Heard in the Cheap Seats

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed Jerimiah Trotter to add depth to the middle linebacker position.  Following two workouts, the Eagles apparently were convinced enough about the health of Trotter’s knee to hand him a contract.   

Articles out of the Philadelphia Daily News this morning quoted Trotter as saying that his knee was much improved since the last time he took the field in 2007 and that his mobility is greatly increased.

Trotter is clearly being added to this linebacker corps to help solidfy the run defense—an area that has always been his strong suit.  A side benefit of this signing is that Trotter will immediately bring a veteran leadership this defense sorely lacks.  

The question is: can he still play?

We are having some posting difficulties here at the moment, but my brother Anthony also wanted to share his eulogy from my Mom’’s funeral mass.  So though this comes under my name, this is Anthony’’s post.

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As Christopher already explained, we lost the best woman I have ever met recently.  Even though this site is dedicated to sports, we both decided to share our words from the day of her funeral mass with all of you.  You can call it a tribute, but all I know is that, the love and passion that my brother and I share of sports, has a lot to do with the nurturing of our mother.  She was at every game we ever played, took us to and from the thousands of practices we had for all the teams we played for.  She completely understood our passion then and as adults.  I know she was proud of both of us, and was a constant reader of this site and she will continue to watch over all of us like a guardian angel.  I hope we always make you proud, Mama.

Here are the words I spoke on Wednesday, September 16^th, 2009:

First, I would like to thank Monsignor Shoemaker and St. Ignatius.  Also, on behalf of my family I would like to thank everyone for being here.  The love and support of all our friends and family, not only in the past few days or during my mother’s illness, but throughout our lives is a blessing.  We are all very grateful for each and every one of you.

I think it is fitting that we would be here at St. Ignatius today, since many of my fondest childhood memories involve me playing basketball wearing the red and white Ignatius jersey on my back.  They also involve being in the old Ignatius gym playing on a floor that, to say it was dusty and slippery, was putting it mildly.  None of us could have been fairly called for traveling, since it was physically impossible to come to a complete stop!  I started forming many of my best friendships in those days with people that I am lucky to still call my friends more than 20 years later.  At each one of those memories was a familiar face.  A supportive and soothing voice: My Mother.  Or “Mama” as I always called her. That is a common theme in my life.  No matter what the situation or circumstance, she was there.  Not just for me, but for our entire family.  In the way she guided our family, she taught me the meaning of loyalty and unconditional love.

I’ll be honest, I had a tendency in my formative years to put that unconditional love to the test!  As some of you know. But, she never wavered in her support for me or her belief in me.  She didn’t always agree with my opinions, but she taught me to stand up for what I believe in.  So much of who I am as a man is a direct gift from my mother.  I certainly got myself into enough trouble growing up, but she always demanded that I was responsible for my own actions.  As I stand here today, I can honestly say that I try my best to be accountable for everything I say and do.

As I mentioned before, my mother had an unconditional love and commitment to this family.  She believed in each one of us.  Because of her I built up the courage to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting, even though I didn’t know anyone out there.  When I had doubts, it was that same soothing voice from my childhood that was at every baseball, football, and basketball game or anything that I ever did that comforted me and got me to believe in myself.  The same voice that when, as a young kid I complained that I thought my lips were too big, simply reassured me by saying “Trust me, they will come in handy someday.”  She didn’t always tell me or anyone what they wanted to hear, but somehow it always seemed to be the right thing to say.

To know my mother was to love her.  No matter whether it was as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a family member, or a friend.  She had that amazing intelligence and sharp wit.  The saying that someone could “dish it as well as they could take it” usually didn’t apply to her because she could dish it so well that it was hard to dish back.  She never lost that West Philly toughness and I loved that about her.  People have always told me that I look like her and that I am a lot like her.  I can’t think of a greater compliment because she was beautiful inside and out.  She was the ultimate host, whether it was down the shore or in Pennsylvania. As my friends can all attest to, it was impossible to come in or out of our house without being fed.  And she did it all with those bright blue eyes and amazing smile that I always loved seeing.

