After yesterday's performance against the Bengals the next train out of Philly may have the greatest Eagles QB of all-time sitting in first class. The man who almost single-handedly made winning an expected event for this franchise over a good part of the past decade, is being railroaded out of town by exasperated fans.

Unfortunately for McNabb, Andy Reid wasted his prime years (sound familiar Randall Cunningham?) by surrounding him with mediocre talent, having no desire to run the ball, and possessing some of the worst gameday instincts in football. And with the chants for Kevin Kolb beginning to pick up steam in the upper reaches of the Linc, change is in the air. Whether Reid bows to the call for the bullpen this season or not, the chances of keeping the Houston product on the bench another year seems more remote with each disappointing week. It may be Reid's saving grace as well. Giving the embattled coach an excuse to stick around one more season.

So alas, McNabb will most likely be suiting up for another team in 2009. But who? What teams out there will be in the market for an aging, yet arguably top 10 QB talent? Lets take a look:

1. Minnesota

Brad Childress has already abandoned the Tarvaris Jackson experiment for journeyman loser Gus Frerotte 20 games into Jackson's career (and a 68.6 passer rating). Jackson has all the physical talent in the world, just not the head for the NFL game. McNabb knows Childress' offense, and would have an actual, real-life running game to lean on in Minnesota. This seems like a slam dunk possibility.

2. San Francisco

First it was JT O'Sullivan. Now it's Shaun Hill. Certainly not Montana and Young. Whoever is head coach next season in San Fran will need a guy at QB to help restore some semblance of respectibility to the franchise. McNabb gives them that. Frank Gore gives McNabb the run game he needs to succeed, or at least not have to win games himself. And playing in the NFC West certainly doesn't hurt either. McNabb could make the Niners playoff contenders pretty quick.

3. Seattle

With Matt Hasselbeck's career taking a turn for the worse this season due to back trouble, and a new coach (Jim Mora reportedly) replacing Mike Holmgren in 2009, Seattle may want some veteran insurance. McNabb knows the West Coast offense they run, and is an instant upgrade to Seneca Wallace. It's a long shot, but having a high-priced, top notch back up sure would have helped a couple of teams this season ( Brad Johnson anyone?).

4. Chicago

Yes, Kyle Orton has played well this season. But is he really going to be anything but a game manager for the Bears? McNabb is a native Chicagoan, and has been on the Bears fans' wish list for a long time. 2009 could be his year to finally suit up for the hometown team.

Well, after last week's debacle of an ending, how could a game against a 1-8 Bengals team, featuring Ryan Fitzpatrick, be any worse?

Well the increasingly clueless Andy Reid managed to outdo himself today by calling one of the most ridiculous games I've ever witnessed. In an almost amateurish game plan filled with reverses, WR pass attempts, and flea flickers, and extremely light on any sort of attempt to establish a running game against a less-than stout Cincinnati defense, Reid and his equally-imcompetent chronie Marty Mornhinweg have now completely nixed the Eagles' chances of making the playoffs.

Reid's absolute fear of trying to run the ball on the third-and-one on multiple occasions early in the game set the tone for an abysmal day on offense - a day when Donovan McNabb never looked worse, but still managed to get 58 pass plays called. Are Reid and Mornhinweg really convinced they know what they're doing? Do they really know who their players are and who their coaches are?

The only good thing that can come out of this game is the slight chance that the apparently oblivious owner of this franchise finally woke up at the end of the OT period and said "We f%$#@#n tied the Bengals?!" and began to come to terms with eating the remaining years of Reid's contract.

They say tying is like kissing your sister, but watching this sad spectacle play out to its less-than-satisfying conclusion was more akin to having your sister kick you in the chuckles repeatedly.

It's too late, and I'm too fuckin' angry to write about how the Eagles can't stop the run, Brian Dawkins can't cover me, and Tank Daniels has already made 2 ridiculous plays on special teams too many to continue justifying his spot on the roster.

The fact I won't sleep tonight thanks to the rage welling inside of me right now is going to prevent me from exposing on how baffled I am by the Eagles' inability to run block, how the Eagles continue to win the turnover battle (much improved from last season), and how great Donovan McNabb's protection was all night.

