Philly fans no longer fooled.....almost.

If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Big series for the fightin' Phils. If they take two out of three, they'll be in good shape. Well guess what? The result this time is no different. Having just dropped two out of three at home in one of the biggest series of the year to the Marlins in front of the biggest home crowd of the season, the Phillies once again came up short. A win today would not have exactly eliminated Florida from playoff contention. There are still two long months left in the season, but it definitely would have put the club on the ropes. The Phillies, despite remaining in first place for all but a few days of this summer, have time and time again failed to put away opponents when it has truly mattered. As a result, this division remains wide open with the Mets having won today as well. In the end, the Phillies may still win this division, but just expect a repeat of last years NLDS. Just getting to the playoffs gives you more of a chance to win than you are at home watching the games on the couch, but you can count the underdog champion story lines on one hand during the last 15 years.

The other night, one of the local radio talk show hosts presented callers with the question as to why Philadelphia fans have not rallied around this Phillies team? Despite 36 sellouts in 56 home games this season, the basic consensus form the general public is not one of strong faith regarding the Phillies chances to do anything past the first round of the playoffs. Why is this? I'll tell you why: This team is as maddening as hell. The failure once again to land an impact player at the deadline just further reassures fans that the Phillies brass may want to win, but on their terms (which everyone knows will never work). Yours truly has even sated in the previous article that I will watch the Phillies, but will never get my hopes up for them. Call it cynicism, I call it reality.

The main problem with this team is not their pitching, which is not the 1965 Dodgers staff, but nonetheless is given a raw deal by the "experts." The culprit is the offense, who has more mood swings than a pregnant woman. So inconsistent to the point that whomever our newly appointed puppet (general manager) will be during this winter, he will almost have to shake up this inconsistent lineup to find a righthanded bat who can hit to all fields and doesn't have 130 strikeouts a year. This lineup is way too predictable, full of vanilla hitters with absolutely no plate discipline. Sure the Phillies help opposing pitchers more often than not, but there have been some rumblings that NL scouts have finally found a way to get the Phillies hitters out when it counts.

Then there's the Philadelphia Eagles. It's no secret that the Lehigh camp has not exactly been an attendence magnet this year. No matter how far they jam Lorenzo Booker down our throats, how improved the defense is, or how Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown are the second coming of Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, Eagles fans are simply fed up with the all talk and no action approach by Joe Banner and "Mr. Lurie" to finally get this team to the top. Eagles fans have been to the tip of the summit: four consecutive NFC Championship Games, and a Superbowl that should have been theirs, regardless of Spygate, Vomitgate, or the total of 26 rushing yards in the game by the offense. Simply put, what Eagles fans feel is a lack of committment coupled by the Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard soap opera storylines have finally convinced fans that enough is enough. Have you ever seen more drama surrounding a football team that hasn't won ONE SINGLE CHAMPIONSHIP?! Of course you haven't. Who would have thought the king of controversy, Donovan McNabb, would go through camp unscathed and under the radar. I guess it's Philly, so you should expect the unexpected at all times. On a side note, if Shawn Andrews is indeed not well, I wish him luck and hope he gets the help he needs.

Well that's about it with the two teams in town whose ownership "always knows what they are doing", yet the results are still the same year after year. One team consisting of total jackasses, the other team who went from The Gold Standard to Fools Gold. Let's be optimistic however, the two teams most likely to win titles in this town will be starting soon. And you know what, those owners are actually tolerable. Instead of selling a bill of goods, they usually deliver the goods. And though sometimes it might not work out, they don't try and fool you: they leave that to the other guys.


On a side note, when Lurie takes some of his Eagles players to the NBA Finals games aboard his private jet, do you ever wonder if any of those guys after a few cocktails says "Jeff, we really appreciate you doing this for us, but when the heck are you going to get us that wide receiver?!!!!"