I wanted to share something with all of you today.  Something that was very special between my mother and me.  On Mother’s Day, when I was about 20 years old, I gave my mother a card.  Now, I have never been the best at conveying my deepest emotions, so in the card I simply asked her to push play on the stereo to listen to a song I had cued up.  The song was and is a perfect representation of my relationship with my mother.  I told her to her to listen to the words because they were me saying them to her.  The song was written by Kenneth B. Edmonds, better known as Babyface and performed by Boyz 2 Men for the movie “Soul Food”.  It was one of the few times I saw tears in my mother’s eyes.  I wanted to read them out loud for all of you today.

You taught me everything
And everything youve given me
I always keep it inside
Youre the driving force in my life, yeah
There isnt anything
Or anyone I can be
And it just wouldnt feel right
If I didnt have you by my side
You were there for me to love and care for me
When skies were grey
Whenever I was down
You were always there to comfort me
And no one else can be what you have been to me
Youll always be you always will be the girl
In my life for all times

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently and I believe that my mother saved her greatest lesson of all for last.  In the past few years she showed us what courage and faith were all about.  I know that it was a lesson that I personally needed.  My mother never questioned her faith in God and she was never scared because she knew that was going to a better place whenever the day came.  She helped me believe.  I know that already her and my grandfather are running the busiest and best tasting Italian restaurant in heaven. I will honor her by being the best man for my family and friends that she taught me how to be.  I starting thinking the other day about the fact that I’ll never dance with my mother at my wedding or see her play with my kids.  I started thinking about all the things that our family won’t experience with my mother because she is no longer with us.  And that’s when the final lesson kicked in for me.  She will always be with me and our family for all those moments.  That same soothing voice, and comforting presence.  Just like she has all the days up until now.  I love you Mama.  All the way behind my back.

THANK YOU

As anyone that used to read this blog on a regular basis has realized by now, my brother and I have been completely absent from the Philly sports blogging scene for the better part of this past summer.  This has gnawed at both of us as we enjoy coming on here and spouting off about Philly sports.   Unfortunately, we had some family issues that took priority over the past few months.  Our Mom was in the midst of an extremely difficult battle with Melanoma.  On 9/11, our mom passed away at the age of 59 after her courageous fight .

I have thought quite a bit about posting this to the blog.  It was a deeply personal time for my family and I wondered if opening it up to the public was the right thing to do.  And even now, I’m not sure why I decided to post this here other than to pay one last tribute to my Mom that I miss so much. 

Anthony and I gave the eulogy at my Mom’s funeral.  In looking back at the words I spoke exactly one week ago today I realized that perhaps there was something for everyone to learn.  So in order to honor my Mom’s memory, I have decided to post here the eulogy I gave last Wednesday.  I know that this is way off topic from our stated mission here, and I would understand if you decide to skip right over this post.  After this, we will be back in action and returning to our regularly scheduled programming. 

But until then, here it goes…

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

First, on behalf of my family, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for being here today.  All you have to do is look around this room to get a sense for the type of person my Mom was and how loved she was by so many people.  I know many of you had to come a long way to be here today and my family and I are extremely grateful.

As many of you know, my Mom grew up in West Philly.  We often teased her, lovingly of course, about those roots.  And even though she would hate to admit it, I think the gritty, blue-collar attitude of Philadelphia is something that never left her.

It was evident in the way she preferred to teach us as kids.  You see, my Mom was more of a “lead-by-example” kind of parent.  Aside from the times when she would tell us “do you know what fat chance means?” upon making some outlandish request, or “don’t say sorry, just don’t do it,” we often had to look a little closer for the lessons my Mom was teaching us.  But make no mistake: she had plenty of lessons to teach, she just preferred to live them rather than simply preach them.  

In thinking back, there were a number of times when my Mom used opportunities to teach us important lessons and I thought I would share a few of those with you today.

