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The Philadelphia Union: New MLS team.

"jungite aut perite"
"jungite aut perite"

Sports with Bob McFlurry

The official name of the Philadelphia Sports Franchise was revealed in a ceremony at City Hall today, the “Philadelphia Union“.  I’m with that.  Philadelphia is where the United States of America was born.

The team name alludes to the Union of the Original 13 colonies, Philadelphia being it’s capital (yea that’s right dude at the bar Thursday night, Philadelphia was the Original Capital, not Washington DC).  The team’s colors are Navy Blue and Gold, the primary colors of the Continental Army uniform.

Benjamin Franklin first suggested a “Plan For Colonial Union” in 1754.  Letters sent by Franklin to then Governor of Massachusetts William Shirley laid out an early plan for a national government that was to be supported by British Parliament.  The plan was ultimately not ratified by the colonies but the rattlesnake on the Union Logo pays homage to Ben Franklin’s 1754 political cartoon in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It became a national symbol of the American Revolution conveying the apparent dangers of disunity.  Not surprisingly, the group lobbying the hardest to get the MLS team here is the “Sons of Ben”.

chester

The Stadium is not in the City of Philadelphia though.  It’s located about 20 minutes down I-95 in lovely Chester, Pa.  Chester, classified in 1980 as a third class city has gone through a sort of resurgence lately.  Harrah’s Casino and Horse Track opened within the last two years.  A series of riverfront plans have failed until Governor Rendell stepped in with State Funds to build the Stadium and riverfront commerce center.

Overall, I guess you’ve got to be happy with the stadium and new MLS team.  I’m not a huge soccer fan but if the Union get into the playoffs I have no problem jumping on the bandwagon.

BeerSlugger.com is rallying support to be the official tailgate sponsor of the team.  If you are a bar owner, brewer or beer distributor owner and want to sponsor an event, please contact info@beerslugger.com.

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Mainstream Media on MLB Steroids/HGH… Double Standard?

Sports with Bob McFlurry

So yea, one of my first picks in my Fantasy Baseball draft, Manny Ramirez,  is now suspended for the next 50 games as a result of a positive “Performance Enhancing Drug” test result.  Now before you get all, “You’re writing this article because you’re pissed that your Fantasy Baseball Team is going to hit the shitter.”, please read the rest of the article.

So what’s up with the Espn’s and other Major News outlets coverage of MLB players failing drug test as opposed to the NFL, NBA and NHL?  When is the last time you heard of an extremely visible NHL player or NBA player failing a drug test (Besides Weed in the NBA)?  Are you really going to tell me it’s because it doesn’t happen in those sports?  Please give me a break because you’re living in the same denial of those sports now just as you did in the late 90’s and early 2000’s of Major League Baseball.

Now I understand that the NHL is not as popular as the other of the 4 major sports, but when was the last time you have even heard of a player getting suspended in the NHL for anything other than roughing someone up more than a 5 minute major? Ever? Might have happened but it’s not running across the bottom line of ESPN as breaking news while you’re trying to hit on underage girls at Finnigans Wake.

And then you’ve got the NBA.  I’m not about to accuse the newly crowned NBA MVP, but when he came into the league as an 18 year old rookie he looked a whole lot older and bigger than anyone I have known when they graduated high school.  Freak of Nature, completely possible.  More shocking is that I haven’t heard of any problems in the NBA in terms of Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Now a brief ,and a little suspect, Google Search of “Steroids NHL” and “Steroids NBA” returned the following results on the NBA Steroid Problem and the NHL Steroid Problem.  Both commisioners claim not to have a problem with Steroids.  Again, possible yes, there’s a great chance that there’s not as much rampant use of PED’s in the NHL and NBA as there is in the Home Run obsessed MLB.  However, it’s certainly plausible that someone of high regard in either of these leagues has used  and tested positive for PED’s.

Don’t even get me started about the NFL.  I’m not saying that the NFL does a completely terrible job of policing their players intake of PED’s (because apparently people do get suspended), I’m just saying why does the American Mainstream Media make Rodney Harrison getting busted for HGH in 2007 not as big a deal as say Manny Ramirez or Alex Rodriguez?  Or what about the whole Carolina Panthers Offesnsive Line being on PED’s (allegedly) in 2003 as they steamrolled our Philadelphia Eagles on the way to losing the Super Bowl.  Where’s the outcry in that? Seriously?

