Chip Kelly apparently has more faith in the healing process than I do.
With each critical move the Eagles’ GM/coach made this offseason, my right hand instinctively rose to my head and started scratching it.
Ryan Matthews … injury prone.
DeMarco Murray … injury prone.
Sam Bradford … injury prone.
Kiko Alonso … maybe not injury prone, but coming off knee surgery that cost him the 2014 NFL season.
I dunno, maybe it’s in my own failure to recover from sports-related injuries. No matter the time, the effort, the self-proclaimed “success” by the surgeon, it never seemed to matter. Once a ligament snapped here or a tendon severed there, that was it. Nothing was ever the same. Goodbye, see ya later.
Granted, we’re talking professional athletes here with Matthews, Murray, Bradford and Alonso. These guys have been through the athletic wars at the highest level and performed to varying degrees of “elite.”
The problem is, history shows each of the first three guys mentioned have a propensity for coming up, well, lame. The fourth guy? He’s already incurred a concussion that essentially held him out of the majority of training camp.
For players who likely will be in the line of fire a lot if things go according to Kelly’s plans, that is not a good sign, and I wouldn’t bank the Eagles’ success on any of them.
NOT SO FAST: Villanova hiring Mark Jackson away from FBS power Southern Cal to be its new AD obviously will have many wondering, and some perhaps hoping, that the move will trigger the Wildcats’ jumping up from the FCS level. Don’t count on it.
Frankly, I think the program could make the jump now just going by on-field indications, and Jackson is reputed to be a fundraising whiz. The critical issue, though, is fan base – and I’m not seeing the alumni size or non-alum interest to support in a pro sports-heavy region with a bigger university with a much larger alumni base in the area already struggling to succeed in the FBS beyond wins and losses.
HARD TO ARGUE: Anyone curious about the State of the Phillies, especially with hopes slightly rising from the ashes as new faces enter the equation, consider this: they’re 1-11 against the Mets this season entering tonight’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park, including eight straight losses.
Perhaps no greater indictment of just how far they have sunk, personnel, performance and “heart” wise, was submitted with Monday night’s, umm, effort, that saw the Phillies jump out to a 7-2 advantage only to get outscored 14-0 the rest of the way.
GIVE IT A REST: Can we knock it off with the adulation for Phillies coach Larry Bowa acting like a jackass once again already? Even for a town that considers Chase Utley’s greatest “achievement” being him dropping the F-bomb at the 2008 parade, this preposterous praising of “Bo” borders on the pathetic.
Check that, it knocks down any damn border and breaks it into pieces. Great, the 70-year-old played here four decades ago. He was a feisty and fiery cat then, too … and the act was just as old and tired and lame.
TOUCH OF IRONY: In this, one of the worst seasons in Phillies history, it’s nice to get a break from the likes of myself and others ripping the proceedings. That being the case, check out today’s Inky story on the Phillies’ best pitcher of all time.
No, it’s not Steve Carlton, or Robin Roberts, or even the history-deprived fans’ choice of Roy Halladay. It’s actually their best pitcher of all time.
- Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com
With each critical move the Eagles’ GM/coach made this offseason, my right hand instinctively rose to my head and started scratching it.
Ryan Matthews … injury prone.
DeMarco Murray … injury prone.
Sam Bradford … injury prone.
Kiko Alonso … maybe not injury prone, but coming off knee surgery that cost him the 2014 NFL season.
I dunno, maybe it’s in my own failure to recover from sports-related injuries. No matter the time, the effort, the self-proclaimed “success” by the surgeon, it never seemed to matter. Once a ligament snapped here or a tendon severed there, that was it. Nothing was ever the same. Goodbye, see ya later.
Granted, we’re talking professional athletes here with Matthews, Murray, Bradford and Alonso. These guys have been through the athletic wars at the highest level and performed to varying degrees of “elite.”
The problem is, history shows each of the first three guys mentioned have a propensity for coming up, well, lame. The fourth guy? He’s already incurred a concussion that essentially held him out of the majority of training camp.
For players who likely will be in the line of fire a lot if things go according to Kelly’s plans, that is not a good sign, and I wouldn’t bank the Eagles’ success on any of them.
NOT SO FAST: Villanova hiring Mark Jackson away from FBS power Southern Cal to be its new AD obviously will have many wondering, and some perhaps hoping, that the move will trigger the Wildcats’ jumping up from the FCS level. Don’t count on it.
Frankly, I think the program could make the jump now just going by on-field indications, and Jackson is reputed to be a fundraising whiz. The critical issue, though, is fan base – and I’m not seeing the alumni size or non-alum interest to support in a pro sports-heavy region with a bigger university with a much larger alumni base in the area already struggling to succeed in the FBS beyond wins and losses.
HARD TO ARGUE: Anyone curious about the State of the Phillies, especially with hopes slightly rising from the ashes as new faces enter the equation, consider this: they’re 1-11 against the Mets this season entering tonight’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park, including eight straight losses.
Perhaps no greater indictment of just how far they have sunk, personnel, performance and “heart” wise, was submitted with Monday night’s, umm, effort, that saw the Phillies jump out to a 7-2 advantage only to get outscored 14-0 the rest of the way.
GIVE IT A REST: Can we knock it off with the adulation for Phillies coach Larry Bowa acting like a jackass once again already? Even for a town that considers Chase Utley’s greatest “achievement” being him dropping the F-bomb at the 2008 parade, this preposterous praising of “Bo” borders on the pathetic.
Check that, it knocks down any damn border and breaks it into pieces. Great, the 70-year-old played here four decades ago. He was a feisty and fiery cat then, too … and the act was just as old and tired and lame.
TOUCH OF IRONY: In this, one of the worst seasons in Phillies history, it’s nice to get a break from the likes of myself and others ripping the proceedings. That being the case, check out today’s Inky story on the Phillies’ best pitcher of all time.
No, it’s not Steve Carlton, or Robin Roberts, or even the history-deprived fans’ choice of Roy Halladay. It’s actually their best pitcher of all time.
- Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com
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