Posted on

Anonymous doesn’t mean Anonymous anymore.

steroids-needlesBy: Billy BeerSlugger

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz names were just released as persons who tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs back in 2003.  SHOCKER!  However, this was an anonymous test and I’m not sure how anonymous test results can be traced back to a person.  Apparently this is the same anonymous testing that led to the outing of A-Rod as a doper.  There are 100 names on the list and I’m not sure how many names have gotten out or how they were leaked but if I were an MLB player and i submitted to an anonymous drug test by my employer then was subjected to scrutiny about said drug test I would be a little pissed off.  “Hey XYZ player we’re doing random drug tests and we’d like you to submit to one and no one will ever know the results.  We just want to see the extent of players using PED’s as a whole.”.  Well that shit got out. Someone’s responsible and needs to be held accountable.  I think the public is pretty tired of hearing that this star or that slugger was on roids, it’s been covered, reported, been to Congress and it’s abundantly clear that the MLB has had a problem with steroids and such.

If there’s 100 names on the list, either release all 100 at the same time or release none (like you told the players that you would). Don’t leak out 2 or 3 names every two months to drum up ratings for sports news so we can go over the steroid issue again…. and again….. and again.  I’m don’t pretend to be an expert on the situation but if the players were told the results were anonymous and now names are being attached to those anonymous results then the players union should sue the MLB. Do what you say and say what you mean.

The MLB had no problem making billions of dollars during the steroid era and looking the other way, now the MLB is vilifying players that it once championed in an atmosphere that it created or allowed to happen.  Where is the accountability of ownership for letting the problem spiral out of control?  Where are owners and GM’s in front of Congress testifying?  Where is the scrutiny upon the MLB labor agreements during the steroid era for not putting in steroid testing when the NFL and NBA had them.

This isn’t just the players’ fault and in a time where players are being disected for saying one thing and doing another, where is the outrage over the MLB allowing names to be leaked from an anonymous test.

Get past the “Who did steroids/hgh” question and ask the more important question, “Why was it allowed to happen and why wasn’t anyone in the MLB willing to stop it?”.

Posted on

Cliff Lee traded to the Philadelphia Phillies

leeSports with Bob McFlurry:

A source within the Philadelphia Phillies organization has just told me that the Phillies will acquire Cleveland Indians Pitcher and 2008 Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee and a right handed bat for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson and Jason Knapp.

The move gives the Phils two top line starters along with a streaking Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer without giving up J.A. Happ and putting to bed the uncertainty at the 5th starter position occupied by Rodrigo Lopez and Antionio Bastardo since Brett Myers went down with a hip injury.

The move does not stop their talks with the Blue jays for Roy Halladay since they still have J.A. Happ and Tommy John surgery wunderkind Kyle Drabek, however, the deal seemsa lot less likely now that the Phils have somewhat depleted their farm system.

Is this the move the Phils needed to make to give themselves a shot at defensing their World Series title?  Only time will tell but adding a Cy Young award and 20+ game winner from last year certainly can’t hurt at this point.

Posted on

Jim Johnson: The Gentleman Blitzer

Bob McFlurry with Sports:

Jim Johnson and Andy Reid came to Philadelphia together in 1999 and began a partnership which would last for the next 10 years.  10 years that included 5 NFC Championships, a Super Bowl appearance and as arguably as dominant a defense in the league for that time period. 2nd in sacks and 5th in scoring defense and sending 25 plus defensive players to the Pro Bowl.

What’s lost in the Eagles decade of success is exactly what we lost yesterday, Jim Johnson.  Yes Jim got some credit for being a great and innovative defensive coordinator but Andy Reid as Head Coach would get most of the credit.  Andy Reid intimated yesterday in the news conference announcing Johnson’s death that Jim was as much a part of the success of the Eagles as anyone else in the organization.  I may go one step further and say he was more important than Andy Reid to the Eagles.

In the early part of the 2000’s, the Eagles defense (along with exceptional Field Goal % from David Akers) kept them in and won them many games.  Guys like Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Brian Dawkins, Hugh Douglas and Jerimiah Trotter were more responsible for W’s than the offense (sorry D-Nabb).  Having the 5th best scoring defense in the league for the decade can hide a lot of inconsistencies on offense and there were inconsistencies early on (though not a lot of talent besides McNabb and Staley on the Offensive side of the ball). Point being that the Eagles won and they won ugly early on in Johnson’s tenure.