The MLB has Senate hearings and calls an obscene amount of people/players to the witness stand and wastes Millions of taxpayer dollars to fix a problem that they have no business fixing. Yes the federal government should be going after  Steroids and HGH, however they should go after it the same way they do other drugs, get the distributors and manufacturers.  I’m not saying that taking down a major pubic figure who uses PED’s won’t help discourage their usage.  I’m just saying don’t kill my Fantasy baseball Season in the Process.

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Samuel Dalembert: It’s time to go chief!

Sports With Bob McFlurry

I’ll admit I was excited when I first saw Sam Dalembert’s athleticism on the court early in his career.  He reminded me of Theo Ratliff a little bit they way he went after blocks.  I thought this guy could be really good, he’s raw, give him a couple of years to mature and develop and he could be a force in the middle for the Sixers.

Flash forward to 2009, I can’t stand when Dalembert is on the court.  I’m not sure why he’s starting other than the fact that he’s making 10.5 million dollars this year.  He has two years remaining on his contract which tops out at 12 million in 2010/2011.  Dude is making double digit million dollars a year to go out on a basketball court and suck (thanks Billy King).

Yes he blocks some shots, yes he does some rebounding, yes he’s one of the better defending centers in the Eastern Conference but he’s an offensive liability, refuses to learn from mistakes or what teammates tell him to do and is constantly in foul trouble.

This is a guy who got summarily dismissed from Team Canada’s Olympic Basketball team.  I couldn’t find another guy on Team Canada’s roster who I had even heard of and they booted Dalembert, one of the two NBA players who expressed interest in playing for them.

The coach of that team was quoted to say this about the Dalembert dismissal, : “Everybody who’s here now wants to be here and wants to be a part of this team. If that’s not your agenda you’re not here.”.  There really wasnt any further explanation from the coach but I’m thinking Dalembert’s head was just not in the game much like about 90% of the games he plays for the Sixers.

This season he continued to lose minutes to Theo Ratliff, Reggie Evans and rookie Marreese Speights averaging 24mpg.  It seems Sammy wants to be to involved in the offense when it’s clearly not his strong suit. Every time I see him take a 15 foot jumper I cringe. The guy should be averaging 15 boards, 8-10 trash points on accident and 3 blocks a game.  That’s what he needs to do, rebound, block shots and defend.

It’s time for this experiment to end.  We need a real center.  Unfortunately this is not Team Canada and we cannot just fire him, we’re stuck with him for two more years and his salary and play will make it hard to move him.  Can we give him 10 million to go away?

Sam Dalembert Regular Season Stats:

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001–02 Philadelphia 34 0 5.2 .440 .000 .389 2.0 .1 .2 .4 1.5
2003–04 Philadelphia 82 53 26.8 .541 .000 .644 7.6 .3 .5 2.3 8.0
2004–05 Philadelphia 72 60 24.8 .524 .000 .601 7.5 .5 .6 1.7 8.2
2005–06 Philadelphia 66 52 26.7 .531 .000 .705 8.2 .4 .5 2.4 7.3
2006–07 Philadelphia 82 82 30.9 .541 .000 .746 8.9 .8 .6 1.9 10.7
2007–08 Philadelphia 82 82 33.2 .513 .000 .707 10.4 .5 .5 2.3 10.5
2008–09 Philadelphia 82 82 24.8 .498 .000 .734 8.5 .2 .4 1.8 6.4
Career 500 411 26.4 .524 .000 .688 8.1 .4 .5 1.9 8.1
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Eagles Pre-Draft Update and Jason Peter’s Signing

By: Billy Beerslugger

So most if not all of Eagles fans were disappointed with the lack of signing big ticket free agents or trades this offseason.  We just traded for one of the best left-tackles in football and all I hear on 610 WIP is, “We could have used that pick to trade for Braylon or Anquan Boldin”.  I’m hip to that, I want a top flight receiver in Philadelphia like I want Charlize Theron to make me a Turkey Sandwich while completely naked. I think Donovan McNabb is saying the same thing.