But the thing my fury over the Eagles' 36-31 loss to the Giants will prevent me from writing about is just how terrible Andy Reid's end-game play calling is. How running Brian Westbrook on 2 consecutive plays, against a defense that hasn't given the Birds the light of day to run against the entire game, may have just cost the Eagles a postseason berth.

As I sign off here so I can return to punching some pillows in the living room, let me just say the Birds battled hard tonight but were undermined, once again, by an inept, too-smart-for-his-own good play caller who could sadly learn a thing or two from freakin' Kevin Gilbride.

Mother F%^@$#%&!!!!

In a swap of recently acquired, and disappointing defensemen, the Flyers acquired Matt Carle and a draft pick from the Lightning for Steve Eminger, Steve Downie and a pick.

The 24-year old Carle is another swift, puck-moving blue liner the Flyers can't seem to get enough of lately. After a 42 point season in 2006-07 landed him on the all-rookie team, Carle slipped to only 15 last year. The Sharks dealt him to Tampa in the offseason as part of the Dan Boyle trade. At the University of Denver, he became the first junior defenseman to win the Hobey Baker Award and seemed to be on a path to stardom. However, the Hobey seems to be a NHL jinx the way the Heisman is in the NFL. Granted, guys such as Paul Kariya, Ryan Miller and Chris Drury have won the trophy, but how about Peter Sejna, Brian Bonin and Chris Marinucci? Hobey winners who are not exactly household names.

Barry Melrose and the Lightning gave up Boyle to get him and now unload the kid after only 12 gamesa€¦.seems very strange.

Eminger was a curious acquisition by the Flyers from the start. Paul Holmgren dealt for him from Washington for a first round pick after Eminger didn't even dress in two of the seven playoff games against Philadelphia last season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Caps aren't exactly loaded on defense, and he couldn't even crack the lineup everyday?

Quick, name three other defenseman on that Caps team from last yeara€¦..exactly, can't do it.

Eminger may have sealed his fate after he tripped over himself twice on Thursday in Ottawa, leading to two ridiculous scoring chances for the Sens. What's more amazing? The fact Homer traded a first rounder for this guy or that he got some value in return for him?

Downie is the most interesting part of this trade to me. He seemed like the perfect Flyer. Tough and talented with a mean streak. A notorious pest in Juniors for three different teams in the OHL, Downie also put up solid offensive numbers and seemed to be a modern day Ken Linseman in waiting. It turned out that the only things Flyers fans will remember is the hit on Dean McAmmond that drew a 20-game suspension, and the sucker punch on Jason Blake of the Maple Leafs (I'm trying to forget all his penalties and turnovers in the playoffs). Good thing the Phantoms are only across the parking lot because it seemed he was shuttled back and forth between the AHL and the big club almost every other day. Was he a winger or a center? A grinder or a goal scorer? Nobody seemed to know. For his sake, hopefully somebody figures that out for him in Tampa.

The great thing about the Flyers is that they never wait around if things aren't working. The defense has been brutal and Eminger and Downie didn't seem to fit. Holmgren feels his new acquisition can become a top-four defenseman, something Eminger clearly was not. Can Carle cash in on the tremendous potential he seems to possess? At first, this trade didn't mean much to me but now I'm excited to watch him on a nightly basis. Will he join Pat Falloon and Alexander Daigle on the list of talented guys the Flyers took a chance on but never panned out? Or will he become another piece to the young core already in place?

It's going to be very interesting to find outa€¦

Editors Note: In his Flyers debut, Carle played almost 20 minutes at even strength, the most of anybody on the team. His 25:50 of total ice time was second to only Kimmo Timonen.

On Sunday night, riding a 3-game winning streak, the Eagles will attempt to put the NFL on notice that they are, once again, legit. That's exactly what beating a very good team, in this case the 7-1 Giants, will do.

The Giants have not suffered a Super Bowl hangover, looking dominant at times (Seattle,Dallas, St. Louis), [...]

I was a child of the 80's. I hated Ricky Schroder because he had that train in this living room and that awesome race car bed on Silver Spoons. I rode my Huffy Wrangler around Wyncote and Glenside. And I still actually cared about the 76ers.