A turnover on the defensive side in 2003 when he lost middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and in 2004 when Bobby Taylor, and Troy Vincent were replaced and Jim Johnson didn’t lose a beat, going to the NFC championship and Super Bowl those seasons. Though after Trotter left the defensive run stopping was somewhat suspect with Barry Gardner, Levon Kirkland and undersized Mark Simenau.

He chose to stay in Philadelphia as one of the highest paid coordinators in the league instead of becoming a head coach where he consistently made offenses look confused and bewildered from pressure.  A bend-don’t break philosophy that limited bug plays from opponents and while the defense would occasionally misfire, Johnson’s defenses speak for themselves.   Brian Dawkins called him tailor-made to coach in Philadelphia and many other players and coaches called him instrumental in their careers.

A defensive mind that should probably be more beloved in Philadelphia than Buddy Ryan.  A guy that carried himself as a gentleman and treated his players as men and not employees.  A guy who drew up blitzes on cocktail napkins at hotel bars.  A guy who got more out of his players than they knew they had.  A guy that has a coaching tree that will someday rival Bill Walsh it seems and from what I’ve gathered one of the finer human beings on the planet for 68 or so years.

For a working class town Jim Johnson is your working class hero on the sidelines and someone not soon forgotten.

Posted on

A Baseball game? For a First Date? You must be kidding.

By: Billy BeerSlugger

When did it become en vouge to take a girl as a date to a Phillies game?  If this was 2003 and you asked a girl to go to the Phillies game with you instead of the old dinner/drinks/movie routine the girl would probably look at you like you’re out of your mind.  Kind of like getting your wife a bowling ball for her birthday.

I was perusing a dating website today while nursing a pretty bad hangover and every other girl listed a Phillies game as some place they would like to go to on a first date.  I think up until about a two years ago girls viewed baseball as extremely boring and one of the last places they would want to be on a hot summer night would be a baseball stadium.

So what happened? The Phillies win the World Series and all of a sudden a Phillies game becomes a preferred place for a date?  I’ll admit it’s a lot more exciting when the Phils are winning instead of toiling in the basement but why does that factor into a woman’s decision to now want to go to a baseball game?  I don’t get it.

Now I know that some girls really do like to go to ballgame’s no matter what place the phils are in but it’s few and far between.    I think you may have seen this same phenomenon in the early 2000’s when the Sixers were competitive.  Girls wanted to go to Sixers game to see Allen Iverson and the Philles do have some stars on their team now that women want to go out and see.  But ask a girl to go to a Sixers game now and she may think you’re crazy.

Am I the only one who’s noticed this?

Posted on

Maddenopoly

Bob McFlurry with Sports

I read an article today about the EA Sports Madden franchise that got me thinking.  A University of Michigan economics professor alleges that Electronic Arts collectively overcharged Madden buyers between $701 million and $926 million during the years 2006 through 2009.

The gist of the argument is that when EA and the NFL agreed to an exclusive license for gaming rights and I’m guessing it’s players, that it effectively monopolized the NFL digital gaming sector.  I can remember way back in 2004-2005 when Take Two’s NFL 2K game was sold I believe for $19.99.  I remember playing it with my brother, while it wasn’t as good as Madden in terms of play or functionality, the price worked.  After the exclusive license between the NFL and EA, Take Two had to stop making NFL games, blowing the Madden franchises only competition out of the water and creating a monopoly.

Further allegations suggest that EA increased prices of the Madden game after the exclusive license and gamers had to either eat the increase or not play fictional football games on Playstation, Xbox and the like.

Now there’s a couple points I want to make about this issue, one is that the NFL licensed the rights to EA exclusively.  It could have chose to license to any amount of video game makers but it chose to have only one, EA/Madden.  It’s not EA’s fault they are the only licensed developer for NFL games, however, the NFL only licensing to one company does create a monopoly even if it is considered a “Legal” Monopoly by the U.S. government.

