Rob Q. Ink - A Philly Sports Blog

It’s been a while since the Eagles had a chance to confound everyone. But they wasted little time with their first off-season move last night as the league at least temporarily re-opened for business. The brain trust at the NovaCare Complex drafted Danny Watkins in the first round of the NFL draft. He’s an offensive lineman out of Baylor – a fairly typical pick for the Eagles. Oh, he’s also 26-years-old and has only four years of football experience. Football players are constantly talking about their short window in which to have a career, and most of them start in the NFL at around 21 or 22 years of age. The Eagles have apparently decided to shorten the window even further. I am the opposite of a draftnik. I’d pretty much like to get the summary of which team picked which player on Sunday night and move on. To me, the good side of the lockout was that no one was really talking about the draft. It’s important, I understand, but I don’t need to hear about all of the scenarios t

I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse about a week of picks. If you follow me on Twitter , you saw the carnage. I finished 4-11-1 for -63.91 points. Worse, I need a minor miracle to avoid 0-3 in long-term picks for -80 points. I actually started out with my biggest single game win ever in the NBA with the Heat for +22.73 points over the Sixers on Thursday, which basically went to +33.81 points when the Bulls pushed and made a parlay pick with the Heat into a single game pick. I even won a pick on the Lakers over the Hornets for +9.52 and the Celtics on the money line over the Knicks for +7.25 on Friday. I already knew my two first round parlay picks and championship pick were in major trouble. The Spurs and Magic need two straight wins for the first parlay pick to survive, as well as the championship pick on San Antonio. Portland will need two straight wins to salvage the other parlay pick. Ten straight losses ended the week, including three horrible parlay picks. Thursday NBA Pa

So bad, it’s funny – at least I think that’s what these guys were going for. Are you ready to celebrate the end of the NFL lockout? Me neither, but I’m so tired of hearing about it I thought a little humor might help. Besides, the Flyers advanced to the second round. Celebrate good times. Video posted by frankiej56 .

I thought for sure I’d be writing some sort of wrap up of the 76ers season for today’s post when I took a break on Thursday. Instead, the Sixers extended their season with a surprising win against the Heat on Easter Sunday. It wasn’t quite as memorable as the Eagles trading you-know-who on the same holiday last year, but the Sixers combined with the Flyers and Phillies for a Philly trifecta on Sunday. The most surprising part of it might have been that the Flyers were also playing to keep their season alive. I’ll confess that it tickled me just a little bit to think the Sixers might be playing after the Flyers were looking for tee times. It’s not that I dislike the Fly-boys, but hearing their fans on sports talk radio sound as if they are pre-ordained to win the Stanley Cup every summer can be a tad annoying. Last time I checked, the Cup hasn’t been hoisted by a Flyer since the ‘70s. What’s happening with their goalie situation is laughable. Michael Leighton was put on the play

With both NBA playoff parlay picks still in play, and at least one in serious doubt thanks to the Trailblazers being down 0-2 to the Mavericks, I had just a 5-3 record for -2.91 points last week. Picking the Phillies on the run line yesterday, meaning they had to win by 2, cost me my first losing week in terms of points in four weeks as they edged the Brewers, 4-3. Just so I’m not accused of ducking anything, my 50-point parlay pick is also in jeopardy with the Spurs and Lakers hoping just to be even at the end of Wednesday night. (I’m typing during the second half of the Spurs-Grizzlies game.) In reality, the opening weekend of the playoffs is what brought the losing week. I was 2-3 for the week, but lost the bigger picks to end up at -15.90 points. Baseball actually salvaged the week, as I went 3-1 for +12.59 points. Below is the entire breakdown of the last seven days. I left Wednesday night’s NBA games alone, figuring I had enough invested in the outcomes. Enjoy the holiday w