I went to a lot of Sixers games back in the early 80's, and man was it great. The Spectrum was electric, and you felt like you were seeing something special every night. Erving, Cheeks, Dawkins, Malone, and Toney were all special players. No tattoos. No thug-life. No piped in hip-hop music trying to make you feel like the game was more exciting than it was. It was hard-nosed basketball, Dave Zinkoff, high socks, and most importantly, winning. The Sixers were a part of the Philadelphia fabric.

But happened? How did it all slip away? Was it a cultural shift? Did the street culture of basketball that began creeping into NBA arenas in the late 80's turn away the blue collar Sixers fan? Was it those horrific starred unis the introduced in 1991? Or was it just all the losing they did for almost a decade between Barkley and Iverson? Probably a nice mixture of all three.

The Sixers never had the hard core fan base the Flyers enjoy, and who show up regardless of how putrid the product is on the ice. From their inception, the Flyers had been woven into the city's DNA with their guts and knuckles style of play. And regardless of how the team was doing fans could relate to guys like Kevin Dineen, Rick Tocchet, and Mike Ricci. Not to guys like Shawn Bradley, Sharone Wright, and Andrew Lang.

For one improbable season, AI and a bunch of role players got the city to recognize that pro basketball still existed in this town. They played hard, and the city ate it up. But even that was a mirage. The true fan base was still minimal, and the bandwagoneers that crept into the First Union Center that season would soon slither back out.

The Sixers ticket salesmen don't market the Sixers themselves to fans, they market players on other teams. Come see Kobe, LeBron, Howard, and Duncan!. This is the one of the fundamental differences between the NBA and NHL, and maybe a reason Philly doesn't embrace this team. The difference between the NBA and NHL is that basketball markets players and not teams. Hockey is the opposite way. For sports fans I think the NHL way is better, for casual fans, the NBA way seems to work. A couple of years ago Paul Holmgren said Flyers fans don't come to the Wachovia Center to see the other team. They always come to see THEIR Flyers, regardless of who they are playing.That's why on a Tuesday night the Flyers will sell out a game against the Phoenix Coyotes, while on the same night a Sixers-Thunder game will draw 6,000.

I guess this just isn't a pro basketball town. And it's not because Philadelphians don't like the sport. College basketball is still alive and well. You'd be hard pressed to find a Sixers game that can out draw a Villanova-Georgetown game.

It's sad really. The Sixers were once a point of pride in the city - every game an event. These days spectators (can you really refer to them as fans anymore?) treat the Sixers like the Washington Generals. They're just the team that happens to be playing Allen Iverson that night.

The news that the Flyers are speaking with 39-year old free agent winger Brendan Shanahan was not surprising. Shanahan is a sure fire Hall of Famer with 650 goals to his credit, including 23 last year with the Rangers. The Orange and Black are off to a slow start and have never been an organization that sits around when things aren't going well. Changes were bound to happen. However, it is surprising that the big news didn't involve a defenseman.

Through Monday, the Flyers had scored 43 goals this season. Only Detroit has scored more, with 44. The problem is that the Flyers have allowed 41 goals a€" second worst to Atlanta's 46 in the East.

After Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Oilers, Paul Holmgren told CSNPhilly.com that he was "tired of looking at their asses as guys come back up ice on us. I'm not happy with the play of our forwards. They are not helping our defense. Our forwards are cheating on the defensive side of the game. This was something that we didn't do late last season."

It's always easy to blame the goalies and defensemen when goals are scored against you. In this era of the NHL, defense is more of a team effort than ever before. If the forwards are not helping out and slowing the opposition through the neutral zone, you have no chance. Granted, the D is inexperienced and has four new faces back there, and the goaltending has been spotty at best. To hear Homer criticize the forwards though was somewhat of a surprise, even if he was correct.

The Flyers are $700,000 under the salary cap, so signing Shanny would almost certainly shake up the current roster. Would he be a welcome addition to a team 10 points behind the first place Rangers (I hate writing that) in the Atlantic Division? I think so. The Flyers don't look like a championship team right now. Any player with the resume of Shanahan - three Stanley Cups, eight-time All-Star and 20 years in the league - would command respect and accountability in the locker room. Will he be any help in keeping pucks out of the Flyers' net? I doubt it.

