feel it. So the news that Chase Utley’s knee tendinitis hasn’t subsided is a big concern in the short term and long term.

Utley’s presence, and not just his talent, is vital to the Phillies’ personality. While I’m not his biggest fan, I know the guy is important not just for the homers hit hits but also for the grit he plays the game with. It’s infectious and on a team without a true leader not having Utley on the field, in the lineup and in the clubhouse is a big hole to fill. And there really aren’t any options that will do half the job. Wilson Valdez is very good defensively, but won’t give you much at the plate. Josh Barfield has had a nice spring, but he was a minor league free agent for a reason. Pete Orr, pass. Mike Martinez, same.

Maybe the most worrisome aspect of the whole thing is that Utley has said the pain is too much to play through and that can’t be good for the long term.

The Phillies are on the hook for two years after this season at $15 million a year for Utley’s services. If the pain doesn’t subside I can’t see how surgery is avoided and that will not only affect this season but next year, too. And whose to say Utley ever fully recovers? This is a guy who before last season averaged almost 151 games played per season and that doesn’t include the postseason, which the Phillies have been a part of the past four years. That’s a lot of pounding to any player let alone one who plays as hard as Utley.

So what now? I’m no doctor, but I can say that getting surgery is the very last option. That should have been done the day after the NLCS last year if it was a problem of that magnitude. If it comes to surgery a lot of questions will have to be answered, especially since this isn’t the first time Utley has experienced knee pain. All Phillies fans can hope for now is that rest is the best answer. If not the questions about the Phillies’ offense only get bigger and more troublesome.

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District seeds are out

By Joe Miegoc | Published: February 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Mountain Valley Conference boys basketball champion Pocono Mountain West earned the top seed for the District 11 Class AAAA playoffs, which start Wednesday.

The Panthers (20-4) get a first-round bye and will meet the winner of No. 9 Pocono Mountain East (16-8) at No. 8 Emmaus, which play at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. at East Stroudsburg South next Saturday.

Pleasant Valley (11-12), the 10th seed, plays at Bangor at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, while No. 11 Stroudsburg (11-12) plays at sixth-seeded Nazareth at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

In the girls bracket, MVC champion Pleasant Valley (18-6) earned the top seed and a first-round bye in the Class AAAA playoffs. The Bears will play the winner of No. 9 East Stroudsburg South (10-12) at No. 8 Liberty, which play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Friday at a site to be determined.

Sixth-seeded Pocono Mountain West (14-10) hosts No. 11 Stroudsburg (8-14) in the opening round at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The Panthers won the two-regular season meetings and beat the Mounties in the MVC semifinals this past Tuesday. No. 10 Pocono Mountain East (10-11) travels to play Allen at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

In the Class A girls playoffs, fourth-seeded Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg (13-7) takes on No. 5 Moravian Academy at 6 p.m. at ES South on Saturday.

Posted in High school sports | Leave a comment

Breaking my silence

By Joe Miegoc | Published: January 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Has it really been over a month since my last entry? Seems so. I guess now would be a good time to to touch base on a few things.

First, high school basketball has just about consumed me this winter (when the snow and ice or a combination of both have allowed it to). On the boys side, it’s still Pocono Mountain East and Pocono Mountain West as the top two teams in the Mountain Valley Conference, but I’ve been impressed with Stroudsburg’s ability to bounce back from an 0-6 start. Pleasant Valley has had some ups and downs, but are all but assured of making the MVC and district playoffs. Pleasant Valley and Pocono Mountain West have separated themselves on the girls side, but East Stroudsburg South can’t be forgotten about and neither should Stroudsburg for that matter. I was really impressed with the Mounties in their victory over Pocono Mountain East, which also has some talented players, last Friday. PV and West play Friday for what should determine the top seed in the MVC playoffs in two weeks, while East and West boys meet again on Feb. 11 in what should be a MVC final preview.

The Eagles continue their search for a defensive coordinator, seemingly interviewing everyone and anyone across the NFL. I honestly don’t have any preference as long as players who can play are actually provided. You know, not seventh-round picks or undrafted free agents or magicians. Oh, that last one is on special teams. I really liked the hire of Jim Washburn to run the defensive line and he’ll have plenty of talent to work with with two first-round and a second-round pick at defensive tackle and Trent Cole and Brandon Graham (although I can’t see him being ready by the season opener, if there is a season opener) at end.

