Some observations on the just-concluded first week of Olympic competition. • Is it just me, or does it seem like gymnasts are falling and stumbling more than usual? I really only watch gymnastics every four years, so maybe my perspective is colored by the perfection of past Olympic standou......

Three years ago, when the documentary "E-A-G-L-E-S: The Movie" came out, Luis Ortiz felt seriously let down. The film — publicized as a tribute to Philadelphia Eagles fans — fell well short of its goal, Ortiz said. In fact, he called it "a slap in the face" to hi......

If you're an Olympaholic like me, you've been counting down the days until Friday's opening ceremonies. And with coverage of the Beijing games being carried on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Telemundo and even Oxygen, there'll be opportunities to watch some kind of Olympic competition almost ev......

Like a lot of Phillies fans, the first time I heard of Chris Coste was during spring training two years ago. He had also been to major-league camp in 2005, but then he was just an anonymous guy with zero chance of making the season-opening, 25-man roster. In 2006, though, the career minor-......

Years from now, Sixers fans may regard July 9, 2008, as the date the team became a serious playoff (dare I say championship?) contender. That's when they announced the signing of elite power forward Elton Brand, a development that happened so quickly it caught people around the league by surpri......

After watching the Brewers outbid them for Cleveland's stud left-hander CC Sabathia, and seeing the Cubs land Oakland's uber-talented righty Rich Harden, the Phillies are likely not going to make a major splash before the trading deadline. Oh, they'll be busy, but any hurler they add won...

In mid-May, as the Flyers were nearing elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs, I wrote about some  free-agent defensemen they might target. Well, free agency began Tuesday, and Philly batted a big, fat zero when it came to bringing a quality blueliner on board. The Flyers were majo......

A few days before Thursday's NBA draft, my co-worker Eric Stark and I were looking at a list of eight possible first-round picks for the Sixers, from an article in the Philadelphia Daily News. We concluded that since the club really, really, really needed a power forward, and not some guy w......

Everyone pretty much agrees that the midseason trade for 7-footer Pau Gasol is what propelled the Los Angeles Lakers back to elite status in the NBA. The one-sided deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, which has angered teams around the league, only cost the Lakers center Kwame Brown, rookie point g......

The baseball draft is unique in that its selections rarely make an immediate impact. In fact, it's pretty unusual for even top-level college players to reach the majors in a year or less. The last draftee I can think of who was promoted to the big leagues after just a few months of minor-le......

Going into the player draft that began Thursday, the Phillies were reportedly eyeing six players for their first-round pick: two California high schoolers, catcher Kyle Skipworth and outfielder Zach Collier; Connecticut high school infielder/outfielder Anthony Hewitt; and three collegians, Georgia p...

Welcome to another periodic collection of sports odds and ends.

Local boy makes good
Belated congratulations to Ted Simmons, a Lancaster Mennonite grad who just completed his sophomore year at Messiah College, for placing fourth in the high jump at the Division III i......

A few weeks ago, when White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd tossed his second near no-hitter in less than a month, a lot of us Phillies fans couldn't help but grimace. Yep, that was the same Gavin Floyd the team parted with in the trade for Freddy Garcia, a disastrous deal that's turning o......

After an impressive postseason run, the Flyers face elimination in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals today against Pittsburgh. Going into the series, I thought Philly had an outside chance of winning, but once I learned defenseman Kimmo Timonen might miss the rest of the playoffs with a bloo......

With the major-league baseball season nearing the first-quarter mark, here are some surprises — pleasant and otherwise — that have emerged so far. • Through Friday, St. Louis' 22-15 record was tied for second behind Arizona's for tops in the National League. The Diamond......

Well, the 2008 NFL draft is history, and the Eagles picked none of the players I wrote about in my column two weeks ago. Figures. I'm not super-thrilled with the strategy the Birds pursued, especially since they didn't get a safety in the early rounds, a position that really...

Here are some random thoughts on a few sports-related topics: • I was a channel-flipper extraordinaire Tuesday night, clicking from the Flyers' decisive game against the Capitals, to the NBA playoff contest featuring the Cavaliers and the Wizards, to cable coverage of the Pennsylvania ......

With the NFL draft coming up next weekend, you can pretty much count on the Eagles to do something unexpected. You know, like trading away their first-round pick to select a quarterback in the second round, even though they had about a million other, more immediate needs. So chances are good th......

