Rob Q. Ink - A Philly Sports Blog

Time for another Week-in-Review, and what a crazy week: • In July rumors were circulating that Jason Werth was spotted in the wee hours of the morning at a casino in St. Louis during a road trip. Monday night Werth appeared to be sleep walking when he was picked off of second base in the bottom of the sixth inning after Carlos Ruiz walked with two outs. Note to Jason – check out video poker or slot machines right at home or at the hotel. Save some gas money, go to bed at a reasonable hour, stay awake during games – everybody wins. • I’ve already covered the stupidity that is MLB umpire Scott Barry, but it’s worth repeating. His absolutely childish tossing of Ryan Howard should have ended his career. I don’t want to hear about the strong umpire union. Screw them. These guys have egos that are completely out of control in the cushiest jobs ever created. Look at Joe West. He actually has a publicist who puts out a notice telling where he’s going to umpire, according to reports. Guys c

It’s rare that one baseball game brings so many passionate responses, but last night’s 16-inning Phillies game rivals an Eagles for the amount of chatter it’s elicited. Obviously, third base umpire Scott Barry dominates the conversation. The fill-in umpire proved he shouldn’t be anywhere near a baseball diamond ever again in his life. His childish mocking of Ryan Howard’s disgusted look after the umpire called a strike on a check swing was inexcusable. As Howard spoke to the home plate umpire about it, seeming to gesture that he was mad at himself, Barry was seen on television looking in with a facial expression that said he was begging for an excuse to get into it with the player. He completed what he clearly saw as his moment in the spotlight by throwing Howard out of the game when he called a third strike on another check swing and Howard tossed his bat. Howard went after the umpire, and, quite frankly, I don’t get the mixed reaction I’ve been hearing today. Yes, Howard put the team

It’s time to fire up a Friday Week-in-Review: • Chase Utley is unbelievable. He came back at least two weeks early from the disabled list after suffering a broken bone in his hand. The “chase” for another World Series appearance is back on. • If you’re into the sports talk radio war here in Philadelphia, and based on the number of hits I get whenever I post about WIP and/or 97.5 The Fanatic many people are, Rich Rys’ “Game On” in Philadelphia Magazine is a must read. I think he undersells Harry Mayes, and oversells Mike Missanelli’s rift with Skip Bayless, but the “behind-the-scenes” stuff he got, especially on how Missanelli is viewed was pretty interesting. I admit I’m a bit late discovering this June article, but if you haven’t read it yet, check it out. • As good as the article is, Philly Mag’s ranking of sports talk hosts is laughable. Anthony Gargano and John Gonzalez (also praised too much in the article) are way overrated. Harry Mayes isn’t even listed but Jon Marks is? Ray D

It’s the first Monday of the season where we get to look back on an Eagles game, even if it’s just a pre-season game. A few other sports stories (or non-sports stories) caught my eye, too, so here’s a quick weekend wrap: • The first pass of the night showed me why Kevin Kolb is going to be a better quarterback than Donovan McNabb, if he isn’t already. It was the foundation of the west coast offense, a quick slant to DeSean Jackson, and all Kolb did was hit him in stride. It wasn’t behind him, or at his ankles, or anywhere else but in his hands. Ahhh, can you smell the fresh air? • Could the Eagles please pay DeSean Jackson now? I know, I know, supporting an athlete’s efforts to be paid exurbanite amounts of money is disgusting, but this guy is a stud. I fear a bad break-up between Jackson and the Eagles as a casualty of the pending labor strife. • I realize that an entire blog could be dedicated to pointing out stupid things said by Deion Sanders, but sometimes I just can’t resist. On

I thought today would be a quick post with some early thoughts on the Eagles, and I’ll get to them in a minute. Try to contain yourselves. But I’m still coming off the high of actually being at last night’s amazing comeback by the Phillies, and the Sixers have made some news. Phils Rally Passed Dodgers About this time yesterday (as I type) I was wondering if I was even going to get to go to the Phillies game. In fact, watching the rain come down, I was wondering if I even wanted to go. With the Dodgers not returning to the east coast after the game for the rest of the season, I was dreading a potential long rain delay or two with another weak Joe Blanton pitching performance as the reward. Blanton didn’t disappoint, but luckily neither did the Phillies’ bats or the weather. On a night where the heat finally seemed to be relenting, the Phillies thrilled what was left of the crowd by storming back from a 9-2 deficit. To be honest, it looked like a rain delayed game that resumed after a c

The favorite refrain of most Phillies fans this season seems to be an exclamation-point-filled, “They’re back!” After Sunday’s action, in which the team completed a run of 13-3, the post-game show on PHL 17 was filled with talk of all the home games they have left, getting everybody back healthy, and at least a sense that Charlie Manuel could massage the closer situation well enough to get them into the playoffs. I’ll be the first to tell you that I thought this season was over when Chase Utley went down with a broken bone in his hand. When Ryan Howard recently began what feels like his “turn” on the injury list considering the number of injuries the Phillies have had this year, few people would have given any argument against the idea that the team wasn’t going to be playing deep into October – and might not be seeing any fall baseball beyond the regular season. Even the acquisition of Roy Oswalt did little to excite me – again, for this season. It was another very solid move by Phils