Secondly, many people will argue it’s not a monopoly, that NFL has the right to license themselves to whoever they want. That  NFL video games are not on the level of previous monopolies like Railroads and Phone Companies even though millions of people buy Madden every year.

From Wiktionary.com

Monopoly: A situation, by legal privilege or other agreement, in which solely one party (company, cartel etc.) exclusively provides a particular product or service, dominating that market and generally exerting powerful control over it.

Seems to me to be exactly what is going on here.  One party (by agreement) exclusively providing a product and dominating the market.

Now, I’m not really complaining, I love Madden.  Each year it was far better than any of their competitors ever were and even though it’s essentially the same game every year with updated rosters and one or two play improvements, I still play the hell out of it.

Probably the point I want to stress the most is that life is all about options and while I didn’t neccesarily like the non-Madden NFL games, it’s nice to know they were there for me if I wanted them.  Now we are kind of married to Madden and if that relationship ever gets a little rocky there’s no more fish in the sea should we have to get divorced.  One of the biggest reasons for divore is money and that is what the guy in the suit against EA is claiming, they jacked up prices.

This may seem like a really insignificant thing especially to non-gamers but under the definition of a monopoly, Madden fits and if there’s anything we know about America, people will sue for the craziest of reasons even if it’s just to get their names in the paper.

Posted on

Drunken NFL prediction

Sports with Bob McFlurry

With all the prognostications and predictions going on about the coming NFL season I figured I might as well join in the mix.  Guess what people, the Arizona Cardinals, yes the same Arizona Cardinals who beat the Eagles in the NFC Championship game last January, WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR.

Wow, did I really say that?  Yes it’s in the paragrph above you can look slightly up and see it.  Need I remind you that the Cardinals finished last season at 9-7 in an anemic NFC West Division.  Yes they have arguably the best wide receiver in the league in Larry Fitzgerald and a guy the Eagles should have traded a first rounder and what ever else the Cardinals wanted in Anquan Boldin.  They also have a guy at Quarterback who is about 50-50 to make the Hall of Fame in Kurt Warner.

Now despite their offesnive prowess and certain players on Defense like Adrian Wilson and Karlos Dansby, they are still the Arizona Cardinals.  The same Arizona or Pheonix Cardinals that have been an NFL doormat for since their move to the Grand Canyon State.

What evidence do I have to back this claim up? None whatsoever. Just an educated guess but if it comes through, Bob McFlurry is a genious becasue most of hte ESPIdiots have this team in the upper echelon of the NFC. In my humble opinion, not happening.

A team I think that is on the rise and will take the Cardinals place in the NFC playoffs next year is the San Francisco 49ers.  All the 49ers have to do is play consistently respectable offense (make more big plays than mistakes) and have a better than average special teams and they’re 10-6. They’re defense better be good because Hall of Famer and current 49ers Head Coach aint’ takin’ no bullshit over there and they have a top 3 middle linebacker in the league in Patrick Willis.

Overall, look for exactly what I said would happen, downfall of Cardinals despite the best receiver in the league and rise of an unheralded team back to prominence after 10 years.

If what I say does not happen I can blame it on being drunk and not my lack of Sports knowledge.

Posted on

Hank Baskett: Reality TV star

414px-hank-baskett-2008-camp-autographSports With Bob McFlurry

Now that Hank Baskett co-stars in his own TV show with former Playboy Playmate and current girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson, can we expect more from him on the field for the Eagles this year?  26 year old Baskett had 440yds last season on 33 catches with 3 touchdowns.  With the addition of rookie Wide Receiver Jeremy Macklin will Baskett’s touches diminish in an offense that has him as a third string or lower wide receiver?  Probably.  I was thinking Baskett may get cut in training camp but then I realized he’s the tallest  receiver on the team and a semi-valid special teams player.

It will be interesteing to say the least how the Wide Receiver plays out this season for the Birds.  With a healthy Kevin Curtis, Desean Jackson in a more prominent role, new addition Jeremy Macklin and 3rd down specialist Jason Avant it seems the odd men out may be Baskett and once promising receiver Reggie Brown in the touches per game department.  Though with the departure of Mr. Softy (Greg Lewis) and the uncertainty of how Macklin will fit into the receiving/returning roles there may be some more balls to go to Baskett and or Brown.  Only time will tell.

