Rob Q. Ink - A Philly Sports Blog

When the football season ends before October, there’s not much good to say. The Eagles dropped to 4-4, and despite all of their babble last week, look every bit the part. I said last season that the “window of opportunity” for this team’s core group to win a Super Bowl had closed with the departure of you-know-who, but stopped short of saying the Donovan McNabb – Andy Reid tandem could never win it all. Now, I’m convinced that Reid will never hoist the Lombardi Trophy with McNabb as his quarterback. In fact, I doubt Reid will ever win it all, and I guarantee McNabb won’t. I think McNabb has a fragile psyche that was damaged beyond repair in the Terrell Owens debacle. He was already scared to death to run too much for fear of being compared to Randall Cunningham, practically nullifying the thing that made him special as a QB. He’s come out of that slightly, but he’s simply not good enough to be a QB that is predominantly pocket passer. Whether it will ever be admitted or not, offensive

Time to try something new. I’m following through on my self-imposed ban on picking games for at least this week since I’ve stunk up the joint. So, I’m going to start tracking the so-called experts. You know, those guys that scream at you on TV or the Internet about how they have the “inside” info that you need, then ask you to fork over forty or fifty bucks before you bet? I still want to know if Brandon Lang paid to be on Daily News Live. Did he just outbid Vegas Vic? At least Vic was funny; this guy's ego is insane, and he's no better than Joe Shmoe. Ever see his daily video? No matter what, he's on a hot streak. He just changes the amount of his "release" — 5 in a row on a 30-dime release...on Thursdays...in college football...when the temperature is above 76 degrees...at halftime. Of course, they throw freebies out there to entice the masses to pony up for their “expertise.” This week, I’ll track those freebies. Here’s what I’ve found (spreads according to e

It’s one of those days that makes me wonder why I’m a sports fan. I started this blog a year ago August thinking the Birds were poised for a Super Bowl title or two and the Flyers would likely hoist the Stanley Cup soon. I’ve been a fan of the 76ers through their darkest days, and had a re-birth as a Phillies fan that summer after years of hardly noticing that there was still a baseball team in town. I figured combining my interest in sports with my desire to write, along with picking some games, might be fun. Then days like today roll around that prove I suck at picking games as badly as the Philadelphia sports franchises suck at winning them. Writing about it only forces me to think about the sickening state of Philly sports. The Flyers fired Ken Hitchcock today, and Bobby Clarke resigned. I never quite got the constant trades Clarke made, and he seemed to be in love with superstars just passed their prime. I’m only a quasi-hockey fan, but continuity never seemed to be an issue for h

Nothing motivates me enough for a column this week. It could be depression over proving I may be better off picking teams out of a hat for my weekly picks instead of actually thinking about them. It could be the realization that Andy Reid’s an idiot. It could be that the Phillies won more games than a team in the freakin’ World Series. But, life moves on, so here is my Week in Review: · There’s been talk that Charlie Manuel should be concerned now that his staff includes three ex-managers in Jimy Williams, Art Howe, and Davey Lopes. Only Williams, who hasn’t coach since 1996, has a winning record as a manager. Shouldn’t the fans be concerned? · The Daily News is reporting that a group headed up by Julius Erving wants to buy the Sixers. Do you have any hope left for this team? There’s just been so many changes at the helm, I just can’t muster any enthusiasm. · The Flyers are already shuffling players around. It’s October 20th! · Not one, but two, New York teams choked in the playoff

Super Bowl caliber teams win that game. The Eagles are not a Super Bowl caliber team. I hear so much garbage about veteran leadership, and it’s a joke. There simply is no worthwhile leadership on the Eagles. There are a bunch of guys who talk about it, but clearly no one capable of being a leader on this team. Falling victim to a let-down game? Twelve men on the field on the defense on a 3rd-and-long that would have ended the Saints’ winning drive? A muffed punt that costs the Birds 7 points at the end of the 1st half? More blown timeouts? Three points in the first half? Another 4th quarter lead blown? All of this after coughing up the game against the Giants? All of that said, the New Orleans Saints are a good team. Donte' Stallworth didn’t play. They were on the road in a city the whole country is behind as it recovers from Katrina. Super Bowl caliber teams win that game. The Eagles are not a Super Bowl caliber team. Some cruel facts Philadelphia fans aren’t ready to accept: · Th