This situation certainly bears watching. Even if Holmgren does bring in Shanahan, more changes are likely to follow.

FROM FIREDFORWINNING.com - In memory of Mike Arbuckle's tenure as the Phillies draft guru from 1993 to 2008 (although Marti Wolever has sorta been in charge since 2002) here's a fun little Phils draft quiz. Try to do it without consulting the Intergoogle!

It certainly didn't start like Andy Reid planned it, but ultimately the Eagles' talent combined with Seattle's injury-depleted roster righted things as the Birds blew out Seattle 26-7.

In what can be looked at merely as a warm up fight before Sunday night's brawl against the Giants next week, it seemed like Reid was getting frequent flier miles by the amount of times he let things fly this afternoon. Donovan McNabb dropped back 43 times (44 if you count the time he got sacked) and passed for 349 yards and 2 touchdowns. A great showing even after McNabb's rocky start in which he went 3-11 with an interception.

The Eagles won't be able to afford a slow start next week, but they can certainly take away some positives from their win today. Here are some quick observations:

* Once again, the offensive line was stellar in pass protection. McNabb had loads of time to throw all game. The run blocking, however, had a lot to be desired. Westbrook had little room to run for much of the game.

* It was great to have Kevin Curtis back at near full strength. He really gives McNabb a great complement opposite DeSean Jackson. Lets hope that left wrist he kept grabbing isn't anything serious.

* What was Lito Sheppard doing on the Koren Robinson TD? I know Jim Johnson's defense is aggressive by nature, but I doubt the corners are expected to jump 3-yard stop routes. Couple that play with yet another groin injury, and you can hear Lito's next contract plummeting in value.

* Trent Cole's stats won't show it, but he really won his battle with LT Walter Jones. On 3 of the 4 sacks of Seneca Wallace, Cole was the catalyst.

* Darren Howard is really earning his money this season. The guy is just making plays.

* Is it me, or was it weird to see a TE catch a ball and actually run with it today? LJ Smith usually just catches the ball and drops down into the fetal position. Brent Celek showed some burst out there, and definitely didn't have you screaming "Hold onto the ball!!!".

* Despite his TD catch, my prediction 2 years ago that Reggie Brown was going to be a Marvin Harrison clone is looking very tenuous (understatement) right now. Maybe I should have toned that down a bit and said a Calvin Williams clone.

* Nick Cole got some PT at RG after Max Jean-Gilles needed a breather while he suffered through the flu. Props to Max, because I can barely eat a piece of toast when I have the flu, let alone block Brandon Mebane.

* I watched a lot of the Giants-Cowboys game as well, and wow, Eli and the boys in blue are GOOD.

Sorry Mr. Bon Jovi, but there's a new Champion in town.

The Fightin' Phils closed the lid on the feel-good Rays in Part Deux of Game 5 tonight, and in doing so exorcised the demons of the past 25 years in this Championship-starved town.

Thanks to a sudden ability to get timely hits with men in scoring position, an incredibly heads up defensive play by Chase Utley, and a rock steady back end of the bullpen (minus that insane shot Rocco Baldelli muscled out) the Phillies can call themselves World Champs for the next year.

You could just feel the love these guys have for each other. From Geoff Jenkins' incredible enthusiasm despite getting so little playing time, to Shane Victorino's constant dugout chatter, to the respect the players all heaped on their leader, Charlie Manuel, during postgame interviews. That made them an easy team to like and root for, despite the frustrations we all had with them during the ups and downs on the season.

No prima donnas. No one was above the team (see Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers), and they always played hard.

Did they always get the big hit, or make the big defensive play? No. But it was never for lack of trying. Superstars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard got just as dirty as grinders like Greg Dobbs and Carlos Ruiz.

Now alongside the names of Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa, Del Unser, Gary Maddox, and Tug McGraw, Philadelphia fans will hold Howard, Cole Hamels, Rollins, Dobbs, Victorino, and Brad Lidge (screw that Pujols thing once and for all) close to their hearts.

And hats off to Pat Gillick, Ruben Amaro Jr., Mike Arbuckle, and -gasp- Ed Wade, for slowly putting this crew together. Gillick is finally paying the Phillies back for for that 1993 Blue Jays team he crafted, and rides into the sunset knowing he did something in Philadelphia that only The Pope, Paul Owens, can hang their hats on.