It's been several years since I saw the Reading Phillies play, but I really look forward to catching at least one game this year at FirstEnergy Stadium.After a 4-3 road trip, the R-Phils open at home this weekend against the Altoona Curve.Watching the Philadelphia Phillies' ......

In my Feb. 24 column, I labeled the Philadelphia Sixers' season "mediocre." Well, six weeks can be an eternity in life — and NBA basketball — so now I'm ready to revise my earlier, hasty judgment. Since an 18-30 start, the Sixers were 21-7 before Saturday'......

With the Phillies opening their 2008 season Monday afternoon against the Nationals, here's how I think the National League East will shake out this year:

First: Philadelphia.
Yes, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Phils fan, so I admit to some bias here. However, I was ......

Below is an A to Z rundown of all you need to know about the NCAA tournament, which is now in full swing. OK, that's an exaggeration, because anything that comprehensive would be as long as "War and Peace." On the other hand, I don't think Leo Tolstoy was a big March ......

With Selection Sunday upon us, we amateur bracketologists can't wait till March Madness is in full swing. But even before the NCAA tourney gets under way this Thursday, some teams have already made news with their bids to the Big Dance. Drake is in for the first time since 1971, when R......

As a Phillies fan, I've come to notice two disturbing yet contradictory trends: Overpaid players who don't come close to earning their keep (see Adam Eaton and Wes Helms), and underpaid players being squeezed by a skinflint organization. The former problem afflicts nearly every major-leagu......

Anne Phillips doesn't believe in pressure. The head coach of Franklin & Marshall College's women's lacrosse team isn't focused on the F&M's preseason No. 1 ranking as it defends its 2007 Division III national championship. This is a new year and a new team, she ......

With the Sixers enduring another mediocre season and the tanking Flyers in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, what's a Philly sports fan to do? Think baseball, of course, where hope springs eternal. After all, the Phillies gave us fans a taste of the postseason in 2007 for the fir......

Three weeks ago, I wrote a column bemoaning the decline in Penn State's football recruiting, and expressed frustration at the Nittany Lions losing out to Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Michigan in the battle for blue-chip players. What I didn't look at were the reasons why. So here are m......

I know it's been written about ad nauseam in the past week, but I have to add my 2 cents on Super Bowl XLII, which was easily one of the best — if not the best — football games I've ever watched. And, yes, I was openly rooting for the Giants. Sorry, Patriots fans, I can'......

In Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, one of the definitions of the word steal is, "to seize, gain, or win by trickery, skill or daring." There's no mention of the New York Mets, the Minnesota Twins and pitcher Johan Santana. After what happened last week, however, ther......

I've been a Penn State fan since I was a kid, and there's no doubt 81-year-old Joe Paterno is one of the greatest college football coaches who ever lived. But while the team's success the last three seasons has quieted most of the "Joe must go" talk, there's one area w......

Doing my best impersonation of Carnac the Magnificent, I offer my predictions on what will happen in today's AFC and NFC championship games. • San Diego at New England (3 p.m., CBS). After getting off to a 1-3 start under new coach Norv Turner, the Chargers ended the regular seaso......

Last week, while I was eating a cup of chicken corn soup at Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant, a man sitting at the table next to me began talking about the Eagles. My curiosity piqued, I started to eavesdrop. "At the end of the regular season, they were playing as well as any team in th......

After the crowd had filtered out of Mayser Center Thursday night, Franklin & Marshall College basketball coach Glenn Robinson sat munching on an Italian sub. The cake to his right was the only obvious sign the winningest coach in Division III history had just marked a second incredible mile......

A few weeks ago, my co-worker Eric Stark and I were discussing who would be named NFL coach of the year. Several entities bestow versions of this award, including the Sporting News and The Associated Press, and they don't always pick the same person. The obvious choice all the way around, o......

A few random observations: • Two Saturdays ago, when I came home from work, I flipped on ESPN and caught the last half of the Penn State-Stanford national championship match in women's volleyball. I wasn't even aware the NCAA tournament was going on, which only proves how litt......

While the Eagles season has been going down the tubes, the Phillies haven't exactly filled that void with good news. In the two-plus months since the team ended its first playoff appearance in 14 years by laying an egg against the red-hot Colorado Rockies, the Fightins' have re-signed a......