The Phillies roster seems to be set with the first day for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training about two weeks away. That’s fine with me. I don’t mind a battle for the right field spot, but if Domonic Brown stays with the big club he needs to play four days a week. I didn’t really understand giving Kyle Kendrick $2.45 million, but the Phillies generally like to avoid arbitration if possible. With Joe Blanton all but assured to be back on the team it’s hard to see Kendrick doing anything but long relief, but he’s a good insurance policy albeit an expensive one.

The Sixers have been a maddening team, sweeping season series from the Nuggets and Suns, to blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead to the woeful Grizzlies. It’s easy to see the potential when you watch them from Thad Young to Jrue Holiday, but there’s also the the frustration of watching guys like Marreese Speights play well one night and then disappear for a week. Doug Collins definitely has this team further along than most thought they’d be at this point, but in the grand scheme what does it mean? Can the Sixers challenge Miami or Boston in the Eastern Conference? No. Simple as that.

Quick note on the Flyers, you have to like the way the offense is working. From Claude Giroux to Danny Briere to Jeff Carter, they’ve been able to put the goal in the back of the net and be effective on the power play. The defense still is a concern and so is the goaltending, but when isn’t that the case with the Flyers?

NASCAR made a smart moving ditching its odd point system for one any fan, or non-fan really, can follow. It’s something that should have been done a long time ago. Now shorten the season to 30 races, cut the fields to 38 cars and force drivers to have at least two hours of a week of fan interaction and they might really be on to something.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Hopefully it won’t take me another month to come up with more material.

Posted in Eagles, Flyers, High school sports, NASCAR, Phillies, Sixers | Leave a comment

Eagles thoughts

By Joe Miegoc | Published: December 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

It didn’t shock me that the Eagles-Vikings game set for Sunday night was postponed. With the projected forecast calling for heavy snow and wind gusts up to 40 mph I thought it was a good call. Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell didn’t agree, not that anyone really cares what he has to say about the subject.

All the postponement did was delay what should be an interesting final week of the regular season for the men in green. A win over the Vikings will set up an opportunity for the Eagles to possibly clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs (Philly made the playoffs and won the NFC East title when the Giants got blown out by Green Bay on Sunday). The Eagles would need to beat Dallas, which may have to start Stephen McGee at quarterback, and have the Packers knock off the Bears in a game Green Bay has to have to do just that. Hard to believe after what many (myself included) thought would be a rebuilding season for the Eagles. That of course was with the idea of Kevin Kolb running the offense and the defense continuing to rebuild a unit that was porous and old at the end of last season.

That was all before Michael Vick took over at quarterback and helped the Eagles win games by outscoring their opponents thanks to a still shaky defense. There’s no question how much of a difference Vick has made for this offense. He has one of the best arms in NFL history and keeps defenses constantly guessing on whether he’ll tuck the ball and run or sling it 50 yards down field to DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin. A forgotten man at times is LeSean McCoy, who has been light years ahead of where I thought he would be in just his second season out of Pitt. While his running and catching have people comparing him to Brian Westbrook, it’s his blocking that has really caught my eye. That’s usually the toughest task for a young running back to pick up, but McCoy has done a more than admiral job this season.

The defense still has holes (covering tight ends is still a huge issue) and has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback lately, but they’ve still been able to keep the Eagles in games with big stops and turnovers. The Eagles came up with some big stops in the fourth quarter against the Giants last week and are tied for second in the NFL with Pittsburgh with 32 takeaways. Losing Nate Allen hurts, but Kurt Coleman isn’t awful. Trent Cole needs to find his stride though as the standout defense end has failed to register a sack the past three weeks. The absence of Brandon Graham, who was starting to come on before tearing an ACL against the Cowboys, hurts the defensive line rotation, especially against the pass. The jury on the addition of Derrick Burgess is still out, but I expect him to get reps Tuesday and next Sunday to see if he can contribute in the playoffs. Antonio Dixon has been another success story of the Eagles picking up a defensive tackle off waivers (joining Darwin Walker). While Moise Fokou (6-foot-1, 236 pounds) isn’t much bigger than Akeem Jordan (6-1, 230), he has brought a more physical nature to the strongside linebacker and the Eagles’ run defense has been much better because of it.

Special teams have been pretty solid this season. I’ll never been a Sav Rocca fan, but he hasn’t been terrible. He has just the 12th best punting average, but his net of 38.9 yard per kick is 9th best and only Washington’s Hunter Smith and Seattle’s Jon Ryan have less touchbacks than Rocca’s two. If not for a forgettable three-miss performance against Atlanta, David Akers might argue this season to be one his best. Perhaps the most impressive part of Akers’ game this season has been his depth on kickoffs. Akers is averaging just under 67 yards per kickoff and the Eagles are allowing just 23.1 yards per return, a huge improvement from earlier in the season. Here is a great breakdown of Akers’ performance on kickoffs by Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com.