About 21 years ago when my Mom was pregnant with my sister one of those moments presented itself to us.  At the time, my Mom was driving an Oldsmobile Delta 88.  I don’t know if you are familiar with that car but it was approximately the same length as a Boeing 747.  The thing was massive and in order to make any sort of turn you ultimately had to have 10 feet of car jutting out into the road before you could even see the oncoming traffic.  One of those times, she was trying to make a left-hand turn onto a busy street.  The guy behind her needed to make a right and wasn’t able to go until my Mom turned.  He took it upon himself to lay on the horn for a solid minute to voice his displeasure.  Now remember, my Mom was 7 months pregnant at this time but that didn’t stop her from putting the car in park, walking up to the gentleman’s car and leaning halfway through the passenger side window to politely inform him she didn’t care how much of a rush he was in she wasn’t going to turn into traffic with two kids in the car and one on the way.  In this moment, my Mom taught us a valuable lesson: no matter how much pressure you may feel and even if it is not the easy route, don’t ever stray from what you know in your heart is the right thing to do.

Another important lesson revealed itself when I was in eighth grade.  I was playing basketball for St. Ignatius and we were in a tournament in New Jersey.  As was always the case, my Mom was sitting in the stands cheering me on.  Late in the game, I went up for a layup and came down awkwardly on my foot.  At a timeout, I told my Mom that I was pretty certain I had broken my toe.  In a loving, comforting tone, my Mom responded: “You’ll be fine; get back out there.”  As it turns out, I did break my toe during that game.  My Mom however was teaching me yet another important lesson: when people depend and count on you, never let them down no matter how painful it might be.

Along those same lines, during my years as a lifeguard in Sea Isle I thought it was a wise idea to compete in a six-mile bay row.  Now, if you know anything about my rowing prowess and the fact that my legs couldn’t reach the seat in front of me in the boat, you know this was not a wise decision.  But I was determined.  The race went pretty much as you would expect.  Just about every boat raced passed us and we were left chasing the pack.  But about 5.5 miles into the race, with every boat already finished and daylight in short supply, I heard the sound of my Mom’s voice.  She had walked up a bridge that was over the inlet and was screaming at the top of her lungs.  I’m not sure I would have finished that last ½ mile without her.  But my Mom knew one important thing: you should always be there for your family and friends, no matter how long you may have to wait or how dark it gets.

And my Mom saved perhaps her most important lesson for last.  As she continued to fight during her illness her commitment and courage were unwavering.  And the lesson was clear: a person’s faith and courage is not defined when times are easy.  A person’s true faith and courage is measured when times are tough.  My Mom’s faith never faltered and her courage was limitless.

At times growing up, I could be frustrated by the “lead by example” way of my Mom.  I didn’t understand why I had to search for meaning all the time.  Now I do.  You see, the thing is, because my Mom led by example, I know she is not done teaching us yet—we might just have to listen a little closer. 

Thank you.

The victims of past SI cover and Madden jinxes have been well chronicled.  But have you heard of the Peter King jinx?  I am now holding Mr. King personally accountable for the torn ACL that ended the season of Stewart Bradley (I have to blame somebody right?).  Check out the 1:13 mark of this video.  Or, if you are too lazy to click over, I will paraphrase for you: “In the NFL, somebody tears a knee and is done for the year, you move on.”

Want to guess who King was speaking with in the video?  You betcha!  Stewart Bradley.  The Peter King Jinx has been born.

Philadelphia Eagles middle linebacker and emerging leader of the defense, Stewart Bradley, is done for the season after tearing his ACL in a scrimmage. Needless to say, this is bad news for a team that relies on Bradley to quarterback the defense and serve as its primary run stuffer. We will dig into this more as the week goes on and how it will impact the Eagles season. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts.

My brother and I often disagree when it comes to assessing trades, free agent signings and the changes of our great city’s professional sports franchises.  If you witnessed our virtual brawl over the Brian Dawkins departure you know exactly what I am talking about.  

The Philadelphia Phillies trade for Cliff Lee was no different.  Anthony and I come at this deal from different sides of the coin.  We figured since we argue over email we may as well post that for all to see.  We will continue to do these segments from time to time as we inevitably disagree on the topic of the day.