"Are you going to print a retraction?" As soon as the Philadelphia-Seattle game was over, and before I had even had time to switch to "Eagles PostGame Live," my dad had to bring that up. OK, it turns out my opinion of A.J. Feeley in last week's column was a little, um, inflated. H......

Should Donovan McNabb be replaced as the Eagles' starting quarterback? It's a topic I've avoided for weeks, mostly because I couldn't make up my mind. Some days I thought yes, other days no. After all, McNabb was returning from a serious knee injury, and it typically takes at le......

A few random observations: • Tonight, the Eagles will surely get blown out by the Patriots in front of a national TV audience. The silver lining? They'll just be the latest in a long line of teams New England has obliterated, so they're in good (or maybe bad) company. Speaking......

Did you know that the Eagles almost drafted O.J. Simpson? Or that Howard Cosell imbibed a little too much alcohol before and during a 1970 "Monday Night Football" game in Philly, so he couldn't finish the broadcast? Or that owner Leonard Tose invited comedian Don Rickles into......

For months, I'd been hearing that Franklin & Marshall College had a phenomenal recruiting class in men's basketball, and I couldn't wait to see these guys in action. So I passed up the second half of the Indianapolis-New England game last Sunday to watch the team's preseason blue-white scri......

With sincere apologies to any Red Sox fans out there, I found the World Series too boring to write an entire column about. So I'll just say this: I'm not surprised the Rockies got swept. After winning 21 of 22 games, they were due for a major letdown. Unfortunately, it happened at the w......

Earlier this month, after the Eagles got pummeled by the Giants, rumors quickly spread that head coach Andy Reid would step down to deal with the ongoing soap opera of his sons' well-publicized legal troubles. Reid tamped down the mini-frenzy, telling Fox Sports, "The only way I don......

It's no secret Philadelphia sports fans have a bad reputation. I admit that infamy is not entirely undeserved — they can be, um, a little boorish at times, but that's hardly unique to the City of Brotherly Love. But some of the potshots people take at Philly are really starti......

Now that the Phillies have retained manager Charlie Manuel, it's time to move on to other pressing needs. This offseason, I think the team must address the following four areas. • The most glaring position-player liability is third base. Unfortunately, the Phils are stuck with Wes......

By the time you read this, the Phillies season may have reached an ignominious end. But as I'm writing, on the morning following the club's crushing 10-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies, there's still the slimmest sliver of hope this very gutsy, resilient team isn't ready to wave t......

While the Phillies continue their playoff chase, here are some thoughts on a few other topics. • I didn't get to watch Penn State's 14-9 loss to Michigan because I was working, but I saw enough highlights (or lowlights) to know Anthony Morelli and the PSU offense had an awful game.......

Monday was a really odd night for us Philadelphia sports fans. As the Eagles were stinking up Lincoln Financial Field against the Washington Redskins, a decent team that won't be mistaken for the Indianapolis Colts, the Phillies were almost blowing an 11-0 lead vs. the slumping St. Louis Ca......

If you're into fantasy football, here's some unsolicited advice: Stay away from Fox Sports. Until this year, the only online league I played in was through CBS on SportsLine.com. The Web site has always been glitch-free, and i......

With the Eagles opening today against Green Bay, amid high expectations yet again, here are my thoughts on some of the major questions the team faces as the 2007 season gets under way.

Is Donovan McNabb healthy and ready to go?
It appears so, if the franchise quarter......

The Phillies' 4-2 extra-inning win Tuesday over the first-place Mets, punctuated by a Ryan Howard walk-off home run, was a lot more exciting than the other major sporting event that took place that evening. That, of course, was the player draft for the Shocker fantasy football league. ......

With props to Hank Williams Jr., I'm definitely ready for some football. Just six days from now, Penn State will open its 12-game regular season at home against that famed powerhouse Florida International (suggested motto: "Stop laughing! We really do have a football team.&quo......

Time to switch gears. I was hoping to write about the Eagles' first exhibition game, but their performance in the 29-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was so awful I just had to focus on something positive. Fortunately, I didn't have to look far. Last Sunday, the Philadelphia Inquirer......

Since I don't want to be the 10,000th person to write about Barry Bonds, and I'm not quite ready to tackle the upcoming NFL season, I thought I'd talk about some of the pleasant surprises on this year's Phillies team. It's always tempting to pen a screed about that awful Fre......