What the Eagles have done this offseason is nothing write off though.  They lost their two 10 year plus with the Eagles tackles and they just reloaded with Stacey Andrews and Jason Peters.  All indications to me, that’s an upgrade all around at the tackle position.  The lay person has no idea how important it is to have a good offesive and defensive line.  Then, an afterthought in the Birds free agent signings, Leonard Weaver is the first true fullback we’ve had in Philadelphia since Jon Ritchie.  Is that going to upgrade the running game.  Simply put, YES!

We’ve got the 21st pick in the first round of the draft.  Look for the Birds to select a running back to complement/replace a 30 year old Brian Westbrook.  As I’ve said before I’m McLovin Knowshown Moreno.  Do not think that the Eagles are going to trade that first rounder for Anquan or Braylon, it’s not happening.  Though the Eagles do have a 2nd round pick and other draft pick ammunition that could lure Tony Gonzalez or Chad Ocho Cinqo to Philadelphia.  You can consider Reggie Brown part of that ammunition as well.

If the Eagles come out of this offseason with two tackles, a capable running back with an upside (not Ryan Moats or Tony Hunt), a true fullback and either Ocho Stinko or Tony Gonzalez it’s an A+ offseason.  Right now I think they’re sitting in the B- range depending on what transpires in the draft.   All is not lost, there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnell in what looks like an open race for NFC supremacy.

And for a little prognostication from the Beerslugger himself, Matthew Stafford will have a career similar to that of Jay Cutler.  They both have talent but need to be in the right system and surrounded by a good amount of playmakers to win.  Mark Sanchez I believe will be another in a long line of USC QB’s taken in the first round that will be considered a bust.  I don’t think Mark Sanchez has the skills to make it in the NFL just like I questioned whether Matt Leinert would be able to flourish.  Considering they both wore the same knee brace in college I’m going to guess Mark Sanchez makes more headlines about getting hurt then he does with his play.  But I’ve been wrong before, like when I was Pro Communism and Racism.

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Matt Stairs: What’s up dude?

matt-stairs-721917By F.X. Galvin

In this age in society mostly every sexual orientation is socially accepted. Everything is cool from heterosexual to homosexual to bi-sexual to transsexual, so on and so forth. One thing that still has a major taboo effect is homosexual male professional athletes. It is something that is ignored and never brought up. This practice has operated as a don’t ask, don’t tell policy since being gay was gay. Hell, look what happened in the ESPN series “Playmakers,” when the star receiver came out of the closet after making the Pro Bowl… They blackballed the poor guy and sent him fudge packing or maybe just packing, I’m not sure how it worked out. Since many pro athletes are still in hiding, it is our job here at Beerslugger.com to investigate the situation.

For me, Matt Stairs raises some eyebrows. Matt Stairs is the Philadelphia Phillies left handed pinch hitter best known for his mammoth home run off Jonathan Broxton in game four of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers which put the Phillies ahead in the game and gave them complete control of the series. Stairs’ home run has solidified his placement within Philadelphia sports folklore. Ok let me cut to the chase, see Stairs comments after gave 4 of the NLCS:

“when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys – there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

kran1

Wow, talk about laying it out there. The guy practically confessed to being a homosexual “ballplayer.” He admitted to playing for the other team. Is that why he strikes out so much? Alright all jokes aside, Stairs sexuality should be considered. Stairs is Canadian and is a cultural weirdo but he has been a professional baseball player in the United States since 1992. He’s had sixteen years to adapt to American society and should know that by saying “… getting hammered in the ass by guys – there’s no better feeling than to have that done” is a blatant sexual innuendo. The only conclusion is that Stairs is a closet homosexual begging to come out.

Let’s look at the Stairs profile, alpha male right. Stairs is a lumbering individual about 35 pounds overweight, always has a scruffy beard, and has an extremely deep voice. Stairs looks more like your little league coach than a Madonna groupie. He looks like one of your Dad’s drinking buddies, not Richard Simmons’ workout buddy. He definitely does not scream gay.