Normally, the release of the Eagles schedule is good for plenty of distraction for guys (and some ladies) looking to kill time at the office. This year it just seems like a glimpse into Bizarro World as the NFL Network runs hours of programming about a schedule that the current lockout is threatening to make worth less than the internet space it’s displayed on. For what it’s worth, here’s the schedule as posted by multiple outlets. Week 1 Sun, Sep 11 @St. Louis 1:00 PM Week 2 Sun, Sep 18 @Atlanta 8:20 PM Week 3 Sun, Sep 25 vs. New York 1:00 PM Week 4 Sun, Oct 2 vs. San Francisco 1:00 PM Week 5 Sun, Oct 9 @Buffalo 1:00 PM Week 6 Sun, Oct 16 @Washington 1:00 PM Week 7 BYE WEEK Week 8 Sun, Oct 30 vs. Dallas 8:20 PM Week 9 Mon, Nov 7 vs. Chicago 8:30 PM Week 10 Sun, Nov 13 vs. Arizona 1:00 PM Week 11 Sun, Nov 20 @New York 8:20 PM Week 12 Sun, Nov 27 vs. New England 4:15 PM Week 13 Thu, Dec 1 @Seattle 8:20 PM Week 14 Sun, Dec 11 @Miami 1:00 PM Week 15 Sun, Dec

Whatever happened to picture-in-picture? Last night the Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers, were all in action. That admittedly awkward order – considering the importance of the games – offers insight into where my channel flipping landed throughout the night. It would be more than reasonable to argue that my focus was completely in reverse order of what it should have been. Bad, sports blogger! Bad! To be fair, the Sixers playoff game started out as my primary target of the night, but they quickly dug a hole that they never showed signs of getting out of – at least none that I saw. At one point I heard their ridiculously low shooting percentage for the game, which ended up being 34.2 percent. They seem destined for a sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in what will be a very disappointing end to this season. Unfortunately, I watched the broadcast enough to see Charles Barkley take another gratuitous shot at Sixer fans. I’m really getting tired of the Round Mound of Sound. In TNT’s

A rather surprising weekend of NBA basketball to open the playoffs left me with a quick thought about the format of a series versus the one-game rounds of the NCAA Tournament in college hoops. Basketball fans that prefer the college game over the pro version to the point of disliking the pros often cite the upsets in the single-elimination tournament as a reason it is more exciting than NBA playoffs, in which series generally lead to fewer upsets. Saturday and Sunday might just be days to file in the back of the minds of basketball fans to re-evaluate in June. If the NBA playoffs were single elimination, the Spurs, Lakers, and the Magic, would be done already. The Celtics also came dangerously close to losing, and Oklahoma City was in a tough game as I wrote this post for the morning. Even the Bulls needed a huge fourth quarter to escape Indiana in their first game. For the sake of argument, let’s say all five teams had lost. In their place, fans would have been left with the Grizz

I have already posted these picks on Twitter , but I decided that my official pick for the 2011 NBA Champion was worth a quick blog post. I’m also including my picks for the first round of each playoff series. I split them into two parlay picks because, at least where I check odds, there would be a maximum of five teams in a parlay. The other reason I used parlay picks is that the extreme odds in most series make it too difficult to get value in picking individual series. Except for the Trailblazers and to some degree the Thunder, the odds on the other teams I think will win in the opening round of the playoffs would force me to risk ridiculous amounts of points to win a worthwhile amount. Here are my picks: NBA Championship Pick: Spurs +700 for 20 points to win 140 NBA Playoff Series Parlay Pick: Bulls -3500, Magic -600, Celtics -400, Spurs -400, Lakers -2200, for 50 points to win 48.01 NBA Playoff Series Parlay Pick no. 2: Heat -2000, Trailblazers +180, Thunder -220, for 10 p

This Friday brings a little more than usual at the Ink – a NBA playoff preview and the Rapid Fire Week-in-Review rolled into one post. For better or worse, here it is: • After a very encouraging season by the Sixers, it is extremely disappointing to see them limp into the playoffs at 1-5 in their last six games to finish as a .500 team. The fact that they couldn’t secure a winning record with just one more win in that stretch makes me question their heart. I even heard Doug Collins, who is still the Coach of the Year in my mind, say on Mike & Mike that the team would learn more about themselves “in the next two weeks, or however long” they last in the playoffs than they have all season. If that doesn’t sound like they have already accepted defeat against the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, people just aren’t paying attention. I get that Lou Williams was hurt for the last several games, and Andre Iguodala was dealing with knee tendinitis. But right now, they loo