It was great to see Pat Burrell get the big hit in the 7th inning after struggling so much until that point. The long-time Phil who, despite taking his fair share of abuse over the years, loves playing in Philadelphia, probably played his last game as a Phillie tonight. But if that indeed is true, The Bat went out a winner.

The heroics of Eric Bruntlett and Ruiz, both players who heard a boo or two during the season, will not soon be forgotten in City of Brotherly love. Bruntlett, best known for being Burrell's defensive replacement, scored the game winning run in 2 games. And Chooch absolutely taking control of the pitching staff, and getting big hits throughout the postseason.

How sweet it is for Springfield native Jamie Moyer, who JRoll referred to as the "50-year old" in his interview with Peter Gammons after the game. After 22 years in the majors the quintessential crafty left-hander wins his championship. You can just tell when Series MVP Hamels talks about Moyer, how respected the guy is.

Ultimately this team took on the personality of their manager. Manuel instilled a toughness and simple approach to the game that players truly took to heart. Veterans, rookies, stars, and scrubs all bought into what the big West Virginian was selling. Kudos to Uncle Charlie. You are now a legend in Philadelphia.

Whether or not the 2009 version of this team can repeat next season is another post for another day. Today, and probably the next year, is for celebrating the 2008 club. A team we Philadelphians can truly be proud of.

Party like it's 1980 Phialdelphia, we are World Champions again!

The Good

Kentucky Joe Blanton. The chunky kid from Kentucky (actually born in Tennessee) came up huge on the mound and at the plate, pitching 6 innings and only giving up 2 runs. Blanton kept the ball down and had the Rays flailing (7 strikeouts). Blanton also pitched in a HR in the 5th inning, the first HR by a pitcher in the World Series since Ken Holtzman did it for Oakland in 1974.

Howard to Left. And to Right. Ryan Howard seems to be out of his slump. First he finally takes a ball to left field on his 3-R homer in the 4th inning. Then in the 8th he takes lefty Trever Miller DEEP into right.

Ryan Madson sitting 'em down. Madson has emerged as Brad Lidge's Mariano Rivera. Madson entered the game with 2 men on in the 7th inning and mowed down BJ Upton. He then K'd the once-dangerous Carlos Pena and "Eva" Longoria. Four batter, 3 strikeouts. Not bad.

Two-out hit. How nice was it to see Pedro Feliz knock Chase Utley in with a two-out hit in the 2nd inning.

Too much else to list. This was the most complete game the Phils put together in the series. From JRoll getting on base to the hitting with RISP, the Phils had a lot of good things going last night.

The Bad

Tim Welke keeps it going. Thrid base ump Tim Welke continued the umpiring crews' ineptitude by blowing a call in the 1st inning on a tag of Rollins during a run down. But hey, it was the first call going our way so far, so I won't list it under Ugly.

The Ugly

Pat the Flat. Pat Burrell's terrible showing keeps on going as the slugger is now 0-12 for the series, with nary a hard hit ball to be had. He did have a bases loaded walk in the 1st inning, but even on that he came real close to swinging and missing.

You don't like to see a game decided by the officials, but if you have to, I'll take it in favor of the home town team.

The Eagles caught a break today as a bungling crew of officials blew a muffed punt call on Atlanta's Adam Jennings late in the 4th quarter with the Eagles holding onto a 6 point lead. Couple the ridiculous call with the the fact the Falcons had not timeouts left in which to challenge it and you have an Eagles win.

Not that the Eagles didn't deserve to win mind you, but they were going to have to do some defensive work if the refs had gotten that call right.

Anyway, in 2 weeks this will look like a convincing 27-14 win for the Birds, and you'll have forgotten all about my quick observations on the game:

* The offensive line did a very good job protecting Donovan McNabb after a bit of a shaky start. The Falcons aren't much of a pass rushing team outside of John Abraham, but the line really physically manhandled them for 3/4th of the game. Jon Runyan in particular took it to the Dirty Birds.

* Brian Westbrook is going to be scary again when he gets healthy.

* It was great to see Kevin Curtis back out there. He'll never be THE man out there, but he just knows how to get open.