Let’s look a little further. Doesn’t Stairs look very similar to the gay pimp known as “Bear” in “American Wedding” that takes on Stifler in a dance contest in a gay bar. After some research the gay pimp’s name is Eric Allan Kramer. Stairs and Kramer may be long lost gay lovers or maybe current lovers, I’m not ruling it out. After Stairs openly professed to being a bottom after game 4, Kramer could feasibly be seen as a top. It is easy to picture Stairs hitting a two run “money shot”, Kramer cheering him on, followed by them jamming out to Avril Lavingne, culminating with Stairs getting his “ass hammered by guys,” or just “Bear.” The beerslugger faithful deserves the truth, Matt Stairs please respond. Just throwing it out there.

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Harry Kalas – Philadelphia Legend

By: Luan Zuccarello

….simply Harry

At 1:20pm on April 13th 2009 the one thing that has been constant in my life changed forever. It didn’t matter if I had a bad day, the one thing I could count on was Harry at game-time. For 162 days/nights over the course of my 27 years Harry has laughed with me and cried with me. He drank beers with me and shared a hot dog. He was there when my Dad would wake me up to catch the last inning of a ball game. He kept my grandfather and me company on hot summer days listening to the radio. He went to college with me, and got introduced to a whole new group of friends. He was there when I was in high school and would make out with my girlfriend in the basement while listening to the Phillies blow another one. In July, he would come down the shore with me and return in August. He was there through deaths, weddings, and new life. That’s what makes this man so special, and this time so hard. He was the soundtrack of our lives.

Harry was one of your buddies. He was one of the guys that sat around late drinking beers and busting balls. He was the epitome of “cool”. The man didn’t even need a last name – simply Harry. Young people, old people, and even girls knew him and loved him. He understood Philadelphia fans better than any outsider has or ever will. We opened up our hearts and lives and made him a Philadelphian, and in return Harry provided us with memory after memory.

Harry’s last memory might not be a happy one but he died the way I think all of us would want to go – doing the thing he loved most. So instead of feeling sorry and sad, lift your drink and toast our friend. Sing “High Hopes” until you lose your voice, tell stories about the time Mitchy-Poo won the game at 2am, imitate Mike Schmidt’s 500th home run, and most of all remember the times you shared with the man.

At 1:20pm on April 13th the one thing that has been constant in my life changed forever. It didn’t matter if I had a bad day, the one thing I could count on was Harry at game-time – simply Harry.

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The “Rooney Rule” – Minority Coaches in The NFL

By: Billy Beerslugger

There has been pressure recently on professional sports teams, by their leagues and other organizations, to hire more minority coaches.  “The Rooney Rule” in the NFL focuses on the requirement of interviewing a minority candidate for any vacant head coaching position unless the position was already promised to an assistant head coach in their contract.

The “Rooney Rule” was one of the contributing factors to having African American head coaches in the NFL jump from 6% in 2005 to 22% in 2006.  The Detroit Lions were fined $200,000 in 2003 for not interviewing minority candidates for the team’s vacant head coaching job.  The Eagles current O-Coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg was fired and Steve Mariucci was hired without interviewing any other candidate (although the Lions dispute this).

I guess my problem with the “Rooney Rule” and how it is enforced is that it seems only African America candidates have to be interviewed. When the NFL uses the term “diversity” or “minority” does it really mean “black” or “African-American”?  It seems to me that if you were going to institute a form of affirmative action it should apply to all minorities and not just one.  I’d like to see how many Latino or Asian candidates were interviewed since the inception of the rule.  As far as I can tell the NFL has no Latino or Asian head coaches. And what about Women?  Women are a minority.  Why do they not get an equal share in the “Rooney Rule” (if you want to get technical).

The NFL players are comprised of 70% African American and nearly 30% white with a small percentage of Hispanic and negligible quantities of other races.  So in this scenario maybe it does make sense that you would consider hiring more African American coaches.  However, don’t call yourself being diverse when you only deal in black and white.

Dealing in sheer population, Latino’s (14.8%) out-number African Americans(13.4%) in the United States, and that’s not even dealing with bi-racial people, a large number of which happen to share Latino descent.  While Hispanic’s  do not make up a great deal of the NFL players they do make up a greater portion of the general population than African Americans.  Shouldn’t that count for something?

