Jan 02 2009
Philadelphia teams take New Year’s Day off
Not much to talk about on the Philly sports scene, so this is just going to be some quick points. Check back tomorrow for the NFL picks.
The Flyers and Sixers both had off days yesterday before continuing their road trips tonight. Coincidentally, both teams will play back-to-back games. Tonight, the Flyers will battle the Anaheim Ducks and then will take on the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow. The Sixers will tip-off against the Dallas Mavericks tonight and will meet up with the San Antonio Spurs tomorrow. In a perfect world, each team would go 2-0. However, it’s more likely than not that the Flyers will win one and lose one, and that the Sixers will drop both. I also believe that there is a better chance that the Flyers win both games than the Sixers winning one game.
The Eagles are 3 point favorites over the Minnesota Vikings and pretty much everyone is picking them to win. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but they shouldn’t take the Vikes lightly. While I expect the Birds to win (at least as of now), I wouldn’t put it past Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb to completely lay an egg on Sunday.
Finally, one point about the Phillies. They should definitely get into the bidding for Derek Lowe. Signing him would give the Phightins the best rotation in the National League and put serious pressure on the Mets. Why should they let him go to their chief rival at a below-market price? Also, I really don’t know where the Phils are going to get all of this money to make it through arbitration with all of their players. They are going to get wrecked in the arbitration hearings. I don’t see them winning a single case. Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth, Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, Greg Dobbs, Chad Durbin, Joe Blanton were all essential to the team’s success and each had a great season. The Phils will definitely have to break the bank to keep this team in tact. They need to figure out how to lock up Hamels, Victorino, Werth, Madson, and maybe Howard long-term. However, I fear that Ruben “Will be worse than Ed Wade” Amaro is going to ruin a great team, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