Someone please tell me what the Sporting News people were thinking, In the July 30 issue of the magazine, in an article on the New York Mets' Jose Reyes, they published results from a poll that asked respondents which of these shortstops "they would most want if they were managing a te......

A few random thoughts from someone who can't wait for NFL training camp to start, because I really don't see the Phillies catching the Mets in the National League East: • Sure, the Phils just "celebrated" their 10,000th loss, but at least I'm not an Atlanta Falcons fa......

With the All-Star break now over, it's time for a mid-term report card on the Phillies. And just so I can end on a high note, I'm starting with the bad news.

Pitching: F.
This has been a nightmare since Day 1. Going into the All-Star game, the team had t......

In the interest of fairness, after last week's column on the Sixers' draft, I've decided to devote equal space to a franchise that, in welcome contrast, seems to be making the right moves. Last weekend was a busy time for the Philadelphia Flyers. The club signed free-agent center Da......

Raise your hand if you were dumbfounded by the Sixers' selection of Thaddeus Young as the 12th overall pick in the NBA draft. Yep, me too. My co-worker Eric Stark watched the draft at Philly's Wachovia Center, and he said the crowd was so surprised by the pick they didn't even ......

Three weeks ago, I wrote a preview column about the June 7 major-league draft, with some predictions on whom the Phillies might pick in the first round. Of course, none of the mock drafts I read had them choosing the guy they ended up selecting. Anyway, here are thumbnail sketches of the team&#......

Sometime next month, the Philadelphia Phillies will mark a certain milestone, one the club isn't exactly keen on celebrating. The 125-year-old franchise will become the first in professional sports history to record 10,000 defeats. Talk about an ignominious claim to fame. So how d......

Fully acknowledging that hindsight is 20/20, I offer some random thoughts on my beloved Phillies.

Bad trade department: I'm certainly stating the obvious here, but that 2005 midseason swap of infielder Placido Polanco to Detroit for right-handed reliever Ugueth Urbina......

If you're home Thursday afternoon, and would rather watch something other than "Dr. Phil," "General Hospital" or "Clifford the Big Red Dog," here's a suggestion. Tune into ESPN2 and catch Major League Baseball's player draft, which is being televised fo......

No, it wasn't that parade down Broad Street we Philly sports fans have been waiting for since 1983, but it was a day I'll remember for a very long time. I was fortunate enough to be on hand Monday when the Franklin & Marshall women's lacrosse team arrived back in Lancaster after......

After last week's column on the Braves, I got a nice e-mail from Ernie Kiser, an East Hempfield Township resident who grew up in the South rooting for Atlanta. He asked, "Has any manager, in any professional sports program, had more longevity at the helm of one team as has Bobby Cox wi......

I'm not going to waste space this week venting about the Phillies. Instead, it's time to write about a franchise that's become a true model for how to put together a perennially top-notch ballclub. Nope, not the New York Yankees, although their total of World Series championships fa......

We Eagles fans can be prone to emotional extremes, so after Philadelphia picked Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb and a defensive end I never heard with their two second-round picks, my instant reaction was: Worst. Draft. Ever. Well, eight days have passed, giving me some time to rethink my k......

With the NFL draft next weekend, the worst-kept secret in the league is that the Eagles will take a defensive player with their first-round pick, at No. 26. Frankly, they'd be crazy not to. Here's what some analysts predict the Birds will do. Of course, if they trade up to get a pl......

"THE PHILLIES STINK!" A Post-it note bearing that blunt message greeted me at work two Fridays ago, placed on my computer monitor by a frustrated co-worker who shares my longtime addiction to Philadelphia sports. What prompted the outburst was the team's hideous three-game pe......

With March Madness just concluded, and the 2007 baseball season now under way, here are some thoughts on two of my favorite sports. • Talk about a letdown. After so many exciting games in the earlier rounds of the NCAA tournament (Ohio State's improbable, overtime victory over Xavier t......

You have to hand it to the Eagles. They sure know how to build up to a climax, don't they? Like a lot of Birds fans, I was a little worried upon hearing the news that the team was going to let free-agent quarterback Jeff Garcia walk. You know, the same Jeff Garcia who led the club to a......

Some random musings on March Madness, including CBS Sportline.com's handy, one-click method of keeping the boss in the dark if you watch tournament games on your work computer. First, here's my NCAA all-bloodlines team, complete with starters and reserves:
Florida's 6-f......