The following is our actual email exchange on the topic.  Weigh in and tell us what you think.  Are we both wrong?  Was this the wrong move or did the Phillies shrewdly pick up the right pitcher?

From: Anthony
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:37 PM
To: Chris Iafolla
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

Before I begin my points, I want to be clear to you, Chris, and to everyone else out there that I am not saying that the Philles made a “bad” trade!  So where should I begin my ass kicking in this debate?  I I believe the Phillies settled for the lesser of 2 pitchers in this trade.  They had the pieces to acquire Halladay, but were too stubborn to let go of certain players.  For a team that has won 2 World Series in over 100 years, I think we should all realize, this type of era doesn”t come around often.  I am going to withhold the rest of my ammo until you come back with your predictable response!

From: Chris Iafolla
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2009 8:42 AM
To: Anthony
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

I like you how blunt any possible debate by saying it is not a “bad trade” just that they settled for the lesser of two players.  I don’t disagree that Roy Halladay is a better pitcher—I said as much when I posted about the Cliff Lee trade on Wednesday.  But that is not the issue at hand here.  The question for me is not who the better player is, but what was the better trade?  You say that the Phillies “settled” for the lesser player but I don’t think that is the case at all.  They wanted desperately to land Halladay and offered a very attractive package to get a deal done.  But to give up your entire stable of blue-chip prospects for one player is foolhardy.  They didn’t settle for the lesser player, they made a calculated decision to get a top-of-the-rotation starter without decimating their farm system.  

From: Anthony
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:44 AM
To: Chris Iafolla
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

Don”t try and completely twist my words buddy.  Let me put it this way so there is no confusion: I don;t think they made the better trade.  The whole argument that I have heard from you and everyone else is that the reason the trade was so good has to do with the players they did and also didn”t give up.  Yes, they added a starter, and yes he won the cy young award last year.  But, since both trades were available, I don”t think they made the better trade here.  There are 2 reasons to have a good farm system.  One is to have replacements over the years and 2 is to be able to make trades for players like Roy Halladay.  Everyone uses cliche phrases like “mortgage the future” because they heard Buster Olney say it on Baseball Tonight. How can something be deemed a “better” trade when the only true evidence we have is between Halladay and Lee, and Halladay wins that battle in a landslide ( some people argue this, but I will get to that later). You say it is foolhardy to make that trade?  I say it’’s foolhardy to expect Halladay without giving up a top pitching prospect!  Prospects have no guarantee whatsoever, not even close to one, which is why I wanted to make the Halladay trade in the first place.  The fact that they made a trade and gave up prospects shows they knew they had a desperate need.  I have heard a car analogy used by a lot of people.  Well, let me say this to you and everyone:  If you have the ability to comfortably afford both, there is a difference between a Bentley and a Cadillac, so why settle for the Cadillac?  I have many more bullets but I want to see what other point you have other than they didn”t trade Drabek, Brown, or Happ.

From: Chris Iafolla
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:08 p.m.
To: Anthony
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

You cheated, we agreed to a 150 word count on responses and you doubled it.  Does your argument need that much explaining that you can’t squeeze it into 150 words?  To level the playing field, I will stick to this new standard you have created.  

Yes, the argument is that they didn’t have to include players like Drabek, Taylor, Brown or Happ.  But it is not only about the type of players those prospects might become, but also about the cost control they provide.  Even the Phillies ownership was not comfortable with the Halladay trade—and it wasn’t because of talent.  The holes trading those prospects away creates would necessitate the signing of major-league free agents to fill out a roster.  They simply would not have the money to do that.  So yes, letting those prospects walk out the door is a risk in terms of talent, but also in terms of budget.  You can’t dismiss that risk.

Second, you mentioned that the Phillies have won two World Series titles in the last 100 years, so why not go whole hog now to win as many as possible while they have a young, strong nucleus.  But let me ask you this: how did they win last year’s World Series title?  Was it with a nucleus of players they acquired from outside the organization or by building from inside the organization?  I think the answer is obvious.  You win by drafting well and cultivating young talent. 

