Banner and Reid on Dawkins

Eagles Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie: “Brian Dawkins has been one of the pillars of this franchise for 13 years. He helped lead us to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. Brian embodies everything you look for in a professional athlete and human being. I have been fortunate to witness his impeccable character, his passion for the game of football and his commitment to being the best player he could be. I look forward to continuing a close relationship with him once his playing days are over. His legacy as an Eagle will last forever and will ultimately land him in Canton as a Hall of Famer.”

Eagles head coach Andy Reid: “Brian is one of the best players in franchise history and one of the most popular players to ever play in the city of Philadelphia. The Eagles organization, as well as the entire fan base, will miss him not only as a player but as a tremendous person. This is the toughest part of my job, no question. He gave this city 13 years of emotional, energetic football. We wish Brian and his family nothing but the best as he continues his career in Denver.”

Dawkins deal is done

sigh... On another note, D-Gunn, Andy Schwartz and CSNPhilly.com ran circles on everyone else on the Dawkins story. Like Globetrotter style.

Just walk away

The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a very big position for the history of Major League Baseball. Not to belittle a truly historical moment, but Frank and Jamie McCourt, the owners of the Dodgers, could become of the Rosa Parks of baseball ownership. They can strike a blow against greed and ridiculousness by simply walking away.

All they have to do is say, “No.”

How difficult is that?

If only they could quit Manny.

See, the McCourts and their general manager Ned Colletti made a brand-new offer to outfielder/savant Manny Ramirez late this week to sweeten a one-year, $25 million deal. This time the Manny and agent Scott Boras were offered a two-year contract worth $45 million. Not only that, but there were plenty of sweeteners in it, as if $45 million during the worst economy the U.S. has faced in 80 years isn’t sweet enough.

Nevertheless, the McCourts offered Manny a deal that not only would make him the second-highest paid player in history, but gave him a chance to opt out after the first season. Moreover, of Manny were to get hurt and not able to play, the $45 million is guaranteed. In other words, he could foul a pitch off his big toe in the very first game of the ’09 season and walk away with all the loot.

Yes, it’s a pretty sweet deal. It’s especially sweet when one considers that Manny already has been paid nearly $163 million during his big-league career. Not bad work if you can find it.

Continue reading this story...

First Adam Eaton and now this...

Imagine Schmidty on 'roids

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enGnm9NsxD0&hl=en&fs=1]

'Do you have to use so many cuss words...'

Just got word that the great Bob Ford won a big columnist award from The Associated Press Sports Editors association (or whatever they're called). It's for greatest sports columnist ever, which is well deserved and long overdue. I guess it's kind of like winning best actor at the Oscars, so kudos to Bob. Kudos. On another note, had a nice little chat with Gonz the other day and we both came to the conclusion that Bob Ford is our "hero." And by hero we mean someone we aspire to be like if this media business we have chosen to work in continues to exist.

But for those who don't know or haven't had the pleasure to meet Bob, he definitely has a Marlboro Man vibe to him... better yet, he's almost exactly like Sam Elliott as The Stranger in The Big Lebowski... sans 'stache.

So in tribute to the much-deserved recognition we say to Bob, "I like yer style, Dude."

In the meantime, go check the archive of Bob's columns and his blog.

On another note, we're swamped working on another project today, but will come back with a full slate of material for both Finger Food and Center City on Friday. Among the topics we'll dive into are Donovan McNabb, NFL free agency, steroids in baseball/football, Charles Barkley and Manny Ramirez.

So come on back, I'll have a few stories to unfold.

Phillies and Mets trade places

A friend from New York City called the other day with an intriguing question. Now before I get into the actual question, it’s worth mentioning that the friend has spent the past two decades working in the sports media, including the past three covering the New York Mets.

Yes, those New York Mets.

So for the past three years this friend of mine watched from the inside as the Mets choked in a seven-game series to the Cardinals in the NLCS, choked during September with a 6½ game lead and less than three weeks to go in ’07, before pulling the trifecta in ’08 by choking a 3½ game lead during late September.

Needless to say, my friend has seen that the Heimlich doesn’t always work on a baseball team. No, these have not been happy times for the Mets, especially considering which team went on to win the World Series last October.

Those elements make the question so much more interesting.

“Tell me,” he said. “Are Phillies’ fans as obsessed with the Mets as the Mets’ fans are with the Phillies?”