Before the season I was in the camp that the Eagles would be lucky to win eight games. I thought Kolb would have his struggles, but he’d play well more often than not. The defense was a concern, and still is, but the addition of Allen would help the secondary while Graham would energize an aging pass rush. Kickoff returns was still a problem and the coverage units were a mystery. I wouldn’t have felt much better if someone told me Vick would start as there was no reason to think, based on his preseason, that he’d be able to do what he has. The defense still makes me uneasy and the special teams are solid but not special, but it’s No. 7 that makes me think January could be special. All that of course depends on what happens between Tuesday and Sunday.

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Four weeks to go

By Joe Miegoc | Published: December 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

If you told me I’d be writing this back in September I would have had some choice words for you.

With Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley out with concussions, coming off a sloppy effort against Green Bay and the idea of Michael Vick, who hadn’t shown much in his first year, starting at QB, I was sure the Eagles’ season was lost. While Vick went out and played well in victories over Detroit and Jacksonville, it was still the Lions and Jaguars, who looked putrid in that game against the Eagles.

Even at 2-1, the defense was soft, the offensive line inconsistent and special teams almost non-existent. All of those issues came to the forefront when Donovan McNabb returned to the Linc and helped (not much, but enough) the Redskins beat the Eagles in a game Vick, named the starter after Reid initially said it would be Kolb only to reverse his field a day later, left early with cracked ribs. Still, the Eagles rebounded with victories over San Francisco and Atlanta with Kolb at the helm, but just like that a vanishing act in the fourth quarter against the Titans left them 4-3 heading into the bye.

Eight weeks in and I still had no idea what to make of this team. One minute the offense was high flying and next minute it was grounded to a screeching halt. The defense could come out and hit an opponent in the mouth only to be dropped to the canvas later on. The special teams was anything but with the lone exception David Akers’ field goal kicking and even he missed three chip shots against Atlanta.

A victory over the Colts (well half the Colts really) was a good sign off the bye, keeping Andy Reid unbeaten after a week off (in the regular season at least), but nothing like the thrashing given to Washington on national TV the day McNabb signed a “contract extension.” The offense, which set multiple team records in a 59-31 rout, the Eagles put on display that night was years in the making. After years of James Thrash, Todd “Pinky” or “Lean Lightning” Pinkston and Charles Johnson, the Eagles made their offense sexy for you by drafting speedsters DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin in back-to-back drafts. With Brian Westbrook, the Eagles’ lone offensive playmaker for years, breaking down the team drafted LeSean McCoy in 2009. Brent Celek, a 2007 fifth-round pick, didn’t do much that night, but his play the past three seasons invokes memories of Chad Lewis with more athleticism. Even the offensive line, led by new whipping boy Jason Peters and one-time left tackle failure turned reclamation project at right tackle Winston Justice, stepped up their game. Of course, there was Vick, who was simply out of his mind that rainy night against the Redskins.

The past three weeks opponents have quieted the Eagles’ explosive O, but Philly grinded out victories over the Giants and Texans after trailing both in the fourth quarter and lost a winnable game in Chicago without their best defensive player. That leaves us with four weeks to see what the Eagles are really all about.

It starts this week at Dallas on Sunday night against a team flying high after winning three of Jason Garrett’s first four games (and blowing the game they lost thanks to Roy Williams). Although Dallas won’t have Dez Bryant, who broke his ankle Sunday against Indianapolis, the Cowboys won’t roll over for the Eagles. Maybe a month ago, but not now. Then a trip to the New Meadowlands to face the best defensive line in the NFL in the Giants. I always like the Eagles’ chances against the G-Men because Eli Manning usually makes one or two bonehead plays a game and the Eagles tend to take advantage, but New York’s running game looked pretty impressive Sunday although it came against the lowly Redskins. Who knows what the Dec. 26 meeting with Minnesota holds. Will it be Brett Favre’s 300 consecutive start? Will someone keep his cell phone on 24-hour watch? How does anyone stop Adrian Peterson? And then, to cap the regular season, a meeting with Dallas on Jan. 2, a game in which the temperatures will most likely be in the teens.

How will the next four weeks play out? I see 3-1, but a 4-0 stretch wouldn’t shock me. Of course after the way the season started out this is all a surprise to me.