Finally, I think evaluating the trade on just the ability of Halladay and Lee (as you suggest) is oversimplifying the trade.  It’s not that simple. You made a car analogy that compared a Bentley to a Cadillac.  First of all, the disparity between Halladay and Lee is not that great.  Second of all, you conveniently left off price.  In my mind, a more apt analogy would be this.  Do you want to pay $500,000 for a Bentley or $50,000 for a Cadillac and we will throw a Honda Accord in on the side (Ben Francisco).  I will take the two cars (both of which serve a valuable purpose) at a fraction of the cost.

From: Anthony
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:51 PM
To: Chris Iafolla
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

Yes, I cheated and then you went way overboard!  I don”t know where to begin.  Your rebuttal to my car analogy makes no sense.  My point was that they went for the cheaper deal and the lesser “car”, so thank you for making my point for me.  No, the two don”t cost the same, nor should they!  I agree that you build with the farm system, but that team was made up of a mixture, as all good teams are. Take a look at the rosters for the World Series Champs over the last 20 years. 

Also, What holes would be created?!  The players aren”t even on the damn roster. If you have a chance to win now you do it!  So, you have to give up a few prospects, if you believe in your scouting I would say you should be able to replenish.  When I was living in Cali, I witnessed the Angels develop the best farm system in baseball.  Still haven”t won since ”02, and because those prospects didn”t pan out the way they were supposed to, they have been bringing in guys like Abreu, Hunter, and Teixiera.  The team that is assembled will mostly be together for another 2 seasons, this chance doesn”t come around very often as Philly fans should know.  If you are OK with an Eagles Philosophy then more power to you.  The Phillies will be “competitive” by not going for the big deal.  To build a championship team, there has to be risk involved.  I am sick of people talking about the budget.  This is the World Champion Phillies who are filling the Bank to the tune of 101%, and if they continue to win, they will have plenty of money.  We aren”t living in Kansas City.

I guess I will just end with this: I think the Phils are lucky they can spin this by saying Lee won the Cy Young award last season.  If that weren”t the case I would be even more disappointed, because, like I said, they played it safe, and for no other reason than lack of guts and a plain stubbornness.  Kinda like the years when Reid insisted the Birds didn”t need a wide receiver.  I argue that there is a much greater disparity between Halladay and Lee.  I won”t go through every stat, I will allow people to look it up themselves.  But, here are a few reasons I feel they made the wrong trade: The Phils are very left handed heavy in the roatation.  Hopefully Pedro come in and helps with that.  That I can live with though.  Before last season, Lee had one other very good year…That’’s it!  Halladay has done it his whole career.  Lee surrenders more hits than innings pitched, Halladay does not.  Lee is a fly ball pitcher, and I don;t like that in Philly, and he has benefited from one of the most pitcher friendly parks in baseball.  Halladay induces more grounders than flyballs, which is better suited for the Bank.  Lee has a 30 point higher batting average against, and the list goes on and on.  All of this came with Halladay pitching in the best division in baseball.  So, please don”t use an award as grounds to say the race is close between these two.  Barry Zito won the Cy Young too!  You know what other award Lee won last season?  The Comeback Player of the Year.  Why?  Because he was awful in 2007 and was booed off the field and sent to the minor leagues.  You won”t see that on Roy Halladay’’s resume.

The bottom line, to me, is that the Phillies made the best trade they were “willing” to make, and I don”t agree with the reasoning.  The bar has been set at a World Championship, so if they don”t win and Lee isn”t dominant, then I will say they made the wrong trade.  There is no guarantees in baseball, but if they don”t win, we won”t get to see if Halladay would have made the difference.  If they do win it all and Lee is a catalyst, I will admit I was wrong.  Hey, at least there are those prospects to look forward to in 2012, when the window may no longer be there!  I feel so grateful for that.  Now, I”m done.  It was fun kicking your ass little brother.  That’’s how you debate!!!!