Continue reading this story...

Comeback kids

Hey, whatever happened to pepper? Why aren’t the Phillies down in Clearwater honing their reflexes and fancy glove work with a little pepper? Sounds like a big story for some newshound of a reporter. As regular readers of this little dog-and-pony show know, we love the bike racing here. Just love it. Actually, it’s all of the endurance sports – the tougher, the better. As such, if I worked for Versus I’d send me to France this summer to help with the coverage of Le Tour… hell, won’t cost them nothing. I’m already on the payroll.

Be that as it is, we watched last week’s Tour of California with great interest. Many reasons for this were obvious – most of the best riders in the world were there, it’s California and a punishing event, etc., etc.

But the biggest reason, of course, was the return of both Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis to the racing scene. Depending on how one looks at things, the final results were mixed. Lance played a pretty good supporting role for Astana teammate and race champ, Levi Leipheimer and finished sixth overall. Lance rode well, though not spectacularly. He may have been the third best rider for Astana (behind Leipheimer and Chris Horner), and maybe the fourth-best on the team right now.

Of course it’s still early and the big test – Le Tour de France – is five months away. That doesn’t change the fact that Astana, the best team in the world, has some figuring out to do. Is Leipheimer or 2007 Tour de France champ Alberto Contador the leader of the team? And if so, where does that leave Lance? Certainly he didn’t come out of retirement to be a domestique.

Regardless, where Lance really distinguished himself in the Tour of California (the most-viewed spectator event in state history… over 2 million people witnessed various stages of the race that started in Sacramento and finished near San Diego), was with a certain spectator.

Actually, the spectator was dressed in a bumble-bee type costume… with horns on his head… and a trident with syringes attached… oh yeah, and a cape – the dude was wearing a cape.

Nevertheless, when the guy got a little too close and a little too annoying, Lance gave the bumble-bee man with a needle a shove that sent him sprawling into the snow. Then he just rode off, since, you know, it was a race.

Take a look (photos from Drunk Cyclist):

Meanwhile, Lancaster County native Floyd Landis had an up-and-down Tour of California. In his first race since that now infamous 2006 Tour de France, Floyd finished 23rd. He struggled early, partially because of a fall during training on his surgically-repaired hip, caught a cold, got tangled up in a mid-race crash, yet hung in. By the end, Floyd finished strong and rode strong and tough during the race’s final stage.

Hell, by the end of the race the once loquacious-turned-silent Landis was even talking to the press again. Albeit it briefly and after a feature appeared in The New York Times.

Floyd also appeared on the cover of glossy/fancy cycling mag, Road, though the only cool part about the featured interview was the photos. The interview itself was pretty unrevealing and pedantic, but the pictures were cool.

All set

Dear Reader,OK, here's the deal -- "Finger Food" is now a blog on CSNPhilly.com. Yep, that's right. Just click on the "Blogs" tab on the main page and it will take you to a specially designed page.

Or, just go to this URL to cut out the middle man. However, in the near future typing in johnfinger.com will automatically guide you to a new page. You will have to do nothing -- hell, keep the same bookmarks. Nothing is going to change aside from who gets to count the number of visits.

Bottom line, folks, bottom line. All about them digits.

Meanwhile, Finger Food is the blog and "Center City" is the column. OK, the title column is a little too old-fashioned for my tastes, so let's just call them essays. I'll be an essayist in the same way in which some dudes are "humorists." Then again, a humorist is someone they only think is funny on NPR.

So just scratch that whole last paragraph except for the part about Finger Food being the blog and Center City is the column (or whatever). Just look for three-to-five Center City things per week.

There it is. All cleared up. We'll dive into it this week so be ready.

Love, jrf

Carl Lewis is still running

Even now, with his 48^th birthday quickly approaching, Carl Lewis looks like he could go 9.9 in the 100. Heck, on a good day with a nice tailwind and a fast track, Lewis looked as though he might even be able to pull off a 27-footer in the long jump.

No, he didn't get those nine gold medals and one silver in four different Olympics by accident. Nor was it a mistake when Sports Illustrated named Lewis the greatest U.S. Olympian of the 20^th Century.

Clean living Chalk that up to clean living (Lewis is a vegan and a fitness devotee even though he retired from professional sports after the 1996 Olympics), which is a concept that doesn't seem to jibe with modern pro sports based on the latest headlines.