The Rooney Rule is now talked about being instituted into NCAA football and possibly other sports.  Did the NFL get this correct enough to warrant it being discussed in other leagues?  Will they move to include more types of minorities in the hiring process? Should this the Rooney Rule even exist?  I guess that’s for you to decide.  I know I wouldn’t be a big fan of being made to interview people (regardless of race/religion/sexual preference) that I didn’t consider a serious contender for the position.  I would just want the best person available.

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I’d like to buy a vowel…

By: Billy Beerslugger

What’s up YouToobers, a couple of weekends ago was a 3 days booze fest complete with a fantasy baseball draft in a Jersey Shore beachfront house. There were at least 7 trashcans filled up with cans and bottles. Much Mac N’ Manco’s, some NBA JAM, Air Hockey and of course tournament style Wii Bowling and Tennis sprinkled amongst the all day drinking and NCAA Basketball games.

On Saturday, things took a decidedly interesting turn. All week in preparation of this draft weekend the “party planner” was asked to procure some adult entertainment. Basically we just wanted a girl to stand there topless and write draft picks up on the board much like Vanna White does the letters on Wheel of Fortune.

You would think this would be an easy task to get a adult entertainer to do. No dancing, no whorishness just stand there and look pretty. The “agency’s” though were asking their full rate, no discount. And it was pondered, “Why are we not getting a discount if all they are doing is just standing there?”. In these tough economic times even the stripper budget is cut back so we tried the unconventional route of calling some numbers on Craigslist “Erotic Services“, which is a nice way of saying hooker. Even these ladies were charging their full hourly rate to stand up there.

At this point my friend and I were in discussions about why a woman who was having sex for money would not discount her hourly rate to model instead of have sex. My friend noted that it was a weekend and prime rates would apply since if we were not going to pay it, someone else would.

He broke it down to me like this:

“If you were a male prostitute, would you rather have sex with one girl for an hour or discount your rate and hang around 10 girls balls naked for an hour without having to have sex?”. To which I replied, “it depends on what the girl I’m supposed to have sex with looks like.”. However, I do understand that as a female prostitute you are trying to maximize money so you would probably take the having sex for $200 over the modeling for $175. I get that, I really do.

We decided not to call anymore prostitutes, explaining what exactly we wanted to happen and them understanding we were not calling for sex became mentally exhausting.

We did learn a good lesson though:

If a prostitute is “In Call“, it means you must go to their location.

If a prostitute is “Out Call“, it means they will come to you.

If a prostitute is, “In / Out Call” it means they will either come to you or you can come to them.

I learned this after a prostitute had stated to me that, “I only do In Call, I don’t do Out Call”. Thinking these were some sort of sexual position I replied, “No, I don’t want sex I just want you to put some names up on a draft board topless”. She then explained the aforementioned In / Out Call scenario. (You never know when you may need to know information like this even if just for conversation.)

But I digress, back to the story. We ordered your regular garden variety, bachelor party strippers at full price. After some non-believers doubted the party planner, the two girls showed up. Hilarity ensued as one of our friends was beaten (by request) with his own belt. The girls also wrote some pretty snide remarks on his ass with magic markers. All this while another friend was making it “Flurry“.

Flurry, if the term has not been coined yet, is a form or precipitating dollar bills on to a stripper. While making it flurry, dollar bills come down softer and more deliberate than when someone “makes it rain“. Making it Flurry is more about great placement of the bill as it falls as opposed to having a bunch of bills fall at the same time randomly. Generally making it flurry is cheaper than making it rain.

My one friend wakes up the next day and takes a dump forgetting that he had markers still on his ass (and actually not even remembering these events transpire). This ass editorial (which included homophobic remarks) was transposed on to portions of the toilet seat. Much like a printing press marks newspaper, my friend’s left ass hieroglyphics on a toilet seat.

The best part was he denied taking the dump until we asked him to show us his ass. Afterward the prosecution rested.

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Things I’ve noticed

young money, dipset, thats what this is and if i aint good lookin you can bet my bitch is
"...if i aint good lookin you can bet my bitch is."