Dear Chris “Boomer” Berman: Sorry to interrupt your love affair with Tom Jackson, but this will just take a minute. Last week it was apparently your turn as a member of the national media to trot out the tired, exaggerated, and just plain inaccurate “examples” of those nasty Philadelphia fans. As a guy whose not exactly enamored with my brethren in fandom, I may be the wrong guy to offer even a semi-defense of the Philly fans. But as I watch you and your network, ESPN, become a caricature of once great sport entities, I can’t resist adding to the many voices that have tried to correct the misconceptions sports “reporters” too lazy to actually do any reporting love to harp on while bashing Philly fans. You went 0-for-4 on Sunday Countdown: They booed Santa: At the end of another dreadful Eagles season most of us (including me) don’t remember or weren’t even alive for, a snowstorm kept the guy who was supposed to play the jolly old guy away from Franklin Field. From what I’ve read, a sl

Terrell Owens is officially the typical bully — pop him once, and he goes away quietly. After all the hype surrounding his return to Philadelphia, the attention-grabbing receiver simply looked pedestrian with 3 catches for 45 yards. Ok, so he never really got popped. Doesn’t that only make it worse? He actually alligator-armed a ball in the third quarter. He did nothing the whole game, and still managed to start yapping at Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe. I’m not sure what is worse — the fact that Bill Parcells has clearly been castrated, and doesn’t have the juice in Dallas to cut T.O., or the fact that T.O. is allowed to continue his act. The Cowboys, I hate to admit, are damn good. Considering Washington’s ugly loss to the Giants, they’re probably the Birds’ only competition for the NFC East. For all the talent Owens has, the distraction he is on a daily basis clearly isn’t worth it any more. Does anyone think Parcells wouldn’t trade 3 catches for 45 yards to have avoided the headac

This time last year I was ok if Ed Wade was or wasn’t fired by the Phillies. Then Pat Gillick came along, and demonstrated how a real general manager does his job. I almost felt the same way about whether or not the Phils retained Charlie Manuel. I absolutely think the guy gets a bum wrap by a media that simply doesn’t like the way he speaks. Lots is said about his inability to make a double-switch. I think once early on in 2004 the career American League manager admitted to messing up a double-switch, and guys like Howard Eskin have harped on it since. (By the way, knowing Manuel was in the A.L. so long, where were all the other coaches that night? Not that he should’ve needed them.) Of course, the recently retained Manuel doesn’t exactly instill confidence. He allowed his friendship with Jim Thome to delay Ryan Howard’s emergence. He asked Bobby Abreu to lead-off instead of simply doing what he knew was right, and backed off when Abreu essentially declined. He inexplicably dropped J

One of the toughest things about being a beat writer must be coming up with new things to say about the same thing day after day. The day after the Eagles trounced the Packers, only a few new thoughts: · A putrid first half left me wondering if Brian Westbrook is really that good. Seems like it, as the offense took forever to get going without him against a bad team. · Donovan McNabb continues to bounce passes to open receivers, and looked atrocious in the 2-minute drill at the end of the half. · The good side of Andy Reid’s “gambler” side: I’m guessing he sat Westbrook and Litto Sheppard figuring the Packers suck and he could rest their nagging injuries without getting burned. · The bad side: A fake field goal at the end of the half in a still-tight game from way too far out with back-up tight ends being the only hope for a potential long TD pass from a punter or kicker. A first-down still ended the half. · I’m going to puke the next time I hear about all the fun McNabb is having. · R