Then again, Lewis is all-too familiar with the seamy side of athletics. Actually, he had a front-row seat for a few of sports' all-time dirtiest moments. Of course none were more notorious than the September day in Seoul, Korea where Lewis ran a time good enough for a new world record in the Olympic finals of 100-meters only to watch as Canadian Ben Johnson ran away from him like he was stuck in the mud.

Three days later Johnson was disqualified when his drug test was tainted with the steroid Winstrol. Coincidentally, Winstrol is the same steroid baseball player Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for in 2005 and is also reported to have been used by Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens during their careers.

So yes, Lewis knows a thing or two about drugs in sports, and, he thinks he has some idea about when an athlete might be using it.

"The reality is that most people are clean," Lewis, the Willingboro, N.J. native, said following his appearance on Daily News Live. "When you have two out of 100 that's two percent, but if those two are in the finals, suddenly that's a very high percentage. And if two win medals, that's two out of three. That's [67] percent. Just so quickly it, goes up."

Continue reading the rest of this story...

There will be blood (and Mickey Rourke)

Needless to say, there are many things I just don't get. The list is vast. Long enough even to fill all the space available on this server. But before we dive into the mysteries of chemistry, calculus and why hockey fans bother to care why the rest of the sporting public doesn't care much for their sport[1], I hope there is someone who can explain the allure of the television broadcast of the Academy Awards.

I get the Academy Awards as much as my wife understands the appeal of a 162-game Major League Baseball season, the three weeks of the Tour de France or why I sit on the edge of my seat to watch people run for 26.2 miles. No, it's not insanity or some sort of self-mutilation. Far from it. Instead it's an appreciation of nuance and ... wait, no, it's insanity.

So tonight I will join in some good, old-fashioned insanity and watch the Super Bowl of glamour (nice sports metaphor, huh?), debauchery and depravity with my old lady (it's a term) and tune into the Academy Awards. I will also comment on the fashion choices of the stars in attendance without irony. The fact that the accessories worn by Angelina Jolie will likely cost more than my house isn't the issue. Instead, I will just act like the Academy Awards are oh so important and are rightly celebrated at a level higher than the Nobel Peace Prize.

So as America spirals into the cultural and economic abyss, we might as well handicap it. Might as well check into that whole live Twittering thing, too. Might be going to hell in a bucket, babe, but at least I'm enjoying the ride.

Here goes, and yes, I know there is no way to judge art or acting unless all of the actors play the same part. I also know that the Academy Awards are inherently a big pile of BS.

Supporting actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button OK, I hated this movie. Actually, that's not right... I hate racism and inequality. I just disliked The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a whole bunch. Nevertheless, I couldn't wait for Ms. Henson to get back on the screen. More importantly, Ms. Henson shares the same birthday as Ted Leo (same date and year according to wikipedia), was born in The District (holla!) and kicked ass in Hustle & Flow. She can act the way you can rack up out-of-control credit debt.

Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Night Duh. He definitely stole the show in this one. Plus, there's that whole death thing... maybe not the best career move, but it definitely earns points with the Academy.

Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader I missed this one, but I read that Kate Winslet said this picture is the last one in which she appears nude. End of an era?

Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler Daniel Day-Lewis could be on the screen speaking Arabic and I would rave. There's just something about that guy... or maybe it's the fact that he skipped out on becoming the biggest movie star ever and disappeared for years because he was learning how to be a shoe cobbler. Hey, people need shoes.

But Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler was almost to Daniel Day-Lewis levels. He was sublime and brutal much like DeNiro in Raging Bull. Just awesome and easily the best performance of the year. More importantly, Mr. Rourke could win and then make a speech that will put the dude with the dump-out button to work.

On another note, my wife says Sean Penn is far superior as Harvey Milk... yeah, probably. But c'mon, a 'roided up Mickey Rourke rasslin'... She also says Meryl Streep gave easily the best performance of anyone this year, but that's a given. She's like the Harlem Globetrotters to everyone's Washington Generals.

Director: The guy who made Slumdog Millionaire Missed this one. It was showing the day I took the kids to see WALL-E, or Bolt, or Kung-fu Panda or something like that.

Best picture: Slumdog Millionaire Whatever. I'm not going to pay money to watch kids get hurt and people suffer. I already know life is difficult and I don't need to get "perspective" from a movie. I can read the news or look at pictures of Dick Cheney if I want to know the world can be a horrible place.