From: Chris Iafolla
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 1:41 PM
To: Anthony
Subject: Re: Point, CounterPoint

 Um, use your wordcount function; if you take out the sentence where I pointed out you cheated, my section is shorter than yours. 

But I digress.  I did take a look at the roster of the last 20 years worth of championship teams and in every single instance they are built almost entirely from the farm system with a player or two as a key contributor from outside the organization.  That’s why a four for one deal of ALL (literally all) of your most coveted prospects does not make sense.  Don’t you think it is telling that no team was willing to come even remotely close to the price the Blue Jays asked?  The Phillies were not the only team that balked at the price—every team has so far.  And if a deal does get done for the Blue Jays in the next two hours you can bet it won’t be anywhere near what they requested of the Phillies.  The worst thing any GM can do is bid against themselves and that is exactly would Ruben Amaro Jr. would have been doing if he made that deal.  

The car analogy makes complete sense.  Your argument said if you have a Bentley and a Cadillac in front of you—which one would you choose assuming you can comfortably afford it?  The problem is; they can’t.  Obviously, if somebody said to me you can have either of these cars I would take the Bentley.  Until they asked for money I can’t afford to pay.  So yes, they did take the lesser car but at a more palpable price.  It was the right deal.

As for your questions on what holes would be created—the ones that those players will presumably fill on the roster.  Two SPs and two OFs do not come cheap.  That was directly from Phillies ownership that they did not feel they could afford to fill a roster if they had to look outside the organization for help.  No, they are not the Royals but they do have a budget.  You can’t just dismiss that aspect of baseball as much as we would all like to do that.  It is a business and if they can’t afford to pay their players they will suffer in the long run.  That’s a fact.

Of course Halladay is the better pitcher, but the discrepancy is not as large as the picture you paint.  You cherry picked some nice stats that support your argument so I will do the same that close the gap.  First of all, Lee was a better pitcher than Hallday last season, which you can’t dispute.  This season, since April 16^th after his rough start he has a 2.66 ERA.  He leads the major leagues in quality starts and is on pace to pitch 240 innings this season.  Cliff Lee is no slouch and is immediately the best pitcher on the Phillies roster.  

The bottom line is this: did the Phillies make a trade that greatly improves their roster? Yes.  If you can do that AND not give up a bevy of coveted prospects then why not make the deal?

The speculation can now end: according to Ken Rosenthal, the Philadelphia Phillies have struck a deal with the Cleveland Indians that sends last year’s Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, to Philadelphia in exchange for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.  The Phillies also land OF Ben Francisco as part of the deal to serve as their much-needed right handed bat off the bench.

For weeks, the city of Philadelphia has been fixated on the prospect of adding Roy Halladay to the rotation.  As talks with the Blue Jays progressed, and eventually broke down, it was apparent the price would be too steep.  The Blue Jays essentially asked for every blue-chip prospect the Phillies had in their system.  Needless to say, the front-office brass in Philly balked at that sum.

When that notion became clear, the Phillies moved swiftly and set their sights on Cliff Lee.  Lee is the reigning American League Cy Young winner and gives the Phillies a legitimate top-of-the rotation ace to carry into the postseason.

Don’t be fooled by Lee’s mediocre 7-9 record.  He is having a solid season with a 3.14 ERA in the daunting American League.  His record is a product of playing on a bad team, not an indicator of his performance.  While Halladay is the better pitcher of the two, Lee holds a distinct advantage in one key area—cost.  Lee’s contract is prorated at $6million for 2009 with a $9 millionon club option for 2010.  That is a much more palpable number than the money it would have required to employ Mr. Halladay.  

The addition of Lee gives the Phillies a left-heavy rotation with Hamels, Moyer, Happ and Lee.  Assuming the Phillies add Pedro to the mix and the effectiveness of Blanton in recent weeks, it seems either Moyer or Happ is heading to the bullpen.  Of course, Happ has been the better pitcher this season but Charlie Manuel is always loyal to his players to a fault.  Will that loyalty keep Moyer in the rotation?