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Hi again

By Joe Miegoc | Published: November 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yikes, it’s been quite some time since I’ve written one of these. I won’t even apologize this time since you most likely will reject it. I’ll get into my subject.

Driving back from last Sunday’s Eagles victory over the Giants I heard a lot of callers on talk radio saying how this was the Eagles’ year or this team wasn’t going to lose another game all season. My fellow passengers and I just laughed when we heard those things. Those people obviously haven’t been Eagles fans very long. If there is one thing the Eagles are truly superior at it’s bringing their fan base back to Earth and doing it very quickly.

Sunday’s 31-26 loss to the Bears wasn’t really that close. After Michael Vick threw his first interception since 2006 with the Eagles poised to take the lead, Chicago controlled the game for the next 25 minutes. All the talk about how improved the Eagles defense was, particularly against the run, was silenced in emphatic fashion. Like he did with the Lions, Ernie Sims was consistently out of position. Stewart Bradley has been average at best this season and was below that against the Bears. Joselio Hanson, starting in place of an injured Asante Samuel, continues to struggle this season, giving up two easy touchdown passes Sunday. If not for Trent Cole and Antonio Dixon, the only two Eagle defenders who came ready to play, who knows what the average Chicago offense would have done.

The offense’s problems were the same as they’ve been for the past few years. The line was porous against a good pass rush, the running game was abandoned (mostly because of the score), DeSean Jackson was nearly invisible and the quarterback struggled with his accuracy. Right from the opening snap, Chicago’s safeties were playing some 20-25 yards off the line of scrimmage to take away Jackson and the Eagles’ deep passing game. Between the linebackers and safeties was a small window for Vick to fit the ball into, but he missed an opportunity early to Brent Celek and several more times throughout the game. Were the windows small? Yes, but as an NFL quarterback those are money throws. A poor effort by Todd Herremans resulted in Vick’s first pick of the year, a batted pass that Bears safety Chris Harris picked off in the end zone. Chicago drove down the field and score, making it at least 10-point swing (with how awful the Eagles have been in the red zone lately one can only assume that drive would have ended with David Akers on the field kicking a field goal). Jackson dropped a pass early in the game, never was a factor and was reported to exchange words with Vick in the locker room. Andy Reid criticized Jackson in the locker room following the game for Jackson’s laid-back demeanor in pregame warm ups. If Jackson wants to get a big payday (from the Eagles at least) these things have to stop happening.

It was a revelation to watch the Bears consistently get good field position thanks to their special teams. That has rarely happened to the Eagles this year (they’re 25th in the league in kick return average and 15th in punt return average, which is much better than the true story).  I’m not sure if Jackson has concerns returning punts because of the nasty concussion he sustained earlier this season, but he seems to have very little interest returning punts. Jorrick Calvin has done a decent job returning kickoffs, but he surely doesn’t strike fear in any opponent. You’d think with 12 draft picks the Eagles might try to find a return specialist (well, they did that once but chose a skier instead). The kickoff coverage unit was just putrid Sunday. It had gotten better the past few weeks, but was a big minus against the Bears. Devin Hester and Danieal Manning made the Eagles look bad, real bad.

Luckily for the Eagles there won’t be much time to dwell on the loss. The Houston Texans come to Philadelphia on Thursday and will have star wide receiver Andre Johnson, who was fined but not suspended for his on-field fight with Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan on Sunday. Even without Johnson, the Texans are a good team capable of beating just about anyone and are that much better with him in the lineup. The defense has struggled, particularly against the pass, but Mario Williams is a guy the Eagles are going to have to slow down. The Eagles cannot settle for field goals anymore. In their last 10 trips inside the red zone they’ve only scored two touchdowns. That is unacceptable. The special teams need to be just that, special. If Jackson is concerned about his health returning punts that’s fine. Let someone else try it. How about a reverse on a kick return? Anything to generate some momentum.

With Vick at the controls, the offense is capable of anything. The guy is a superior athlete who is finally becoming a quarterback. He’s not there yet. Those missed throws Sunday (and he had a few against the Giants, too) show that, but he’s light years better. The defense needs to show up on a consistent basis. The line needs to perform like they’re capable of. Reid can’t be kicking field goals when he’s down 18 points. A lot to work on in not a lot of time.

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What went wrong

By Joe Miegoc | Published: October 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Like many Phillies fans (real ones and not the ones who’ve only been cheering since late in 2007) I thought this year would bring another parade down Broad St.

With Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in the rotation, Ryan Madson pitching the best baseball of his career and Brad Lidge pitching lights out despite missing several MPH off his fastball, I thought the offense would be able to scratch out enough runs to win 11 games in the postseason. How wrong I was.