* Is Tim Ryan the worst color analyst on TV? He added absolutely nothing to the broadcast, and was frequently making ridiculous and incorrect observations. How did he not think Lito Sheppard committed that pass interference penalty against Roddy White? Idiot.

* Matt Ryan is going to be good. For a rookie the guy just doesn't seem to panic.

* It'll interesting to here why it took Jim Johnson so long to start dialing up those blitzes.

* I'm still scratching my head on how Asante Samuel and Stewart Bradley missed that first TD pass to Roddy White.

* It's a shame LJ Smith got concussed when he did (OK, it'd be a shame whenever it happened). He was playing a solid game, especially blocking.

* Once DeSean Jackson cuts out that one bone-headed play a game (-13 yard punt return) he's going to be darn scary.

* Is Reggie Brown becoming the forgotten man?

* How impressive was Dan Klecko's catch and run (negated by penalty)? That chubby guy can motor.

* It was really nice to see McNabb running a bit. I guess that chest injury (Reid's excuse for previous bad play calling) is healed.

* I know this isn't Eagles-related but I'm sitting here watching the Phillies game and Chad Durbin should never see the light of day for the remaining games of the Series. Good lord, he's throwing batting practice.

The bye week for the Eagles couldn't have come at a better time. The extra 7 days rest gave the Eagles' walking wounded time to heal and the coaching staff more time to prepare for the surprising Atlanta Falcons and their rookie QB Matt Ryan.

Ryan, an Exton native and Penn Charter graduate, has helped rookie head coach Mike Smith lead the once downtrodden Falcons to a 4-2 record, and has them contending for a playoff spot. Ryan's stats aren't mind-blowing, but he's been efficient and has limited his mistakes. He's also been able to rely on Michael Turner (597 yds, 4.7 ypc), the league's leading rusher. Turner, once LaDainian Tomlinson's caddie in San Diego, and Ryan have benefitted from a much improved offensive line coached by Paul Boudreau. The Falcons are the 2nd-ranked running team in the NFL, and have only allowed 7 sacks all season (the Eagles have allowed 10). The line doesn't have many household names, but Boudreau has them playing well as a unit. Rookie LT Sam Baker, who has surprised many with his strong start, has been limited in practice this week with a sore groin. Atlanta's offensive weakness is their pass catchers. Roddy White (35 rec., 566 yds) has emerged as a very dangerous WR, but the combination of Michael Jenkins, Brian Finneran (yup he's still alive), and rookie Harry Douglas don't scare anyone. The best news for the Eagles is Falcon TE's have a combined 6 catches all season.

Defensively the Falcons aren't a very dynamic team. RDE John Abraham seems to have bounced back from an injury-plagued 2007 season, registering 7 of the Falcons' 10 sacks this season. The rest of Atlanta's d-line (DE Jamaal Anderson and DT's Jonathan Babineaux and Grady Jackson) are strong against the run, but no threat to the passing game. Rookie MLB Curtis Lofton has been a solid contributor alongside veterans Keith Brooking and Michael Boley. This is the strength of the Atlanta defense. The secondary, however, is certainly their most vulnerable spot. With no pass rush to speak of, the Falcons' secondary is getting torched for 231 ypg. Second-year corners Chris Houston and Brent Grimes (from Shippensburg) are smallish, and neither are real play-makers. Safeties Lawyer Milloy (SS) and Erik Coleman (FS) are both steady veterans, but like their teammates at corner, neither are going to make a big play on the ball.

Matchup to Watch

Quintin Mikell vs Michael Turner: Chances are the Eagles will concentrate on stopping RB's Turner and Jerious Norwood by bringing Mikell into the box. With Atlanta's weak crop of receivers they can probably afford to do that. As good as Ryan has been so far, if you stop Turner you stop the Falcons. In the Falcons' 4 wins this season Turner has averaged 124 ypg. In their 2 loses he's only averaged 49 ypg.