It was short but sweet for picks this week. With the NBA playoff positioning all but settled, I ended up leaving hoops alone. It’s just too hard to figure out who might play hard and who might not in the last week of the season. The playoffs start Saturday, and they will be the primary focus for a while. Not much caught my attention in baseball, either. But I still managed a 3-1 week for +13.04 points. It was actually my best point total in four weeks. The Boston Red Sox lead the way, making picks on the series with the Yankees and the opening game of the series winners. Here’s all of the picks for the week: Thursday MLB Pick: Phillies w/ Halladay -1.5 over Mets w/ Niese +5.25 points Friday MLB Pick: RedSox w/ Lackey -135 over Yankees w/ Hughes +3.70 points Friday through Sunday MLB Series Pick: RedSox -110 over Yankees +9.09 points Tuesday MLB Pick: Phillies w/ Blanton -1.5 over Washington w/ Hernandez -5 points Follow me on Twitter to get my picks during the week.

Reviewing my picks against the spread on games has become a weekly post on the blog, so I thought an introduction – or re-introduction – to my picks made some sense. I’ve introduced elements of what I do as they come up, but I don’t think I have ever explained everything about my picks in one spot. Besides, I like to think that at least the presentation of the picks has evolved for the better as something more entertaining and hopefully useful for the reader since I started making picks on the blog. Plus, this will be my first year of making regular baseball picks. With the MLB season just getting revved up and the NBA playoffs about to start, this week seemed like as good a time as any to explain some things about my picks. First of all, my picks are for entertainment purposes only. To be completely honest, I started making picks because doing so made for an easy post on Fridays during football season. Hearing everyone with a sports talk show offer picks on fall and early winter Fri

I have something a little different for the weekly Hump Day Distractions post. I went to Doylestown on Sunday to see an exhibit of photographs of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali at the Michener Art Museum. My dad was a fan of both, so I wanted to check it out. I’m far from a lover of the arts, but the exhibit was definitely worth the trip. The article I read about it mentioned a time the two icons had spent together when Ali was training in the mountains in Pennsylvania. The only disappointment was that the exhibit really had nothing to do with that. There was one plague, I think, that mentioned it. They actually went to a club, and Elvis ran up on stage, did a couple songs, and bolted. It’s unimaginable these days, of course, that two stars of the magnitude of Presley and Ali could go anywhere in their prime without a single picture capturing the moment. In a way, it might make the story even better. I can’t say the exhibit is a “must see,” but it made for a nice day. Learn more at

A while back I made “Golf is not a sport” a label for posts on the Ink that mention golf as a mild protest against the game I just can’t stand. It was meant as a little jab at the people who talk breathlessly about the game as if it is something to be revered. I had been considering writing a post explaining my disgust for golf, but felt it was more important to try to stay topical and write about actual sports that people care about for something other than the lifestyle suggested by playing it. Then the folks at Augusta struck, and made the subject topical. It wasn’t easy to find, because let’s face it the broadcast partners of the Masters and PGA don’t want to upset any of the good ol’ boys who run the sport, but it was possible on Monday to learn that a female reporter was denied access to a post-tournament interview because it was held in a men’s locker room. Tara Sullivan of The Bergen Record in New Jersey later tweeted , “Bad enough no women members at Augusta. But not al

Perhaps Cole Hamels’ place among the “Four Aces” was revoked (by some) a bit too soon. Hamels lead the Phillies to their third consecutive series victory to open the season on Sunday, with 7 innings of shutout pitching against the Atlanta Braves. He gave up just 4 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 8 batters. Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras completed the shutout. The pitching didn’t get much run support, as the Phils took the game 3-0. That was in stark contrast to what Roy Oswalt received the previous game, when the Phillies bats came alive late to score 10 runs. Oswalt pitched well, going 6 innings and giving up Atlanta’s only earned run of the game. Shane Victorino led the offensive barrage with 4 hits and an RBI. The catcher’s spot in the lineup accounted for two home runs, as Carlos Ruiz put the game away with a pinch hit grand slam. Brian Schneider homered earlier in the game. The Phils needed both victories to take the series after the Braves rocked Cliff Lee for 6 runs in