So how many episodes until Donovan Mcnabb appears on the Kendra show?  I give an over under of 6 if the show lasts that long, which it probably will given the surprisingly low brow tastes of teen, twenty and thirty something women (maybe gay men too).  One thing that will be interesting is the increased attention from NFL and ESPN announcers Hank Baskett will receive this upcoming season, though probably not because of his play.

I hope Kendra Wilkinson does not become the Jessica Simpson of the Philadelphia Eagles this year.  One thing the birds don’t need is any sort of omen of the pop culture kind, especially ones that used to play with Hugh Hefners old balls.  I wonder how Hank Baskett feels about Hugh Hefner banging his fiancee.  That had to be an awkward conversation and then to have your wedding at the Playboy Mansion and relive all those memories.  You must be proud Hank Baskett.  I’m raising my Schlitz can in honor of you chief.  Have a great season.

Posted on

What could have been…

Bob McFlurry with Sports:

Outrageous Vertical Leaping
Outrageous Vertical Leaping

The year is 1985, there was not a more dominant high school basketball player in the country.  Scott Howard a 5 foot 4 inch 17 year old High School student averaged a quadruple double that year, a feat never before done at any level of Basketball.  High School  coach Bobby Finstock called “The Wolf”, “The best player he had ever seen. Period.”.  Though not without some controversy.

A still unknown genetic defect gives Scott the power of a Werewolf and he transferred those increases in strength, speed and endurance to the basketball court.  After leading the Beavers to a District Championship, Howard accepted a scholarship to play Basketball at Major University.

Howard played point guard for two seasons at Major U and led the nation in scoring, rebounds, assists , steals and blocks.  After his sophomore season Howard declared himself eligible of the draft.  Ultimately David Stern did not allow Howard to join the NBA ranks due to the Wolf persona and doubts about Genetic Engineering and possibly Howard’s steroid use.  Howard was in the process of appealing Sterns decision when Howard fell off the top of a van while going 30 miles an hour, a stunt known as “Van Surfing”, the Wolf was known to do on a routine basis.  Howard suffered both shattered ankles and legs while he and friend Rupert ‘Stiles’ Stilinski were arrested for DUI, public drunkenness and reckless endangerment.

The injuries effectively ended Scott Howard’s athletic career, even though he had super human healing abilities.

Could you imagine Scott Howard in the NBA?  He would have been drafted in 1986 (#1 overall presumably) and given the proper surrounding cast, probably would have given Michael Jordan a run for his money in terms of Championships.   A Wolf Man that can shoot, jump, rebound and block shots…. What could have been.

Posted on

Fastest Way to Get Beer Cold

full-coolerBy: Billy BeerSlugger

It’s an age old question, “What’s the fastest way to get your beer cold?”. Everyone’s been there.  You buy a case of beer from the distributor and it wasn’t cold or you need to chill that case in the basement that you couldn’t fit into the fridge.

What do you do?

If I’m at home and do not have access to a cooler or mounds of ice, I’m putting a six pack in the freezer and as many beers as I can fit in the fridge.  After about 20-25 minutes the beers in the freezer will be cold and you take from the freezer and replacing from the fridge.  You will have to do this for a good hour before the remaining beers in the fridge have cooled sufficiently.  You will also have to watch out for beers in the freezer so that they don’t actually freeze and explode.

The best way, as explained by the show Mythbusters on The Discovery Channel:

In a cooler, combine salt, water and ice and just add beer for ice cold beer in about 5 minutes.  The salt melts the ice and lowers the freezing point to 27 degrees.  The water provides the surface area coverage to chill the beer optimally.

In contrast, using just ice and water to chill the beer would take about 15 minutes to get the 36 degrees achieved by the ice, salt, water mix in 5 minutes.

Of course you could use a fire extinguisher to cool the beer and it would be cold in about 3 minutes, but as I always say, “Safety First”.  You may need that fire extinguisher after you get drunk.  There’s nothing worse than accidentally starting a fire when you’re drunk and the fire extinguisher being empty from you chilling the beer with it.

So using conventional means, filling your cooler with salt, water and ice is the optimal way to cool your beer the fastest.

If you didn’t already know this, Now you know…. And Knowing is Half the Battle.