Speaking of the Academy Awards, inevitably the hosts and presenters will always tell us, the viewer, how many people are watching worldwide? How do they know? And if they know how many people are watching the Academy Awards worldwide, don't they also know how many people turned on the TV and fell asleep? Or how many people turned it on but left the room to take a phone call or something?

I really don't think they know what they're talking about.

---

[1] This is incredibly baffling. Tell a hockey fan you really aren't hip to their sport and get ready for the dissertation, and, worse, an invitation to a game. Seriously, these people (yes, I wrote these people) just don't understand why everyone doesn't see what they see. Yet, they still have that, "Why can't we just be different like everyone else," attitude.

Yes, I generalize because I can.

Here's the thing. I'm a huge fan of track and field, long-distance running and professional bicycling. I just love it. It's a tough, grueling sport that just gets me all wound up just anticipating a big race or meet. But here's the thing... I don't want the mass populace to get it because that way I don't have to share my passion for some dumbed-down mass audience. So please, folks, let me have my geeky endurance sports with all my dork friends. Here's an idea: go watch some hockey. They really seem to want you to.

(Self) Promotion alert

Now this is an apology

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cPJz1VFcCw&hl=en&fs=1] Take note, A-Rod... let Sir Chuck show how it's done.

Jimmy can take one to the sternum

The reward for winning the World [bleeping] Series? Why it's the endorsements, of course. Check out Jimmy Rollins doing an ad (and taking a few for the team) for the sporting goods retailer, Dicks.

Take a look

The fear, of course, is that the exposure and the attention go to Jimmy and the Phillies' heads. But now that Pat Burrell is gone, guys like me don't have to worry about Jimmy rising from Pat's ashes...

Do we?

Anyway, Jimmy has some pretty sweet acting chops. If this baseball thing doesn't work out maybe he'll have something to fall back on?

Best week ever...

Apparently we are in the midst of last days of something called "Hockey Week" here in Philadelphia. According to the rumors, there was an official declaration with a proper certificate adorned with a big gold ribbon and that fancy calligraphy writing. Yep, they went all out at City Hall. After all, public officials don't go about making edicts and issuing ribbons all willy-nilly like. But after having had the chase to talk the mayor, the Honorable Michael Nutter, it's evident that the man has a wicked sense of humor. Oh yeah, it doesn't show, but Mayor Nutter gets jokes and has a tremendous laugh - you know, one of those laughs that makes the funny thing even funnier.

So, the idea that the mayor decreed that this was "Hockey Week," and not even in an Olympic year, to boot, is knee-slapping hilarious.

Mayor Nutter... what a hoot!

What also is funny about the concept of "Hockey Week" is that how quickly the attention went elsewhere. After all, it is almost the third full week of February and there is a chance that the Eagles could sign a taxi-squad punter. Sure, Sav Rocca seems to have the punting position nailed down, but what about in a couple of years?

But more than the Eagles, the looming minicamp, Sav Rocca, punting and punters, "Hockey Week" took a back seat to the fast-approaching NBA trading deadline, which potentially could reshape the look of the 76ers for the rest of the season and beyond. It's quite a decision GM Ed Stefanski has to make on Andre Miller. Definitely a pickle, indeed.

The biggest news hitting the ether regards the local baseball club and how the New York Mets have reacted to the WFC-ness of the WFC Phillies.

Apparently the Mets can't keep their mouths shut. Or, better yet, to use a hockey term, "yaps." Those Mets sure are yapping up a storm. During the past week we've heard from Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and newly acquired closer Francisco Rodriguez. The interesting part about the Mets' trash-talking has been the boringness of it. Almost as boring as getting all worked up for "Hockey Week."

Continue reading this story...

Cover boy, Part 2

Not quite the same deal as Cole Hamels on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but at least it's the superior magazine...

Cover boy

The Fabulous New Life of Cole Hamels (Sports Illustrated)

Taking our medicine

Your pop caught you smoking and he said, "No way!"That hypocrite smokes two packs a day

--  "Fight for your Right (to Party)," The Beastie Boys

So Alex Rodriguez is back in the news. But then again, that's pretty much how it's going to be for a long, long time. If Rodriguez flexes a muscle someone is going to be there with a camera phone and a Twitter account to get the "news" out there.

Life in the digital age... Sigh!