I’ll jump right into the Week-in-Review: • The Phils are out of the gate 5-1, yet fans managed to make booing part of the story. Morons. I understand Cole Hamels got rocked in his first start, and to top it off the Mets were the ones smacking him around. But the idiotic “this is Philly and we boo” mentality is old and tired. All it really does is feed the national perception that Philly fans are dopes. Besides, it was the fourth game of the season expected by many to end in the World Series. Why is anyone booing? • The above question was actually meant to be rhetorical. The only thing worse than the booing were the explanations for it that flooded sports talk radio. Mike Missanelli’s explanation of the various types of boos was almost comical. Tuesday night was apparently the tough love type boo. Give me a break. First of all, people were there on a cold night, most of them who booed probably had a few beers in them, and they were ticked that they were seeing a bad loss. They weren

With the NCAA Tournament completed, it’s time to focus on baseball and NBA odds at various sites. I actually had a rather non-descript week with my picks, going 4-3 for +7.08 points. But it was actually very disappointing on a personal level. I was shocked to learn last weekend that I was still in the running to finish in the money in the two Tournament pools I had entered, and still had a chance to win one. I’m not bragging; I thought I was DOA a few times. In both situations, I needed Kentucky to win on Saturday night in the Final Four. Unfortunately, it was all or nothing – I couldn’t finish in the money at all if they lost. As everybody knows, Kentucky didn’t bother to show up in the first half and couldn’t quite recover. Even worse, a few years ago I figured out exactly where I was with respect to every “point” I had ever put into a pool, fantasy league, etc., since college. I even “guestimated” some of it, laying out the worst case scenario. If Kentucky had won, coupled with

After watching Cole Hamels get thumped by the Mets last night, Phils fans might enjoy this clip of Chris Rock ripping the Mets. The comedian recently appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Last night’s NCAA Tournament Championship Game was simply the worst title game I ever saw in my life. People don’t like it when I write about how the Cinderellas of the tournament need to go home by the end of the first weekend of the tournament, or at the very least by the Elite 8, but Monday night offered up the best example I could ever dream up to make my point. It was the type of game that is to be expected when subpar teams end up playing for a championship. Connecticut eventually pulled away from Butler to win the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, 53-41. Or, more accurately, they won the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. UConn got incredibly hot (in terms of winning games) starting with the Big East Tournament, and never lost in two single elimination tournaments. They deserve credit for that, and very little else. Butler finally played like a mid-major team, and made absolute fools of the so-called experts lauding their appearance in a second straight Final. A

So, like I said in my post on Friday, the Phillies are going to hit the cover off the ball and run through this season without a problem. Not quite. The National League better hope that the Houston Astros just aren’t very good this season after what the Phillies did to them in sweeping the opening series, 3-0. Obviously, making too much of any three games in a season is a mistake. The Astros probably are not very good, and they actually had to scratch their third starter – J.A. Happ – on Sunday. But the numbers were eye popping: • Ryan Howard is 7 for 13 with a home run. (Do you think maybe he’s a little tired of seeing the replay of him ending last season with the bat on his shoulder?) • Jimmy Rollins is 6 for 12 with 2 walks already. • Ben Francisco went 6 for 13 with a home run. • Placido Polanco hit 5 for 12 with 2 doubles. • Wilson Valdez even went 4 for 11 with a double. And, oh, by the way, John Mayberry chipped in with a game-winning hit to cap off the Opening Day

I woke up to snow falling outside of my window. Ahh, Opening Day. Here’s my very Rapid Fire Week-in-Review as I wait for the first pitch: • Injuries seemed like the only thing that would derail a Phillies’ World Series run, but nobody thought they would already have the upper hand on opening day. My preview of the Phillies season is very simple: If they don’t get a healthy Chase Utley back, they will struggle to win the division. I just have a feeling this could be Atlanta’s year. They can pitch very well, and may actually hit better than the Phillies. They can’t match the Phillies starting rotation, but I don’t think they’re far enough behind the Phillies talent for it to matter. Plus, the Phillies already have bullpen issues. That said, I’m actually comfortable for now with Jose Contreres as the closer with Brad Lidge out possibly for half the season. I like what Charlie Manuel is doing today, moving Jimmy Rollins down in the lineup. Obviously, the Four Aces should keep them in t