Prediction

The Eagles get RB Brian Westbrook and WR's Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown back this week. Great news for an offense that is already averaging nearly 28 ppg. Historically Andy Reid has the team prepared and ready to go after the bye week, and this year should be no exception. The Falcons are an improved team, but they're young on offense, and not very talented defensively. A team that can't get to Donovan McNabb and has a suspect secondary will struggle, and that's exactly what Atlanta is. Look for Jim Johnson to try to contain Turner early, then unleash blitzes on Matty Ice late in the game. I'm usually not this confident, but I think this is a matchup made for Philadelphia.

Eagles 30 Atlanta 16

The Good

Ummmm. Unfortunately this isn't a Tampa Bay Rays blog, so the pickings are slim.

Carlos Ruiz should bat clean up. Ruiz had a solid night, going 2-2 with 2 doubles, a walk, a run, and a SB. Each of his at bats were tough, grind-it-out affairs. The much maligned Chooch is really making his mark as the man behind the plate for the Phils.

Brett Myers battling. Despite his struggles early, shaky defense, and less than friendly umpiring, there was Myers finishing off the 7th inning by getting BJ Upton to ground out into another double play. On most any night I'll take 7IP and 3ER from the big guy.

The Bad

Jayson Werth. Werth had a rough evening. He went 1-5 with 2 K's, made a 1st inning error that helped Tampa score their 2nd run, and got caught off first on Chase Utley's fly ball in the 5th inning. He's got to be better than that.

Kerwin Danley sucks. Danley, the home plate umpire, blew a strikeout call on Rocco Baldelli in the 2nd inning (which led to a run), and then missed an obvious hit by pitch on Jimmy Rollins in the 9th inning. He just looked uninterested and unaware.

The Ugly

Where to begin.

Jimmy Rollins slumping. JRoll continues to kill the Phillies at the top of the lineup. His inability to get on base in any situation will ultimately doom this team. He is now 0-10 with 5 K's. Not good.

Even worse situational hitting. Could the Phillies come up with more ways to NOT score guys from third base with less than 2 outs? Again, this was never something Charlie Manuel's guys did well, but they're taking this to a whole 'nother level.

God damn hitting. They just looked so clueless at the plate I had to mention it again. They rode Cole Hamels' coattails in Game 1, but they weren't able to skate by this time. Lets hope their trip home to the Bank wakes them up.

The Good

Cole Hamels continues his postseason mastery. The guy has no fear, and doesn't get rattled by anything. He had the Rays off balance the entire game, and was as sharp in the 7th inning as he was in the 1st.

Chase Utley against lefties. Utley broke out of his postseason-long slump, and did it against tough left-handed pitchers Scott Kazmir (2-run HR) and JP Howell (single).

Ryan Madson's heat. The Phils set it up perfectly, getting Madson the ball to start the 8th, and were rewarded with some serious gas from the tall righty. Madson hit 97 mph against the overmatched BJ Upton.

Brad Lidge and his slider. Lidge spared our gag reflexes this time around and set down the heart of the Tampa lineup in order, making Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria

The Bad

Chris Coste at DH. I had almost forgot Coste was even on the team when he was announced as the DH. I'm sure there have been worse DH's in World Series history, but I'm hard pressed to name one. I think we're seeing the last of Coste as a Phillie, in this series and probably his career. The bat is just not there anymore.

Jimmy Rollins not getting it done. J-Roll's travails continue as he goes 0-5 with only 1 hard hit ball. If the Phillies are going to put this Tampa team away they're going to need his spark.

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. They just suck. Joe Buck is a pompous ass and McCarver is Captain Obvious. At one point they showed catchers Dioner Navarro and Carlos Ruiz chatting at the plate and McCarver calls them "fellow countrymen". Unfortunately, Navarro is from Caracas, Venezuela and Ruiz is from Panama. Then in Akinori Iwamura's final at bat Buck says he's 3 for 3 with all singles while the graphic below him shows he has 2 singles and a double - the double that scored 1 of Tampa's 2 runs. Just sloppy.

The Ugly

Ryan Howard and his inability to make contact. Howard is killing the Phillies right now. His propensity for striking out is becoming less and less digestable. He just looks lost at the plate, especially against lefties. The fact the Rays walked Chase Utley intentionally with Jayson Werth on second in the 8th inning to get to Howard speaks volumes.

Situational hitting. Never a strong suit for this team, the Phils were 0-13 with runners in scoring position. Enough said.