Nevertheless, Rodriguez worked out with the Yankees on Tuesday morning and then had the displeasure of sitting in front of a firing squad known as the U.S. sporting press. There, the star-crossed third baseman answered question after question (no follow-ups, please) regarding his ambiguous experimentation with performance-enhancing drugs obtained by a "cousin" in the Dominican Republic.

Yeah, it was a scene, man.

Though Rodriguez's story and answers had more holes than an old sweater, he sat there and took "his medicine," as he said without irony on Tuesday afternoon.

"It was really amateur hour. I mean, it was two guys," Rodriguez said. "We couldn't ask anyone. We didn't want to ask anyone."

But...

"I knew we weren't taking Tic Tacs."

Continue reading this story...

As A-Rod takes it, Bud beats the heat

So the story out of New York is that A-Roid called up Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts to apologize for his comments during his admission that he used "banned substances" from 2001-2003. Roberts, of course, broke the story that A-Roid had tested positive in 2003 for steroids and was subsequently called "lady" and "stalker" by the Yankees' third baseman.

Stay classy, A-Roid.

Certainly the Yanks' third baseman will hear a bunch of questions that he will dodge on Tuesday when he reports to camp in Tampa. Some of those will likely be a little less friendly than the ones he heard during the ESPN interview where he made his admission.

Speaking of ESPN and easy questions, the ESPN ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, wrote in her regular opus that Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons didn't quite duplicate "Frost/Nixon" in his interview with A-Roid.

Well... yeah. Think the Yankee wants to make things difficult for himself? Isn't that why he took steroids in the first place?

But the most interesting bit of info coming out of the sports scene was that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell agreed to take a 20-25 percent pay cut this year because he believes it is necessary considering the state of the U.S. economy. If the NFL is going to continue to thrive, Goodell indicates sacrifices need to be made.

Moreover, Goodell will subject himself to a pay freeze after the pay cut to further illustrate his point. Oh sure, the NFL commissioner will be eligible for a year-end bonus, which will likely be ample, but that's not the point. Instead, Goodell is the rare guy in sports who at least pays some semblance of lip service to the idea of sacrifice in dire times.

At the very least, Goodell's decision paints him in a much different light than his counterpart in Major League Baseball. According to the Sports Business Journal, Goodell's soon-to-be shrinking $11 million salary is the second-most among the commissioners in major U.S.-based pro sports. MLB's Bud Selig is far and away the highest paid commissioner, taking home an $18.35 million yearly income. Continue reading this story...

The return of Lance and Landis

Yet another busy weekend around here with the official opening of spring training, coupled with a pair of Flyers' games, the NBA All-Star weekend as well as the typical rumbling and grumblings on the Philly sports scene. Surely, the Phillies and the beginning of their title defense in Clearwater, Fla. is the biggest bit of news in these parts, but that doesn't mean the world stops just for us.

Oh no. Not at all.

While the greatest basketball players on the planet have all converged in Phoenix, Ariz. for two days of parties and exhibitions, a little farther north a consortium of the greats in another sport will take over the great state of California for the next week.

And when we say the best in the sport, we mean many of the best over the past decade.

Yes, it's the Tour of California, the biggest bike race in the United States which began with a prologue stage in Sacramento on Saturday and will end in Escondido, a town just north of San Diego, on Sunday. Along the way, spectators lining the course will see the best field ever assembled for a bike race in the U.S.

The best?

Absolutely. Look, the greatest-of-all-time hook is one that is thrown out far too much these days. As sports fans and Americans, we're prone to hyperbole. However, it's difficult to argue with the riders saddling it up this week in California. The only way it could get any better is if Miguel Indurain or the man himself, Eddy Merckx decided to make comebacks.

The talent includes three different Tour de France champs, 16 different Tour de France stage winners, 11 world champions, eight Olympic medalists, and every American champ going back to 2003 as well as every winner in the first three years of the event.

Star-studded to be sure. But frankly, the Tour of California is the first real test for a couple of riders making their returns to the sport. Yes, Carlos Sastre, the defending Tour de France champ is in the race. So too is 2008 Olympic gold medalist Fabian Cancellara, along with a veritable who's who of cycling.

But the riders drawing the most attention in the Tour of California are a couple of guys who haven't raced a full season since 2006, and that year didn't really end too well.

Yes, Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are back.

Continue reading this story...