I was trying to think of some pithy comment to start off my March Madness column, but nothing even remotely worthwhile came to mind. So, since the creative writing muse seems to be otherwise occupied, I'll just get to the point. Here are my Final Four picks. I have to warn you, ther......

Last year, I was as surprised as anyone when the Phillies caught fire after trading outfielder Bobby Abreu. But, it turns out, shedding star players seems to be a tonic for more than one Philadelphia sports team. Witness the recent improvement of the 76ers and Flyers. In last Sunda......

About a week ago, during a car ride with my dad, he suggested that I write a column about Chris Webber. Hey, sometimes fathers really do know best, and this was a prime example. He was ticked off because Webber, the ex-Sixer who begged out of so many games this season while with Philade......

In the Sporting News' spring-training preview, the Phillies are ranked as the second-best National League team, and the sixth-best of all 30 major-league clubs. That's the good news. Now the bad news (sort of). The Fightins are directly behind the New York Mets, which means the ......

More than 4½ years ago, when John A. Fry became president of Franklin & Marshall College, there were a number of goals he wanted to pursue. One was to see the campus officially designated as an arboretum, to preserve and enhance the college's natural landscape for the benefit ......

   How many times have you heard the expression that a team "looks good on paper"? Too many, I'm sure. So, in advance, please excuse me for indulging in that cliché. But with Phillies pitchers and catchers officially reporting to spring training in Clearwater......

I guess it really is true that the cream rises to the top in the Super Bowl, and whatever's left over sinks to the bottom. That's why Colts quarterback Peyton Manning will soon be wearing a world championship ring, while his Bears counterpart, Rex "The Wonder Dog" Grossman,......

With the Indianapolis Colts seven-point favorites over the Chicago Bears in today's Super Bowl, a lot of people expect the game to turn into a Super Bore. Count me unconvinced. Maybe I'm letting my pro-NFC sympathies cloud my judgment, but I think the Bears have a real shot....

When your sports team has hit rock bottom, what's the best way to rebuild? Through the draft, of course. And if you're a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers or the Philadelphia Flyers, both suffering through horrible, forgettable seasons, here's a glimpse of what to look forward to. A wa......

Here’s what I think the team’s top priorities should be as it tries to improve on its 10-6 regular-season finish and earn another trip to the Super Bowl.


Re-sign wideout Donté Stallworth. Acquired from the Saints in a preseason deal, Stallworth was plagued by a bad hamstring and started j...

Four years ago, Ohio State upset a heavily favored Miami team to win its seventh national title and first BCS championship.


Then, last Monday ... .


Count me among the 5 zillion people who never expected the Gators to crush the Buckeyes. No one did, except perhaps the Florida pl...

I assume he was referring to all aspects of life, including fantasy football.


This is my third year as a fantasy participant, and easily my best showing to date.


I think I drafted smarter than in my first two seasons, but luck, too, is a huge part of success, and failure, in th...

Unfortunately, I was in bed sleeping, trying to recover from a nagging cold.


So it wasn’t until the next morning that I got wind of the big scoop:


The Phillies had just traded for White Sox hurler Freddy Garcia.


They gave up 23-year-old right-hander Gavin Floyd, a fo...

Two Sundays ago, my boss, Marv Adams, wrote an entertaining piece in Editorially Speaking on how you know you’re an old-timer (hey, it never hurts to praise your editor in print).


Well, I’m not an old-timer or a spring chicken, so I guess that makes me a “tweener.” I thought I’d share som...

I was one of them.


The score was 9-7 in favor of CV at the close of the third quarter, but Manheim Central had the ball and was threatening.


I remember watching and thinking, “Hmm, there are an awful lot of commercials for this channel, even if it is between quarters.”

...

Please don’t be offended by what I’m about to write. I’m no expert, just a little ol’ baseball fan who happens to possess an unusual pulpit from which to preach my amateur, some might say amateurish, opinions.


But what I have to say isn’t pretty.


Losing a World Series to a team...

I’m referring, of course, to the new triumvirate of Phillies coaches hired Monday by general manager Pat Gillick. Ex-Red Sox manager Jimy Williams replaces Gary Varsho as bench coach, former Brewers manager Davey Lopes succeeds Marc Bombard as first-base coach, and ex-Astros, A’s and Met...