By: Billy Beerslugger

It was revealed that the opening number on American Idol where all remaining contestants sing and dance to choreography is in fact lip-synced.  Apparently they do sing when they are up there singularly though.  That’s a big fuck you to whoever told me they don’t lip-sync on that show.  It’s up there with Lawrence Welk and American Bandstand now.  Who wants to watch these nobody’s sing anyway?  You want a singer you go out and get Celine Dion, that woman crushes it.

In the past couple weeks i’ve seen Lil Wayne and Bob Wow on ESPN talking about sports.  Now I’m not sure who’s idea this is but what exactly does some dude that drink’s codine cough syrup concoctions and the artist formerly know as Lil’ Bow Wow have to do with me getting my sports news.  I care about their opinions about as much as I care about who wins American idol.  If these guys are any indication of the type of credentials needed to appear on ESPN, Screech Powers from Saved By The Bell should be allowed to go on.  Steve Urkel too.

Recently i tried Pantene Pro V shampoo because there was no other shampoo available.  I’ll tell you what I don’t feel like less of a man. I just feel like a man with really soft and manageble hair.

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The NFL Draft

By: Billy Beerslugger

I have not been this excited about the NFL draft in a really long time (not since the last NFL draft).  The Eagles have 12 picks in the draft, 2 in the first (21, 28).  The 28th pick is Carolina’s, which I don’t understand since the eagles went farther in the playoffs then Carolina.

Other picks include:

  • 2nd round 53rd overall.
  • 3rd Round 85th overall.
  • 4th Round 121 overall.
  • 5th Round (141, 153, 157, 159 overall)
  • 6th Round (194,195 overall)
  • 7th Round 230 overall

I would be a lot happier about the Eagles 12 picks in this upcoming draft if a couple more picks were in the first 4 rounds. 7 picks in the last 3 rounds when the talent pool is extremely slim.  5 picks in the top 4 rounds.  Things could be worse though.

I’ll tell you what, I love Knowshown Moreno at 21 if he’s there.  Some people are thinking about Beanie Wells as a complement to B-West but I’m thinking Knowshown is the replacement in about 2 years or so.  Plus Beanie didn’t really block at OSU, which is critical for an RB in the West Coast offense.

A lot of prognosticators have the Eagles selecting an OT in the first round which I do not buy.  Yes the Eagles are somewhat thin at tackle.  I’m thinking they can move either Herremans or Shaun Andrews(given he’s not bonkers) out there which Joe Banner has acknowledged is a possibility.

If there’s one thing that Andy Reid does well it’s draft offensive lineman.  Doug Brzezinski and John Welbourn in 1999.  Shawn Andrews in 2004. Todd Herremans in 2005. Max Jean-Gilles in 2006.  All have been servicable in the NFL.  None of whom were taken before the 3rd round except Andrews.  Sure there have been some misses but overal Andy knows O Line.

So here’s why I don’t think the Eagles draft  a Tackle in the first round.  I’m really thinking the Eagles make a move for a receiver the likes of  Braylon Edwards, Ocho Stinko or Boldin. I’m hoping the Eagles will muster up the testicular fortitude to give McNabb a true number 1 receiver.  Thats going to take a number one pick (21th or 28th) probably a later round pick (hopefully one of our four 5th rounders)  and Reggie Brown.  At this point you are left with 1 first round pick and need to address RB in the draft.  I would take either Moreno or Wells, whomever was still on the board (Moreno being ahead of Wells).

If neither of them is available you have to evaluate talent at Tackle and RB and take the best guy on the board.  With your next selections on day one you could seek to acquire o-guards and or o-tackles.  Of course Andy Reid could just screw this up completely by taking someone completely off the Radar like he did with Kevin Kolb (who is the next Bobby Hoying by the way).

There are very pressing needs at WR and RB with a less than pressing need at OT than people think.  This is the last/second to last year that Donavan McNabb is an Eagle.  Give him the weapons, make the run at the Super Bowl like in 2004 with a number 1 receiver.

Note: When Donovan McNabb is not the QB of the Eagles you will be bitching about how bad Kevin Kolb is.