The impact on the rotation aside, as a Phillies fan, I think you have to be satisfied with this deal.  They managed to land an ace while still keeping every blue-chip prospect mentioned in the proposed Halladay deals.  By completing this deal, the Phillies improved their chances of competing for a World Series this year and in 2010 without compromising the future of this club.

I wish my first post back was about a different topic, but I wanted to make sure that I at least said a few words on this site about the sad news today.  Jim Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator for over a decade, passed away today. He was diagnosed with melanoma originally in 2001 and then again in January and had been undergoing treatment.  My thoughts and prayers are with Johnson’s entire family in this difficult time. 

I don’t know Jim Johnson personally, but my family has come in contact with him recently during his battle with melanoma.  I have vaguely mentioned this before, but our (Chris and myself) immediate family is currently dealing with a fight against melanoma just as the Johnson family had been.  It is one of the reasons I have not posted anything this month.  It is a terrible disease, and that is an understatement.  I pray that someday we can reach a point where we no longer have to lose anyone to cancer.  I myself have begun to develop ideas and look into ways that I can contribute to this fight.  It is interesting that the word “fight” or “battle” is often associated with cancer.  I always hear the phrase “lost their battle” when referring to someone who has passed away from the disease.  I personally do not believe in that phrase.  There has never been one person diagnosed with cancer that has ever lost.  They may no longer be with us, but they haven’t lost.  They have shown me and millions of others what true courage is. 

Jim Johnson did this as well.  He was genuine and kind to my family when they came in contact with him.  He obviously left his mark on the city of Philadelphia in football, but he had a family that knew him as a husband, a father, and a grandfather.  That is the most important mark any of us can make.  Once again, my thoughts and prayers are with the Johnson family.

I have not written anything for this blog in over 3 weeks.  When I started doing this with my brother, my goal was to write posts about Philly sports that spark discussion or invoke thoughts.  I am very opinionated when it comes to sports and most things in general, and I have always tried to make my opinions very clear.  When I started doing this, I wanted to be able to fill this site with tons of different content, and I believe my brother and I have done that.  We will continue to do that, and we have some bigger and better ideas and plans for this website.

Unfortunately, recently I haven’t produced much of anything.  I will try in the future not to lapse as much as I have done this month.  There has been a lot going on in Philly sports, and I plan to throw my two cents in on some of the main issues in the coming days.  It has been an exhausting month and continues to be, but I think my head is back to a place where I can focus on writing for this website.  I hope everyone out there continues to read and comment with their own opinions.  Thanks for your past readership and thank you in advance for following this site.

The Philadelphia Phillies will look to continue their recent 8-game winning streak in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.  The Cub themselves come in winners of four straight, though all four of those games came against the lowly Nationals.

It is not hard to see why Philadelphia is winning of late.  The Phillies recent surge has come on the back of solid starting pitching and the resurgence of Jimmy Rollins.  Rollins is hitting .397 (23 for 58) with eight doubles, a homer, eight RBI, five stolen bases and 10 walks over his last 14 games.  To me, the most impressive number in that bunch is the 10 walks.  Rollins has seemingly discovered a more patient approach at the plate that allows the run producers behind him to do their jobs.  When Rollins gets on base, this team is tough to beat.

But despite the solid string of play I suspect this will be a tough series.  In looking at the pitching matchups, the Phillies have the bad luck of facing all of the Cubs top three starters.   Tonight, Ted Lilly will face Rodrigo Lopez.  Each starter is coming off an injury, albeit, Lopez’s was of the more serious variety.  Tomorrow, Joe Blanton will square off against Rich Harden and Jamie Moyer will have Carlos Zambrano to deal with in the finale.  In each matchup, the Cubs hold the upper hand on paper.  And while winning four games against Washington is nothing to brag about, it sometimes can serve as a springboard to more consistent play that the Cubs are looking for.

Make no mistake: this is a talented Cubs team that just may be finding its groove.  If the Phillies take this series lately, they could come out on the losing end.