I should have seen it coming through all the inconsistencies of the Phils’ offense during the season, but I convinced myself over and over again that most of that had to do with the injuries that nearly crippled the season. I figured it would only be a matter of time before Ryan Howard would go on one of his patented power streaks or until Chase Utley would begin hitting line drive after line drive like he does when he’s on. I was wrong on both accounts.

Raul Ibanez was clearly not right at the beginning of the season. He was awful in spring training and was awful for the majority of the first half of the season. He caught fire for a while in the second half, but as the playoffs approached he quieted down again and was barely heard from the past few weeks.

The worst thing that happened to Shane Victorino was hitting a career high in home runs this season. Never did a I see such a small player (with great speed by the way) swing so hard all the time. I’ve heard the excuses about his struggles batting left-handed. Baloney. The guy hits just fine when he’s trying to hit line drives and not homers. Victorino is a guy who should be pounding the ball into the ground and using his speed. He hasn’t done that since 2008 unfortunately.

Jimmy Rollins got off to a hot start (9-for-23 in the first six games), then hurt his calf in warmups for the home opener and was never himself after that. The speed that defines his game was vacant for much of the time when he was on the field. To see him lead off the fifth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS and never make one attempt to run was a clear sign of that. No trust in his legs. Rollins is the engine that makes the Phillies go. Any fan knows that by watching him and watching them. When he struggles the Phillies do as well.

Jayson Werth had his peaks and valleys this season, but he was one of the better offensive performers. His power numbers were down a bit and he was horrid with runners in scoring position, but the guy came to pay every day. He plays good defense, throws well and uses his speed (his most undervalued tool) to take an extra base or score from first on a double as good as anyone in the game.

Placido Polanco got hit in the elbow by a pitch from Atlanta’s Tim Hudson early in the season and it affected him big time. Instead of sitting him down and trying to get him better, the Phillies let him play through the pain and it only got worse. That said, he was the least of the Phillies’ problems. His defense was better than expected, his arm, too, and he does a hit and run as good as you can find.

Carlos Ruiz played way over his head this season. Defense has always been Ruiz’s calling card, but he came up with some clutch hits this season and produced far more than any realist could have hoped for. But his swing got long in the playoffs and the Phillies got little production out of him, something they sorely missed with Ibanez struggling in the No. 7 spot as well. That said, Ruiz catches a good game, handles the pitching staff well and has erased any concerns over whether he is a No. 1 catcher.

Wilson Valdez was the MVP of this team in my eyes. The guy was a minor leaguer to start the season and wound up playing a pivotal role in helping the Phillies wait out injuries to both Rollins and Utley. He was so good that the Phillies released Juan Castro, whom they signed to an $800K contract to be a utility player. Years ago that would have never happened.

The bench was below average. Ross Gload was fine until he hurt his groin and, like Polanco, the Phillies didn’t put him on the disabled list right away. A line drive hitter, Gload was never the same after the injury and was invisible in the playoffs, going 0-for-5. Ben Francisco should have played more early in the season with Ibanez struggling, but didn’t and scuffled for much of the season because of it. Mike Sweeney was a nice late season addition, but once Howard returned from a sprained ankle became more of a cheerleader than anything else. Greg Dobbs, I won’t even go there. Good player during the 2008 World Series championship team who lived off that success the past two seasons.

The pitching was fine. Very few complaints there. Danys Baez was a huge mistake who is still signed for another year. Losing Jamie Moyer hurt more than most people thought. Watching J.C. Romero consistently throw ball 1 and ball 2 became more than painful. Injuries to Antonio Bastardo also hurt the bullpen, which was saved by Jose Contreras, Madson and Lidge. Chad Durbin was serviceable, but is due arbitration and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Phillies non-tender him.

What now?

Werth is gone. With over $145 million already committed to 18 players there is no room financially for Werth, which is a shame because he fits well in the lineup and clubhouse. I’m fine with his spot going to Domonic Brown, but only if Francisco gets 300 at-bats in a platoon situation. I don’t like the idea of another season from Kyle Kendrick, but if the Phillies tender him and he wins the No. 5 spot in spring training I’ll tip my hat to him. Romero is gone, with a $4.5 million option held by the Phillies almost surely to be declined. The Phils will almost surely sign a few bullpen arms, at a low rate of course, while also giving some kids in the organization (Vance Worley and Mike Zagurski for example) a chance to make the team. Other than that this team will look pretty much the same and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

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